The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1875-02-01

The @es1gUet1oR 81 0raHt.Abdfee.
tasss saa 1ssagnstAens I'm the Past.
The more the mind is Axed upon the pro-
posed resignation of the President the more
attractive the subject becomes. So many
questions win be solved by it. The will of
the people will be duly respected. The coun-
try will pass into the hands of the party
which has won popular confidence. The re.
publicans win be freed from the incubus of
personal apd military government paralyzing
its energies, destroying freedom and energy
OF thought, limiting all future usefulness.
The South would rebound from prostration
and despair. Business prosperity would re-
turn to the Northern and Western States
Our foreign relations would assume manlier
ASPECT The national credit would be assured
and vindicated. Our history would afford
new and noble precedent in free governments
There would be an end OF the predominance
of the military spirit which has come with the
suppression of the rebellion. No party would
seriously object but the extreme democrats,
who view Grants continuance in Office as the
best means Of preparing the country for q
democratic victory, and the few forlorn fol-
lowers of the President who sec in his ad-
ministration their only visible means of
support. Furthermore, we should have at
the head of the government q wise, honest
and experienced statesman, whose counsels
would be an advantage to his party as his
deeds would DO to the welfare of the people.
1t is true that the novelty of the idea that
L. ok@ yzto rt1a ok
first But what is there in it to startle any
one? Nothing is clearer than the Presidents
own record on the subject He has expressly
said-and the declaration did him great
honor at the time-that he would have no
policy at variance with the will of the peo-
pie. The people have said with astounding
emphasis that they no longer have any conf
dence in Grant. Now, If the President is
man of his word, let him, to use memorable
phrase, ''step down and OUT This should
not involve too great q sacrifice. History has
many illustrations of self-abnegation. Charles
v. retired from the proudest throne in
the world to find consolation and peace in
the monasteries Of st. Juste. Charles Y. was
q great warrior, like Grant. Those who have
seen the famous portrait of this monarch
painted by Titan will remember the striking
physical resemblance between the two men
the frmly-set lips, the clenched teeth, the
full square jaw, the brown hair, the rugged,
bulldog face. Those who study history will
see the moral and mental resemblance. Natu-
rally enough the question arises, Why should
not the master of our battalions initiate his
great prototype and, flying from the safety Of
Washington-the burdens and sorrows Of
power, the remorse that comes from
discarded opportunities, the care, the
strife, the heart-burning, the conscious
ness that he no longer has the respect of
the country or the loyalty of the party-take
refuge with Kramer and Babcock and Casey
and Ingalls,, in the seclusion of Galena or St.
Louis?
If this example lacks inspiration let us
commend that Of Napoleon. This great cap
tain, in his career and his lowly origin, was
not unlike Grant He arose from nothing to
be the chief of vast armies and the Consul
President of the Republic. Like Grant he also
regarded the Office, which sprang from the
gratitude and devotion of the French
people, as his personal emolument
and prerogative. Like Grant he came
to feel that he was higher than
his country-that he was necessary to
France. Like Grant he began to assume the
imperial tone, as when our President actually
spoke of his second election as o personal
certificate of character. Like Grant he grad
ually drew about him his ancient cronies, his
worthless brothers and brothers-in-law, and
other relatives and gave them high Offices for
which they were untitled. causing his Empire
scandals Like Grant he came to regard
France as his army. and when legislature
was not organized to sIit him he sent an
officer to dispense it, precisely as Sheridan
was sent to dispense the Legislature of Loui-
siana. If Grant has not carried the parallel
further it is because we are not exactly French
men and to be stunned by an Eighteenth
Brumaire. The serious question is, Does he
mean to carry it further? does he mean to
initiate Napoleon and throw the country into
q foreign war, say with Spain or England?
When the French became restless and mutt
nous Napoleon drew his sword and pointed
towards England. Grant responds to the
elections in November by placing his hand on
his sword hilt and pointing towards Spain.
The browning and commendable act in the
career of Napoleon was when he wrote his
abdication. To such career there could be
no other end. The end came after hundred
campaigns and endless sorrow and desolation.
Let us bless God that no such parallel is pos
sible in the life we are now considering
Napoleon accepted the fact that he had
brought misery upon his people, shame upon
his Aag the invader into his gates. He abdi-
Gated. We have his word for it that he need not
have done so-fhat he MIGHT have stY11ck an