The Portland daily press., 1868-04-02

/
the ,proyocation or irritation which causes the
| outbreak.
AT the risk OF being almost offensive, but
| protesting that ii so, 1t is not my fault but
that of the person whose acts am describing,
let me but family picture to you the scene at
Cleveland and St Louis. 1t is evening. The
| President of the United States on a Journey,
to do homage at the tomb of an ilustrious
statesman, accompanied by the heads of the
army and navy and the Secretary of State,
mas arrived in the great central city of the
continent. He has been welcomed by the
clVil authorities; he has been escorted by a
| procession OF the benevolent charitable Sc
cIeIies and citizens and sailors to his hotel
ne mas returned thanks, in answer to the ad-
uress OF the mayor, to the citizens who have
received nm. The hospitality of the CITY
mas provided banquet for him ard his suite,
When he IS again expected to address the
chosen guests OF the city, where all things
may be conducted in decency and in order
| While he was resting, as one would have sup
| posed he would have wished to do from the
| fatigue OF the day, noisy crowd of men and
boys, washed and unwashed, drunk and sober,
| black and white, assemble in the street, who
make night hideous by their bawling. Quit
ting the drawing room without the advice OF
his friends the President of the United States
rushes forth to the balcony of the hotel to ad-
dress what proves to have been mob, and
this he calls in his answer fit occasion on
which he is held to the high duty of express
ing his opinions upon the motives and acts of
Congress. Observe now upon this fit occa-
sion, like in all respects to that at Cleveland
when the President is called upon by the
constitutional requirements of his Office to
expound the wisdom, expediency, Justice.
worthiness, objects, purposes, and tendencies
of the acts of Congress, what he says
and the manner in which he says it,
Does he speak with the gravity of
Marshall when expOunding constitutional
law? Does he use the polished sentences of a
Writ? Or, failing in these, which may be his
misfortune, does he in plain, homely words of
truth and soberness endeavor to instruc. the
men and youths before him in their duty to
obey the laws, and to reverence their rulers,
and to prize their institutions of government?
Although he may have been mistaken in the
aptness of the occasion for such didactic in
struction, still good teaching is never thrown
away. He shows, however, by his language,
as he had shown at Cleveland, that he
meant to adapt himself to the occasion.
lie has hardly opened his mouth, as we shall
show you, when some one in the crowd cries
"How about our British subjects ?" The Chief
Executive, supported by the Secretary of
State, so that all the foreign relations and
diplomatic service were fully represented,
with dignity that not even his counsel can
appreciate, and with an amenity which must
nave delighted Downing street, answers, "We
Will attend to John Bull after awhile, as far
as that is concerned"
Inc mob, ungrateful, receive this bit of ex-
preston OF opinion upon the justice, worthi-
ness, objects, purposes, and public and politi-
cal motives and tendencies of our relations
with the kingdom of Great Britain as they
fell from the honored lips of the President OF
the United States, with laughter, and the
more unthinking with cheers.
Having thus disposed of our diplomatic re-
latlons, with the first naval and commercial
nation on the earth, the President next pro
ceeds to express his opinion in the manner
Aforesaid and for the purposes aforesaid, to
this noisy mob on the subject of the riots, up-
on which his answer says it is the constitu-
tional duty of the President to express opin-
ions for the purposes aforesaid. A voice calls
out " New Orleans, go onw After graceful
exordlum the President expresses his high
opinion that massacre wherein his pardon
ed and unpardoned rebel associates and
friends deliberately shot down and murdered
unarmed Union men without provocation,
even Horton, the minister of the living God.
as his hands weRe raised to the Prince Of
feaee, praying in the language of the great
martyr-"Father forgive them, for they know
not what they do'-was the result passed by
the legislative department of your govern
meht, in the words following, that is to saw:
" 1t you will take up the riot at New Orleans
and trace it back to its source or to its
Immediate cause, you will find out who was
responsible for the blood that was shed there
II you take up the riot at New Orleans you
will trace it back 10 the radical Congress"
This, as we might expect, was received by the
mob composed doubtless in large part of
unrepentant rebels, with great cheering and
cries of bully"
1t was bully, if that means encouraging, for
them to learn on the authority of the Presi-
dent OF the United States that they might
shoot down Union men and patriots, and lay
the SIN OF murder upon the Congress of the
United States. And this was another bit of
opinion which the counsel say it was The high
duty OF the President to express upon the
justice, the worthiness, objects, purposes, and
public and political motives and tendencies of
me me regIsiafion rs OF your Congress. ss.---
one it seems had called out Traitor" The
President of the United States on this fitting
constitutional occasion, Immediately took
this as personal, and replies to it; "Now, my
countrymen, it is very easy to indulge in epi-
thets. 1t is very easy to call a man a Judas
and call out traitor, but when he is called up
on to give arguments and facts he is very oft
en- found wanting" What were the facts
tnaI were found wanting which in the mind of
the President prevented him from being a
Judas? II it were not that the blasphemy
shocks us, we would gather from all this that
it dwelt in the mind of the President of the
United States that the only reason why
he was not a Judas, was that he had
not been able to find a Christ toward
whom to play the Judas!
1t will appear that this bit OF opinion, given
in pursuance of his constitutional obligation,
was received with cheers and Kisses. Wheth-
er the cheers were that certain patriotic per-
sons named by him might be hanged, or the
Kissing was because of the inability of the
President to play the part of Judas for the
reason before stated, am sorry to say the
evidence will not inform us. His answer
makes the President say that it is his duty to
express opinions concerning the public char
acter, and the conduct, views, purposes, OBJ
jects, motives and tendencies of ali the men
engaged in public service. Now as the char
acter, motives, tendencies, purposes, objects,
and views of Judas had alone opinions ex-
pressed about them OH this fit occasion, al
though he seemed to desire to have some
others whose names he mentioned hanged, l
shall leave his counsel to inform you what
were the public services of Judas, to say moth
ing of Moses, which it was constitutional duty
and right of the President of the United
States to discuss on this particularly fit occas-
ion.