This call, however, went very much further than Mr.Lincoln had contemplated, as he did not say the "Legislature of Virginia" but "the body which called itself the Legislature of Virginia." Mr.Stanton saw the call as published in the Northern papers the very next issue and took the liberty of countermanding the order authorizing any meeting of the Legislature, or any other body, and this notwithstanding the fact that the President was nearer the spot than he was.
This was characteristic of Mr.Stanton.

He was a man who never questioned his own authority, and who always did in war time what he wanted to do.

He was an able constitutional lawyer and jurist; but the Constitution was not an impediment to him while the war lasted.

In this latter particular I entirely agree with the view he evidently held.

The Constitution was not framed with a view to any such rebellion as that of 1861-5.