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IMPEACHMENT (O. Fr. empeahement, empe...

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Originally appearing in Volume V14, Page 341 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.

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IMPEACHMENT (O. Fr. empeahement, empeschement, from em pecher or empescher, to hinder, Late Lat. impedicare, to entangle, pedica, fetter, pes, foot)

IMPEACHMENT (O. Fr. empeahement, empeschement, from em pecher or empescher, to hinder, See also:
LATE
Late See also:
LAT
Lat. impedicare, to entangle, pedica, fetter, pes, See also:
FOOT
foot) , the See also:

ENGLISH

English See also:

FORM (Lat. forma)

form of judicial See also:

PARLIAMENTARY

parliamentary See also:

PROCEDURE (Fr. procedure, from Lat. procedere, to go for-ward)

procedure against criminals, in which the See also:

House of See also:

COMMONS

Commons are the prosecutors and the House of Lords the See also:

JUDGES, THE BOOK OF

judges. It differs from bills of See also:

ATTAINDER (from the O. Fr. ataindre, ateindre, to attain, i.e. to strike, accuse, condemn; Lat. attingere, tangere, to touch; the meaning has been greatly affected by the confusion with Fr. taindre, teindre, to taint, stain, Lat. tingere, to dye)

attainder (q.v.) in being strictly judicial. 'When the House of Commons has accepted a See also:

motion for impeach-merit; the mover is ordered to proceed to the See also:

bar of the House of Lords, and there impeach the accused " in the name of the House of Commons, and of all the Commons of the See also:

UNITED

United See also:

KINGDOM

Kingdom." The charges are formulated in articles, to each of which the accused may deliver a written See also:

ANSWER (derived from and, against, and the same root as swear)

answer. The See also:

PROSECUTION

prosecution must confine itself to the charges contained in the articles, though further articles may be adhibited from See also:

time to time. The Commons appoint managers to conduct the prosecution, but the whole House in See also:

COMMITTEE (from commute, an Anglo-Fr. past participle of commettre, Lat. committere, to entrust; the modern Fr. equivalent comite is derived from the Eng.)

committee attends the trial. The See also:

DEFENDANT

defendant may appear by counsel. The See also:

PRESIDENT (Fr. president, from Lat. praesidens, post-Augustan Lat. for praeses, director, ruler, from praesidere, to sit in front of, preside)

president of the House of Lords is the See also:

lord high steward, in the See also:

case of peers impeached for high See also:

TREASON (Fr. trahison, Lat. traditio)

treason; in other cases the lord See also:

CHANCELLOR (M. Eng. and Anglo-Fr. canceler, chanceler, Fr. chancelier, Lat. cancellarius)

chancellor. The See also:

HEARING (formed from the verb " to hear," O. Eng. hyran, heron, &c., a common Teutonic verb; cf. Ger. Koren, Dutch hooren, &c.; the O. Tent. form is seen in Goth. hausjan; the initial h makes any connexion with " ear," Lat. audire, or Gr. &Kobew very doub

hearing takes See also:

PLACE (through Fr. from Lat. platea, street; Gr. IrAar6s, wide)

place as in an See also:

ORDINARY (med. Lat. ordinarius, Fr. ordinaire)

ordinary trial, the See also:

defence being allowed to See also:

CALL (from Anglo-Saxon ceallian, a common Teutonic word, cf. Dutch kallen, to talk or chatter)

call witnesses if necessary, and the prosecution having a right of reply. At the end of the case the president " puts to each peer, beginning with the junior See also:

baron, the' questions upon the first See also:

ARTICLE (from Lat. articulus, a joint)

article, whether the accused be guilty of the crimes charged therein. Each peer in See also:

SUCCESSION (Lat. successio, from succedere, to follow after)

succession rises in his place when the question is put, and See also:

STANDING

standing uncovered, and laying his right See also:

hand upon his See also:

BREAST (a word common to Teutonic languages, cf. the Ger. Brust, possibly connected with an O. Sax. brustian, to bud)

breast, answers, ` Guilty' or ` Not guilty,' as the case may be, ` upon my See also:

HONOUR (Lat. honos or lwnor, honoris; in English the word was spelled with or without the u indifferently until the 17th century, but during the 18th century it became fashion-able to spell the word " honor "; Johnson's and Webster's Dictionaries stereoty

honour.' Each article is proceeded with separately in the same manner, the lord high steward giving his own See also:

OPINION (Lat. opinio, from opinari, to think)

opinion the last " (May's Parliamentary Practice, c. See also:

XXIII

xxiii.). Should the accused be found guilty, See also:

JUDGMENT

judgment follows if the Commons move for it, but not otherwise.

