The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1875-08-09
Andrew Johnson-something about
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xENr TRIAL HIS DRrNElNg HABITS.
Mr.. j. B. McCuIlaga, whose letters. to tb
Cincinnati Commercial duriug the impeach
meut trial were Of great Interest, has com
municated to the st. Louis Globe. Democra
some personal "reminiscences of the late An
drew Johnson. Coming 10 the day on whic
the articles OF impeachment were presente,
10 the Senate, he says:
That night Mr.. johnson spoke very freel,
| about the pending trial. 4 gathered from hi
manner and tone that so far from beinl
afraid Of conviction, he rather courted tn,
martyrdom Of 1t. He said that if they con
victed him he would start out through 'ths
country with O view to convieting Them be
fore the people. In bis most troubIous hours
he never lost faith 10 his own ability to show
| the people that he was the sole defender o.
the Constitution; and have always thought
that nothing would have suited him better
than to have walked ont of the White House
on warrant Of conviction, and entered upon
another swing Of the circle more elaborate
than the first. called at the W bite House
very frequently between March aud May that
year. Until The middle Of April the impeach.
ers were extremely confident. johnson
knew this, and think be had fully made I'D
his mind 10 vac7te the. White House. But
be never lost heart or spirit, or even
appeared to do so, unless the following
incident be taken In proof that he
did: | was talking with him one Sun
day evening on general subjects of politics,
when be suddenly interrupted me. Said he,
GO Do you remember what sort of court it
was that tried and convicted Charles L ?"
replied "that, to the best OF my recollection,
it was court appointed by Parliament, am
composed of members Of that body, officers
Of the army, and citizens Of Londop."
I" How many were there in itf' said Mr..
johnson. | replied that there were some
where between sixty and seventy members
in that court. Then be burst out, "And
how many Of these - scoundrelS are there
over therc?" pointing toward the capitol.
replied that there were twenty-seven States
represented, making ffty-fOur senators.
"WelI," be continued, do you recollect what
became of the men who convicted King
Charles-how many Of them died in their
beds, and bow many ran away from the
country after the rest oration!" / could not
answer this question directly, but promised
to 90 to the Congressional Library next day
and read all about the su ject in the History
of the RegiCideS. II wish you would" said
the President, "and want you 10 make out
a summary of the thing and get it into the
papers" He was so anxious on this subject
that be was not willing to have me send this
particular letter to Cincinnati, but insisted
that it should be printed in New York pa.
per, so that it would get back to Washington
ia time "to show these - ScoundrelS what
fate is in store for tbem."
There has been great deal Of talk about
the use Of money as a means to secure the
acquittal of johnson. Without making any
valuable addition to the fund of Information
on this subject, | will state what think /
know to be fact, that Mr.. johnson not only
never consented to the use of money, but
often said in my hearing that if he could be
acquitted for - be would not pay that sum,
nor let any body else pay 1t for him. lam
borne out in this assertion by the Well-knoWn
fact that he allowed Jere. Black to withdraw
from his defence rather than give his official
sanction to corrupt land-trade in which
Rack was interested. He told Black that
he would rather be convicted ten times
over than purchase not only defence,
but even acquittal al such price.
Black evidently believed he had johnson in
his power, and it looked like bad piece Of
business for such man to withdraw from
a case on the eve Of trial; but johnson was
not the kind of man to be inundated, and
besides, as I have already slid. he did not
look UPON conviction as an unmiXed evil to
him. Undoubtedly money was used in q
variety of ways to defeat the scheme of con-
yiction; and. what is more, there was good
deal more money ready to be used in case Of
necessity. There were votes cast for con.
viction that could have been persuaded in the
other direction in case of an emergency.
The great consideration with the anti'im-
peachers was TO make sure of nineteen votes
II believe there were tifty-four men in the
Senate tben), and they were cau-
tiOus enough to get few "ater-
nates," as they do in conventions. The asSer.
ton NAV be received with incredulty, and
vet make it from weIl.grounded kno%l.
edge, that johnson got some of his most eff.
cent help from the society Indies OF Wash
ington-nOt the resident rebels or Democrats
of the capital, but the wives and daughters
of some Of the most ardent impeachers in
Congress. There was Womlnly sympathy
for johnson from the beginning of bis tfou.
bles, He was not "a ladies' man" by any
means, but there was something about HIM
self aud his quiet and transformations family
which served to win the women and many
of them helped him by furnishing intorma-
ton to bis friends, and in a variety of ways
quite creditable to the ingenuity of the
sex.
There were other dark ways and vain
tricks connected with both sides of the i'm.
parchment struggle, which would take vol
ume instead of an article to relate. | cannot,
however, refrain from telling one of them.
Mr.. Willard Salisbury was a Democratic
senator from Delaware, with good inten-
tons, bnt very decided weakness for toddy.
He would stay sober for months sometimes,
but the mere smell of liquor would start him
on spree that might last for weeks. He
had been quite steady for long time, and
bad promised to abstain entirely from
liquor while the impeachment trial lasted.
One evening young man called at his room
and desired an interview, which was
granted. He represented himself rs the
agent Of wine and liquor importug-house
in New York, who had come 10 Washington
to have the tariff amended with respect to
these articles, and he would like to interest
the senator in his cause. He concluded his
remarks by saying that he had brought some
samples of wine and brandy with him, and
asking the senator's permission TO send few
bottles to his room. Salisbury Immediately
saw in this proposition a plot TO get him
drunk, so that be might be either absent from
the Senate when the vote on Impeachment
was taken, or that, going to the Senate 10 a
state of intoxication, he might be eX.
PEELED, as had often been threatened
ia bis case. Indeed, a resolution for
his expulsion had once been offered.
and was then on the calendar OF
the Senate. 1t looked then. on close calcu-
larion, as if one vote subtracted from the
Democratic side would secure Johnson's
convection. Salisbury ordered the bogus
wine merchant out of bis room in short order.
aud immediately acquainted several OF his
friends with the details OF the plot. Itreached
I,bnson,s ears very soon, "They can't