assistance. This request was referred to the Secretary of War, Mr. Stanton, who replied: "That the duty of the United States forces is not to interfere in any way in the controversies between the political authorities of the State, and Gen. Thomas will strictly refrain from any interference between them."
The deadlock was finally broken on the 19th of July, in a somewhat extraordinary manner. Two members, arrested by the Sergeant-at-arms, were brought to the Capitol, and placed in a committee-room communicating with the hall of the House. A motion was then passed that they "be invited and required to take their seats within the bar of the House." The two members refused to come out of the committee and continued to remain silent when their names were called. The Speaker thereupon declared that no quorum was present. An appeal was taken from this ruling, and it was reversed. The House then proceeded to a vote upon the amendment; and it was declared duly ratified, forty-three votes having been cast in the affirmative, and eleven in the negative.
In the meantime, Mr. Williams, one of the arrested members, applied for and obtained a writ of habeas corpus. It was made returnable to Thomas N. Frazier, Judge of the Criminal Court of Davidson County, who, upon the hearing of the case, discharged Mr. Williams from the custody of the Sergeant-at-arms. On account of this decision, the House of Representatives preferred articles of impeachment against Judge Frazier. He was tried by the Senate, sitting as a Court of Impeachment. It sustained the articles of impeachment, and deposed Judge Frazier from office. He was also forever disqualified from holding any office of profit or trust in the State. His disqualifications were however removed by the Constitutional Convention of 1870, and he was afterward re-elected Criminal Judge.
The Fifteenth Amendment was submitted to Tennessee in
