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House an address, in which, with great skill, he appeals to the personal friendships and social relations which he has so long had the opportunity of forming. Indeed, they have all the advantages of position. I come to them an unwelcome messenger from their master, that great sultan, the people, bearing as a present the political bowstring, and it is not to be expected that the rebellious pashas will consent to be choked off without a struggle. Indeed, they boast that they have long since entered into a treaty with this House by which the House is bound to protect them in their treasonable practices, and to interpose its broad shield between them and their justly exasperated sovereign.

"I regret the position which I am compelled to occupy in relation to these gentlemen, with both of whom my intercourse has always been marked by the most kindly feelings. I have, however, a high duty to perform. I act for others, not for myself, and I should be unworthy of the confidence reposed in me did I allow any personal considerations to influence my action or bias my judgment.

"A portion of the public press has interfered in this matter in the most licentious manner. Ever since it has been undergoing an acknowledged judicial investigation by this House the question has been decided out of doors with an air of ex cathedra authority which is manifestly intended to have an effect here. The official organ itself has spoken, and with an ignorance of the law only equalled by its perversion of the facts. I have alluded to this matter only to inquire whether the god or the priest alone is responsible for the lying oracle, to deprecate executive interference in this controversy, and to express my hope that the sword of Brennus is not to be cast into the scale, compelling by its massive weight right and justice to kick the beam.

"Rumor with her hundred mouths has bruited it abroad that this case would be decided not upon its merits, but upon party grounds. In accordance with her ancient custom, surely she lied, for when I cast my eyes around and behold collected here the selected wisdom and worth of this mighty nation, I cannot restrain my indignation at the foul and groundless slander. What! the right of representation of a whole State to be decided upon party grounds! The elective franchise to be sacrificed at the shrine of party! I do not believe it, sir,—I do not believe it. A degree of corruption which would warrant such a supposition exceeds my comprehension. I have a better opinion of my kind; and if I had not, sir, I would trust to fear even after I had lost my confidence in honesty. No party in this country dares tamper with the elective franchise of a whole State. No party dares to move a corner-stone at the risk of bringing the whole edifice tumbling about their ears. No party dares to place a match to the magazine whose explosion they must know will blow them to atoms. The people guard with more than Argus vigilance the right of representation, for it has not been long since their fathers fought for it; and woe betide the party which shall attempt to steal from them the Hesperian fruit!

"Did I think, sir, that Rumor spoke truth, that faction would usurp the seat of judgment, and partisan prejudice instead of the Constitution and the laws furnish the rule of decision, then, indeed, I would deem it worse than useless to trespass on your patience. With slow and melancholy steps I should return to those who sent me here, and tell them that the days of the republic were numbered; that the spirit of liberty had departed, and in its stead a demon had entered and taken possession of the body, directing its movements and controlling its functions.

"I would that I wielded the spear of Ithuriel, that with it I might touch the foul fiend of party should he dare'squat like a toad' to whisper false suggestions in the ear of this House! then would he start up in all his horrid deformity with a visage more hideous than that of the dark Mokanna, the veiled prophet of Khorassan. But, as I have said, I cannot believe there is anything to fear on this score. The hounds of party may howl around these walls, but surely they will not dare to enter within its sacred precinct.

"In approaching the subject of this controversy, I confess, Mr. Speaker, I am filled with alarm at the magnitude of the task I have undertaken. In ordinary questions of law decision travels with confidence and ease upon the highway of precedent, but penetrates with slow and doubtful steps among the less beaten paths of constitutional construction. In searching into the principles of organic law, in examining and measuring the exact extent and relative position of the pediments and arches which sustain the pillars and the walls of the political fabric, skill and experience should be the companions of reason. I am aware how greatly I lack both. I know that I have around me materials more than sufficient for the construction of an impregnable argument, but that very abundance, from which the eye of a more experienced artificer would select at once the portions more appropriate for the work, distracts my attention and confuses my choice.

