generally characteristic of President Cleveland's state papers.
It evoked as ringing a response from public opinion, and this
effect was heightened by a tactless allusion to the message made
at this time in the Senate. In moving a reference of the message
to the Judiciary Committee, its chairman, Senator Edmunds of
Vermont, remarked that the presidential message brought vividly
to his mind "the communication of King Charles I to the
Parliament, telling them what, in conducting their affairs, they
ought to do and ought not to do." The historical reference,
however, had an application which Senator Edmunds did not
foresee. It brought vividly to mind what the people of England
had endured from a factional tyranny so relentless that the
nation was delighted when Oliver Cromwell turned Parliament out
of doors. It is an interesting coincidence that the Cleveland era
was marked by what in the book trade was known as the Cromwell
boom. Another unfortunate remark made by Senator Edmunds was that
it was the first time "that any President of the United States
has undertaken to interfere with the deliberations of either
House of Congress on questions pending before them, otherwise
than by message on the state of the Union which the Constitution
commands him to make from time to time." The effect of this
statement, however, was to stir up recollections of President
Jackson's message of protest against the censure of the Senate.
The principle laid down by Jackson in his message of April 15,
1834, was that "the President is the direct representative of the
American people," whereas the Senate is "a body not directly
amenable to the people." However assailable this statement may be
from the standpoint of traditional legal theory, it is
indubitably the principle to which American politics conform in
practice. The people instinctively expect the President to guard