put down the monopoly and destroy the institution. (Applause.) Institutions of any kind must be subordinate to the Government or the Government cannot stand. I do not care whether it be North or South. A Government based upon popular judgment must be paramount to all institutions that spring up under that Government; and if, when they attempt to control the Government, the Government don't put them down, they will put it down. Hence, the main portion of my efforts have been devoted to the opposition of them. Hence, I have ever opposed aristocracy-opposed it in any shape. But there is a kind of suffrage that has always, that always will, command my respect and approbation-the aristocracy of talent, the aristocracy of virtue, the aristocracy of merit, or an aristocracy resting upon worth, the aristocracy of labor, resting upon honest industry, developing the industrial resources of the country, this commands my respect and admiration, my support in life. In regard to my future course in connection with this rebellion, nothing that I can say would be worth listening to, if my past is not sufficient guarantee. I can only add that I have never knowingly deceived the people, and never have betrayed a friend, (applause), and God willing, never will. (Applause.) Accept my profound and sincere thanks for the encouragement you have given me, and believe me when I say that your encouragement and countenance, your confidence, are a great aid and a great spur to the performance of my duties. Once more I thank you for this manifestation of your regard and respect.

COURAGE OF THE PRESIDENT.

In the foregoing pages we have described the personal fearlessness of Andrew Johnson while Military Governor of Tennessee. This personal courage was put to a far more critical test after his accession to the Presidency of the United States. The assassination of Mr. Lincoln, the attempted murder of Secretary Seward and several members of his family, the supposed purpose to kill Secretary Stanton, Lieutenant-General Grant, and other prominent men in Washington, had filled the nation with

horror. The air was full of rumors of plots of treason and murder. No man in Washington City believed himself safe. Yet, during weeks of anxiety, President Johnson walked out and rode about as calmly as if he was a patriarch among his family. His immediate friends expostulated with him on what they considered his carelessness, but he regarded their solicitude as over-anxiety, and did not surround himself with janissaries or any sort of armed guards, though his temporary residence, (Mrs. Lincoln not having yet vacated the Executive Mansion,) was, by order of the Secretary of War, surrounded by a guard of soldiers. A gentleman meeting Mr. Johnson in the parlor of the Kirkwood House just after his accession to the Presidency, asked: "Mr. President, is it wise for you thus to jeopard yourself?". He replied: "Yes. I have already been shot at twice, you remember, without injury. Threatened men live long."

THE LAST DAYS OF THE WAR-THE PRESIDENT'S POLICY.

During the latter half of the month of April and the first half of May, 1865, it must not be supposed that President Johnson was only occupied in receiving delegations of citizens and diplomatists and in making speeches. A thousand official cares occupied his hours in addition, and had his frame not have been of the sturdiest build, he must have broken down under the tremendous pressure brought upon him in these early days of his occupancy of the Presidential chair. The surrender of Lee's army and the possession by the Federal forces, of nearly the whole State of Virginia, brought with it a thousand grave questions of public policy, most of which are, even as we write, undecided. The negotiations of Major General W. T. Sherman with General Joseph E. Johnston, in North Carolina, and the serious error of General Sherman in al

lowing inadmissible terms to the rebel Johnston also became a subject of the gravest consideration by the President and Cabinet, and Mr. Johnson at once sent Lieutenant General Grant to North Carolina, with full power to countermand General Sherman's agreement with the rebel commander, and to accept the surrender of his forces on the same terms as those accorded to General Lee.

The dispersion of Joseph E. Johnston's army, together with the scattered bands surrendered along with it, left no rebel force of consequence east of the Mississippi river, and the question of reconstruction at once overrode military policy and became the great subject of the hour. Notwithstanding the pressure upon him on this question, President Johnson preserved a wise reticence on the points growing out of this vitally important matter. Another grave matter occupied the attention of the President. The pursuit of the assassins of the late President had to be kept up, even after John Wilkes Booth had been tracked to his hiding place and shot dead. This matter alone was enough to keep his thoughts occupied during every waking hour. We may add to the topics which must have been ceaselessly present to the mind of the President, the public debt, increasing as it was with each day; the diminution of the army and navy; and the attitude which the United States ought to occupy towards those foreign nations who have been eager to aid the rebels or who are attempting to plant their power on the continent of America in defiance of that cardinal Ameri

can principle, the Monroe doctrine. We give below such

official utterances of the President and his Ministers as indicate the line he intends to pursue on the foregoing and cognate questions:

APPOINTMENT OF A DAY OF HUMILIATION.

Whereas, By my direction, the Acting Secretary of State, in a notice to the public on the 17th of April,

requested the various religious denominations to assemble on the 19th of April, on the occasion of the obsequies of Abraham Lincoln, late President of the United States, and to observe the same with appropriate ceremonies; and

Whereas, Our Country has become one great house of mourning, where the head of the family has been taken away; and believing that a special period should be assigned for again humbling ourselves before Almighty God, in order that the bereavement may be sanctified to the nation; now, therefore, in order to mitigate that grief on earth which can only be assuaged by communion with the Father in Heaven, and in compliance with the wishes of Senators and Representatives in Congress communicated to me by a resolution adopted at the National Capital, I, Andrew Johnson, President of the United States, do hereby appoint Thursday, the 25th of May, next, to be observed wherever in the United States the flag of the country may be respected, as a day of humiliation and mourning, and I recommend my fellow-citizens then to assemble in their respective places of worship, there to unite in solemn service to Almighty God, in memory of the good man who has been removed, so that all shall be occupied at the same time in the contemplation of his virtues, and sorrow for his sudden and violent end.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.

Done at the City of Washington, the 25th day of April, in the year of our Lord, 1865, and of the Independence of the United States of America the eighty-ninth.

By the President:

ANDREW JOHNSON.

W. HUNTER, Acting Secretary of State.

Subsequently the President, for reasons which will appear therein, issued the subjoined supplementary Proclamation, bearing on the same matter:

Whereas, By my proclamation of the 25th instant, Thursday, the 25th day of May, was recommended as a day of special humiliation and prayer in consequence of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, late President of the United

States, but whereas my attention has been called to the fact that the day aforesaid is sacred to large numbers of Christians as one of rejoicing for the ascension of the Saviour: now, therefore, be it known that I, Andrew Johnson, President of the United States, do hereby suggest that the religious services recommended as aforesaid should be postponed until Thursday, the first day of June next.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.

Done at the City of Washington, this 29th day of April, in the year of our Lord 1865, and of the Independence of the United States of America the eighty-ninth.

By the President:

ANDREW JOHNSON.

W. HUNTER, Acting Secretary of State.

REDUCTION OF MILITARY EXPENSES. By direction of the President, the following order was issued by the War Department:

WAR DEPARTMENT, ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE,

WASHINGTON, D. C., April 28, 1865. GENERAL ORDERS, No. 77.-For reducing the expenses of the military establishment.

ORDERED: First.-That the chiefs of the respective bureaus of this Department proceed immediately to reduce the expenses of their respective departments to what is absolutely necessary, in view of the immediate reduction of the forces in the field and in garrison, and the speedy termination of hostilities, and that they severally make out statements of the reductions they deem practicable.

Second. That the Quartermaster-General discharge all ocean transports not required to bring home troops in remote departments. All river and inland transportation will be discharged except that required for the necessary supplies to troops in the field. Purchases of horses, mules, wagons, and other land transportation will be stopped; also purchases of forage except what is required for immediate consumption. All purchases for railroad construction and transportation will also be stopped.

Third. That the Commissary-General of Subsistence discontinue the purchase of supplies in his Department,