, 1880-02-26

y dents? An obligation is not measured merf,
'e by its It's @lteEnl terms; it must be IN N
e ecy code Of morstls and Of law, in all civilizt
wori Of nrn1is 1naE performance 1 which keeps t,
y y nope IS no performance at all. For instance, /
:, agreement to discontinue pending action
suit and then imnediateIy brinxtne 's1e anoter:
= contract to deliver certnin quantfty OF cio,
m npif pces Is II Is broken if 1T be cut into pieces
> al1ul aa As 10 make them useless; covenant
= midT fiHre from the possession Of land is not flu
!. nliea when the occupant goes ont to-day IN
and public morality, which dctests Ehan1s. MIL
W. no supported 4 by innnmerahe cases if It wer
t3iniy ne acknowledged by every candid ma
Indt, # Gen Grant, after two elections, ker
namse!f In the field as persistent candidate "a
thtrd term the pretense that he retired agreea
Wy TO the precedents is untrue and fr7luGtlcn1
| THE ntPosTuRE
. % IS not chargeable upon him. He does not pre-
tenn 70 hayc retired He is q candidate for IN
other term in contempt Of the preccdeD1s. HI
dees not evade, but boldly dehes the l authorit, il
OF his predecessors He has, md is entitled 10
some credit for pbtusencss Of moral perception
out SIN nc is conscious that eq,iyocatfoi1 is q:
@ bad as direct falsehood; and We hare no tight t<
pailosophy which teaches its disciples to
taltsr With m Us IN a double sense.
Thus far haye been answering ohiect5one r.
the two-tern rule and to the character Of the
men who made II. think It 1nny he nf}ir1nes
With some confidence that Washington WAS not
unworthy Of tho profound vcncrntion in which
he Is held in this country aud throughout the
W9rld ndl; that s succeeding Presidents, When they
Wisdom and nSdps paros nqa oPy BIT xbae1 fg1
own; that the American people Of our dsE.
afa Mnen tneg @ refused e a,s third term TO q cand
I we're not behaving like towards scared by q
scnseless camor, but doing what a prudent re-
hoI sra t f1e tnelr true interests required; that
ence to the universal sentiment Of its co.1stitu-
EMS, unanimously and without distinction Of
| world its solemn declaration that the example Of
washington must be adhered to In the future rs
| in the pnst, they did not enact charlatnlism or
ton, or 1npeach the Constitution, or libel its
1rancrs Or counterfeit history, or insult COM
Inon-sense, but spoke What they at least believed
WORDS OF TRUTH AND sOBEnNEss
But perhaps 1t is not enough to have neea-
tiyed Air. Howe's allegations. We ore not to Set
up polltlcnl dosmas or invoke blind fuith in
thority Of names, however great, ought not to
command our assent. We should have reasons
tor n9 our belief, and be instant in season and out
fundamental doctrine, seif-cvidcntly true
though easy to defend, Is the hardest OF al
cannot help but sy1npathize with the in
dignation Of Pitt when he thundered out bis
refusal to look at books or listen to logic in de-
A@AA-N
mun who would be faithful to his fellows is nee
essnrily inclined to take us d postulate whatever
3nanifestly tends to the preservation Of the pub
In tho matter before us, it should be plain to
every reasonable creature in esse" that ione
continuance Of supreme, executive. power III
tons, but perfectly certain to destroy them.
Some fixed time there ought to be when the
spsse oa her ehye ea ae but sn
take another r they do not possess this right, /
thGy nre poiitics,t bond-servants by law: if,
themselves, qroad hoe, voluntary Slaves, and |
they soon begin to be governed in all things by |
the will Of their superior. A Iense for years, re-
~ ~ estate without end, and makes him the lord |
Where the Chief Magistrate is vested, us ours
Is, with great power lInble to gross abuse, il !
there is no law: Or practice which forbids him
to nc reelected, he can remain In Office for life
rs easily as for 4 term He has the appointment
of all officers the making of Ill public contr;lcts
anu aTcto upon all legislation. besides the COM I
mand Of the army and navy. By IN unscr,1pu-
his horde Of immediate dependents, but he Gun |
contrUl tho corporations aud become the muster
Of all the rings, put the business of oil classes
under his feet, corrupt the yenal, frIghten the
timid, and check all ambitions but his own He I
can force the elections Of every State he desires
to carry BY, the bnyonets Of his army If that
fails, he can order false return, and pay for it
out of the public Treasury. The people would
soon
PERCEIVE OPPOSITION TO BE USELESS,
and accept the situation; elections would be Ms ]
mere matter of form us they were in Rome
when such Consuls us Nero aud Domitian were
elected regularly every Fear under the super
VISION OF the pretorlan guards.
II these were no more than remote possibilj- !
Ties, prudence should guarti us against them. !
1ut they are near probabilities; the signs of the
times warn us that the peril to our Institutions |
s imminent; the danger is already on the wing. |
It is vain to remind us that the President
'wears to preserve, protect, and defend tho Con-
titutfon and tn E19ES faffhF,t 1toI
That Is 1rac: and it is also thar. IT there be
10 10 perjury IN l. the case, the Constitution laws,
ast twenty years have given us ample proof t
nat an oath - not much restraint upon Prcsf-
trong party feeling to break it. /
It is true that this presupposes people much I
and i magistrate animated mainly z
ut exaetly such conjunction M Of things @ has % ai
'ays bcen feared with good reason, and hence i
ON omes M the , desire ( to put every check on that
lanifesting itself ii many quarters. "
What is the remedy? How shall We avert the
Ire calalnities with which VIC are thrcatcncd? tt
he answer comes from the gra;es Of our 4
Lthers: By the Il
FREQUENT ELECTION OF NEW MEN. "
ther help or hope for the salvation os tree gov " "
nnent there is none under heaven.
If history does not teneh this, VIC have read -;
odern times the Chief Magistrate was intrust- ta fa
It Of oeo at he cd Re Of sort ea perio xe Mea
q prescribed by law or custom. It was this, -,
deed, that made the substantial distinction be- n
11npunishcd trunsgression Of tho customary th
nltaaon was uniformly followed by dcstruc- pc
m Everywhere and always it was the fatal -
lnptom Of dccay,-the sure forcrunner OF ! 70
IN. when Cesar refused to lay down his Con- til
lstsap, US his predecessors had donc Mt tho end lu
e acaniescence Of the ;s senae ns'er End the
ople, all that was rcnl in Roman freedom Zig
ased to exist: Two republics in Frlnce were u J