XXXI. STRUGGLE FOR THE RIGHT OF PETITION IN CON GRESS.-1836. John Quincy Adams, the "Old Man Eloquent," Carries on a Contest of Eleven Days, Single-Handed, in its Defense, in the House of Representatives.-Passage of the "Gag Rule."-Expulsion and Assassination Threatened.-His Unquailing Courage.-A Spectacle Unwitnessed Before in the Halls of Legislation-Triumph of His Master Mind.-The Right and Petition a Constitutional One.-Indiscriminate and Unrestricted.-Anti-Slavery Petitions.-Mr. Adams Their Champion.-An Unpopular Position. He Defies every Menace.-His Bold and Intrepid Conduct.-The North and South at Variance. Monster Petitions Pour In.-A Memorial from Slaves.-Wild Tumult in the House.-Cries of "Expel the Old Scoundrel!"-Proposal to Censure and Disgrace Him.-Mr. Adams Unmoved Amidst the Tempest.-Eloquence and Indomitableness-A Petition to Dissolve the Union.-Increased Exasper ation.-Violent and Denunciatory Debate-Sublime Bearing of Mr. Adams.-Vindicated and Vic torious at Last.-What He Lived to See-Honor from His Opponents. "Though aged, he was so iron of limb, ENERABLE in years, and laden with political honors such as a king might be proud of, John Quincy Adams took his seat as a member of the house of representatives at Washington, in 1831. It was about this time, that the anti-slavery societies of the North began to petition congress for the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia, the inhibition of the inter-state slave-trade, and kindred measures. Though comparatively few at the outset, the petitioners for these objects increased greatly in numbers during the next four or five years, until they reached, in one congress, threefourths of a million. But not all of these petitioners were abolitionists,' in the then commonly accepted meaning of that term. In the defense of the untrammeled right of petition, as also that of the freedom of speech and of the press, it became evident to considerate men, of all parties, that not alone was the right to discuss and petition in regard to slavery involved, but that vital constitutional principles were at stake, and that these must be defended, irrespective of the merits of the particular subject over which the battle was waged. It was upon this broad ground that Mr. Adams, MONSTER PETITION TO CONGRESS. the old man eloquent,' as he was familiarly called, became at once the champion of freedom of debate and the right of petition in the national legislature, making not America only, but the civilized world, resound with the clash of the conflict. Of the long and eventful life of this extraordinary man, the chapter covering the events here recorded may perhaps be regarded as the most striking and brilliant. The exalted positions he had held, almost from the very foundation of the government, his multifarious learning, his worldwide renown, lent luster to the cause; while his exhaustless resources, his skill in debate, his dauntless courage and indomitable will, were a tower of strength to its friends, and, as the sequel will show, a source of mortification and discomfiture to its foes. No threats and no tumults could for a moment cause him to quail or waver in his heroic determination. On the twelfth of December, 1831, Mr. Adams, then at the very outset of his congressional career, presented fifteen petitions, all numerously signed, from inhabitants of Pennsylvania, praying for the abolition of slavery and the slave-trade in the District of Columbia. In presenting these petitions, Mr. Adams remarked, that although the petitioners were not his not his immediate constituents, he inferred, from a letter which accompanied the petitions, that they came from members of the Society of Friends, or Quakers, a body of men, he declared, than whom there was no more respectable and worthy class of citizens in the whole country. At the same time, while he considered that the petitions for the abolition of the slave-trade in the District related to a proper subject for the legislation of Congress, he did not approve of those which prayed for the congressional abolition of slavery there. Similar petitions were constantly forwarded from different parts of the land, during successive terms of congress, for Mr. Adams to present, the parties well knowing that they could rely upon his scrupulous fidelity to them in the high places of power, and that, against all menaces or blandishments, he would intrepidly advocate that most sacred privilege of freemen-the right of petition. Becoming alarmed at these demonstrations, the southern members of congress determined to arrest them, and, on the eighth of February, 1836, a committee of the house was appointed to consider what disposition should be made of petitions and memorials of this nature. The report of this committee consisted, in substance, of three resolutions, as follows: First, that congress could not constitutionally interfere with slavery in any of the states; second, that it ought not to interfere with slavery in the District of Columbia; third, that all petitions, propositions, or papers of any kind, relating to the subject, should, if brought before congress, be laid upon the table, without liberty of debate, and receive no further action. This report was the casting of the die. Well was it called the "Gag Rule." When the first of these resolutions was taken up, Mr. Adams said, if the house would allow him five minutes' time, he would prove the resolution to be untrue. His request was denied. On the third declaration, Mr. Adams refused to vote, and sent to the speaker's chair the following protest, demanding that it should be placed on the journal of the house, there to stand to the latest posterity: "I hold the resolution to be a direct violation of