ese
extraordinary proceedings. I had hoped that this House would succeed in
organizing itself; that a Speaker and Clerk would be elected, and that the
ordinary business of legislation would be progressed in. This is not the
time, or place, to discuss the merits of the conflicting claimants for
seats from New Jersey; that subject belongs to the House of
Representatives, which, by the constitution, is made the ultimate arbiter
of the qualifications of its members. But what a spectacle we here
present! We degrade and disgrace ourselves; we degrade and disgrace our
constituents and the country. We do not, and cannot organize; and why?
Because the Clerk of this House, the mere Clerk, whom we create, whom we
employ, and whose existence depends upon our will, usurps the throne, and
sets us, the Representatives, the vicegerents of the whole American
people, at defiance, and holds us in contempt! And what is this Clerk of
yours? Is he to control the destinies of sixteen millions of freemen? Is
he to suspend, by his mere negative, the functions of Government, and put
an end to this Congress? He refuses to call the roll! It is in your power
to compel him to call it, if he will not do it voluntarily. [Here he was
interrupted by a member, who said that he was authorized to say that
compulsion could not reach the Clerk, who had avowed that he would resign,
rather than call the State of New Jersey.] Well, sir, then let him
resign," continued Mr. Adams, "and we may possibly discover some way by
which we can get along, without the aid of his all-powerful talent,
learning and genius. If we cannot organize in any other way--if this Clerk
of yours will not consent to our discharging the trusts confided to us by
our constituents, then let us imitate the example of the Virginia House of
Burgesses, which, when the colonial Governor Dinwiddie ordered it to
disperse, refused to obey the imperious and insulting mandate, and, like
men--"

The multitude could not contain or repress their enthusiasm any longer,
but saluted the eloquent and indignant speaker, and intercepted him with
loud and deafening cheers, which seemed to shake the capitol to its
centre. The very Genii of applause and enthusiasm seemed to float in the
atmosphere of the Hall, and every heart expanded with an indescribable
feeling of pride and exultation. The turmoil, the darkness, the very
"chaos of anarchy," which had, for three successive days, pervaded the
American Congress, w