SENATE ELECTION CASES.

III.

EXPULSION OF SENATORS.

[Fifth Congress-First session.]

WILLIAM BLOUNT,

Senator from Tennessee from December 6, 1796, to July 8, 1799.

Mr. Blount was expelled from the Senate on July 8, 1797, as "having been guilty of a high misdemeanor." An account of his impeachment, which was a proceeding distinct from the expulsion case here given, is found in the Annals of Congress, 5th Cong., 1st and 2d sess., vol. 1, 1797-'98, within pages 39 to 45, and Annals of Congress, 2d and 3d sess., vol. 2, 1798-'99, pages 2245 to 2416. The decision in the impeachment trial was that "the court ought not to hold jurisdiction of the said impeachment, and that the said impeachment is dismissed," the grounds on which the decision rested not being given.

The account of the expulsion case here given consists of a transcript of the proceedings of the Senate relating to it from the Annals of Congress, 5th Cong., 1st and 2ď sess., vol. 1, 1797-'98, within pages 33 to 45.

MONDAY, July 3, 1797.

The following message was received from the President of the United States:

Gentlemen of the Senate and House of Representatives:

The whole of the intelligence which has for some time past been received from abroad, the correspondence between this Government and the ministers of the belligerent powers residing here, and the advices from the officers of the United States, civil and military, upon the frontiers, all conspire to show, in a very strong light, the critical situation of our country. That Congress might be enabled to form a more perfect judgment of it, and of the measures necessary to be taken, I have directed the proper officers to prepare such collections of extracts from the public correspondence as might afford the clearest information. The reports made to me, from the Secretary of State and the Secretary of War, with a collection of documents from each of them, are now communicated to both Houses of Congress. I have desired that the message, reports, and documents may be considered as confidential, merely that the members of both Houses of Congress may be apprised of their contents before they should be made public. As soon as the two Houses shall have heard them, I shall submit to their discretion the publication of the whole or any such parts of them as they shall judge necessary or expedient for the public good. JOHN ADAMS.

UNITED STATES, July 3, 1797.

The message and papers were read.

On motion, the copy of a letter communicated with the message was again read, in the hearing of Mr. Blount, who was absent when it was read the first time; and who, on being requested to declare whether he was the author of this letter or not, observed that he wrote a letter to Cary, but was unable to say whether the copy was a correct one or not without recurrence to his papers; and desired that he might have until to-morrow to reply.

TUESDAY, July 4, 1797.

Mr. Cocke laid before the Senate a letter addressed to him, signed William Blount, purporting that it was necessary for him, the said William Blount, to have further time for recurrence to his papers and other evidence to remove suspicion.

Resolved, That so much of the message from the President of the United States, of the 3d instant, and the papers accompanying the same, as relates to a letter purport

ing to have been written by William Blount, a Senator from the State of Tennessee, be referred to a select committee, to consider and report what, in their opinion, it is proper for the Senate to do thereon; and that the said committee have power to send for persons, papers, and records relating to the subject committed to them, and that Messrs. Ross, Stockton, Henry, Sedgwick, and Read be the committee.

Ordered, That the Senate be, for the present, under an injunction of secrecy on the papers referred to in the above-mentioned message.

WEDNESDAY, July 5, 1797.

Mr. Ross, from the committee on part of the message of the President of the United States, of the 3d instant, made report; and the report was read.

Ordered, That the Vice-President notify William Blount, Senator from the State of Tennessee, by letter, to attend the Senate.

The Vice-President accordingly addressed to him the following letter, by the Doorkeeper:

SENATE CHAMBER, July 5, 1797.

SIR: You are hereby required to attend the Senate, in your place, without delay. By order of the Senate.

WILLIAM BLOUNT, Esq.,

Senator from the State of Tennessee.

On motion that it be

TH. JEFFERSON,
President of the Senate.

Resolved, That the letter said to have been written by William Blount, together with the several notes that passed between the Secretary of State and the British minister relative to the said letter, be printed for the use of the members

It was agreed that the consideration of this motion be postponed until to-morrowf Ordered, That the injunction of secrecy respecting the message of the President o. the United States of the 3d instant, and the papers accompanying the same, be taken off.

The Vice-President acquainted the Senate that the Doorkeeper had returned his letter addressed agreeably to their order to William Blount, as on inquiry he could not be found.

THURSDAY, July 6, 1797.

Mr. Ross, from the committee to whom was referred that part of the President's message of the 3d instant which relates to a letter purporting to have been written by William Blount, esq., together with the papers accompanying the same, made a further report; which was read. Upon which,

Mr. Blount read in his place a declaration, purporting that he should attend in his seat, from time to time, to answer to any allegations that might be brought against him.

Ordered, That the consideration of the report of the committee be postponed until 11 o'clock to-morrow morning.

On motion by Mr. Blount that he be heard by counsel on the subject-matter of this report,

A motion was made to postpone the consideration of this motion until to morrow, and it passed in the negative.

Resolved, That Mr. Blount be heard by counsel, not exceeding two, to-morrow morning at 11 o'clock.

