The New York Herald Newspaper, April 29, 1868, Page 5

IMPEACHMENT, Trial of President Andrew Johnson for High Crimes and Misdemeanors. CONCLUSION OF MR, WILLIAMS? The Alta Vela Case and the Managers. Spicy Debate Between Mr. But- ler and Mr. Nelson. ARGUMENT | Able Argument by Mr. Evart’ for the Defence. SPECIAL TELEGRAM TD THE HERALD. WASHINGTON, Aprit 28, 1868, Manager Williams finished his piece to-day, after speaking over an hour and @ half. He stated few points that have not already been gone over and worn threadbare, but, like Judge Nelson, he tlirew in a tremendous amount of the poetic and the spread eagie, and if he couid only have disengaged the bang thas held the manuscript and given freg sco} ye to his gesticulation the erect would have been almost ) sublime, There was a manifest impatience to hear Mr. Evarts, and no regret was expressed when Mr. Wil- liams resumed his accustomed seat. But when, after , the recess, and after some time consumed in allow- ing the Senators and ‘Representatives to finish their social chats, and when Mr, Evarts had arranged his notes and books of reference ready to begtn, Ben But- ler sprang up to make an explanation in the shape of a narration—which he read in order to be the more Precise—about what he and three others of the Man- agers had to do with Jerry Black and the island of Alta Vela, there was a regular commotion, This was in reply to a statement made by Judge Nelson, on Friday last, that since the articles of impeachment were framed four of the Managers had endorsed a sort of demand on the President to enforce the claiins of American citizens to the island of Alta Vela. Mr. Butler confessed he signed such a paper, ahd that it was published in the New York HERALD of | April 17. He waxed very wrothy over Judge Nelson's | expesé, and insinuated that it was unprofessional, | and something worse. Of course the Judge was bound to reply, which he did under evident excite- ment, He disclaimed any other motive in men- { tioning the Alta Vela matter than to do away with the erroneous impression that Judge Black resigned the President's defence because he considered his | case a desperate one. Up to the end of this expla- | | { | | | } nation the Judge kept himself well retned in; but the ardent temper of Tennessee could brook it no longer, jand he let full some few words re- | moteiy hinting at pistols and coffee between 4 Butler and himeelf. Senator Yates called | “Order,” and order was quietly resumed. Judge Neison then went on to say that, with the permission of the Senate, he would bring down the letter io- morrow signed by the four Managers, and which was | sent to the President. General Logan.stood up to | Say Something, but the usual tremor took possession of Senators and he had to sitdown. Senator Conk- ling, however, interceded for him, and promised the Senators, who were opposed to General’ Logan opening his lips that he wouid «speak only a single sentence. He then spoke and said the counsel was Mistaken in saying the paper,was signed after the impeachment articles were drawn up. He, for one, signed it long before. Mr. Evarts at length got a chance to begin his ad- dress.at about half-past two o'clock. At this time there: was a very full, expectant and brilliant audience in the galleries, Mr. Evarts began in a medium and ineasured tone of voice, dwelling on the importance of the trial, the great and unforeseen results that were likely to fow from It, no matter how decided, and gradually iaunched out into a grand and really impressive cxordium of the nature of a court, the duties of Senators presiding in a ju- dicial capacity and the specific character of an oath. His definition of an oath was something strikingly figurative and eloquent. The lightuings from the surcharged clouds that strike the steel rod | reaching up to heaven and buries tiself harmlessly in the ground takes from the forces of nature some element inimical to its harmony; so with an oath, it reaches up to Heaven and takes from the moral natare of man the elements of interest, prejudice and party, and leayes the heart pure to listen and decide. Mr. Evarts begins the real part of iis argu- ment to-morrow. He did not feel disposed to-day to weary the patience of ihe Senate, who had been already listening for two hours and a half to other speakers, with the dry details of his address, It is now understood that Mr. Stanbery will have his argument read bofore the Senate. Although the gentieman’s health has suficiently recovered to al- Jow him.to be out, he does not fee! that he has suf- ficient strength to undertake the task of reading it himself. The radicals feel very confident this evening as to the result of the trial. it was declared to-day, by a gentleman in a position to know, that the Presigent will be found guilty on at least one of the aiticies charged against him, and that by a strict party vote on the other articles the same parties feel assured of | Managers and mem! , island of Alta Vele. This explanation becomes ne- a two-thirds vote. It is known that conviction on a single count will be suflicient for a resolution that the President be removed from office. This fact Jargely multiphes the odds against the President, and is rather discouraging to the friends of ac- quittal. PROCEEDINGS OF TRE COUR’ ‘Twenty-fitth Day. UNITED States Sexare CuaMpeER, \ WASHINGTON, April 28, 1908. ‘When the Court had been opened in due forin Senator SumNER said:—I send to the Chair an amendment to the rules of the Senate upon the trial of impeachments. When that has been read, if there be any objection, I will ask that it go over until the Close of the argument, and take its place with the other matters which will come up for consideration at the time, The amendment was read as follow: Whereas it is provided in the constitution of the States that on trials of impeactment by the ate NO person shall be convicted without the con- curring of two-thirds of the members pre this requirement of two-thirds is not ex’ the judement in su ais, Which remains subject to the genera! law @ majority prevaiia, There- fore, in order to remove any doubt thereupon, Ordered, That any question which may arise with regard to the judgment shall be dytermined by a ma- jority of the members present, Senator Davis objected, and The Carer Justice said;—It will lie over. honorable Managers will proceed. CONCLUSION OF MANAGBR WILLIAMS’ ARGUMENT, Mr. Manager Wiittams then, at quarter past twelve, resumed his argument. After recapitulating his positions of yesterday he took up the subject of the President's alleged justification by reason of advice given him by his Cabinet. He held that the President could not shield himself behind the opinions of his own creatures, whose sentiments were prompted ‘by fear of losing their positions. He characterized the Cabinet in its newly assumed functions as a fungus growth which sought to inake itself a directory. He argned that ff members of the Cabinet were latended nye i framers of our government to advise the Prosfdent | on questions of general policy and stield bina from responsibility for his actions, oy would have been | made independent of his control, He cla! med that the President hud failed to show any saficlent cause for his desire to remove Mr, Stanton. True, he was thora in his side, but so was Congress, and so were Grant ond every loyal man. Mr, Williams held that the wanted removal of a meritorions officer ftom motives of personal dislike is of iteelf suficient war- rant of impeachment. He referred to the Pr dent's faiiare to commence legal proceedings, which, The he maintained, would not have snited his purpose fo lave an interregnum where his own will would | iprene. He then gave a satirical and hugorous dexerption of the condget of weneral NEW Y ‘Thomas on the 2ist and 22d of , including Ey the » With regard to his ve Reche ong at masquerade. the defence set up by the President that he has a right to resist and bring to jidicial decision laws he con- siders unconstitutional » Williams. inaintained that no provisions of the Constitution required such a judicial confirmation and that extreme cases of clearly unconstitutional laws were not supposable. He wonid admit that the Senate is now sitting as a court, but it was a court exelusive jurisdic- tion, which could deeide this