The Abingdon Virginian

Lincoln and his Body Guard.

The Washington correspondent of the New York Express says:

"Whenever Mr. Lincoln now appears in public, on horseback, or in his carriage, he goes through the streets at a rapid pace, escorted by a cavalry guard of about twenty men, half of whom are in the advance, and the remainder in the rear of the Presidential carriage. For some reason, Mr. Lincoln has allowed himself to be persuaded that his life would be endangered if he rode about unarmed and alone, like Lord Lochinvar, and like Mr. Lincoln's fifteen predecessors in the White House. It certainly is a regrettable precedent for a chief magistrate of this Republic to establish, in imitation of the despots of Europe, who have well founded cause to expect attempts to assassinate them, while the President of the United States cannot, in good reason entertain any such reason. The death of Mr. Lincoln would simply have the effect to place in the Presidency a man far more repugnant to the rebels than the present incumbent from the fact that Hamlin is not only believed in the South to be more radical in his leanings than Mr. Lincoln, but is also generally supposed to have a negro taint in his blood. However absurd or unfounded this supposition may be, it undoubtedly exists, and at once precludes all idea that the rebels can anticipate any benefit to themselves from the assassination of Mr. Lincoln. The truth is, nobody ever thought of such a thing, until the fearful imaginations of officious zealots conjured up the shadow of a danger without a substance, and set people to thinking about it; whereupon, the President, yielding to the solicitations of his alarmed or timorous personal friends, consented to this bit of unrepublican ostentation."