Official proceedings of the National Democratic convention, held at New York, July 4-9, 1868.: Reported by George Wakeman, official reporter of the Convention.

OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS OF THE
showing only an honest disregard of that high functionary of party usages,
rules, and domination, where the safety of the country, the liberties of the
people, and the unity, permanency, and prosperity of the nation was concerned; and
Whe)eas, The result has shown, in the narrow escape of the honored Chief
Magistrate from machinations of his and the nation's determined and unrelenting enemies, the fearful vortex into which our country is liable to be
plung ed by vesting in any political body judicial functions; and
Whereas, Of the large majority of Republican Senators constituting the
Senate of the United States, there were found only Fessenden, Trumbull,
Fowler, Grimes, Patterson, Ross, Van Winkle, and Henderson, the honorable
and ever-to-be-honored few whose intelligence, integrity, and patriotism enabled them to rise above the tempest of howling and vindictive partisans, and
d(lare to decide the right, and brave the detractions and misrepresentations of
the thousaud-tongued venal. subsidized party press; and
Whereas, The hair-breadth escape of the nation from foundering upon
that, to a free government, dangerous rock, ambition, -one vote only being
wanting to crush out the last vestige of a representative government, proves
the necessity of changing the watch in that the darkest hour that can fall
upon a nation, and placing upon that post other and more reliable guardians
of the liberties of the people, - guardians who can have no interest other than
in common with all worthy citizens, and that the supremacy of the right and
suppression of wrong; -therefore,
Resolved, That it be established as one of the fundamental principles of the
Democratic party, that the Constitution of the United States ought to be
amended by striking out all of that paragraph of Article one (1), Section (3)
three, of the Constitution, that reads as follows: "The Senate shall have the
sole power to try all impeachments; when sitting for that purpose they shall
be on oath or affirmation. When the President of the United States is tried
the Chief-Justice shall preside, and no person shall be convicted without the
concurrence of two-thirds of the members present;" and inserting an
amendment to Article three (3), Section two (2), by vesting in the Judiciary
the sole right to try all impeachments, and creating a Court therefor, to consist of the Chief-Justice of the United States, who shall be the presiding
officer, and decide all questions of admissibility of evidence, subject to an
appeal to the body of the Court in form as they may determine, except when
the Chief-Justice is himself on trial, in which case the Court shall designate
one of the Circuit Judges to act as presiding officer. The Circuit Judges of
the United States and the Chief-Justices of the Supreme Courts of each of
the States of the United States that ever have been recognized as States
composing the great republic of the United States; Provided, That the said
Court may consist of any number of said Judges not less than two-thirds of
those entitled to sit therein; An.d pr)ovided further, That no conviction shall
be had unless upon the concurrence of two-thirds of all the members entitled
to sit in judgment in said Court, and that no member of said Court shall be
entitled to vote upon any question of impeachment, during the trial of which
he shall not have attended and listened to the evidence as offered by the parties, nor in a case in which he shall have formed or expressed an unqualified
opinion of the guilt or innocence of the party accused, or to which he shall
be a party defendant; - or, by some other detail, to so amend the Constitution
as to separate all judicial functions from the political and law-making power.
Mr. A. T. WHITTLESEY, of Indiana.- I move that this Convention do now
adjourn.
Mr. ERASTUS BROOKS, of New York.- In behalf of the'New York delegation,
as well as in behalf of the city of New York, I rise to make a privileged motion,
and that is, to reconsider the motion which was adopted some time ago, that
this Convention reconvene at seven o'clock this evening. Warm as it is in this
mid-day weather, when the gas is lighted in this hall the atmosphere here
will be still-more oppressive.
18