Sheriff v. Lowndes

Le Grand, C. J., delivered the opinion of this court: The only question involved in this case is the constitutionality of the Act of 1858, chapter 391. It is under this Act, and the election had in pursuance of its provisions, that the appellants claim to be invested with the powers, and to be charged with the duties, of trustees to the .Bladensburg Academy. ³⁷⁶ It has been contended, with much ability, that the Act of 1858 is not a law impairing the obligation of a contract, within the meaning of the Constitution of the United States, and that the Bladensburg Academy is not, within the meaning of the law, a private corporation, but one of a public nature, and subject to the control of the Legislature. The decision of the Dartmouth College Case,'4 Wheaton, was placed, by Chief Justice Marshall, on the ground of contract, and the existence of a contract he principally deduced from the fact, that individuals had contributed to the establishment and endowment of (he college, out of their private funds. That case did not require the court to go any farther than to decide what was the nature of a corporation, under the Constitution of the United States, which existed because of the contributions made by individuals, on the faith of the charter.

The Chief Justice, in pronouncing judgment, did not go beyond the case presented to the court by the record; Justice Story, however, did,