“It is the intention of the committee to examine the matter
    thoroughly, and in view of this a large number of witnesses
    have been summoned to appear on Friday.

“The friends of Justice Field are endeavoring to hush the matter up, and, if possible, to avert an investigation; but in this they will be disappointed, for the members of the Judiciary Committee express themselves firmly determined to sift the case, and will not hesitate to report articles of impeachment against Justice Field if the statements are proved.”

Other papers called for the strictest scrutiny and the presentation of articles of impeachment, representing that I was terribly frightened by the threatened exposure.  So for some months I was amused reading about my supposed terrible excitement in anticipation of a threatened removal from office.  But, as soon as the author of the objectionable observations was ascertained, the ridiculous nature of the subsequent proceedings became manifest.  The Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, Mr. Wilson, of Iowa, occupied a seat next to me at Mr. Ward’s dinner, and knew, of course, that, so far as I was concerned, the whole story was without foundation.  And so he said to his associates on the Judiciary Comnfittee.

Near the close of the session—­on June 18th, 1868—­the committee were discharged from the further consideration of the resolution, and it was laid on the table—­a proceeding which was equivalent to its indefinite postponement.

The amusing mistake which gave rise to this episode in the lower house of Congress would be unworthy of the notice I have taken of it, except that it illustrates the virulent and vindictive spirit which occasionally burst forth for some time after the close of the war, and which, it is to be greatly regretted, is not yet wholly extinguished.

[1] Congressional Globe, 39th Congress, 2d Session, Part I.,
    pp. 646-649.

When the bill reached the Senate it was referred to the Judiciary Committee, and by them to a sub-committee of which Mr. Stewart, Senator from Nevada, was chairman.  He retained it until late in the session, and upon his advice, the committee then recommended its indefinite postponement.  The bill was thus disposed of.

[2] 6th Wallace, 50.

[3] 15 Stats. at Large, 44.

[4] “It fills us with shame that these reproaches can be uttered,
    and cannot be repelled.”  The words are found in Ovid’s
    Metamorphoses, Book I., lines 758-9.  In some editions the last
    word is printed refelli.

THE MOULIN VEXATION.

Soon after my appointment to the Bench of the U.S.  Supreme Court, I had a somewhat remarkable experience with a Frenchman by the name of Alfred Moulin.  It seems that this man, sometime in the year 1854 had shipped several sacks of onions and potatoes on one of the mail steamers, from San Francisco to Panama.  During the voyage the ship’s store of fresh provisions ran out, and the captain appropriated the vegetables, and out of this appropriation originated a long and bitter prosecution, or rather persecution, on the part of Moulin, who proved to be not only one of the most malignant, but one of the most persevering and energetic men I have ever known.