whole matter scooting to its own Ideas, ae but not bound by preceden' and laws, Mr. Williams then that the sus- pension of Mr. Stanton was made under the Tenure of Office law,4vhich the President thereby r ized, He then maintained that the ayerment of evil Iutent Was hot necessary in case, a8 in all others it was inferred from the act itself, pal conduct of Mr. Jonson with thatof James the Second, he said it only now remained to see whethes the paral- let would be completed. He coutended that the safety of the people, the supreme law was the onl; law by which this cage should properly be tried. It was belittied by trivialand impertinent legal techni- calities, and he besought the Senate to take the larger view. In r to. the eleventh article, he had not the heart to dwell upon the disgraceful.con- duct which formed the subject. If the President, like his counsel, made merry over it, he would only say that Nero fiddled while Kome was burning, aud that one culprit would findin the Senate a censor more stern than Cato, In conclusion he said the result of the trial would determine whether the President or the Senate would go down, . and depicting a series of fearful consequen which, he said, would follow from the acquittal. le contrasted them with a giowing pictute of speace, prosperity and happiness to result from the Presideus conviction. Mr. Williains coneluded his remarks at 1:40 P. M., when, on motion of Senator Johnson, the Court took @ recess of fiftcen minutes, which, a8 usual, was spun out to half an hour, MANAGER BUTLER’S EXCEPTIONS TO A PORTION OF MR. NELSON'S ARGUMENT, After recess Mr. Borier said, 1 ask leave, Mr. President and Senators to make a short. narration of facts rendered necessary by what fell from Mr, Nel- son, of counsel ior the President, in his speech of Friday last, which will be found oD pages 339 and 890 of the records, The Cine Jusiier (interrupting)—It there’ is no objection the honorable Manager may proceed. Mr. BUTLER, continulng—And for certainty, I have reduced what {have io say upon tills matter wo Writing, Mr. Buriex then read as fol lows:— 1 leave to make a variation of facts rendered necessary by what was said y Mr. Nelson, of the counsel for the President, | {0 his argument on Friday last, contained on pages 883, $89, 500 of the record, in relation to the Hon. J. 8. whack and the 6q conv.ction of some of the rs of the House in regard to the cessary because Of the very anomalous course taken by the learned cownsel In introducing in his argu- ment what he cal!s a statement of facts, not one of which would have been competent if offered in evidence, gnd upon which he founded an at- tack upon a ntlemah not present, and from which he deduces insinuations injurious to‘ some of the Managers and other gentiemen meinbers of the House of Representatives who are parties to the issue here and who have no opportu- nity to be heard. The learned counsel was strennons in argument to prove that this was a court and its proceedings were to be such only as are to be had in judicial tribunals; he therefore ought to have con- strained himself at least to act m accordance with his theory. The verlest tyro in the law m the most benigited portion of the Southern country ought to know that in no court, however rude and humble, would an attack be allowed upon the absent or counsel en- gaged in a cause upon @ statement of pretended facts unsupported by oaths, unsifted by cross-examina- tion, and which those to be affected by them had no | opportunity to verify or to dispute. After extractin, | the detail of a document, sent by his client to the Senate, the counsel proceeds in relation to a dispute concerning the island of Alta Vela, as follows:—“According to the best informa- tion I can obtain, 1 state that on the sth of iuach, 1868, General B. F. Butler addressed a letter to J. W. Shafter, in which he stated that he was clearly of opinion that under the claim of the United States its citizens had the exclusive right to take guano there, and that he had never been able to understand why the Executive did not long since assert the rights of the government and sustain the rigitfal claims of its citizens to the pos- session of the island in the most forcible manner consistent with the cignity and houor of the nation.’” ‘This letter was concurred in aid approved of by Joun A. Logan, A. Garfield, W. H. Koontz, J. K. Moorhead, ‘Thaddeus Ste: » John G, Blaine and John A. bing- ham on the same day of March, 1508. ‘The letwer expressing the opinion of Generals Butler, Logan and Garteld, Was placed in the hands of tue Presi- dent by Mx. Chauncey Black, who, on the 16ih of March, 1865, addressed a letter to him in which he enclosed a copy of the same wit the concurrence of Thaddeus Stevens, John A. Bingham, J. G. Blaine, J. kK. Moorhead aud William .H. Koontz; and while Judge Black was counsel for the respondent in this cause he had an interview with the t, in which he urged immediate action on his part and the sending an armed yessel-to take possession of the istand, and because the President refused to do $0 Judge Black On the 19th of March, 1868, declined to appear furtaer as his counsclin thiscase. Such are the fuets in regard to the w: wal of Judge Black, according to the best information I can obtain. So far as the President is concerned, the head aud frout of his offendiag hath this extent no more, It is not necessary to any purpose that I shoald censure Judge Black, oY make ry | rolaations Woes or apenas ions Agulust any of (ic honorable Minuagers. The isiand of Alta Vela or the claim for damages is said to amount in yalue to more than. a million doliars, and it is quite ik ay ¢ an extensive speculation is on foot. Lhave no reason to charge that any of the Managers xre engaged in it, and presume that the letiers were signed, a5 such communica- tious are ofien signed by members of Congress, Uirougu the importanity of friends. Judge Black, ‘no doubt, thought it was his duty to other clients to press this claim. how did the President view ity ‘There are (wo or tree facts to which | desire to call the attention of the Senate and the. country in con- nection with the recommendation, They av First, that they were all gotten up after this impeachment proceeding Was commenced against the President of the United States, Keep the dates in mind, and you wiil see that such ts the fact; every one of them was gotten up after this impeachment proceeding was commenced, Tt cannot fail to be evident that while the counsel disclaims any imputation eitier upon sudge Black or the Managers in words, he so states what he claims to be the iacts as wo convey the very imputation disclaimed, Therefore it is that i have feit called upon to notice the insinuated calumny. My personai knowledge of matters connected with the island of Aita Vela ts very limited. Some time in the summer of 1867, being in waiting on other business in the office of the Attorney General, Mr. Stanbery, i was ab ag at an argument by Judge Black in behall of the American citizeus claiming an iuterest in that island, ‘1 then, for the first thine, learned the facts agreed upon and in disput. concerning it, by listening toand incidentally taking a part on being appealed to in tie discussion. Tn bent Hd iny attentiou was next drawn to the matter oi the speculation and imprison- ment of American citizens upon ihe islind of Alia Vela, by an inquiry of & personal friend, Colonel Shuler, if i had any acquaintance with the ques- tion,and if 0 would give hii my opinion as a lawyer upon the merits of the Cont.ov » To seve a friend suaply upon recollection the discussion wits the Attorney Geneval, I gave him such epiuion, the rough draft of whieh I hold ia iy hand, which is without date, and which being copied | signed and piaced in his hands, This L believe to have been in the early part of February, be » the act was committed by Andrew Johnson which brought on his impeachment. From tawt Ume until i saw my opinion published in the New York LBGALD, purporting to come from Prest- ‘nt Johnson, I never saw il, OF communicated with either of the peniicmen whose names appear in the counsel's statement attached thereto, in aay manner, divectiy or indirectly, iu rezard to itor tie sutycel matter of it, or the island of Alta Vela, or the claim of any ma ising out of ft or because of @. Thus far [ am abie to speek of my own knowledge. Since the statement of the counsel according to the best Information, he can obtain, | have made inquiry; avd from the best information | can obtain i thd the facts to be as follows:—That svon after & | ORK HERALD, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 29, 1868—QUADRUPLE SHEET. 