EXECUTIVE MANSION,
WASHINGTON, September 28, 1862.
HON. HANNIBAL HAMLIN:
My dear Sir,—Your kind letter of the 25th is just
received. It is known to some that while I hope some from the proclamation, my
expectations are not as sanguine as those of some friends. The time for its
effect Southward has not come; but Northward the effect should be
instantaneous. It is six days old, and while commendation in newspapers and by
distinguished individuals is all that a vain man could wish, the stocks have
declined, and troops come forward more slowly than ever. This, looked soberly
in the face, is not very satisfactory. We have fewer troops in the field at the
end of the six days than we had at the beginning, — the attrition among the old
outnumbering the addition by the new. The North responds to the proclamation
sufficiently in breath, but breath alone kills no rebels.
I wish I could write more cheerfully; nor do I thank you the
less for the kindness of your letter.
Yours very truly,
A. LINCOLN
SOURCE: Charles Eugene Hamlin, The Life and Times of Hannibal Hamlin, p. 440
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