his final argument was a surprise to the Senate and to his
professional brethren, and did much to give him a high reputation as a
lawyer.--The counsel for the President was completed by the addition of
a confidential friend from his own State, Hon. T. A. R. Nelson. Mr.
Nelson had been closely associated with Mr. Johnson in the Tennessee
struggles for the Union, had gained reputation as a representative in
the Thirty-sixth Congress, and had acquired a good standing at the bar
of his State.

The answer of the President to the Articles of Impeachment having been
presented on the 23d, the replication of the House duly made, and all
other preliminary and introductory steps completed, the actual trial
began on Monday, the thirtieth day of March (1868), when General
Butler, one of the Managers on behalf of the House of Representatives,
made the opening argument. It was very voluminous, prepared with great
care in writing, and read to the Senate from printed slips. It was
accompanied by a brief of authorities upon the law of impeachable
crimes and misdemeanors, prepared by Hon. William Lawrence of Ohio
with characteristic industry and learning. While every point in the
charges preferred by the House was presented by General Butler with
elaboration, the weight of his argument against the President lay
in the fact that the removal of Mr. Stanton from the office of
Secretary of War was, as he averred, an intentional violation of the
Tenure-of-office Act, an intentional violation of the Constitution of
the United States. This was set forth in every possible form, and
argued in every possible phase, with the well-known ability of General
Butler; and though other charges were presented against the President,
the House of Representatives relied mainly upon this alleged offense
for his conviction.

General Butler in his argument was evidently troubled by the proviso
in the Tenure-of-office Act, that members of the Cabinet should hold
their offices "during the term of the President by whom they were
appointed, and for one month longer." He sought to anticipate his
opponents' argument on this point. "By whom was Mr. Stanton
appointed?" asked General Butler. "By Mr. Lincoln. Whose Presidential
term was he holding under when the bullet of Booth became the proximate
cause of this trial? Was not his appointment in full force at that
hour? Had any act of President Johnson up to the twelfth day of August
last vitiated or interfere