Western Reserve chronicle. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1855-1921, 1866-04-11
PRESIDENTIAL PRACTICE AND
PROFESSIONS.
Alleged DupIicity of Andrew
Johnson.
severe Charges by Hon. D. W. Kelley.

On Thursday night Hon. William D.
Kelley delivered the sixth of his lectures
before the Social, Civil and Statistical
Association of the Colored People of
Philadelphia. His subject was the Dan
gers and Duties of the Hour. He opened
by drawing parallel between our pres
ent national situation and that of France
previous to Napoleon's infamous coup
d etat, of December I'd. 1851. He said
that the American people need fear no
sudden overthrow of their Government.
The power of France was in Paris, but
there was no Capitalization with US. We
have to apprehend infdelity to the prin.
ciples of our Government by those who
administer it. The power of patronage
in the hands of the Executive was es
pecially dangerous, and Mr.. Kelley hoped
that there would before long be Consti-
tutionaI amendment taking out of the
Presidents hands this almost unlimited
disposal of public Offices. He then re-
viewed the political life of Andrew John
son, showing that as Senator he voted
for Southern measures, with the excep
ton of the Homestead bill; said that his
national reputation was based on his f.
deity to the Union when the Southern
Senators resigned their seats; and motto
ed his strong Union speeches and this
previous to and succeeding his election
to the Vice Presidency. He then de-
scribed his recent acts, and read the let
ter froI, Governor Brownlow, in which
the deplCrable condition and prospects of
affairs in Tennessee were portrayed
Having produced these aud other eViden-
ces of Mr.. Johnson's failure to carry out
his frequently expressed determination
to punish traitors and make treason
odious, and his abandonment of Union
men, Mr.. Kelley asked: "Do not his de-
nunciations of Congress remind you of
Louis Napoleon's cry that the Congress of
France had become hot bed of plots
and conspiracies And has he, under
the tuition of his new friends been study
ing the history of revolutionary France,
that he denounces the joint Committee
on Reconstruction, composed as it is OF
fifteen of the purest Statesmen of the
country, as an irresponsible central di-
rectory? That phrase recalls to mind
the incidents of the 18th Brumaire. He
should have known his countrymen bet
ter than to have referred to such an ex-
ample.
On the Brumaire, the executive power
of France was in Central Directory
The condition of the country, as we find
it in Theirs, reminds us of that of the
unhappy South. He says, after referring
to the victories of Mount Tabor and
Aboukir, "the greatest perils wre not
without, but within. The disorganized
government, unruly parties which would
not submit to authority, and which new
ertheless, were not strong enough to pos
sess themselves of it-a kind of social
dissolution everywhere, and robbery a
sign of that dissolution, infesting the
high roads, especially in provinces torn
by civil war-such was the state of the
republic"
! At day break of the ninth of NoVem-
| Der, known as the 18th Brumaire, the
boulevards were filed with q splendid
body of cavalry, and all the Generals in
Paris repaird in full dress to the Rue
Chantereine. To Iull the suspicious of
the President of the directory, Bonaparte
| had announced to him Familiarity that he
would dine with him on that day. The
leaders of the Deputies of the Ancients,
in pursuance of conspiracy, had deter
mined to announce st the opening of the
session that the Republic was in danger,
but to allay the fears of the uncorrupted
members by assuring them it would be
saved by the protecting arm of General Bo-
naparte. On the arrival of the unusual
hour at which the meeting had been
called, the President of the commission
charged with watching over the legisla-
tive body opened the proceedings. The
Republic" said he, sis menaced at once
by the anarchists and the enemy; we
must instantly take measures for the pub
lie safety. We may reckon on the support
of General Bonaparte. 1t is under the
shadow of his protecting arm that the
Councils must deliberate on the measures
required by the interests of the Republic
The speaker declared debate or remon-
stance to be out of order and the decree
was adopted The soldiers, who believed,
as did the people, that they had been Or
dered out for review, surrounded the
Hall of the Ancients, and Bonaparte
attended by Moreau, Macdonald,
Berthier, Murat, Lannes, Marmont and
LefebVre, entered and proceeded to the
bar of the Hall of the Ancients.
After "a moments pause, Bonaparte said:
Citizen Representatives the republic
was about to perish when you saved it;
woe to those who shall attempt to oppose
your decree; aided by my brave compan-
ions in arms, will speedily crush them
to the earth. You are the collected wis
dom of the nation; it is for you to point
out the measures which may save it. I
come, surrounded by all the Generals, to
offer you the support of their arms. L
name Lefebvre my lieutenant. l will
faithfully discharge the duty you have
entrusted to me. Let none seek in the
past examples to regulate the present.
nothing in history has any reSe mblance
| to the close of the eighteenth century;
nothing in the eighteenth century re-
/ sembles this moment. We are resolved
to have a republic; we are resolved to
have it founded on true liberty and rep
resentiVe system. l Sl0sor it in my own
name and in that of my companions in
arms" From the moment in which he
uttered that hollow oath till that of his
downfall the story of Bonaparte was the
history of the French Government. The
purjury-freighted breath of him who
swore to protect the Republic had killed
\ it. The power which enabled Bonaparte
to destroy the republic he thus swore to
protect, was dissimulation; the essential
agency was the success with which he i'm
pressed the chiefs of the different parties
with the belief that he was controlled by
the ideas in which they had faith.
DIssIMULATIoN OF THE PRESIDENT.
After instancing the numerous discrep-
ancies between the Presidents declared
intentions and his contrary practice, Mr..
Kelley continued. He said:
Bold as partial success has made him,
he still, in his public addresses, speaks of
loyalty, and in his celebrated interview
with the Legislature OF reconstructed
Virginia, which occurred the day after
he exhibited himself in such painful con-
trast with the representatives of the Gin
ferior race" whom he had honored with
an interview, he insisted that none but
loyal men must be admitted to the coun-
ellis of the nation. 1t is, however, fortu
nate for the country that he is less ret
icent than Bonaparte, or not so excellent
! reader of the hearts of men, or that our
more popular Government constrains
more frequent expression of opinion, for
he has enabled US to understand the sig
ni6cance with which he uses the word
! l. Al. ,zl,r hrrv Tnh