The Supreme Court of the United States : its history

Front matter

JK

CORNELL

UNIVERSITY LIBRARY

CHAPTER II. Introduction 23-38

Special Fitness of the Framers of the Constitution for their Work : Classification of Sources of Jurisdiction : Admiralty Cases : Colonial Vice-Admiralty Courts : Jurisdiction : Acts of Trade: Colonial Judges: Extension of Jurisdiction: Revenue Cases: Colonial Oppositioif: Remonstrance of First Continental Congress.

Chapter VI. Page

OTHER Federa.1, Courts 65-80

Courts for the Trial qf Felonies and Piracies : Courts for the Determination of Controversies between the States as to Boundary, Territory and Jurisdiction : Controversies between Individuals Claiming I^ands under Grants of two or more States : Suit by an Individual against a State.

CHAPTER XI. Organization of The Court 1^8-167

Judges first appointed : Washington's Letters : Biographical Sketches of Jay, Rutledge, Cushing, Harrison, Wilson, Blair: First Session of the Supreme Court of the United States: Adoption of Rules: Sketch of Iredell: Circuit Court Duties: Suits by Citizens against a State: Sketch of Johnson : Hayburn's Case : Assertions of Judicial Independence : State Trials

CONTENTS. ix

Chapter XII. Page

Early Decisions upon Constitutional Questions : Admiralty Causes : Matters of Practice : Changes upon the Bench: Sketches of Paterson, Ellsworth, Chase, Washington, Moore: Changes in the Chief Justiceship : Instances of Politico-Judicialism : Judicial Pluralists : Estimate of the Services of the old Supreme Court.

Chapter XIII

The Supreme Court of the United States under Chief Justice Marshall : The First Half of Marshall's Judicial Career : Sketch of Marshall's I^eading Decisions : Marbury v. Madison : Repeal of the Judiciary Act of 1801 : The Midnight Judges : Impeachments of Judge Pickering and Justice Chase : Cases considered by the Court : Instances of Federal Supremacy : Growth of Federal Power : United States v. Judge Peters : Trial of Aaron Burr : Rulings upon the I,aw of High Treason : Fletcher v. Peck : Law of Prize and Admiralty Jurisdiction : Cases of the "Exchange" and the "Nereide:" Land Cases: Sketches of Justices Johnson, Livingston, Todd, Duvall and Story : The Early Bar of the Supreme Court.

Chapter XIV

The I^atter Half of Marshall's Career: The Golden Age of the Supreme Court: Appellate Jurisdiction of the Supreme Court under the 25th Section of the Judiciary Act ; Martin v. Hunter's lessee: Cohens v. State of Virginia: The Term of 1819: McCuUoch v. State of Maryland: Trustees of Dartmouth College v. Woodward: Sturges ». Crowninshield : Osborn V. Bank of the United States : Power of Congress to Regulate Commerce : Gibbons v. Ogden : Wilson V. Blackbird Creek Marsh Co.: Brown v. State of Maryland: Constitutional Restrictions upon the Powers of the States: Craig v. State of Missouri: Position and Influence of the Supreme Court: Rights of the States: Providence Bank v. Billings: Barron v. Mayor of Baltimore: Powers of States to pass Bankrupt Laws: Ogden v. Saunders: Boyle v. Zacharie: What Constitutes a State: Cherokee Nation v. State of Georgia: Worcester v. State of Georgia: Last Constitutional Decision of Marshall; Principles of Constitutional Interpretation: Sketches of Justices Thompson, Trimble, McLean, Baldwin and Wayne: General Review of the Work accomplished by the Supreme Court under Marshall.

Chapter XV

The First Half of Taney's Judicial Career: General Character of Questions Discussed: Sketch of Chief Justice Taney: Sketches of Justices Barbour, Smith, Catron, McKinley and Daniel : Leading Cases : Change in the Principles of Constitutional Interpretation : State of New York V. Miln : Briscoe v. Bank of the Commonwealth of Kentucky : Charles River Bridge Case : Limitations upon the Doctrine of the Dartmouth College Case: Lament of Justice Story: Miscellaneous Cases: Kendall v. United States: Rhode Island -u. Massachusetts: Corporation Cases : Limitations upon the Powers of the States ; Florida Land Claims : Martin v Waddell : Swift V. Tyson: The Establishment of the Doctrine of a General Commercial Jurisprudence: The Fugitive Slave Law: Prigg v. Commonwealth of PeTinsylvania : Cases Relating to Slavery: Miscellaneous Cases : The Girard Will Case : The Myra Clark Gaines Case : Cases of Inter-

X CONTENTS.

