The Lyttelton Times. TUESDAY, JULY 11, 1865.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XXIV, Issue 1428, 11 July 1865, Page 2

The Lyttelton Times. TUESDAY, JULY 11, 1865.

The assassination of President Lincoln is a crime which will strike with horror the inhabitants of every civilized nation in the world. There is an unprovoked brutality in the act which classes it amongst the most revolting murders ever committed, while the miserable theatrical clap-trap of the assassin renders the memory of his atrocity more disgusting. There have been instances in former history in which the violent death of a tyrannical ruler has not grievously shocked the moral sense of the world; indeed, there have been cases of assassination—such as that of Marat, by Charlotte Corday—which almost tempted the unreasoning multitude to accept the crime of a misguided generous soul as an act of heroic virtue. There have been men in Europe, nursed, unfortunately, in the midst of political crimes as well as in misfortune, who have openly preached the doctrine of tyrannicide ; but their tenets have been so loathsome to the world at large, that at the present day no one dare avow them even in the most revolutionary society. Even these would-be tyrantkillers have never pretended that their ; ultima ratio was to be appealed to except in cases when the tyrant was otherwise irremovable. Seldom has any one in his senses been so desperately wicked as to murder another simply because his political opinions were odious to him. President Lincoln was a man who was slowly making for himself a name. Uncouth, homely, with a limited education, this man suddenly found himself the leader of a great nation at the crisis of its fate. Men may and do differ as to the wisdom or justice of the course he pursued; but all were beginning to acknowledge the honesty of purpose, the dogged resolution, and the native dignity of the twice-elected chief of the United States. Through evil report and good report Lincoln had won his way to the respect of most men, and appeared on the point of reaching a place in the affections of Americans such as few living men ever acquire in a great democracy ; he had outlived all doubts as to his honesty of purpose. His want of education was

redeemed by the originality and vigour of his quaint speeches and writings; his uncouthness and want of polish by his generally fiiir and dignified bearing towards foreign states; and the coercive measures adopted by him during his first term of office were forgotten or forgiven in admiration of his persevering resolute policy, and 'in the satisfaction at his ultimate success. At such a time his death by the hand of an assassin will probably make his memory for the future as sacred to Americans as that of Washington. Cut off in a manner so sudden and so shocking before the eyes of the nation, at the very moment when he had attained the highest pitch of popularity which a popular ruler could hope to attain; assassinated because he was the apparent leader in a policy justified in the eyes of the nation by its success; the rail-splitter of Kentucky will receive an apotheosis such as has been accorded to few rulers. He might have lived to share the fate of other once successful men; now his fame is safe for ever. It is unnecessary to show that Lincoln could not, even if he wished, be a tyrant in the old-world sense of the term. " Sic semper tyrannis " was the bathos of a half-educated wretch, through whose wicked scheming brain floated a dim recollection of halflearned school - stories, and whose criminal instincts were whetted by such vanity as is fed by theatrical display. There is not a child in the United States who does not know that Lincoln, having been once re-elected, could not be chosen President again; for good or for evil his reign must have come to an end in March 1869, let there be peace then or let there be war. Every 6ne knew that unless Congress had sympathised with his views he could not have governed as he did govern, and that the sovereign power did not rest in any one man's hands. The death of Lincoln and of his whole cabinet would not in any way influence the conduct of the war. But there is no use in showing what is so patent to all, —that the crime was not only horrible and unjustifiable, but inexplicable. The loss to his family of a man remarkably affectionate and fond of domestic life we cannot attempt to measure. But even from this out-of-the-way corner of the world we desire to join in the expressions of sympathy for the whole American nation, North and South, which will come from every land to which this sad news travels. The gallant leaders of the Southern armies will feel more bitterly than defeat the unlooked-for appearance of felonious allies, and their cause will be inevitably clouded in the eyes of the world by the act of the New York conspirators. Who or what they are we do not know yet. But in such times as these they will certainly be assumed to be friends of the South. It is a sad termination to a heroic struggle. The Northern States have not only lost the honest and firm mind which guided their counsels throughout the war, but they will have to submit to the leadership of a man who has but lately disgraced himself before the country. The drunken boor who so lately insulted the Senateat Washington in the sight of the world on the most solemn occasion which he could We chosen must take the reins at the present crisis, or be the cause of a revolution. It is not to be expected that such a fellow as he is should retire gracefully or ungracefully to make way for a better man. Little did those who urged him to resign in March suppose that they would so bitterly repent his obstinate refusal in April. The Americans are slow to revolutionize their government. Unless they alter the Constitution, Johnston, the drunken journeyman tailor, must represent them for the next four years before the world.

The framers of the American Constitution were so anxious to avoid elections for the Presidency more frequent than every four years, that provision was made in the case of a President's death during his period of office. At the time of the Presidential election a Vice-President has to be chosen as well as a President; the former presiding as Speaker of the Senate or Upper House. Unfortunately it has become a custom to pay but little attention to the second name on the "ticket" supported by any party. The great struggle at a party convention is about the choice of a candidate for the Presidency. A man to whom his party wish to pay ;a compliment, for some temporary reason, is too often accepted for the second candidate. And thus men have found themselves Chief Magistrates in America, to whom no party would ever deliberately have entrusted political power. Twice before has this happened. In 1841, Tyler took office on the death of Harrison; and in 1850, Fillmore succeeded on the death of Taylor; and, as in neither case was the Vice-President acceptable in the higher office to which he succeeded, the promotion of so scandalous a specimen of stump-politician as Johnston may lead to a change in the Constitution. A change is sincerely to be hoped for the sake, not only of the Americans, but of all nations which have diplomatic relations with them.