By an Act of Congress of July 2, 1862, a new oath of office was prescribed in the following terms:—
“That hereafter every person elected or appointed to any office of honor or profit under the Government of the United States, either in the civil, military, or naval departments of the public service, excepting the President of the United States, shall, before entering upon the duties of such office, and before being entitled to any of the salary or other emoluments thereof, take and subscribe the following oath or affirmation.”
Then follows the oath or affirmation, as follows:—
“I, A. B., do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I have never voluntarily borne arms against the United States since I have been a citizen thereof; that I have voluntarily given no aid, countenance, counsel, or encouragement to persons engaged in armed hostility thereto; that I have neither sought nor accepted nor attempted to exercise the functions of any office whatever, under any authority or pretended authority in hostility to the United States; that I have not yielded a voluntary support to any pretended government, authority, power, or constitution, within the United States, hostile or inimical thereto. And I do further swear (or affirm) that to the best of my knowledge and ability I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.”
The Act then provides:—
“Which said oath, so taken and signed, shall be preserved among the files of the Court, House of Congress, or Department to which the said office may appertain.”[289]
This oath was popularly known as “the Iron-Clad Oath.”
On the organization of the Senate, March 4, 1863, being the first organization after the statute requiring the oath, it became necessary to consider its applicability to the Senate. Debate ensued, which can be understood only by a preliminary explanation.