5. contrary to-his judgment, when in truth and in fact, the po Ral were and sent to him in order, as he averred, i sustain ts in Gang what he himself deciared was just ana legal in the prem! tended to do. The use made papers is characteristic of Andrew Johnson, who usually raises issues of veracity with both friend and foe with whom he comes in coontact:— Shauncey F, Black, attofney and counsellor at law, do enna ‘bet the ‘aw ursvor Black, Lamor # Co. have been counsel for years om bebalf of Paterson and Margutondo Fecover their righta 1 tbe guano, discovered by thea in the tainnd of Alta Vela, of which they bad been deprived by fore, aud the imprisonuent of thelr agents by sume af the 1 tants of Dominica, As sucl: counse! we have argued the canse of State and also the President, before whom. been since July q 1867, We have in various forms pressed | the matter uy and soneaned hae Cliy ao Pay sauieiod, with the ey nd (roi sedietion. stice of th laims of uur client and bis conviction of his fee 4 to afford the desired ief, but had declined to Buller the i ief, act because of the op) tou of the Secretary of State, J. W. Bhaffer become associated with usin the case, and baving } that General become ac: qualated with the ey of Sg Ma ay a 9) upon an & Gon nesal Kiter wecelving thle opinion T enclose fttothe President. The time’ whe this wan received and whether it was dated I do not liect. The time that it was presented to the Presiient by me can be established by the date on letter enclosing it. Learning trom a friew it would be je fox the President to receive the recommendations of other members of Congress I carried a copy of the opinion im the Honse of resentatives and procured the signatures of some of my nal friends, and asked then to p: the ai of which were tached to the copy some considerable ume after Thad forward- 2 went this copy so signed vo che natures Were procured upon personal application to the gentlemen severally, without any coucert of action what- ever on thelr part, and without auy reference to any proceed. {nga then pending, or the then “present action of Congress in regard foihe lent whate-er. From my relation to the case of Alta Vela, Thad knowledge of all the righta and interests » 80 that I am ceria that neitver of the gentlemen who signed the paper or copy have any in-~ terest ‘in the claiin or matier th dispute, or in aby part thereof, ar arising therefrom in avy manner, directly or in- directly or contingentiy, and that all averments to con trury irom any source whatsoever fe untrue In fact. CHAUNCEY F, BLACK. Sworn amd subscribed before me this 28th day of April, A. D. 1668.4. Caan, Notary Public. To the best of my knowledge and belief, the facts con- taiped in the above udidavit are true in every particular. J.'M. SHAFFER, Sworn and subscribed before me the Sth day of April, N. CALLAN, Notary Public. MR. NELSON’S REPLY TO MANAGER BUTLER. Mr. NELSON—Mr. Chief Justice and Senators, you have heard the statement the honorable Manager ad- gressed 1 500 which will justily, as 1 believe, a statement from me. The honorabie gentleman speaks— ‘The Cxime Justice, interrupting—The counsel can proceed by unanimous consent, \ Mr. NeLson—I beg pardon of the Chief Justice. L inferred from the silence that the Senators were will ing to hearme. The honorable gentieman speaks us to what he supposed to be the Knowledge and duty of a “tyro in the law,”? and animadverts with some ego yen the introduction at tis foreign subject by me in the couse of the investigation. lonve to remind the tonorable Senators that, so far as 1 am concerned, | did notintroduce that copy without hav- ing, a8 1 believed, case aud jase reason to doit: and whatever may be the gentleman’s views In regard to “a tyro” in the legal profession, I beg leave to say to him and this Senate that I have never seen the day in my life, not from the earliest moment when my license was signed down to the present. time, when a client was assailed, and, asi believe, un- justly, Ldid not feel it my very highest professional duty on the face of the carth to vindicate and de- fend him against the assassin. My views may be and probabiy are dierent from the views of the honorable Manager and others, and if, without cast- <ng any reflection upon my = associates— WY the duty had devolved upon me to con- duct the “investigation of ‘this case, if it had not devolved or those of higher standing in the professton than myseif, | would have met the gentle- lnan in every case when he has made his assaults: upon the President of the United States, and I would have auswered him from time to tine as those charges were made, and | would not have permitted one of them to go unanswered so far as an answer could be made on our side; and when the honorable gentleman who closed the argument so far as it liad progressed (Boutwell) at the time he addressed the Senate on the other sirie, saw fit to draw, in dark and gloomy colors, the picture of the President of the United Stutes, and the imfluence which he» had over his Cabinet; and when he saw fit to represent them as ‘‘serfs, ol lent to the controi of tueir master,” and‘to make allusion to the withdrawal of Judge Black, i deemed that a fit and proper occasion, and so considering it, upon the. most calm and mature reflection, We, a8 one (tle Counsel for the President), having the injormaiion in our possession to meet and answer it and nail it to the counter, lave done so, and 1 think we have done it successfully, You all know, and if need be I can hunt up the newspapers and furnish the Lestimony; that when Judge Black retired from the President's case it was published in the newspapers liostile to the President that Judge Black, seeing that tie Presi- deut's case was desperate, had withdrawn from it in disgust, and the very highest professional duty de- yolved upon me when this imputation was contained in the address of the honorabie Manager and alluded to in the connection in which it was, to vindicate the Pvesident of the United States from the aspersions which had been upon him; and it was for that reason and for no other— not with any desire to make any assault upon the Managers, and while 1) treated them with civility, with Kindness, and, I think, with very great forbear- ance, the honorable gentieumn las made imputa- tions upon me to-day Which 1 hurt back with scorn, Understand, gentlemen, | treated bin with courtesy aud kindne-8, he hag rewarded me with outrage in the presence of the American Senate; and it will be for you to judge, Senators, whose demeanor has been most proper—f of the honorabie Manager, who foully and falsely makes ‘insinuations againsi me for my course in vindicating the President of the United States in the discharge of my professional duty hi So far.as any question which the gentleman desires to make of & persona! character is concerned this is not the place to make it. Let hii make it eisewhere if he desires to make it. Senator Yarss at this point rose and called the counsel to order. Mr. NELSON—Mr. Chief Justice and Senators, I will endeavor to comply With the suggestion of the Sena- tor. I do not wish to make use of any Janguage improper in this tribunal, but I hope the Senators will pardon me for answering the remark of the honorable Manager on the other side, What I desire to Say to you, Senators, and what is more important than anyuning, else, 1s this—When J made the state- ment which I did submit to the Senate, Imacie it with a full knowledge, as I believed, of what I was doing. It may be possible that | bave comimitted on error as to the date of the paper which was signed by Mr. Logan and the other Managers; it may be possible [ took it for granted that it bore the same date, that it was signed on the same day—the 9th day of March—tiat was mentioned by the honorable gen- tieman, but that is an immaterial error if it be one. L had the letters in 1 ession on the day I ad- sed you, and if the gentleman had seen fit to deny any statement contained iff those letters on that day them here ready to read to the Senate, I had no expecta- tion (hat this subject would be called up to-day, until the honorabie gentiewan told me during your adjournment of afew minutes. I have sent for the the letters. 