Page:A legal review of the case of Dred Scott, as decided by the Supreme Court of the United States.djvu/5



arguments in the case of Dred Scott, before the supreme court of the United States, and the opinions of the judges, touched upon questions of such importance, and have excited so general an interest, and awakened so much criticism, and the decision has been so often misunderstood, that the case demands a more extended notice than we usually give to adjudged cases. Of the political causes and consequences of the judgment, we have nothing to say. We propose to discuss it in its legal aspects only, and for that reason, as well as to enable the reader to carry with him the point decided, we have placed at the head of this article an abstract or marginal note, such as we should insert if we were making a report of the case.