Without
conceding the right of the Senate to make either of these requests,
I have yet, for the various reasons heretofore assigned in my several
replies, deemed it expedient to comply with several of them. It is now,
however, my solemn conviction that I ought no longer, from any motive
nor in any degree, to yield to these unconstitutional demands. Their
continued repetition imposes on me, as the representative and trustee of
the American people, the painful but imperious duty of resisting to the
utmost any further encroachment on the rights of the Executive. This
course is especially due to the present resolution. The President in
cases of this nature possesses the exclusive power of removal from
office, and, under the sanctions of his official oath and of his
liability to impeachment, he is bound to exercise it whenever the public
welfare shall require. If, on the other hand, from corrupt motives he
abuses this power, he is exposed to the same responsibilities. On no
principle known to our institutions can he be required to account
for the manner in which he discharges this portion of his public
duties, save only in the mode and under the forms prescribed by the
Constitution.
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