The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1867-11-22
Opinions.

Opinions.
From 1te N. Y. Tribune.
The Attorney-GeReral is one curious in
stance Gas Mr.. Johnson is another) of the
Importance which mankind attach to the views
of those who are much talked about. If Mr..
Stanbery were only private manufacturer of
writs, or a dispenser Of advice in chambers
upon moderate terms, nobody would think of
making a long journey for the purpose of pur-
chasing his opinion; if anybody should give
constitutional arguments over the signature of
"X. Y. Z."in a Washington newspaper the
serenity of the land would not be in the least
disturbed. Alas for the destiny of nations
This great republic, with all its performance
and with all its promise, with its immense
population and its remarkable commerce, and
its extraordinary wealth and its conceded in
telligenoe, and its brilliant hopes and its
swaTming newspapers, and its widely-dif-
fused education-this noble specimen of po-
Itioal progress, is agitated by the fact
that somebody with the initials "H. 50
sends legal opinion to the newspapers,
and the opinion being entirely wrong, it
is universally attributed to Mr.. Stanbery
And being supposed to be his, it is thought
to be of some importance and it is further
thought that perhaps the skies may fall and
that the river is in danger of combustionl The
legal opinions of Mr.. Johnson and Mr.. Stan
berry Why, Mr.. Sampson Brass and Miss
Sally, his sister, were certainly a more en-
couraging brace. Suppose that this opinion
had really turned out to be that of Mr.. Stan
bery-what then What is there so fright
fully mysterious about the Constitution Ifit
were in five hundred Volumes and written in
adead language, and edited by transcendental
philosopher, aud calculated by its occult pro-
visions to drive investigators mad; if it were
something which it required long life and a
longer head to comprehend, we might throw
ourselves upon the mercy of pundit like
Stanbery, or trust with child-lke confidence
in the expositions of the President. If it be
so unsatisfactory dubious in its language
that Congress cannot tell when to meet, how
much less can Congress decide what laws it
has authority to enact If the two mys-
terious initials, ''H. S." so fright us that
we forget that there may be another Henry in
the world besides Henry, the friend of Andrew,
we might just as well be the subjects of Stan
berry, governed by his decisions and guided by
his opinions, and politely hail him as our
mentor and master. But having made up our
minds-first, that there is nothing to be
frightened about in ''H. S., whether it mean
Henry Stanbery, or Horatio Seymour, or Hor-
ace Smith; and secondly, that Congress does
not meet by permission of Mr.. Stanbery at all
having determined that Congress has also a
right to adjourn without Mr.. Stanberys per-
mission, we are, then, in no danger of any
fatal shock to our nerves. Fix for once, in
your mind, dear reader, the precise value of
Mr.. Stanbery's legal opinion, and you will
be able to smile, and even to sing, whatever
communications signed "H. S." may be
printed. AS there is no limit to the inge-
nuity of the legal mind, suppose 'H. S''
should put out an opinion that Congress
has no right to meet at all without written
permission from the President Do the
wheels of the Government go by his permis-
sion? and is the motive power of all our law
making and aw-enforcing mysteriously hidden
either in his brains or his books AS il is i'm
possible to give an affirmative answer to these
questions, we would warn the excitable people
OF this country against panics which, after all,
may be occasioned by the fact that there is
another "H. 81 who gives opinions, and who
writes for the newspapers. 1t may be reas-
suring to reflect that there is power behind
the Attorney General greater than the Attor-
ney-General himself-that the representatives
of the people will probably prove equal to any
emergency which may arise, and that Con-
gres can and will meet whenever and wherever
time and place may seem to it to be legal.
Meanwhile let every man study the Constitu-
tion for himself. II is an easy document to
comprehend, if it be approached without any
feeling Of awe, and with the faculties of an
ordinary understanding in full play. With a
plenty of popular knowledge OF what Congress
can nghtfuly do, we have no fear Of the
future.