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The Constitutional Decisions of John Marshall
The Constitutional Decisions of John Marshall Author:John Marshall Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: and that the original powers of the states are retained, if any possible construction will retain them, may, by a course of well digested, but refined and metaph... more »ysical reasoning, founded on these premises, explain away the constitution of our country, and leave it a magnificent structure indeed, to look at, but totally unfit for use. They may so entangle and perplex the understanding, as to obscure principles which were before thought quite plain, and induce doubts where, if the mind were to pursue its own course, none would be perceived. In such a case, it is peculiarly necessary to recur to safe and fundamental principles to sustain those principles, and, when sustained, to make them the tests of the arguments to be examined. DISSENTING OPINION BY JUSTICE JOHNSON. Mr. Justice Johnson. The judgment entered by the court in this cause has my entire approbation ; but having adopted my conclusions on views of the subject materially different from those of my brethren, I aa3 feel it incumbent on me to exhibit those views. I have, also, another inducement. In questions of great importance and great delicacy, I feel my duty to the public best discharged by an effort to maintain my opinions in my own way. In attempts to construe the constitution, I have never found much benefit resulting from the inquiry, whether the whole, or any part of it, is to be construed strictly, or literally. The simple, classical, precise, yet comprehensive language in which it is couched, leaves, at most, but very little latitude for construction; and when its intent and meaning is discovered, nothing remains but to execute the will of those who made it, in the best manner to effect the purposes intended. The great and paramount purpose, was to unite this mass of wealth and power, for the protectio...« less