Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1875-08-26
THE CRUCIAL MOMENT.
A Nations PeriI-Vivid Description OF
the Vote on ImPeachmeuts by an Eye
Witness.
ClarksvilIe Tobacco Leaf.


A Nations PeriI-viyid Description Q
Witness.
GAINESVILLE Tobacco Leaf.
A gentleman writes from Kansas
giving the following incident which
viii be Of interest to many Of oul
readers:
The paper you sent NE with the de
tailed account Of the death Of one o.
the great representative men Of oul
country, brings wildly to mind on,
of the most exciting scenes of my life
That day In Washington when the roll
of the Senate was called on the great
impeachment trial of the ex-P President
I with several other Kansans had seats
by favor Of Senators upon the floor Of
the Senate.
The galleries densely packed, the
cloak rooms all full, and all the great
avenues 10 the Senate chamber densely
crowded with surging ocean Of hui
manity. 1 had a seat near to and be-
hind Gen. Grimes, who was carried In
sick, also Howard was sick and carried
In, and also, old Thad Stevens, Of the
House, on a litter.
At u NJ. the venerable Judge Chase
rose from the Speakers chair and said,
''The Senate of the United States Is
now sitting as a court Of impeachment
for the trial of Andrew johnson for
high crimes and misdemeanors," and
called the Senate roll, beginning "Sen.
ator Anthony, how say you? Is the
respondent, Andrew johnson, guilty
or not guilty as charged In this arti-
cle?" They voted first on the llth
article.)
Senator Anthony rose In his place,
and voted guilty, and so the voting
went, the Judge repeating the same to
each Senator, all the time the excite
ment increasing until its climax when
the name Of Senator Ross, of Kansas,
was called.
AT this point IN the vote, the i'm.
peachersIneeded one vote more, and the
anti.impeachers needed one to acquit,
and it is well known how all after Ross
on the roll would vote, so the crisis
was then and there. The silence was
complete. The interest had eliminated
into one burning focus. The stiffness
was ike that which precedes the open
ing battle or the coming cyclone. The
giIded representatives Of Europe's first
courts bent low from the diplomatic
gallery to hear. The fans did not
move in hands as still and glistening
as icicles, and all one vast hush to hear
that quiet Senator from Kansas, rising
say, mot guilty"
The Gig was up" 10 to IS. Report
ers tumbled over one another to get out
to the telegraph Offices.
Well, one thing was plain, some mad,
some glad. Old Senator Ben Wade
looked "d-n it" and 10000 hungry
office-seekers said "d-n it
when they saw that Wade was not go
ing to be President. Old Thad Stevens
was carried past on a litter by two
stout fellows and doing the deepest,
ghostliest "cussin" Of all ever heard.
Old Pomeroy's unctuOus smile forsOok
him for once.
Senator Patterson smiled as broad as
the Mississippi, and his face seemed |
with a genial blush even TO |
The end Of his nose. Fowler, he |
'shmiIed a shmile" Of ford gratitude, |
and so each one looked as he felt, and !
It was "easy to tell who was who.
Senator Ross then became the object
lpon which the pent-up volume Of
wrath and disappointment was turned
4 greater force and power than ever
before sought the destruction of a sin
lie victim. But the calm courage
which enabled him to give that memo
able vote has triumphed over all his
and by his daily toll he
arms his bread. The same good neigh
,or, the same quiet man, going down
he pacific slope Of life, IN peace after
be battle, IN honor after so much OBJ
Oquy.
And the ex-Prssident in peace after
o many conflicts, rests at last IN that
emple Of silence and reconciliation
where the wicked cease from troubling
nd the weary are at rest.
While I cannot with truth say that
lie possessed IN an eminent degree
that most despicable Of allthevirtues,"
prudence, yet 1 cannot regard without
dmiration his courage, the zeal with
which he labored for the public good,
he lofty disdain with which he looked
Ipon danger, the fortitude with which
.e endured adversely, the sympathy he
lad for the oppressed, and the faith
Which he 50 sternly kept with his
ountTy through both extremes Of for
une.
And when some future Plutarch
7rites the Lives Of the Great Men
Among the Anglo Saxons," he will
i've another johnson a close place by
he side of that bold leader who COM
handed and triumphed at Nassby and
Iarston Moor In the early struggle Of
ur ancestors for civil and religious
berty.