The case of Mr. Stanton has two branches: first, his removal, and, secondly, the substitution of Adjutant-General Thomas as Secretary of War _ad interim_. As the former was contrary to positive statute, so also was the latter without support in any Act of Congress. For the present I content myself with the latter proposition, without opening the question of Presidential powers under the National Constitution. The offender rests his case on the Act of Congress of February 13, 1795, which empowers the President, “in case of _vacancy_ in the office of Secretary of State, Secretary of the Treasury, or of the Secretary of the Department of War, … whereby they cannot perform the duties of their said respective offices, … to authorize any person or persons, at his discretion, to perform the duties of the said respective offices, until a successor be appointed, or such vacancy be filled”; and the supply of the vacancy is limited to six months.[202] Under this early statute the President defends himself by insisting that there was a “vacancy,” when, in fact, there was none. All this is in that unfailing spirit of prerogative which is his guide. Here is assumption of power. In fact, Mr. Stanton was at his office, quietly discharging its duties, when the President assumed that there was a “vacancy,” and forthwith sent the valiant Adjutant-General to enter upon possession. Assumption and commission were on a par. There is nothing in any law of the land to sanction either. Each testifies against the offender. The hardihood of this proceeding becomes more apparent, when it is understood that this very statute of 1795, on which the offender relies, was repealed by the statute of February 20, 1863,[203] passed in our own day, and freshly remembered. The latter statute, by necessary implication, obliterated the former. Such is the obvious intention, and I do not hesitate to say that any other construction leads into those absurdities which constitute the staple of the Presidential apologists. The object of Congress was to provide a substitute for previous statutes, restricting the number of vacancies which might be filled and the persons who might fill them. And this was done.