Ordered, That the Secretary furnish Mr. Blount with attested copies of such papers as he may point out, respecting the subject this day reported on by the committee.

FRIDAY, July 7, 1797.

Resolved, That the instructions to the committee to whom was referred that part of the President's message of the 3d instant which relates to a letter purporting to have been written by William Blount, esq., together with the papers accompanying the same, be amended by adding, after the word "records," the following words: "and particularly the papers of William Blount, esq."

Agreeably to the order of the day, the Senate proceeded to the consideration of the report of the above-mentioned committee, made yesterday.

On motion that such printers as may request it be accommodated with stands on the floor of the Senate, to enable them to take notes of their proceedings on the present occasion, it passed in the negative.

Mr. Blount notified the Senate that Jared Ingersoll and Alexander J. Dallas are the counsel he has employed, agreeably to the vote of the enate passed yesterday. The President requested Mr. Blount to declare whether or not he was the author

f a letter a copy of which was communicated with the message of the President of he United States of the 3d instant.

Mr. Blount declined to answer.

On inotion, in consequence of the request of the counsel above mentioned that they ave until Monday next to prepare themselves to show cause why the report of the committee should not be adopted, after debate it was agreed that the question beore the Senate be postponed for the purpose of receiving a special message from the House of Representatives.

SATURDAY, July 8, 1797.

The Senate resumed the consideration of the report of the committee to whom was referred that part of the President's message which relates to a letter purporting to have been written by William Blount, esq., together with the papers accompany. ng the same.

On motion, Mr Justice Smith was desired to attend and administer the oath to sneh witnesses as might be adduced.

On motion, Mr. Martin and Mr. Cocke, of the Senate, being sworn, severally testified on inspection of the letter said to be written by Mr. Blount, that it was his handwriting, they being acquainted therewith, and having seen him write.

The President then said:

"William Blount, esq., you have now an opportunity, agreeably to the vote of Senate, in pursuance of your own request, by your counsel, to show cause why the report of the committee should not be adopted."

Mr. Blount was heard by his counsel, Mr. Ingersoll and Mr. Dallas; and,

After debate,

A motion was made to postpone the consideration of the report of the committee to the next session of Congress; and it was decided in the negative-yeas 7, nays 19; as follows:

YEAS-Messrs. Bloodworth, Brown, Cocke, Gunn, Martin, Tazewell, and Tatnall. NAYS-Messrs. Bingham, Bradford, Foster, Goodline, Henry, Hillhouse, Howard, Hunter, Latimer, Laurance, Livermore, Marshall, Read, Ross, Rutherfurd, Sedgwick, Tichenor, Tracy, and Vining.

On the question to agree to the report of the committee, as follows:

REPORT OF COMMITTEE.

[The committee consisted of Messrs. Ross, Stockton, Henry, Sedgwick, and Read.]

The committee to whom was referred that part of the President's message which relates to a letter purporting to have been written by William Blount, esq., one of the Senators from the State of Tennessee, together with the papers accompanying the same, having had the same under their consideration, beg leave to make a further report:

That Mr. Blount, having declined an acknowledgment or denial of the letter imputed to him, and having failed to appear to give any satisfactory explanation respecting it, your committee sent for the original letter, which accompanies this report, and it is in the following words:

COLONEL KING'S IRON WORKS,

April 21, 1797.

DEAR CAREY: I wished to have seen you before I returned to Philadelphia, but I am obliged to return to the session of Congress, which commences on the 15th of May. Among other things that I wished to have seen you about was the business Capt. Chesholm mentioned to the British minister last winter at Philadelphia.

I believe, but am not quite sure, that the plan then talked of will be attempted this fall; and if it is attempted it will be in a much larger way than then talked of, and if the Indians act their part I have no doubt but it will succeed. A man of consequence has gone to England about the business, and if he makes arrangements as he expects I shall myself have a hand in the business, and probably shall be at the head of the business on the part of the British. You are, however, to understand that it is not yet quite certain that the plan will be attempted, yet you will do well to keep things in a proper train of action in case it should be attempted, and to do so will require all your management-I say require all your management, because you must take care in whatever you say to Rogers or anybody else not to let the plan be discovered by Hawkins, Dinsmore, Byers, or any other person in the interest of the United States or Spain.

If I attempt this plan I shall expect to have you and all my Indian country and Indian friends with me; but you are now in good business, I hope, and you are not to risk the loss of it by saying anything that will hurt you until you again hear from me. Where Capt. Chesholm is I do not know; I left him in Philadelphia in

March, and he frequently visited the minister and spoke upon the subject; but I be lieve he will go into the Creek Nation by way of South Carolina or Georgia. He gave out he was going to England, but I did not believe him. Among other things that you may safely do will be to keep up my consequence with Watts and the Creeks and Cherokees generally, and you must by no means say anything in favor of Hawkins, but, as often as you can with safety to yourself, you may teach the Creeks to believe he is no better than he should be. Any power or consequence he gets will be against our plan. Perhaps Rogers, who has no office to lose, is the best man to give out talks against Hawkins. Read the letter to Rogers, and if you think it best to send it to him put a wafer in it and forward it to him by a safe hand, or perhaps you had best send for him to come to you, and speak to him yourself respecting the state and prospect of things.

