Bristol news. [volume] (Bristol, Va. & Tenn.) 1867-189?, 1869-05-14

al Lnd party violence, in order to acquire
their co ii fence. But be o-JfsiOt The mfrk;
aud while hs alarmed AMI repcilejsa saS SJuth
aud the DJm cratic party Of the North, he
in no degree cOnciliated the dominant K =
publicais 5. IL seemed, too, though we may
perhaps do him so ne injustice by the sup
position, that he really wished, for personal
reasons, TO humiliate the great Southern
planters and former slave-owners. lie was
not Of their class. He was what Is some
times contemptuously called "poor white" 4"
end "mean white" and had nominated by
his naive State of Tennessee TO the Senate
Of the Uaited States. But the SJnthern
senators aud members Of the House of p
resentatives, aristocTats by training aud the
iDhuences Of slavery, though they may have
considered him their political, did not re-
cOgnise him as their slcial, equal. They
sent him TO and kept him 10 "CJveutry -
The SJuthern ladies, powerful arbiIresses
of the fashion of society, as ladies are all
over the world, placed Andrew Johnson -un-
der their ban, and never forgot, or allo we'd
their bu sbands and fathers 10 forget in John
son the senator, that other aud younger
johnson the tailor and "mean white" From
these still hlughty, though humiliated aud
vanquished, planters aud their families he
ex icted submission, which was as CALLING
to their lride as men, ss IL was distasteful
to their ideas as politicians. The conse-
qnence was, that he not only displeased,
but aleniated, the Sju.h. A consequence,
which he did not foresse, was, that he ex-
cited the suspicious Of the North. As time
woie on, and the triumphant majority, 10 a
Congress that he might logically have de-
uie1 to be a legal aud a constitutional Con-
gress while the represe natives Of the South
acre excluded from Is deliberations,
thought llt to invade the clear right Of the
Southern States in the matter OF the elec
toriAl suifrsge, Mr.. Johnson, to- late as u.s.
ual, interpOsed his shield between Congress
aud the Southern white people, and, as u.s.
ual, irritated the triumphant North with
out doing the slightest good to the South,
that had by this time become pa ve and
ind iffsrent, and thought more of growing
cotton, rice, and tobacco, than of entering
into the politics of the Union. His State
papers aud vetoes were all admirable as
specimens Of legal accumep, gical force,
anil constitutional learning; but 10 all Of
these he forgot a fact which il was indispen
slble he should remember, that the tlI
Constitution to WATCH be had sworn obedi-
ence WAS no longer the law; that the same
supreme authoity which had agreed to
amend Il T; that Congress was paramount I;
aud that he who might a. the outset have
challeagel It. com position as not being a
Congress o. the whole U zion, had admitted
its leg llity, treated with it, sent messages
to il, aud was utterly powerless either to
dismiss or to mollify it. A1d when
at las. he beihought himself that the c IN
gres was no true Congress, he was too late as
usual, and put himselfi in the position desert
led in Scripture as phat of u man "kick
ing against the pricks." The same fatality
pursued him 10 his quarrel With Secretary
S anton. THIS OBJ -oxio - War NJ mister
m ght have been GO; rid with ease at any
tim W thin the tirst few weeks OF Nc. J Ohm
s)n's ia:um1ensy; but be all lwsd him to
remain un. ii tue Gong resiional maj arity,
b leivipg the p esid mt to b. at heart a
Juth rner an what W s cIle1 "al unre-
cons ructed rebei,' and untrCe to the
great cause of negro emancipation aud the
political equality of the wuits aud black
race S, pa. Sed a ST ries of Acs t. modify and
curtail his power, aud deprive him Of the
patronage which all former Presidents, and
more especially his immediate predeces-
sor, had freely ex .rcised. lt vas not until
this had been dom that his h1al rupture
with Mr.. S,antol took place. 1t vas easy
for evsry one but NJ. Johnson to fOrsee the
result. The obloxious Minister set hun at
dcd ne >, an being supp Hted b the SEN
ate, was enabled 10 gain an easy victory,
even although the popular General Grant
had been nomina' ell al IN erin to his place.
/ General Grant, though ne gave, or seen ed
to g We, a tacit or implied promise to sup
port Mr.. Johnson, knew his Gown interests.
| lIs was calm, prudent, cautious, and am
bitiOu,; aud seeing the pr z, OF the Presi-
dency to be within his grasp If he only
/ played his game warily, yields up the Office
| as soon as the will OF the Senate was placed
beyond question, a.a declined to back his
superior any further in his quarrel with Mr..
| Stanton, Witch had eliminated into a q11r-
rel with Congress. and in this quarrel
| what Gran: gained Johnson lost; aud all
/ the los aross from his old error o. shutting
| the stable-dOor after tho horse haf been
stolen, and OF never knowing how to strike
when the ir,n was hot. Nor was Mr.. John
son more discreet when he transferred his
4 On lrrel with what he cons dsred the unCon
/ stItutionA Al majority from the halls OF Cou-
gress an the library Of the White Hous, "a
| the platform aud the stump, aud banded
| hard words with his foes, returning their at
tacks with compound interest, and proving
himseifto BE-, buI what he should have
ceased to be as soon as he became President
--one OF the great, s; mob orators whicl
AneIic had ever produced. Aad when al
last tbs lOng-threAtened impeachment
which lie seemed to invite rather than tC
avoid. was commenced with al the solemn
ty due to the greatness OF the occasion, th'
nndaunted President, careless whether h'
we're found gully or innocent, hell on the
cn,tomary tenor of his way, conscious, nc
doubt, OF the purity OF his mot,y.s 5, ant
strong enough in his own conscience to lOol
To them for approval aud to find II, whatey
the tribunal might decide. lie knew, al
though he had opposed the maJOily, tha
no had not violated the letter or the spiri
of his oath OF Cfilce and that, in smal
things as well as IN great, he had rem line'
faithful to that great old Constitution o
J, ffsrson and his associates, which beior
the outbreak Of the Civil War, all Ameri
cans of all parties venerAted as the mos
, slcred, and as the all but perfect and infal
hbie work OF human reason. Had he bee
condemned, as he came near upon being,
is likely, from what is known OF his charac
, ter. that no would not have taken his cor
, drmnat oa very n.u n to heart, but, on th
contrary, that he would have gloried
> being made the martyr Of the Constitution
/. Acquitted as be was, by the merest chance
) by the obstinacy, the impartiality, or th
!. ylrtue-we know not which to call it,
. one eminent senator of the Republica
I party, Mr.. Fessenden, OF Maine, he wi
neither elAtei nor much gratih ID at the n
: al. IL was sort ofdrawn battle heIwee
him aud his foes aud such inhuitesm
A W ory as there was, incliaed rather to NJ
J. Iohnson's side than to that OF his opponent
I. His fate, after all, was no uncommon on
, When man Is brave enough 10 v.ole
5 political conflict 20 tell both sides that th'
), are wrong when he 's 20 Ferful enough
), N Ike his opinion heard aud his action fe
IS and when he Is Independent and impartl
e eu ,ugh 10 inoline sometimes 10 O1e disecu'
"a snmetimes 10 another according To l