I  am  now,  may  it  please  your  Honors,  obliged  to  call  the  atten-
tion of  the  Court  to  a  very  improper  paper,  in  relation  to  this  case,
which  was  published  in  the  Official  Journal  of  the  Executive  Ad-
ministration, on  the  very  day  of  the  meeting  of  this  Court,  and  in-
troduced wiih  a  commendatory  notice  by  the  editor,  as  the  produc-
tion of  one  of  the  brightest  intellects  of  the  South.  1  know  not
who  is  the  author,  but  it  appeared  with  that  almost  official  sanc-
tion, on  the  day  of  meeting  of  this  Court.  It  purports  to  be  a  re-
view of  the  present  case.  The  writer  begins  by  referring  to  the  de-
cision of  the  District  Court,  and  says  the  case  is  "  one  of  the  deep-
est  importance  to  the  southern  states."  I  ask,  may  it  please  your
Honors,  is  that  an  appeal  to  JUSTICE  ?  What  have  the  southern
states  to  do  with  the  case,  or  what  has  the  case  to  do  with  the
southern  states!  The  case,  as  far  as  it  is  known  to  the  courts  of
this  country,  or  cognizable  by  them,  presents  points  with  which
the  southern  states  have  nothing  to  do.  It  is  a  question  of  slave-
ry and  freedom  between  foreigners;  of  the  lawfulness  or  unlaw-
ness  of  the  African  slave  trade  ;  and  has  not,  when  properly  con-
sidered, the  remotest  connection  with  the  interests  of  the  south-
ern states.
