Nashville patriot. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1858-1860, 1860-01-28

A Scene fn flae House OF Congress
e Twenty Years Ago.
In view of the present disorganized and
factions condition of the House OF Congress.
il may be int, resting and instructive 10 lock
back upoa the history of that bady twenty
years ago. Those who suppose that the prs
ent threatening and unfortunate condition OF
the HoGse. owing to its bon-electien of pre-
siding officer, l. thing, are mistaken.
- On tie opening f the 26fh Congress in
December. 1889. two fold delegation from
NV rsey appeared. and each claimed seats.
AS customary. then and now, the clerk of he
pr cediBg body was fficiating presiding
officer b'foIe The els ciion OF Speaker. From
me mutiye, stupidity and stnhbornn+ss.
the acilng clerk. in calling the roll OF mem
bers, upon coming To New jersey. invariably
refiIsed TO proceed with the C iii. He also
declined 10 entt rtaiu any of III" BIufions
mad with view to extricate the House from
its difficulty. Many of th,. eldest aud abIest
me mb.is had addressed The House 10 vain.
Nothing but Confusion and disorder exi {. d.
Til, fourth day had open.d with the pros
pici of eontinuanc. OF the same state OF
affairs. We quote IRON the Life of John
q incy Adam
'Mr. Adams from the opening of this scene
of Confusion and anarchy. had mAinta.in' d a
prof und silrnce. lie appeared TO be en-
Common Observer, be seemed to be reckless
Of everything around him-but nothing, no.
the siigltest incident e. cal ed him. The
fourth d"y nf The struggle had now com
menc'd; Mr.. Hugh II. Garland. the Clerk,
was ROW dir, clpd 10 call the roll again.
ale commenced 18th Maine. as was usual
IN thUss. day s. and WAS pre- ceeding towards
Massachusetts. Iiurned and saw that Mr..
Adams was ready t. get th floor at the
iG.a-f 10 L.
rivetcd an the Clerk bis hasds class ed the
front edge If his desk, where he always
PLACED them 10 assist hun in rising. He
looked. in the language of Oiway. like the
49, Fowler eager for his Prey"
New j r~ey - CIRCULATED Mr.. Hugh H.
Garland, land the clei K has 10 reprat that"
Mr.. Adams sprang TO the floor!
Il rise to interrupt the CleIk," was his
Fl t .jr ion.
- Sl' nee, silence" resonndrd through tie
hall "heGr lin. BE- ar hint H,ar " hat lie
has 10 say /; hear John Quincy Adams -
was the unanimous cjacuIaIion on ali sides.
II an instant tie most profound silence
reigncd Throughout the hall-you might
have heart! Il leaf of paper fall in any part of
it-aid Every eye was riyetd on the venera-
BILE Neslor # MasSiichu- etts-tht purrst of
STATES men aud noblrst of men! He paused
for a moment, and having given Mr.. Gar
land a
"- whitening look
he proceeded 10 address .he multitude:
1T was not my in'entiun," said he. ''to
fake any part in these extraO binary pro
ceediHgs. | bad hoped that this House would
succeed in organizing lis l.; Ihli Sp' aker
and Clerk would Ice riected, and that The or
diHart busn, s. OF Legislation weld he pro-
gross d in. This is not he time, or place, to
d>cu = the merits of the conf citing claim
r
ject belongs To III House of K pre>enlalives
" hich, by he Constitution, l. made the ulii-
mate arLiter at The qualifications oft mem
bers. Bat what IA spectacle We here present! |
We degrade and disgrace ourselves; We de- |
grad and di- grac" our Constituents Snd the |
We do not, and cannot organize, |
and Why? Because The Clerk of this House !
