Produced by David Edwards, Melissa McDaniel and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This
file was produced from images generously made available
by The Internet Archive)
Transcriber's Note:
Inconsistent hyphenation and spelling in the original document have
been preserved. Obvious typographical errors have been corrected.
Italic text is denoted by _underscores_.
Small type is used to indicate the rules and practices peculiar to
the Senate. Small type is denoted by $dollar signs$.
Proper nouns have been left unchanged, except to correct obvious
printer's errors as indicated by inconsistencies in the nearby text.
Variant spellings and accents in Latin, French, Spanish, Italian
quotes were left as printed unless obvious nearby differences indicated
printer's errors.
On page 273, "numbers were first called on to declare their numbers"
should possibly be "members were first called on to declare their
numbers".
In the Index entry 'Existing treaties with France', there is a
reference to a (non-existent) page 651 in Volume iii.
THE
WRITINGS
OF
THOMAS JEFFERSON:
BEING HIS
AUTOBIOGRAPHY, CORRESPONDENCE, REPORTS, MESSAGES,
ADDRESSES, AND OTHER WRITINGS, OFFICIAL
AND PRIVATE.
PUBLISHED BY THE ORDER OF THE JOINT COMMITTEE OF CONGRESS ON THE
LIBRARY,
FROM THE ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPTS,
DEPOSITED IN THE DEPARTMENT OF STATE.
WITH EXPLANATORY NOTES, TABLES OF CONTENTS, AND A COPIOUS INDEX
TO EACH VOLUME, AS WELL AS A GENERAL INDEX TO THE WHOLE,
BY THE EDITOR
H. A. WASHINGTON.
VOL. IX.
NEW YORK:
H. W. DERBY, 625 BROADWAY.
1861.
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1853, by
TAYLOR & MAURY,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the District of
Columbia.
STEREOTYPED BY
THOMAS R. SMITH.
82 & 84 Beekman Street.
CONTENTS OF VOL. IX.
BOOK IV.--PART IV.
PARLIAMENTARY MANUAL 3
BOOK IV.--PART V.
THE ANAS 87
BOOK IV.--PART VI.
MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS 212
1. Extract from Diary relative to invasion of Virginia in
1780, 1781 p. 212.
2. Memorandum relative to invasion of Virginia in 1780, 1781,
220.
3. Instructions to the Ministers Plenipotentiary appointed to
negotiate treaties of peace with the European nations, 1784,
226.
4. Report of a conference with the Count de Vergennes on the
subject of the commerce of the U. States with France, 230.
5. Answers of Mr. Jefferson, to questions propounded to him
by M. de Meusnier, 244.
6. Answers to propositions propounded by M. de Meusnier, Jan.
24, 1786, 282.
7. Notes on M. Soulé's Work, 293.
8. Observations on a letter of M. de Calonnes to Mr. Jefferson,
Oct. 22, 1786, 304.
9. Proposals for concerted operations among the powers at war
with the piratical States of Barbary, 308.
10. To the Editor of the Journal de Paris, 309.
11. Memoranda taken on a journey from Paris to the Southern
parts of France and Northern parts of Italy in 1787, 313.
12. Tour to some of the gardens of England, 367.
13. Memoranda of a tour to Amsterdam, Strasburgh, &c., and
back to Paris, in 1788, 373.
14. Travelling notes for Mr. Rutledge and Mr. Shippen in 1788,
403.
15. Questions as to the rights and duties of the U. States
under her treaties with France and the laws of neutrality, 405.
16. Heads of consideration on the conduct to be observed in
the war between Spain and Great Britain, and particularly
should the latter attempt the conquest of Louisiana and the
Floridas, 409.
17. Heads of consideration on the navigation of the Mississippi
river, for Mr. Carmichael, 412.
18. Questions to be considered, 415.
19. Plan of a bill concerning consuls, 416.
20. Matters to be arranged between the governments of the U.
States and England, 419.
21. Memorandum of communications made to a committee of the
Senate on the subject of the diplomatic nominations to Paris,
London, and the Hague, 420.
22. Considerations on the subject of ransom and peace with
the Algerines, 424.
