Year: 1866

| know also that, stimulated BY the pas
sions that have controlled You since You
have broken away from those pledges. there
is nothing that You would not resort to
to demoral the party that elected you,
and ruin those who refuse to follow you
into the ranks Of the common enemy
It is not the first time have been thrown
into conflict with faithless and corrupt
Executive but it is the 6rst time have
been called upon to contemplate and to
expose such peIfily as yours. will not
remind you Of my earnest and uncalculs-
ting friendship, from the period when you
took issue 10 the Senate. in 1850. down to
the Baltimore convention, in 1864. which
body, at the request of :he lsmented Lin
coin and such earnest Radicals as Ben
iamin F. Wade OF Ohio, l attended alone
for the purpose Of pressing your nomins-i
ton for the Vice Presidency. after it be-


came apparent that Hannibal Hsmlin. the
incorruptible patriot. was willing to give
way in order to allow representative Of
the War Democracy position upon the
National ticket. That you should have
forgotten these facts amounts to nothing
in comparison with your hsartless ingrati-
tude to the party which placed you in
nomination and elected yon Vice President.
Individual gratitude and cruelty concern
only the person betrayed and injured. but
when. as in your case, the betrayal fthe
whole country is contemplated. the offense
becomes National, and should be sccor-
diDely checked and counteracted.


There is. however. ono part OF your
experience which deserves to be different
y considered. especially in view Of the
new system Of revenge you have adopted.
viz: that Of publishing the private letters
Of gentlemen who refuse to sustain your
attempt to make loyalty odious and trea-
son honorable. Need tell you that
allude to the disgrsceful 4,h of March,
1865? When you resolved to desert the
brave and benevolent men who threw
over you the cloak of their forgiveness
and charity on that day, You consciously
or unconsciously prepared for every sue
ceeding treachery. When you obtained
your own consent to do that single act Of
shame, your intrigues with the Copper
heads before the fall elections OF 1865.
your veto Of the freedmen's bureau bill
after having aim ost explicitly promised
to sign it. your revolving 22i Of Febru-
ary speech. your prescription OF the brave
white sn9 co!ored loyalists of the South,
and your publication Of private letters
written to you in unsuspecting confidence,
followed naturally and irresistibly-
Supposing that any other gentleman
coull have been guilty as You are guilty
of the 4,h of Match, 1865. what would
such gentleman have done? You stood
before your own country and the world
dishonored and degraded. .,


The ordinary calumnies of the Copper.
beads and traitors were coined into tbt
most frightful malelictions against you


l know OF no scene in history where ,
public character, for an act of inexcusabl,
weakness. was at the same time so unver
sally execratel BY one party. AMI so in


diligently and magnanim ously treated BY
smother. Any trne man. equally unfor


tunate and equally forgiven and defended


would have turned to the great Republican
Uuion party and have said For thi.
act Of noble clemency l am bound to yor
through life and INTO death; that which
you have done this day places me under
obligations from which can never escape.
and which l shall forever cherish. l feel
that have disgraced you and dishonored
myself. and by a life gratitude l will
prove that. although unworthy of your
confidence and unworthy Of yonr vindica


ton, l Can at least do my best to atone
for my offense." But as you seem to be
made of different metal from such char
scter, you have not only forg often the
generous men who saved you from dis,
grace. but are now engaged in the pleas
ant pastime Of slandering them and pro.
scribing their friends. ! will postpone q
description of my own part in that sad
drama. preferring to wait for the other
private revelations you promise to lay
before the country. 1t ia very certain
that. If you have forgotten all shame. you
cannot have forgotten my connection with
Yourself during that unhappy experience
Probably no more graphic and instruc.
tive page could be added to the curious
history Of your Administration than de


tailed account OF that celebrated day. ]
have not been as careful in tressuring all
the incidents. as you have been in pressrv.
ing the private letters of gentlemen whom
You intended to betrsy but where my
own memory fails. shall be sbleso exc
ont complete narrative by turning to the
copious IN fascinating columns Of those
traitor anil Copperhead newspapers which
are now defending your character and
your conduct. p.


Ii.. j. W. FORNEY.