The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1896-11-25
A FIGHT In CONGRESS-.
SOME "REMINISCENCES OF EARLYLEG-
ISLATlVE DAYS.

Tfmes-A Regular fltcneu battie Oh the
Floor OF the House c-The BIount Episode
The first disgraceful public encouu.
ter on the floor Of an American Coz
gress, and the first public trial for the
impeachment of United States Sen:-
tor, were both compressed within the
period of the Fl. i Congress, says the
Philadelphia Tip. =.
Each of these ; ,rg events IS 'n'' =
mately related to he other. Indt: L..
the one grew ou- of TIE o;her, with
the impeachment proceedings coming
first in order of time.
The principal in the impeachme'
proceedings wss William Blount, a
Senator from the State Of Tennes see
William Blount first appears on tho
pages of history as the torritoria! gov
ernor of that region carved out OF the
wilderness in 1890, known as tire
Territory South o. the Ohio" the
greater part of which : at pre- snt CO.
incident with the Stais OF Te 1ressee.
Five years later the Territory was Ell
mitted to the Union es State.
Nor was William b INT. the old
Territorial Governor, fors osten unt ~
the new dispensation. HeWas pro npt
ly chosen , the Unit: Safes Senate.
Senate. His trouble began wit I the
first day on which he occupied the
new chair.
At the time in que:,ion William
Blount found himself heavily in the
dcat speculations in Western LANDS
50 common at that early day. 1t wss
the same rock upon which that sturdy
patriot of the revolutionary epoch,
Morris of Pennsylvap=a, had gone -
his desth. TIE Senator from T-rn's
see found that he must reolize cash
value upon his lands 81 once or lose
his fortune, and h3 forced ID reti'o a
broken man. He, therefore, concelv'
ed the scheme of closing out these
lands, lying in the Soutn and Wes,
to British Spectators. and IN order
more readily to enlist TIE symr2th:es
of these people he had wri., N a letter
to one Carep, an Indian as ,nt of his
acquaintance, in which he i1timated
that, could the Indiars and the lack
woodsmen of his native St1te be- sslr
red into an appreciation of the span
ish situation. New Orleans e1d The
neighboring districts might become
the permanent possessions OF the Brit.
ish. In order to give color to this " q
intrigue, Blouut had also approached
Liston, the new British minister, and
had sounded him as 10 the possibility
of help from England.
1t should to understood that at e
period in question Spain had ! ,sse.-
sion of that vast ST sch OF terri ~
lying along the Gulf str cam, whele
the Blount lands lay, and had made
several Intellectual attempts to real ze
uron the same. A point in Blount's
favor was the fact that the Spanish
authorities bad opposed the survey OF
the then Southern boundary OF The
United States. and that they were hes
itating over the surrendGf of which
had been stipulated for il recent
treaty.
But William Blount was not des
tined to succeed in his wild dream.
That same genius of empire that has
confronted the traitor of all time su
denly rose against the plotter am
struck his plans 10 the ground. Aaron
Burr, with his chimera of a great
Southwestern empire, was confronted
by his Wilkinson, Arnold had h =
Andre, the British, Paul Revere, VIII e
The duplicity of Talleyraud, in the
stirring days of 1898, was expo--d ~
humble American s1;lor. Much l
the same spirit of patriotism, Carey,
The Cherokee interpreter. gave up the
reasonable letters of William Blount,
ard the Senator from Tennessee went
down in disgrace.
It was during the Blount i-ur sch.
ment that the disgraceful public en-
counter above alluded to took pace on
The floor OF Congress. The House ha |
been balloting for managers. The
members had left their seats aud We !,
strolling about engaged in general
conversation. Among the , pres ent
was member from one OF the back
woo Is districts Of Vermont, Matthew
Lyon by name. Io!itics Republican o"
ultra-Democratic.
Matthew Lyon was one whose early
life had been cast In strange lines, and
who, now that prosperity had visited
him, had made the very human ms.
take of going to extremes. lie showed
his self.conceit and his impetuosity on
the least provacation. As a mere lad
Lyon had come over from Ireland to
the land of freedom, aud, being poor,
had bound himself to his benefactor
in payment for his passage. He was
taken to Vermont, where he was soon
hard at work on a new farm in the
wilderness. In time he grew to man
hood. He became citizen. He en-.
tered the militia. IN 1876 Lyon, as
lieutenant OF a military company, was
ordered to abandon an advance | F. Il
on Lake Champlain. On reporting of,
ficially at headquarters he was treated
with great disdain. was declared
coward, and was placed under guard.
Rumor adds that in addition 10 this
indignity he was obliged TO submit the
humiliation OF wearing a wooden
sword. Whatever there may have
been in this story, certain it is that
Lyon himself, always insisted he had
been firm for holding the ouipt i, bui
that being a subordinate he had been
obliged to give way before the will oI
his superior officer.
Years afterward the affair OF The
wooden sword returned on Matthe
Lyons head, and, in one serse al
least, was insil umental in c,using his
ruin aud disgrace.
The war being ended and independ
ence gained, Lyon at once applied
himself to the arts of peace. He was s