The home journal. (Winchester, Tenn.) 1858-188?, 1868-02-27
THE SITUATION.

On Sunday last the public mind in
this vicinity was thrown into intense
excitement by news from Washington
which seemed to portend a bloody re-
sort to arms. The Nashville dailies
announced in huge headings the tele-
graphic dispatches, that the Capitol OF
our distracted Country was in n blaze
Of cxcitemcnt--that Gen. Lorenzo
Thomas in his attempt to obtain pos
session Of tho wal Office to which he
had been appointed nd interim by the
President, had been refused and after
, wards arrested by order Of the obnox'
ious Stanton, who has 50 little decency
as to attempt to hold on to q position
from which the President has hereto
fore deposcd him, but which he obtain
ed again through the bad faith and du-
plicity Of Gen. Grant.
On Tuesday, when the public excite
mcnt was most intense, the mails
brought US no papers from Nashville,
and under the belief that by Wcdncs.
day we should receive matter Of great.
or interest than any yet received, we
did not put in typc that already on
hand, Wednesdays news dissipatcd
all Indication Of any immediate revolt.
ton, but that it is only deferred, we
must aver is our honest belief. Con
ercss is determined to get rid Of John
son by the roulcst means known in the
records of history, but in doing so
there vii! be war. johnson confines
himself more closely to the Constitu.
ton as Congress departs from it. We
quote from the Nashville Banner:
"This conflict between Radicalism
and Conservatism is irreconcilable,
Nothing, we fear, but blood can settle
it. The conflict between the President
and Congress is an incident. No mat,
ter how that ends, the great issue will
remain in all its original force A civ
il war, with its battle ground in the
North, must result sooner or later from
the effort Of the one party to ride rough
shod over the other. The Democrats
arc too strong to give up al! for lost
without Il fight, and the Radicals are de-
termined to give up nothing without Il
fight. History, as we have often said,
docs not repeat itself, but human ia
ture is always the anne The idcntic,
al principle that lay at the bottom OF
the fcuds Of the middle ages, array
ing Guelph and Gibilinc, White Hood
and Burghcr, castle and free city, lies
at The bottom Of this dispute about re-
construction, which is y monstrous
sham got up By cunning partisans for
the purpose Of first %conccaling and then
cXcusing their acts Of usurpation. 1t is
simply the old, vapid cant dressed in n
new disguise. Stripped of its false de.
corations, its patriotic blazonry, its
flags and its pretensc, and it means
nothing nor less than the com
mon lust for place and pclf, that dcs-
troycd Flemish, Florentinc and Vcne,
tian liberty. The people Of this coun
try must not hope to escape the cXl-
gcncics Of their system. They must
pay the penalty Of half Il century of re-
pose. They must march the devils
march toward the end, which the ma
tons have before them. They have,
like the Romans and the CIR cks, shown
themselves unworthy Of freedom and
incapable ofprcserying it. They have,
on every hand, permitted the veriest
quacks to cheat them out Of their sim
pie republican government, and are
even now permitting their politicians,
like dogs, to tear each other to pieces
over the poor, dead carcass. Bnt they
are not prepared for despotism; and
they will not receive it short Of nm OBJ
s%tinatc, and 1t may be a protracted
struggle.
And what shall we, the people ofTen-
ncssee, do, may be askedf Nothing,
Of course. Indeed, for the present, we
can do nothing but look on and watch.
Though far from indifferent to the is.
sue, this fight vas not made by us, nor
set in our behalf, for the day of our
power has gone from us. We have
played our hand and The stakes are lost
to us. If, in the course of the game,
we arc called on to resume Our place
at the board, We may do so, and doubt
less will do so. But such matters are
never determined by us, but for u.s.
We wish well for liberty, and are ready
still to suffer in its cause. Perhaps We
shall lie required to suffer. "Suficient
,,to tho lo,, 10 fho ovil fbo-.,f' W,