Chase, took then any
interest in the enterprise, though it has since been fostered by the
Secretary of War. At the suggestion of the Secretary, the President
appointed an interview with the agent. Mr. Lincoln, who was then chafing
under a prospective bereavement, listened for a few moments, and then
said, somewhat impatiently, that he did not think he ought to be
troubled with such details,--that there seemed to be an itching to get
negroes into our lines; to which the agent replied, that these negroes
were within them by the invitation of no one, being domiciled there
before we commenced occupation. The President then wrote and handed to
the agent the following card:--
"I shall be obliged if the Sec. of the Treasury will in his discretion
give Mr. Pierce such instructions in regard to Port Royal contrabands as
may seem judicious.
"A. LINCOLN.
"Feb. 15, 1862."
The President, so history must write it, approached the great question
slowly and reluctantly; and in February, 1862, he little dreamed of the
proclamations he was to issue in the September and January following.
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