, 1866-10-22

tho army and navy, attending opcn-afr meet.
tngs, making furious partisan speeches. and
freely interchnnEing alternate billfnrsrato
and compliments With the mob! The par
allel, as the writer admits, Is not strictly
accurate, but. substantially, 1t Is close enough
dent johnson is now engaged. At ali events,
1t will enab1e Engllshmep to mt themsclyes
pretty nearly in the position of the great
Republican party Of the North and the West;
and thus some faint Idea may be formed OF
the feeling excited not less by the personal
conduct OF Mr. johnson than by his policy.
1.-THE errors Of the President were 5impIy
crrors OF taste, they might te regarded as
matters Of fcompaEatlvcly triaing importance.
In England, no doubt, any statesman who did
what ar; johnson Is now doing would lose
place and power foFeyer-wou1d utterly dc.
stroy bis personal influence, and would pro-
badly shatter his party. In the United States
1t is doubtless the fact that much Yidcr
measure Of liberty Is allowed to public men
than has ever been, or is ever likely to lie,
Republic are much less sensitive than wc
arc to breaches If those conventional "pro-
pricties" which, in older and aristocrat.
ic countries, hedge in the movements
Of Kings and statesmen; A ruder
public ists asposes the hsatis1 to tone
done eccentricity or even extravngance Of
manner, in consideration of honesty Of pur-
pore. fidelity to principle, aud real desire 10
sustain the greatness Of the Republic. But
Mr. johnson has altogether gone bcyond tie
nente, but bis advocates unite 10 condemn
the tone and manner Of his recent speeches.
aud to deprccate the continuance Of q dis.
play which would be d1scrcditablc to pro
iessed "stunp'' orator. and which is in-
deccnt on tie part Of the C4icI Magistrate Of
Il ~ eat nation. The writer from whom We
t.. ,k1rsAdr f,ntA1-fbn mt or
the Daay Nt,rs-thus pescribes the cttrct pro-
duced III the North by Mr.. Johnson's conduc:
during the few weeks which preceded
tho despatch Of the last mail: ~
Eave Que says) already spoken Of his spcechsr
during bis late tour. L shall lot now recus
they have stirred the public Of the free States
1s no other man has ever stirred them befprc
lie llns now, for ten days. day by day. abused
and rcviled rs traitors everybody here who
differs from him-put mon, too, who have
poured out their blood for the Union, and
given their sons for 1t, in the same catecorv
with Davis and Toombs; and dune this III
Terms 50 gross and insulting that peoples
lips grow white when they talk Of it. Ills
best friends dare not defend Him. His organ,
The New York Times, has bren compelled, by
the widespread Indignation. to dcpto7e these
speeches, mud to confess their fully and i1n.
pcrtinence-"
So much for the personal part Of the qucs-
tfon. Grave us this un1ucstiouably is. the
political aspect Of it Is, however, still more
important. Mr.. johnson is engaged in con-
tlict not merely with both Houses Of Con-
Gress, but with his former party, with the
Eseat body Of Unionist citizens, with almost
the whole OF the fUrccs--pllyscal and moral
by which tue free North accomplished its
victory over the hlayehollsng South, 4
Sot1tllcrncr hy birth, education, and feeling,
hc opposed the Southern leaders simply ii,
the question Of the maintenance Of the
Union. On nll other points, lie was, In heart,
entirely with them, even on tlat Of slavery,
which, indeed, lie abandoned only as mcails
Of restoring the Union. This restoration
Objected, Ar; johnson Is once more
Sonthcrner. He Insists that the Southern
States shall come back again into the Union
on thc same footing, aud with the same rights
which they enjoyed before the war-al-
though this policy confcsscdlY Involves tho
renewal OF Southern supremacy. aud the rir-
tral sacrifice of mest, II not Of NIL, the chief
objects OF the war. This is the real contest
between the President and the Republican
1arty. The latter are determined that the
South shall give sufficient guarantees for its
acceptance of "Sorthern ideas Of govern
ment, Of society, and Of human rights" In
institution. the North will not submit to be
ruled in q aslarcholdinc spirit; It will not leave
unsettled Questions which, If not decided at
once and completely, may give rise before
long 10 another ciyil war, not less obstinate,
and In some respects more dangerous than
ed, the President and his southern support.
Ers will te the losers in this conflict.
The State and municipal elections which
lave already taken place have glyco iu-
creased 1nojorities to the Republican party.
Those which are about to come of ure cx-
The significance Of this will be gathered
from the circumstance that these elections
are in no case decided by questions Of lor.l
Politics in every instance they are fought
nut upon the broader Issues OF national
policy. It is Republican against Democrat.
| North against South, freedom against
slavery, constitutlonalism against the qu4si
dictatorship which the President is attempt
| Ing to set mp. The local elections consc-
1ucntfy, afford trustworthy Indications Of
| the course which will tc taken at the up
preaching Congressional elections aud
| these, in their turn, will furnish tol:r.bly
/ safe guido to the issue Of the next election
/ for President.
According to the hest information which
reaches US from the United States, the state
Of olitical affairs is capable of clear and
&,rict definition. On the one side Is the Prcsi-
dent, the bulk Of the Southerncrs, and Sec
| lion Of the Northern pcople-a section COM
laratiycly small, OF moderate influence, aud
not animated by fixed resolutions Of purp pose,
0r, indeed, having very distinct ideas beyond
the unconditional rca4lnfssion OF the South.
On the other side is a considerable, though
lists, aud the great bulk uf the Northerners-
m who have very decided views as to the
duty Of protecting the negro, and COM
r!ctely fleeing the Republic from slave.
holding domination. These, be it noted,
arc thu men who conquered in the war,
Union will be composed in the future, This
being the state Of things, 1t Is painful to OBJ.
serve that certain English journals chiefly
those proftssccly or virtually Conservative
nre beginning TO repeat the astounding series
Of blundcrs into which they fell during the
more Insist upon the possession Of Il closer nc.
quaintance with American politics than Ii
c1ai1ncd by the Americans themselves, Tn
luuntcd by previous failures, they renew tlls
prophecies which hut lately covered them
With. shame and confusion: While the
direction, and wns tec1ing to and fro
preparatory to lis fall, these Journal.
confidently predicted the triumph Of Mr.. Da
| Wis and his associates, and the establik khMen
Of slave-ho!ding aristocracy. They blum
dered in their information, they blnnderct
IN their Arguments. they biundcred wors,
than all in their predictions: They arc nov
bent nron repetition Of the same mis-
chievous error. They seek to persuade thei
readers that Mr. 1ohrsuu las at his },Acl
l lHhH NVsIe!!lul!UH AHA Lux pcOfHG. HEl
affect to believe. perhaps they do believe
there is no f1thominS the depths Of preju
dice and igno7nncc-tfA1 the American peo
pic will submit to the restoration Of a yok
which It cost them hundreds Of thousands q
livcs, and hundreds Of millions q
treasure, to shake Oft. We earnest
Is hope the English people vii
not suffer themselves to be de}uded n 6ccon
time. The experience of the past shonl
make us wiser in the future; and
will be 1anlcntab'c error II England throw
AWAY the bitter experience she acquired dul
ing the late war. The Misrepresentation!
the calu1nnice. the hostility. and the blul
ders of section Of the British press durin
the var, did infinite mischief by embtterin
the Americans agaInst us. Tie soothing /,
aucuce Of time md the moderate policy
the late Government have done much 10 q
lay the irritation thus excited. If We reyl,
il, We shall be guilty Of blunder far wor:
and more dangerous than any yet conuittt
in the treatment Of American questions t
the press Of this country.
AN ADMINISTRATION PLOT