islature, or from either house, the right to inquire whether in a given ease the President has acted within that constitutional discretion, or whether that discretion has been wisely exercised for the public good. The Senate is, indeed, a judicial body when it tries impeachments. But it is also a legislative body, and as such it can certainly not be stripped of the necessary privilege of discussing and criticising the conduct of public officers on the ground that such officers might possibly be impeached for the acts criticised.
Equally startling was the assumption that “the President is the direct representative of the American people;” that he possesses original executive powers, and absorbs in himself all executive functions and responsibilities; and that it is his especial office to protect the liberties and rights of the people and the integrity of the Constitution against the Senate or the House of Representatives, or both together.
It is more than probable that Jackson, although at the moment giving full rein to his hot impulses, never understood all the bearings of the doctrines to which he put his name; but it may certainly be said that in the history of the Republic no document has ever come from any President so inconsistent in its tendency with republican institutions as was Jackson's “protest.” Clay did not go much too far when, in a fiery speech which he made on the occasion, he described Jackson as animated by “the genuine spirit of conquerors and con-
