The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1868-04-30
Tne speech Of MT. Evorts.
..acb Of Mr.. Evarts, so far sit WI

The speech Of Mr.. Evarss, so Ear rs " was
,rrorcd on Tuesday, did not touch any OF
''" loon, or constitutional questions in
"" ,rod in the impeachment itself. Niwas
'~ @n,epdid plea for justice to the President.
m.s an attempt to impress upon the
';,sx of senators the solemn nature Of ON
9Th the high character Of the Presiden-
~, nfcc. the dignity that should attach to
' -, ,r;bunal itself, and the fact that the
:" must be obeyed whether the
49,, ore or not. If he treats every ,ques-
go involved in the case with the same
Nv, ,h;l;,y that marked his discussion o. these
~,ints. his speech must be pronounced SUI
,-;or even to that of Judge Curtis. We
On extract which will convey good
-, Of his style and matter:
Nav what does the Constitution do for
=. few little words that is all. Truth,
nice, oath, duty. And what does the
snIr scope of our moral nature, and what
r mort We may hope from higher aid ex-
s.,{i "a in any Of our affairs Of life than
. .t Truth, justice, oath, duty, control
,be fate, life, liberty. character, and pso-
, , Of every citizen. Truth, justice,
!!s.b duty, arc the ideas which the Con-
,,;,ntion has forced upon your souls to-
I'y You receive them or you neglect
%cm. Whichever way you turn you can
~. he the same men afterwards that you
wore, Accept them, embrace, obey, and
,on are nobler and stronger and better.
Srrrn and reject them, and you are worse
III haser and weaker and wickeder than
I~forc.. 1t is thus that free govern
r,sn, must be always held to the power
n dutv. to the maintenance of its authorl-
r. ani,o the prevalence of it, own strength,
tor its perpetual existence. They are lit
10 words, but they have great power.
Truth is to the moral world what gravita-
ton is to the material world. 1t is the
rrinciple on which it is established and
robcres. The adaptation of truth to the
affairs of man is in human life what the
mechanism Of the heavens is to the
principle which sustains the forces Of
the globe. Duty is acceptance of obedience
ia those ideas; and this, once gained, Sc
cures the operation that was intended.
When, then, you have been submissive to
tina, oath, that faith among men which, rs
Burke saws, holds the moral elements ofthe
world together, and that faith in God which
binds the world to His throne, it subdues you
10 the service of truth and justice. The
purity of the family and the sanctity of JUS
lice have ever been cared for, and will ever
he cared for, by the everything guardian OF
human rights and interests, who does not
neglect what is essential to the preservation
Of the human race and its advance. The
Furies, in old mythology, had charge of the
sanctty Of an oath. The imaginations OF
the prophets of the world have sanctifed
the sclemnity of IN oath, and have peopled
the places of punishment with oath-break-
crs. All the tortures and torments Of his
tory arc applied to public servants who, in
BETRAYAL Of sworn trusts, have disobeyed
this high, this necessitous obligation, with
out which the whole fabric of society falls
into pieces.
Now, do not know why or how it II
that we are so constituted; but so it Is. The
moral world has its laws as well as the ma
tcrial world. Why point of steel, lifted
over a temple or house, should draw thu
iNunuerDOlt anu specu IL SuAciy INV wv
ground, know not. How, in our moral con
s,itution, an oath, lifted to Heaven, car
draw from the great swollen cloud of pas
sion, and of interest, and of hate, it,
charge, know not but so it is. And be
sure, that loud and long as those honorable
Managers may talk, although they speak in
the voice of all the people of the United
States. with their bold persuasions that you
shall not obey judicial oath, | can bring
against it but single sentence and single
voice; but that sentence is command
ment, and that voice speaks with awe
Thou shalt not take the name of the Lore
thy God in vain for the Lord will not holo
him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
The moth may consume the ermine of tina
Supreme Court whose robes you wear; rus
may corrode, senators, the centre OF YOU
power; nay, Messrs. Managers, time ever
shall devour the people whose presence
beating against the doors of their senate
house, you so much love to taunt and me
mace but as to the word which | have
spoken, Heaven and earth may pass away
but no lot or title of it will fail"