Nor, sir, did I design
insult or disrespect to the State of Massachusetts. I was aware of the
personal responsibilities I incurred, and was willing to meet them. I
knew, too, that I was amenable to the laws of the country, which afford
the same protection to all, whether they be members of Congress or
private citizens. I did not, and do not now believe, that I could be
properly punished, not only in a court of law, but here also, at the
pleasure and discretion of the House. I did not then, and do not now,
believe that the spirit of American freemen would tolerate slander in
high places, and permit a member of Congress to publish and circulate a
libel on another, and then call upon either House to protect him against
the personal responsibilities which he had thus incurred.
But if I had committed a breach of privilege, it was the privilege of
the Senate, and not of this House, which was violated. I was answerable
there, and not here. They had no right, as it seems to me, to
prosecute me in these Halls, nor have you the right in law or under
the Constitution, as I respectfully submit, to take jurisdiction over
offences committed against them. The Constitution does not justify them
in making such a request, nor this House in granting it. If, unhappily,
the day should ever come when sectional or party feeling should run so
high as to control all other considerations of public duty or justice,
how easy it will be to use such precedents for the excuse of arbitrary
power, in either House, to expel members of the minority who may have
rendered themselves obnoxious to the prevailing spirit in the House to
which they belong.
Pages:
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119