TO MR. GALLATIN.
Washington, October 16, 1808.
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Massey's Commission.—A half-sighted lawyer might, perhaps, say that a commission signed with a blank for the name,—afterwards filled up, was a nullity, because, in legal instruments, any change in a material part of a bond, deed, &c., after sealing and delivery, nullifies it. But I am not certain whether there are not cases, even in ordinary transactions at law, where it is otherwise,—e. g., a power of attorney sent to a distance, with a blank for the name, a blank commission, a blank subpœna, &c. But in matters of government, there can be no question but that the commission sealed and signed, with a blank for the name, date, place, &c., is good; because government can in no country be carried on without it. The most vital proceedings of our own government would become null were such a construction to prevail, and the argumentum ab inconvenienti, which is one of the great foundations of the law, will undoubtedly sustain the practice, and sanction it by the maxim "qui facit per alterum, facit per se." I would not therefore give the countenance of the government to so impracticable a construction by issuing a new commission. Affectionate salutations.