1 was fearful, however, that they would not be here im time to read them now, and if it be- comes necessary | shall ask Jeave to read them té-morrow belore my associate resumes his argu- ment. I shail ask leave of the Senate, as this topic is introduced by the gentieman in -terms of censuré of me, to allow me to read these letters, Why did 1 introduce these jetters here all in vindication of the imputation that was mi against Judge Biackr It was for the purpose of showing that the President of the United States had been placed in a dilemma such a8 no man under accusation had ever been placed in before, for the purpose of show- iug that so faras that correspodence is concerned it was a correspondence which arose after the arti- cles of iinpeaciinent had been agreed upon and pub- lished, after they had been referred to the Senate. It was for that purpose that | introduced the corre- spondence, and it has excited and awakened and aroused the attention of this whole nation that the counsel for the President of the United States should abandon lis cause, and that the true secret of that abandonment has hot grown out of any insult that the President of the United States rendered to the counsel, out of any injnry that he did to him, but out of the fact that a claim was the “opinin’’ was signed Colonel Schaffer asked the | pressed as I believe stronger tian I did the other Hion. Jolin A, Logan to examine the same question, | day, 1 will answer for it here or anywhere else. resented him his brief of the facts aud asked him if | 1 helieve that Judge Biack acted improperly under he could coneur tn the opinions which, after exami- Deion, Mr. Logan consented to do, and signed the original paper signed by myself. 1 may here remark taat the recolicction of General Logan aud Colonei Seyaffer concur with my own as to tue time of these. transactions. I have leyrned and believe that my “opinion, with tie signature of General | in the hands of Channeey handed to the President o! other papers in th my vopiuio: Logan attached, was placed Black, Esq., and By him the United States with Mr. Black mnade a copy of ls at his conventence, procured a member of Congress, @ personal friend of his, one Of the simners, to get the names of other pers of Congress, two of whom happened to be of the iupea nent. This was done by a separate applic oh, without any concert of acNon whatsoever or knowledge or belief that the papers were (to be used in any ma or for aay purpose other than the expression bf their opinions ou the subject matter, This copy of my opinion, when so signed, & very considerabie ine after the origiual given to the President, 1 desire further to declare that | have no knowled of or interest, directly or indirectly, in any claim Whatever arising in Any manner out of the island of Alta Vela other than a8 above stated. In justice to the other gentlemen Who signed the copy of the maper I desive to annex hereto the afidavite of Jhauncey F. Black, Esq., and Colonel J. W. Shatter, poomindgy | that neither of the gentiemen signing the paper had any interest or concern in the subjec wattey thereof other tian a8 above set forth, Whil T acquit the learned couysel of any fntentional falsity of statement, as he takes it to his “best informa: tion,” Whielr mast have been obtained from Andrew Jonson, the statement iigelf contains every clement of falsehood, being beth the sv p essa veri and the tio fia; sugyetosaist Nhat tt says that on in Fy Msutiér ad- letter Wan! sre the th of Mareh General Benjar caressed @ letter to J, W, Shaffer, and this conctirred in and approved of by John A. Logan, A. Garfield, W. H. Koontz, J, G, Moorhead, ‘hard us Sievens and John A. Binghai On the same day, the oth of March, 1863, when the Presi: dent knew. that. "the names of the five last «mentioned ‘entiemen were procured of a copy of the letter Tong atter the original was in lis hands. Again, there is another deliberate faleehood in the thrice reiterated statement that the age were procured avd sent to hin for the pur intimidating him into doing Au wel afier he wee peu the propriety and ‘egality of whieh was hed i | the circumstances fn withdrawing his services frou the President of the United States. Here is thts ac- cusation presenied against iim, and bere is this as- tonishing Claim presented to him, signed by four of the Managers; presented at an extraordinary period of time, presented when this Impeachment was hang- ing over him, and L maintain that I had a right, it waa ny bounden daty to vindicate, Mr. buTLER—Does the gentleman know what lie is saying—that a claim was signed by the Managers? 'r. NELSUN—I meant to say letter, not claim, L may have used some words tliat I did not intend to use. What! meant to say is tiis—thal a leiter was, in the first instance, signed by the honorabie Man- er (General Butler); that there was an endorsement that letter by three other members of the House 4 i hpry ives, Who are Managers in this case that this letter and the endorsement of it bad rei tion to the Alta Vela claims; that the subject was brought to the consideration of the President of the United states pending this impeachment, and that Whetlier the letter was signed on the th of March or at a tater period is imma- terial. It was signed after this impeachment proceeding was commenced, and Judge Black endeavored to get the attention of the President to the ciaim, and to have him decide upon it as T ain in- formed and believe, though I have no written evi- dence of that fact to decide his claim; and urged it Le him after this impeachment commenced, and after Judge Black had met some of the other counsel, not myself, in the council chamber of the President. } wae hot present at that thue, but I have it from the lips of the President, and I belleve it to be true, that Judge Black urged upon him the decision of this claim; and his answer was that he did not think it a proper time for him t act upon the claim, because Congress Was in seseion, and if it wi nt a proper for & vessel ip he sent down ther public hostility, Me President an ck, a8 Tam informed and believe, by telling nat Congress Was fi session, aud by asking tun éaii tpon Congress to pags any Jaw that might be noce*Rer, MY. BYTLPR made ao re k inanditie, to the gal tery. ered Judge Napson—if the gentleman thinks I am carry. | ma‘ter tod far} will retievé him by saying 1 | said as meh g# i desir iy. J will ask per | Sion Whe rece th ge ietiers, to read them. “ ee 1 ake t the eee | | y vet | Be LoGan—Mr. President, I youtd like to say one The Curer Jvsrice—If there ts no objection the gentleman can proceed, Mr. LoGAN—i mevely wish to correct the statement: of the counsel for the respondent by saying that he is mistaken about this letter having been signed after any of the impeachment proceedings had been com- menced, by General Butler or myself, I know well when i signed it, I hope the gentfeman will make re cereewow, I rt. NELSON—I will say with great pleasure that I had no design to misrepresent any gentleman con- cerned in the case. In order that the matter may be decided, I may have fallen into an error, but my understanding was that it was. after the proceedings | were commenced, but to obviate all diMiculty Twill | produce the letter. No matter whether | #1 mistaken | ‘or hot, 1 will bring it in fairness to the Senate. That fs ali the gentiomen can ask, 1 am sure. - ARGUMENT OF MR, EVARTS, Mr. EVARTS then spoke as followa:— Mr. CHIPP JUSTICE AND SENATORS—I am sure that no conscientious man would wish to take any part in the solemn transactions which eny our atten- tion to-day uniess heid to tt by something not incon- sistent with his obligation of duty, even if we were at liberty to contine our solicitude within the horizon of politics, even if the interests of the country and of the party in power, duty to the country and duty to the party in power, as is sometimes tlie case, and as public men. very easily persuade them- selves 13, or may be, the case in any juncture, were commensurate and —equiva- lent. Who will provide a chart or