“It has already been, or shortly will be, read by all the commanding men of New England and New York; and so far as it has gone it has united them all, without a single exception within my knowledge, in one broad and impenetrable phalanx for our defence and support.  New England and New York are gained.  Will not this be sufficient for our present purposes?  If not, I should recommend reprinting.  And on this point you are the best judge.  I prevailingly think, however, that the current of opinion from this part of the country is setting so strongly towards the South that we may safely trust to its force alone to accomplish whatever is necessary.”

The worthy clergyman writes of public opinion as if the object was to elect a President.  All this effort, however, was well applied, as was found when the court came together at the next term.  In the interval the State had become sensible of the defects of their counsel, and had retained Mr. Pinkney, who stood at that time at the head of the bar of the United States.  He had all the qualifications of a great lawyer, except perhaps that of robustness.  He was keen, strong, and learned; diligent in preparation, he was ready and fluent in action, a good debater, and master of a high order of eloquence.  He was a most formidable adversary, and one whom Mr. Webster, then just at the outset of his career, had probably no desire to meet in such a doubtful case as this.[1] Even here, however, misfortune seemed to pursue the State, for Mr. Pinkney was on bad terms with Mr. Wirt, and acted alone.  He did all that was possible; prepared himself elaborately in the law and history of the case, and then went into court ready to make the wisest possible move by asking for a re-argument.  Marshall, however, was also quite prepared.  Turning his “blind ear,” as some one said, to Pinkney, he announced, as soon as he took his seat, that the judges had come to a conclusion during the vacation.  He then read one of his great opinions, in which he held that the college charter was a contract within the meaning of the Constitution, and that the acts of the New Hampshire Legislature impaired this contract, and were therefore void.  To this decision four judges assented in silence, although Story and Washington subsequently wrote out opinions.  Judge Todd was absent, through illness, and Judge Duvall dissented.  The immediate effect of the decision was to leave the college in the hands of the victorious Federalists.  In the precedent which it established, however, it had much deeper and more far-reaching results.  It brought within the scope of the Constitution of the United States every charter granted by a State, limited the action of the States in a most important attribute of sovereignty, and extended the jurisdiction of the highest federal court more than any other judgment ever rendered by them.  From the day when it was announced to the present time, the doctrine of Marshall in the Dartmouth College case has continued to exert an enormous influence, and has been constantly sustained and attacked in litigation of the greatest importance.