Year: 1867

From the London Times, Jan. 10.


"La Rsuol,ltiOn "a bien." The dispatches
which pour upon us through the Atlantic
telegraph, show that the well-known phrase
Of 1892 may be applied in all its meaning
to the course of events in America. A
revolution is in progress there. The House
Of Representatives has taken the first step
towards the removal of the President from
Office. Mr. Johnston stands in the way of
the Republican party. He is the Monsieur
Veto" Of the Union, and he must be got rid
Of He has been guilty of the crime of
forming an opinion for himself and that
opinion does not conform to the sentiments
of the majority of Congress Whether the
opinion was right or wrong, Just or unjust,
it is not for us to inquire. The important
points are that It was an independent opin-
ion; that Mr.. johnson thought he was a
President with well-defned duties and
responsibilities instead of L consiitu-
tional king, bound to accept and follow
the advice Of ministers possessing the
confidence of legislative assembly :;
that the independent opinion formed in
the pursuit, as he thus conceived, of his
duty, conflicts with that of Congress, and
that popular assembly will not brook the
existence of a permanent obstacle TO its
will. The impeachment Of President is
not, indeed an event to be ranked in the
same category with the trial of a King
even when consummated, the appropriate
punishment of the offender is simply de-
position from Office and disqualification for
future employment; yet it is so foreign to
what was once the temper of American
citizens that any step toward il betokens a
profound change in their character. We
are driven to the conclusion that the revO-
luton is bearing fruit II is true that Mr..
johnson is not hedged round BY the diyini-
ty which made loyalty TO a Stuart or a
Bourbon the creed and passion of multi
tudes, but il may be boldly asserted that
successful impeachment Of the President is
impossible without a wrench of that consti-
tuition which the Americans were wont to
idolze as divine. Those who have initiated
the impeachment must be resolved TO carry
it through, no matter how himsy the
charges preferred against the President or
what constitutional difficulties may stand
in the way Of their purpose.


The Union isthus visibly passing through
revolution, and a revolution, perhaps
more than any other, remarkable for the
speed OF Its progress. 10 ls barely month
since Congress met, and ten days out of the
month have been spent in the recess, yet
this brief time has been sufficient to develop
a profound change in the American nation.
What was pronounced impossible has be
come a fact, and arguments reprobated with
indignation are accepted and acted upon.
What is a clause of the constitution that it
should bar the way of the representatives
Of the people? A majority some eighty
years since pretended to enact laws limiting
the power Of the majority Of to-day, Can
any pretence, it is asked, be more vain or
idle? And the sophism passes current, as
sophisms will which justify the eIcesses of
those 10 whom they are addressed. But the
popularity of such reasoning makes the
impeachment of the President remarkable
as evidence Of the length - which the rev.
olution has gone, and a hint of what may
come after. The fate of Mr.. johnson is
triae compared with the safeguards Of all
personal liberty and individual freedom,
whichsre thus subjected to the unchecked
caprice of a huctuatinp minority.