USA > Vermont > Washington County > Montpelier > Addresses delivered before the Vermont Historical Society and the Vermont Historical and Antiquarian Society > Part 7
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When Lyon entered the House of Representatives, neither party could be said to have a clear majority, and it depended upon the course taken by a few wavering individuals, whether the policy of the House should be democratic or federal. But the decided tone of the President's Message, backed by a strong majority in the Senate, con- firmed the doubtful members, aud made the House federal enough for all practical purposes. Lyon's debut, as a speaker, took place, (Nov. 24th, 1797,) during the debate on the answer to the Message. In those days, it was usual for Congress to reply to the Message, and echo back its sentiments, if they were acceptable to the majority. A reply, sufficiently in accordance with the doctrines of the Message, having been adopted, Lyon made a long speech, denouncing the prac- tice of making such responses as inconvenient and ridiculous, as well
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as slavish and anti-republican, a waste of time, and a delay of public business. He took occasion to set forth, at considerable length, his own services in the cause of democracy, and concluded with a motion that he personally might be excused from complying with the custom- ary attendance, on the presentation of the reply. The speech was not very well received by either party. The democrats took offence at his apparent disposition to exalt himself in the party, and the federalists regarded his proposition with contemptuous indifference. Mr. Dana, of Connecticut, remarked that the company of the gentleman from Vermont was not particularly desirable, and expressed a hope that he might unanimously be allowed to absent himself, and leave was unani- mously granted. At the second session of the same Congress, when the response of the House to the Message was somewhat general and ambiguous, he renewed his motion to be excused from a personal waiting on the President ; but this time the motion was voted down by a large majority.
On the 30th of January, 1798, a war of words took place between Mr. Lyon and the Hon. Roger Griswold, of Connecticut, the result of which was a personal encounter on the floor of Con- gress ; the first one in the series of such affrays that have, from time to time, disgusted or shocked the nation. The Honse had voted to impeach William Blount, (formerly Governor of the Ter- ritory South of the Ohio,) for misconduct while in office, and the tellers were engaged in counting the ballots for managers of the impeachment, the Speaker having left the Chair, and many mem- bers their seats. as was not unusual on such occasions, though the House remained in session. The Speaker and several members of the House, among whom were Mr. Lyon and the Hon. Samuel W. Dana, of Connecticut, gathered around the fire and engaged in con- Versation. Between Lyon and Dana, the conversation soon degene- rated into dispute, respecting the effect of an amendment to a certain bill, which had recently been under discussion. Lyon declared that the Representatives, from Connecticut, would every one of them lose their re-election if they voted against the amendment, and said other things of an irritating nature, to which Dana replied in the same style. The Speaker here interposed, saying, " Gen- tlemen, keep yourselves cool ; if you proceed much further, you will want seconds." Lyon then addressed himself to the Speaker,
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and, in allusion to Dana's fiery temper, said that he had in his own mind designated the mission to Cayenne as an appropriate one for the member from Connecticut. A brief and pleasant con- versation ensued, after which, Lyon resumed his animadversions upon the conduct of the Connecticut delegation. He declared that. they were acting in direct opposition to the wishes and opinions of nine-tenths of their constituents, that they were seek- ing their own interests regardless of the public good, that they were looking for offices, not holding it material whether the salaries annexed were nine thousand dollars, or one thousand, and that he well knew the people of Connecticut, as he had to fight them in his own District.
Mr. Griswold, who sat near, asked if he had fought them with his wooden sword, alluding to a report that a wooden sword had been presented him, when he was cashiered at Ticonderoga. Lyon, not hearing the question, or affecting not to hear it, conti- nued his remarks to the Speaker, and said that when the Connec- ticut people came into his district, on visits to their relations, they came with strong prejudices against him and his politics, but after conversing with them freely he could always bring them to his side, and that if he could go into Connecticut, and talk with them there, he could effect an entire change in the politics of the State. Griswold, then laying his hand upon Lyon's arm to secure his attention, said, " If you were to go into Connecticut for the pur- pose you mention, you could not alter the opinion of the meanest hostler." Lyon replied that he knew better, that if he were to remove there, and conduct a paper for six months, he could effect a revolution, and induce the people to turn out all their present representatives. Griswold then said, " When you go into Con- necticut, you had better take with you your wooden sword." To this, Lyon made no other reply than by spitting in Griswold's face, who thereupon stepped back, clenched his fist, and was about to take immediate revenge for the insult ; but his colleague inter- posed, and reminded him that another time and place were more appropriate for the settlement of the affair. He and his colleague then left the house.
