Assuming, then, what I think will not be denied, that the constitutionality of a statute is matter of opinion, the question occurs, What opinion shall be regarded for the time as decisive? Clearly the opinion of Congress must control all executive officers, from the lowest to the President. According to a venerable maxim of jurisprudence, all public acts are presumed to be correct,--_Omnia rite acta præsumuntur_. A statute must be presumed constitutional, unless on its face the contrary; and no decision of any court is required in its favor. It is the law of the land, and must be obeyed as such. The maxim which presumes constitutionality is just as binding as the analogous maxim of the Criminal Law which presumes innocence. The President, reversing all this, presumes the statute unconstitutional, and acts accordingly. In the name of Prerogative he sets it aside. The apologists have been driven to invoke the authority of President Jackson, who asserted for himself the power to judge the constitutionality of an Act of Congress which in the course of legislation required his approval, although the question involved had been already adjudged by the Supreme Court. And he was clearly right. The Court itself would not be bound by its adjudication. How could it constrain another branch of the Government? But Andrew Jackson never put forth the pretension that it was within his prerogative to nullify a statute which had been passed over his veto in the way prescribed by the National Constitution. He was courageous, but there was no such unconstitutional audacity in his life. The apologists also summon to their aid those great instances where conscientious citizens have refused obedience to unjust laws. Such was the case of Hampden, who set an example for all time in refusing to pay ship-money. Such also was the case of many in our own country, who spurned the Fugitive Slave Bill. These exalted characters, on their conscience, refused to obey the law, and suffered accordingly. The early Christians were required by imperial mandate to strew grain on the altar of Jove. Though good citizens, they preferred to be martyrs. Such a refusal can be no apology for a President, who, in the name of prerogative, breaks the great oath to see that the laws are faithfully executed. Rather do these instances, in their moral grandeur, rebuke the offender. Here I turn from this Apology of Prerogative, regretting that I cannot say more to unfold its destructive character. If anything could aggravate the transgressions of Andrew Johnson, stretching in long line from the beginning of his administration, it would be the claim of right he sets up, under which the slenderest violation of law becomes a high crime and misdemeanor, to be pursued and judged by an indignant people. The supremacy of the laws must be preserved, or the liberties of all will suffer. TECHNICALITIES AND QUIBBLES.