Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar

“ On the faith of a construction thus adopted, rights of property grow up which ought not to be ruthlessly swept aside, unless some great public measure, benefit, or right, is involved, or unless the construction itself is manifestly incorrect. ”

“ But it has been well settled that, when a plain official duty, requiring no exercise of discretion, is to be performed, and performance is refused, any person who will sustain personal injury by such refusal may have a mandamus to compel its performance; and when such duty is threatened to be violated by some positive official act, any person who will sustain personal injury thereby, for which adequate compensation cannot be had at law, may have an injunction to prevent it. In such cases, the writs of mandamus and injunction are somewhat correlative to each other. ”

“ We think there were strong reasons for the view taken by the board of land commissioners that the phrase, 'including the payment of the twenty per centum of the purchase price,' had reference to a condition prescribed by the act of 1870; and that what the legislature intended thereby was that all applications should be void in which the applicant had not paid the 20 per centum of the price, in accordance with the terms of the act of 1870. ”

“ Justice MATTHEWS, referring to the class of cases in which it had been adjudged that the suit was against state officers in their private capacity, and not against the state, said: 'The vital principle in all such cases is that the defendants, though professing to act as officers of the state, are threatening a violation of the personal or property rights of the complainant, for which they are personally and individually liable. ”

“ That the various acts of the general asembly of Virginia passed for the purpose of restraining the use of said coupons for the payment of taxes and other dues to the state, and imposing impediments and obstructions to that use, and to the proceedings instituted for establishing their genuineness, do in many respects impair the obligation of that contract, and cannot be held to be valid or binding in so far as they have that effect. ”