the mere CLERK. whom we create aud whom /
We employ. and whose existence depends up /
on our VIII, usurps the throne, and sets us, |
the vic gerenis of the Whole American poo
pie at dctiaEce. and holds us la contempt! |
And hat Is this cleIk of yours? l. he to |
CONT oil The d. siinI,s OF sixteen millions of |
#, enen? Is he to suspead by his mere mega. |
tive, the iunctiUns # government, and iut |
an end 10 this C"ngr s? He refuses TO call |
The roll! Ii Is III your power 10 compel him |
Ia call IL, If be will nm do il voluntarily. |
[ Here he was interrupted by a memb,r who |
|
son could not T, ach the Clerk. who had |
avUm ed that lie would resign. rather than |
call the State of New J-rSey.l Well. sir, |
then let him resisD,' continued Mr.. Adams |
land We may possibly discover some way by
which We can get along without hs. aid of |
all bis pow erLl talent learning and genius.
III We cannot organize la any other way-if !
tbs cieIk oi yours viii not consent to our /
dscharSIng The IIusts cOHlid,d to US by our |
l,ln
"f the Virginia H"usc If Burgesees which |
when The cOIOuIdi Governor DuWiddie order |
cd II TO disPcrsV, refused la obey the
ImpeIIOus aud Insulting mandate, aud, lake
HyI-"
Tie multitude cOnld not restrain or re-
press thtIr enthusiasm any longer. Tut sa- |
1uIed the eloquent and indignant speaker,
and interrupt. ii him with loud and delfebing |
cheeis, which seemed Ia shake the capitol |
from iis center. The very gcnii of applause |
and enthusiasm seemed III float in the atmos- |
Jihere oil the ball. and every breast expand |
I'd with an indescrii'able feeling of ,Iide and |
XultdtiOn. Tie turmOil the darkness. the |
very cLaos OF anarchy hich bad. for three. /
successive day. perVIded the American Cun- |
grrss was dIsp lied by The magic. the tails |
iiidnle cl"Gurucc OF u single man; aud, once |
more the wheels If gUy, and legisla- |
iluD we're put in motion.
Having 10y Iir'S powerful appeal brought
the Yet unor.aiizcd ass, mJly tua p reception |
81 ITS h-zudous position, lie submit ted a |
IesoIuiion requiring he acting clerk To pro- |
cetd Ia calll..g The roll. This. and similar /
nUiiOGS, had ..ir. ady been m.de by other |
in' mir r. Tie difficulty Was that the acting |
, lcTk clin,d o entertain them. According |
j., Mr. Adams VAS immediately interrupted |
y burst Of voices demanding How shall /
the question lie putt! Who will put tie /
The voice OF Mr. Adams was |
heard ab.'ve the tninult. Il will put the |
question myself! That word bought order /
out Oi chaos There was The master mind. |
AS sOOn as TIL multitude bad Recover, d /
its,lf aud the *, IL, mrnI Of irrepresSibie |
lad ibateG. Mr. Il c,ard B4inw II /
lshett. ui SOath Carnlsna. lcaped upon one /
al the desk, aud waived bis hand, and ex- |
claimed: Il move that the Honorable John |
Quincy Adams lake Tie chair OF the Speaker |
o. thu House. and ufficiate presiding of |
ficrr till the House he organized by tie cleo
Iiou "i Its constitutional ofierrs As many |
~ are agreed 10 this will say aye-those-h /
He had not an opportunity TO complete
the seat, nce-''tuOse who are not agre. q will /
saw no" tor one universal, d.af,.ning. than
Ieriag Gyer,~poHded to the nomination.
Hereupun it Was NOV and ordered that |
Lewis Williams. OF North Carolina. and Rich
ird Barnweli Rhett conduct John q .incy
Adams, Ia the cagrir.
Well did Mr.. Wise. Of Virginia. say, 'Sir.
regard il tho pruude~l day of my life;
and u, when you snail be gathered TO your
fathers, | we're ak Il 10 select words which, |
ia my Judgment. are bit calculated to give |
at "nce the character If the man. wonld in
crib. upon yonr tomb this seatence-'I will
pat the question myself
zs~Rosa BonI enr il about to visit the
-nit,d Stairs professionally. IA opuIcnt