The Commons thus retain the See also:

POWER [WILLIAM GRATTAN] TYRONE (1797-1841)

power of See also:

PARDON (through the Fr. from Late Lat. perdonare, to remit a debt or other obligation on a penalty)

pardon in their own hands, and this right they have in several cases expressly claimed by See also:

RESOLUTION

resolution, declaring that it is not parliamentary for their lordships to give judgment " until the same be first demanded by this House." Spiritual peers occupy an anomalous position in the trial of peers, as not being themselves ennobled in See also:

BLOOD

blood; on the impeachment of See also:

DANBY, FRANCIS (1793-1861)

Danby it was declared by the Lords that Spiritual peers have the right to stay and sit during proceedings for impeachment, but it is customary for them to withdraw before judgment is given, entering a protest " saving to themselves and their successors all such rights in judicature as they have by See also:

law, and by right ought to have." An impeachment, unlike other parliamentary proceedings, is not interrupted by See also:

PROROGATION

prorogation, nor even by See also:

DISSOLUTION (from Lat. dissolvere, to break up into parts)

dissolution. Proceedings in the House of Commons preliminary to an impeachment are subject to the ordinary rules, and in the See also:

Warren See also:

Hastings case an See also:

ACT (Lat. actus, actum)

act was passed to prevent the preliminary proceedings from discontinuance by prorogation and dissolution. A royal pardon cannot be pleaded in bar of an impeachment, though it is within the royal See also:

PREROGATIVE

prerogative to pardon after the lords have pronounced judgment. The point was raised in the case of the See also:

EARL

earl of Danby in 1679, and the See also:

RULE

rule was finally settled by the Act of See also:

Settlement. Persons found guilty on impeachment may be reprieved or pardoned like other convicts. Impeachment will See also:

lie against all kinds of crimes and misdemeanours, and against offenders of all ranks. In the case of See also:

Simon de See also:

Beresford, tried before the House of Lords in 1330, the House declared "that the judgment be not See also:

DRAWN

drawn into example or consequence in time to come, whereby the said peers may be charged hereafter to See also:

JUDGE (Lat. judex, Fr. juge)

judge others than their peers," from which See also:

BLACKSTONE, SIR WILLIAM (1723-1780)

Blackstone and others have inf erred that " a commoner cannot be impeached before the Lords for any See also:

capital offence, but only for high misdemeanours." In the case of See also:

EDWARD

Edward Fitzharris in 1681, the House of Commons in answer to a resolution of the Lords suspending the impeachment, declared it to be their undoubted right " to impeach any peer or commoner for treason or any other See also:

CRIME (Lat. crimen, accusation)

crime or See also:

MISDEMEANOUR (from O. Fr. mes- and demener, to conduct oneself ill)

misdemeanour." And the House of Lords has in practice recognized the right of the Commons to impeach whomsoever they will. The procedure has, however, been reserved for See also:

GREAT

great See also:

POLITICAL

political offenders whom the ordinary See also:

POWERS, HIRAM (1805-1873)

powers of the law might fail to reach. It has now fallen into desuetude. The last impeachments were those of Warren Hastings (1788—1795) and Lord See also:

Melville (1806), but an unsuccessful See also:

ATTEMPT (Lat. adtemptare, attentare, to try)

attempt was made by See also:

Thomas C. See also:

ANSTEY, CHRISTOPHER (1724—1805)

Anstey to impeach Lord See also:

Palmerston in 1848. The earliest recorded instances of impeachment are those of Lord See also:

LATIMER, HUGH (c. 1490-1555)

Latimer in 1376 and of See also:

Pole, earl of See also:

Suffolk, in 1386.

From the time of Edward IV. to See also:

Elizabeth it See also:

fell into disuse, " partly," says See also:

Hallam, " from the loss of that See also:

CONTROL (Fr. contrdle, older form contre rolle, from Med. Lat. contra-rotulus, a counter roll or copy of a document used to check the original; there is no instance in English of the use of " control " in this, its literal, meaning)

control which the Commons had obtained under See also:

Richard II. and the Lancastrian See also:

KINGS, FIRST AND SECOND BOOKS OF

kings, and partly from the preference the Tudor princes had given to bills of attainder or pains and penalties when they wished to turn the See also:

ARM (a common Teutonic word; the Indo-European root is ar, to join or fit; cf. the Lat. armus, shoulder, and the plural word arma, weapons, Gr. apphs, joint, and the reduplicated apapilKSV, to join)

arm of See also:

PARLIAMENT (Anglo-Lat. parliamentum, Fr. parlement, from parler, to speak)

parliament against an See also:

OBNOXIOUS (Lat. obnoxiosus, from ob, over, against, and noxa, harm)

obnoxious subject." Revived in the reign of See also:

