The eleventh article embraced the charge of seeking to prevent Stanton from resuming his office as Secretary of War, but not that of removing him from it (this to accommodate Sherman and Howe), and a _mélange_ of all the charges in the preceding articles, ending with a charge that the President had in various ways attempted to prevent the execution of the Reconstruction Acts of Congress. Thaddeus Stevens considered it the only one of the series that was bomb-proof, but the Chief Justice ruled that the Stanton matter was the only thing of substance in it, the residue being mere objurgation. The answer filed by the President's counsel set forth: First, that the Tenure-of-Office Law, in so far as it sought to prevent the President from removing a member of his Cabinet, was unconstitutional; that such was the opinion of each member of his Cabinet, including Stanton, and that Stanton among others advised him to veto it; Second, that even if the law were in harmony with the Constitution the Secretary of War was not included in its prohibitions, since the term for which he was appointed had expired before the President sought to remove him; Third, that it seemed desirable, in view of the foregoing facts, to secure a judicial determination of all doubts respecting the rights and powers of the parties concerned, from the tribunal created for that purpose; and to this end he had taken the steps complained of, and that he had committed no intentional violation of law. In answer to the eleventh article, the defendant said that the matters contained therein, except the charge of preventing the return of Stanton to the office of Secretary of War, did not allege the commission or omission of any act whatever whereby issue could be joined or answer made. As to the Stanton matter, his answer was already given in the answer to the first article.