New-York tribune., 1868-03-02
oNr rrns1oN oE rnE ORIGIN on IMrEAcHMENr.


SO far, therefore, as the consequences may prove nm
pleas Mt the President may thank Montgomery BAR
and whe IL he had been cotenpOrary Of Adam and Eve
would have rendered the presence and vocation OF the
serpent supernuous'
THE PROBABLE VERDICT on IMPEACHMENT.
From a oeeaTionM Correspondent
WASHINGTON. Feb 20. 1883.
Itrequires no great stretch of the imagination to
come TO the conclusion that Mr.. President Johnsons
career is about to come to an abrupt termination.
His original nomination by the Republicans was
one of those unhappy freaks Of n popular assembly
sometimes committed under an impulse at once
groundless and eyanescent. The nomination was re-
ceived by the thinking public as an act showing an
incredible want Of caution and crcumspection This
impressiOn was deepened 10y reelection upon the two
former mistakes committed in the nomination OF
Vice Presidents Tyler and Fillmore. 1t was not per
haps often said, but il was everywhere felt, that II
anything happened to Mr. Lincoln, the party which
elected him would probably find themselves worse
cheated than the Wings by Tyler and Fillmore.
Such convictions were however smothered under
the thought that it was hardly possible the oppos-
ton to the Democracy could lose their President
three times IN succession.
The apprehensions of the Republicans everywhere
burst out afresh when the fatal blow fell which ended
Mr. Lincoln's life, and brought Mr.. johnson rceling
bounded disgust and modification as before
shocked the public mind From that hour TO this
Mr. johnson has run a career Of mingled Tashness
and tmidity, Of cunning Difference and imperious
self-assertion: indulgng at one time in moderate
accents Of acquesence and At another in unmeasured
terms of denunciation in opposition; until II became
so becouded with diverse elements and contradictory
qualities that singe-minded people have viewed his
conduct with constant feeling OF doubt as TO what
the man actually meant. The Key TO his rca. char-
acter appeared 10 be wanting. There was evidently
a wide force in his intellect and a certain practical
capacity developed by lifetime of experience
in public affairs not entirely despicable
His talk was of conscience and constitutions coupled
with violent animadvertions on coordinate branches
of the Government with whom IL was his business
10 agree. He displayed his want of administrative
ability by violent wrenches at the executive func-
ton He sought occasion for amless peryerslties.
OF the silent force of judicious administration he
seemed to have conception. He looked one way
and rowed another But there was always doubt
whether he was false or foolish. Congress to large
extent shared this feeling of uncertainty and this
led it TO desire TO got along with so angular and DIS
reputable character with as little disturbance as
possible II overlooked his greatest onenses with
patience and charity which it begins to feel was
more forbearing than wIse 1t submitted in silence
of Office and liz it resented it never undertook to
efcctuay repel his gross assaults upon some of its
most distinguished members by name. 10 endured
that other high crime and misdemeanor
of Mr.. Johnson, in proclaimlng that
Congress was not Congress, but only an illegal nest
of conspiratOrs hanging upon the verge of the Gov
e1nment an assault so incredible that one wonders
now in recalling it, whether il be possible 1t could
ever have been committed. 1t never rebuked his
manifest usurpaton Of power in undertaking to bring
back the Rebel communities on terms uniustt to their
loyal members oppressive to the newly enfranchlsed
race and offensive TO the entire loyal sentiment Of
the country, in any Othermanner than by declaring 1t
unwarranted and unconstitutional. 1t never under
took TO deal with that other official misdemeanor of
setting himself loudly and pertnaciousy against the
proposed amendment Of the Constitution, which pro-
yided that theneoes were not to be allowed to vote
for themselves they should not be voted for by the
whites. An amendment so palpably just and proper
that no man in his right mind condemn it, and
no man who is not can offer for his oppOsi-
ton.
Congress has been thus forbearing and consderate
owing to its partial doubts about the real character
of Mr. Johnson and still more from ITS desire to ell
dure TO the end of his term its notifications, its
wrongs. and its disappointments, rather than step
aside from the ordinary to nict the punish
mcnt which everybody felt was justly due
The more recent developments of Mr.. J0hnson's
character in his acts relating the incumbent Of the
War Department Ia man to whom history will un-
doubtedly do ample justice, and who If not an over
modest and retiring gentleman will be placed by it
in the front rank of the great War Ministers Of the
world: these acts say, have shed good deal OF
light on the hitherto undspelled obscurites which
Mr. Johnson has managed to cOnjure about his path.
For example il turns out that in these later-day
combinations Mr.. johnson has neglected counsel,
and has obeyed the promptings of the inward moni-
tor alone These obnoxious acts are his own. Mem
bers of his Cabinet expressly disown them Every
body is ofcious in discaiming all responsibility for
! them. Whatever the scrape into which they have
cot him he has evidently nobody to blame but him
self They are acts Of pure Mr. Johnsonism. Whether
their moral turptude be conspicuous % IS the lack
of discretion and the mental obtuseness they mani
fest we need not stop to inquire. They display an
| executiye inapttude. u s-gralned inry, set,
| hardened purpose 10 keep up pugiistlc iray "lth
Congress without regard e. considerations oi pro
prety or dignity. Mr. johnson comes thhs more ana
moro clearly out into the attitude Of pure obsruc
tionist an assaant and defer of the laws ola Con-
Qress which under its present composition OF two
thirds majority is actually the controlling power IN
| the Government. In his act OF removing MT ntah
| ton outright and appointing Gen. Thomas without
| constitutional or legal authority hr' Johnson
dronped his mask a little lower than ever before, lie
nnt II nm very quickly again when he was bluntly od
H., ,be s,uate what he had done by his nomination