Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1866-05-10
QD6lo Statesrlrarr,
.. ,[From the New Orleans Times.l ..|
President .BOhnsOh's Speech Of the
18Th Instant.

JTaJc OI STedJ DaJlOn. lJ Is GepleUe WlJn
"thOughts that breathe and words that
burn"-full OF American fire-the fire of
American patriotism. 1t lis very eloquent
speech, which places its author high upon
the list, not only among statesmen, but ora
tors. Chatham upon the stand engaged in
the task OF putting down his adversaries
never welded keener or more flashing
blade than President johnson has employ
ed Oh this occasion In putting down trail
tors. How lie chases these innOvators upon
the Constitution Into what corners he
drives these soi-disant reformers of the
Government! And when he encounters
the enemies of the people and their rights,
hand to hand, one sword against thousand
swords, how he hacks them down and dis
misses them briefly to the shades Address
ed to the soldiers and sailors of the country
assembled at Washington, this speech, call
ed forth by an eventful crisis, and dwelling
emphatically on the state of affairs review
ing the melancholy past with all the regrets
it awakens, and considering the mOment-
GUS present with all theduties it enjOins on
| the patriot and the statesman, is equally IN
teTesting to the whole American people, OF
all conditions, stations and avOcatiOns-tO
all, in word, who have hearts to tremble
at the dangers by which we are surrounded,
and sagacity to appreciate the measures
which the President Suggests for their re-
mOval. ' "
The President has had difficult course
to pursue. The condition in which the
country was left by the war, a war of in
tellect, as we'll as blows, on both sides, inn
posed on him heavy responsibilities.
timid spirit would have hesitated to assume
those responsibilities. A dull mind, unfit
ted to grappe with the course of events,
| nnuln huu uTh lfl m
which the path of duty was surrounded
1t required rare ability and uncommon
nerve to fulfill the functions appertaning to
the Presidential Office at such period; and
the course Of his administration, thus far,
proved that he POSSESSED these valuable and
Indispensable qualities in pre- eminent de-
gree. We are thankful to DiYine Provi-
dence for raising up statesman OF such
fixed principles and distinguished ability,
to execute task of the gravest and most
difficult character that has ever deyolved
upon any individual IN the course of our
histOry-the task OF maintaining the in
tegrity of the Federal Constitution against
the combined and malignant assaults of a
party the most formidable from its numeri-
cal force and Obstnacy of any that has ever
arisen in our country-the task of restoring
dsmembered nation to union and har-
mOny. .... .............. .f-
The Presidents motives have been misin-
terpreted, He has been the object of cal
umny. Every good and great man who
maintains the cause of justice and of his
country against the designs of Interested
partisans, IN times of extraordinary excite
| ment, is pretty sure to provoke assaults
upon. the integrity of his course. The pure
and incorruptible Washington and his enc
mics, who had the unblushing affrontery to
| denounce him as "a hoary- headed traitors"
| Socrates, the wisestand best of the Grecian
sages did not escape censure and ultimate
| condemnation, and was made to drink the
hemlock. Fortified by such examples,
| President Johnson need not regret the cir
cumstances which have brought him in col
| lisiOn with a powerful party, who indulge
in general allegations without point, and
who, without suggesting any reasons justi-
fying so extreme a course, vociferously cry
out, "Impeach him impeaOh himw Such
are the penalties which this stern and in
flexible patriot has to pay for his virtue
and independence. In the meantime, he Is
sustained by consciousness of his own
purity, and by a sense of the obligations he
| is under to maintain the rights and liberties
| of the people of the United States, whoever
NAV be his enemies and calumniators, and
however numerous and desperate they may
| be. i.. r-" ..- ... .,.r. ...
We are glad to see him turning the tables
adroitly on those asSailants Of the South.
Z" When the rebellion in Massachusetts was
put down." he pertiEently asks, " did that
put Massachusetts, out OF the Union, and
destroy the State? When the rebellion in
Pennsylvania was put down, did that de-
stroy the State, and put it out OF the
Union? So, when the great rebellion was
| 4 ba n ftf nd la uvc nf
| the country were restored, the States en-
gagged in the rebellion being crushed, the
| law restored, and the Constitution ac-
knOwledged in them, they stood in the
| Union and Constitution, a portion of the
| glorious, bright galaxy of States"
| There can be no doubt of it. These
| States, Notwithstanding all that has come
and gone, secession, war, clamOr and intes-
| tine disorder, are as much in the Union
now as they ever were, President johnson
affirms, as did his predecessor In office, that
the war was waged to put down rebellion
and restore the Union. He declares fur
ther, that these objects have been fully at
tanned by it; that the harmony of the ma
| tion is secured; that the States once rebel
| lious, but now friendly, are entitled to their
representation in the halls OF Congress;
that the denial of this right by the party
| HOW III IuG dSCClluduCy9 anu OllO uOlu dG-
tempt to monopolize and concentrate all
power in their own hands, are revolution
airy in their character; and, finally, that a
duty devolves upon him under the COnsti-
tutiOn-which he will be sure to fulfill in
the future as he has in the past-to arrest
the course of all such ill-timed, and mis-
chlevous and illegal proceedings; for the
| justification of his course he appeals to the
| dispassiOnate and deliberate Judgment of a
patriotic people, who, we are satisfied, will
not only acquiesce in his determination and
measures, but will thoroughly approve and
applaud them. av s.an i. ,...r....r.....
Mrs. Jeff Davis Visits her Husband
We clip the following, in relation to the
interview between Mrs. JEFF. Davis and her
husband, from the correspondence OF the
New York Herald:
LAT half-past eight O'Clock Lieutenant
Fessenden, Fifth United States Artillery,
waited upon her to escort her inside the
fort. Her child accompanied them. She
| 80 HonnrnI Milns' hoa1nua rtprS