n the 7th day of October, 1816. The proper pleas
were filed, and by consent the cause was carried directly to the
Superior Court of New Hampshire, by appeal, and entered at the May
Term, 1817. The general issue was pleaded by the defendant, and joined
by the plaintiffs. The facts in the case were then agreed upon by the
parties, and drawn up in the form of a special verdict, reciting the
Charter of the college and the acts of the Legislature of the State,
passed June and December, 1816, by which the said corporation of
Dartmouth College was enlarged and improved, and the said Charter
amended.

"The question made in the case was, whether those acts of the
Legislature were valid and binding upon the corporation, without their
acceptance or assent, and not repugnant to the Constitution of the
United States. If so, the verdict found for the defendants; otherwise
it found for the plaintiffs.

"The cause was continued to the September Term of the court in
Rockingham County, where it was argued; and at the November term of
the same year, in Grafton County, the opinion of the court was
delivered by Chief Justice Richardson, sustaining the validity and
constitutionality of the acts of the Legislature; and judgment was
accordingly entered for the defendant on the special verdict.

"Thereupon a writ of error was sued out by the original plaintiffs, to
remove the cause to the Supreme Court of the United States, where it
was entered at the term of the court holden at Washington on the first
Monday of February, 1818.

"The cause came on for argument on the 10th day of March 1818, before
all the judges. It was argued by Mr. Webster and Mr. Hopkinson, for
the plaintiffs in error, and by Mr. Holmes and the Attorney-general
(Wirt), for the defendant in error.

"At the term of the court holden in February, 1819, the opinion of the
judges was delivered by Chief Justice Marshall, declaring the acts of
the Legislature unconstitutional and invalid, and reversing the
judgment of the State court. The court, with the exception of Mr.
Justice Duvall, were unanimous."

The arguments in the New Hampshire court by Messrs. Mason, Smith, and
Webster for the college, and Messrs. Sullivan and Bartlett for Mr.
Woodward; the decision of that court, and the cause in the Supreme
Court of the United States, are an important part of our country's
judicial history. The result was logically based upon prior decisions
of the Supreme Court. We invite spec