Abbildungen der Seite
PDF
EPUB

a Mameluke on his door-mat, like Napoleon in Egypt; and provided not alone the arms and ammunition necessary for his defence against the myrmidons of the angry Johnson and the truculent Thomas, but the creature comforts, both eatable and drinkable, which were necessary to enable him to stand a lengthened siege. This pretty little story turned out, however, to be either a gross exaggeration, or a pure invention of the newspaper reporters. Mr Stanton never was afraid; Mr Johnson never recommended force; and General Thomas never threatened to employ it. On the contrary, it turned out, on the crossexamination of General Thomas-a cheery veteran of threescore years and ten-that after Mr Stanton had point-blank refused to yield up either his office, his books, or his keys, the utmost good feeling prevailed between the two; nay, more than good feeling-a convivial cordiality, that displayed itself not alone by the affectionate passage of the deft fingers of the Secretary in esse through the snow-white hair of the venerable Secretary in posse, but of a joyous libation of old Rye or Bourbon whisky. In short, the opponents "liquored" as if they were the best of friends; and there not being whisky enough in Mr Stanton's private cupboard to wash down any little animosities that Mr Stanton might for a moment have felt when the thought arose in his mind of the possibility of a violent ejectment from the room by the mild old General before him, a larger supply was sent for and duly consumed. As the red Indians smoke the calumet of peace and bury the war-hatchet, so the white possessors of the American soil take a drink when there is peace between them, or whenever they wish to ratify a contract, expressed or implied. So it was with these honest veterans, though nobody but the parties to their little byplay suspected how very pleasant was the intercourse between the in

vader and the invaded, until the fact was elicited amid shouts of laughter, in which the grimmest members of the Republican party were compelled to join. Nor was this the only disclosure which went to prove that neither Mr Johnson nor General Thomas had any idea of employing violence. On the contrary, all the evidence distinctly pointed to the conclusion that the proceedings were purely formal on Mr Johnson's part, and adopted with no other object than to test, by the constitutional action of the Supreme Court, the legality of the Tenure of Office Act. So damaging to the prosecution was the evidence of General Thomas, and of every other witness, and so favourable to Mr Johnson in every instance was the sifting of the testimony under the able manipulation of his counsel, that, in spite of the exclusion of the evidence of Mr Seward, Mr M'Culloch, and the other members of Mr Johnson's Cabinet who were prepared to testify in the President's favour, the managers began to fear that it would be impossible to obtain a conviction by the requisite majority of two-thirds. Under this apprehension it was proposed by Mr Sumner, with the view of warding off such a heavy blow as failure in the impeachment would inflict upon the Republican party, to depart from the customary mode of procedure, and declare the President guilty or not guilty by a simple majority. If this proposition had been carried, the conviction and deposition of Mr Johnson would have been certain. But the Chief Justice, who, from first to last, had sunk the partisan and the politician in the Judge, and acted with the impartiality, the conscientiousness, and the dignity becoming his high office, his eminent legal attainments, and his unsullied personal character, threw the whole weight of his authority and influence against the proposition-which, finding otherwise but little support, fell to the ground.

This result was highly satisfactory to all the Democratic party, and not disagreeable to large numbers of the moderate Republicans. These latter might have rejoiced at Mr Johnson's deposition by fair means, but they did not wish to gain a victory by unconstitutional modes of warfare, or by ex post facto legislation. Another circumstance that, in American phraseology, tended greatly to "exercise" the minds of the Republican leaders, was the unwelcome discovery that there were at least seven Republican senators who had manifested a disposition to render a verdict according to the evidence; seven men who preferred justice to expediency; who respected the Constitution of the "fathers," and who preferred to retire from public life, if that were to be the penalty of their independence of party, rather than commit perjury for the sake of a political victory. The Democratic minority in the Senate, encouraged by these and other signs of incohesion apparent in the once closely serried phalanx of the Republicans, went so far as to express their belief that, if the final vote of guilty or not guilty could be taken by secret ballot, Mr Johnson would be in no danger of a bare acquittal, or an escape" by the skin of his teeth," but would be triumphantly absolved by the conscientious verdict of his opponents. Though possibly many members of the Republican party, and more especially the seven who had painfully made up their minds to vote against their former political friends and associates on this question rather than do violence to their own souls, might have been glad if such a door of deliverance had been opened before them, the proposal was all but universally scouted. Although the people, of whom all American politicians declare themselves the servants, vote as secretly as they can by means of the ballot, they will not tolerate a secret vote on the part of their representatives; consequently the

idea was only broached to be everywhere anathematised.

