Henry Billings Brown

“ The supreme court held that the determination of the case depended upon the question whether it was made by this law the imperative duty of the commissioner of the land office to sell all isolated and detached sections and parts of sections of the public free school lands to the first applicant without regard to their classification ”

“ Rep. 80, that we have no jurisdiction of a writ of error to a state court upon the ground that the obligation of a contract has been impaired, when the validity of the statute under which the contract is made is admitted, and the only question is as to the construction of the statute by that court ”