PAGE

State Commerce: The License Cases: The Passenger Cases: Admiralty Cases. Waring v. Clarke: Cases Affecting the Relations of the State to the Union: Luther z/. Borden: General Review of Work Accomplished by the Court at this Time: Sketch of the Bar of the Supreme Court.

Chapter XVI

The Latter Half of Taney's Judicial Career; Sketches of Justices Nelson, Woodbury, Grier, Curtis and Campbell: Miscellaneous Cases : Patents: Copyrights: Land Grants: Controversies between States as to Boundaries : The Powers of the States : Taxing Power: To Pass Retrospective Laws : To Revoke Ferry Grants : To Punish Offences Punishable by Congress : To Protect Fishery Rights; Exception to Power to Tax: To Collect Tolls: Liability of Corporations to Taxation: Jurisdiction of Supreme Court: Commercial Law: Contracts by Mail: Miscellaneous Cases: Extradition: The Wheeling Bridge Case: Cooley v. Board of Wardens of the Port of Philadelphia : Great Extension of the Admiralty Jurisdiction : The Genesee Chief: Rise of the Slave Power; The Dred Scott Case; Ablemau v. Booth : Taylor v. Carryl : Suits against a State : Habeas Corpus Cases ; General Review of Work accomplished by the Court Prior to the Outbreak of the Civil War.

Chapter XVII

Outbreak of the Civil War: Character of Cases before the Court: California Land Claims: Mexican, Spanish and French Titles: The Prize Cases: Rights and Liabilities of Neutrals and Belligerents: A National Crisis: Value of the Principles established by Marshall as shown in the Tax Cases : Death of Taney : Appointment of Salmon P. Chase as his Successor : Sketches of Chief Justice Chase and of Associate Justices Clifford, Swayne, Miller, Davis and Field; Cases Growing out of a Condition of War: The Jurisdiction of Military Commissions: Questions of Prize : Blockade : Mrs. Alexander's Cotton : The Atlanta : Efforts to Restrain the Enforcement of the Reconstruction Acts; Ex Parte Milligan; Texas v. White; Cases Growing out of the Rebellion; The Confiscation Act; Captured and Abandoned Property Act: Effect of Presidential Pardon : Rights of Officers and Soldiers of the Army of the United States : California Land Titles: The Obligation of Contracts: The Right of the Federal Judiciary to Disregard State Decisions on Questions of Commercial Law: Patents; Police Powers of the States ; The Commerce Clause : Crandall v. State of Nevada : State Freight Tax ; Oilman v. City of Philadelphia : Miscellaneous Cases.

CHAPTER XVIII. 'seventh Epoch, 1870-1890 .440-470

The Climax of Federalism; Financial Legislation of Congress; The Early Legal Tender Cases; Bronson v. Rodes: Butler v. Horwitz; Hepburn w. Griswold; The Unconstitutionality of Paper Money Declared; Changes in the Composition of the Court: The Later Legal Tender Cases: Knox v. Lee: Parker v. Davis: Doctrine of Hepburn v. Griswold Reversed: The Constitutionality of Paper Money Established: The Thirteenth, Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amend ments : Unexpected Narrowness of Construction ; The Slaughter House Cases ; Sketches of Justices Strong, Bradley and Hunt.

