Mr. Pinckney rose to a question of order.  Had the gentleman from Massachusetts a right, under the rule, to read the petition?

The Speaker said, the gentleman from Massachusetts had a right to make a statement of the contents of the petition.

Mr. Pinckney desired the decision of the Speaker as to whether a gentleman had a right to read a petition.

Mr. Adams said he was reading the petition as a part of his speech, and he took this to be one of the privileges of a member of the House.  It was a privilege he would exercise till he should be deprived of it by some positive act.

The Speaker repeated that the gentleman from Massachusetts had a right to make a brief statement of the contents of the petition.  It was not for the Speaker to decide whether that brief statement should be made in the gentleman’s own language, or whether he should look over the petition, and take his statement from that.

Mr. Adams.—­At the time my friend from South Carolina—­

The Speaker said the gentleman must proceed to state the contents of the petition.

Mr. Adams.-I am doing so, sir.

The Speaker.—­Not in the opinion of the chair.

Mr. Adams.—­I was at this point of the petition—­“Keenly aggrieved by its existence in a part of our country over which Congress possesses exclusive jurisdiction in all cases whatsoever—­”

Loud cries of “Order,” “Order!”

Mr. Adams.-"Do most earnestly petition your honorable body—­”

Mr. Chambers of Kentucky rose to a point of order.

Mr. Adams.—­“Immediately to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia—­”

Mr. Chambers reiterated his call to order, and the Speaker directed Mr.
Adams to take his seat.

Mr. Adams proceeded with great rapidity of enunciation, and in a very loud tone of voice—­“And to declare every human being free who sets foot upon its soil!”

The confusion in the hall at this time was very great.  The Speaker decided that it was not in order for a member to read a petition, whether it was long or short.

Mr. Adams appealed from any decision which went to establish the principle that a member of the House should not have the power to read what he chose.  He had never before heard of such a thing.  If this practice was to be reversed, let the decision stand upon record, and let it appear how entirely the freedom of speech was suppressed in this House.  If the reading of a paper was to be suppressed in his person, so help him God, he would only consent to it as a matter of record.

Mr. Adams finished the petition.  The petitioners “respectfully announce their intention to present the same petition yearly before this honorable body, that it might at least be a memorial in the holy cause of human freedom that they had done what they could.”

These words were read amidst tumultuous cries for “order,” from every part of the House.  The petition was finally received, and laid upon the table.