23. Notes of a conversation with Mr. Hammond, 425.
24. Extempore thoughts and doubts on very superficially running
over the bankrupt bill, 431.
25. Heads of a conversation with Mr. Hammond, 432.
26. Instructions to Andrew Michaud for exploring the Western
Boundary, 434.
27. Memorandum relative to Commissioners for laying off the
Federal City, 437.
28. Note given to the President relative to Genet, 438.
29. Rules for regulating our conduct towards the belligerent
powers, recommended to the President for his adoption, 440.
30. Opinion relative to the propriety of convening the
Legislature at an earlier period than that fixed by law, 441.
31. Communication relative to our French relations, 442.
32. Explanation of the origin of the principle "Free bottoms
make free goods," 443.
33. An account of the capitol of Virginia, 446.
34. To the Speaker and House of Delegates of the Commonwealth of
Va., being a protest against all interference by the Judiciary
between Representative and Constituent, 447.
35. Etiquette, 454.
36. Charges exhibited to the President of the United States
against Hon. Arthur Sinclair, as Governor of the territory
north-west of the river Ohio, 455.
37. Hints on the subject of Indian boundaries, suggested for
consideration, 460.
38. Notes on the subject of the Consular convention between
the United States and France, 462.
39. Resolutions relative to the alien and sedition laws, 464.
40. Doctor Stevens' case, 472.
41. Notes on the draught of a second inaugural address, 475.
42. Farewell address of Thomas Jefferson, 476.
43. Notes on the 5th volume of Marshall's Life of Washington,
478.
44. Scheme for a system of agricultural societies, 480.
45. Observations on the force and obligation of the common
law in the U. States, on the occasion of Hardin's case in
Kentucky, 485.
46. Plan for elementary schools, 489.
47. Solemn declaration and protest of the commonwealth of Va.,
on the principles of the Constitution, and on the violation
of them, 496.
48. Thoughts on lotteries, 500.
49. Jefferson's Will, 511.
BOOK IV.--CONTINUED.
MISCELLANEOUS.
PART IV.--JEFFERSON'S MANUAL.
" V.--THE ANAS.
" VI.--MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS.
PART IV.
A MANUAL OF PARLIAMENTARY PRACTICE.
PREFACE.
The Constitution of the United States, establishing a Legislature for the
Union under certain forms, authorizes each branch of it "to determine
the rules of its own proceedings." The Senate have accordingly formed
some rules for its own government: but those going only to few cases,
they have referred to the decision of their President, without debate
and without appeal, all questions of order arising either under their own
rules, or where they have provided none. This places under the discretion
of the President a very extensive field of decision, and one which,
irregularly exercised, would have a powerful effect on the proceedings
and determinations of the House. The President must feel, weightily
and seriously, this confidence in his discretion: and the necessity of
recurring, for its government, to some known system of rules, that he
may neither leave himself free to indulge caprice or passion, nor open
to the imputation of them. But to what system of rules is he to recur,
as supplementary to those of the Senate? To this there can be but one
answer: to the systems of regulations adopted by the government of some
one of the parliamentary bodies within these States, or of that which has
served as a prototype to most of them. This last is the model which we
have studied; while we are little acquainted with the modifications of it
in our several States. It is deposited, too, in publications possessed
by many, and open to all. Its rules are probably as wisely constructed
for governing the debates of a considerative body, and obtaining its
true sense, as any which can become known to us; and the acquiescence
of the Senate hitherto under the references to them, has given them the
sanction of their approbation.
Considering, therefore, the law of proceedings in the Senate as composed
of the precepts of the Constitution, the regulations of the Senate,
and where these are silent, of the rules of Parliament, I have here
endeavored to collect and digest so much of these as is called for in
ordinary practice, collating the parliamentary with the senatorial rules,
both where they agree and where they vary. I have done this, as well to
have them at hand for my own government, as to deposit with the Senate
the standard by which I judge and am willing to be judged. I could not
doubt the necessity of quoting the sources of my information; among
which Mr. Hatsel's most valuable book is pre-eminent; but as he has
only treated some general heads, I have been obliged to recur to other
authorities, in support of a number of common rules of practice to which
his plan did not descend. Sometimes each authority cited supports the
whole passage. Sometimes it rests on all taken together. Sometimes the
authority goes only to a part of the text, the residue being inferred
from known rules and principles. For some of the most familiar forms,
no written authority is or can be quoted; no writer having supposed it
necessary to repeat what all were presumed to know. The statement of
these must rest on their notoriety.
