The Portland daily press., 1866-09-28

THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY for October has a
variety of readable articles though few of re.
markable merit. A well written paper on the
"Darwinian Theory" is by G. j. Sprague one
ON "The Norman Conquest" by c. c. Hazewell;
and Mr.. Henry James jr., contributes a pleas
ant critical essay an "The Novels of George Ell
hot" The chapters of Griffith Gaunt" are
dull; the passages from Hawthorne,s Note
Books, good as ever. Ancient Etruscan art is
discussed in the article entitled "Scarabei ed
Altri;' there is a lively bit of dialogue on the
"Various Aspects of the Woman Question:" a
story entitled "Farmer HIPS Diary" and two
poems, "Miantowona" by T. B. Aldrich, and
"Her Pilgrimage" by III. B. Sargent. The po-
litical paper in this number is by Mr.. George
S. Boutwell,, and treats of "The Usurpation"
| of President johnson in the work of recon-
| struction. 1t is a compact and forcible state
| ment of the case as between Congress and Mr.
johnson, and will be widely read We extract
few brief passages, commencing with the fol-
lowing well-drawn portrait: 81
"Mr. johnson was and is Union man: but
he was not an anti-slavery man upon principle.
he was Southern State-rights man. He look
ed upon the national government as a necessi-
| ty, and the exercise of any powers on its part
| as danger. His political training was pecu-
liar; He had carried on a long war with slave
holders, but he had never made war upon slav-
| cry. He belonged to the poor white class In
his own language he was plebeian. The slave
holders were the patricians. He desired that
| all the white men of Tennessee, especially. and
| of the whole South, should be of one class-all
slaveholders-all patricians, if that were possi-
PIE; ana ne himself for time became one
Failing in this he was satisfied when all became
non-slaveholders and the patrician class ceased
to exist. Hence, as far as Mr. Johnson's opin-
IONS and purposes are concerned, the war has
accomplished everything for which it was un-
dertaken. The Union has been preserved, and
the patrician class has been broken down. Nat
urally Mr.. johnson is satisfied"
Mr.. Boutwell, thinks the explanation of Mr.
Johnson's singular course may be found in one
or in several of the following propositions:
II. That the rebel leaders have acquired
control over the President through the power
of some circumstance not known to the public
which enables them to dictate a policy to him
2. That he fears impeachment and conse-
quently directs all his efforts to secure more
than third of the Senate, so as to render con-
victiOn impossible. 10
to make the South unit in his favor as the
nucleus around which the Democratic marty of
| the North must gather in 1868.
| mat he desires to reinstate the South as
! o.AS AoiOc III tuc government OF the
country"
| After some remarks upon the evidences in
support of the above points, the writer thus
states the positions and elements of the oppos-
| ing par lies: f
1.-The Republican party desires liberty, indie
pendence and equal laws for all people; the
Presidential party seeks to Cypress the negro
race, to degrade the white race of the North Inv
deprlvlng every man of his due share in the
government OF the country, and finally to SUBJ
ject all the interests of the Republic to the ca
price, policy and passions of its enemies.
The Presidential party is composed of trail
| tors in the South who had the courage to fight.
of traitors in the North who had not the cour-
age to fight, of traitors in the North who had
not the courage or opportunity to assail their
government, OF small number of persons who
would follow the fortunes of any army if they
could be permitted to CLEAN the offal of the
camp, and yet smaller number who are led
to believe that any system of adju stment is
better than continuance of the contest"
Mr. Boutwell, concludes his admirable paper
as follows: At 80
Inc issue is well defined. Shall the Union
oe restored by usurpation, with its attendant
Pon5lcal inequality and personal Injustice to
.:Ca PEOPLE, and consequent civil war, or by
| ture peace of the country and then aoca,,.;,r.
the states recently in rebellion "a eomaIs "..SS
the people OF those States as friends and c; t;
zens with us of common countrva anu oi'l-
The question is not whether the iIn;on s,,.,,
be restored the Republican party contemn Sa
and seeks this result. But the auest;ppn ~
shall the Union be restored by usurpation-hn,
policy dictated by the rebels and fraught with
ali the evils of civil war? The seizure of the
government in the manner contemplated by
johnson and his associates destroys at once
the public credit, renders the public securities
worthless for the time, overthrows the banking
system, bankrupts the trading class, prostrates
ancial, industrial and social disorder"