The Newberry herald. [volume] (Newberry, S.C.) 1865-1884, 1868-03-04
From the Charleston Mercury.
The Last Three Days at
Washington.

The events of the last three
days at Washington exhibit, in a
! stronger light than ever, the rev.
| olution which is rolling it's tides
over the Government. Hereto
fore, Congressional usurpations,
reckless as they were, had put on
no appearance of violence-they
had all been made under colour of
regular and legitimate procedure.
Contempt of executive authority
had, in every case, been grounded
on a pretext of law, or covered
with some show of respect for
constitutional forms. But now
the revolutionists have thrown off
all disguise. They have seized
arms and unfurled standards.
The newly appointed Secretary of
War has been arrested and is held
to bail for obeying an order which
| proceeded at once from the head
of the government and the Com
| mander-in-Chief of the army.
The twice-eiected Stanton, having
regained possession Of his former
| Office through the. bad faith of its
temporary occupant, keeps it by
the bayonets of Pretorian guard.
He openly avows his determina-
ton to recognize no other than
himself as the rightful or the &C
tual incumbent-he fatty refuses
to respect the commands of the
President-he instructs the en-
ployees of the department to re-
gard no authority, but his own
he stations sentinels at his doors,
and defes the Executive to COM
bat. Government, for the time
being, is at an end: The power
of administration is no longer in
the hands of the funetionary
whom the constitution has desig-
mated to exercise it, but, seized by
the Radicals of Congress, is dele
gated, to their tool in the War
| Office. An order emanating di-
rectly from the President has
been set aside and countermanded
by a usurper who holds his place
through the instrumcntaEty> Of
armed soldiers. No attempt even
is made to- gain the colour of legal
|4vindication. The issue is boldly
made on the point of force.
This means, war-this is war.
T The basilisk was a fabled AMI
NAL, whose look used to be fatal
to whatever living thing encoun-
tered it and in the pursuit, hun
ters would carry out mirrors,
! which should catch and reflect
| upon itself the deadly glance OF
it's eye. ~s.l..: -.-.. .-..
There are other creatures than
the basilisk whose venom may be
destructive to themselves. Histo-
~ has more than once shown
| how just retribution turns back
| upon their own heads the, meas
/ ures which men have devised for
the oppression: Of their fellows
Eneroachment, despotism, anar,
tehy, and then destruction, are
four stages that, ia almost ineVita,
Bile succession, have marked the
career of usurpers and tyrants.
I We see in thespresent posture oi
fafairs evidence of the speedy
| downfall Of Radical supremacy.
| This downfall may result from
1.-THE action of the courts, before
| which the President is said to in,
tend bringing the case that has
| furnished occasion for mutiny on
| the part of his subordinate. Or, a
civil war may break, out; war
no longer between sections but
between parties-fanaties and
revolutionists on the one side
and, on the other, men who viii
not let the government be de-
stroyed, for which they fought
/ and bled. In either event, we be-
lieve that Observation-Disclosures
is, negro Reconstruction-wil
soon be at an end. The people Of
| the North are everywhere strip
ping off the Illusion which had
| been thrown over them and tht
| ..,,aot Most IL not now adheren-