ted.

The Court in its decision followed the reasoning of the Cummings
case and held the law invalid, as applied to the exercise of the
petitioner's right to practice his profession; that such right was
not a mere indulgence, a matter of grace and favor, revocable at the
pleasure of the Court, or at the command of the legislature; but was
a right of which the petitioner could be deprived only by the judgment
of the Court for moral or professional delinquency. The Court also
held that the pardon of the petitioner released him from all penalties
and disabilities attached to the offence of treason committed by his
participation in the rebellion, and that, so far as that offence was
concerned, he was placed beyond the reach of punishment of any kind.
But to exclude him by reason of that offence--that is, by requiring
him to take an oath that he had never committed it--was to enforce
a punishment for it notwithstanding the pardon; and that it was not
within the constitutional power of Congress thus to inflict punishment
beyond the reach of executive clemency.

I had the honor to deliver the opinion of the Court in these
cases--the Cummings case and the Garland case. At the present day both
opinions are generally admitted to be sound, but when announced they
were received by a portion of the Northern Press with apparent
astonishment and undisguised condemnation. It is difficult to appreciate
at this day the fierceness with which the majority of the Court was
assailed. That majority consisted of Justices Wayne, Nelson, Grier,
Clifford, and myself. I was particularly taken to task, however, as it
was supposed--at least I can only so infer from the tone of the
Press--that because I had been appointed by Mr. Lincoln, I was under
some sort of moral obligation to support all the measures taken by the
States or by Congress during the war. The following, respecting the
opinion in the Garland case, from the editor of the _Daily Chronicle_,
of Washington, to the _Press_, of Philadelphia, under date of January
16, 1867, is moderate in its language compared with what appeared in
many other journals:

"Dred Scott Number Three has just been enacted in the Supreme
Court of the United States, Justice Field, of California,
taking the leading part as the representative of the majority
decision against the constitutionality of the iron-clad
test-oath, to prevent traitors from practicing before that
high tribunal. I u