conipass for the wide, uncertain sea which lies before us in the immediate future? Who shall determine the currents which follow trom the event of this stapen- dous political controversy; who measure the force end who assume to control the storm? But if we “enlarge the scope of our responsibiliies and of oar ‘iou, Gnd take in the great subjects that have been constantly pressing upon our mind, who Is there so sagacious in human affairs, who so confl- dent of his own capacity, who so circum. spect in treading among grave responsibilities and so assured of his circumspection, who s0 beld in his forecast of the future and so Panne in his judgments as to see clearly the end of this great contest? Let us be sure, then, that no man shall be here as a volunteer, or shall lift ‘his finger to jostle the strugglers in the contest between the great forces of our government, of which contest we are ‘witnesses, ia Which we take part and which we in our several vocations are to assist in determining of the absolute and complete obligation which con- venes the Chief Justice of the United States and the Senators in this court for the trial of this impeachment and of its . authentic derivation of the Constitution there can b@ no doubt. So, too, of the anthority of the honorable Managers bap io 143 reread ’ ee eee a“ the Hones of Represcniatiyes ite i ir argumen’ and their abouts, inte f, 3 We Hout » The Frew: dent of the United states is here in submission to the same Constitution, in obedience to it and in obe- dience to the duty w hich he owes by the obligations which he has assumed to preserve, protect and defend the Constitthon. ‘the right of the President to appear by counsel of his choiée thakes it as pes s elear under the obligations -of a member of the rofession and under the duty of a citizen of a freg ‘tate, Who has sworn fidelity to the constitution and the laws, that he shall atrend upon his defence. No man can be familiar with the course of the senere of law and liberty in the world without knowil sthat the defence of the accused becomes the trial of nor Capricious dis- te that Cwesar divides them among those who quate, political can- dicacees, among those who defend the accused and mong those wio in the Senate determine the grave issues of peace and war and ail the business of the State. It is from facts and instances that people are taught their constitution and the laws, and it is by facts und instances that these laws and constitu- tions are upheld and improyed. Constitutions are formed, laws established, institutions built up and . the process of society goes on, until at length by | law, the reepensibility of judgunjr bet solue Opposing, Some competing, some contending forces In the States an judividual is brought to a point of collision, and the clouds, surcharged with the great forces of public opinion, burst over his head. it is then that he who defends the ac- cused, in the PageRe of Cicero and in open recognition of the pregnant instances in English and American iiistory, is held tobe a pete Seen public duty. As this duty has brought us all here, to this august procedure, and has assigned to each his part in it. so, through all its responsibilitics to the end we must surrender our- selves to fis guidance. Tie vonsiitutional procedure of impeachment, in our history as a nation, has really touched none of the grave interests that are invoived in the presen! trial. Starting from the first occasion in which it was moyed, belug st a member of the Senate, it decided nothing impoPtant, fara germ # or judicially, except that a member of this ody Was not au oficer under the United States. ‘The next trial, against Judge Pickering, partook of no qualitics, except of personal delinquency or misiortune, and its result gives us nothing to be proud of, and gave to the coustitutional law no pre- cedent except that an insane man may be convicted of crime by @ purty vote. Inthe last trial of Judge Murmphrey there was defence and the matters of ac- cusatiov Were so plain and clear that it was undér- ‘stood by the accused and the accusers, and the court, to be a mere formality, That leaves us no trial of interest except those of Judge Chase and Judge Peck. Neither of these ever went beyoud the gravity of a formal and solemn accusation of men holding digni- fied, valuable, eminent, public, judicial trusts and ‘their determination in favor of the accased, leaving notiting to-be ittustrated by their trials, except that even when the inatter in imputation and ander in- vestigation is personal fault and misconduct in oftice pate ‘Will force themselves into the result. What the questton here? Why, Mr. Chief Justice and Senators, all-the political power of the United States of America ts here. The House of Representatives is here as an accuser, The President of the United States is here as the accused, and the Senate of the United States 18 here to try him, presided over by the Chief Jusitce under a special constitutional provi- sion. ‘These powers of our government are here not for concord of action in any of the duties assigued to the goverament in the conduct of the atfairs of the nation; but they are here in a struggie and contest as to which one of them shall be made to bow by virtue of constitational authority to the others. Crime and violence have put all portions of our political government at some disadvantage. The crune and violence of the rebellion hus depressed this ltouse of Kepresentatives and tn’s Senate of the full atvendance of members which will make up the body under the constitution of the United States waco it shall have veen fully re-established over the whole country. The crime of violence and of ‘assassination has put the executive office in the last stage of constitutional authority, There is no con- suitutionally elected successor of the President of the United Staies, and you have now before youa matter I shail call your attenton to, not intending to exhibit here the discussion of conatitutionrl views and doc- trines, but simply the result to the gévernment of the country which Imust follow from your judgment. it jou shall acquit the President of the United States of this accusation all things wilt be as they were before. ‘ihe Mouse of Representatives will retire to discharge its usual duties In station, aud you will remain to act with it in those duties and to divide with the President the other associate duties of an exccutive character which the constitution has confided to you. The Preside, if freed irom Utis accusation, will becupy through the constitutional term his place of authori- ty, aud Whatever course of politics may follow the eovernment and its constitution will have reccived ng, shock. But if the President should be con- ed, and if by the authority of the constitu- tion necessary to be excited “on condemnation he sti ve removed from office. There will be no of the United States, for that name and onceded by the constitution to no man who hws not received the suffrares of the people for the primary und alternative gift of that office. A new tune will ecur. | The duties of the ofiice will attach to svine other officer and be discharged by him throughgthe term which belongs to the first officer, ‘The preSlding officer of the Seuate will have to add to the office conferred upon him by the Senate, the periormance of the duties of President of the United States, and whatever there may be in the course of pubic afuirs, it will result from the anomalous situation which is involved in the deter. mination of this case and, therefore, you have divecOy proposed to you as @ neccssary result of one determination this novelty in our constitution:—A wrveat ation whose whole form of government, whose whole scheme and theory of politics rest upon the yee of the people wiil be without a President, and the office sequestred will charged by @ member of the body who sequestres it, need not direct your attention, since called to it doubtless, and made more familiar by your reflections w you than it ts to me, to the results ‘iat will follow from the exercise of those duties and Jou will see at once that the situation, from clirceum- tances for which no man is responsible, is such as to bring into the gravest possible Sane Beane the act wluch you are to perfor if the ident of the United States, elected by