Free Republic

1787-1800 February 5, 1798 To Arrest an Impeached Senator WilliamBlount When barely nine years old, the Senate confronted a crisis of authority. An impeached senator refused to attend his trial in the Senate chamber. Unlike the House of Representatives, or the British House of Commons, the Senate lacked a Sergeant at Arms to enforce its orders. On February 5, 1798, the Senate expanded the duties, title, and salary of its doorkeeper to create the post of Sergeant at Arms. It then directed that officer to arrest the fugitive senator—the Honorable William Blount of Tennessee (pictured). A signer of the U.S....

The debacle in the House of Commons last week - in which Jean Chretien was defeated by his own caucus on a point that he himself had declared a major issue - was hailed by the media in two ways. It was proclaimed as a defeat for Chretien and as a major victory for Paul Martin. Oddly, the real victor in this extraordinary affair, the man who engineered it and set it in motion, received almost no mention whatever. That man was Alliance Leader Stephen Harper. The whole incident occurred because of a resolution put before the house by Harper's...