As soon as the matter then in hand was disposed of, a resolu- tion was introduced into the House, to expel Mr Lyon " for a
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. gross indecency committed in the presence of the House." This was vehemently opposed by the democrats, headed by Nicholas ' and Gallatin. Parties were so nearly equal in the House, that the loss of a single man was a serious misfortune to his party, and though it was not possible to excuse the act, there was ground for a plausible argument that the House should not take cognizance of what was done while it was in such a disorderly condition. This was urged very strongly, but at length the resolution was referred to the Committee of Privileges, with instructions to report the facts and their opinion thereon. While the investigation was going on, Lyon addressed a letter to the Speaker, declaring that he was ignorant of the House being in session, and expressing his regret that he unwittingly transgressed its privileges. On the 2nd of February, the Committee made a report, recommending the adoption of the resolution of expulsion. This gave rise to a smart debate, in which Lyon participated, defending himself as having only answered one insult by another, and giving a detailed state- ment of the affair at Jericho, all the blame of which he threw upon the chief officer. A motion to substitute reprimand for expulsion was lost, by a vote of 44 to 52, and the resolution of expulsion was adopted, by a corresponding vote of 52 to 44 ; but as a vote of two thirds was necessary to expel a member, Lyon retained his seat.
Griswold, not satisfied with this result, determined to take his revenge with his own hands. On the 20th of February, having provided himself with a heavy hickory cane, (perhaps it would be inexcusable in me as an antiquarian, if I should omit to mention that he bought it of one John McAllaster, 48 Chesnut St., Phila- delphia,) he assailed Lyon while in his seat in the House. Morn- ing prayer had been offered, but the House was not called to order, and members were occupied in reading, writing, or conversation. Lyon was in his seat, engaged with papers, and having a small cane leaning against his chair. He did not notice Griswold's approach in season to meet him, but while still in his seat Griswold struck him violently on the head, repeating the blows as rapidly as possible, so that several blows were inflicted before he could put himself in position for defence. In the meantime, he was dis- engaging himself as best he might from the desk and chair that embarrassed his movements, endeavoring to regain his cane, which
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he was unable to do, by reason of the number and violence of the blows that were rained upon his head and shoulders. Having at length extricated himself, he rushed towards his assailant, and endeavored to close with him; but Griswold retreated, pushing him off with the left hand, and continuing to ply the cane, till the parties came into the vicinity of the fire place, where Lyon pos- sessed himself of a pair of tongs, and went into the affray with fresh hope and courage. The combatants soon closed, and in the contest, Griswold got the better of Lyon, threw him on the floor and fell upon him. By this time, some of the other members began to think it expedient to interfere. Some were for parting the com- batants, others for letting them finish the fight ; but at length Mr. Haven and Mr. Elmendorf seized each a leg of Griswold and dragged him off. All this while the Speaker forbore to call the House to order, and interfered only to remonstrate with those who attempted to withdraw Griswold from the fray. The similarity of some of the circumstances of the assault to those which, two years ago, attended the murderous attack of Brooks upon Summer, is so marked that it is hardly necessary to call attention to it. A resolution to expel both Griswold and Lyon for this misconduct, was negatived by a vote of 73 to 21, and a resolution to censure was also lost.
