New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1856-06-23


"you cor.,e, / suppose you will wear your wooo5h
sword" retorted Griswold; at which words
LION turned suddenly round and spst in Gris~oids
Soc. -.
Grisvold instantly drew back as if to strike oa''
.ron the interference Of some of his friends +"
strained himself, and remained qs.e"
Soesker resumed the chair, and Se"en OIL "''s'-
chusetts. after brief statement Oh INC '''so"e
f..ts admitted q motion for Lyons expus'oa'
Til. resolution wss referred to Commttee'
.,o,Aor ,s..lution being meanwhile adopted-sh4'
a. ,;,hs, party offered any violence TO the otaor
L.. . 6nal decision by the House OF the point
n.s,e il he should he held guilty Of high breach
Of privilege
The next day Lyon sent letter to the House
an example which the friends OF the assassin
Brooks have persuaded him to initiate, doues-
,ess relying upon this case Of Lyons to serve
n. precedent to be followed by the House in their
Aisposition of Brooks-n which letter he stated, by
way of apology to the House, that If he was charge
able with disregard Of it's rules 1t had grown whoy
cut of his ignorance Of their extent, and that, II
through ignorance he had unwittiogly Offended Nc
va sOrry to deserve censure.
p+llipp Lyon, but this was most vehemeutly OPP
posed BY bis party friends, who formed very nearly
one half the House. They pretended that the
session being suspended at the rime and the shd'r
having occurred outside the bar, expulsion would
be too severe a punishment, and they moved to sub
vtitute q reprimand. In the nearly equal division
of parties they were unwilling to lose single vote,
and besides, Lyon was too useful aud devoted
tool 10 he sacrificed to any sense of prophecy OF re-
card for the future decorum of the House. Toe
motion t, reprimand WAS voted down. fifty two to
forty four and the vote stood the on the reso-
hutton to eIpel, a very few Of the opposition voting
for it-but az q twO-thirds vote was necessary the
resolution failed to pass.
1t 10 observed by Hlldreth, to the fifth volume OF
whose history we are mainly indebted for the fore
going details, that "tO this very discrcd'taoe de-
cision and to the precedent thus established -
We may add, by the votes of Southern men,
bere, helped out as usual by few Northern tools
"nsy in q great measure be ascrbed those per-
" sOnal ARRAYS on the floor of the House, by which
" that body has from time to time been dsgtaced
Indeed he proceeds to relate, this refusal of the
House to avepge Griswold or itself led Immediate
The frat morning that Lyon appeared in his seat,
many of the members being in their places, but the
House not yet called 10 order, GriswOd walked
I'D TO him and commenced beating him with
q cane. Lion also had cane but in his con-
fusion instead of seizing it he attempted 10 close
with Grls wold who retired slowly before him,
Keeping him at arms length and still beating
him. When at length they had cleared the seats,
Lyon rushed to the fireplace and secured pair Of
tOngs, with which he approached Griswoid, who
now struck him blow in the lace, which black
ened bic eye, closed with HIM. threw hin, fell upon
him, and still continued to punmel him tlli he was
finally relieved by some of his friends, who seized
Gri.wold by the legs and dragged him off after
which the Speaker immediately took mis- seat
and called the House to order.
The few members Of the opposition who had
voted to expel Lyon now called loudly for the ex-
pu)siou Of bo,h Lyon and Gtiswold. resolution
was offered to that tffec. and-in spite of the op
DO. ition of Girls .Od's friends, who mallciously
remarked that it seemed hard to include Lyon,
since he had only been guilty of being beaten-lt
was referred to the Com nittee of Privileges, VINO
reported, however, against it, and their report was
sustained by seventy.three to twenty lone. An at
tempt was then made TO obtain vote of censure,
but this was also lost by small majority.
Such was the precedent on which the
friends of the assassin Brooks will doubt
less rely TO save him from beiog expelled.
But in the first place, the precedent Itself is evil
IDENTIFY bad, as was clearly sho IN az tho moment,
and highly disgrscefa to the members who estae-
hshed it. 1t is high time that this bad precedent
was overruled, and better one established in its
place. Secondly. The cases aee not in any re-
spect parallel. The assault of Lyon on Gris~old
and Griswold's subsequent assault on Lyon, were
both in pursuance of plrely private quarrel aud
might be regarded as matter purely personal to
those two members. The assault of ,he ass iss'n
BROOKS upon Senator Sumner was on the other
hand, far more than a mere personal affair. An
alleged personal grievance was the pretext for it,
but the real object aimed at was to deprive North
ern members OF Congress of their constitutional
right of tree debate and to terry them inD silence
1t was On overt act Of levyng war against the con'
stitutonal right OF free speech the floor of Con-
gress, and must be treated as such and, as if n
male it the most aggravated possible, it WAS
not the House and member OF 1t that We're chos an
for the scene and the victim but the Senate and
Senator.