CONTENTS. xi

Chapter XIX. Pagf

Seventh Bpoch Continued, i 874-1 888 47^-533

Death ot Chief Justice Chase: Appointment of Morrison R. Waite as his Successor: General Character of Cases Considered at this Time : Sketches of Chief Justice Waite and Associate Justices Harlan, Woods and Matthews: Leading Cases in Construction of the Thirteenth, Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments: The Right of Suffrage; The Enforcement Act: Right of Colored Men to Serve as Jurors: Cases Relating to Elections : Due Process of I^aw: Civil Rights Cases: Mormon Polygamy and Bigamy a Punishable Crime: The Removal Cases: Tennessee v, Davis: Juillard ». Greenman: The Zenith of Federalism: Power of Congress to Reissue Paper as a Legal Tender in Time of Peace: Kilbourn &. Thompson: Right of the House of Representatives to Punish for Contempt: Civil Service: The Eleventh Amendment: I^ouisiana w. Jumel; Virginia Coupon Cases; Indian Tribes the Wards of the Nation: Exclusion of the Chinese: The Kansas I^iquor Law: The Chicago Anarchists: Inter-State Commerce: The Telegraph an Instrument of Commerce: Police Regulations: The Granger Cases: Miscellaneous Cases: Louisiana Lottery; Telephone Cases: Sketches of Associate Justices Gray, Blatchford and Lamar.

Chapter XX

Thb Court Completes the Work op the First Century of its Existence, 1888-1890 534-558

Death of Chief Justice Waite: Appointment of Melville W. Fuller as his Successor: Sketches of Chief Justice Fuller and of Associate Justices Brewer and Brown : General Character of Cases Considered: Inter-State Commerce: T^eisy v. Hardin, the Original Package Case : Police Regulations as to I<iquor Laws : Independence of Executive Officers : Right of Debtor to Insure his Life : Power of Courts to Punish Contempts : Ex Parte Terry : In re Neagle : Peace of the United States : Indian Tribes : Constitutional Control of Railroads : Mormon Church Case: Suits against a State: Ex Post Facto Laws: Cruel and Unusual Punishments: Modification of Granger Cases: Telephone Cases: The Bar of the Supreme Court: Conclusion.

Chapter XXI

Sketches of the Reporters of the Decisions of the Supreme Court of THE United States, and op the Clerks of the Court . .... 559-577

Reporters. — Alexander James Dallas: William Cranch: Henry Wheaton: Richard Peters: Benjamin Chew Howard; Jeremiah S. Black: John William Wallace: William Todd Otto: John C. Bancroft Davis.

Clerks.— Zo^va Tucker: Samuel Bayard: Elias B. Caldwell: William Griflath: William T. Carroll: Daniel Wesley Middletoii: James Hall McKenney.

THE PROCEEDINGS IN CELEBRATION

ONE HUNDREDTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ORGANIZATION OF THE SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES.

PAGE

Sketch of the Preparations for the Celebration 581

Suggestions made by the President of the United States 582

Action of the New York State Bar Association ... 583

Address of Hon. Whwam H. Arnoux 583

President of the Association.

Arrangements for the Celebration 585

Action of the New York Bar Association 586

Programme determined on 586

The Fourth of February, i8go . . 587

Address of Ex-President Cleveland upon taking the Chair 590

Address of Welcome of Hon. William H. Arnoux 593

Address of William Allen Butler, Esq . . 596

"The Origin of the Supreme Court of the United States and its Place in the Constitution."

Address of Hon. Henry Hitchcock 620

"The Supreme Court and the Constitution."

Address of Hon. Thomas J. Semmes 658

" The Personal Characteristics of the Chief Justices."

Address of Hon. Edward J. Phelps 686

"The Supreme Court and the Sovereignty of the People."

REMARKS OF Chief Justice Fuller 696

"The Centenary of the Supreme Court."

Address of Mr. Justice Harlan yig

Appendix 727-729

List of Committees in charge of Judiciary Centennial.

xii

ILLUSTRATIONS.

Facing page

John Jay Frontispiece

From the original painting by Gilbert Stuart in the possession of the family.

John Rutledge 143

From the painting by Trumbull, in the Trumbull Collection, Yale School of Art.

WlXWAM CUSHING 144

From the Pastel by Sharpless, Philadelphia, 1799, in the possession of the family.

Robert H. Harrison 145

From the painting, "Battle of Trenton," by Trumbull, Yale School of Art.

James Wii,son 147

From the miniature in the possession of the family.

John Blair 150

From the miniature in the possession of the family.