The predetermined issue of this famous trial was no longer certain. At one time it looked as if Mr Johnson would be swept out of the path of the triumphant Radicals for the unpardonable offence of hav ing preferred the old Constitution, which he had sworn to uphold, to the new Constitution which had grown out of the Civil War, but which had not yet received the sanction of the whole people. At this stage of the proceedings it looked as if his impeachment would end in a virtual, though ungracious, acquittal; and that, in spite of the "moral" and the "party" reasons for his deposition, upon which Mr Thaddeus Stevens had so eloquently expatiated, he would be quietly suffered to serve out the short remainder of his term of office. To prevent such a catastrophe, it became of the utmost importance to the "managers" of the impeachment that the seven rebellious senators who dared to indulge in the luxury of a conscience should be retained within the folds of party allegiance, from which they threatened to depart. No means of persuasion and intimidation that seemed conducive to this end were left unemployed. By private remonstrance, or by public denunciation, the suspected senators were constantly reminded of the rewards of party loyalty and the penalties of party treason; and cautioned, as they valued the honours and emoluments of public life, to beware of the fate of renegades, who, if "read out" of one party, are never cordially received by another, and are destined to become, if they meddle with politics at all, pariahs, too poor and base to be permitted to appear in the company of their betters, or to taste of the crumbs that fall from the public table. Unfortunately for America, politics are as much a profession as law or physic, and as much a trade as cheesemongery or greengrocery. Arguments or threats that in other

countries would be powerless to deflect from the conscientious line of patriotic duty the acts and conduct of a public man, have in the United States the weight that elsewhere attaches to all questions and considerations that affect the pocket and the larder. If a man's whole income is derived from his salary as a representative of the people, or a senator representing his State, it is not so easy as in Great Britain, where no such condition exists, for the politician to be honest. This is well understood in America; and when it became not only known but notorious that of the seven doubtful senators one had a private fortune that rendered him independent that a second was too old to desire re-election, and could afford to be honest that a third was going into commercial business to make more money than he could make in the political market-that a fourth had no chance of re-election, however much he might long and pant for it-that a fifth had married a wife, and cared no more for public affairs-that a sixth was not such a fool as to prefer his public duty to his private ease and that a seventh was an eccentric genius, upon whose goings and comings, upon whose yeas and nays it was idle to speculate, and who was likely to think of his country first and of his party afterwards, if his duty either to the one or the other came into conflict, the probable failure of the impeachment was generally admitted by the great majority of the American people. And when the speeches of Mr Evarts and Mr Curtis, the President's counsel-the one a member of the Republican and the other of the Democratic party, and both of them at the very top of the legal profession-went forth to the country, in strong contrast with the bosh and buncombe which had been delivered on the other side by Mr Butler (General B. F. Butler, of unenviable notoriety), the probability became all but a certainty.

The Radicals, however, did not wholly despair. If but one of the seven doubtful senators of their party could be kept "square," the requisite majority of two-thirds could still be obtained for a conviction. Up to the last moment this result was possible, for more than one of the seven spoke oracularly and obscurely, and left his party friends and persecutors in doubt as to his vote. At length, after several adjournments, the Senate, on Saturday the 16th of May, proceeded to vote on the eleventh Article of Impeachment - which was, in fact, a summary and recapitulation of the previous ten. It set forth that the President had publicly denied that the 39th or existing Congress was constitutionally authorised to exercise legislative power, or that its enactments were valid or obligatory upon him to obey; that, in violation of the Tenure of Office Act, he had illegally attempted to prevent Mr Stanton from exercising the functions of Secretary of War; and that he had wilfully and corruptly contrived to hinder and obstruct the execution of the Reconstruction Act. Twenty-seven States, with two Senators to each, being represented in Congress, the total number of votes to be taken was fifty-four. It followed from these numbers, that if the Radicals could muster thirtysix votes, the impeachment would be carried, Mr Johnson deposed, and Mr Benjamin Wade installed in his place. It also followed that if nineteen senators recorded their votes in a contrary sense the impeachment would fail. When the vote was taken, there appeared in favour of conviction on the 11th article thirty-five, and against it nineteen. Mr Johnson thus escaped by one vote, and by the aid of the seven conscientious deserters from the Republican camp. At the time at which we write the details are unknown in this country, the bare result only having reached Europe by the Atlantic

