he was compelled
to take his seat and the resolution was adopted by 182 to 9. Upon the
second resolution he asked to be excused from voting, and his name was
passed in the call. The third resolution with its preamble was then
read, and Mr. Adams, so soon as his name was called, rose and said: "I
hold the resolution to be a direct violation of the Constitution of
the United States, the rules of this House, and the rights of my
constituents." He was interrupted by shrieks of "order" resounding on
every side; but he only spoke the louder and obstinately finished his
sentence before resuming his seat. The resolution was of course agreed
to, the vote standing 117 to 68. Such was the beginning of the famous
"gag" which became and long remained--afterward in a worse shape--a
standing rule of the House. Regularly in each new Congress when the
adoption of rules came up, Mr. Adams moved to rescind the "gag;" but
for many years his motions continued to be voted down, as a (p. 251)
matter of course. Its imposition was clearly a mistake on the part of
the slave-holding party; free debate would almost surely have hurt
them less than this interference with the freedom of petition. They
had assumed an untenable position. Henceforth, as the persistent
advocate of the right of petition, Mr. Adams had a support among the
people at large vastly greater than he could have enjoyed as the
opponent of slavery. As his adversaries had shaped the issue he was
predestined to victory in a free country.

A similar scene was enacted on December 21 and 22, 1837. A "gag" or
"speech-smothering" resolution being then again before the House, Mr.
Adams, when his name was called in the taking of the vote, cried out
"amidst a perfect war-whoop of 'order:' 'I hold the resolution to be a
violation of the Constitution, of the right of petition of my
constituents and of the people of the United States, and of my right
to freedom of speech as a member of this House.'" Afterward, in
reading over the names of members who had voted, the clerk omitted
that of Mr. Adams, this utterance of his not having constituted a
vote. Mr. Adams called attention to the omission. The clerk, by
direction of the Speaker, thereupon called his name. His only reply
was by a motion that his answer as already made should be entered (p. 252)
on the Journal. The Speaker said that this motion was not in order.
Mr. Adams, resolute to get upon the record, requested that his motion
wit