232 



CONGRESS, U. b. 



the duties of his place or office, take and subscribe the 

 following declaration. 



" Here the place or trust of a Senator or Rep- 

 resentative, is called an office. But this same 

 use of these terms as synonymous and as ap- 

 plicable to the post of Senator and Represent- 

 ative is continued, as follows : 



Every person chosen to either of the places or 

 offices aforesaid (meaning the offices of Governor, 

 Lieutenant-Governor, Senator, or Representative^, 

 shall, before he enters on the discharge of the busi- 

 ness of his place or office, take and subscribe, Ac. 



"The authority of New Hampshire is like 

 that of Massachusetts. Her constitution declares : 



All power residing originally in, and being derived 

 from the people, all the magistrates and officers of 

 government are their substitutes and agents, and at 

 all times accountable to them. 



" Here the word officers obviously means the 

 substitutes and agents of the people. But who 

 are substitutes and agents of the people more 

 than Senators ? 



" Then again in the same constitution it is 

 declared : 



No office or place whatsoever in Government shall 

 be hereditary. 



. " Here the word ' office ' is made synonymous 

 with 'place.' 



The constitution of Vermont testifies as fol- 

 lows : 



All power being originaliy invested in and conse- 

 quently derived from the people, therefore all officers 

 of government, whether legislative or executive, are 

 their trustees. 



"Thus in Vermont, members of the Legisla- 

 ture are ' officers.' 



" The constitution of New Jersey testifies 

 also, in the clause prescribing the qualifications 

 which shall entitle a person to vote : 



For representatives in Council and Assembly, and 

 also for all other public officers that shall be elected by 

 the people of the county at large. 



"Here, again, members of the Legislature 

 are treated as ' public officers? 



"The constitution of Pennsylvania testifies 

 as follows : 



Members of the General Assembly and all officers, 

 executive and judicial, shall be bound by oath or af- 

 firmation to support the constitution of this Com- 

 monwealth, and to perform the duties of their respec- 

 tive offices with fidelity. 



" Here members of the General Assembly are 

 classed with those 'holding offices.' 



" The original constitution of New York is 

 more positive. Here are the words : 



The chancellor and judges of the Supreme Court 

 shall not hold any other office except that of Delegate 

 to the general Congress upon special occasions ; and 

 the first judges of the county courts in the several 

 counties shall not, at the same time, hold any other 

 office, except that of Senator or Delegate to the gen- 

 eral Congress. 



" Here the post of a Delegate to the general 

 Congress, and also of a ' Senator,' is treated as 

 an ' office.' 



" Surely here is enough on this head. The 

 post of Senator' is an office of honor or profit, 

 and a ' Senator ' is an ' officer.' 



" 2. But assuming that the post of Senator u 

 an 'office,' and that a Senator is an 'officer,' 

 the question occurs, to what ' department of 

 the public service ' does he belong ? 



" Clearly he is not of the ' military ' or ' na 

 val ' department. But if not ' military ' or ' na- 

 val,' he must be ' civil.' Here again consult 

 the dictionary : 



" CIVIL. ' It is distinguished/rom ecclesiasti- 

 cal, which respects the church, and from mili- 

 tary., which respects the army and navy.' 

 ' This term is often employed in contrast with 

 military, as, a civil hospital ; the civil service.' 



" CIVIL LIST.' In England, formerly a list of 

 the entire expenses of the civil government; 

 hence the officers of civil government, who are 

 paid from the public treasury ; also, the reve- 

 nue appropriated to support the civil govern- 

 ment.' 



" CIVIL STATE.' The whole body of the laity 

 or citizens not included under the military, 

 maritime, and ecclesiastical states.' Webster. 



" To say that a Senator is not included under 

 this comprehensive but distinctive term, is sim- 

 ply an absurdity. 



"It is evident that Congress adopted the 

 words of the statute because they were com- 

 prehensive and distinctive. They obviously 

 comprehended all ' officers ' in the ' public ser- 

 vice,' whether 'elected' like a Senator, or 

 ' appointed ' like a judge. But, beyond their 

 plainness, these words had this added advan- 

 tage, that already for more than a generation, 

 they had received a practical interpretation 

 from Congress. 



" Here is the Blue Book, so familiar to our 

 hands. Its title-page begins as follows : 



Register of officers and agents, civil, military, and 

 naval, in the service of the United States. 



' If we turn to the contents, we shall find in 

 this list members of Congress, including Sena- 

 tors and Eepresentatives, with the ' officers and 

 agents ' of the two Houses. 



" If we go back to the Blue Book for 1820, 

 which is now in my hands, we shall find the 

 same title, and the same enumeration of Sena- 

 tors and Representatives. 



" This Blue Book is still published in pur- 

 suance of a joint resolution by Congress, origi- 

 nally adopted- as long ago as 27th April, 1816, 

 with the following title : 



Resolution requiring the Secretary of State to 

 compile and print, once in every two years, a register 

 of ail officers and agents, civil, military, and naval, in 

 the service of the United States. 



"If Senators can properly be included in 

 such a register, it is only as belonging to the 

 " civil department of the public service," which 

 is precisely where they have been placed by 

 the recent act of Congress. 



" The only apology for the objection which 

 has been urged from the beginning of this de- 

 bate with so much pertinacity, is founded on 

 the case of Mr. Blount, the Senator expelled 

 and afterwards impeached, at the close of the 

 last century. I shall not take time to consider 