James Iredei<i. 154

From the painting in the possession of Iredell Meares, Esq., Wilmington, N. C.

Thomas Johnson 161

From the painting by Guillaume, after R. Peale, in the possession of Bradley T. Johnson, Esq. , Baltimore, Md.

William Paterson 183

From the painting in the possession of the family.

Oliver Ellsworth 185

From the Pastel by Sharpless in the possession of Mr. Justice Gray.

Samuel Chase 187

From the painting by C. W. Peale, Independence Hall, Philadelphia.

BusHROD Washington 188

From the painting by Harding in the possession of the family.

Alfred Moore 190

From the miniature in the possession of Alfred Moore Waddell, Esq., Wilmington, N. C.

xiii xiv ILL US TRA TIONS.

Facing pag«

John Marshai^i, i95

From the painting by Jarvis in the possession of Mr. Justice Gray.

William Johnson 227

From the painting by Jarvis in the possession of the New Yorlc Historical Society.

Brockholst I/Ivingston 230

From the painting in the possession of the family.

Thomas Todd 232

From the painting in the possession of the family.

Gabriel Duvall 233

From the painting in the Capitol, Washington, D. C.

Joseph Story 235

From the drawing by W. W. Story in the possession of the family.

Smith Thompson 273

From the painting by Dumont in the possession of Smith Thompson, Esq., Hudson, N. Y.

Robert Trimble 274

From the painting in the possession of the family.

John McLean 276

From the pain.ing by Ives in the possession of Mr. Justice Brown.

Henry Baldwin 279

From the painting by Lambdin in the possession of the family.

James M. Wayne 282

From a photograph by Brady in the possession of Mr. Justice Field,

Roger B. Taney 291

From the painting by Healy in the Capitol, Washington, D. C.

PhiIvIp p. Barbour 296

From the painting in the possession of the family.

John Catron 299

From the painting in the possession of the Tennessee Historical Society, Nashville, Tenn.

John McKinlhy 300

From the painting in the possession of Mrs. Mary McKinley Filley, St. Louis, Mo.

Peter V. Daniei. 302

From the original painting in the possession of the family.

ILL US TRA TIONS. xv

Facing page

Samuel Newon 340

From the photograph in the possession of Hon. Wm. H. Arnoux, New York City,

lyEvi Woodbury 341

From the original painting in the possession of the family.

Robert C. Grier 343

From a photograph by Rice, Washington, D. C.

Benjamin R. Curtis 345

From a photograph by Black, Boston, Mass.

John A. Campbeli< 350

From a photograph by Brady,

Salmon P. Chase 389

Nathan Clifford 395

From a photograph by Lamson, Portland, Me,

Noah H. Swayne 398

Samuel F. Miller 401

David Davis 403

Stephen J. Field 406

From a photograph by Faber, San Francisco,

William Strong 461

From a photograph by Faber, San Francisco.

Joseph P. Bradley 464

Ward Hunt 4^8

From a photograph by Fassett, Washington, D C.

Morrison R. Waite ^72

John M. Harlan 477

From a photograph by Rice, Washington, D. C.

xvi ILL US TRA TIONS.

Facing page

WiwAM B. Woods 480

From a photograph by Bell, Washington, D. C.

Standby Matthews. . 1 482

From a photograph by Bell, Washington, D, C.

Horace Gray 525

From a photograph by Rice, Washington, D. C.

Samuei, Blatchford 528

From a photograph by Bell, Washington, D. C.

IvUCius Q. C. Lamar 530

From a photograph by Bell, Washington, D. C.

From a photograph by Bell, Washington, D. C.

David J. Brewer 538

From a photograph by Bell, Washington, D. C.

Henry B. Brown 541

From a photograph by Bell, Washington, D. C.

A HISTORY

OF THE

Supreme Court of the United States.

