er
cent. and carried the remainder over to the next year. The claimants
were entitled to full payment, but one half was withheld for twelve
months without interest and that while dead funds were lying in the
Treasury.

XXIX
INCIDENTS IN THE CIVIL WAR

THE PROCLAMATION OF EMANCIPATION

When the Proclamation of Emancipation, of January 1, 1863, was issued,
the closing sentence attracted universal attention, and in every part
of the world encomiums were pronounced upon it. The words are these:
"And upon this act, sincerely believed to be an act of justice,
warranted by the Constitution upon military necessity, I invoke the
considerate judgment of mankind and the gracious favor of Almighty
God." Following the appearance of the Proclamation, and stimulated,
possibly, by the reception given to the sentence quoted, there appeared
claimants for the verbal authorship of the passage, or for suggestions
which led to its writing by Mr. Lincoln.

A claim for exact authorship was set up for Mr. Chase, and claims for
suggestions in the nature of exact authorship were made in behalf of
Mr. Seward and in behalf of Mr. Sumner.

The sentence quoted was furnished by Mr. Chase, after a very material
alteration by the President. He introduced the words, _"warranted by
the Constitution upon military necessity,"_ in place of the phrase,
_"and of duty demanded by the circumstances of the country,"_ as
written by Mr. Chase.

The main credit for the introduction of the fortunate phrase is due to
Secretary Chase. President Lincoln placed the act upon a legal basis,
justifying it in law and in history. The sentence is what we might
have expected from the head and heart of the man who wrote the final
sentence of the first inaugural address: "The mystic chords of
memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every
living heart and hearthstone, all over this broad land, will yet
swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will
be, by the better angels of our nature." Mr. Lincoln had genius for
the work of composition, and the poetic quality was strong and it was
often exhibited in his speeches and writings. The omission of the
sentence in question would so mar the Proclamation that it would cease
to represent Mr. Lincoln. Thus he became under great obligations to
Mr. Chase.

It was not in the nature of Mr. Lincoln to close a state paper, which
he could not but have realized was to take a pl