The Morristown gazette. [volume] (Morristown, Tenn.) 1867-1920, 1876-01-19

/ nOld It. w e KNOW something OF the
fearful animosities engendered in q
commsnity divided in civil war; how
the passions are turned loose to
deeds Of horror at which the blood
freezes. Power is used with a re.
I morseless hand, and he who stands
III its way is in constant peril.
1t was from such condition of
affairs as this. with its hate, revenge,
and, scenes of blood fresh in his
mind, that Mr.. Johnson entered the
Presidential chair. l remember well
the alarm of the people of the South
when the sad news was borne to
them of President Lincoln's assas-
sination. Mr.. JOhnson's denuncia-
tions OF those who had opposed the
Federal Government, and the pun
ishment and penalties he had in
yoked and threatened, justified the
gravest apprehensions. But when
he came to be President; when his
enemies had laid down their arms
and furled their flag, and after the
power to pardon as well as to pun
ish had passed into his hands, sat-
isf1ed, as he must have been, that
the great mass of the Southern peo-
pie had been honest though mistaix-
en-, as he believed, in the motives
which had impelled their action, all
his bitterness and acrimony toward
them were dissipated. The man
sank himself out of sight. and the
President of a powerful nation
shielded his late foes by his clemen-
cy, though the liberal policy he ex-
ercised toward them contributed
powerfully to lose him the support
of the party which had placed him
in office. He who could exercise
such ,magnanimity under such cir
cumstanees had a great heart and
unflinching fortitude. Those who
think Mr.. johnson was cold and
very selfish never understood his in
ner nature.
In many respects he was strange
and .peculI $50 that it is no matter of
surprise that many who did not ful
IY comprehend him had an unfavor-
able estimate of some of the quail
ties of his mind and heart. He was
combative and always armed and
equipped for the fray. He did not
wait to be assailed, but was usually
the first to enter the lists, and no
matter how-great the odds against
him, or how formidable the antao-
onist, he was eager for the contest.
He was also aggressive. He chose
to, carry the war into the enemy's
territory, and it was hard to drive
him to a defensive attitude, nor
would he leave the field until he had
won complete victory or had suf-
fered decisive defeat. His life
was a contest, and his love Of foht
sometimes precipitated him into
controversies which had been better
avoided. He was fearless, self-re-
liant, and bold, and never bent 1.-The
pregnant hinges of the knee where
thrift may follow fawning."
Mr.. johnson was an honest man.
He was never accused of duplicity
or unfair dealing. His errors re-
suited from his convictions of right.
Though for forty years he was in
the public service, and often in sit
uations in which gratuities and
bribes might have been accepted or
public funds appropriated with lit
tie fear of detection, yet no stain of
official corruption had soiled mis-
hands for life. Frugality was
habit with him, and yet out of his
salaries in public life he saved only
fair competence.
There were two central ideas
around Which all bis political views
revolved and to which his actions
were subordinated, He regarded
the Constitution, State and Federal
with veneration and devotion of
kin to fanaticism. He appealed to
the Constitution on all occasions
and under all circumstances, was
constantly in apprehension of its
violation, and every where held it
up before the assemblies and tribu-
nails of the nation, and demanded
that every iot and title of it be OBJ
served. With him it was the ark of
our safety, as sacred and privileged
as was that ark of Israel which
could not be touched by profane
hands. No measure, howsoever
great in its expediency or utility,
could receive his support or sanction
unless it had certain warrant in the
Constitution. His other grand idea
was confidence in the people, and a
strict regard for the protection and
security of their interests and the
preservation of their liberties. Am
plify his theory as he might, these
ideas composed its substance. He
feared the encroaeliments of the
Government upon the rights of the
people. The times of the Caesars,
when the Republic of Rome was
transformed into an empire, and of
the Charlesses of England, when
the prerogatiyes of the crown were
extended and enlarged at the ex-
pense of the liberties of the people,
were with him f;lvorite fields of his
tory, which he carefully explored
and often referred to as exhibiting
the dangers which threaten q civil
lied free government.
Mr.. Johnson's skill was not so
much in construction as in resistance
to the schemes aud measures of 9TH
ers. His great desire and aims
were to maintain and preserve what
our fathers had handed down TO ans.
He was afraid that change might
mar their work.
Mr.. Johnson will be a marvel in
history. His ascent from the low
est station in society, without adj
ventitious aids or fortunate acci-
dents, and with surroundings the
most unpromising, in the grand ele-
vation he attained. cannot be under
stood aud appreciated in any land