Chapter I. General Introductory View

A HISTORY of tlie Supreme Court of the United States, although chiefly of interest to the legal profession, cannot fail to contain much matter that will prove attractive to the general reader. It will involve not only an account of the establishment and organization of the tribunal itself, the development of its authority, and the manner in which its great powers have been e.xercised, but also an exploration of the sources of its jurisdiction to the earliest period of our national life. The former can be drawn from the inexhaustible mines of wealth to be found in the public records ; the latter can be traced to the judicial powers exercised by the Continental Congress through the agency of Committees, and finally through the first Federal Court of Appeals, established January 15th, 1780, known as The Court of Appeals in Cases of Capture.^

' The records referred to consist of the Debates in the Federal and State Conventions which preceded and followed the Framing of the Constitution of the United States, generally known as Elliott's Debates on the Federal Constitution (4 vols.) and

Such a history will involve also a consideration of many of the phases of our social and political existence. Just as the student of English Constitutional History finds in the trials of Raleigh, Strafford, Sydney, Russell, the Seven Bishops and other martyrs and patriots the most striking examples of civil and religious policy, so the student of our history will discover in the' State Trials of the United States and in decisions upon fundamental Constitutional questions the most faithful pictures and the most authentic memorials of the temper, the manners, the politics and the sentiments of the age. In the almost-forgotten case of the Sloop Active we can trace the successive features of a notable struggle for federal supremacy, through a period of thirty years, marked by the most dramatic incidents, exhibiting in its inception the political imbecility of the Continental Congress when brought into conflict with the power of a State, and in its final issue the complete and triumphant vindication of National authority. In the prosecutions brought under the Alien and Sedition Laws, in the trial of Henfield for illegally enlisting in a French privateer; or of Callender, indicted for a libel upon President Adams ; in the trials of the Western Insurgents for insurrection against the excise laws ; in the case of Robbins, on a claim for delivery to the British Government on a charge of murder ; of Aaron Burr for high treason ; of Mr. Justice

Supplement, containing the Madison Papers ; Pennsylvania and the Federal Constitution ; Maclay's Debates in the First Senate of the United States ; Benton's Abridgment of Debates of Congress ; Revised Statutes of the United States ; Statutes at Large ; Records of the Supreme Court of the United States ; Reports of the Decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States ; Journals of the Continental Congress ; Articles of Confederation ; Secret Journals of Congress ; MS. Papers of the Continental Congress in the Library of the State Department ; MSS. in the Office of the Clerk of the Supreme Court of the United States ; Colonial Records and early State papers.

Chase, impeaclied for misconduct as a Judge ; in tlie famous case of Marbury v. Madison; in the Dartmouth College case; in Gibbons v. Ogden; in the Dred Scott decision, in the Slaughter House cases, and in the Legal Tender cases, we find abundant material from which important facts of historj' can be drawn. These cases lie at the foundation of our jurisprudence and are destined to guide and control the' most distant posterity.

Such a work will mingle the features of biography with a narrative of momentous events, portraying the character of famous judges and advocates, displaying the talents and learning of the sages of the law, while describing the scenes in which they were conspicuous actors. It will exhibit the birth, growth and decay of customs, the abolition of ancient institutions and the extension of maxims of free government to all the affairs of citizenship. It will delineate, on the one hand, the attitude of States in moments of defiance to National authority, or in the hour of their final resignation and defeat; and, on the other, will describe the limits of their independent and ■ uncontrollable sovereignty. It will illustrate the conduct of individuals under an infinite variety of circumstances, while depicting the common phases of litigation. In fact, the Court stands in such close relationship to the political and private rights of individuals in defending them from assault, and plays such an important part in defining our national obligations, and in determining the lawful bounds of State and Congressional authority under the Constitution of the United States, that no careful student of our institutions, who desires to comprehend the exact nature of his status as a citizen of our Federal Republic, will rest content with an examination of the debates in Congress or the administrative acts of the Presidents. For fullness and completeness of knowledge, for breadth of view and accuracy of information, for the true construction and interpretation of our Great Charter, he must turn to the decisions of the Judiciary which illuminate with steady and effulgent rays the history of the nation. The law embodies the story of a nation's development, and this truth has been recently dwelt upon by an eminent teacher of legal science, who declares : "The student of law in our times has come to recognize the fact that law is, in a sense, a branch of history, and is to be studied in a historic spirit and by a historic method; and as the student of law now recognizes the relation which exists between law and history, so also has the student of history come to recognize that a certain relation subsists between history and law."^

