lish a dangerous
precedent.

"It does not occur that the inspection of the papers asked for can
be relative to any purpose under the cognizance of the house of
representatives, except that of an impeachment, which the
resolution has not expressed. I repeat, that I have no disposition
to withhold any information which the duty of my situation will
permit, or the public good shall require, to be disclosed; and, in
fact, all the papers affecting the negotiation with Great Britain
were laid before the senate when the treaty itself was communicated
for their consideration and advice.

"The course which the debate has taken on the resolution of the
house, leads to some observations on the mode of making treaties
under the constitution of the United States.

"Having been a member of the general convention, and knowing the
principles on which the constitution was formed, I have ever
entertained but one opinion on this subject; and, from the first
establishment of the government to this moment, my conduct has
exemplified that opinion--that the power of making treaties is
exclusively vested in the president, by and with the advice and
consent of the senate, provided two thirds of the senators present
concur; and that every treaty, so made and promulgated,
thenceforward became the law of the land. It is thus that the
treaty-making power has been understood by foreign nations; and, in
all the treaties made with them, we have declared, and they have
believed, that when ratified by the president, with the advice and
consent of the senate, they became obligatory. In this construction
of the constitution, every house of representatives has heretofore
acquiesced; and, until the present time, not a doubt or suspicion
has appeared, to my knowledge, that this construction was not the
true one. Nay, they have more than acquiesced; for, till now,
without controverting the obligations of such treaties, they have
made all the requisite provisions for carrying them into effect.

"There is also reason to believe that this construction agrees with
the opinions entertained by the state conventions, when they were
deliberating on the constitution; especially by those who objected
to it because there was not required, in _commercial treaties_, the
consent of two t