The House, on the next day, resumed the consideration of Mr. Randolph’s motion, which was supported by Mr. Smilie, and, on the motion of Mr. Leib, so amended as to embrace an inquiry into the official conduct of Richard Peters, district judge for the District of Pennsylvania. On the motion, thus amended, further debate arose, which occupied the greater part of this and the ensuing day. It was supported by Messrs. Findlay, Jackson, Nicholson, Holland, J. Randolph, Eustis, Early, Smilie, and Eppes; and opposed by Messrs. Lowndes, R. Griswold, Elliot, Dennis, Griffin, Thatcher, Huger, and Dana. Some ineffectual attempts were made to amend the resolution, when the final question was taken on the resolution, as amended, in the following words:
“Resolved, That a committee be appointed to inquire into the official conduct of Samuel Chase, one of the Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States, and of Richard Peters, district judge of the district of Pennsylvania, and to report their opinion, whether the said Samuel Chase and Richard Peters, or either of them, have so acted in their judicial capacity, as to require the interposition of the constitutional power of this House:”
And resolved in the affirmative—yeas 81, nays 40.
Whereupon, Messrs. J. Randolph, Nicholson, J. Clay, Early, R. Griswold, Huger, and Boyle, were appointed a committee pursuant to the foregoing resolution.
On the 10th of January, the committee were authorized by the House to send for persons, papers, and records; and on the 30th day of the same month they were authorized to cause to be printed such documents and papers as they might deem necessary, previous to their presentation to the House.
On the 6th day of March, Mr. Randolph, in the name of the committee, made a report, “That in consequence of the evidence collected by them, in virtue of the powers with which they have been invested by the House, and which is hereunto subjoined, they are of opinion, 1st. That Samuel Chase, Esq., an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, be impeached of high crimes and misdemeanors.
“2d. That Richard Peters, district judge of the district of Pennsylvania, has not so acted in his judicial capacity as to require the interposition of the constitutional power of this House.”
This report, accompanied by a great mass of printed documents, embracing various depositions taken before the committee, as well as at a distance, was made the order of the day for the Monday following.
On that day the House took up the report, and after a short debate concurred in the first resolution by the following vote—yeas 73, nays 32, as follows:
Yeas.—Willis Alston, jun., Isaac Anderson, John Archer, David Bard, George Michael Bedinger, William Blackledge, Walter Bowie, Adam Boyd, John Boyle, Robert Brown, Joseph Bryan, William Butler, Levi Casey, Thomas Claiborne, Joseph Clay, Matthew Clay, John Clopton, Frederick Conrad, Jacob Crowninshield, Richard Cutts, John Dawson, William Dickson, John B. Earle, Peter Early, James Elliot, William Findlay, John Fowler, James Gillespie, Peterson Goodwyn, Andrew Gregg, Samuel Hammond, James Holland, David Holmes, Walter Jones, William Kennedy, Nehemiah Knight, Michael Leib, Matthew Lyon, Andrew McCord, William McCreery, David Meriwether, Andrew Moore, Nicholas R. Moore, Jeremiah Morrow, Anthony New, Thomas Newton, jun., Joseph H. Nicholson, Gideon Olin, John Patterson, John Randolph, Thomas M. Randolph, John Rea of Pennsylvania, John Rhea of Tennessee, Jacob Richards, Cæsar A. Rodney, Thomas Sammons, Thomas Sanford, Ebenezer Seaver, James Sloan, John Smilie, Henry Southard, Richard Stanford, Joseph Stanton, John Stewart, David Thomas, Philip R. Thompson, Abram Trigg, John Trigg, Isaac Van Horne, Joseph B. Varnum, Marmaduke Williams, Richard Wynn, and Joseph Winston.