sked
General McClellan to explain the necessity of so strong a
fortification between Washington and the North.

"General McClellan replied: 'Why, Mr. President, according to
Military Science it is our duty to guard against every possible or
supposable contingency that may arise. For example, if under any
circumstances, however fortuitous, the Enemy, by any chance or
freak, should, in a last resort, get in behind Washington, in his
efforts to capture the city, why, there the fort is to defend it.'

"'Yes, that's so General,' said the President; 'the precaution is
doubtless a wise one, and I'm glad to get so clear an explanation,
for it reminds me of an interesting question once discussed for
several weeks in our Lyceum, or Moot Court, at Springfield, Ill.,
soon after I began reading law.'

"'Ah!' says General McClellan. 'What question was that, Mr.
President?'

"'The question,' Mr. Lincoln replied, 'was, "Why does man have
breasts?"' and he added that after many evenings' debate, the
question was submitted to the presiding Judge, who wisely decided
'That if under any circumstances, however fortuitous, or by any
chance or freak, no matter of what nature or by what cause, a man
should have a baby, there would be the breasts to nurse it.'"]

Yet, it was not until the 17th of September that the Battle of Antietam
was fought, and Lee defeated--and then only to be allowed to slip back,
across the Potomac, on the 18th--McClellan leisurely following him,
across that river, on the 2nd of November!

[Arnold, in his "Life of Abraham Lincoln," says that President
Lincoln said of him: "With all his failings as a soldier, McClellan
is a pleasant and scholarly gentleman. He is an admirable
Engineer, but" he added, "he seems to have a special talent for a
stationary Engine."]

On the 5th, McClellan was relieved,--Burnside taking the command,--and
Union men breathed more freely again.

But to return to the subject of Emancipation. President Lincoln's own
words have already been given--in conversation with Carpenter--down to
the reading of the Proclamation to his Cabinet, and Seward's suggestion
to "wait for a victory" before issuing it, and how, adopting that
advice, he laid the Proclamation aside, waiting for a victory.

"From time to time," said Mr. Lincoln, continuing his narration, "I
added