people and having standing behind him the secon¢ ote of the peo- ple’s Choice, were on trial, no such disturbance or contusion of constitational duties and no such shock upon the ieelings and tradition of the peopie would affect us; but, as have said, crime and violence, for which none of the agents of the goverument are responsible, have brought us to this situation, Now tt would seem that as this trial brings the legislative power of the government contronted with the Executive authority, and as its rule is to deprive the nation of a President of the United States and to place the office in Uhe Senate. it is trial of the constitution over the head and in the person of the Chief Magis- trate, Who fills the great oitice—jhe forces of this contest are gathered, and this is the trial of the con- stitution; aud neither the dignity of th vat Ol which he hoids nor any personal interest that may be felt in one #0 high in sation, nor the name and force of this exercise—the House of Re- resentatives speaking for ail the people of the ‘nilted States—nor the august composition of this tribunal, which oe together the Chief Justice of the ‘at court of the country and the Senators, ve States for their constituents, which recalls 1e copibitied splendors of Kon and Eng- lish jurisprudence and power; not even this spect: cle forms apy important part of the watenful solic tude with Which the peopie of the country are gaz- ing on this procedure. The sover thought of the le of the country is never atlected by the nt when they cover real iasnes and interests : to us ft pe the people are hin other things, Why, Mr. Chief Jus is but a few sinve the great tribunal in which you tally preside, where the law speaks with authori« ty for the Whole Pnited States, adjourned: pbrae- ng as it does the great provinees of international | eon the States | and the generai government, thé ©. nflicting interes » any pastions belonging W the compost ti of . encroachments, any! determining the mits of the co-ordinate branches of the government, There is one other duty assigned to it in which the people of the country feel a nearer and a Soaper interest. ltisas the guardians of the bill of its of the constitution, as the wakeful pro- protectors of the people against the eucroach- ments of the law overnment that the people look to the Supreme Court with the greatest honor and greatest affection; that court having before it agubject touching the liberty of the citizen, finds the hair strings of its endeavor and of its energy to Inter- pose the power of the constitution or protection of the citizen eut by the sharp edge of a Congressional enactment, and in its breast carries away from the judgment the constitution and law to be determined, if even at some future time and under some happicr circumstances, Now, in reference to this matter the ple of the Unised States give grave atiention: | hey exercise their supervision of the conduct of .all | their agents of whom in any form and in any ¢ pacity and in any majesty they have not yet learned | o be'afraid. The people of this country have lad nothing in their experience of the last six year to make them fear anybody's op] lon, anyo #3 "assaults, anybory's vio- | lence, anybody’s war. Masters of the country and | Master of every agent and agency in it, they bow to nothing but the constitution, and they honor every public servant who bows to the constitution, At the same time, by the action of the same Congress, the people see the President of the United States brought as a criminal to your bar, accused by one branch of the Congress, to be tried by the other, his office, as I have said, to be put in commission and an election ordered, Now, he greatly mistakes who supposes that the attachment of the’people of the United States to the office of President and the great name and power which represents tiem in their collective capacity, in their united power and in their combined inter- ests, is less than their attachment to any of the other Baer ante: of this government, The Presi- dent is, in the honor, in the custom of the people, the magistrate, the authority for which they have that homage, that respect which belongs to the elective omice, The oath of office is as familiar to the people in this country as it is to you, for they have heard it’ during the perilous ipertod H of war from aA which they revered, and they have seen its immense power under the resources of this constitution, and eoppoNen by their fidelity to maintain the contest of this government against all our foes and to sustain the constifution and laws, It has been spoken of here as if the Prest- dent’s oath was the oath to discharge faithfully the duties of his office, and if the principal any, of the office was to execute the laws of Congress; but that is not the President's oath. That portion of tt is the common oath of every body authorized to discharge the duties of his oMice; but the pecullar oath of the President, the oath of the constitution, ts in the larger portion of it which makes him the sworn pre- Server, protector and defender of the constitu- tion itself. That is an_ office, and that 4s an oath which the people of the United States ha’ entrusted to and exacted from no other public ser- vant tan the Preekten of the United States; and when tliey confer! at power and exacted that duty they understood its tremendous reSpofisibility— the tremendous opposition which it might en- counter—and they understood their duty implied in the sulfrage, which had conferred authority and ex- acted the obligation to maintain him in it as against foreigh dggression, as agalust do- mesic violence, a8 against encroachments from whatever quarter under the guise of Con- regs or under whatever authority upon the ate vigor of the constitutt President Lincoln’s solemn declaration, on which he gained for himself strength and by which he gave strength to the peo- le, “1 have a solemn vow registered In heaven that will preserve, protect and defend the constituliion of the United States,” carried him and carried the people following him through the struggles, the Changes, the vicissitudes of the rebetlion, and that vow as a legend now adorns the hall of legislation in more than ove State of the Union. This oath of the President, this duty of the President the people of this country do not in the east regard as personal to him, but it is an oath and a duty assumed and to be performed as their representative, in their interest and for their honor, and they have deter- mined and will adhere to their determination that that oath shall not be taken in vain. They under- stand that the literal phrase, ‘‘to the best of my ability,” which is the imodest form in which the President’s obligation is assumed, means not only the ability of the President but the ability of the country, and most magnificent las the people brought out its resources in ald of that oath of President Lin- coln, and so when the shock comes, not in the form of violence, of war, of rebellion, but of a struggle between forces of the government in relation to constitutional authority, the people of the United States regard the President as bound to the special fidelity of watching that all departinents of this gov- ernment obey the constitution as well as that be obey it himself. It gives him no assumption of authority beyond the laws and the constitution, but all the authority and all the resources of the laws and of the constitution are open to him, and they will see that he, the President of the United States, whoever he may be, in relation to the ofice and its duties, shall not take — this outh in vain if they have the power to maintain him in its performance. That indeed the constitution is above him, as it is above all of the Servants of the people, as it is above the peopie them- salves, ‘until their paren, shall costae it the) not doubt, and thus all their servants, their: Presl- dent, the Congress and whoever they may be, are watched by the people of the United States in reia- tion to the limitation of the constitution; not disput- ing the regularity, the complete authenticity, the quate authority of this entire procedure of accu- sation, brought to trial and down to sentence, the people yet claim the right to see and to know that it is duty to the constitution observed and followed