g
the President of the pressing need which the country then had "of
the services of every willing soldier," he begged to be sent to
the field. With manly dignity he declared, "I am utterly unconscious
of any act, word, or design which should make me less eligible to
an honorable place among the soldiers of the Republic than upon
any day of my past life."

GENERAL STONE'S CASE IN CONGRESS.

Meanwhile the subject had forced itself upon the attention of
Congress. On the 24th of March, Senators Latham and McDougall of
California, the first a supporter of Breckinridge in 1860, the
other a supporter of Douglas, with Aaron A. Sargent, representative
from the same State and a most radical Republican, united in an
energetic memorial to Secretary Stanton, on behalf of General Stone
as a citizen of California. They stated that "the long arrest of
General Stone without military trial or inquiry has led to complaints
from many quarters. . . . Having known General Stone for years,
and never having had cause to doubt his loyalty, we feel it our
duty to inquire of the government through you for some explanation
of a proceeding which seems to us extraordinary." To this memorial
no reply was made, and after waiting nearly three weeks Mr. McDougall
introduced in the Senate a very searching resolution of inquiry,
requesting the Secretary of War to state upon whose authority the
arrest was made, and upon whose complaint; why General Stone had
been denied his rights under the articles of war; why no charges
and specifications of his offense had been made; whether General
Stone had not frequently asked to be informed of the charges against
him; and finally upon what pretense he was still kept in prison.
Mr. McDougall spoke in the Senate on the 15th of April in support
of his resolution, making some interesting personal statements.
General Stone was arrested on the night of Saturday, the 8th of
February. "On the Wednesday evening before that," said Mr. McDougall,
"I met General Stone, dressed as became a person of his rank, at
the house of the President, where no one went on that evening except
by special invitation. He was there mingling with his friends,
receiving as much attention and as much consideration from all
about him as any man there present. . . . Only two evenings after
that, if I remember right, he was the guest under similar circumstances
of the senior general in command of our