“And upon this, 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 favour of Almighty God.

“In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.

“Done at the City of Washington, this first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the Independence of the United States of America the eighty-seventh.

“By the President:

Abraham Lincoln.

“William H. Seward, Secretary of State.”

Speaker Colfax said of Mr. Lincoln and his proclamation, when the great man died:—

“The great act of the mighty chieftain, on which his fame shall rest long after his frame shall moulder away, is that of giving freedom to a race. We have all been taught to revere the sacred characters. Among them Moses stands pre-eminently high. He received the law from God, and his name is honoured among the hosts of heaven. Was not his greatest act the delivering three millions of his kindred out of bondage? Yet we may assert that Abraham Lincoln, by his proclamation, liberated more enslaved people than ever Moses set free, and those not of his kindred or his race. Such a power, or such an opportunity, God has seldom given to man. When other events shall have been forgotten; when this world shall have become a network of republics; when every throne shall be swept from the face of the earth; when literature shall enlighten all minds; when the claims of humanity shall be recognized everywhere, this act shall be conspicuous on the pages of history. We are thankful that God gave to Abraham Lincoln wisdom and grace to issue that proclamation, which stands high above all other papers which have been penned by uninspired men.”