The home journal. (Winchester, Tenn.) 1858-188?, 1866-04-14
Lord Chatham and President An
drew .JOhuS0u.

>hStiItilit oiNNNSNNA b" SNlluiN ttSo w
the premiership after the cxtinguish-
ment of q. fierce rebellion in Scotland !;
and Andrew Johnson became Presi-
dent ut the close of q terrific civil war.
The pcrils which encompass our Pres
ident are similar to those pcris which
confronted Lord Chatham when he en-
tered the halls of state. Hence the
proceedings of that brilliant statesman
furnish 4 historical lamp to our feet
and guide to our understanding.
On his succession to power he found
Scotland hating England, and England
hating Scotland; the Scotch were wri
thing under the bloody and brutal pen
aIties they have incurred by treasona
ble acts for several years. The En-
glish, led by the Duke Of Cumberland,
had slaughtered a pathway through ven
cradle cities and tlourishing villages
The devastation committed by the
British army on the sister kingdom
may be Judged Of by the fact that the
country, for fifty miles around the vic
torious soldiery, was plundered and
ravaged, not man or 4 house remain
ing. The English had made n desert,
and called it prosperity; they had crea-
ted a solitude, and called it happiness.
Scotland had been conquered in body,
but not in spirit; for murmurs of dis
content swept on the wings of every
breeze, and the Highland clans, whose
romantic rccollcctions were blended
with Scotch history for many centu-
rics, being dissolved by act of Paria-
ment, and the power of the chief over
his tribe broken, were still nurseries Of
treason in thought, if not in action. To
wipe away all record Of Scotland ma
tionaity, Parliament prohibited the
use Of the tartan plaid I'M Scotchman's
dress. Still, even this warfare upon
the many -colorcd stuff, which entered
into the garb of both men and women,
did not restore their affection for q
Government which prescribed them,
and did not induce them to pay greater
homage to those laws which offered
mercy to all but themselves.
AT this era, Lord Chatham became
Prime Minister. A large party of En-
glish noblcmen demanded Il contin-
uance of the old penal measurcsagainst
Scotland, but they mistook Lord
Chatham; he soon showed to them
that he was man of the purest hu
manity, as well as II statesman whose
lofty genius rose under a sense of duty
to the whole British empire, above the
sordid bias Of faction. The. plan he
proposed for healing these national
grievances was simple, and the meas
ures of true genius are always simple.
Knowing that races of proud men,
whose hearts pulsate with historic
blood, and whose memories are rescr-
vOirs of deeds whose worst features
are rashncss and Il mistaken pride, are
to be governed more through their
feelings than thought, through their
timc-honorcd prcjudices than by their
fears, he decided at once to appeal to
the self respect and good humor of the
Scotch. He repealed all cnactments
against their tartan garments, he re-
created Scotch regiments that had been
disbanded; he invited the young High
lanlcrs to enter the ranks of the army,
and gave commissions to the most de-
He granted their cities some
commercial privileges, and offered the
hand of fri cndship to whole irritated
people The effect was magical
Scotland became rcgeneratc. The
land of traitors spread out at once as
the land of patriots. RejOicings took
the place of groans, and smiles lighted
up faces that for years had been wrn-
klcd with irowns, or wet with tears.
The battlc-iiclds of Germany, Canada,
and IIindoostan, for Lord Chatham
was circllng the globe with the fires Of
the British valor, and the pealing music
of British victories, were glorious wit
nesses to the military prowess and un
shaken fidelity of the Scotch. The pen
of impartial history will ever delightto
record 50 precious an episode in the
epic of national grandeur. What En-
glishman would dare tear the page
from the annals of his country which
records the conquest of Chatham's ge-
MUS over every obstacle, Of his gentle
ness in subduing nations hatred, of
his sagacity which preferred to rule all
parts of widespread empire in love,
and which silenced discomfort, not by
making dissatisfaction of crime, but
by removing the grievance?
Andrew johnson has succeeded TO a
similar Inheritance of national trouble.
There are leaders in the United States
Senate to whom wise liberality offers
no pleasure, and even magnanimity is
positive pain, who, like the bigoted
nobility of England at the ear of Chat
ham, are crying for confscation of
property, for the banishment of promi.
nent chieftains, for the prescription Of
a whole race of intelligent persons, and
for the elevation of millions Of blacks,
who can neither read nor write, to such
civil privileges as they cannot exercise
with safety to the Constitution, nor
with a good effect upon the nations
welfare.
The President is in a situation sur
rounded with solemn relations. If he
listens to the advice of the demagognes
who besiege the Capitol, he will force