Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1867-10-01

the sole judge of what rs a high crime or
] misdemeanOr. Without stopping to do more
than observe, that this doctrine, in violation
OF the constitution, merges the legislative and
| judicial powers in one department of govern
ment, let us see what the opinions were, on
this subject, Of those who framed the Consti-
2ution. quote from the Debates ON the
Constitution.
The clause referring to the Senate, the
trial of impeachment against the President
for treason and bribery, was taken up.
Col. MASON :-"Why is the provision re-
strained to treason and bribery 2" He moved
to add, after bribery" ''or ma1admimistra-
tion."
Mn. MADIsoN.-So vague a term will be
equivalent to q tenure during the pleasure of
the Senate.
CoL. MASON Withdrew "maIadministra-
tion," and substituted " other high crimes or
miS6emeGnOrS."
Now can anything be palmer than that ?
The phrase "maladministration" was with-
drawn. Why? Because it was a charge
which involved no violation Of law, was vague,
and left the President at the mercy of the
Senate-his tenure of Office, their pleasure.
At the same time the words ''Other high
crimes aud misdemeanors" were substituted
for the very opposite reason. Because they
clearly defined charges known to the law
clear violations of law. for which, and for
which alone, a man in this country, in office
or out Of it, is amen.blc. Now let us see what
ga crime or misdemeanOr" is, and then
think this branch of the subject will have
been fully explained. "a crime or a mis-
dcmeanor," says Sir William Blackstone. sis
an act committed or omitted in violation of a
public law, either forbidding or commanding
it." For these, except that they must be
Hiyh crimes or misdcmeanors, treason or
| bribery, the President may be impeached, but
for nothing less or else.
Judge Lawrence says that impeachments
have repeatedly been brought, where no vio>
lation Of law was alleged. Such is no doubt
the case but the most eminent writer's
English and American-condemn them as IL
legal, and the charges contained in them, as
frivolous. And so well they may: the Duke
of buckingham was impeached for simply
moving an adjournment of the House Of
Lords. But | object to Judge Lawrcnccs
mode Of quoting cases. Speaking of the im-
! parchment of Chief Justice Scroggs he tells
us Of no charge, but that he DISCHARGED a
grand jury before they had finished their pre-
sentiments. Now every reader of English
history knows. that the Infamous wretch was
impeached for high-trcason But what do
these unfairly selected and unfairly stated
cases amount to! Nothing. at were bet
ter, said the great Scldcn, ''to ex anime this
matter (of imTcachmcn) according to the
rules aud foundations OF this house, than to
rest on scattered instances" Well what are
those rules, we'll as the rules which govern
the Senate Of the United States l now
quote from the March number of the Amer
lean Law Register, where authorities will be
found in abundance:
''Stll it is requisite that crime be COM
mi,tcd as basis for the accusation
And again: "The decided weight of au-
thOrity is, that impeachment will lie ex-
cept Tor true crime, or in other words. for
a breach Of the common or statute law, which
if committed within any county would bc
subject to an Indictment" And again: at
is asserted without fear of successful CONTRA
dictiOn, both upon authority and principle,
notwithstanding few isolated instances APP
! parently to the contrary, that no impeach-
ment can be had, where the Kings Bench
would not have held crime had been com.
mittcd, had the case been properly before it."
blackstone says that Gan impeachment is a
prosecution Of the already known and estab-
| lished law" Aud Theodore Dwight, pro-
fessor of law in Columbia College, New York,
! speaking Of the notion that public officer
may be impeachcd for mere act of indeco-
rum, says: 'On the contrary, he must have
committed crime, not against the law of
]
States"
Here 1 cannot avoid a remark, to which
your readers can attribute just rs much i'm
pOrtauce rs they think proper. Judge Law
renee gives n number Of Impeachment cases,
repeatedly quoting the speeches cf the paid
counsel TOR the prosecution. But in the case
of the impeachment of Judge Prescott. Dan.
Webster, counsel for the defendant, delivered
an argument in which he fully explains aud
/ expounds the whole subject, and which has
ever since been considered as authoritative as
a decision, d"' to that speech, Judge La,o-
renee Rcrcr once uNuGcS.
But, says Judge Lawrence, "if no act is
impcachab!e which is not crime, then a high
way robber may be President, aud be exempt
from impeachment, doctrine so monstrOus
that the trainers Of the Constitution never
could have intended it, really see nothing
monstrous in this, save the suppositon, that
highway robbery is not a crime. If it be
not in Ohio, then the simplicity of the Judge
may be accounted for. But let his patriotic
3 anxiety be Mt rest. In every other State in
the Union. and in the District of Columbia,
it is, and if the President commit the like, he
may be impeached first. and indicted after
wards. Unless, indeed he goes to Ohio, and
/ commits larceny of the Judges Mss, in
/ which case have an idea that the people will
be quite willing that he escape punishment.
1t is very evident that Judge Lawrence is
/ red hot for impeachment. Let him remember
the fate of the unfortunate man who invented
the guilotine, and recommended its use
I The process of impeachment, - this instru
ment Of faction" as Theodore Dwight calls
it, has more than once disappointed those who
resorted to it. And many who have used it
means by which to ruin their enemies,
have themselves, in the mutations of politics,
been its victims. This lesson is so admirably