If we divide our Constitutional history into periods marked by the War of the Revolution, the years of chaos and dismay that preceded the Framing of the Constitution, the Organization of the Government, the early Presidential administrations, the War of 1812, the term of Marshall's judicial service, the ascendency of State Rights, the agitation upon slavery, the Civil War, and the days succeeding those of Reconstruction, we will find subjects furnished for judicial action as full of characteristic variety as the periods themselves. We may expect, therefore, to discover in the decisions of the Federal Court of last resort not only the result but an account of the many processes of our national development. We may gaze upon a panoramic view of our Constitutional jurisprudence, unfolding itself in executive acts

' Professor Henry Wade Rogers in his " Introduction to a Course of Lectures before the Political Science Association of the University of Michigan, upon The Constitutional History of the United States as seen in the Development of American Law."

PROMINENT FEATURES. 5

and legislative policies, afifecting both our foreign and domestic relations, revealing tlie extended domain of tlie law, and displaying, as on a chart, as did tlie Pillars of Hercules in ancient times, tlie ultimate limits of national jurisdiction. Within these are the coast lines and harbors and rich possessions of individual right.

Much material will be found full of fascination for the student of mankind. The contentions and conduct of men, whether springing from avarice or enterprise, whether stained with blood or stamped with the features of commercial competition, present a picture of society full of life and color, varying with the habits of thought and action of the age in which they occur, and dramatic in their grouping and character. The mighty contests of the forum deal with principles of universal application and facts of thrilling interest ; they elicit the most astonishing displays of eloquence, logic and learning, and are followed by decisions of profound significance pronounced by jurists of incorruptible integrity, and of abilities which have commanded the respect of the world. They exhibit theatres of human action which, like many famous fields of battle, are memorable for the triumph of truth over error, for hard-won victories of justice over wrong. Amid the din of conflict between personal interests, and above the deep-mouthed thunder of the combat between contending sovereignties, the calm tones of our great tribunal have been distinctly heard, commanding States as well as citizens to submit without the spilling of blood to a legal settlement of differences. In this respect the Court is the Conservator of the Peace of the Nation, and her voice is the Harmony of the Union.

The manner, too, in which the Court is constituted is worthy of the closest attention. It was one of the sagacious

Utterances of Edmund Burke that, "Whatever is supreme in a State ought to have, as much as possible, its judicial authority so constituted, as not only to depend upon it, but in some sort to balance it. It ought to give security to its justice against its power. It ought to make its jurisdiction as it were something exterior to the State." It may be safely asserted that this has been accomplished, in a great measure, in the judicial system of the United States. The dream of the philosopher has been realized. A separation almost complete has been effected between the judicial and the legislative and executive departments of our government. The wisdom of such a separation, first definitely expressed by Montesquieu, has been finally vindicated. In the making of laws the Judiciary has no share, nor has it any part in executive power. The happy manner in which the Framers of our Federal Constitution secured the independence of the Judiciary, — by the mode of appointment of the Judges, by making their tenure of ofi&ce dependent upon good behavior, by the provision that the compensation of the Judges shall not be increased or diminished during their continuance in ofl&ce, thus emancipating them from the control of the I^egislature, and from the temptation of making their decrees a matter of barter, — has excited the admiration of all philosophical students of our institutions.^

The establishment of the Supreme Court of the United States was the crowning marvel of the wonders wrought by the statesmanship of America. In truth the creation of the Supreme Court with its appellate powers was the greatest conception of the Constitution. It embodied the loftiest ideas

• Francis Lieber, "Civil Liberty and Self-Government," Woolsey's Edition, p. 203. Story's "Commentaries on the Constitution," Vol. Ill, \ 1571 et sea.

