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Gibbons v. Ogden · ¶6

The State of New-York maintains the constitutionality of these laws; and their Legislature, their Council of Revision, and their Judges, have repeatedly concurred in this opinion. It is supported by great names-by names which have all the titles to consideration that virtue, intelligence, and office, can bestow. No. tribunal can approach the decision of this question, without feeling a just and real, respect for that opinion which is sustained by such authority; but it is the province of this-Court, while it respects, not to bow to it implicitly; and the Judges must exercise, in the examination of the subject, that understanding which Providence has bestowed upon them, with that independence which the people of the United States expect from this department of the government.
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U. S. Reports, bound volume
U. S. Reports, volume 22, at 1 (Library of Congress) · transcription: Caselaw Access Project
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