New-York tribune., 1867-03-11
JuPEACHMENTS IN HISTORY.

tbe Vice President, and all civil officers ana inc
offenses for which they may be lmpeacheu "io
treason. bribery, and other high crimes anu
,nisdemeanors The articles OF accusatOh hiuSe |
be lodged by the House of Representatives "nu
tried by the Senate. The usual course Is loi
men,ber of the House to introduce q resOiuUoh
either preferring charges or calling 1or a COM
,n;ttaa of inauiry. After the resolution Oh I'M
,1aocbment has passed the House, a committee Is
enno;nted 20 conduct the prosecution at the
- of tha Senate. A vote of two-thlrds Oh
tba Senators present is necessary for conylc-
t;op When the President is tried the Chief
Justice must preside The judgment cannot
AYtend beyond removal from Office and DIS
Qualification to hold any office of honor, trust,
or profit under the United States. 60
Our rules of impeachment are borrowed from
those of the British constitution, under WhiSh
fhe accusations must always originate with the
Commons and the prosecution is cOn9ucIeu ny
managers chosen from the Lower House, ne 1ile
Lords sitting as judges. Although the purpose
of impeachment is chiefly the prosecution anu
punishment of official and political crimes
which are beyond the reach OF the law an
persons, whether peers or commOnerS, may, ~ ~
Great Britain, be impeached tor any CRIMES ~ VI e
offenses whatever. The earliest lnstapIb W
narfj,mentary impeachment occurred IN 1870,
during the reign of Edward lilo wien w . olto
Chamberlain Lord Latimer together wlth c",', son-
efal other officials, were accused 10y tno III III
mons of extortion and malyeTsauOh oI 'ile Pdu" Po
money. and was depOsed from his Plhce.
When Richard H. was compelled to resign Ms
throne TO Henry of Lancaster, the l9IIu ,nnt VI q"
impeachment was gone through by faill,'inSnO S
before they pronounced their soVfleISnh u. "o of
posed. Under the Tudor princes the r1ght OIL
imneaehment fell into disuse; but the shame
Less corruption which characterized the elga a
of James /. caused its revival ana IL was @ useu gu
with great energy by the Commons, both as an
instrument of popular power and as means
for the furtherance of public justice. Inc I'M
neorbment of Lord Chancellor Bacon during
this reign for receiving bnbes irom sui,ois m st III
his court, is one of the saddest incidents IN the
history of literature. The great philosopher
and statesman was charged by the Commons
with bribery and corruption IN twenty .tw9e oe
instances himself, and with allowing IItt attS VI
bribery and corruption In his officers. UttefY
unnamed by the accusation, he TOOK 10 HIS
he'd confessed his guilt, and begged for mercy;
Guilty he was, if judged by the purer standard
Of later age yet guilty only OF c9liorHs tiIH Hs
was sentenced to pay a fine of, $4,000, to be
imprisoned during the royal pleasure, ana 10
ba incapacitated for life from coming, wlthh
the verge of the court sttng IN f ParlnGm', and ;n
nrisonment were remitted, the disgrace was
more than the Chancellor could bear, ana, atter
five years, he died brOken-hearted. , .,
The case of Bacon was. only one OF seTSral vera
which the same Parliament pursued and pun h
tshed. Sir Giles MOmpesson, Sir Francis hitcn, Hl,
oil. Bennett, Judge of the Prer0gatye Cour.
of Canterbury, Field Bishop OF Land1I' IN snUl anu
YelycrtOn. the Attorney General, were gu pros
ecuted within few months, and OarrStei
named FLOYD, for no more serious o1ense Inah
rejoicing ut the expulsion of the Palatlne 1rGnl
Prague was sentenced to 6e DEGRADED rom tne
estate of gentleman and declared infamous,
60 stand n the pillory, to be hned %o,VVV, 10
he Imprisoned for life, and to be whipped at
the carts tail The whipping, however, was
sfteward RENTED. Three years later, in 1924
the Lord Treasurer, Middlesex, having been
impeached, through the influence of Bucking-
ham, of bribery, oppression, and neglect of duty,
was condemned to pay line OF E5OO0O, ana TO
be imprisoned during pleasure, and forever ex-
cluded from Parliament and the verge of the
Court. But when the memorable conflict be-
tween the King and Parliament ending IN
the Revolution and PrOtectOrate, broke out
i'm the next reign, the impeachment of Buck
inghim himself was a subject of long and angry
controversy. The protection OF Charles l., who
went to the length of disSOlving Parliament III
order to save his favOTlte, could not have
shielded the Duke long from the vengeance of
the Commons; but his career was cut short by
the knife of an assassin.
The power of impeachment now became, in
the hands of the popular party led by Pym
and Hampden, weapon OF tremendous power,
and they used IT without mercy. On the 11th
of November, 1910, the House of Commons
debated with closed doors, and when these
were opened, majority of the members, with
Pym at their head, proceeded to tho bar of the
Lords and impeached Stratford, the. most
treason. The trial took place in Westminster
Hall the following March, Next to the trial of
Warren Hastings, it was probably the most
remarkable Impeachment case in English his
tory. The Commons sat on elevated benches
on each side of the Lords. The King
and Queen occupied private boxes behind |
the throne, hoping yainly that that their
the forwarlness. of the witnesses and
She violence of the managers. A gallery was |
erected for ladies' who paid high prices for ad-
mission. The trial lasted thirteen days. The
spectators used to come as early as five In the
morning. BY seven the hall was full. The
proceedings began at nine, and were often
prolonged till two, three, OF -four o'clock in tho
morning without inteTmissiOn When the pris-
oner was brought in, he made three Obeisances
TO the Lord High Steward and then lmelt at the
bar. The managers, thirteen in number, opened
the proceedings with speech relative to some
particular charge Their witnesses were exam
med and eross-examined, and the Court then
adjourned for half an hour, to allow StraffOrd |
an opportunity OF cOnferlng with his counsel.
Afterward the Earl spoke and produced wit
nesses on his defense, and the managers spoke
to evidence. The prisoner was then rcmanded |
to the Tower. AS the trial went on it became
evident that the number of Strafford's friends
increased. Though modern research has shown
that he was guilty of the Offenses with which |
he was charged, that fact was certainly not
made ont at the trial. The Commons aban-
dOncd the impeachment and introduced in their
own body bill of attaindeT, charging Strafford
with attempt to subvert the liberties of the
country. Convicted and sentenced to death, he
met LIS fate with magnificent calmness and |
dignity and has doubtless received a more
lenicnt Judgment from pOsterity than if his
fate had been less cruel and his prosecutors
more Inerciful.
When Strafford was led out to execution, he
kneit before the window of a cell which he
had to pass, and begged the blessing of
Archbishop Land, who was there Imprisoned
on charges similar to those for which the Earl
himself was to suffer. Laud was impeached,
and, after year and a quarter, was brought TO
Wraal ln f.pclC |