The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1868-04-29

of the Government, and the people
looked to this trial for q decisien Whlen
would restrain that aggressive pranon
within it's proper limits.
The oath. of the President was not
merely the common oath OF faithfully
IN discharge the duties of his office, but
;nclnded the unique and sublime obi
aat;on TO preserve, protect and defend
the Constitution of the United States.
The people have formed and will ad-
here to the determination that that
oath shall not be taken in vain. They
are converts to no theory of Congress
sional omnipotence and when th6y hear
that this sword of impeachment is
drawn, they wish to know what the
crime is with which the President is
charged, or for which it is sought to de-
pose him. They understand what
treason and bribery are in all their
manifestations, but on going through
with all their list, they are told
that his crime is that of having removed
a member of his Cabinet, and
are told it becomes crime because
Congress for the first time in the his
tory of the Government has made it so.
He undertook to make an adj interim
Secretary of War, and now in conse-
Quence they are to have made for them
an ad interim President. They also as
certain that no force was employed anc
no removal was made, except on paper,
and that for the purpose of procuring a
decision of the Supreme Court, to pre-
vent which, vigorous action was at
once taken by those who bring accusa-
ton. In short, said Mr.. Evarts, the
people see that it is question of su-
premacy between Congress and the Con-
stitution. They did not hold to the idea
that the Constitution was made only
for our infancy, but felt that it was to
be the guide and bond of our maturest
manhood, and were determined that
law should continue to be the guardian
of liberty.
Referring then to the position as
sumed by the Managers that this trI6u-
nal is not Court, Mr.. Evarts said that
il was the first time he ever knew u
prosecutor TO make the assertion that
his case was cory'iam non JUDGE, but they
probably felt t&at the only way to pre-
vent their cause being turned cut OF
Court was to turn tie Coart out of the
cause. AS to the English precedent
adduced to show that this body Is not q
Court, he said Parliament was the Su-
preme Court of that nation, and that
impeachment was only part of it's ju
dicial function, which view he sup
ported by the authority of Chancellor
Thurlow. If this is not an altar of JUS
ticc it is merely an altar of sacrifice.
He said the Managers had taken 10
pains to conceal the party spirit aud
PARTY hate which had hurried through
the preparations for this procedure aud
read the same declarations on the sub
ject made BY the Managers in the Peck
trial. He called attention 10 the words
of one of the Managers who spoke of
the Senators as headsinen, standing on
the seatfold with their swords ready,
they having tried the culprit on the
night of February Dist, assertions
which lie characterized as insulting to
the Court, cruel and unwarranted.
He read from the debates on the for
nation of the Constitution to show
that the power to impeach and try the
President was granted with hesitation
to the Senate, and that only because of
the reliance placed upon the observance
of u judicial oath.
Mr.. Evarts then dwelt on the tremen-
dOus power and meaning of the little
words: "truth, oath, justice, and duty"
aud appealed to the Senators to brace
themselves by all their integrity, truly
and justly 10 observo their oath and
perform their solemn duty.
At the conclusion of his eloquent ex-
ordium the Court and Senate adjourn
ed, at AGO.