of equal import; that is, that he will preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution.  The oath of members of Congress is expressed in shorter phrase; it is, that they will support the Constitution.  If there be any difference in the meaning of the two oaths, I cannot discern it; and yet the Protest solemnly and formally argues thus:  “The duty of defending, so far as in him lies, the integrity of the Constitution, would, indeed, have resulted from the very nature of his office; but by thus expressing it in the official oath or affirmation, which, in this respect, differs from that of every other functionary, the founders of our republic have attested their sense of its importance, and have given to it a peculiar solemnity and force.”

Sir, I deny the proposition, and I dispute the proof.  I deny that the duty of defending the integrity of the Constitution is, in any peculiar sense, confided to the President; and I deny that the words of his oath furnish any argument to make good that proposition.  Be pleased, Sir, to remember against whom it is that the President holds it his peculiar duty to defend the integrity of the Constitution.  It is not against external force; it is not against a foreign foe; no such thing; but it is against the representatives of the people and the representatives of the States!  It is against these that the founders of our republic have imposed on him the duty of defending the integrity of the Constitution; a duty, he says, of the importance of which they have attested their sense, and to which they have given peculiar solemnity and force, by expressing it in his official oath!

Let us pause, Sir, and consider this most strange proposition.  The President is the chief executive magistrate.  He is commander-in-chief of the army and navy; nominates all persons to office; claims a right to remove all at will, and to control all, while yet in office; dispenses all favors; and wields the whole patronage of the government.  And the proposition is, that the duty of defending the integrity of the Constitution against the representatives of the States and against the representatives of the people, results to him from the very nature of his office; and that the founders of our republic have given to this duty, thus confided to him, peculiar solemnity and force!

Mr. President, the contest, for ages, has been to rescue Liberty from the grasp of executive power.  Whoever has engaged in her sacred cause, from the days of the downfall of those great aristocracies which had stood between the king and the people to the time of our own independence, has struggled for the accomplishment of that single object.  On the long list of the champions of human freedom, there is not one name dimmed by the reproach of advocating the extension of executive authority; on the contrary, the uniform and steady purpose of all such champions has been to limit and restrain it.  To this end the spirit