throughout, which brings the result, whatever itmay be. ‘Thus satisfied tiey adhere to the constitution, and they have no Purpose to change it. They are converts to no theories of Congressional omnipotence; they understand none of the nonseuse of the constitution being superior to the laws, except that the laws must be obeyed and the constitution not. They know their government and they mean to maintain’ it; and when they hear that tre- mendous inquiry of impeachment and trial aud threatened conviction or sentence—if the laws and facts will justify it—been brought into play, that ower Which had Jain in the constitution like a sword n the sheath is now down. They wish to know what the crime 18 that the President is accused of. Ticy understand that treason and bribery are mace offences; that those who are gullty of them should be brought into question and deposed; they are ready to believe that there may be otticr great crimes and misdemeanors touching the conduct of the govern- ment and the welfare of the State which may equally fall within the jurisdiction and the duty; but they wish to know what the crimes are. They wish to know whether the Presi- dent has betrayed our liberties or our possessions to a foreign State; they wish to know whetuer he has delivered up a fortress or surrendered a State; they wish to know whether he has made merchandise of the public be or turned authority to private gain, and when informed that none of these things are- charged or even declaimed — about, they yet seek further information, and they wre told that he has removed a member of his Cabinet. Now if the people of this country are famiidar with the remarks of members of the Cabinet and of ail other persons in authority, mere state- nient does not strike them as a grave oifence necd- ing the interposition of the special jurisdiction. Re- moval from office is not with the people, and especi- ally with those engaged eu aa aterrible or a dis- aureeable subject. Indeed it may be said that it makes a grept part of the political forces of this country that removal from office is a th in the constitution and in the habit of its adminis. tration. I remember to have heard it said that an old lady once summed up an earnest defence of the se- vere dogmas of Calyinism by saying that if you took away all her total Gepravigy you took away all her religion, (Laughter.) And there are @ great many people in this country of whom it may be said if you wok away removal from office you took away all their politics, (Laughter.) So that In that mere statement it does not strike them as either an unpre: cedented occurrence or as one involving no great danger to the State, Well, but how comes ft to be a crime? they inquire. Why, Congress passed a law for the first’ tine in the history of this govern- ment, undertook to controls this removal from office, and ives that if the President should violate it it should be a crime, or rather a misdemea- nor, and a high misdemeanor; and that now he has removed or undertaken to remove @ member of his Cabinet, is to be removed Himself for that cause. He undertook to make un ad in Secretary of of War, and you are to have made for you an ad interim President in consequence. Now, that seems the situation. Was the Secretar, removed? they inquire. No, we have not rem i. He ts still Secretary, still i mer the depart- ment. Was force used? Was violence meditated, attempted or applied? No, it was et an ail went no further than maxing the official attitude out of which a judgment of the Supreme Court could be got. And here Con; intercept again this great authority the vernment, interposed the gee of t and = im- peachment of the President, to settle by its own authority the question between the Executive. The peoy it and see and the people feel that under the attitude of Cot there seems to be ee babe the Cy what is sup- posed to be a duty to prevent the Supreme Court of the United States from in its severe jadgment in the collistons the government and of the laws affecting either the framework of the government or the: liberties of the citizen, and they are not siow to understand, without the aid of the arguments of the honorabie Managers, that it 18 @ question between the omatpotence of Congress and the supremacy of the constitution of the United States, {san tssue on which the ple have no ddubt. From the ning of their iberties they have had a clear hel tyranny Was as likely to be exercised by Parliaments a4 by the King or any else, “The honorable Man- agers have directed your notice to the | Pee oad and the triais of the American evolution as having shown # determination to over- throw the tyranny of ings, and they told > us that this Bronic Will not bend its neck to the usr. ations of the President. The peopie will not bend ts neck to the Usurpations of anybody. But they know that thelr fathers went to war agalust (he ty- ranny of Parliament, and that under the necessity of | nally bap their liberties they severed their con- nections With the mother country. [f any honorable member of elihey Houge wil peruse the work ou the | convention which framed the goystitution of the United States, he will disedver Tit of all the powers ‘which might grow up, the tyranny Of Congress was more pro ided aysinst than any other extravagance which the workthws of Our COVEFAMeNt Mirht be supposed possibl to pro- duos, Our people then are unwilling that our pov. erninent shouid be changed, They are wuwiiline tha! the doctrine of Congr: seiona: supremac ul efxed. They are unwilling any Geparcnes a wee “ shall grow too strong or shall claim to be too for the restraints of the constitution; aud A Dare Wise they will attend to what was said by un English statesman, which, in England might have saved great political shocks, aud Which is as true for our guidance and for adoption of our people now a3 it was then for vople of Engiand. Said Lord Bacon to Buel a Lai, the arbitrary Minister of James the First—* far as it may be in you let no power be inaugurated. The people of this Kingdom love the laws thereof and: nothing will oblige them more than @ con- fidence in the free enjoyment of them.” What the nobles once said in Parliament “Novunus leges Angie nutari,” is imprinted in the hearts of all the pec and in the hands of all the people this countr The supremacy of the constitution oby e to it are imprinted, leas of Parliamentayy a ecutive authority, dey ing > of the people may have made ith statesmen, it has made no ance Whatever in the hearts or in the heads of the beople of this eon: Now, t know there are a good pany people w Ve that a written constitution for this tor eyery other nation, is only and nor for the prime and vigor i know Litls spoken of as swath- enctlien and support the hi shame and-encum- This [ know, and in iments o! been held during the debates of hepeecumatin esses. But thatds not the feeling or the judgment of the people, and this is in their eyes, in the eyes of foreign nations and in the eyes of tile enlightened thinkers. A trial of the constitution, not merely in that inferior sense of a determination Whether its power accorded to one brauch or other of the government have this or that scope, impres- sion and force, but whether a government of a writ- fen constition can. maintain itsel! in the forces pre- scribed And attributed to its varlous departments; whether the immense passions of a wealthy and powerful and populous nation will force asunder wil the bonds of the constitution, aud whether ima struggle of strength and wealti the national forces, uncurbed by the supreme reason of” the State, wiil determine the success of the ene and tié subju- gation of the other. Now, Senators, let us see to it that in this trial and in this controversy, that we un- derstand what is its extent and what is to be deter- mined; let us see to it that we play our part as ib should be played from the metives and in- teresis which should aloe coutvol suitesinen aud Whatever progress new ern ent, instead of mu Maney, but er the maturity of vicor either house I imagine judges. If it be that the origin of liberty is at least to toosen her zone, stern monitor, jaw, debaue and with = that new wine of opinion which y from ten thousand presses throughout » ignore its guardianship, let us at lea. notge those Who, with averted eye and reverend