and inflexibly bound to carry its great end....  Slow and careful in coming to resolutions, willing to talk with every person who has anything to show on any side of a disputed subject, long in weighing and pondering, attached to constitutional limits and time-honored landmarks, Lincoln certainly was the safest leader a nation could have at a time when the habeas corpus must be suspended and all the constitutional and minor rights of citizens be thrown into the hands of their military leader.  A reckless, bold, theorizing, dashing man of genius might have wrecked our Constitution and ended us in a splendid military despotism.”

The fear lest the virulent enemies of the administration should attempt to assassinate Lincoln was so wide-spread that military measures were enforced to protect him from secret assault.  General Charles P. Stone, to whom the duty was entrusted of establishing the necessary precautions, has furnished a brief report on the subject.  “From the first,” says General Stone, “I took, under the orders of the General-in-chief, especial care in guarding the Executive Mansion—­without, however, doing it so ostentatiously as to attract public attention.  It was not considered advisable that it should appear that the President of the United States was, for his personal safety, obliged to surround himself by armed guards.  Mr. Lincoln was not consulted in the matter.  But Captain Todd, formerly an officer of the regular army, who was, I believe, the brother-in-law of Mr. Lincoln, was then residing in the Presidential Mansion, and with him I was daily and nightly in communication, in order that in case of danger one person in the President’s household should know where to find the main body of the guard, to the officer commanding which Captain Todd was each night introduced.  Double sentries were placed in the shrubbery all around the mansion, and the main body of the guard was posted in a vacant basement-room, from which a staircase led to the upper floors.  A person entering by the main gate and walking up to the front door of the Executive Mansion during the night could see no sign of a guard; but from the moment anyone entered the grounds by any entrance, he was under the view of at least two riflemen standing silent in the shrubbery, and any suspicious movement on his part would have caused his immediate arrest; while inside, the call of Captain Todd would have been promptly answered by armed men.  The precautions were taken before Fort Sumter was fired on, as well as afterward.  One night near midnight,” continues General Stone, “I entered the grounds for the purpose of inspecting the guard, and was surprised to see a bright light in the East room.  As I entered the basement I heard a loud noise, as of many voices talking loudly, mingled with the ringing of arms, coming from the great reception room.  On questioning the commander of the guard, I learned that many gentlemen had entered the house at a late hour, but they had