This brawl furnished a copious theme for the wits and satirists of those days, and they availed themselves of it without stint. Not to protraet this discourse to an unreasonable length, only a few citations will be made. In the " Echo," a volume of political poems, H. H. Breckenridge comments upon the pretentions of John Woods, a can- didate for Congress from Western Pennsylvania, in 1798, as follows :
" And yet perhaps, from news arrived of late, Of Griswold's breaking Lyon's leaden pate, John Woods may think, for empty is his head, The cudgel's force of sense will stand instead, This would be true, if in Creation's round, Another Matthew Lyon could be found,
Blows in that case would take the place of words, And reason yield the palm to wooden swords "
In the same volume, in the " Versification of a Letter from a Political Character in Philadelphia, to his Friend in Connecticut," there is another allusion to the same affair :-
" These Federalists, too, are an insolent race, They won't e'en permit us to spit in their face. In Congress, behold, a great LYox appears, Imported from Ireland and purchased with steers ;
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He just took the license on Griswold to squirt A stream of mundungus, not thinking of hurt,
When, lo ! the fierce Yankce flew into a passion,
And gave the bog-trotter a notable thrashing, The King of the Beasts most lustily roared, At his army acquaintance, the old WOODEN SWORD. No Christian, I'm sure's this Connecticut shaver,
He ought not to 've grumbled, but swallowed the slaver,
The Testament says you must turn t'other cheek, And not go to using the hickory stick."
A long passage, on the same subject, also occurs in the ".Political Greenhouse, for the year 1798," and Fessenden devoted several pages of " The Jeffersoniad " to Lyon and his career.
The scene also furnished the subject of a caricature, roughly execut- ed on wood, with the title " Congressional Pugilists," and the motto, probably taken from a song of those days :-
" He in a trice struck Lyon thrice, Upon his head, enrag'd, sir, Who seized the tongs to ease his wrongs, And Griswold thus engag'd, sir."
Among those who are represented, as surrounding the combatants, are Josuha Dayton, of New Jersey, the Speaker, Jonathan W. Cady, of Philadelphia, the Clerk, and the Rev. Dr. Ashbel Green, the Chaplain. All the spectators are much interested, and some of them highly enjoying the scene. If Lyon's face was half as homely as this picture represents it, there would be good foundation for Fessenden's verse, in " The Dagon of Democracy :"
" No commandment you break, Though an idol you make Of the ugly old democrat, seeing That nothing at all, Sirs, Flies, walks, swims, or crawls, Sirs, In the likeness of such an odd being."
But as the caricature came from the hands of Lyon's enemies, it may well be presumed that the comeliness of his face was not less marred by the graver of the artist, than by the cane of the representative from Connecticut.
The democrats were not inactive in the same kind of warfare, and they did their best, with song and satire, to turn the tide of ridicule upon their opponents. Griswold received the title of " Knight of the Theum-full countenance," which clung to him for a long time.
On the 4th of July, 1798, a law of the United States went into operation, enacting that any person who should write, or publish, or cause to be written or published, or assist in writing or publishing, any
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words calumniating the Government of the United States, or either House of Congress, or the President of the United States, or any words calculated to bring either of them into disrepute, or to stir up sedition in the country, should be punished by a fine not exceeding two thousand dollars, and be imprisoned not more than two years. This was the famous " sedition law," which, while the government designed it as a shield to protect itself against the fierce assaults of its enemies, proved to be one of the sharpest swords with which they encountered and, at last, slew it. Lyon was one of the earliest suf- ferers by this law.
A short time previous to the passing of the law, a violent attack on Lyon was made, by the Vermont Journal, and was copied by several of the federal papers in Philadelphia. He was not the man to · submit to an assault without making a vigorous defence, to say no more. He accordingly addressed a letter to the Editor of the Jour- nal, who published it in that paper, (July 31st, 1798,) as it was intended he should. Some paragraphs in this letter were apparently within the scope of the " sedition law," and there was no lack of enemies to put the law into action. At a term of the Circuit Court of the United States, held at Rutland, Oct. 3rd, 1798, an indictment in three counts was found against him by the grand jury. The prin- cipal count was founded upon the following passage in his letter to the Vermont Journal :-
" As to the Executive, when I shall see the efforts of that power bent on the promotion of the comfort, the happiness, and the accom- modation of the people, that Executive shall have my zealous and uniform support. But whenever I shall, on the part of the Executive, see every consideration of public welfare swallowed up in a continual grasp for power, in an unbounded thirst for ridiculous pomp, foolish adulation, or selfish avarice ; when I shall behold men of real merit daily turned out of office, for no other cause but independency of spirit ; when I shall see men of firmness, merit, years, abilities, and expe- rience, discarded, in their applications for office, for fear they possess that independence, and men of meanness preferred, for the ease with which they can take up and advocate opinions, the consequences of which they know but little of; when I shall see the sacred name of religion employed as a state engine to make mankind hate and persecute each other, I shall not be their humble advocate."
