The Van Buren press., 1868-05-08

meeting which be attended, In q brief
Executive Session Of the Senate this T.. VI.
the nomination Of Gen Schofeh was
temporarily laid over without reference.
a Among the rumors aaoat to-day in con
pection with the subject OF impeachment,
is one that one Of Ben. Wade's friends
has said, and IL they get possession OF
the Government in time they will attempt
TO defeat Gen. Grant at Chicago, and
nominate Wade for the Presidency. In
view of this fact, and in the interest OF
rival candidates for the Vice Presidency,
il is proposed by some of the Radicals To
keep the impeachment trial going until
after the Chicago Convention. This can
be done by adjournment from day to day
and long debates on propositions to
amend the rules
Dan Sicllles is here, working very
earnestly against Wade's nomination for
the Vice Presidency
WASHINGTON, April %.
Upon the assembling of the Court to-
day the proposition of Mr.. Edmunds to
allow official reporters to report the de-
bate in secret session, after the retire
ment of the Senate to consider the yer
dict, was called up and postponed until
Monday
a motion to postpone it Indefinitely
was made by Mr.. Drake, and defeated 10y
81 to 30.
Mr.. Sumner then offered two addition.
al rules. The first was designed to reg
ulate the mode of taking the final vote on
the articles, hy requiring each Senator to
answer guilty or " not guilty to each
separate article. This was intended to
forestall an anticipated effort TO have the
vote taken by secret ballot. The second
regulated the manner in which the Chief
Justice shall inform the President of the
verdict of guilty, if found
b, Reverly johnson objected to both,and
they went over until Monday.
AT half past Il o'clock, Mr.. Groesbeck
rose to speak in the Presidents defence
There was a good deal of curiosity to
hear him, and he commanded the atten
ton of all present, on the floors and in
the galleries. During the first half hour
the people seemed to listen only to hear
what kind of a speech he was going to
make. Most of those present had heard
but very little of him He had taken no
active part in the trial, not even examined
witness He very speedily changed
curiosity into interest, however and won
the homage of respectful attention, be
cause he showed that he was prepared
with a speech equal to the OCCASION He
spoke extemporaneously, only occasion
ally referring 20 the manuscript notes be-
fore him. Thus far all the speeches of
the counsel have been delivered in this
way, while all those Of the Managers have
been read from printed slips. Mr. Groes-
beck made the mistake of being too prod
igal with his voice at first He did not
know from experience how bad the
acoustic pronerties Of the Senate Cham
4 Der are, OF he over estimated his own vO-
cal powersln IN AN attempt to fill it. The
result was fearful apprehension, before
the close Of his first hour, that he would
break down. This was felt both on the
floor and in the galleries, and Mr.. Fessen-
len gave expression to it at one O. clock,
in a suggestion that if the speaker was un.
able to proceed one of the Managers
might take the floor until he had recov-
cred his voice. Mr. Groesbeck, how
ever, declined the proffered kindness, and
proceeded in lower tone of voice than
before, though still quite audible through
out the Chamber. ....
The speech, from the first sentence to
the last, was splendid effort, undenable
in its statement, almost rcsistless in it's
logic. and beautiful in its dictiOn. No
audience has ever been more completely
under the charm Of a speaker, and no
speaker has ever more exhaustively or
more ably treated a subject in the Senate
Chamber. If he had occupied eight hours
instead of four, there would have been no
complaints from those who listened
Judge Curtis had given the law of the
case, and Judge Nelson the politics. Mr.
GrOesbeck seemed to combine both with
out losing the force Of either, and to add
classical beauty of expression which
was entirely new to the case. His points
against the different articles were singu.
larly clear and conclusive. On the tenth
article, which relates to the Presidents S
speech, he indulged in a vein Of satire
which was as strong as Dean Swift and
pleasant as Sidney Smith. lie read the
text of bill which he said would do rs
a substitute for that article, proposing a
punishment Of fine and imprisonment a.
gainst any one who shall speak disre-
spcctfully Of Congress or its acts This
was enjoyed especially by Mr.. Fessenden,
who felt its biting humor, and by Revcr-
dy Johnson, who laughed excessively at
its sharp irony In reply to the eleventh
article, which charges the President with
attempting to obstruct the Reconstruc
ton act and which the prosecution at
tempted to sustain by the dispatches pass
inc between Gov Parsons and the Prcsi-
dent, he simply called attention to the
dates Of the dispatches, and showed that
they were sent three months before the
Reconstruction bill was passed. SO Of
! all tho oihpr articles IIp treated them