New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1876-04-19
THE IMPEACHMENT TRIAL.

The correspondents and reporters miss none
of the dramatic features of the proceedings in
the trial of Bellinap. The occasion is an un-
usual one the Senate sitting "a a Court of
Impeachment is OF itself no ordinary occur
renee, while the character and position of the
accused, the gravity of the offense. the solem-
nifty and delberation with which each step has
to be taken, and the formalities attending the
whole process, seem to invest the scene with
uncommon interest and lend dramatic coloIing
to the event. There is something, however, III
The circumstances of this trial, or rather III
the character of the Oflense with which
Mr.. Belknap is charged, and which he has
confessed that he committed. which diyests the
proceeding of the intense public interest which
has attended other noted impeachment trials.
There are on this stage no heroic characters;
nothing grand or impressive in circumstance
OF situation only the accessories OF an unu-
sual course of procedure to attract attention
and excite comment. The Offense is petty and
contemplate, the criminal a commonplace,
ordinary person, remarkable only for being
out OF place in high office; and it must be con-
fessed to our disgrace as a nation that the
elevation of such persons to such
positions, and the revelations Of In
competency, venality, and corruption in
official circles so constituted, have become so
familiar story that the whole business has
very little of the charm of novelty. This man
Belknap, raised to position for which he had
neither fitness nor capacity by one OF those
strange caprices of the President which have
been humored at so great cost to the country,
simply lost what little head he had, betrayed
his trust for consideration, was found ont
and confessed. The oiiense had no redeemng
feature, the offender no reasonable excuse nor
the shadow of defense. The trial had not the
element of interest which belongs to the ar
raignment of burglar or assassin; for this
mans crime lacked the quality of animal cour-
age TO raise it above the level of petty larceny.
His own appearance in person at the bar OF
the Sena.e was unexpected as it was unncces-
sqry, but his apparent ease of manner and
freedom from anything like sense of shame
at the disgrace which had Overtaken him, were
only additional tokens of an utter lack OF APP
probation of his own situation and the circum-
stances in which he found himself. Having
| confessed the crime of which he was accused,
and undertaken to avoid its consequences, or
some of them at least, by rcsigning his office
| before ne cOulu Dt liilDtuCHCu' OiiS man WI
unfairly presented himself at the bar of the
Senate when he had no intention of deny
ing the charge or pleading not guilty
10 the indictment, and with the most brazen
assurance looks the Senate and House of Rep
resentatves and the galleries of spectators in
the face while his counsel enters plea to the
| jurisdiction, and undertakes to secure his de-
liverance upon technical defense. Were he
there to deny the allegations against him and
to meet the charge upon the facts and the
merits. there might be something to chal-
lenge admiration in his behavior. But
he has confessed, and has not with
drawn or qualified his confession; on the
contrary. his plea to the jurisdiction vir-
tually reiterates it. And Notwithstanding
this he calmly cOnfrOnts the Court of Impeach-
ment and the members of the body which
impeached him with stohd insensibility Of the
disgrace in which he sits. Such conduct under
the circumstances IL either phenomenal or