The Sun.
London, England, 1866-09-04 00:00:00

Important Speech of President Johnson.

The following is a report of the speech delivered
by President Johnson to the.co mitteeof the Phi-

ladelphia Convention:—
Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen the Committee,—Lan-
guage is inadequate to express the, emotions and feelings

~, ..,
7 -
produced by this occasion. Perhaps I could express more
by permitting silence to speak and you to infer what T
ought to say. _ I confess that, notwithstanding the experi-

ence I have had in public life and the audiences I have
addressed, this occasion and this assemblage are well cal-
culated to awe and to overwhelm me. As I have said, I
have not language to convey adequately my present feel-

ings and emotions. In listening to the address which your
eloquent and distinguished chairman has just delivered the
proceedings of the convention as they transpired recurred
to my mind. Seemingly I partook o: the inspiration that
prevailed in the convention when I received a despatch
sent by two of its distinguished members conveying in
terms the scene which has just been described of South
Carolina and Massachusetts, arm and arm marching into
that vast assemblage, and thus giving evidence that the
two extremes had come together, and that for the future

they were united as they had been in the past for the
preservation of the Union. When the despatch informed
me that in that vast body of men, distinguished for intellect

d N'Vciesdeo,m I
o everyieye was suffused with tears on beholding
then n
i not finish reading the despatch to one aasso-
ciated with me in the office, for my own feelings overcame me.
s

(,ahTerS.) I think we may justly conclude we are moving
undefaproper inspiration, and that we need not be mistaken
that the finger of an overruling and unerring Pro4gdence is
in this matter. (Loud cheers.) The nation is in peril.
We have just passed through a mighty, a bloody, a mo-
mentous ordeal, yet we do not find ourselves free from the
difficulties and dangers that at first surrounded us. While
our brave men have performed their duties, both officers
and men—(turning to General Grant, who stood at his
right)—while they have- *du laurels imperishable, there
are still greater and more important duties:to porform ; and
while we have had their co-operation in the field, we now

need their support in our efforts to perpetuate peace.
(Loud cheers.) So far as the Executive Department of the
Golfernmeut is concerned the effort has been made to re-

store the Union, to heal the breach, to pour oil into the

wounds which were consequent upon the struggle, and

to speak in common phrase, to prepare, as the learned and
wise physician would, a plaster healing in character and
co-extensive with tho wound. (Loud cheers.) We
thought, and yet think, that we had partially succeeded ;
but as the work progressed, as reconciliation seemed to
bo taking place and the country becoming united, we found

a disturbing and marring element opposing us. In al-
luding to that element I shall go no further than did
your convention and the distinguished gentleman who
has delivered to me the report of its proceedings. I shall
make no reference to it that I do not believe the time
and the occasion justify. We have witnessed in one
department of the Government every effort, as it were,
to prevent the restoration of peace and harmony in the
Union. We have seen hanging upon the verge of the Go-
vernment, as it were, a body called, or which assumed to
be, the Congress of the United States, but in fact a Con-
gress of only part of the States. We have seen this Con-
gress assume and pretend to be for the Union, when its

every step and act tend to perpetuate disunion, and make
a disruption of the States inevitable. Instead of promot-
ing reconciliation and harmony, its legislation has partaken
of the character of penalties, retaliation, and revenge.
This has been the course and the policy of one department
of your Government. Tho humble individual who is now
addressing you stands the representative of another de-
partment of the Government. The manner in which he was

called upon to occupy that position I shall not allude to on
this occasion; suffice it to say that he is here under the con-
stitution 'of the country, and being hero by virtue of its pro-
visions he takes his stand upon the charter of our liberties
as the great rampart of civil and religious liberty. (Pro-
longed cheering.) Having been taught in my early life to
hold it sacred, and having practised upon it during my whole
public career, > shal' ever continue to reverence that con-
stitution—the constitution of the fathers of our country—
iatn
Las to
emakeen
said,it ra
andy g uyi dme .0
t(
remark, that .he Executive Department o: the Government
Eb
be th ua
permitterstc c h.
o e indulgeers the
w
has been tyrannical. ',et :ne asl.-. this audience of dis-
tinguished gentlemen around me here to-day to point to a
vote I ever gave, to a speech I over made, a single act of my
whole ,üblic life, that has nol, been against tyranny and
despotism. What position have I ever occupied, what ground
have I ever assumed, where it can be truthfully charged
that I failed to advocate the amelioration and elevation of
the great masses of my countrymen ? (Cries of "Never,"
and great applause-) So far as charges of that kind are
concerned, I will say that they are simply intended to de-
ceive and delude the public mind into the belief that there
is some one in power who is usurping and trampling upon
the rights and perverting the principles of the constitution.
It is done by those who make such charges for the purpose
of converting their own acts. (Cries of "That's so," and
cheers.) I have felt it my duty, in vindication of principle
and the constitution of my country, to call attention to
these proceedings. When we come to examine who has
been playing the tyrant, by whom do we find that despotism
has been exercised ? As to myself, the elements of my
nature, the pursuits of my life, have not made me either in
my feelings or in my practice aggressive. My nature, on
the contrary, is rather defensive in its character ; but I will
say that having taken my stand upon the broad principles
of liberty and the constitution, there is not power enough
on earth to drive me from it. (Prolonged cheering.) Hav-
ing placed myself upon that broad platform, I have not
been awed, dismayed, or intimidated by either threats or
encroachments, but have stood there in conjunction with
patriotic spirits, sounding the tocsin of alarm whenever
I deemed the citadel of liberty in danger. (Great
applause.) I said on a previous occasion, and repeat now,
I that all that was necessary in the real struggle against
tyranny and despotism was that the struggle should be
sufficiently audible for the American people to hear and
properly understand. They did hear, and looking on and
seeing who
was about, they determined that they would settle this
constitution and of principle.
question
(Cries
of
nTtthhheaessi
ds
oocontestants
andthe
applause.)were,
I proclaim here to-
day, as I have on other occasions, that my faith is abiding
in the groat mass of the people. In the darkest moment
of the struggle, when the clouds seemed to be most lower-
ing,loomed up through ,the
dar inccly fitouadfharinbsetyeadondo.f glivisanwg wthaatyall would be safe in the
My countrymen,
end. (Cheers.) we all know that, in the
language of Thomas Jefferson, "tyranny and despotism
ever can be exercised and exerted more effectually by the
many than the ono." We have seen a Congress gradually
encroach step by step upon constitutional rights, and vio-
late day after day and month after month the fundamental
principles of the Government. (Cries of " That's So.") We
have seen a
Congress that seemed to forget that there was
a constitution of the United States, and that there was a
limit to tho sphere and scope of iegislation. (Renewed
cries of " That's so.") We have seen a Congress in a
minority assume to exercise powers which, if allowed to
be carried out, would result in despotism or monarchy it-
self. (Cries of "That's so," and enthusiastic cheers given
for the President.) That is the truth. And because others
as well as myself have seen proper to appeal to the pa-
triotism and republican feeling of the country, we have
been denounced in the most severe terms. Slander upon
slander, vituperation upon vituperation of the most vil-
lainous character, has made its way through the public
press. What, gentlemen, has been your and my sin ?
What has been the cause of our offending ? I will tell
you. Daring to stand by the constitution of our fathers.
(Loud cheers.) (The President here approached the spot
where Senator Johnson was standing, and said)—l con-
sider the proceedings of this convention, sir, as more im-
portant than those of any convention that ever assembled
in the United States. (Great applause.) When I look
with my mind's eye upon that collection of citizens, coming
together voluntarily, and sitting in council with ideas, with
principles, and views commensurate with all the States and