The Conservative. (M'connelsville, Ohio) 1866-1871, 1868-07-09

ITO WlIebi W Jno nOmCh anu trlohuB
of thVso Senators, every oalumny
which disappointed ambition could
imagine, or cupIdity or malignity
could invent while . portion Of tho
press, claiming for itself q character
for decency, and even for christian
virtue, stood ready to indorse and
circulate tho lie.
"What effect such n condition Of
things might have had upon tho
conclusions of Senators II is not easy
10 determine. The result has shown
that, IN tho cslimation Of that por-
ton Of tho pebble which i have at
tempted 10 delincato, il was Of ht.
tie consequence what the opinions
ofSenators might bo upon partIcu.
lar questions, so that conviction
and removal were secured. The
Immediate cause Of impeachment,
and tho main article upon which It
was founded, was the removal of tho
Secretary of War. Two honorable
and learned Senator's, not including
in "the sevcn," announced thoir
opinions that the President was not
guilty upon this article, aud it was
not considered in them oven an
error in judgment, much less be.
trayal Of party, 81 long us they were
able to vote for conviction upon the
eleventh. Other Senators, in their
opinions, declared themselves una
bio to sustain the fourth, fifth. sixth,
seventh, ninth and tenth. No ar
.lclcs could DO found which would
secure the vote Of thirty Ave Sena-
tors except tho second, third and
eleventh. And yet tho political or.
thvdOxy OF Senators was saved by a
vote for conviction upon something
To oil such tho full right of inde.
pendent judgment was fully con.
coded, whilo such as claimed and
exercised the same right upon all
tho articles wcrc dnSparingly dc.
nouhccd rs traitors. and proclaim.
cd infamous la advance, by u man.
agor who had substantially declared
in the House that without tho elov-
enth article tho whole wcro good
for nothing.
"You will readily pcrcievo, gen.
tlcmen, that state Of opinion and
feeling throughout tho country
such as have described, was = moi
favorable to n calm and impartial
judgment. Senators could not but
eco and feel that any vote other
than for conviction whould expose
them to storm OF indignation
which, however unjust, is hard tC
be borno and slow to be appeascd
Nevertheless, experience has shown
that there arc occasions IN the life
Of most public mon when to breast
such storm becomes n simple ACT
of duty. There may DO caacs in
which party loses its claim upon the
representatives when party objects
and party advantages must be sub
ordlnated to high considerations oI
tho public good; IN which every
individual must judge for himself
and cannot regulate either his opin.
ions or his action by tho wishes OF
those who elected him to office bo-
ing responsible. of course, to that
popular judgment which will scan
his motives, and eventually decide
whethor ho has acted as becomes an
honest and upright servant Of the
people.
at seemed to mo that this trial
Of the President was, from it's very
nature, eminently one of those oc
casions. Tho officer lmpoached
was tho elected chiof magistrate o
tho nation. Was araigned upon spo-
cific charges. Although tho often
ces specified were political, tho pro
cecding itself / could not but re
gard as of n judicial character =
The constitution of the tribunal, the
oath imposed upon it's members
impressed me with tho belief tina
IN coming TO conclusion / wal
bound to lay aside, 40 far as posi-
BILE, all prejudice against tho iEdi-
vidual, and to try him solely upoI
the law and tho facts applicable Il
the crimes and misdemeanOrs char
ged Ia the articles. In this grca
and most important proceeding tn
people themselves were prosecutors
before tribunal of their own SO.
lection. The members were, TO b.
sure, servants Of the people, respon
sible to them, but only as Judges
are, for nm honest decision of tn
case submitted. All tho attempt
TO coerce decision by outside pres
sure, by appeals 10 party obliga
tiOns or party necessity, by publ
meetings, by threats and Vitupera
tion, were, IN my opinion, as essen
TALLY wrong MS if applied to an,
case Of private right before an
court IN the land, and wero, in thei
nature, subversive alike of iust:c
and ofpublic and private moral
ity.
"Entertaining these views, gen
tlomen, l was OF tho opinion, that
in coming TO a conclusion upon tn
/ articles Of impeachment prcferre,
by tho House OF Representative
against tho President, | must bas,
tho question of guilt or innocenc,
upon those articles and those alone
and fnrthOr, that, acting IN a judi
cial capacity. it was my duty t,
decide according to my own dolib
crate judgment upon the case pre-
scnted and although the question
involved were in a general sense of
nnlitlcnl Ihav NCnrn In M annan a