Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1867-02-14
TrFE IoNG PARIIAMENT AND THE
GUenRW d-nN6sKEGI


trast and vet there are points both
\ similitude and of contrast quite wortl
- of remark after a space of more tht
. two hundred years. Some members
congress have fancied that Presidel
90 Johnson was a Charles the First, M
. that congress was engaged in the san
06 arduous struggle against eXecuu'
Ks power that distinguished the long pa
lament!
At the meeting of the long parliamen
N the king of Eng aud possessed the vi
So doubted prerogative of calling, pr
% rouging and dissolving parliament,
" remove and appoint the judges OF n
courts to subserve his political purpose
- He also claimed the right to levy duue
y, called tonnage and poundage, 10 levy an
collect taxes as ship money, to imprlso
Is his subjects without assigning any Othe
cause than his will, TO try otfenses un
n known to the common law in the staI
II chamber and marshal's court, and gen
orally to govern England as an aTOltrar.
e monarch, without regarding its anclen
constitution and fundamental law. IN
first great work Of the long parliamen
p was to correct grievances auu limit In
prerogatives of the crown.
The president has power to cOnVen'
Z ! congress on extraordinary occasions, ant
r TO adjourn it when the two houses can
! not agree on a day of adjournment, ant
a qualified veto. He cannot interiors
with its existence, or prevent its perpet
ual session. He cannot remove lh'
{ Judges, nor influence their decisions
He can draw no money from the Treas
Jury until appropriated by congress, MOI
can he tax the people in any form oil
manner.
TCtL;s sbort oongrsSa yvara eudaavorinp
10 destroy the power assumed by the I'M
mediate predecessor Of the president oi
tEe United States, of arbitrary arrests
prolonged imprisOnments, aud the trial
Of civilians for alleged crimes which were
not crimes by any known law OF the
land, there would then, in this particular,
be a strong analogy between its action
and that Of the long parliament.
But the reverse Of this is the fact As
singular as il may appear, congress has
done and Is doing all that it can to JUS
tifv those most arbitrary and cruel pro-
ceedings, and even gees so far as 10
threaten and GeuounCe the court for rul-
ing in favor of the citizens undOubted
right TO liberty, and that trials by court
martial are illegal and void. Here, then,
is a contrast. marked and remarkable,
I the long parliament favOring liberty and
/ restraining arbitrary arrests and i'm
uri-Ouments, the short congress support
inc. defending the unqualified exercise
of absolute power IN the president,
goiug to the utter destruction of liberty
Z and the rights of an impartial trial by
jury.
Again, the long parliament set itself
] zaal0usly to work TO free the people OF
! England from various abuses and oppres-
sio1s. of which taxation was the most
/ pressing. IN contrast, the short congress
| IS racking its prolific brains 10 invest and
/ impose new taxes, TO increase those
already levied to grab with the hands of
spendthrifts the public money for them
/ selves. TO make these heavy burdens
/ yrosslv UNEQUAL, by levying heavily upon
/ those articles OF necessary consumption
/ used bv the lab0ring mass of the pOpula-
! tioD. and tightening those Of the wealthy.
| Roth the long parliament and this con-
! gress provided by law to perpetuate their
/ sessions.
King Charles and the long parliament
came 10 a rupture as TO which should
have the sword, or the right TO order and
control the military power Of the cOun-
try. Not being able TO agree, each IN
dsrtook to WELD il against the other in
civil war, which finally ended in the
destruction of both parties, and the in
staIlatiOn Of military dictator.
That decisive settler and ultimate and
uuerriug reasOner is in the hands Of the
president, but sheathed-nOr can he use
/ II unless congress shall supply the means
OF e0uipping and feeding the men when
called into actual service. But congress
wants this sword impatiently, and can
as vet see no way to get possession Of it,
hut by forcibly taking it out of the hands
of the president, removing him from Of
fee, appointing a creature of its own to
hold and use il as it shall will and direct.
Why il wants this power, or for what
DDrnose il intends to use it, il is not yet
fullv developed. 1t certainly means to
maintain arbitrary arrests, imprlsOn-
ments- -habeas corpus suspensions, MILL
tarv court martials for the trial Of clti-
gens. suppression of newspapers, and su-
D-rfntendenee of funefals, these being
the suDaulltTgl bOnUHl of its nations of good
government.
