Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1858-01-28
|THOBURN s. NICHOLS, PROPRIETORSl
NEW SERIES, VOC 2, NO 5.

CI1s SHtI Js t-4t Cf-Eh 10 ScilS uiTh Ctli :!
the >ubJerranean vaults Of the Capitol.
On TIL 18th of January. 1887, the Houst
adopted the usual rule to Iay Anti i-Slavery
petitions OF the table; this being denomina
tee the "Hawes gag" to distinguish it from
the patton gag" or the "Aiherion gag
On Monday, the 9Th Of February, 1887 Dir
Adams having occupied an hour or more in
exhausting his pile OF Anti Slavery mamc--
iai>. paused, and looking significantly al
NJ. Speaker Polk, said. 81 hold in my hanl
paper purporting to be a petition from
certain slaves Ii should present it to the
House, would it go on to the table under the
order OF the 18th of Januaryi" he Speaker
seemed bewildered, and had just time Il
staasIner cut soEasthing about tue gfayisy y
the quesiIon, when he entire Pro Slavery
side OF the exploded with the most intense
wrath. "Let him be expelled" screamed q
score of voices. "Expel the traitor!'
shouted Dixon H. Lewis, whose huge body
weighing 500 pounds avoirdpoiS, came wad,
ding and Wheeling down the aisle toward.
the Clerks desk The whole corps Of
oligarchs were on their feet, screaming
swearing gestculating, like demons. Poik
piled his gavel and called to order in vain
while the spectators in tie cverhanging gal.
leries caught the spirit OF the scene, and
were going wild with excitement. Quick as
thought. resolutions were prepared for the
expulsion OF Mr.. Adams, based on the as
sumption that he had presented petition
from slaves Tor the abolition OF Slavery Ere
they were fairly before the House, they were
offered in modifed'form by Mr.. WBddy
Thompson, now demanding the severest
censure rather than expulsion. Thereupon
the debate began. 1t ragged violently three
days. Thompson, Dromgoole, Wise, Under
wood, leading off for the slaveocracy; while
Lincoln, Cushing, Phillips, Granger, and
others, defended Adams.
During the height of the tempest, the
rotunds. the galleries, the passages of the
Capitol, being filed with all excited throng
the colleagues and friends of Mr.. Adams
felt great anxiety not only for his fate in the
House, but for his personal safety. Mem
time the resolutions were going through
various notifications, all tending 10 soften
their terms and mitigate their conclusions. 5.
Ali this time the old Roman sat unmoved
in his place, the calmest man in the
chamber, with the incendiary petition safely
locked up in his desk. At length it began
to leak out that the paper was not exactly
such a dOucument as the Shareholders IN
their hot haste had imagined it to be.
Whereupon, Drumg cole, of Virginia. sill
further Modified the resolutions b. setting
forth that tie member from Massachusetts
had "9iUea color to the idea that slaves had
a risht 10 pettion,' &c.-a phrase on
which Adams afterwards roasted hm alive.
Finally. the Pr0-Siavery side o. the House
began 10 suspect that they were pursuing
Ihs negro IN the wrong direction; th.t' !.
siie:s was a coiored individual in The casa
al al, ne was more likely to be found in the
paiing than in The pe,i on, AID o the
stepped to tax :5eeaih. Tim NJ. AJams
rose 20 address Jne House. W:th g-aat d..
liberation, his voice pitched on = shTil ky
that pierced the remotest corner 0. the rai-
leries, and vita irail bi. ef pap7r rrst.pg
in his aged hand, he called the Speaker,
atleltion to the question he had put TO him
three days ago, which still remained unan-
svered, viz. Whether paper purporliug to
be petition from slaves would, 1he acsre
TO present ii, go on the tab .e under the order
OF the 18th ofJanuary! Lookin ,,around him
with mingled expression of sarcastic cum
ming and lofty scorn which Lcrd Chatham
would have envied, he cried in voice of
thunder, but in a Kissing tone, such as light
ming might be supposed TO employ if il
spoke at all. sand am to 6e expelled from
this loquacious, babbling House, for simpIy
asking question: For the first time the
thought flashed on friend and foe. that Mr..
Adams had neither presented the paper. nor
proposed to present it! Every body felt queer
while some grave men looked like Iank
sheep suddenly denuded of their flerces. Il
had now got wind that TIE paper was for
gerry. the work Of some stupid STAKEHOLDER
in Washington, and purpcrted to be signed
by Scipio, Sambo, and other bogus negroes.
asking the House to expel Mr.. Adams from
their aody!
And now "the Old Man Eloquan." took
his turn in the debate. How he demolished
one opponent after another, scoureinm. fiay-
ing, scalping, impaling, TO his hearts con-
tent. How rank upon rank of the Chivairy
went down in heaps before his trenchant
blade-how he spitted poor Dromgoole, and
roasted him before q slow fire of sarcasm.
when he told him that "giving color to an
idea" was not Northern but Southern
practice, one of the peculiar domestic insti-
tutions of Virginia with which he had no
desire TO interfere-how the House screamed
with laughter, as Dromgoole essayed grim
smile in acknowledgment OF this delicate al
lusion to the bleaching chemistry employed
by the South to eradicate the dark tints in
their variegated oPulation-how he wound
up his triumphant phillippic by warning his
young adversaries "never again to run on
an errand till they kuow whether they are
going"-and how the House firmly refused
to lay the resolutions on the table, bat
brought their authors to direct vote, and
finally trampled them down By decided ma
jority: are not all these things written ia
the Chronicles OF the Old Hall of the House
Of Representatives?
In January, 1912, another attempt was
made to expel or disgrace Mr. Adams for
his practical defence of the right of petition.
Among the numerous memorials forwarded
to him was one from Haverhil, Massachu-
sets, asking Congress to take the initiatory
steps for the dissolution of the Union. He
presented the petition on the Oath of jan,
at the same time remarking that he was op-
posed /" granting its prayer. AS in the
previous outbreak of 1897, the Pro-Slavery
SIDE Of the Chrobcr, which bad been threat
cnng d!= aia'ian Of ,ha Union any dav
far ih. last dozen years, ROW threw itsri.
iB;O ioaming rage at the bare gsstinn
o. taking il at is word. Tom Mar-hlll, the
eloquent bat eccentric member from Ken
lucky, gravely proposed t. impeach Dir Ad-
ans or treason; Henry i. Wise. even yet
famous iur his absurd hcfasics, demandcd