ered even by the mass of his
countrymen to-day as part of the reward to Robert Clive for founding
the British Empire in India.

But the importance of the President's Impeachment does not depend upon
the fame of his accusers or upon the length of his trial. The case in
itself possesses intrinsic and enduring interest. It was not affected
by factitious circumstances. It is notable especially because of the
extreme tension to which it subjected the Constitution, and the
attestation it affords of the restraint which a free people
instinctively impose upon themselves in times of public excitement.
It will be studied as a precedent, or as a warning, by the citizens of
the Great Republic during the centuries through which, God grant, it
may pass with increasing prosperity and renown. And it may well happen
that in the crises of a distant future the momentous trial of 1868,
though properly resulting in acquittal of the accused, will be recalled
as demonstrating the ease and the serenity with which, if necessity
should demand it, the citizens of a free country can lawfully deprive
a corrupt or dangerous Executive of the office he has dishonored and
the power he has abused.

Mr. Stanton promptly resigned his post when the Impeachment failed and
returned to private life and to the practice of his profession. He was
accompanied into his retirement by a vote of thanks from Congress for
"the great ability, purity and fidelity with which he had discharged
his public duties"; and in confirming his successor, the Senate adopted
a resolution that Mr. Stanton was not legally removed, but had
relinquished his office. He was broken in health and very keenly
disappointed by the failure of the Impeachment. He supported General
Grant for the Presidency and made one or two important public speeches
in aid of his election. On the 20th of December, 1869, he was
appointed by President Grant an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court
of the United States. For many years of his eminent professional life
this high judicial position was the one ambition which Mr. Stanton had
cherished. But its realization came too late. His prolonged labors,
his anxieties and his disappointments had done their work, and on the
24th of December, five days after he had completed his fifty-fifth
year, he sank to his grave, after herculean labors for the safety and
honor of his country.

General John M. Schofield was nominated by the President as Mr.
Stanton