James I., it became an See also:

INSTRUMENT (Lat. instrumentum, from insincere, to build up, furnish, arrange, prepare)

instrument of parliamentary resistance to the See also:

CROWN

crown, and it was not unfrequently resorted to in the first three reigns after the Revolution. In the United States the procedure of impeachment both in the See also:

NATIONAL

national and in almost all of the See also:

state governments is very similar to that described above. The national constitution prescribes that the House of Representatives " shall have the See also:

SOLE (Solea)

sole power of impeachment " and that " the See also:

SENATE (Lat. senatus, from root sen-, as in senex, old; the root is the Sanskrit sana, cf. Gr. 'vos; the same element appears in senor, seigneur, seneschal)

Senate shall have the sole power to try all impeachments." The House appoints managers to conduct the prosecution at the bar of the Senate, and the See also:

VOTE

vote of the Senate is taken by putting the question separately to each member, who, during the trial, must be on See also:

OATH (0. Eng. ddh)

oath or See also:

AFFIRMATION (from Lat. affirmare, to assert)

affirmation. In ordinary cases the president or president See also:

pro tempore of the Senate presides, but when the president of the United States is on trial the presiding officer must be the See also:

CHIEF (from Fr. chef, head, Lat. caput)

chief See also:

JUSTICE (Lat. justitia)

justice of the United States Supreme See also:

Court. A two-thirds vote is necessary for conviction. The president, See also:

VICE

vice-president or any See also:

CIVIL

civil officer of the United States may be impeached for " treason, See also:

BRIBERY (from the O. Fr. briberie, begging or vagrancy, bribe, Mid. Lat. briba, signifying a piece of bread given to beggars; the Eng. " bribe " has passed through the meanings of alms, blackmail and extortion, to gifts received or given in order to influ

bribery or other high crimes and misdemeanours," and if convicted, is re-moved from See also:

OFFICE (from Lat. officium, " duty," " service," a shortened form of opifacium, from facere, " to do," and either the stem of opes, " wealth," " aid," or opus, " work ")

office and may be disqualified for holding any office under the See also:

government in future. The officer after removal is also " liable and subject to See also:

INDICTMENT (from Anglo-Fr. enditernent, enditer, to charge; Lat. in, against, dictare, declare)

indictment, trial, judgment and See also:

PUNISHMENT (from Lat. punire, to punish, from poena, punishment, Gr. 7rocvil)

punishment, according to law." The See also:

TERM

term " civil See also:

OFFICERS

officers of the United States " has been construed as being inapplicable to members of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The president's pardoning power does not extend to officers convicted, on impeachment, of offences against the United States. Since the organization of the Federal government there have been only eight impeachment trials before the United States Senate, and of these only two—the trials of Judge See also:

John See also:

Pickering, a Federal See also:

DISTRICT

District judge for the District of New See also:

HAMPSHIRE (or COUNTY OF SOUTHAMPTON, abbreviated HANTS)

Hampshire, in 1803, on a See also:

charge of making decisions contrary to law and of See also:

DRUNKENNESS

drunkenness and See also:

PROFANITY

profanity on the See also:

BENCH (an O.E. and Eng. form of a word common to Teutonic languages, cf. Ger. Bank, Dan. baenk and the Eng. doublet " bank ")

bench, and of Judge W. H. See also:

HUMPHREYS, ANDREW ATKINSON (1810-1883)

Humphreys, Judge of the Federal District Court of See also:

TENNESSEE

Tennessee, in 1863, on a charge of making a See also:

SECESSION

secession speech and of accepting a judicial position under the Confederate Government—resulted in convictions. The two most famous cases are those of Justice See also:

SAMUEL

Samuel See also:

Chase of the United States Supreme Court in 18o5, and of President See also:

Andrew See also:

Johnson, the only chief of the executive who has been impeached, in 1868.

There is a conflict of opinion with regard to the power of the House to impeach a Federal officer who has resigned his office, and also with regard to the-See also:

KIND (O. E. ge-cynde, from the same root as is seen in " kin," supra)

kind of offences for which an officer can be impeached, some authorities maintaining that only indictable offences See also:

WARRANT (Med. Lat. warantum; O. Fr. garant, warant, derived from O.H.G. root represented in modern German bygewdhren)

warrant impeachment, and others that impeachment is warranted by any act highly prejudicial to the public welfare or subversive of any essential principle of government. The latter view was adopted by the House of Representatives when it impeached President Johnson.

End of Article: IMPEACHMENT (O. Fr. empeahement, empeschement, from em pecher or empescher, to hinder, Late Lat. impedicare, to entangle, pedica, fetter, pes, foot)

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