The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1868-07-01
rESSENDEN AND IMPEACHMENT

Letter from Hon. VIM. Pitt Fessenden i'm Re.
ply to an Invitation from nguished
Citizens Of Boston to Accept the Compliment
Of Public Dinner.
WASHINGTON June u.s. 1868.
To THE HONORABLE ALEXANDER H. BULLOCK
GEORGE TYLER BIGELOw, AMOS A. LAWRENCE
AND OTHERS
GENTLEMEN-I beg you to accept the assurance
that nothing but constant occupation in public af-
fairs has so long delayed an answer to your com.
municatOn inviting me to meet you at public din.
ner to be given in the city Of Boston, at such time as
may suit my convenience. For that invitation, and
particularly for the kind and dattering terms in
which ata3i II e conveyed you will please accept my
i would be affectation 70 concsa, the very great
and confidence from gentlemen so distinguished in
their several walks Of life has afforded me- and II
and private nature to decline your invitatien be
assured, gentlemen, that 1t has impressed me deeply
and that estimate your kindness and the honor 1t
c0nfers at their true value.
The present session Of Congress will probably ex-
tend far into the summer and while 1t continues II
could meet you. The close OF session is the most
Important part OF II, ana am unwilling to absent
Wgch s Obliged to az 90 sy ~
you, great as 1t would be, could hardly afford the
requisite Justification.
thrust you will pardon me, therefore, II, while re.
specially and gratefully declining your invitation
aude TO the circumstances referred to In your letter
rs OF q somewhat peculiar character
The impeachment OF the President Of the United
States for high crimes aud misdemeanors was
most extraordinary event, and win constitute re-
markabe chapter IN our countrys history. The con-
duct OF the President had, almost from the
commencement OF his administration, been such as
to render him obnoxious to the suspicion Of design
ing to defeat the cherished objects Of those who
elected him, and OF punging the country back into
condition which they considered to be little better
than that from which II had recently been rescued
at so vast sacrifice. Having confidently and fondly
looked forward to the second term Of President Lin
coin TO consummate the great work OF complete and
peaceful restoration upon broad and durable basis,
II was not only humiliatng to them but irritating in
the extreme, to ma IN MS successor an adversary
for an amount Of patience not to be reasonably ex-
pected from men who had set their hearts upon the
mad long and earnestly toiIed and but for this most
unlooked-for obstruction seemed to have won.
don Of affairs an Of sncS an
obstacle to their hopes by constitutional means
seemed to present ITSELF and was seized with avidity.
/ do not wonder that the idea Of impeachment was
popular nor did 1t surprise me that, under such cir
cumstances, but few could stop TO consider that the
prior to the removal of Mr. Stanton had for the most
part been dersnvestlgation by learned and able
&
had voted against an impeachment for those OF.
fences and, accordingly with the exception Of the
date they made no part q the allegations against
him upon which he was finally tried. Again, by
the removal Of Mr. stanton the President had vio-
lated law passed expressly with a view to protect
and consent Of the senate. Laboring under the
strong impressions produced BY disappointment and
che RS 81 and ~ ss S
and commission, and the liked opinion that he had will
fully violated an act OF Congress- not strange that
could see no reason why he should not be at once re-
moved from ONCE nor any good excuse for hesita-
uon to pronounce his sentence.
Nor VA tnis all Az the trial proceeded and IL be-
came doubtful whether the result 70 much desired
would be the public ssns
parity prejudice s The TRIAL could
too clear for argument that the existence Of the re-
publican party was staked upon the Issue; and that
who should hesitate to convict must necessarily Be
false to his principles controlled by base not Grim
inal influences. and deserter o. his nag Re
course was accordingly had to the most powerful
enginery Of party. The air was filled with lying
rumors, which found their way to the public ear
vituperation calumny, threats OF personal violence
and Of lifelong infamy were profusey hurled at al
Ths mos sntd rers
case impeachment should fail. Union men, white
and coored were 70 DO murdered or driven from their
homes, and ell the horrors OF another revolution
blooder than the frst were to be let loose upon our
these should have excited the public mind almost 70
frenzy. The men who resorted to them were &C.
custOmed to the use or such weapons, ana knew
well how TO WELD them. Inscriptions, familiar
with detraction believers neither In public nor prt
vate virtue IL believers considering both a. out OF
place In politics, they could not resist such an OPP
portunity or fail to improve the occasion.
The excitement elsewhere however, was triling
when compared with that which prevailed at the
capital. Here change Of administration had long
been contemplated, and was now counted ON "a =
certainty. That looked.for change had its usual
attendants The coming In Of u new President could
hardly have warmed into life q more numerous brood
OF expectants, or stimulated more extensive hopes
OF honors and profits The city was filed with men
ready to jump into places to be made vacant ~ they
| hoped and believed, for their benefit Gamblers
| thronged the saloons stalking more than they were
| able 70 pay upon conviction OF aoQuttal As these
hopes rose or fell with the rumors Of the hour as Inn
| parchment stock went up or down upon the po
| teal exchange among the crowd OF hungry expect
ants 40 for the time and fell the character and
reputation Of those Senators upon whose votes THE
result was supposed 20 depend; while the telegraph
was at hand to osrry over It's wires to the homes anc
friends OF those Senators everv calumny which dis
appointed ambition could imagine or cupidity ant
mallanty could invent ana while portion OF thu
press claiming for itself chaSaoter for decency ant
even for Christian virtue. stood ready TO endorse an'
circulate the lie
what erect such condltion Of things might hav
had upon the conclusions OF Senators II ~ not eaa
TO determine. The r.sult has shown that In t9a e.
ttlnstion OF that portion OF the public which nav
Attampt01 to del n0ate IL of utta oOukeQ 1onc