"I, A. B., do swear, (or affirm, as the case may be) that I will impartially examine the votes given by the electors of President and Vice-President of the United States, together with all the exceptions and petitions against them, and a true judgment give thereon, agreeable to the constitution and laws, and according to the evidence-So help me God.” The President of the Senate shall then deliver to the chairman of the grand committee, all the certificates of the electors, and all the certificates or other documents transmitted to them, or by the Executive Authority of any state, and all the petitions, exceptions, and memorials against the votes of the electors, or the persons for whom they have voted, together with the testimony accompanying the

same.

SECT. IV. And be it further enacted, That after the grand committee shall have been appointed and sworn in the manner herein directed, the person chosen by the House of Representatives out of the nomination made by the Senate, shall act as chairman of the committee; they shall meet on every day (Sundays excepted) from the time of their appointment, until they make their final report; they shall sit with closed doors, and a majority of the members may proceed to act. And if any members of the committee, appointed by either House, should die, or become unable to attend, after his appointment, the committee, before they proceed farther, shall notify both Houses of such death or inability, and the House by which such member was appointed, shall immediately proceed to choose another member, by ballot, to supply such vacancy; and the member thus chosen, shall be sworn, or affirmed by the President of the Senate: and if the chairman of the committee shall die, or become unable to attend, after his appointment, the committee, before

they proceed farther, shall notify both Houses of such death or inability; the Senate shall then nominate three of its members, out of whom the House of Representatives shall choose, according to the provision of this act, who shall be sworn or affirmed by the President of the Senate; and shall thenceforth be the chairman of the said grand committee, and the person or persons, thus appointed and sworn, or affirmed, shall, from thenceforth, have and exercise the powers necessary to supply such vacancy.

SECT. V. And be it further enacted, That the grand committee shall have power to send for persons, papers, and records, to compel the attendance of witnesses, to administer oaths or affirmations to all persons examined before them, and to punish contempts of witnesses refusing to answer, as fully and absolutely as the Supreme Court of the United States may, or can do in causes depending therein; and the testimony of all witnesses examined before the committee, shall be reduced to writing by the secretary of the committee, and shall be signed by the witnesses, after his examination is closed. And if any pe sor, sworn and examined before this committee, shall swear, or affirm, falsely, such person, being thereof convicted, shall incur the pains, penalties, and disabilities, inflicted by the laws of the United States, upon wilful and corrupt perjury.

SECT. VII. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of the marshals of the several districts of the United States, and of their deputies, to serve all process directed to them, and signed by the chairman of the grand committee: and for such services, they shall receive the fees, allowed for services of similar process, issued by the Supreme Court of the United States; and, all witnesses attending the committee, in consequence of

suninons

summons or other process, shall receive the same compensation as witnesses attending the Supreme Court of the United States.

SECT. VII. And be it further enacted, That the grand committee shall appoint a clerk, who shall keep a journal of their proceedings under their direction, and after the grand committee shall have made their final report, he shall deposit with the secretary of the Senate this journal, together with all the certificates, written testimony and documents, which were under the consideration of the grand committee, where the same shall remain open for the inspection of the members of both houses.

SECT. VIII. And be it further enacted, That on the first day of March next, after their appointment, the grand committee shall make their final report to the Senate and House of Representatives, stating the number of legal votes for each person, and the number of votes which have been rejected: the report of a majority of the said committee, shall be a final and conclusive determination of the admissibility, or inadmissibility, of the votes given by the electors for President and Vice President of the United States: and where votes shall be rejected by the grand committee, their reasons shall be stated in writing for such exclusion, and signed by the members of the committee who voted for rejecting them, and the report shall be entered on the journals of both houses, who shall, on the day after the report is made, meet and declare the persons duly elected; and if no election of President has happened, then the House of Representatives. shall immediately proceed, as the constitution directs, to elect a President.

SECT. IX. And be it further enacted, That when the grand committee shall have been duly formed according to the direction of this act, it

D 4

shall.

shall not be in the power of either house to dissolve the committee or to withdraw any of its members.

SECT. X And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of the executive authority of each state, to cause three copies of the law, resolution, or act of the state legislatures respectively, under which electors are chosen or appointed, to be made, certified, and delivered to the electors in such state before they gave their votes, and the electors shall annex one of the said copies to each list of their votes. And it shall hereafter be the duty of the electors to express specially in their certificates, the time, the place, and the manner of giving their votes.

SECT. XI. Aud be it further enacted, That all petitions respecting the election of President and Vice-President of the United States, shall be presented and read in the Senate of the United States, and remain there until delivery to the grand committee, at which time each petition shall be read in the presence of both houses; but no petition shall be received after the certificates of the electors shall have been opened, read and committed to the grand committee; nor shall any petition against the qualifications of a candidate or elector, or for improper conduct in an elector, be received, unless thirty days notice thereof be previously given to the person whose qualifications are contested, or whose improper conduct is petitioned against.

SECT. XI. And be it further enacted, That persons petitioning against the votes given by any of the electo:s of President and Vice-President of the United States, and persons desirous of supporting such contested votes, may respectively obtain testimony in the same manner, and under the same rues and regulations which are provided by the act, entitled "an act to prescribe the mode of taking evidence in cases of contested elections for

members

members of the House of Representatives of the United States, and to compel the attendance of witnesses;" and the rules, regulations, provisions, and penalties of the said act shall be, and the same are hereby extended to cases arising under this act, as fully and absolutely as if the same were herein recited and enacted. Provided always, That the testimony thus taken, shall be transmitted to the secretary of the Senate of the United States, on or before the day upon which the certificates of the electors of the President and Vice-President of the United States are to be opened."

This Bill was a sweeper. It would, had it passed into a law, have, in reality, placed the election of the President in the hands of the Senate alone. That it would be much better for the country, were the election in the hands of the Senate, is certain; but, it would have been fairer to pass a law directly to that effect. To lead the sovereign people through the farce of an election, when the choice was finally to be made by thirteen men, seven of whom were to be nominated by the Senate, was a departure from that frankness, which has been said to be the characteristic of republicans.

While this Bill was pending before the Senate, Mr. CHARLES PINCKNEY, one of its members, communicated it to the Printer of the Aurora, who published it with very severe, and, indeed, very illiberal and unjust remarks. The Senate summoned the man before them. He attended, and, after certain interrogatories, was ordered to attend on a subsequent day to receive his sentence. He asked for counsel, which was granted him, with the proviso, that the counsel should not be permitted to question the jurisdiction of the Senate, nor to urge any matter but in mitigation. The counsel,