ncoln President of the United States_." Of the character
of this remarkable man, Mr. Alonzo Rothschild, in his interesting study
of the relations between Lincoln and Stanton ("Lincoln, Master of Men,"
p. 229), says: "Intense earnestness marked Stanton's every act. So
sharply were all his faculties focused upon the purpose of the hour
that he is to be classed among the one-idea men of history. Whatever
came between him and his goal encountered an iron will.... Quick to
penetrate through the husks of fraud into the very nubbin of things, he
was even more swiftly moved by relentless wrath to insist upon exposure
and punishment. The brief career [as Attorney General] in Buchanan's
cabinet had been long enough to demonstrate his almost savage hostility
toward official dishonesty, as well as his moral courage to grapple with
treason in high places. Above all, he evinced a loyalty to the Union
that rose above the party creed of a lifetime--that might demand of him
any sacrifice however great."

The first weeks of President Lincoln's residence in the Executive
Mansion were occupied with the arduous work of selecting loyal and
capable men for responsible positions in the Government service. The
departments at Washington were filled with disloyal men, who used the
means and influence pertaining to their places to aid the rebellious
States. It was of vital importance that these faithless officials should
be removed at the earliest moment, and their positions filled with men
of tried integrity. Lincoln desired to appoint for this purpose stanch,
competent, and trustworthy citizens, regardless of party distinctions.
But the labor involved in this duty was enormous and exhausting. There
was a multitude of vacant places, there were difficult questions to be
considered in a majority of cases, and there was a host of applicants
and their friends to be satisfied. Mr. Charles A. Dana relates a
circumstance which hints at the troubles encountered by Lincoln in this
province of his Presidential duties. "The first time I saw Mr. Lincoln,"
says Mr. Dana, "was shortly after his inauguration. He had appointed Mr.
Seward to be his Secretary of State; and some of the Republican leaders
of New York, who had been instrumental in preventing Mr. Seward's
nomination to the Presidency and in securing that of Mr. Lincoln, had
begun to fear that they would be left out in the cold in the
distribution of the offices. Accordingly several of them determined t