CONGRESS, U. S. 



267 



Divine Providence, or any of those successes 

 which have rendered this war glorious iu the 

 cause of freedom, truth, and justice/' 



Mr. Mallory, of Kentucky, said : " Will the 

 gentleman state when that convention of Gov- 

 ernors assembled at Altoona ? " 



Mr. Boutwell : ' I think it assembled at Al- 

 toona previous to the 22d of September, but I 

 assert as within my own knowledge that the 

 issuing of the proclamation was determined 

 upon previous to the meeting at Altoona." 



Mr. Mallory : " Can the gentleman inform 

 me when the issuing of that proclamation was 

 determined upon? " 



Mr. Boutwell : " I cannot go far in this matter. 

 I assert distinctly the fact which is within my 

 own knowledge that the President previous to 

 the meeting of the Governors at Altoona had 

 decided in a certain contingency, which hap- 

 pened upon the Wednesday preceding the 22d 

 of September, to issue the proclamation, and 

 therefore the inference I draw is in contraven- 

 tion of the declaration of the gentleman from 

 Kentucky that that proclamation was the result 

 of the meeting of the Governors at Altoona." 



Mr. Mallory: "Will the gentleman tell us 

 the contingency on the happening of which that 

 proclamation was to be issued? " 



Mr. Boutwell : " I said, Mr. Speaker, when I 

 mentioned this fact, that I was not to be put 

 upon the stand as a witness. I have made a 

 statement as of a fact within my own knowl- 

 edge, and history will confirm the statement." 



Mr. Mallory : " If the gentleman from Mas- 

 sachusetts does not wish to answer the ques- 

 tion or to state the fact, I will not insist." 



Mr. Boutwell : " I have done nothing more 

 than this to put my statement of a fact, which 

 I assert to be within my own knowledge, 

 against the declaration of the gentleman from 

 Kentucky, that the proclamation of emancipa- 

 tion, or the monitory proclamation of emanci- 

 pation, was issued in consequence of the meet- 

 ing of Governors at Altoona." 



Mr. Mallory : ' We know that the President 

 himself stated on the 13th of that month that 

 he had no idea of issuing such a proclamation, 

 and that he argued against issuing it. I want 

 to know from the gentleman from Massachu- 

 setts whether it was between the 13th and 22d. 

 and if so, at what point between these two 

 periods, the President had prepared the procla- 

 mation, and had determined to issue it upon a 

 certain contingency. I would also like to know 

 what that contingency was." 



Mr. Boutwell : " The gentleman from Ken- 

 tucky is good at questioning, but I have to keep 

 myself within the position which I stated." 



Mr. Pendleton : " I desire to ask the gen- 

 tleman from Massachusetts upon what event 

 happening on a certain Wednesday the issuing 

 cf the President's emancipation message was 

 contingent?" 



Mr. Boutwell: "The wisdom of the remark 

 with which I prefaced my first statement is 

 more and more manifest as I proceed. The 



questions j<ut to me are not founded upon any 

 thing I have said. ' The gentleman's question 

 states that the event was to happen on Wed- 

 nesday." 



Mr. Pendleton : " It did happen on Wednes- 

 day." 



Mr. Boutwell : "I have already stated to my 

 friends on that side of the House that I do 

 not intend to answer that question. With all 

 due respect to them, I do not intend to answer 

 that question. I stated just exactly what I 

 wanted to say, for the purpose of repelling, so 

 far as I could, the imputation that the Presi- 

 dent was controlled in issuing his emancipation 

 proclamation by any assembly of men any- 

 where. If what the gentleman from Kentucky 

 (Mr. Mallory) has asserted be true, of which 

 I have no knowledge, then so much higher is 

 my opinion of the President's wisdom that he 

 abandoned a policy which had brought noth- 

 ing but disaster upon the country, and raised 

 himself to the contemplation of the supreme 

 truth that justice to the enslaved was involved 

 in this contest, and that neither he nor the 

 country could hope for the blessing of God 

 until they saw the injustice of slavery, and de- 

 termined by one supreme decree to strike down 

 slavery and slaveholders." 



Mr. Pendleton : " Will the gentleman yield 

 to me ? " 



Mr. Boutwell : " Certainly." 



Mr. Pendleton : " I ask the gentleman wheth- 

 er the issuing of that proclamation did not de- 

 pend upon a victory * being obtained by tLe 

 Union forces ? I will be satisfied with any an- 

 swer, but I want an answer." 



Mr. Boutwell : " In regard to these questions, 

 I have already said I would not answer." 



In the Senate, on January 27th, the bill to 

 promote enlistments and for other purposes was 

 taken up. Mr. Powell, of Kentucky, moved to 

 strike out the third section, as follows : 



SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That when any 

 person of African descent, whose service or labor 

 is claimed in any State under the laws thereof, shall 

 be mustered into the military or naval service of the 

 United States, he, his mother, and his wife and chil- 

 dren, shall forever thereafter be free, any law, usage, 

 or custom whatsoever to the contrary notwithstand- 



* The battle of Antietam was fought Wednesday, Sept. 

 17th. A letter from Mr. Owen Lovejoy, member of Congress 

 from Illinois, dated 22d Februarv, IS&t, was published. Tho 

 following is an extract from this "letter : 



" Recurring to the President, there are a great many reports 

 concerning him which seem to be reliable and authentic, 

 which, aftcT all, are cot so. It was currently reported among 

 the anti-slavery men of Illinois that the emancipation proc- 

 lamation was extorted from him by the outward pressure, 

 and particularly by the delegation from the Christian Con- 

 vention that met at Chicago. Kow the fact is this, as I had 

 it from his own lips: he had written the proclamation 

 in the summer, as early as June. I think but will not be 

 certain as to the precise time and called his Cabinet together 

 and informed them he had written it and meant to make it. 

 but wanted to read it to them for any criticism or remark* 

 as to its featnres or details. After ha'ving done so, Mr. Sew- 

 ard suggested whether it would not be well for him to with- 

 hold its publication until after we had gained some substan- 

 tial advantage in the field, as at that time we had met with 

 many reverses and it might be considered a cry of despair. 

 He told me he thought the susrsestion a wise one, and go 

 held on the proclamation until after the battle of Antietam. ' 



