The Great Debate That Made the U.S. Constitution. Madison James

motion made and seconded, shall be repeated, and if written, as it shall be when any member shall so require, read aloud by the Secretary, before it shall be debated; and may be withdrawn at any time, before the vote upon it shall have been declared.

      Orders of the day shall be read next after the minutes, and either discussed or postponed, before any other business shall be introduced.

      When a debate shall arise upon a question, no motion, other than to amend the question, to commit it, or to postpone the debate shall be received.

7A question which is complicated, shall, at the request of any member, be divided, and put separately on the propositions of which it is compounded.

      The determination of a question, altho' fully debated, shall be postponed, if the deputies of any State desire it until the next day.

      A writing which contains any matter brought on to be considered, shall be read once throughout for information, then by paragraphs to be debated, and again, with the amendments, if any, made on the second reading; and afterwards the question shall be put on the whole, amended, or approved in its original form, as the case shall be.

      Committees shall be appointed by ballot; and the members who have the greatest number of ballots, altho' not a majority of the votes present, shall be the Committee. When two or more members have an equal number of votes, the member standing first on the list in the order of taking down the ballots, shall be preferred.

      A member may be called to order by any other member, as well as by the President; and may be allowed to explain his conduct or expressions supposed to be reprehensible. And all questions of order shall be decided by the President without appeal or debate.

      Upon a question to adjourn for the day, which may be made at any time, if it be seconded, the question shall be put without a debate.

      When the House shall adjourn, every member shall stand in his place, until the President pass him.

A letter from sundry persons of the State of Rho. Island addressed to the Honorable The Chairman of the General Convention was presented to the Chair by Mr. Gouverneur Morris,8 and being read, was ordered to lie on the table for further consideration.9

Mr. Butler moved that the House provide against interruption of business by absence of members,10 and against licentious publications of their proceedings — to which was added by — Mr. Spaight11 — a motion to provide that on the one hand the House might not be precluded by a vote upon any question, from revising the subject matter of it, When they see cause, nor, on the other hand, be led too hastily to rescind a decision, which was the result of mature discussion. — Whereupon it was ordered that these motions be referred for the consideration of the Committee appointed to draw up the standing rules and that the Committee make report thereon.

      adjourned till tomorrow 10. OClock.

1 "Entre nous. I believe the Eastern people have taken ground they will not depart from respecting the Convention. — One legislature composed of a lower-house triennially elected and an Executive & Senate for a good number of years. — I shall see Gerry & Johnson, as they pass & may perhaps give you a hint." — William Grayson to Madison, New York, May 24, 1787, Mad. MSS.

2 "Mr. Wythe is the famous Professor of Law at the University of William and Mary. He is confessedly one of the most learned legal Characters of the present age. From his close attention to the study of general learning he has acquired a compleat knowledge of the dead languages and all the sciences. He is remarked for his exemplary life, and universally esteemed for his good principles. No Man it is said understands the history of Government better than Mr. Wythe, — nor any one who understands the fluctuating condition to which all societies are liable better than he does, yet from his too favorable opinion of Men, he is no great politician. He is a neat and pleasing Speaker, and a most correct and able Writer. Mr. Wythe is about 55 years of age." — Pierce's Notes, Am. Hist. Rev., iii., 331.

3 "Mr. King is a Man much distinguished for his eloquence and great parliamentary talents. He was educated in Massachusetts, and is said to have good classical as well as legal knowledge. He has served for three years in the Congress of the United States with great and deserved applause, and is at this time high in the confidence and approbation of his Country-men. This Gentleman is about thirty three years of age, about five feet ten inches high, well formed, an handsome face, with a strong expressive Eye, and a sweet high toned voice. In his public speaking there is something peculiarly strong and rich in his expression, clear, and convincing in his arguments, rapid and irresistible at times in his eloquence but he is not always equal. His action is natural, swimming, and graceful, but there is a rudeness of manner sometimes accompanying it. But take him tout en semble, he may with propriety be ranked among the luminaries of the present Age." — Pierce's Notes, Am. Hist. Rev., iii., 325.

4 "Mr. Mason is a Gentleman of remarkable strong powers, and possesses a clear and copious understanding. He is able and convincing in debate, steady and firm in his principles, and undoubtedly one of the best politicians in America. Mr. Mason is about 60 years old, with a fine strong constitution." — Pierce's Notes, Id., iii., 331.

5 Previous to the arrival of a majority of the States, the rule by which they ought to vote in the Convention had been made a subject of conversation among the members present. It was pressed by Governeur Morris and favored by Robert Morris and others from Pennsylvania, that the large States should unite in firmly refusing to the small states an equal vote, as unreasonable, and as enabling the small States to negative every good system of Government, which must, in the nature of things, be founded on a violation of that equality. The members from Virginia, conceiving that such an attempt might beget fatal altercations between the large & small States, and that it would be easier to prevail on the latter, in the course of the deliberations, to give up their equality for the sake of an effective Government, than on taking the field of discussion to disarm themselves of the right & thereby throw themselves on the mercy of the larger States, discountenanced and stifled the project. — Madison's Note.

6 In the MS. Madison adds: "[See the Journal & copy here the printed rules]," and they were copied by him from the Journal of the Federal Convention (1819). They have been compared with the MS. journal and found to be correct.

7 An undecided line is drawn through the page in the MS. from here to the end of the rules; but not, as it would appear, to strike them out, as they were actually adopted by the Convention.

8 "Mr. Governeur Morris is one of those Genius's in whom every species of talents combine to render him conspicuous and flourishing in public debate: — He winds through all the mazes of rhetoric, and throws around him such a glare that he charms, captivates, and leads away the senses of all who hear him. With an infinite streach of fancy he brings to view things when he is engaged in deep argumentation, that render all the labor of reasoning easy and pleasing. But with all these powers he is fickle and inconstant, — never pursuing one train of thinking, — nor ever regular. He has gone through a very extensive course of reading, and is acquainted with all the sciences. No Man has more wit, — nor can any one engage the attention more