il 11, 1808, purporting to extend the monopoly, in point of time,
five years for every additional boat, the whole duration, however, not
to exceed thirty years; and forbidding any and all persons to navigate
the waters of the State with any steam boat or vessel, without the
license of Livingston and Fulton, under penalty of forfeiture of the
boat or vessel. And lastly comes the act of April 9, 1811, for enforcing
the provisions of the last-mentioned act, and declaring, that the
forfeiture of the boat or vessel found navigating against the provisions
of the previous acts shall be deemed to accrue on the day on which such
boat or vessel should navigate the waters of the State; and that
Livingston and Fulton might immediately have an action for such boat or
vessel, in like manner as if they themselves had been dispossessed
thereof by force; and that, on bringing any such suit, the defendant
therein should be prohibited, by injunction, from removing the boat or
vessel out of the State, or using it within the State. There are one or
two other acts mentioned in the pleadings, which principally respect the
time allowed for complying with the condition of the grant, and are not
material to the discussion of the case.

By these acts, then, an exclusive right is given to Livingston and
Fulton to use steam navigation on all the waters of New York, for thirty
years from 1808.

It is not necessary to recite the several conveyances and agreements,
stated in the record, by which Ogden, the plaintiff below, derives title
under Livingston and Fulton to the exclusive use of part of these waters
for steam navigation.

The appellant being owner of a steamboat, and being found navigating the
waters between New Jersey and the city of New York, over which waters
Ogden, the plaintiff below, claims an exclusive right, under Livingston
and Fulton, this bill was filed against him by Ogden, in October, 1818,
and an injunction granted, restraining him from such use of his boat.
This injunction was made perpetual, on the final hearing of the cause,
in the Court of Chancery; and the decree of the Chancellor has been duly
affirmed in the Court of Errors. The right, therefore, which the
plaintiff below asserts, to have and maintain his injunction, depends
obviously on the general validity of the New York laws, and especially
on their force and operation as against the right set up by the
defendant. This right he states in his answer to be, that he is