ekward, seek to veil this suatieless ri 1d pot With those who exult aud jeer at its sw US Su act ag that what we do, and what ¥ what we wish, shall be to build up the St new Ganlete the forces of tie govern cure the rash passions of the people. a doubt not that the result shall be in ra with these high aspirations and these nobie linpuls and these exalted views; and whetuer or no be foxces of the Goverment sliail feel the this special jurisdiction In obedience to iiw, fo. to justice, to duty, you will have built ap ¢ ment, ampliied iis authority, aad laugle Ue peo- Je renewed homage to all branches of. And b's rings us, Mr, Chief Justice and Senators, to quiry as to a theory of this case, which was discu With force aud witi learning, and with gmphasis, ¢ that 12 htether this is a court? f must arl- mit that I have heard i arene that they were corum now betore somebody who was not a judge. ever yet rd until now of a plamtur or y coming rguing that there was not any court that his coran non judice, No one is Wi intrepid Manager Who assumed the first he knew that the oaiy wa) ase from being turned out of © the on this court; and } could prevent his ¢ qourt was to turn the court out of lis case, (Laughter.) if the expedient » succeeds, lis wisdom may be juste _ think; and yet it will be ao novelty. Now it is said there 1s no word in the consittution which gives tie slightest coloring tothe td abt Giusy court, except that in this pgrlicy we Chief Justice must preside; so that the Chief Just is the only shred or patch of just: art within wiese halls, but it is oniy a that is here, owing to the charatter o} 2 inculpated defenders, This, we are told, is a Senate to hold an inquest of oiilce on Andrew Jobnsoa, but we have not observed in your rules that each sepator 1s to rise in his lace and say:—“Office found,” or “Otice not fouud, Probably every Senator does not expect to find it. (Laughter), dour rules, your qonsdintjon, your etiquette—all as at there Is a procedure of judicial nature; found out Hually on our side of the controversy that it was so liueh of a court, at least, that you could not put a leading question, and’ that is about the extreme exercise of the character of a court which we always habitually discover. Now, the constitutton, as has been pointed outto you, makes this & court; it makes this a ial and it assigus a judgment; i accords a power of punishment to its procedure, and provides that a jury, tn all judtetal pi dings of a crim nature, shall be nece: except ‘in tii procedure, court, and under this form of We must assume then that so far as words it is @ cour, and nothing but a court, but it is a question, a5 (he honorabie Manager says, of substance and not of form; and lie concedes that if it be a court you must fiid upou ev dence something to inake out the guilt of the oifen’ er to secure u judgment. He argues ayainst iis be~ ing a court, not irom apy nice criticism of words, but as le expressess it, for iné substance. He has en- deavored, by many references and by an {nteresting and learned brief appended to bis opening speech or English precedents and authorities, lo suow that it is almost anything but a court, and, perhaps, dur- the hundreds of years tn which tie instrament of impeachment was used as a politica: engme, if you look only to the judgments, you would not thnk it was really a very judicial proceeding, but that through all English history it wes a proceeding in a court, controiled by the rules of a court, as a court, cannot be doubted. Indeed, as we all know, (though the learned Mana- ger has not — insist upon it, the trial under the peculiar procedure and jurisdiction of impeachment in tie House of Lords was a partof the general jurisdiction of the House of Lords, as the gceat court of the kingdom in all matters, civil and criminal. One .of the favorite tities of the Lords of Yarliament in those early days was Judges oi Vartia- ment, and now the House of Lords in England Is the supreme court of that country as distinctly as our reat tribunal of that name ts in this country. ut one page of British sound authority will put to flight all those dreamy, misty notions about a law and a procedure of Parliament in this country and in this trial that is to supersede tue constitution and the laws of our country; and now will show you What Lord Thurlow thought of that suggestion a8 prevaient or expected to prevail. In England, in the trial of Warren Hastings, Lord urlow — said:- Lords, — with refers ence to the laws and usages of Parl I utterly disclaim all knowledge of such jaws; they have ho existence, True it ts, in thes of and popular fury, when they impeached an indivi- dual and wished to crash him by the strong hand of power, of tumult or of violence, the laws and of Pariiament were quoted m order to justify the most iniquitous or atrocious acts; but in these days of light and of constitutional government | trust that ho man will be tried except, by the law of the land, a system admirabiy calculated to ct protect innocence and to punish crime; and after showing that in ail the state trials under the Stuart rei; and even down to that of Sacheverell, were to be found the strongest marks of tyranny, opgreeti on, aad in- ustice.”” Lord Thurlow continued:—"4 trust rdships Will not depart from the recognized, es- tablished law of the land. The Commons may-im- peach; your Lordships are to try the case and the same rules of evidence and the same legal forins tiat obtained in courts of law will, Lam coniident, be served in this assembly.” But the learned Manas did not tell us what was if it was nota cou It is true he said it was a Senate; but that conveys ho Idea, Itis not @ Senate conducttug iegisiatise business, It Is not a Senate acting on executive business. It is not @ Senate acting In Congiess or political force; and the question re- mains—if it is not @ court, Wiat is i? If this is not ar altar of justice, what is it’ If we are not all ministers of Justice here to feed iis sacred flame, what is the altar and what is it that wedo here about it? Its an altar of sacrifice if it is not an altar Chic array and to what divinity is it erected but to the divinity of party rage and party hate? That, then, is the altar abont which you are about minister. Now, our learned Mavagers, representing the House of Representatives, do uot »cem to have been at allat pains to conceal the party hate which layed itself in the hasty record aud tmalntenance of this impeachment. And to show you What progress ‘we may make fn fle course of thirty years In the true ideas of the constitution and of the mature of tin. achment, let me read to you What the Managers of the impeachment of Judge Peck had to say on that behalf, The Managers on that occasion consisted of Judge Ambrose Spencer, of New York; Mr. Henry A. Storrs, of New York; Messrs. McDuffie aud Pine! ney, of South Carolina, and Mc, Wicklide, of Kei tucky—a pretty solid body of Managers—Ambrose Spencer, as stern @ politician as he was an upright judge, Upon this case let me ask your attention to what he said:— “There 18, however,” said he, “one cheering and consolatory rerlcction, The House of Representatives, after a patient and full examina- ton, came to the resuit to impeach Judge Peck by a very large majority, and the record will show the abeetice of all party feeling, Could I believe that that appeal for influence had mingled itself with a pet he | power in that vote, no eartuly con. sideration could have preval.cd over me to Actas one of the prosecutors of this impeachment. I have no words to express my abhorrence of my soul at the indulgence of stich untiallowed feel upon such @ solemn procedur Now, Mr. Manager Butler talked to you mv jours; did he sav anything wiser or ju for the republic, than that’ J Spencer knew what it was to be a jrige as well as CP Sig ni in New York, a twenty years. While on the | great judicial light in the ¢ of that State, he wa w. cal party and earn y jurispradence ader of a politi. ing in support of its measures ancl its ne; ane yer n ( te oF No suitor, no critie ever Yenrure , to think or to feel that Spencer or Was tive politician, or tan, party feel- tiny on It. ener was A an in the House of 4 be 44 er in the nquagettt sch! could only say he t ¥ feching dwith Tt he Would have Pe ron) " tande TWELETH PAGE he abh Yes