The Van Buren press., 1866-05-12
Radical Insanity.

If We had not ceased to he surprised
at anything We meet with in the disunion
organs, we might confess astonishment
at an inAammatory and revolutionary ar
ticlc in the Chicago Tribune, beaded
:. General Grants Absence 1t starts
with rcgrctting the announcement that in
the present complicated condition ofour po-
litical affairs, the Lieutenant General
should propose taking trip to Europe,
although il " "might be polite and even
delicate" it says, were we on the eve or
holding "national conventions for the
nominations of candidates for the Pres-
idency'g The editor continues: 5'1' 1'
7 But while the country has not actually rea-
ched crisis, there are many Indications that
II h rhpidly tending towards one In which ev-
cry influential American should be at his post.
We are not advised whether Gen. Grant leaves
of his own motion, or at the suggestion or by
the orders of his sole commanding officer. In
the former case the consent of both Is neces-
sary I'M the latter he may be the involuntary
agent of the Presidents will. But in any
event we cannot conceive how either OF these
officers could fOrsec such an absence without
foreshadOwing its possible effect in view of
certain contingencies which may become inn
minent at any moment Congress and the
President are at issue upon questions of con-
sttutional power and loyal intention, which
may, ut any time, precpitate the country into
another revolution. In the event Congress
shall exercise its constitutional power to inn
peach the President, the important fact which
will control all others will be the command Of
the army Gen. Grant if he remains. will be
the legal subordinate of the President and
bound to obey all lawful orders from his supe-
| rior. But all unlawful orders he will not be
obliged to obey, and he himself will be the
| only practical judge whether an order Is law
| ful or reasonable. A conceivable unlawful
order would be to thrust the rebel Represen-
| tatives into Congress, or to arrest Congress or
disperse 1t altogether. 1t is possible the House
of Representatives may present an impeach-
ment against the President tor refusal to obey
or execute some law of Congress, Us he has
already refused to obey at least Que, aid the
! National Intelligencer now announces SEMI
IOtiicially that he could not and would not
obey the Civil Rights bill. Should he stand
! thus impeached, there would still be the inter-
! val of time between his impeachment and con-
viction or discharge by the Senate, during
which he would not be under arrest and
would still remain nOminally in command
of tile army and navy. The country will ut
once perceive that In such crisis the utmost
| importance would attach to- the personal
charaster of the General in command of the
farmy, as Mr.. johnson would be very likely to
give orders which man Of southern sympa-
! thies might obey, but which would be rev0lu-
other hand might issue lawful orders for the
arrest of the President upon his conviction
and removal ftOm office, requiring an officer
of cool and conscientious patriotism to exc
cute. s.Iayy s.l fI eng'raJ sf
We have all respect and admiration for the
/ high military qualities of Maj. Gen. Sherman,
who. AS Grants second in command, would
succeed to the responsibilities OF his position
in his absence. While i'm any purely military
work, like that of crushing rebel armies ar
rayed against the Union, we would trust Gen
Sherman as soon as any man living. yet we
cannot forget that IN his terms of surrender
to Gen. Johnston, he leaped at once with star
Ting directness to the same policy to which
| President johnson has felt his way by ten
months Of slow, stealthy and insiduOus ap-
proaches. In vindication of his own judg-
ment at that time and of his consistency now
he would be more strongly tempted than any
loyal officer in our armies To sustain the scheme
of the President to whatever extremites il
| might lead. We express the conviction
strongly, therefore, because we feel earnestly
that from this hour on to the completion OF
| the work of reconstruction the country needs
Gen. Grant at his post.
Such crazy efiusions as the above il
lustrate the truth Of the ancient heather
adage d" Whom the gods will to destroy
they first deprive Of reason"
/ - ------------> -
Eyv Here is what the noted " deat
duck not long since wrote about jeff
Davis I'| ,,.i
"Hc jeff was close student, Chi
valrc opponent, a steadfast friend, gen
tleinan in all his relations, and in his
own family singularly kind and genial
Although undoubtedly the head and
heart Of the southern rebellion, he went
Into reluctantly, as all who heard his last
speech in the Senate will remember, wher
with broken accents and fearful eyes HI
i badc farewell at once to that body ant
to all true greatness. Jefferson Davis
was blessed with many accomplishments
He was alike soldier and q statesman
No public man Of my acquaintance wa'
4 more devoted to scientific pursuits, ant
more familiar with the abstruse teaching:
Of political philosophy. No branch o
human knowledge seemed to be unwor
! thy of his investigations" =
The somerset Of the - dead duck OF
political matters is only'cquallcd by tina
i OF the bepgar Dana, since he failed tt