Thursday, February 1.
Breach of Privilege.
The Speaker informed the House that he had received a letter from a member from Vermont, which he was requested to lay before them.
Mr. Rutledge thought, that in all cases, when letters were sent to the Speaker to be laid before the House, it would be proper for him to state the substance of such communications before they are read, otherwise improper matters might be brought before them.
The Speaker allowed that the suggestion was a proper one, and proceeded to state the contents of the letter in his hand; which having done, the reading of it was called for, and it was read as follow:
To the Speaker of the House of Representatives:
Sir:—As the attention of the House of Representatives has been called to my conduct in a dispute with Mr. Griswold on a suggestion of its being a violation of the order of the House, and the respect due to it from all its members, I feel it incumbent on me to obviate the imputation of intentional disrespect. Permit me, sir, through you, to assure the House of Representatives that I feel as much as any of its members the necessity of preserving the utmost decorum in its proceedings; that I am incapable of an intentional violation of its rule; and that, if, in the present instance, I am chargeable with a disregard of them, it is owing wholly to my ignorance of their extent, and that the House of Representatives claimed any superintendence over its members when not formally constituted, and when they are not engaged in actual business. If I have been mistaken in my understanding on this subject, I beg the House to believe that my fault has been without intention, and that I am very sorry that I have deserved its censure. I am, sir, your obedient servant,
MATTHEW LYON.
February 1, 1798.
The reading of the letter having been gone through, a member proposed that it should lie on the table, when
Mr. Macon said, that as it was an acknowledgment of improper conduct, he thought it ought to be entered upon the journals.
Mr. Nicholas moved that the letter be referred to the committee who have this subject under consideration. Gentlemen would recollect, he said, that, on a former occasion, when an offence of the same nature was committed, a letter written by the offending member was not only referred, but was also deemed a sufficient apology to the House. He did not know that this would be the case in the present instance; but that it might be, was evinced by the case to which he alluded. He hoped, therefore, it would be referred. Agreed to.