Year: 1868

The impeachment u Failure.


Benjamin Franklin's idea of impeachment
was quantity honest one. Knowing to what
extent the tendency to camor against authority
might go, and that the accusations of political
opponents are groundless as rule, he urged
in the convention that framed the constitution
an argument in favor of impeachment drawn
from that knowledge. Others favored i'm
peachment as a means of asserting the supre
macy of the law-as a means of furnishing
treason-punishing the abuse of power-pun-
ishng ambitious assumptions. In the general
view impeachment was always q punishment
Franklin favored it as a means of exploding
the true way in which the President might put
before the nation the exposition Of the motives
that had governed him in cases where his acts
had been misunderstood or misrepresented-as


the means of proving his honesty. Franklin


urged impeachment that the President might


have "the opportunity of vindicating his char


acter," and that there might be national
inquest for "hs honorable acquistal where he


should be unjustly accused"


The impeachment trial wonderfully snstains
prosaic Old Bens view Of this great national
process. There is no punishment in the case
at all; it is all vindication. For months the
President has been held mp by bitter political
opponents as the most atrocious criminal; and
it has been vehemently declared that the safety
of the government depended upon his removal.
So persistent, so positive, 80 extravagant have
been the declarations against him of the radical
party, that had there never been an impeachment
trial it would never have been possible to quite
efIace from the mind of the people all that has
been said; the impression would have gone down
to posterity that in view of such denunciation
there must really have been grave acts of Off


cial misconduct in the Presidents career. But
impeachment has brought the accusers into
court; It has given them the chance to pose
their charges formally and produce evidence.


They have now nearly concluded their labors !;


and with what result? One more obvious than


all others-the vindication of the President.


They have done their utmost and lind them


selves utterly unable to prove anything to his
prejudice-unable to show any reason why he


should be displaced, why he has not been o
good and faithful servant of the people.


Impeachment has absolutely no case at all. It's


allegations were pitifu enough, and It cannot


even prove those. All the evidence of guilt it


has produced to this hour reacts against it and
proves the contrary to what it desires. But
ler's effort to prove conspiracy has made it
| as clear as sunlight that there was no conspi-


racy, and that wonderful impeacher was him
self ashamed of the evidence he had brought


and tried to cover his shame with laugh.


But exactly in proportion as the radicals
find themselves unable to carry impeachment
by evidence and the forms Of justice so they
become more energetic in their attempts to


carry 1t by bullying and outrage. Old Ste-


vens' threat against any Senator who would
''dare" to vote against impeachment seemed
at the time IL was made to awaken the Senate
to some sentiment Of the position in which IL


was thereby put before the country. There
was some appearance that the repulsion Of
that old viragos domineering might stimulate
the court to an honest discharge Of its duty;
and we may hope that the last effort to influ-
ence verdict on matters beyond the record
may have a similar result We have II said
that General Grant finds 1t not inconsistent
with his duty as soldier to announce Il as his
opinion that the only hope for the peace of the
country is the success Of the pending mpeach-
ment trial." Thus II is held there Is mo room
for doubt as to the duty of the Senate" OF
course the allegation in regard TO Grant is an


invention. lie never said such thing and
never used words that could be fairly construed


to such shape. But we see here the whole


radical plea and plan. The radical cry to the


Senate is, If you cannot convict the President


on the evidence, convict him anyhow con-


vict him because General Grant thinks you
| ought TO. General Grants opinions are OF


more account than the evidence, therefore


when you know what he thinks there can be
! emo room for doubt as TO your duty"