Lynchburg Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1829-185?, 1836-05-02

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OF ,le word, much less constitutional law. Bat ih'
rules prescribed to the two Houses OF Congress by
the Constitution are part OF (ahat Bacon justly AM
happily ralls) tho ieges iegum--lhc laws BY "hicl
the LV. stature itself, II the laws 1t n'akes, are goo
vcr,ed, controlled, & hunted. Mr. Jefferson says III
he pfeiacc TO his Manual, thai tl'r Law II aootcd-
ings in the Senate Is composed di tic fFetepts oi
the Go Institution, the regulations OF tie senate
and. vh,re these arr ,iient, oil the rules OF Far
lament" & this is deemed warrant for appealing
to parliamentary presidents, on point "heic the
Constitution !, nor silent '--nhcfe ITS rreocpt IS
express. plain and positive
Ii. true that, in the theory aud practice of The
British Government The Parliament IS onnipoicnt:
the Con,.i,uon iisclf MY he changed by the act
Of thu three cstaicS. King, Lords, and Commons
concurrine. Ard gentlemen Hunk thef have
found an act of Parliament, whereby the House of
Commons ie required to kcrp Journal Of its pro-
cccdings and thence they infer that Tie prccc-
dents of c,punelnc entries irum il, Journal 10y or
der Of the lipjsc are an aulhofitv for us To ,X-
purge mn entry frnri our journal. Tie statute
they allude 10 is tbat Of u Henry VIII. ch. 10,
which recitcS jitaI may members Of tla House o
Commons left ter places before the ead of the
sc>sion and thit many great and wclglhv matters
were usually enacted ~ the cpl Of the session and
therefore cnacts that " no member shall depart
without license to be entered uI record IN tie book
ofihr Parliament, appointed, or to be appointed, for
the Commons ifpuse, upon pain OF iorieilng Ii,
wages, payable by hi, county, &c. Now, it is
plain thal |, was unls these hdrts u absence that
were required bS the statute 10 be rfo0rded an Tie
journal; and the entries OF fhem we've IN tie ma
lurc of u record In the cgnl sipniicalion OF the
word,) since try continued conclusive evidence Of
privateri shi--thc right, namely, OF the member ab-
l., ,l,,r
they really think thai it would have been compc-
tent To tive House oil Commons to have cxpnnscd
from its lournal the record OF a leave OF absence
granted, which ii rcquivcd bV statue 10 enter,
and, IN expungne, to have inflicted an post
fdoto forfeiture of In. wages ON the membrT to
whom Tire Dfasc et absence had been given 7
These leaves Of absence are the only proeet ding
ever required by my statute 10 be entered the
journal ot tho Commons and thcsc, obviously,
they could not without plain violation of right,
have espunecd from the journal. That the requi-
>iton OF the statute confined to that particular
procreding---tlat the Commons Themselves dad not
regard II requiring item TO keep a general
journal 81 us ProoctdWgs-S absolutely certain.
For Hume SAYS, IT was not till the rcien of Jane
l. namely, in july, 1907, that an order was enter
ed BIZ he Commons, tor The first time, forlhc reg
ulaf keeping Of their journals and We learn from
,
hy a resolution III the Commons, that "all their
proceedings should he entered there, and kept as
records :" that ~, (as | understand IT'D not that
al their proceedings were matters Of record in the,
legal meaning OF the phrase, but only that ihtr
Journals should BIZ kept in the way that records are
kept
MOI 10 pass oyci without notice othcrauthoritics
referred TO by gentlemen, 10 show that the duty OF
the two Houses of the British Parliament 10 keep
journal, of their proceedings rests on like fonn-
dalton with oar duty TO keep Journals OF cur pro-
cccdings, have IL tell the Senate that the passage
in Ilatsol referred 10 by my honorable colleague
6 Hats. 81 29) onls states that, in March, 1000,
lh Commons insisted that their House was acou,t,
Ahilc, at the same mr, they have AWAY. denied
rlat tler journals were public records. The
Lord. denied thai the Commons were A court.
The Commons referred To the statute Of Hen.
VIII ch. 10, requiring leaves of absence 10 be
snttrsd 81 record IN ihc, journal, by way Of arcu-
mcnt 10 supppoa their claim, but the pom, wa,
left, aud vet r,mans, undecided. i,at.sll further
miotm. Us hs' the great LAWYERS of those times
entertained different opinions the question thar
Coke earnestly maintained that the Commons
were court Of record. But ii appears from 4
! Inst. %, 2i, referred to bv the gentleman from,
Missouri. Mat Coke only held that tho Commons
arc count Of record N wh,rc lLcy act iudi-
cie
/ Now, sir, repeat, wNh perfect confidence
that, AS the Keeping Of the journals Of the tive
Houses OF tn" British Parliament is required onl,
! by the orders of each House. made bv itself, ane
for itself, scverallv, no prccedents of rilhc
| House, dispensing with "r conlrdvenin. iis owl
orders, by cxpungng any part al its Journal en-,
he any authority or any apology TO US, who arr
commanded hy the Constitution To krcna lnurnn
81 "ur proceedings, for cNpaneine any part OF on
lournel. Tic samo relsrp ing applies with cuuo
force to ave: Inc authority of any precedent ,
cypuncion ~ -, hy any Colonial or State lie
yislitnrr in uu, nNn country. before or since iii
Revolution, whose journals hay htan kept in viz
tue OF lis own orders. and no, in Pursuance OF an
constitutional provision.
Bat the prcccdcn,s of cxpuncng in the BIRTHS
! Parliament. that have hrcn hrouch, TO the motto
nIthe Senate by my colleague, are So pregnant wit,
instruction other TOPICS OF this debate that the
Cannot be passed over without particn conside
ration. Really, sir. one thai did not knon bette,
might have been apt 10 mag ne that they wcr
collected and referred to for the purp Sc OF conf
ting some Of the leading Arguments of the gentle
man from Missouri, for they are more opposite
that purpose than to any other.
The first instance he mentioned was that whic
occurred in the memorable proceedings of Parl,,
mcnt IN the case of ship-money, during the rely
! of Charles l. The account he gave of the trans
action WAS 80 different tromn recollection of i
that il surprised me not little. He supposed tina
the judgmcn, in the Exchequer against Mr.. lInmT
den for the twenty shilllngs of ship-money asses
scd upon him, cancelled be an order of TN
| House of Commons lin which he WIZ p-oIla hy m