As the president does not draw his
sword against congress, and as the latter
j. without weapons of otfense-other
than words-there is at present pause.
Congress is apparently trying TO make
Gen. Grant speak-to learn now Tar they
may go, and when they must stop. lie
i. still silent-meditating. What will
Grant do" is a question daily, hourly
a.ked. and with a constantly increasing
anxiety. VIII Grant support the presi-
deBt il we attempt to arrest and crush
him Who knows what this silent man
may say OF dOe May he, too, not have
looked into the history of the long par
lament, and send some Col. Pride to
purge Us, if we 90 too far? Then there
Is the precedent of the Maryland legisla-
ture, fresh aud unrepudiGted. What
can hinder him from sending as to Fort
Z NIrHeUry, LAFAYETTE, or Warren, and
/ the president may suspend the habeas
! corpus And how are We to get out?
The long parliament finally came to
/ grief, and so may this short congress, If
| ii uversteps its legitimate constitutional
/ boundaries.
| The lamented Lincoln has left the
prssideut and his successors a valuable
precedent for dealing with recusant leg
! i4Iative bodies, and for refusing the writ
I Of habeas corpus when the country is in
/ danger, Of which the president is the sole
/ judge!
No wonder then that congress hesi-
/ tates, baUlks the whip and spur OF its self
constituted leader, whose mind IS eVi-
IDENTIFY shattered, diseased by vanity or
! imbeciIity. No wonder that il grows
anxious to know what the silent general
meditates when he quietly smokes his
| inexhaustable cigar
One thing, at least, congress ought to
; know, that silent man, who says moth
/ ing, not even his prayers, Gunibiy, can
not have any reverence whatever for a
company of magpies eternally chattering
and cacsling over added eggs; and that
| casting his thoughts beyond the present
hour and peering through the fog anC
/ foam Of the recent elections, he sees that
this great country, ever biest with pas
prosperity, enriched by almost boqndless
wealth, cannot be kept within the stays
and straight Jackets in which mad, vio-
lent men are attempting to cOnfine it.
II cannot be crammed within the mar
row. bigoted, self-sufficient boundary Of
Massachusetts,
The long parliament had frequent op'
portunities OF establishing the liberties oi
ENGLAND upon firm and durable basis
of completing the work that HampdeI
and Pvn and other leaders undertook
and of crowning the work with success
hut the parliament fell into the hands o
fts Summers and Stevens, and attempted
work for which it was not called, an'
which it could not accomplish, anC
opened the way for a military dictator.
This short congress has also bad hk'
/ opportunity OF closing civil war non
orably upon the grounds upon which /
was undertaken and prosecuted bu
ike the long parliament, it refuses t
z declare its work finished, and persist
5 in its visionary efforts, not only to she's
the wolf, but 10 place him in the sheep
fold.
il can, "a brief time, produce crisi:
throw public affairs into confusion, an
3 create s necessity that will compel Col
Grant to speak to it in q very clear an
o inteliigibls manner, and one tAat wi
e solve all its doubts.
5 GEORGE PEABODY's LATEST GIFT
{ In connection with Mr.. George Pei
3. hody's latest magnificent gift, the follow
: ing letter and resolutions will explai
= themselves:
+. To the Hon. Robert c. Winthrop, OF Massaehl
a ! sets Hen. Hamilton Fish, Of New EOrl
= Right Rev. Charles p. Mcllvainei Of OH
i Gen. L s. Grant, of the United states arm
Y Hon. Wm. C. Rives, Of Virginia, Hon. J Oh
h Clifford, Of Mas sachuse.tsr Hon. Wu
Aiken, of South Carolina, WGn. NJ. Evan
& ESQ, or New York, Hon. VIM. A. Graham,
q horsu Carolina, Charles Macalester, OF PEN
! sylvania, Geo. "A Riggs Esq.t of WAshingto
samuel Wetmore, Of New York. Edward
: Bradford, Esq OF Louisiana, Geo A. Eato
It of Maryland, and George Peabody Russell,
Massachusetts.
n Gentlemen: / beg to address you on