"Sir, this controversy is one of an importance unsurpassed by any that can arise under our political system. It involves not merely the question, whether A or B is entitled to a seat on this floor as a Representative of the people of the State of Mississippi, but the question, also, whether the right to choose such Representatives resides with the people of that State or in this House; whether the laws of that State enacted according to an express mandate of the Constitution of the United States are mere nullities; whether the executive authority of the State has the power at its discretion to abrogate or nullify an admitted constitutional law. It involves more than this, it involves the question whether this House can, under cover of its power of judging of the election qualifications and returns of its members, nullify a constitutional law of a State or of Congress fixing the time for the election of Representatives to Congress. This is not all, it involves the right of the delegations of one-half of the States to the very seats which they now occupy. In fact, it involves the consti

tutional character of every House of Representatives that ever assembled in this hall. Such are some of the considerations which will arise in this discussion, and I doubt not their magnitude and importance will command attention and insure more mature deliberation. I lay down the following propositions, which I shall endeavor to demonstrate in the course of my argument:

"First. That Messrs. Claiborne and Gohlson never were constitutionally or legally elected Representatives from the State of Mississippi to the Twenty-fifth Congress, and that the election in July last, under which they claim, was absolutely and wholly void, a mere nullity.

"Second. That if said election was good for anything, it was good only for the period of time anterior to that fixed by the law of the State for the general election, to wit,-the first Monday and day following in November, inasmuch as said July election was ordered to fill that period only, and was holden by the electors for the purpose and with the intention of filling that period only, and that, in point of fact, no election was ordered or holden in Mississippi in July last for Representatives to the Twentyfifth Congress.

"Third. That in November last my colleague and myself were constitutionally and legally elected Representatives from the State of Mississippi to the Twenty-fifth Congress.

"But I am met upon the threshold by the gentlemen and told that I shall not be permitted to demonstrate a single one of these propositions. That at the special session a resolution involving them all was adopted by the House, that the whole matter thereby became res adjudicata, and that the decision so made was final and conclusive, incapable of revision, and binding upon all the world. They tell me that, even admitting the propositions laid down by me to be true, still they are entitled to their seats by virtue of the judgment of this House, and that by said judgment the State of Mississippi is estopped from proving that they are not her Representatives. Such is the position which the gentlemen have assumed before the committee, and such is the ground which they occupy before this House. Dipped, Achilles-like, in this judicial Styx, they deem themselves invulnerable, but I trust I shall be able to find some soft place in heel or head to which the arrow of truth may cleave its way.

"Have the gentlemen considered well the attitude in which they place themselves by this course? Was not their better angel nodding at his post when they resolved upon it? Was there nothing in the manner and circumstances under which that decision was obtained which would make them feel a particular delicacy in using it for the purpose of smothering the present investigation? Whither has fled that lofty magnanimity which at the last session induced the gentlemen to institute proceedings against themselves for the purpose of ascertaining the rights of their constituents, that delicate sensibility which could not brook a shadow of a doubt as to the legitimacy of their representative character, that fostering protection

of the election franchise, that deep veneration for the voice of the people, that ready obedience to their will?

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Do the gentlemen really wish to represent the people whether they will or not? Do they actually intend to set up a majority of seventeen votes here against a majority of seven thousand at home? Did they obtain this decision for the purpose of extending the powers delegated to them by the people? Whom do they consider their constituents, the people of Mississippi or the members of this House, that they should base their rights here upon the action and rule of the latter instead of the former? Does not their valor outrun their discretion? A bold man was he, that ancient one who stole the fire from heaven and hid it in a hollow reed, but not less bold is he who would steal the elective franchise from the people of a whole State and hide it in the hollow decision of this House. Let them remember the fate of Prometheus, 'the vulture and the rock.'

