Nashville union and dispatch. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1866-1868, 1868-03-12
Onion aud dispatch.
THURSDAY. mARCH Is, Isss.
Largest Circalatioa in City aud State.
A GRAPHIC PRN PiOTURE.
Andrew Johnson, Physically, Men
Tally, Morally and Politically Con.
atdGred.


pendent of the New York World, will be
interesting especially TO Tennessee readers,
and will be generally received as vivid, as
it is, in the main, just
While his integrity Of aim is unqnes-
toned by all persons who haveimpariially
studied his career, his ssgscity and tact
have sometimes been questioned BY those
who estimate his worth most highly.
Frank by nature, and impulsive also, he is
nevertheless slow Of thought and deliberate
in action. l do not mean by this TO sug-
gest that be ever hesitate in deciding up
on a coRsiilHf 3Hai eGss4i0n " political
principle. Upon these points his decisions
are given with such readiness that they
seem 10 spring from intuition. His hesita-
ton is rather in respect to the men and
measures necessary to carry principle in
TO effect; and though there may be fair
difference of opinion as to whether his
pablo measures have been usually the
wisest that could be adopted. it is certain
that he has occasionally erred in his judg-
ment Of men.
Such errors Of Judgment sometimes re-
suit partially from peculiar fact. The
President is unfortunate in impressing
many people who have occasion to con-
verse with him with certain distrust that
might easily lead some men who had at
first approached him with Manifestations of
real sympathy, to change their opinions of
him, afterwards, and thus lead him to be
deceived in regard to them. The expert
ence Of career full Of bitter conflicts, the
recollection Of having been betrayed again
and again by false friends and counselloFs /;
and, more than all, the terrible anxieties
on his present Office, have gradually led
him to infuse into what was an dndemon-
stTatiYe demeanor before a certain repelling
severity. His vissge, in eepose, is a mask.
His manner is quiet, unAasuming, unpro-
pitious. IL conveys to a stranger the mere
bold intimatiOn, 81 listen; proceed with
what you have 10 say" Yet an accident
the slightest turn of onVersation-may
enable a person of quick perceptions TO
break through this crust of reserve and OBJ
tain some indication of the man beneath it.
The manifestation may, as | remarked be-
fore, excite an uneasy feeling of half dis
trust for gall is not more bitter than the
subtle, singing significance that Mr.. ohm
son, when in sort of passive rage, has the
knack Of giving TO a single word. The
immutabilities of life are not more uncer-
tain than his responses to an office-seeker,
or any person, high OF low, whom he has
not learned to trust. His impetuosity,
struggling out on a sudden from behind its
veil, startles and bewilders his auditor.
The one-sided glimpse of the mans nature
thus revealed, is so different from the man
ner Of the man that it is not easy to decide
which is real and which is false. And this,
too, even when his words, more strongly
contrasting with the expectation derived
from a previous glance at his morose fea-
lures, are kind aud reassning.
Ii has been said of Mr. johnson that he
has 4 chronic look Of being bored. He is
bored With patience that lev other
Presidents have possessed he allows him
self to be bored every day and every even
ing by scores OF people who have not the
shadow of a reasonable excuse for poster
ing him Hundreds OF little matters that
the President knows nothing about, and
has nothing directly TO do with, are sub
mitted for his consideration. Hundreds
of grievances that he cannot alleviate, APP
peals for humble positions in some one OF
the Executive Departments that he cannot
grant, empty compliments or ASSURANCES,
which visitors offer as a poor exchange for
the time they occupy, are listened to with
out a groan or sigh from the victim. 1t il
marvellous that even in the midst of the
confusion and care of the last two weeks
Mr.. johnson has found leisure TO listen
to these applications with the same
impassiye countenance and manner which
il is his habit to preserve. One
strong trait Of his character is exhibited
in this. The people, great OF little, bu
particularly the masses Of the people, ar,
| perennially interesting 10 him. He has no
| cnly not forgotten, but is freshly consciou
all the while, of his having risen from al
| humble rank. His faith in the body polite
is founded upon a sympathetic knowledge
| of the impulses which control them, anC
which he believes is not in the power o
any set Of politicians to permanently turn
aside. He loves 10 preserve this knowledg,
| by constant communion with them; anC
4 10 many obscure persons who present them
selves before him and impress him favor
ably with their deserts, he demesns him
self more winningly than he does others
except his immediate personal and politi
/ cal friends, in loftier and more sinuOu
walks OF life.
When the President turns TO receive
visitor be appears to he about FIVE feet teI
inches high. His frame is massive snC
strong His head Ia set on broad shoulders
that look az il they were Ct TO bear. anC
had horne, heavy loads. he il dressed il
black, and his black velvet vest render
noticeable the spotless shirt front and cola
that be wears. His salutation is perfect,
courteous, aud has no further significance
In those hours when the voice Of tn
politician is silent in the halls Of tn
White House, aud there is an interval G
peace and rest, lac who happens to sit alOn
with the President can discern somethiu
Of his unmarked, natural self Then h
discloses what boiling cauldron Of emo
lion, heated by steady patriotic flame, hi
heart ia. Then has attachment to prrAapi
is revealed in the discussion of whsteve
grave subject may arise. Absorbed in q
interesting theme, he often quits his SEES
and walks rapidly 10 and fro across th
room. lie talks quickly and spasmodically
Ii Is curious 70 remark that Will
i the main luNb ia MS uttUu II =
clear 10 Il as daylight, the proces
Of reasoning from the idea is slow an
htful. He seems to find il difficult, frs
% define his thought and its relatiy,
based on OF radiating from the idea pc
fectly 60 himself and next, 10 condense IA
thought into concrete sentences. He pc
ssveres anti he has succeeded at last
making il plain 10 his hesTer. This inaI
titude for condensing into few words on Il
instant the thought that he desires TO e.
press is probably the Fchief reason VII
many Of Mr.. Jobnson's extemporaneol
speeches are 50 open 20 citicism. Give hi
time, and his brain, which tolls by itse
Systematically like a powerful machin
, will evolve an argument pointed, condens'
and admirable Witness his State paper
which are conceded by several of his mo
preiudiced enemies to be specimens
logic and diction worthy to be oompar,
with those Of Madison and Jefferson.
Mr. johnson, who is called demagogl
and political tricrster By the disa
pointed Radicals who elected him, is vel
little Of a partisan in theory, and alt
geiher too little Of partisan in practice
be a mere political leader. His trust IN q
people themselves, irrespective OF part,
has always been firm enough to inspire hi
to disregard many of the restrictions VIM
} | parties impose upon members possessing