St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1867-10-11
InlDc0ch neHt.

The clouds still lower and the political
horizon grows darker and darker Each
day some new act OF bragrart uttcrancc
by the chief magistrate demcanS the man
and diS.raceS the office Whether Jour
neying west to bid the hallowcd aisle, OF;
one of NermoGt's chosen sons rest in
peace or sitting in counsel with the
chiefs of Tammany Hall and the dctunct
contederac,y, or speaking to the dead and
the living upon the furrowcd field of An
tictam on tic day when Il great nation
would homer its defenders and place
above their manm.et remains some fttiu"
tribute OF respect, the president has man
iieSted that egotistlc, ovcrbcaring. self
sufficient spirit, which must always crop
out when little minds are in Great places.
Ii seems that the ilca generally pre-
walls that a person cannot be Impeacll9I
unless he be guilty of some high crime.
as treason: bribery, Sc. History We
think srstains us i'll saving that even for
lesser offences iigh tunctionarics have
been tumbled from office The constitu-
ton says The president, vice president.
and all civil officers OF the United States,
shall be removed from office on impcach-
ment for, AID conviction Of. treason.
bribery or other hign crimes ami mi>de-
mcanors." Art. >. Sec 4 In this
place the Constitution refers to the sub
ject of impeachment without defining it.
The statement is frequently made, ''thc
Constitution Is an instrument of enumer-
alton and not OF definition" Then.
therefore, 10 positive law * found in the
nations statute book TO punish certain
offences. Such offences have been com
mltted, we mus. look to English prcce-
dents for & more perfect knowledge of
the Details
AT the time the constitution was
adopted, the trainers thereof were 50
deeply engrossel i'll the primary rlinci-
Piles Of republican form of government,
the more dry positive rules were not in
grated therein. The labor OF making
such an instrument was indeed very
great; but what an additional burden
must have been cast upon them, had
they made definite provisions for every
thing that might arise under it In such
a case, the nation would never have had
an existence, and to-day we might be
colonies of Great Britain. Courts and
judges were ordained to adopt such rules
as the times seemed to demand. The
term ''hgh crimes and mi>dcmeanors.
are copied from the British Constitution
and are there used to represent impeach-
able conduct They are therefore to be
Interpreted, not by common law, but by
parliamentary law. Story, chief Justice,
once remarked in judicial decision.
where foreign statutes ''are adopted into
our legislation the known and settled con-
structlon OF these statutes by courts of
law has been considered as silently incor-
porated into those acts
What, then, are the decisions of the
English parliament as to what constituted
an Improbable offence? The cases of
impeachment in England are numerous,
no less than forty cases occurring be-
tween the year 1920 and 1858. The
earliest case recorded was in the reign of
Edward Ill. 1876. The cause assipn-
ed for thus depriying men of their natu-
raj rights were too numerous to attempt
a description. ''The Duke of Suffolk
was impeached for neglect of duty as an
ambassador the Earle of Bristol, that
he gave counsel against war with Spain
whose king had atfronted the English ma
lion; the Duke of Buckingham, that he
oe'ls admiral had neglected the safeguard
Oh tue sea; Richard de la Pole, that be |