Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1868-04-23

Evarts and Curtis do all they can TO keep
him in his seat, but Butler, by a demoni'
acal.grin and pricking, can get him up at
any time, so hot and out Of patience that
his words fail him, he founders about,
and finally effects nothing. One day he
compelled Evarts to sit down while he,
himself replied to Butler, which he did
badly. Mr.. Stanbery is not a practical
talker-his voice is musical, but his elo-
cution is not thorough, and the latter
part Of every sentence is drowned. He
is evidently q thorn and an embarrass'
ment to his two colleagues; for the other
two, Groesbeck and Nelson, are lay fig
ures merely. Stanbery is too much OF a
gentleman to cope with Butler. In a
cursing match your gentleman does not
shine. Your greyhound in dog-pit
shows his fine blood only to she'd it, Fine,
delicate, straight, high-principled Stan
berry is in Buffers hands like white
captive at Sioux roasting. Old Jerry
Black, with his grim, genial mannerisms
and tough gristle, could have managed
Butler as Tom Hyer fought Yankee Sui
livan. Yankee spared, and swore, and
lodged, and ducked, but Hyer. simply
knocked him down. When they came to
wrestle, Hyer stood up and Sullivan
didn't-because it was impossible.
You have little idea, at your distance
from the capital, of the pressure brought
to bear upon the Senate to make them
convict Mr.. johnson. Not only are the
mails full of admonitory letters, entrea-
ties, appeals to ambition and fear, and
laments for the party, if johnson be not
convicted but the Republican newspa-
pers, in the majority of cases, flourish
the whip and imprecate upon the per-
sonal heads of their Senators. Northern
men who live in the South, have been inn
ported here to add their beseechings. 1t
Is almost needless here to add that all
those present are aspirants for office in
the Southern States. At the head of
the whippers-in are such men as Kelley,
of Pennsylvania, who receives most OF
these refugees and consigns them to
Forney, who in turn, blows upon his
chronical nose, and asks Heaven to in
terfere. Heaven and the opposite place
let Forney alone, as unworthy the vir-
tues of either.
need not say more upon this ques-
ton, except to add that very many Re-
publicans like myself, who believe Mr..
Johnson to be an unworthy man and the
candidate of reckless nominating con-
vention, and whs came here with some
hope that there would be charges against
him grave enough to get us rid of him,
have felt insensibly while attending this
trial, fears of q graver SORT s
General Butler is not believer in a
democratic form ofgovernment He has
said so not once, but often and openly.
He has called popular government a
farce, and counted the number of years
that he will give it to run. He believes
in the coup d etat, the empire, the strong
military hand-the very thing, in short,
which he is indcting Mr.. johnson for
doing in mere intent. Here, then, we
have the spectacle of a man, in the name
of all the people, taking, perhaps, one OF
his favorite steps toward annihilating
the popular government.
Mr.. Wade, who is to be the successor
of Mr.. Johnson, is infinitely less re-
sponsible, a more implscable and
scarcely less dangerous man than Mr..
Johnson. niS rage 10 VI uIoauiui
sort We Republicans who believe
that the Republican party was the
ultra-Democratic party have come
to dread rash and remorseless men
like THE. They are not of the gem
tie type Of Abraham Lincoln. We have
daily occasion to see their spirit exempli'
fed here, and we find ourselves, there
fore, in doubt as to what to do. If this
correspondence receives any faith at the
hand of any republican reader of the
Commercial, let him do nothing to in
huence the decision OF this sworn jury of
the Senate. Rather let him write to his
particular Senator to do justice accord
ing to the evidence, and what is Perfect
justice must be, in the end, perfect
patriotism.
| ask you also to remember that the
men most rash to nominate Mr.. johnson
at Baltimore are equally heldlong now
to convict him. The nomination has de-
layed peace for four years; the question
now is whether this emetic Legislation
will be good for anything in the nine
months remaining ID the President. At
any rate we distrust the physicians.
Nevertheless we hope for verdict
that will stand the test of time. 1t will
be vain to try otherwise to raise party
of progress again in this country for
twenty years. SwEpE'