the constitution of the United States, of the rules of this house, and of the rights of my constituents." Notwithstanding the rule embodied in this resolution virtually trampled the right of petition into the dust, yet it was adopted by the house, by a large majority. But Mr. Adams was not to be baffled by this arbitrary restriction Petitions on the subject of slavery continued to be transmitted to him in increased numbers, some of them of monster size, bearing thousands of signatures. With unwavering firmness -against a bitter and unscrupulous opposition, exasperated to the highest pitch by his unconquerable pertinacity amidst a J. 2. Adams. right of petition for the poorest and humblest in the land,-was in the highest degree illustrious and sublime; a spectacle unwitnessed before in the halls of legislation. On the sixth of January, 1837, Mr. Adams presented the petition of one hundred and fifty women, whom he stated to be the wives and daughters of his immediate constituents, praying for the abolition. of slavery in the District of Columbia; and he moved that the petition be read. Objection was made, whereupon Mr. Adams remarked that, understanding that it was not the petition itself which was laid upon the table, but the motion to receive, he gave notice that he should call up that motion, for decision, every day, so long as freedom of speech was allowed to him as a member of the house. Being called to order at this stage of proceedings, Mr. Adams said he would then have the honor of presenting to the house the petition of two hundred and twenty-eight women, the wives and daughters of his immediate constituents; and, as a part of the speech which he intended to make, he would take the liberty of reading the petition, which was not long, and would not consume much time. Objection being made to the reception of the petition, Mr. Adams at once proceeded to read, that the petitioners, inhabitants of South Weymouth, in the state of Massachusetts, "impressed with the sinfulness of slavery, and keenly aggrieved by its existence in a part of our country over which congress Here Mr. Pinckney, of South Carolina, rose to a question of order, and, after a brisk colloquy in the house, the speaker ruled that Mr. Adams must confine himself to stating the contents of the petition. Mr. Adams.-I am doing so, sir. The Speaker.-Not in the opinion of the chair. Mr. Adams.-I was at this point of the petition: "Keenly aggrieved by its existence in a part of our country over which congress possesses exclusive jurisdiction. in all cases whatsoever" Loud cries of "Order," "Order!" Mr. Adams.-"Do most earnestly petition your honorable body" Mr. Chambers, of Kentucky, rose to a point of order. Mr. Adams. "Immediately to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia" Mr. Chambers reiterated his call to order, and the Speaker directed Mr. Adams to take his seat. Mr. Adams proceeded, however, with great rapidity of enunciation, and in a very loud tone of voice-" And to declare every human being free who sets foot upon its soil!" The confusion in the hall at this time was very great. The speaker decided that it was not in order for a member to read a petition, whether it was long or short. Mr. Adams appealed from any decision. which went to establish the principle that a member of the United States house of representatives should not have the power to read what he chose. He had never before heard of such a thing. If the hith erto invariable practice was to be reversed, let the decision stand upon record, and let it appear how entirely the freedom of speech was suppressed in this house. If the reading of a paper was to be suppressed in his person, so help him God, he would only consent to it as a matter of record. Saying this, he instantly resumed and finished the reading of the petition, that the petitioners 66 -respectfully announce their intention to present the same petition yearly before this honorable body, that it might at least be a memorial in the holy cause of human freedom, that they had done what they could." These words were read by Mr. Adams, at the top of his. voice, amidst tumultuous cries of "order" from every part of the house. The petition was finally received, and laid upon the table. One month after this, namely, on the seventh of February, after Mr. Adams had offered some two hundred or more abolition petitions, he came to a halt, and, without yielding the floor, employed himself in packing up or arranging his budget of documents. He was about resuming his seat, when, suddenly glancing at a paper on his desk, he took it up, and exclaimed, in a shrill tone "Mr. Speaker, I have in my possession, a petition of a somewhat extraordinary character; and I wish to inquire of the chair if it be in order to present it." The Speaker replied, that if the gentleman from Massachusetts would state the character of the petition, the chair would probably be able to decide on the subject. "Sir," ejaculated Mr. Adams, "the petition is signed by eleven slaves of the town of Fredericksburg, in the county of Culpepper, in the state of Virginia. It is one of those petitions which, it has occurred to my mind, are not what they purport to be. It is signed partly by persons who cannot write, by making their marks, and partly by persons whose handwriting would manifest that they have received the education of slaves. The petition declares itself to be from slaves, and I am requested to present it. I will send it to the chair." The speaker, Mr. Polk, who habitually extended to Mr. Adams every courtesy and kindness imaginable, was taken by surprise, and found himself involved in a dilemma. Giving his chair one of those hitches which ever denoted his excitement, he said