Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1868-04-15

we purposely omit the names OF tnose
who are in, custody. The negro was put in
the guard house. BE, too, is Democrat
Columbus Sun & Times, Sd.
Special Correspondence of the New York World.
The Impeachment Trial.
WASHINGTON, APRIL.
Wili'the President be convicted?
Taking counsel from neither hope nor fear,
but from the history and present aspect of
the. impeachment in the Senate, l am not
prepared to believe that he will.
:, There are many arguments in Washington
to the;contrary. When President Johnson,
on thel2lst Of February, startled Congress BY
his message 10 the Senate announcing the re-
mo7alsof Mf. Stanton, it seemed, for mo-
ment, as if he had not only. made his former
enemies more bitter, but alienated some OF
his best friends. Everybody who has read
the World willrecollect the picture, drawn in
one of these dispatches about that time, Of
the. exodus of members from both Houses for
the epnrpose of consulting as to what was
best to be done. Before the Senate went in.
to executive session, nearly every Radical
Senator had been seen by influential Radical
Impeachers ofthe House The.fres ufindig-
nation, lit in. those Senator's breast by the
Presidents audacious coup d'etat, were fam
ed high by windy discussion /; and, in the
meantime, Democratic Senators and friends
of Mr. Johnson could do nothing but ask
questions and wonder why they had not been
told beforehand that this bombshell was to
be exploded at their feet. For more than
half on. hour the halls and corridors Of the
capitol were filled with hurry;ng forms and
anxious faces, and the last words of some of
the most incensed Radicals, as they vanished
through the doorways of the Senate Cham
Der t6 attend the secret session in which the
resolution was passed declaring the Presi'
dent'sIcourse Illegal, were passionate, threat
ening,, and profane.
Ever since that memorable 2lst of Februa-
ry it has been alleged by Democratic mem
bers Of Congress, and intimated among their
friends by certain Radical members, that the
resolution was adopted in accordance with
compact entered into between the leaders OF
the majority in the House and the leaders Of
the same in the Senate. Also, that during
the progress of the ensuing House debate on
the impeachment resolution offered by the
Reconstruction ommittee-Messrs. Bingham
Boutwell,, Bu'er, Logan, Schenck, and their
confederates- succeeded, through much pri.
vate confabulation with Senators of their own
partyfin cutting and drying the certainty of
MIR. Johnson's conviction in the Senate upon
the charges then and there mutually agrec'!
upon. A good many Radical Senators were
present on the floor Of the House while the
debate was going on, and the apparently bar
monious feeling which prevailed lent some
colorto this idea.
But hasty words and pledges are sometimes
pcoseyidence: What, If indulge the pre-
sumption, that much that was said in tHose
DAYS was said 50 lar under the influence OF
partisan feeling and wounded pride, that some
honorable Senator'S haye came to regret 1t :?
/ am. aware that any allusion to duty and con-
.scisucs, in conjunction with an alusion to
ftsa7e Senator's OF the United States, will
strike most people as being absurd. lnocu-
lated as the atmosphere OF Washington is
with bad opinions of men in Congress-, and
filled as the newspaper press Of the country
is with flippant inucndoes concerning ncarl y
every distinguished gentleman who sits in
the Senate Chamber, there Is but little en-
couragcmcnt for men TO hope that good can
come out or this Nazareth. Yet | will ven
,urc to say that it can; and also to suggest a
few other considerations which will add more
force to the Judgments o( those who believe
that prejudice and partislnshp are still bound
to control tie issue.
Whatever the managers Of the impcach.
ment or tie part 0! the House may have had
to encourage them, 10 Senator who has not
been base enough - express an opiaion nn
the merits o. the case within the last icrt-
night can be Justly claimed to have committed
himself at a for, since he has taken an oath
% act in this trial in all respects according to
the Constitution and laws, his former opln'
iors as Senator arc as nothing 10 his duty
as a dspassionate Judge. Now, certain Sen
atorial chairs ON the Radical side are filled
by men whose naiioual regulations, before
ard since they catered the Senate, sprung
from their abilities and achievements as law
ycls. S.me of them had Won reputation:
for s,atesmanship and integrity of character
in posilisis even more distinguished than
those they now occupy. Men, for instance
like Lyman Trumbull, Of Illinois; VIM. L
Fessenden, of. Maine; Edwin D. Morgan, o
New York.; and o. P. Morton, ct Indiana
are of "iudicial mind which will at least
enable them TO comprehend the great leIa
issues 10 be brought up by counsel during
the trial. Nor is it fair to assume that thej
will be quite as careless Iii the capacity O.
judges. as they sometimes are IN the capacity
Of Legislators. inrespcct to equity, lust'ce, arc
the verdict Of history. There are other Rad
ical Senators including Grimes, of Iowa-th'
celebrated . .honcst man !" Sprague, of khods
Island Ross, of Kansas Sherman, of Ohio
and perhaps even Coukling, Of New York
whose well sustained individuality warrants
the hope that they will be as impartial as they
can. ,.,
The "other consideration" to which
KludGd above as likely to influence the resnl
of the trial are, first, and chiefly OF course
those of party.
AT the outset, Thad. Stevens declaration
that the Republican party would be ruinet
if this Impeachment should not go through
was accepted as gospel by almost everybod.
here. II Was mouthed as sort OF poitica
axiom; and when the articles OF impeac,h
ment passed the House the friends OF TIL
President could not help being DISCOURAGE
by it. Politics being great game, and th'
Radical majority in the House having turned
up trump to which they held the cards
nobody could suppose that they would fail tt
play out their hands. Unforeseen com oina
ttions arise in all games. If / am not mucl
mistaken serious difference has arisen IL
this between the players.
The Senate is distinguished from the Hous
by a certain aristocratic air OF sell,respcct
which has more than once provoked th
sueers, the wrath, and the abuse of the House
1t has the appearance-except when old Bel
Wade descends from his cminence, and ramp
and snorts along the floor, or when the fer
Chandler foams at the Britlshlion, and make
believe his fingers are stroking the Eagle,
back-of deliberative body. And, although
it has permitted the House to dictate to it IL
many matters, the whip which Bingham