cable, together with the fact that, after recording this decision, the Senate adjourned for ten days. Whether this decision is to be accepted as final, we are as yet unable to state. That it ought to be final there can be no shadow of doubt. To Mr Johnson himself the result may be, and most probably is, a matter of indifference. If even now he should be found guilty on any of the ten first articles of impeachment, and deposed from his office, to be consigned for the remainder of his life to political obscurity, and prevented again from serving the State in any capacity, he will not retire without the respect of the most thoughtful politicians in America; without a high place in history; and without that which is better than both, or anything else that the world can offer the approval of his own conscience. The worst that can be said of his public character is that he is too good a man for revolutionary times, too honest for an effective party ruler, and too tardy in all his actions, however rightful these may be, to be available as a hero, though well adapted to become a martyr. If, however, the impeachment be abandoned, as seems most probable, the victory won by Mr Johnson will not be so much a victory for himself as for all future occupants of the Presidential office. It would

almost seem, however, as if the office were doomed. A chief magistrate who cannot remove a subordinate who thwarts his policy, disobeys his orders, or otherwise renders himself obnoxious and mischievous, possesses only the shadow and not the reality of power. As the mere recorder of the decrees of an omnipotent Congress, the President is but a clerk, and other clerks appointed by Congress itself would be just as useful for the purpose, and might be obtained much more cheaply. Few men of high character and ability have of late years sought or obtained the Presidency. And if future Presidents are to be as powerless as the Senate and House of Representatives, as at present constituted, desire to make Mr Johnson, the sooner the cumbrous and costly office is abolished the better for the public peace. For two years out of every four the country is exposed to a perilous agitation, and subjected to an enormous expense for the election of a chief magistrate. Better will it be to vest the whole executive power, theoretically as well as practically, in a Committee of the Senate, than to elect every fourth year a "bogus," obscure, and unrespected President, at the risk

always present-of a more or less violent revolution.

LETTERS FROM A STAFF-OFFICER WITH THE ABYSSINIAN EXPEDITION.-PART II.

NO. III.

IF our friend 'Punch' would like to represent the Abyssinian expedition, as far as it has yet gone, in one of his grand cartoons, he might sketch it after this fashion. The central figure, of course, should be his Excellency Sir Robert Napier, and if a triumphal car be thought necessary for him, an Armstrong gun-carriage would supply a suitable study for it. His left hand, projected far in rear, so as to be as much as possible out of sight, should grasp a mighty sabre, while the right, extended as far in front, held out a bag of dollars towards a crowd of adoring Abyssinians. In the background a train of camels, laden with gifts for the fortunate children of Habash, might be shown trooping in long Indian file into the picture.

Such a sketch would in truth portray not very badly the manner in which we are passing through the land, like the Greeks of old bearing gifts. The result, too, has surely justified the means used. It is not as if we had been propitiating, Ulysseslike, enemies whom, Ajax-like, we ought to have met in a fair field; for indeed the Abyssinians have never done anything to make us their enemies. Had circumstances compelled us to turn our bayonets against them, the result could only have been that another sad and lamentable chapter would have been added to those darker pages of history which men still read with horror. Let it not be thought, however, that the dollars could of themselves have done the work. The people and their princes have believed in our friendship and accepted our dollars only because our display of military force convinced them that we sought their friendship simply because our inclination

ANTALO, 5th March 1868. so disposed us, and that what we might of our own pleasure pour out to them from our money-bags was all they could possibly hope to see.

It would not as yet be either safe or proper to describe the various signs which have met us at certain points on our way, all showing that our friendly relations with those around us have largely rested on the military array which we have held all the time in the background. The testimony of a close observer may, however, be taken for it, that indications of this nature have not been very few or far between. We Britons have grown so accustomed to success that we are apt to regard it, when it attends our undertakings, as if it were a matter of course-something due to the operation of a natural law rather than the result of the right use of means. The very smoothness with which the expedition has proceeded up to its present stage may blind some to the many possible Scyllas which have been avoided - the many points, that is to say, at which a false step on the part of our chief might have given a different colour to the way before us.

The formation and consolidation of friendly relationship with, firstly, the Turkish Government of the seaboard, and, secondly, with Prince Kassa, the ruler of the province of Tigreh, may now be considered as portions of our task which have been fairly and satisfactorily accomplished. Although the co-operation accorded us by the Egyptian authorities has been complete, yet the nomad and primitive character of the people inhabiting the mountains between Senafeh and the sea made it not by any means a matter of course that their good

« ZurückWeiter »