The Union and journal. [volume] (Biddeford, Me.) 1858-1882, 1869-08-13

Fessenden had right to his opinion, and
no one blames him for Il; but he had no !
right to contumaciously beard the people,
his masters, and defy their will expressed
in every forciblc manner to them known.
His judicial conscience" was nicer than
his sense of honor He voted on the 2lst
of February that Andrew johnson had
usurped power in removing Mr.. Stanton,
and ON the 10th of May following, to save
Andrew Johnson's neck, he voted that he
had not usurpcd power in removing MIR.
Stanton. What changed his mind3 Not
new evidence. certainly; for the evidence
was all in when he voted first. Did he in
n moment of great excitement on the 2lst
of February. rs far rs his vote was con-
cerned. urge the House of Representatives
to impeach johnson, and did he then and
there solemnly, but excitedly. pass upon a
question upheaving the whole country,
whose merits he had not examined and
whose depths he did not understand Per-
hans so; but the fact is, Mr.. Fessenden
never gets excited unless he is hating some|
one who differs from him in opinion, while
If he once or frequently votes on momen-
tous questions without knowing how he
ought to vote, we should be unwilling to
accord to him that breadth of statesman
ship which the Advertiser claims Is 50
great, that he might be returned to the
Senate To continue 10 vote with the same
care and intelligence.
Did he hate Ben Wade, who, by the
conviction of johnson, would become
President? That fact Is notorious; but
knowing how bad President Mr.. Wade
would make, he perhaps thought 1t states
mans duty to avert the threatening ruin
by voting for Andrew johnson. Butwhat
becomes Of his judicial conscience" in
that view of the case? Mr.. Fessenden Is
very much like some other men-with
strong likes and dislikes; not more selfish
than some others, but rs selfish rs most
men; his Judgment Just as likely to be BIZ
a.ed as that of any other able and upright
man; with penetration as deep as that
of the thirty-fve of his associates who vo-
ted for impeachment. and no deeper; and
his judicial conscience no more sacred than
that of others.
But admitting, Mr.. Advertiser, all you
claim for the sacredness Of his judicial
conscience, what is the considerable deli
cacy and honor Of him who could hold on
to his seat in the Senate when seventy-iive
thousand of his constituents who elected
him to his place, had, with an unprece-
denied unanimity, passed upon the impor-
tant measure then before the country;
when 1.-THE air was thick with letters from
anxious friends, while the telegraph
brought their last words of warning and
entrcaty, making up IN aggregate OF pres
sure such rs has been rarely brought to
bear upon public man "; when the rep
resentatives of the people in Legislature
assembled were in the situation to immc-
diately elect n Senator who would repre-
sent the demands and wishes of the State;
when, with the exception only Of yourself,
the Republican press of Maine gave voice
to the people in demanding the impeach-
ment of Andrew johnson for usurping |
powers that Mr.. FeSsenden himself had
already said had been usurped; when you
reflect that by no law is a part greater than
the whole. or the servant greater than his
master, and that the Legislature had unan-
imously instructed Mr.. FcSsenden to vote
for the impeachment of johnson, or re-
is the nice sense of honor
that causes him TO spurn the people and
nOi resign? His judicial conscience? Let
us hope So
The Advertiser, regarded rs Mr.. FcS-
sendcn's personal organ. says: This IS
dn act Of such supreme Importance that has
reelection must aud should turn upon IT,"
Very well so say we. York County
waived her claims to the Representative
nomination last year in favor OF Mr..
Lynch OhouSh not without some show OF
opposition ON other grounts) solely be-
cause of his vote in favor of impeachment.
We were told by some who now feel con-
strained to favor Mr.. FeSsendcn, that y
contrary course on our part would be u
rebuke to Mr.. Lynch for his vote. 1t nat
urally follows, that If we are now to return
Mr.. Fesscnden because he voted Ggahtst
impeachment, to be consistent with our
selves all our other members should be
sent home because they voted for it. One
of the sources of Mr.. Morrill's great
strength in the senatorial contest last win
ter, lay in the fact Of his vote upon this
subject, and had it not been publicly known
that Mr.. Hamlin had demanded the in-
parchment of Andrew johnson long before
the eleven Articles were presented, he
would not have had the shadow of chance
OF an election.
Unfortunate and misapprchensive have
been our ideas, If we have inaptly be-
lieyed, rs we have always believed, that
he best fulfilled the mission entrusted to
him rs q representative of his constituent
who received his prompt
ings, as the handspring of his action
fresh from the source of his sovereign pow
err. and whose ear was best attuned to
catch the popular viii. Individually, we
have not the same interest that majority
of men have whose voice can only be
heard in unanimous and powerful combi-
nations, in order to express their words of
warning or cntreaty, their Indignation or
approval. And this very subject of the
next ". s. Senator from this State, comes