Mr. Andrew Johnson, the-Vice-President Of the United States, a mean
white, and formerly a journeyman tailor in Tennessee, gave much comfort and refreshment to the enemies of the North by making a drunken speech on the occasion of his inauguration. The speech was a sort of libation to the demos. He began with emphatically boasting that be was a plebeian,—a man made by the people. He then told Mr. Seward and Mr. Chase that they individually owed everything to the people, and requested to be told the name of the Secretary of the Navy, Mr. Welles, in order that he might repeat the same instrdc- tive remark to him. The poor -wretch had evidently been over excited by the public honour about to be bestowed upon him, and had drunk deep to stimulate himself for his speech. The serious thing is that if Mr. Lincoln should die during the next four years Mr. Johnson would becomePresident for the re- mainder of the term, and might declare war, or ruin the nation,In a drunken fit. The cry for his resignation is general, but he can- not be impeached for any crime, and there is therefore no, power to compel him to abdicate his office.
Previous page
