13,000 small arms, besides other spoils of War--Mr. Lincoln received the
deputation from the religious bodies of Chicago, bearing a Memorial for
the immediate issue of such a Proclamation.

The very language of his reply,--where he said to them: "It is my
earnest desire to know the will of Providence in this matter. And if I
can learn what it is, I will do it! These are not, however, the days of
miracles, and I suppose it will be granted that I am not to expect a
direct revelation. I must study the plain physical aspects of the case,
ascertain what is possible, and learn what appears to be wise and
right"--when taken in connection with the very strong argument with
which he followed it up, against the policy of Emancipation advocated in
the Memorial, and his intimation that a Proclamation of Emancipation
issued by him "must necessarily be inoperative, like the Pope's Bull
against the Comet!"--would almost seem to have been adopted with the
very object of veiling his real purpose from the public eye, and leaving
the public mind in doubt. At all events, it had that effect.

Arnold, in his "Life of Lincoln," says of this time, when General Lee
was marching Northward toward Pennsylvania, that "now, the President,
with that tinge of superstition which ran through his character, 'made,'
as he said, 'a solemn vow to God, that, if Lee was driven back, he would
issue the Proclamation;'" and, in the light of that statement, the
concluding words of Mr. Lincoln's reply to the deputation aforesaid:--"I
can assure you that the subject is on my mind, by day and night, more
than any other. Whatever shall appear to be God's will, I will do,"
--have a new meaning.

The Emancipation Proclamation, when issued, was a great surprise, but
was none the less generally well-received by the Union Armies, and