Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1872-09-15
ANDREW I0HNs0NS- VIRTUES.
AND CRInEN.
From fhs Memphis Appeal, Sept. "a. 7

has not been much overTated, though he
hg no means the colossus thai rumor make
hun. With no feelings Of personal animoc
ity, onthe contrary with much OF sdc1irs
tion for his success and conduct in life, VI
feel the full consciousness Of owing bin
lstice. We were TO some extent disaE
pointed 10 the man. He has in the frs
pEce a sinister expression of countenance
particularly about the eyes, and although
ttiat Is a small matter, it mars in no smal
~ degree the effect of his measured elocution
Thirty years in public life would max
even small man du fat in dealing will
pa licqaestions. Intimate association will
politicians for lifetime might make any
nsan at home in surveying the trickerJ
Of our political system, and IL the re
view be sprinkled, however lightly, with
witticisms and rounded with so
norous oratory, the good natured public
are prone to cry out ''Great is Allah, anC
Mshomet Is his prophet" We listened q
Mr.. johnson through the long hours Of his
speech, and we must confess that we were
less "a johnson man" at the close than q.
the commencement. Every student of
Blackstone knows everything The ex-Presi
dent said the first half hour Of his address
in reference to systems of government,
while the figures, showing the true condi-
ton Of our financial system under the pres
ent national administration, are TO be
found in one or other Of campaign docu-
ments xhica have been scattered like au-
tumn leaves through every hamlet in the
land. The doctrine OF funding the public
debt surely is not news in Memphis, though
Mr.. johnson seems to think SO. There
was C, rtainly little information on this
subject here and elsewhere before the
"Great Commonern directed our attention
10 the matter. On this subject Of the pub
lie debt Mr.. johnson was rather obscure
He commended that "no nation
upon earth has ever paid a CREST
national debt without repudiatiop;" that
funding the debt is sin disguise q propo-
stion 70 make it permanent" ''thRt there
is no nation upon the face Of the earth that
has a permanent debt that is, tonight,
free" He denies that be is In favor Of
rspudiati0n; theni if he opposes the funding
of the public debt, and denies The possibility
of its payment, how is he going to dispose
of it outside Of reputation? We fancied
there was much Of the Gd cdptGndlm1 rulglss
in this. 1t was clear iuclts a non iucepdp.
As Southern men and ex-soldisrs Of the
defunct Cnnfederacy, we were little
amused and sometimes all but nsulted BY
Mr. JobusoD's labored attempt, in that
portion q his speech touching secession, to
prove himself right and four millions Of his
fellow-c0untrymen wrong. While all the
OTHER United Stafes Senators and Repre-
sentalives, who retired from the Congress
of the United States, in obedience to that
voice of public duty and of patriotism,
which as never raised without being re-
To nd oh In
corner Of the United States up TO that
time, the uoice of the people demanding the
RIGHTS Of the iStdtes-When these grave and
reyered statesmen aud warriors, hOnored
by the whole Republic for wisdom, patriot
ism, learning, oratory and State craft, re-
tired - Join their fortunes with their
States, their countrymeu, their neighbors,
and their kindred, Andrew johnson re-
manned in the easy elegance and safety of
the senatorial Chamber, the only wise man
of them all. The State that sent him TO
the SsIsse he abandoned; the people who
lif ed him from obscurity to fame he de-
serced in their hour Of trouble; and when
the war came and the sword Of the invader
was rel with the blood of TenHesseans,
4 drew johnson sat in the Capitol Of Ten
nessoe as a military chieftsin in the com
uission of the invaders. 1t was wise, in
deed; time and the fortune Of war have
shown the wisdom Of his action, but
"neither bei-hts nor depths, nor principali-
ties nor powers, nor things present nor
things 10 GOMEZ can show aught else than
that Mr. Johnson's decision, then as now,
was coWardly, mean, vile and treacherous.
How would it have been If the Confeder-
acy had been successful? Would 1t have
been honorable In Mr.. johnson them
II not, it cannot but be dishonorable
nor. Mr.. johnson indirectly insulted the
whole Southern people. He proved them
fools or knaves, or both, and traitors to the
constitution, while he was the patriot Of
forecast the Christian philosopher, the only
Sen .tOriL head from the South in Con-
gress that preserved it's balance. There are
few men, minus his fine intellect, like Mr..
johnson in the country, who would like to
impose their intense sel1shneSs upon the
people as wisdom and patriotism; who
would rejoice to find the people esteeming
as virtue their inability to hear the calls
Of their country in the hour OF danger.
Granting for the argument that the State
calls her children 70 her defence in q doubtful
cause, does that excuse abandoning her to
her fate, or worse still, joining the ranks Of
her enemies? The gallant and glorious s.
s. Prentiss, of Mississippi, answers this In
the sen iment, "The State! may she be al
ways ri Eht; BUT WRIGHT OR WRONG, THE
STATE The man who deserts his coun-
try upon any pretext farfeits every claim to
that cauntry's confidence! We cannot
indorse Mr.. Johnson's secession re-
cord, nOr should he ask Southern
D5ope TO dishonor the graves Of
the Confederate dead by voting
for a mau who pronounces the cause in
which they died treason, and denounces
themselves as traitors. Touching the Bal
timore Convention, Mr.. Johnson was no
less unhappy. He spoke in language Dor
dering ca contempt Of its proceedings, and
snecred At its members as being of ques-
tibn4be appointment. "He did not know
whether The delegates to that convention
were properly appointed" and of course,
Mr. johnson not knowing it, it was doubt
ful il an delegate to that convention had
been Properly accredited. Mr.. johnson
was not al that convention; had he been, he
might have a little more respect for the
NUMBER. character and ability of the dele
cations composing it. He had no good
word FIR Mr.. Greeley. The Tribune's
trenchaat editorials during the impeach-
meut tr! 4, like the ghost of Mrs. Surratt,
came back to haunt the great commoner,-
and heucs the nominee OF the Baltimore
Conven ion had no charms for Andrew.
Still, see g the people were unanimously for
Horace Il feeley he would accept even him,
upon tie principle Of creating vacuum in
a miasi latic atmosphere, that purer air
might &C in." The crowd was very i'm
patient on Surratt business, and the ex-
PresiusI. went vigorously to work to clear
up that Jlly record. He handled the his
tory Of I ~ case with skill and Characteristic
ability; 1t when he had done the sad truth
REMAINED that Mrs. Surratt, refined Cath
ole American lady, had been hung by the
neck for crime, Of which, to say the very
leLs', tt re ave and were the gras est
doubts der guilt, and that the then Presi-
dent JoJ son had The constitutional power
of ea"i.. ;sr, tOhich he .fdiyed or refused to
e9e Johnson can never, never get
owe. - The tendency Of The age looks