The Sun.
London, England, 1868-05-27 00:00:00

LONDON, WEDNESDAY, MAY 27, 1868.

The long-pending trial at Washington may at
last be considered to have fairly come to an end,
and such an end as the best friends of the American
people and of American freedom were sincerely de-
sirous _to see. An acquittal of the PRESIDENT on
the second and third counts of the indictment and
an adjournment of the Senate Court sine die is tan-
tamount to the conclusion of the whole caso in
favour of the accused. The eleventh Article of
impeachment, upon which it will be remembered the
first vote was taken, included in fact none of the
charges brought against Mr. JOHNSON, and if it had
been possible for the Managers to obtain a sufficient
majority on any of the Articles it would most likely
have been secured upon i 4. But it was not impos-
sible that the interval between the two votes might
be turned to account by the Radical party, and
that the extreme pressure put upon those Senators
who had dared to break through the trammels of
party, and act independently in what they thought
the right and just course, might prove in some cases
effectual, and that a majority, however narrow,
might thus be secured for Impeachment. Happily,
this has not proved to be the case. In spite of
threats, blandishments, and entreaties ; in spite of
appeals at least to withhold their votes, if adverse
to the conviction ; in spite of that interference from
their respective States which no American Senator
can afford altogether to despise, the little band of
Republicans, not Radicals, stood firm, and their
firmness has saved not only Mr. JOHNSON, but the
country at large, from consequences too serious to
foresee. We may judge from the details of an
earlier date brought by the mail steamers how diffi-
cult it has been for any of the Republican Senators
to act with independence at Philadelphia, St.
Louis, and other cities. Radical meetings have
been held since the first great division was taken in
favour of the impeachment of Mr. JOHNSON, and
strongly denouncing the action of those Republican
Senators who opposed his conviction. It is stated
that the Impeachment Managers, who are not, as
we know, particular about trifles, are endeavouring
to get up an investigation with the object of prov-
ing that certain Senators had been bribed to vote
for the acquittal. Such an inquiry would be likely
to be still less favourable to the Managers than the
Impeachment itself, and the subject of undue influ-
ence is one that they had better let alone if they are
wise. Senator HENDERSON, of Missouri, addressed a
letter to the Missouri delegation in the Lower House
who had appealed tohim to withhold his vote in a man -
ner which does him honour. He would neither, he said,
resign nor shrink from the obligation of his oath to
do impartial justice. A Democrat in the Repre-
sentatives brought forward a resolution calling for
an investigation into the conduct of the delegation,
iu endeavouring to influence Mr. HENDERSON' s
vote. As a matter of course this resolution was
not received by the House, since the Radicals take
very good care to maintain their ascendancy by
silencing all remonstrance, argument, or opposition
of any kind. It is only surprising that a sufficient
number of Republicans have been able to withstand
the strong pressure put upon them when we
remember what it is to break off from a political
party in America. Mr. JOHNSON himself is a
notable instance of the implacable hostility which
such conduct provokes. His real offence has been
that he has broken off party ties and has dared to
act, think, and speak for himself in a position that
he should have turned to account for his party.
Chief Justice CHASE himself had great difficulty in
withstanding the Radical endeavour to turn the
Senate Court into a mere party gathering
assembled to condemn a man who bad
given offence to his quondam allies. Mr.
CHASE'S firmness in withstanding this endea-
vour drew down upon hint the unmeasured wrath
of the extreme R tdicals, and it was forthwith an-
nounced that he would have little chance for the
Presidency. When such a system is at work with
the highest and most influential politicians we neel
not wonder that lesser men are influenced by it ,
and we must rank the integrity, courage, and inde-
pendence of the Republican Senators whose votes
have turned the scale very highly. The numbers
on these last two divisions were precisely the
same as on the former one----thirty-five pro-
nouncing the PRESIDENT guilty of the offences
charged against him, and nineteen not guilty. It
would seem as if the immobility of the numbers had
disheartened the Radicals, and convinced them that
further effort was useless, for without voting upon
the other Articles the Court adjourned sine die.
The second and third Articles upon which the
votes were taken referred to the vexed question of
the War-office, and charged the PRESIDENT with
appointing General THOMAS Secretary ad interim,
the Senate being in session, in violating the Tenure-
of-Office Act, there being no vacancy in the office
of Secretary of War. The second Article states this
at length, and the third Article merely reiterates
the charge, and declares the act to have
been done without authority of law, with
the intention of violating the Constitution. Mr.
Jormsort's answer to this charge, it will be remem-
bered, was that he disputed the constitutionality of
the Tenure-of-Office Bill, and wished to test its
legality an assertion which his enemies may dis-
pute, but cannot disprove. That point would have
been easily settled before a legal tribunal in proper
constitutional form, v%itliout resorting to the despe-
rate expedient of a State trial. Happily the result
has shown that, in spite of the excesses of
liticians, America has yet men who put the public
interests before their private gains.

Although there is always something painful
about the execution of criminals, still those best
qualified to form an opinion have long recognised
the importance of the extreme penalty of the law
being sometimes put in furce, and if ever a crime
merited this punishment surely it was that of
MICHAEL BARRETT, who yesterday passed from this
world to aceowat for his sins at a higher tribunal.