"
He was waiting for victory, but victory was slow to come. Instead
the Union army suffered another defeat at the second battle of
Bull Run on August 30, 1862. After this the pressure upon him to
take some action upon slavery became stronger than ever. On
September 13 he was visited by a company of ministers from the
churches of Chicago, who came expressly to urge him to free the
slaves at once. In the actual condition of things he could of
course neither safely satisfy them nor deny them, and his reply,
while perfectly courteous, had in it a tone of rebuke that showed
the state of irritation and high sensitiveness under which he was
living:
"I am approached with the most opposite opinions and advice, and
that by religious men, who are equally certain that they
represent the Divine will. . . . I hope it will not be irreverent
for me to say that if it is probable that God would reveal his
will to others on a point so connected with my duty, it might be
supposed he would reveal it directly to me. . . . What good would
a proclamation of emancipation from me do, especially as we are
now situated? I do not want to issue a document that the whole
world will see must necessarily be inoperative, like the Pope's
bull against the comet." "Do not misunderstand me. . . . I have
not decided against a proclamation of liberty to the slaves; but
hold the matter under advisement.
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