_Breach of Privilege._
Mr. TAYLOR, from the committee appointed to inquire into the
circumstances alluded to in the letter of I. A. Coles to the Speaker
of the House, made the following report:
That, according to that order, they have taken into
consideration the subject referred to them; that in making
the proposed inquiry they have taken the depositions of the
honorable James Turner, a Senator of the United States, and of
Mr. Samuel Sprigg, which depositions they beg leave to report
to the House.
From these depositions it was established, to the satisfactory
belief of your committee, that Mr. I. A. Coles, without any
immediate previous altercation or provocation, did assault and
strike a member of this House, within the walls of the north
wing of the Capitol; that this act was done on Monday, the
27th ult., about one o'clock P. M., and after this House had
adjourned over to the following day.
That, from the assertions of Mr. Coles, and from the actual
admission of the member assaulted, your committee were
satisfied that the provocation or supposed provocation which
occasioned the attack did not arise from any thing said or any
act done by the member of this House, in the fulfilment of his
duties as a Representative in the Congress of the United States.
Your committee are of opinion that this latter circumstance
may be received in extenuation, but cannot be admitted in
justification of the act done by Mr. Coles; and, from all
the circumstances of the case, they are of opinion that said
assault and violence offered to the member was a breach of the
privileges of this House.
Your committee further report, that they have considered the
letter of Mr. Coles to the Speaker of this House, together with
another letter from Mr. Coles addressed to the Chairman of your
Committee, (which they also beg leave to report to the House,)
that these two letters, in the opinion of your committee,
do contain acknowledgments and apologies on the occasion,
which ought to be admitted as satisfactory to the House. They
therefore recommend the following resolution:
_Resolved_, That any further proceeding in the above case is
unnecessary.
_To the Hon. John Taylor, Chairman, &c._
SIR: Understanding that the declaration which I had the honor
this morning to make before the committee, will be more
acceptable if put in the written form, I hasten to comply with
what I believe to be their wish, in tendering through them, to
the House of Representatives, the renewed assurance "that if
I could have supposed that the circumstance alluded to in my
letter to the Speaker, would have been construed into a breach
of the privilege of the House, it would not have occurred at
the time and in the place where it unfortunately happened."
With sentiments of great respect, I am your obedient humble
servant,