I have advised you in whatever you do to take care of yourself. I have now to tell you to take care of me, too, for a discovery of the plan would prevent the success and much injure all the parties concerned.

It may be that the commissioners may not run the line as the Indians expect or wish, and in that case it is probable the Indians may be taught to blame me for making the treaty. To such complaints against me, if such there are, it may be said by my friends, at proper times and places, that Doublehead confirmed the treaty with the President at Philadelphia, and receives as much as $5,000 a year, to be paid to the nation, over and above the first price; indeed, it may with truth besid that, though I made the treaty, that I made it by the instructions of the President, and, in fact, it may with truth be said that I was by the President instructed to purchase much more land than the Indians would agree to sell. This sort of talk will be throwing all the blame off me upon the late President, and as he is now out of office it will be of no consequence how much the Indians blame him. Among other things that may be said for me is that I was not at the running of the line, and that if I had been it would have been run more to their satisfaction. In short, you understand the subject, and must take care to give out the proper talks, to keep up my consequence with the Creeks and Cherokees. Can't Rogers contrive to get the Creeks to desire the President to take Hawkins out of the nation? For if he stays in the Creek Nation and gets the good will of the nation he can and will do great injury to our plan. When you have read this letter over three times, then burn it. I shall be at Knoxville in July or August, when I will send for Watts and give him the whisky I promised him.

I am, etc.,

WILLIAM BLOUNT.

Two Senators, now present in the Senate, have declared to the committee that they are well acquainted with the handwriting of Mr. Blount, and have no doubt that this letter was written by him. Your committee have examined many letters from Mr. Blount to the Secretary of War, a number of which are herewith submitted, as well as the letter addressed by Mr. Blount to Mr. Cook, his colleague in the Senate, and to this committee, respecting the business now under consideration, and find them all to be of the same handwriting with the letter in question. Mr. Blount has never denied this letter, but, on the other hand, when the copy transmitted to the Senate was read in his presence, on the 3d instant, he acknowledged in his place that he had written a letter to Carey, of which he had preserved a copy, but could not then decide whether the copy read was a true one. Your committee are therefore fully persuaded that the original letter now produced was written and sent to Carey by Mr. Blount. They also find that this man Carey, to whom it was addressed, is, to the knowledge of Mr. Blount, in the pay and employment of the United States as their interpreter to the Cherokee Nation of Indians, and an assistant in the public factory at Tellico Blockhouse. That Hawkins, who is so often mentioned in this letter as a person who must be brought into suspicion among the Creeks, and if possible driven from his station, is the superintendent of Indian affairs for the United States among the Southern Indians; Dinsmore is agent for the United States in the Cherokee Nation; and Byers one of the agents in the public factory at Tellico Blockhouse.

The plan hinted at in this extraordinary letter to be executed under the auspices of the British is so capable of different constructions and conjectures that your committee at present forbear giving any decided opinion respecting it, except that to Mr. Blount's own mind it appeared to be inconsistent with the interests of the United States and of Spain, and he was therefore anxious to conceal it from both. But when they consider his attempts to seduce Carey from his duty as a faithful interpreter, and to employ him as an engine to alienate the affections and confidence of the Indians from the public officers of the United States residing among them; the measures he has proposed to excite a temper which must produce the recall or expulsion of our superintendent from the Creek Nation; his insidious advice tending to the advancement of his own popularity and consequence, at the expense and

hazard of the good opinion which the Indians entertain of this Government and of the treaties subsisting between us and them, your committee have no doubt that Mr. Blount's conduct has been inconsistent with his public duty, renders him unworthy of a further continuance of his present public trust in this body, and amounts to a high misdemeanor. They therefore unanimously recommend to the Senate an adoption of the following resolution:

Resolved, That William Blount, esq., one of the Senators of the United States, having been guilty of a high misdemeanor, entirely inconsistent with his public trust and duty as a Senator, be, and he hereby is, expelled from the Senate of the United States.

The report was adopted—yeas 25, nay 1; as follows:

YEAS-Messrs. Bingham, Bloodworth, Bradford, Brown, Cocke, Foster, Goodhue. Gunn, Henry, Hillhouse, Howard, Hunter, Latimer, Laurance, Livermore, Martin, Marshall, Read, Ross, Rutherfurd, Sedgwick, Tatnall, Tichenor, Tracy, and Vining. Mr. Tazewell voted in the negative.

So it was

Resolred, That William Blount, esq., one of the Senators of the United States, having been guilty of a high misdemeanor, entirely inconsistent with his public trust and duty as a Senator, be, and he hereby is, expelled from the Senate of the United States.

Ordered, That the Secretary transmit to the executive of the State of Tennessee an attested copy of the proceedings of the Senate on the report of the committee, of the 6th instant, for the expulsion of William Blount.

Ordered, That the Secretary lay before the President of the United States an attested copy of the proceedings of the Senate on his message of the 3d instant, transmitting a letter signed William Blount, directed to Mr. Cary.