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A very well balanced period, surely, and by no means deficient in point and vigor; yet, there is hardly a political writer in our day who does not, every week, write a great deal which is much more worthy than that of being called "scurrilous, scandalous, malicious, and defamatory." Lyon was also charged with procuring the publication of a " Letter from an American diplomatic character to a member of Congress in Philadelphia," said to have been written by Joel Barlow, the famous poet and politician, to Abraham Baldwin, and containing, with other seditious matter, the following passage :-
" The misunderstanding between the two Governments, (meaning the Governments of the United States and France,) have become extremely alarming ; confidence is completely destroyed ; mistrust, jealousy, and a disposition to a wrong attribution of motives, are so apparent, as to require the utmost caution in every word and action that are to come from your Executive,-I mean, if your object is to avoid hostilities. Had this truth been understood with you, before the recall of Monroe, before the coming and second coming of Pinkney, had it guided the pens that wrote the bullying speech of your Presi- dent, and stupid answer of your Senate, at the opening of Congress, in November last, I should probably have had no occasion to address you this letter ; but, when we found him borrowing the language of Edmund Burke, and telling the world that although he should succeed in treating with the French, there was no dependence to be placed on any of their engagements, that their religion and morality were at an end, that they had turned pirates and plunderers, and it would be necessary to be perpetually armed against them, though you are at peace, we wondered the answer of both Houses, had not been an order to send him to a mad-house. Instead of this, the Senate have echoed the speech with more servility than ever George the Third experienced from either House of Parliament."
The indictment was taken up for trial, on the sixth of October, and was prosecuted with great vigor, not to say venom. Hon. William Patterson, of the Supreme Court of the United States, and Hon. Samuel Hitchcock, District Judge for the District of Vermont, con- stituted the Court, both of them strong Federalists, as were also the District Attorney and the Marshal. Lyon could expect no leniency from such a Court, and always insisted that there was gross unfairness in the selection of the jury, and the instructions given them on trial.
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He had a substantial ground of defence, in the fact, that the letter to the Vermont Journal was written, and dispatched by mail, on the 20th of June, fourteen days before the passage of the " sedition law," which could only be made to reach his case by an ex post facto opera- tion. . He conducted his own defence, and denied that he had any complicity whatever with the publication of Barlow's letter, but insisted that, on the contrary, he had endeavored to suppress it, by destroying whatever copies came to his possession. But none of his defences availed him. Judge Patterson charged strongly against him, and in language which savored much more of political warmth than of judicial dignity. Lyon was convicted, and sentenced to four months imprisonment, and to pay a fine of one thousand dollars, with costs of persecution, taxed at $60.96.
By the law, as it then was, a prisoner of the United States might be committed to any jail in the State, at the discretion of the Marshal. Instead of availing himself of the jail at Rutland, the Marshal, Jabez G. Fitch, of Vergennes, conveyed his prisoner to that place, where he could have a more immediate oversight of him, and committed him to close jail, treating him with great and unnecessary rigor. He was denied the use of writing materials, and was not allowed a fire in his cell, though the cold of October and November was very severe. He was at length told that he could not be warmed at the public expense, but that there was a small stove near at hand, which he might buy for $18, and make himself comfortable. To this extortion he declined to submit, and his friends at Fairhaven sent him a stove from that place. For some months, he was not allowed to see the friends who sought to alleviate his condition by visiting him. When this restriction was removed, all visitors were required to record their names, that they might be reported to the Marshal. Lyon's friends offered to give bail, to the amount of $100,000, that if he were allow- ed a comfortable room in the jailer's house, he should make no attempt to escape ; but this favor was refused. He addressed a letter to Gen. Stevens T. Mason, Senator from Virginia, giving him an account of his persecutions and sufferings ; in reply to which Gen. Mason proposed that, inasmuch as those sufferings were in the common cause of republicanism, and the fine was the only part of them in which others could participate, that should be paid by a common subscription among the enemies of political persecution. The money, however,
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was not forthcoming, and as the expiration of his imprisonment approached. Lyon, unable to procure funds in any other way, purchas- ed a grant of a lottery, and issued proposals for the sale of tickets, offering as the prizes, houses, lands, and other property, which he wished to dispose of. The experiment was successful, and he realized all that he needed for the payment of his fine and costs, and a surplus of $3,000.
