The Sun.
London, England, 1868-05-18 00:00:00

LONDON, MONDAY, MAY 18, 1868.

The intelligence so eagerly looked for from
Washington was received in London yesterday
morning with relief and satisfaction by all interested
in the extraordinary trial going on in the American
capital. The Senate Court on Saturday voted on
the last article of the Impeachment charges and re-
fused to convict the PRESIDENT. The numerical
majority was, as a matter of course, on the side of
the " Yeas," who mustered thirty-five ; but a
majority of two-thirds is neeesstry, according to
the Senate laws to pass the article, and, happily for
the public interests, the "Nays" were nineteen. It
would thus have required not 35, but 57 yeas to
carry the conviction, and thus the matter
was conclusively settled in favour of Mr. JOHNSON.
What the further course of the Senate is to be is
not very clear. As we have said the vote of Satur-
day was only taken on the eleventh and last article
of Impeachment, and immediately after the Court
was adjourned for ten days without voting upon
any other article. Whether this particular point
was selected as a test of the respective
forces, whether it was chosen because it
was considered the most important, whether
we are to accept the decision as final, or
whether the rest of the battle remains to be fought,
is as yet uncertain. It is quite clear, however, that
the PRESIDENT has won the day. The nineteen who
have supported him on this first trial of strength
will no doubt remain staunch to his cause, and even
should there be two or three defalcations, the mi-
nority would still be strong enough to hold the
ground it has gained. But in fact this eleventh
article contains the whole gist of the charges against
the PRESIDENT. It charged him with having
denied in a public speech that the Thirty-ninth
Congress was authorised to exercise legislative
power ; with denying that the legislation of the
said Congress was valid or obligatory upon
him ; with seeking to prevent the (execution
of the Tenure -of - Office Act by illegally at-
tempting to prevent Mr. STANTON from resum-
ing the functions of Secretary of War, and further
with having contrived to hinder the execution of
the Reconstruction Act, and of the Act which pro-
vides that all military orders shall be issued through
the general of the army. It will be seen, therefore,
that this Article includes the charges of denying the
legality of the existing Congress, of excessive as-
surgption of personal power, of removing STANTON,
of disputing with GRANT, and of making incendiary
speeches in the north-west tour. Having refused
to convict the PRESIDENT upon the whole of these
charges, it is not easy to see on what ground the
Managers can hope for a conviction. The
Tenure-of-Office Bill has been the chief
subject of the counsel for the prosecution.
The removal of STANTON was the occasion of an
open rupture between the PRESIDENT and the
Senate itself, which reinstated the Secretary at the
War-office. If the Managers have failed to obtain I
a conviction on this ground, it is not likely, there-
fore, that they could carry any other Article, or, if
they did, that the verdict would be of any conse- ,
quence. The Senate Court has affirmed, by the
direct failure of this Article,_that the PRESIDENT
has not exceeded his lawful and constitutional
powers, that he has not shows wilful disrespect to
the national Legislature, or endeavoured to impede
the course of public business. Having done this it is
not unreasonable to hope that the matter may be
considered virtually settled, and that the strenuous
exertions of the Managers of the trial may prove to
have been fruitless.

Looked at in the abstract the acquittal of the
PRESIDENT is even more important than in its parti-
cular and immediate effects. The injury which his
conviction and deposition would inflict on the cause
of American liberty, and indeed of free government
throughout the world, is incalculable. Whatever
English partisans of a particular party may choose
to maintain or to believe, it is no secret, in America
at least, that the verdict would have been obtained
by the most unscrupulous pressure. All through the
trial there has been manifest anxiety to suppress
any evidence favourable to the accused, to keep
back witnesses who were likely to tell too much,
to exaggerate every charge against him. It was
with the greatest difficulty, and only by the exer-
cise of considerable firmness, that Chief Justice
CHASE was able to secure some of the decorum and
impartiality belonging to a high civil tribunal ;
and it was openly acknowledged that by so doing
he gave dire offence to the members of his own
party. Every nerve was strained, every device
was attempted, every influence brought to bear to
secure the votes of a sufficient majority.
The New York press thundered anathemas day after
day against the recreant Republicans, who dared
to doubt the PRESIDENT'S guilt. Nay, as time
went on and conviction became more uncertain,
even darker means were resorted to, and threaten-
ing letters were sent to hesitating Senators. It is
to the honour of the American Senate that, con-
stituted as it is, a body of its members should have
been found resolute and independent enough
to resist both threats and bribes. The
Anglo-Saxon is no coward, and the Sena-
tors who dared the whole fury of a party which
has preyed itself reckless and unscrupulous
to an unparalleled degree showed that they were
true to the instincts of their race. Had such a vote
been carried by such means, had the highest officer
in a free country been disgraced from his position for
the gratification of mean and selfish party ambition,
the result would have been politically unfortunate
for Mr. JOHNSON, but it would have been morally
a thousand times more disastrous for the great
American people, and deplorable in its effects upon
the struggling nations who look across the Atlantic
for support, encouragement, and example.

By this time we have reason to believe that
those who were inclined to doubt the wisdom of
the course pursued by Mr. EYRE during the insur-
rection at Jamaica are heartily tired of the Jamaica
Committee, and feel great indignation at its per-
sistent malignity. It seems as if Mr. MILL and
those who act with him could not, or would not,
learn discretion, but at any rate it is certain that
they will find out their ends in time by the estima-
tion in which they are held. If there is one thing
more inimical than other to the English public it is
the absence of fair play, and who can say that the
mode of prosecution adopted by the Jamaica Com-
mittee against ex• Governor EYRE has been at all