"Our One Common Country" author talk in Stratford, CT

[Eva Elisabeth]

(08-22-2014 04:52 PM)Eva Elisabeth Wrote:  Also this quote seems strange to me as I do NOT believe Lincoln was hesitant about issuing the Emancipation Proclamation. So said Mary to Herndon: "Mr. Lincoln was mild in his manners, but he was a terribly firm man when he set his foot down. None of us, no man or woman, could rule him after he had once fully made up his mind."

I found what I actually was thinking of and vaguely remembered reading. These are Seward's son Frederick's recollections:
"At noon, accompanying my father, I carried the broad parchment in a large portfolio under my arm. We...went upstairs to the President's room, where Mr. Lincoln speedily joined us. The broad sheet was spread open before him on the Cabinet table. Mr. Lincoln dipped his pen in the ink, and then, holding it a moment above the sheet, seemed to hesitate. Looking around, he said: 'I never in my life felt more certain that I was doing right, than I do in signing this paper. But I have been receiving calls and shaking hands since nine o'clock this morning, till my arm is stiff and numb. Now this signature is one that will be closely examined, and if they find my hand trembled they will say 'he had some compunctions.' But anyway, it is going to be done.' So saying, he slowly and carefully wrote his name at the bottom of the proclamation. The signature proved to be unusually clear, bold, and firm, even for him, and a laugh followed at his apprehension."
(Frederick Seward: "Reminiscences of a War-time Statesman and Diplomat", p. 227.)

For my understanding, if he was anxious about anything in this context, then that others would doubt his firmness due to his shaky handwriting caused by "overwork".