Bradford reporter. [volume] (Towanda, Pa.) 1844-1884, 1866-11-01
VOLUME XVII.

aspire to? From his contented mediocrity
as alderman of village, the people have
| insisted on eleyating him from one pinnacle
OF greatness to another, until they have al
| last made him President of the United
States. He might have been Dictator had
| he pleased {; but what to- a man wearied
with authority and dignity would dictator
| ship be worth? If he is proud of anything
! ii is OF the tailor's bench, from which he
started. He would have everybody under
stand that he is humbIe-thoroughly hum
BILE. Is this caricature? No; it is i'm
| possible to caricature Andrew johnson
when he mounts his high horse of humility
and becomes u sort of cross between Uriah
Heep and Josiah Bounderby, of Coketown.
Indeed, it is only by quoting Dickens des-
cription OF the latter parsonage that we
| have anything which fairly matches the
traits suggested by some statements in the
Presidents speeches. 4 big, loud man" +"
says the humorist, with a stare aud d
metallic laugh. a man made out of coarse
material, which seemed to have been street
ched TO make so much Of him. 4 man with
/ q great putftd head and forehead, swe!ed
veins IN his temples, and such a strained
| skin to his face that it seemed to hold his
eyes open and lift his eyebrows up. a man
with pervading appearance on him Of be
ing inflated like d la! Don, and ready to
start. man who could never sufficiently
vaunt himself seIf-made man. 4 man
who was continually proclaiming, through
that brassy speaking-trumpet of voice Of
his, his old ignorance and his old poverty.
A man vino was tue bully OF humility"
If we turn from the moral and personal
to the mental characteristics Of Mr. John
sons speeches, we find that his brain is 20
be Ciassed with notable cases Of arrested
development. He has strong forces in his
nature, but in their outlet through his mind
they are djssipated into a confusing clatter
Of unrelated thoughts and inapplicable
phrases. He seems to possess neither the
power nor the perception of coherent think
ing and logical arrangement. He does not
appear. to be aware that prepossessions are
not proofs, that assertions are not argu-
ments, that the proper method to answer ali
objection is not to repeat the proposition
against which the objection was directed
that the proper method Of unfolding sub
iect is not to make the successive state
ments series Of contradictions. Indeed,
he seems to have a thoroughly animaljzed
intellect, destitute of the notion of rela-
tions, with ideas which are but the form Of
determinations, and which derive their
force, not from reason, but from will. With
an individuality thus strong even to fierce
ness, but which has not been developed in
the mental region, and which tue least gust
Of passion intellectually upsets, he is inc
pabIc Of looking at anything out Of rela-
tions to himself--of regarding it from that
neutral ground which is the condition of in
telligent discussion between opposing
minds. In truth, he makes virtue of be-
ing insensible to the evidence Of facts and
the deductions Of reason, proclaiming to
all the world that he has taken his position
that he will never 5werve from it, and that
all statements and arguments intended to
shake his resolves are imp rtineuces, indi-
eating that their authors are Radicals and
enemies Of the country. He is never wca-
ry Of Wanting his firmness, and frmness
he doubtless has, the firmness Of at least
score Of mules but events have shown
that it is a different kind Of frmness from
that which keeps statesman firm to his
principles, a political leader to his pledges,
gentleman TO his word. Amid all changes
Of opinion, he has been conscious Of uu-
changed will, and the intellectual element
forms so small a portion Of his being, that,
when he challenged {" the man, woman, or
child to come forward and convict him of
Inconsistency to his professions, he knew
that, however it might be with the rest Of
mankind, he would himself be unconviuced
by any evidence which the said man or wo-
man, or child might adduce Again, when
he was asked by one Of his audience why
he did not hang jeff. Davis, he Ietorted by
excIaiming "Why don't you ask me why
! have not hanged Thad. Stevens and Hen,
dell Phillips They are as much traitors
as Davis" And we are almost charitable
enough to suppose that he saw no differ
ence between the moral or legal treason of
the man who for four years had waged OPP
en- war against the Government of the Uni
ted States and the men who for one year
had sharply criticized the acts and utter
ances OF Andrew Johnson. 1t is not to be
expected that nice distinctions will be made
by magistrate who is in the habit of de-
nying indisputable facts with the fury of a
pugilist who has received a personal af-
front, and Of announcing demonstrated fall
Iacies with the imperturbablc serenity Of a
philosopher proclaiming the fundamental
ly ridden by his will, and of all the public
men in the country its official head is the
one whose opinion carries with it the least
intellectual weight. 1t is to the credit of
our institutions and our ststemen that the
man least qualified by largeness of mind
and moderation of temper to exercise un-
controlled power should be the man who
aspired to usurp it. The constitutional in,
stinct in the blood and the constitutional
principle in the brain of our real statesmen
preserve them from the folly and guilt of
setting themselves up as initiative of C@-
| sars and Napoleons the moment they are
trusted with little delegated power.
| Still we are told that, with all his defects,
Andrew Johnson is to be honored and sup
| ported as conservative" President en-
| gagged in a contest with Radical Con-
! gress ! 1t happens, however, that the two
persons who specially represent Congress
in this struggle are Senator'S Trumbull and
Fessenden Senator Trumbull is the auth
or Of the two important measures which the
President vetoed Senator Fessenden is
| the chairman and organ of the Committee
Of Fifteen, which the President anathema-
/ ties. Now we desire to do justice to the
/ gravity Of face which the partisans Of Mr..
/ Il