hip,
which would render the matter an object of equitable rather than of
legal jurisdiction, as the distinction is known and established in
several of the States. It is the peculiar province, for instance, of a
court of equity to relieve against what are called hard bargains: these
are contracts in which, though there may have been no direct fraud or
deceit, sufficient to invalidate them in a court of law, yet there
may have been some undue and unconscionable advantage taken of the
necessities or misfortunes of one of the parties, which a court
of equity would not tolerate. In such cases, where foreigners were
concerned on either side, it would be impossible for the federal
judicatories to do justice without an equitable as well as a legal
jurisdiction. Agreements to convey lands claimed under the grants of
different States, may afford another example of the necessity of an
equitable jurisdiction in the federal courts. This reasoning may not be
so palpable in those States where the formal and technical distinction
between LAW and EQUITY is not maintained, as in this State, where it is
exemplified by every day's practice.

The judiciary authority of the Union is to extend:

Second. To treaties made, or which shall be made, under the authority of
the United States, and to all cases affecting ambassadors, other
public ministers, and consuls. These belong to the fourth class of
the enumerated cases, as they have an evident connection with the
preservation of the national peace.

Third. To cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction. These form,
altogether, the fifth of the enumerated classes of causes proper for the
cognizance of the national courts.

Fourth. To controversies to which the United States shall be a party.
These constitute the third of those classes.

Fifth. To controversies between two or more States; between a State and
citizens of another State; between citizens of different States. These
belong to the fourth of those classes, and partake, in some measure, of
the nature of the last.

Sixth. To cases between the citizens of the same State, claiming lands
under grants of different States. These fall within the last class,
and are the only instances in which the proposed Constitution directly
contemplates the cognizance of disputes between the citizens of the same
State.

Seventh. To cases between a State and the citizens thereof, and foreign
States, citizens, or subjects. These have been already exp