ce, ten
minutes, or twice ten minutes. All that could be required was, that
each member should give his own judgment upon the particular
proposition, and the sum of these judgments it was the sole province
of the Chairman to make known. There could be no occasion for their
standing by his side while he performed this duty unless he needed
their support or they feared his weakness.

I have said that there was no rule of the Convention which ordered the
matter otherwise; on the contrary, the rule as to the mode of
voting--the 18th--was as follows:

"18. MODE OF VOTING: All votes shall be taken by States, and
each State to give one vote. The yeas and nays of the
members shall not be taken, or published--only the decision
by States."

On the twenty-first of February, Mr. Dent, of Maryland, moved the
adoption of the following rule:

"When the vote on any question is taken by States, any
Commissioner dissenting from the vote of his State may have
his dissent entered on the journal."

Mr. Chase, of Ohio, offered the following as a substitute for Mr.
Dent's rule.

"The yeas and nays of the Commissioners of each State, upon
any question, shall be entered upon the Journal, when it is
desired by any Commissioner; and the vote of each State
shall be determined by the majority of Commissioners present
from each State."

Mr. Chase's substitute was rejected, and Mr. Dent's rule adopted.

The usage of the Convention may be understood by a single example. The
Maine delegation consisted of her two Senators and six members of the
House of Representatives. One member only attended for the greater
part of the Convention, and cast the vote of the State. Indeed it was
a frequent practice for members to absent themselves and leave their
associates to act for them.

The State of New York had, moreover, decided for herself in what
manner her Commissioners should speak for her, by declaring in the
joint resolution of the Senate and Assembly that they should cast
their "votes to be determined by a majority of their number," not the
majority of those who should happen to be present at a particular
instant on the floor of the Convention, but a majority of the whole
number. Suppose, upon a question being put, the delegation had met for
consultation, and by a formal resolution determined that the vote of
the State be No; then, instructing their Chairman to cast the vote
accordin