His term of imprisonment expired Feb. 9th, 1799, at 8 A. M. In the meantime, he had been re-elected to Congress. His principal competitors, at that election, were Dr. Samuel Williams and Daniel Chipman, At the trial, in September, 1798, he lacked 26 votes of an election, (Lyon, 3,482; Williams, 1,544; Chipman, 1,370; Abel Spencer, 268; Israel Smith, 226 ; Seat, 99 ;) but, at a second attempt, he was elected by a majority of more than 500. His enemies had made preparations to have him re-arrested, as soon as he was discharg- ed from jail ; but no sooner had the Marshal opened the prison doors, and announced to him that he was free, than he shouted, " I am on my way to Philadelphia," and, stepping out, started at once on his journey. Congress had been in session some months, and his privilege as a member, secured him from arrest on mesne process.
His release was the occasion of great joy to his adherents, and his journey towards Philadelphia was a triumphal march. A great con- course of people accompanied him on his way, with the American flag at the head of the procession ; and as they passed along, the inhabi- tants of the towns on the line of march assembled numerously to greet him. Even children partook of the spirit of the occasion. As he passed a schoolhouse, in Tinmouth, the children were paraded at the road-side, and one of them offered the following sentiment: " This day satisfies federal vengeance. Our brave representative, who has been suffering for us under an unjust sentence, and the tyranny of a detested understrapper of despotism, this day rises superior to despotism." Following this with three cheers for "The Victory of Liberty," they retired. On his arrival at Bennington, he was wel- comed by a large assemblage of republicans, who greeted him with cheers, original songs, and a formal address, to which he briefly res- ponded, and then pursued his journey.
He took his seat in Congress on the 20th of February, and on the same day, R. G. Harper offered a resolution for his expulsion, on the
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ground that he had been " convicted of being a malicious and seditious person, of a depraved mind, and wicked and diabolical disposition, gailty of public libels against the President with intent to bring the government of the United States into contempt." This was carried by a vote of 49 to 45, but the two-thirds rule protected him in his seat
During Lyon's last term in Congress, occurred the protracted contest, in the House of Representatives, which resulted in Jeffer- son's election to the Presidency, and Lyon had the satisfaction of casting the vote that terminated the struggle. Jefferson and Burr having each the same number of electoral votes, the duty of making an election was devolved upon the House of Representa- tives, voting by States. The Federalists had a decided majority of members, but could not command a majority of States ; nor could their opponents do any better. On the first ballot, and for many successive ballotings, eight States voted for Jefferson, six for Burr, and two, Vermont and Maryland, were equally divided. Lewis R. Morris, Lyon's colleague in the House, voted for Burr, and Lyon himself for Jefferson. The public mind was in the highest degree agitated with the contest. The House remained in session, without formal adjournment, for seven successive days; and the excitement, both in and out of the House, rose to such a height as to render it absolutely necessary to the public welfare that the controversy should be ended, in one way or another. The Federalists, becoming convinced that it was impossible to elect Burr, reluctantly decided to allow Jefferson to be chosen. It was arranged that Mr. Morris should absent himself from the next balloting, which he accordingly did, and Lyon cast the vote of Vermont for Jefferson, given him the ninth State, that was needed to secure his election. He took considerable credit to himself for this vote ; and it is said that, on a subsequent occasion, when some disagreement between himself and Jefferson took place, he exclaim- ed, with an oath, " I made him, and I can unmake him !"
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