that a petition from slaves was a novelty, and involved a question that he did not feel called on to decide. He would like to take time to consider it; and, in the meantime, would refer it to the house. The house was very thin at the time, and but little attention was paid to what was going on, till the excitement of the speaker attracted the attention of Mr. Dixon H. Lewis, of Alabama, who impatiently, and under great excitement, rose and inquired what the petition was. speaker furnished the required information; whereupon Mr. Lewis, forgetting all discretion, whilst he frothed at the mouth, turned towards Mr. Adams, and exclaimed, in thunder-tones "By any longer!" The sir, this is not to be endured "Treason! treason! Expel the old scoundrel; put him out; do not let him disgrace the house any longer," screamed a half dozen other members. "Get up a resolution to meet the case," exclaimed a member from North Carolina. Mr. George C. Dromgoole, who had acquired quite a reputation as a parliamentarian, was selected as the very man who, of all others, was most capable of drawing up a resolution that would meet and cover the emergency. He produced a resolution and preamble, in which it was stated, substantially, that, whereas the Hon. John Quincy Adams, a representative from Massachusetts, had presented to the house a petition signed by negro slaves, thus "giving color to an idea" that bondmen were capable of exercising the right of petition, it was "Resolved, That he be taken to the bar of the house, and be censured by the speaker thereof." A still more stringent resolution was introduced by Hon. Waddy Thompson, namely, that Mr. Adams, "having been guilty of gross disrespect to the house, be instantly brought to the bar, to receive the severe censure of the speaker." Several other resolutions and propositions, from members of slave-holding states, were submitted, but none proved satisfactory even to themselves. The idea of bringing the venerable ex-president to the bar, like a culprit, to receive a reprimand from a comparatively youthful speaker, was equally disgraceful and absurd. Mr. Adams, however, entirely unmoved by the tempest which raged around him, defended himself, and the integrity of his purpose, with his accustomed ability and eloquence. "In regard to the resolutions now before the house," said he, "as they all concur in naming me, and in charging me with high crimes and misdemeanors, and in calling me to the bar of the house to answer for my crimes, I have thought it was my duty to remain silent, until it should be the pleasure of the house to act either on one or the other of these resolutions. I suppose that if I shall be brought to the bar of the house, I shall not be struck mute by the previous question, before I have an opportunity to say a word or two in my own defense." of petition belongs to all, Mr. Adams said. that he felt it a sacred duty to present any petition, couched in respectful language, from any citizen of the United States, be its object what it might,-be the prayer of it that in which he could concur, or that to which he was utterly opposed; no law could be found, even in the most abject despotism, which deprives even the meanest or most degraded, of the right to supplicate for a boon, or to pray for mercy; there is no absolute monarch on earth, who is not compelled to receive the petitions of his people, whosoever they may be,—not even the sultan of Turkey can walk the streets and refuse to receive petitions from the lowest and vilest of the land. When southern members saw that, in their haste, they had not tarried to ascer tain the nature of the petition, and that it prayed for the perpetuation, instead of the abolition of slavery, their position became so ludicrous, that their exasperation was greatly increased. At the time the petition was announced by Mr. Adams, the house was very thin; but the excitement that was produced soon filled it; and, besides, the sergeant-at-arms had been instructed to arrest and bring in all absentees. The excitement commenced at about one o'clock, and continued until seven o'clock in the evening, when the house adjourned. Mr. Adams stood at his desk, resolutely refusing to be seated till the matter was disposed of, alleging that if he were guilty, he was not entitled to a seat among high and honorable men. When Mr. Dromgoole's resolution was read to the house, for its consideration, Mr. Adams yielded to it one of those sarcastic sneers which he was in the habit of giving, when provoked to satire; and said -"Mr. Speaker, if I understand the resolution of the honorable gentleman from Virginia, it charges me with being guilty of 'giving color to an idea!"" The whole house broke forth in one common, irrepressible peal of laughter, at this capital double entendre; and the Dromgoole resolution was actually laughed out of existence. Reiterating the principle, that the right The house now found that it had got itself "Now, as to the fact what the petition was for," said Mr. Adams, in another portion of his speech, "I simply state to the gentleman from Alabama, who has sent to the table a resolution assuming that this petition was for the abolition of slavery— I state to him that he is mistaken. He must amend his resolution; for if the house should choose to read this petition, I can state to them they would find it something very much the reverse of that which the resolution states it to be. And if the gentleman from Alabama still chooses to bring me to the bar of the house, he must amend his resolution in a very important particular; for he may probably have to put into it, that my crime. has been for attempting to introduce the petition of slaves that slavery should not be abolished." |