The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1866-04-11

Soutn anu their long time coau)utorS IN tnS
North, have been urging President johnson
to suppress Congress BIZ military force. Ou
cotemporary in feeble imitation of his South
ern confreres sought to fire the "Northerr
heart and to show the traitors of the South
that he could counsel treason as bravely as
the best of them. He therefore Illuminated
against Congress, declared it a mere mob
and latter mature deliberationn proclaimed
on his authority as an ek-Judge, his deliberate
conviction that its acts we're entitled to nc
respect, and were OF no legal validity whatso
ever. and in view of that fact, and of the gene
raj unsatisfactory course of that body, he ap
pealed to the President to arrest the leaders
and if need be, march file of soldiers into
their Halls.
We Of course took exception to this advice
of our cotemporary, and suggested that he
advised our President to do just what Charles
the First and Cromwell did. Our cotempo
rary devotes considerable space in his edi
torial columns to kind of special pleading
in mitigation Of the atrocity of his sugges-
tions in part, and to direct Lying ont of the
scrape in part, but still insists that the Presi.
dent would be justiafable in certain improba.
bic contingencies in following his advice.
The editor says:
4" The GATE Cry charges rs with exhort-
ing the Presiden. to play the military usurper,
in the style OF Charles |, and Cromwell. BY
dispensing the people representatives at the
point of,he hayonet. In mixing up the his
tory of Charles |, with Cromwell, in the man
ner he did. The editor of the GATE CRY
showed himself to he SIS ignorant of English
history RS he is of capacity to reason logi-
callv.'
Now It is much easier to assert that an OPP
ponent is ignorant and illogical. than ii is to
prove it in many cases, and SO our cotempo-
rary usually takes the easiest mode. As his
tory is said to be philosophy teaching by ex-
ample, we referred to the historical cases
mentioned above, supposing all our readers
sufficiently well informed to apprehend the
appositeness and force of the allusor, with
out any specification of particulars, but hav-
ing over estimated the intelligence Of one OF
our readers at least, we are now constrained
to quote from the Historian Hume. TO en-
tighten our eotemporary-
In 1912, after considerable previous con-
tention between Charles First and Parlia-
ment Charles attempted to arrest the leaders
of Parliament, and by that unconstitutional
act on his part, widened the breach and rem
dered reconciliation impossible. There have
been no more judicious and devoted friends
Of Constitutional Liberty than the leaders of
Parliament at that time. But the King ac-
cused them of treason, for resisting his
authority. Hume says: s'Herbert, Attorney
General, appeared in the House of Peers. and
in his Maiesty's name entered an accusation
of high treason against Lord kimbolton and
FIVE Commoners. Hollis, Hazlerig, Hamden,
Pym and Strobe"
And then the king sent an officer to the
House of Commons to arrest the accused
members. and his officer failing he went next
dav himself with his retinue, but was
unsuccessful. We refer our cotemporary to
the 55th chapter of Hume for full particulars,
but we call special attention to the following
significant remark of the Historian The
whole world stood amazed at this important
accusation so suddenly entered upon without
concert deliberation or reflection. Some of
these articles of accusation, men said, seemed
to be common between the impeached mem
bers and the Parliament: nor did these persons
appear any further active in the enterprises OF
which they were accused. than SO far as they
concurred with the majority in their votes
and speeches"
Is this not precisely the case in our Con-
eress? Are not two-thirds of both Houses
under the same condemnation with Sumner
and Stevens, for "keeping rebels ont in the
cold and refusing to surrender their rights
TO hebetter judgment ofthe President. And
if the world stood amazed in 1842 at such an
act by the English monarch, how much
greater would be the amazement of the world
in 1856 to behold an American President
guilty Of similar folly and tyranny under the
advice of our cotemporary yand bis sympsthiz-
ing confreres of the North, and their rebel
friends of the Southern press.
That act Of the King inaugurated war,
during which England was desolated, the
King perished on the scafold, many members
of Parliament fell on the battle field, like the
immortal IIamden, '.the noblest Roman ol
them all' and finally after the lapse Of
eleven years. Cromwell marched squad Of
soldiers into the same parliament, and attei
''blackguarding' the members, he turned
them out, locked the door, and put the key
in his pocket.
Now,as ourcotemporary and his co-conspira.
tors urged the President both to arrest mem
bers of Congress and to suppress that body
with file of soldiers, we referred to both
cases in our illustrative examples; and those
that like can take their choice.
IfPresident johnson was not Union Pres
ident. if he belonged to the combination ot
Copperheads and rebels who glory in defiance
of the laws Of the country. and IN open wal
against the Government, there might be some
reason to apprehend that he would listen tc
their counsels and enter into their schemes.
But he belongs to the law abiding and liberty
loving party, and cannot be coaxed into 9
reasonable overthrow of the Constitutions
Liberties OF the country, either by open traitors
or their tagging friends of the sympathetic
Copperhead persuation. And however ht
may differ with Congress, and how anx;ou,
soever Northern Copperheads and Southern
Rebels may be to see the country plunged
again into civil war, we trust that thew vii
not be gratifed. The President will still pur
sue Constitutional course, send in his recon
,rnnd,,,aa, crJ ~. r,tnos r. ha made p,nvt