make them
independent of the executive, that the tenure of their offices was
changed to good behavior. Nor is it conceivable why they are
placed, in our Constitution, upon a tenure different from that of
all other officers appointed by the executive, unless it be for the
same purpose."

Mr. President, I do most solemnly protest (if I, too, may be permitted
to make a protest) against this mode of reasoning. The analogy between
the British constitution and ours, in this respect, is not close enough
to guide us safely; it can only mislead us. It has entirely misled the
writer of the Protest. The President is made to argue, upon this
subject, as if he had some right _anterior_ to the Constitution, which
right is by that instrument checked, in some respects, and in other
respects is left unchecked, but which, nevertheless, still derives its
being from another source; just as the British king had, in the early
ages of the monarchy, an uncontrolled right of appointing and removing
all officers at pleasure, but which right, so far as it respects the
judges, has since been checked and controlled by act of Parliament; the
right being original and inherent, the _check_ only imposed by law. Sir,
I distrust altogether British precedents, authorities, and analogies, on
such questions as this. We are not inquiring how far our Constitution
has imposed checks on a pre-existing authority. We are inquiring what
extent of power that Constitution has _granted_. The grant of power, the
whole source of power, as well as the restrictions and limitations which
are imposed on it, is made in and by the Constitution. It has no other
origin. And it is this, Sir, which distinguishes our system so very
widely and materially from the systems of Europe. _Our_ governments are
limited governments; limited in their origin, in their very creation;
limited, because none but specific powers were ever granted, either to
any department of government, or to the whole: _theirs_ are limited,
whenever limited at all, by reason of restraints imposed at different
times on governments originally unlimited and despotic. Our American
questions, therefore, must be discussed, reasoned on, decided, and
settled, on the appropriate principles of our own constitutions, and not
by inapplicable precedents and loose analogies drawn from foreign
states.

Mr. President, in one of the French comedies, as you know, in which the
dulness and prolixity of le