M'Culloch v. Maryland · ¶38

' 2nd. Its terms purport to enlarge, not to diminish the powers vested in the government. It purports to be an additional power, not a restriction on those already granted. No reason has been, or can be assigned for thus concealing an intention to narrow the discretion of the national legislature under words which purport to enlarge it. The framers of the constitution wished its adoption, and well knew that it would be endangered by its strength, not by its weakness. Had they been capable of using language which would convey to the eye one idea, and/ after deep reflection, impress on the mind another, they would rather have disguised the grant of power, than its limitation. If, then, their intention had been, by this clause, to restrain tHe free use of means which might otherwise have been implied, that intention would have been inserted in another place, and would have been expressed…

U. S. Reports, bound volume
U. S. Reports, volume 17, at 316 (Library of Congress) · transcription: Caselaw Access Project
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