I am aware, that authorities can often be produced in opposition to
the rules which I lay down as parliamentary. An attention to dates will
generally remove their weight. The proceedings of Parliament in ancient
times, and for a long while, were crude, multiform, and embarrassing.
They have been, however, constantly advancing towards uniformity and
accuracy; and have now obtained a degree of aptitude to their object,
beyond which little is to be desired or expected.
Yet I am far from the presumption of believing, that I may not have
mistaken the parliamentary practice in some cases; and especially in
those minor forms, which, being practised daily, are supposed known to
everybody, and therefore have not been committed to writing. Our resources
in this quarter of the globe, for obtaining information on that part
of the subject, are not perfect. But I have begun a sketch, which those
who come after me will successively correct and fill up, till a code of
rules shall be formed for the use of the Senate, the effects of which
may be accuracy in business, economy of time, order, uniformity, and
impartiality.
NOTE.
$The rules and practices peculiar to the Senate are printed in small
type. Those of Parliament are in large.$
A MANUAL OF PARLIAMENTARY PRACTICE.[1]
IMPORTANCE OF RULES.
SECTION I.
THE IMPORTANCE OF ADHERING TO RULES.
Mr. Onslow, the ablest among the Speakers of the House of Commons, used
to say, "It was a maxim he had often heard when he was a young man, from
old and experienced members, that nothing tended more to throw power
into the hands of administration and those who acted with the majority of
the House of Commons, than a neglect of, or departure from, the rules of
proceeding; that these forms, as instituted by our ancestors, operated
as a check, and control, on the actions of the majority; and that they
were, in many instances, a shelter and protection to the minority,
against the attempts of power."
So far the maxim is certainly true, and is founded in good sense, that
as it is always in the power of the majority, by their numbers, to stop
any improper measures proposed on the part of their opponents, the only
weapons by which the minority can defend themselves against similar
attempts from those in power, are the forms and rules of proceeding, which
have been adopted as they were found necessary from time to time, and are
become the law of the house; by a strict adherence to which, the weaker
party can only be protected from those irregularities and abuses which
these forms were intended to check, and which the wantonness of power
is but too often apt to suggest to large and successful majorities.--2
_Hats._ 171, 172.
And whether these forms be in all cases the most rational or not, is
really not of so great importance. It is much more material that there
should be a rule to go by, than what that rule is; that there may be a
uniformity of proceeding in business, not subject to the caprice of the
Speaker, or captiousness of the members. It is very material that order,
decency, and regularity be preserved in a dignified public body.--2
_Hats._ 149. And in 1698 the Lords say the reasonableness of what is
desired is never considered by us, for we are bound to consider nothing
but what is usual. Matters of form are essential to government, and 'tis
of consequence to be in the right. All the reason for forms is custom,
and the law of forms is practice; the reason is quite out of doors. Some
particular customs may not be grounded on reason, and no good account
can be given of them; and yet many nations are zealous for them; and
Englishmen are as zealous as any others to pursue their old forms and
methods.--4 _Hats._ 258.
SECTION II.
LEGISLATURE.
$All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress
of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of
Representatives.--_Constitution of the United States_, Article I.,
Section 1.
The Senators and Representatives shall receive a compensation for their
services, to be ascertained by law, and paid out of the treasury of the
United States. _Const. U. S._, Art. I. Sect. 6.
For the powers of Congress, see the following Articles and Sections of
the Constitution of the United States:--Art. I., Sec. 4, 7, 8, 9.--Art.
II., Sect. 1, 2.--Art. III., Sec. 3.--Art. IV., Sec. 1, 3, 5.--And all
the Amendments.$