"Come, I cast down my glove and challenge them to do battle upon the merits of the cause. What are they afraid to break a lance or shiver a spear in fair lists upon the open plain, that thus silent and sullen they retire behind the wall and hide in an intrenchment, constructed, one would judge, for the very purpose of protecting themselves against their constituents? Perhaps they are content with the laurels won on a former occasion, when, as I am told, in right knightly style they held a passageat-arms and challenged all comers? They pranced, it is said, in gallant guise around the lists, and their trumpet of defiance rung forth loud and clear; but well they knew the while that two thousand long miles, with many a lofty mountain and many a broad and rushing river, intervened between themselves and those whom they thus summoned to the contest. That summons is at length answered by the people of Mississippi, on whose behalf and as an humble champion of whose rights I now appear. Fast and far I have ridden to meet the gentlemen's high defiance. Ivanhoe has returned from the Holy Land, and the disinherited knight dares the proud Templar to the combat.

Again and for the last time, in the name of Mississippi, the lady-love whose gage we both profess to wear, I call upon the gentlemen to come forth from their castle-res adjudicata, as they call it and meet this controversy upon fair and open ground. They decline the invitation. Well, if they will not come to me I will go to them; I will attack this fortress in which they have taken refuge. It strikes me it can be either stormed or starved into surrender, for I do not believe its defences are tenable or its garrison victualled for a very long siege. Let the gentlemen remember, too, that they have rendered themselves fully liable to the operations of that rule of war which denies quarter to those who attempt to defend an untenable position.

Let us now examine into the character of this res adjudicata, which, like the seal of Solomon, has closed up the whole matter. At the special session of Congress in September last, Messrs. Claiborne and Gohlson

appeared and took their seats on the first day thereof as Representatives from the State of Mississippi. They participated in the organization of the House and in all business transacted by it until the fourteenth day of the session, when Mr. Gohlson introduced the following resolution: 'Resolved, That the Committee on Elections be instructed to report upon the certificate of election of Messrs. Claiborne and Gohlson, the members elect from Mississippi, whether they are members of the Twenty-fifth Congress or not, and that said committee take into consideration the proclamation of His Excellency Charles Lynch, governor of said State, and the writ of election issued in accordance with said proclamation on the 13th of June, 1837, and also the act of the Legislature of the State of Mississippi entitled an act to regulate elections, approved March 2, 1833.'

"Upon this reference the Committee of Elections made a report, concluding with the following resolution: 'Resolved, That Samuel J. Gohlson and John F. II. Claiborne are duly elected members of the Twenty-fifth Congress, and as such are entitled to their seats.' This resolution was adopted by the House, and its adoption constitutes the res adjudicata which the gentlemen set up as final and conclusive of the whole matter. "Now with regard to this action of the House I take the following points: "First. That it was not a judicial act of this House at all, nor was it adopted by this House acting as a judicature.

"Second. It was not a decision or adjudication upon the election qualification or return of myself and colleague, our election and return having taken place long since said pretended adjudication.

"Third. That so far as said pretended adjudication goes to alter or annul the law of Mississippi fixing the time for the election of her Representatives to the Twenty-fifth Congress, it is void; this House having no power, either legislative or judicial, to alter or annul a constitutional law of a State fixing the time for the general election of her Representatives to Congress.

"Fourth. Said pretended adjudication is not conclusive on the State of Mississippi, because she was neither a party to the proceedings upon which it was based nor had any notice thereof, either actual or constructive. "Fifth. Said pretended adjudication was founded upon palpable mistake, and the House is bound to review it.

"First. The adoption of said resolution was not a judicial act of this House. Messrs. Claiborne and Gohlson were in possession of their seats, participating in all the business of the House. No one contested their election, and the resolution introduced by themselves originated entirely out of their delicate sensibilities on the subject, and was nothing more than an application to the House for its advice and opinion upon the validity of their return. Such was the understanding and view of the committee, as appears from the following extract from their report: 'No objection,' says the committee, 'is made from any quarter to the right of the gentlemen elect to their seats only by and through themselves, on account of the peculiar circumstances under which the election was held, their own deli

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