FUNCTIONS OF THE COURT. 7

of moral and legal powei-, and although its prototype existed in the Superior Courts established in the various States, yet the majestic proportions to which the structure was carried became sublime. No product of government, either here or elsewhere, has ever approached it in grandeur. Within its appropriate sphere it is absolute in authority. From its mandates there is no appeal. Its decree is law. In dignity and moral influence it outranks all other judicial tribunals of the world. No court of either ancient or modern times was ever invested with such high prerogatives. Its jurisdiction extends over Sovereign States as well as over the humblest individual. It is armed with the right as well as the power to annul in effect the statutes of a State whenever they are directed against the civil rights, the contracts, the currency or the intercourse of the people. It restricts Congressional action to Constitutional bounds. Secure in the tenure of its Judges from the influences of politics, and the violence of prejudice and passion, it presents an example of judicial independence unattainable in any of the States and far beyond that of the highest Court in England.^ Yet its powers are limited and strictly defined. Its decrees are not arbitrary, tyrannical or capricious, but are governed by the most scrupulous regard for the sanctity of law. It cannot encroach upon the reserved

' This is admitted by Professor Bryce, who, in writing of the Supreme Court, says: "The justices are nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate. They hold office during good behavior, i. e-, they are removed only by impeachment. They have thus a tenure even more secure than that of English Judges, for the latter may be removed by the Crown on an address from both Houses of Parliament. Moreover, the English Statutes secure the permanence only of the Judges of the Supreme Court of Judicature, not also of Judges of County or other local Courts, while the provisions of the American Constitution are held to apply to the inferior as well as the superior Federal judges." (James Bryce, "The American Commonwealth," Vol. I, p. 226.)

rights of the States or abridge the sacred privileges of local self-government. Its power is never exercised for the purpose of giving effect to the will of the judge, but always for the purpose of giving effect to the will of the legislature, or, in other words, to the will of the law.^ Its administration is a practical expression of the workings of our system of liberty according to law. Its Judges are the sworn ministers of the Constitution, and are the High Priests of Justice. Acknowledging no superior, and responsible to their consciences alone, they owe allegiance to the Constitution and to their own exalted sense of duty. Instructed and upheld by a highly educated bar, their judgments are the ripest fruits of judicial wisdom. Amenable to public opinion, they can be reached, in case of necessity, by impeachment by the Senate of the United States. No institution of purely human contrivance presents so many features calculated to inspire both veneration and awe.

The peculiar nature of the jurisdiction of the Court requires the Judges to be statesmen as well as jurists, and in most instances, tested by the results, wisely and well have they acted. Their decisions are not confined to mere questions of commercial law or narrow municipal regulations, but may involve the discussion and settlement of principles which affect the policy and welfare of the nation. The Court cannot consider abstract problems, however important, nor can it frame a fictitious issue for argument to satisfy a speculative interest in the result. It cannot anticipate by an hour the solution of a practical diificulty. It deals with the present and the past; it cannot put the remedy in force before the right accrues; but given a question, fairly presented by

1 C. J. Marshall, in Osborn v. Bank of the U. S., 9 Wheaton, 866 (1824).

ILLUSTRATIONS OF JURISDICTION. 9

the pleadings in a cause, then, however humble the parties to the suit, or however trifling the amount involved, the decision may sweep beyond the petty bounds of local customs or sectional statutes into the broad domain of international law, or rise into the loftiest regions of Constitutional jurisprtidence. The Court has always upheld the National character of our Government and vindicated the National honor. At the same time it has carefully guarded the reserved rights of the States. The most comprehensive and statesmanlike views have happily prevailed.

A few illustrations will confirm this statement. A British creditor sued a citizen of the United States upon a debt sequestered by the State of Virginia during the Revolutionary War, and the argument taxed to the utmost the powers of the ablest advocates, while the decision expanded from a statement of the contractual liability of an individual to an assertion that the treaty obligations of the nation were paramount to the laws of individual States.^ A citizen of South Carolina sued the State of Georgia, and although the storm of indignation that followed the decision upholding the suit led to an amendment of the Constitution of the United States, yet it was fortunate for the legal and moral influence of the Court that the Judges refused to bend before the popular fury.^ A justice of the peace of the District of Columbia applied for a mandamus addressed to the Secretary of State, to enforce his right to a commission, and the decision sustained and vindicated the power of the Court to declare void an Act of Congress, as being repugnant to the Constitution, subjecting, once and forever, all executive and ministerial officers as well as Congress itself to the control of the Court