PREFACE. THIS work contains the decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States. The opinions of the court are in all cases given, as they have been printed by the authorized Reporters, after correcting such errors of the press, or of citation, as a careful examination of the text has disclosed. I have endeavored to give in the head notes, the substance of each decision. They are designed to show the points decided by the court, not the dicta or reasoning of the judges. The statements of the cases have been made as brief as possible. For many years, it has been the habit of all the judges of this court, to set forth in their opinions, the facts of the cases, as the court viewed them, in making their decision. Such a statement, when complete, renders any other superfluous. When not found complete, I have not attempted to restate the whole case, but have supplied, in the report, such facts, or documents, as seemed to me to be wanting. In some cases, turning upon questions, or complicated states of fact, and not involving any matter of law, I have not thought it necessary to encumber the work with detailed statements of evidence, which no one would find it useful to recur to. These instances, however, are few. 535 To each case, is appended a note, referring to all subsequent decisions in which the case in the text has been mentioned. Is will thus be easy to ascertain, whether a decision has been ov 71 ruled, doubted, qualified, explained, or affirmed, and to see wl261 other applications have been made, of the same or analogo254 principles. 584 The paging of the authorized Reporters has been preserved at the head of each case, and in the margin of each page, for convenience of reference, the Reporters being designated by their initials, D. for Dallas, C. for Cranch, W. for Wheaton, P. for Peters, H. for Howard. It is expected that all the decisions of the court down to the close of the December term, 1854, will be embraced in eighteen volumes. To these will be added a digest of all the decisions. The desire to make the decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States more easily and cheaply accessible, has led me to undertake this work. I cannot hope that it is not in some particulars imperfect. The labors of my office have left me little unbroken leisure to bestow upon it, and I can assure myself of nothing concerning it, but my desire to perform the work with fidelity. WASHINGTON, December 6th, 1854. Blakeney v. Evans, 2 Cranch, 185... .469 Boston Marine Insurance Company (Graves v.) 2 Cranch, 419. 514 Brailsford (Georgia v.) 2 Dallas, 402. • 4 ... Church v Hubbart, 2 Cranch, 187. v. Russell, 3 Dallas, 415... Course v. Stead, 4 Dallas, 22. .470 .392 .396 253 -295 .556 .290 ..309 565 314 · 231 .319 |