by John Marshall

“ The establishment of the lottery thus drawn can be attended with no pernicious consequence. The transaction was, throughout, perfectly fair; and if the managers have committed an error, it was unintentional, and unimportant. The affirmance of their acts can furnish no inducement to the repetition of the same mistakes, nor any motive for misconduct of any description. But let it be settled, that the absence of a blank at the conclusion of a lottery shall vitiate the whole transaction, and it is not difficult to perceive how frequently motives may exist for producing that state of things. ”

“ If the ticket which was first drawn in fact, ought to be considered as entitled to the prize, as was first decided by the managers, then no irregularity whatever took place in their proceedings with regard to this ticket, and this objection is clearly at an end. If the last decision of the managers was right, still there was no irregularity in the drawing, unless the ticket No. 623 ought to have been restored to the wheel, and have taken its chance for a blank or a prize. We are not satisfied that the managers ought to have taken this course. ”

“ It appears to have been one of those unimportant incidents, which, having been found to be accidental, ought not to have so essential and so disquieting an effect as unsettling all that had been done would have. ”