of the writ of habeas corpus and the protection of a civil and Constitutional Government-a citizen thus deeply wronged appeals to the Supreme Court for the protection guaranteed him by the organic law of the land. At once a fierce and excited majority, by the ruthless hand of legislative power, stripped the ermine from the Judges, transferred the sword of justice to the General, and remanded the oppressed citizen to a degradation and bondage worse than death. It will also be recorded as one of the marvels of the times that a party claiming for itself a monopoly of consistency and patriotism, and boasting of its unlimited sway, endeavored, by a costly and deliberate trial, to impeach one who defended the Constitution and the Union, not only throughout the War of the Rebellion, but during the whole term of office as Chief Magistrate, but, at the same time, could find no warrant or means at their command to bring to trial even the chief of the Rebellion. Indeed, the remarkable failures in this case were so often repeated that, for propriety's sake, if for no other reason, it became at last necessary to extend to him an unconditional pardon. What more plainly than this illustrates the extremity of party management and inconsistency on one hand, and of faction, vindictiveness, and intolerance on the other? Patriotism will hardly be encouraged when, in such a record, it sees that its instant reward may be most virulent party abuse and obloquy, if not attempted disgrace. Instead of seeking to make treason odious, it would, in truth, seem to have been their purpose rather to make the defense of the Constitution and Union a crime, and to punish fidelity to an oath of office, if counter to party dictation, by all the means at their command.

Happily for the peace of the country, the war has determined against the assumed power of the States to withdraw at pleasure from the Union. The institution of slavery, also, found its destruction in a Rebellion commenced in its interest. It should be borne in mind, however, that the war neither impaired nor destroyed the Constitution, but on the contrary, preserved its existence, and made apparent its real power and enduring strength. All the rights granted to the States or reserved to the people are therefore intact. Among those rights is that of the people of each State to declare the qualifications

of their own State electors. It is now assumed that Congress can control this vital right, which can never be taken away from the States without impairing the fundamental principle of the Government itself. It is necessary to the existence of the States as well as to the protection of the liberties of the people; for the right to select the elector in whom the political power of the State shall be lodged, involves the right of the State to govern itself. When deprived of this prerogative, the State will have no power worth retaining. All will be gone, and they will be subjected to the arbitrary will of Congress. The Government will then be centralized, if not by the passage of laws, then by the adoption, through partisan influence, of an amendment directly in conflict with the original design of the Constitution. This proves how necessary it is the people should require the administration of the three great departments of the Government to be strictly within the limits of the Constitution. Their boundaries have been accurately defined, and neither should be allowed to trespass on the other; nor, above all, to encroach upon the reserved rights of the people and the States. The troubles of the past four years will prove to the Nation blessings, if they produce so desirable a result.

Upon those who become young men amid the sound of cannon and the din of arms, and who quietly returned to the farms, the factories, and the schools of the land, will principally devolve the solemn duty of perpetuating the Union of the States, in defense of which hundreds of thousands of their comrades expired, and hundreds of millions of national obligations were incurred. A manly people will not neglect the training necessary to resist aggression, but they should be jealous lest the civil be made subordinate to the military element. We need to encourage in every legitimate way a study of the Constitution for which the war was waged; a knowledge of, and reverence for, whose wise checks, by those so soon to occupy the places filled by their seniors, will be the only hope of preserving the Republic. The young men of the Nation, not yet under the control of party, must resist the tendency to centralization, an outgrowth of the great Rebellion, and be familiar with the fact that the country consists of the "United States," and that

where the States surrendered certain great rights for the sake of a more perfect Union, they retained rights as valuable and important as those they relinquished for the common weal. This sound old doctrine, far different from the teachings that led to the attempt to secede, and a kindred theory, that the States were taken out of the Union by the rash acts of conspirators that happened to dwell within their borders, must be received and advocated with the enthusiasm of early manhood, or the people will be ruled by corrupt combinations of the commercial centers, which, plethoric from wealth, annually migrate to the Capital of the Nation to purchase special legislation. Until the Representatives of the people in Congress more fully exhibit the diverse views, and the interests of the whole Nation and laws cease to be made without full discussion at the behest of some party leader, there will never be a proper respect shown by the law-making power either to the Judicial or Executive branch of the Government. The generation just beginning to use the ballot-box, it is believed, only need that their attention should be called to these considerations to indicate by their votes that they wish their Representatives to observe all the restraints which the people, in adopting the Constitution, intended to impose on party excess.

Calmly reviewing my administration of the Government, I feel that (with a sense of accountability to God, having conscientiously endeavored to discharge my whole duty) I have nothing to regret. Events have proved the correctness of the policy set forth in my first and subsequent messages. The woes which have followed the rejection of forbearance, magnanimity, and Constitutional rule are known and deplored by the Nation. It is a matter of pride and gratification, in retiring from the most exalted position in the gift of a free people, to feel and know that in a long, arduous and eventful public life my action has never been influenced by desire for gain, and that I can in all sincerity inquire, Whom have I defrauded? Whom have I oppressed? or, At whose hand have I received any bribe to blind my eyes therewith? No responsibility for wars that have been waged or blood that has been shed rests upon me. My thoughts have been those of peace, and my effort has ever been to allay contentions among my countrymen. Forgetting the

past, let us return to the first principles of the Government, and unfurling the banner of our country, inscribe upon it in ineffaceable characters, "The Constitution and the Union, one and inseparable." ANDREW JOHNSON.

WASHINGTON, D. C., March 4, 1869.

CHAPTER XX.

THE WHITE HOUSE UNDER THE JOHNSONS—MR. JOHNSON AT GREENVILLE-IN CONGRESS-DEATH-THE

ELIZ

LIZA MCCARDLE, the wife of President Johnson, does not appear among the women whose good fortune made them mistresses of the historic White House. This privilege, in her husband's term of office, fell to the lot of her daughter, Mrs. Patterson. Mrs. Johnson's poor health rendered her unfit to bear the burden which custom, fashion, and perhaps folly, have attached to the "Lady of the White House." Her inclinations, too, entirely unfitted her for such duties, as did also her lack of experience in the fashionable world. She was wholly domestic in her disposition, having devoted her life almost entirely to the quiet of her home and the care of her family. During her husband's public services before the war, both at Washington and in the State Capital, she remained in her home at Greenville, only once, for a month or two, visiting Washington in the spring of 1861. She had been a beautiful woman, but it was in her mind and character that she was a source of untold wealth to her husband. His uncultured and stern nature had received many a refining touch from her hand