1769. CONTRACTS, Impairment of.—
Between citizens and citizens of the same
State, and under their own laws, I know but
a single case in which a jurisdiction is given to
the General Government. That is, where anything
but gold or silver is made a lawful tender,
or the obligation of contracts is any otherwise
impaired. The separate legislatures had
so often abused that power, that the citizens
themselves chose to trust it to the general
rather than to their own special authorities.—
To William Johnson. Washington ed. vii, 296.
Ford ed., x, 231.
(M.
1823)
