The republic. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1849-1853, 1851-11-21
ENGLISH REPORTS IN LAW AND
EQUITY.


yTNHE want of some system by which the decisions
A and judicial opinions oil the several Courts OF
Law and Equity in England can be more prompt
ly and cheaply furnished to the legal profession in
this country has long been seriously felt and ac-
knowledged. To meet similar want in Engan
the "Lalo Journal Reports" and The Jupfst, y
which, together report decisions in all The Courts an
Ia,o aud Equity, within few weeks after their
delivery were commenced number OF years
since, and have met with the universal approoa-
ton Of the legal profession. Their high cost, now
ever has hitherto prevented their general clrcu-
lation in this country, and their merits are as yet
but little known among us.
ports in full as fast as they appear In England and
can be received here. They will contain reports
of cases decided in the House of Lords, the Privy
Council the several Courts of Equity, the Court OF
Queens Bench, the Court of Common Pleas, the
Court of Exchequer and Exchequer Chamber, the
Ecclesiastical and Admiralty Courts, the Court OF
Bankruptcy, including also the Election cases, the
Crown Cases Reserved, and the Railway and Canal
Cases
These reports will be published in numbers
parts, commencing with the decisions of Michael
mas (November) term, 1850, and will be carefully
edited by member of the bar, with notes and re-
ferences TO analogous American decisions.
Each number will consist of over three hundred
pages closely printed octave on the bestpaper, and
in clear fair type, and will contain table OF cases.
and full table of contents, thus forming n COM
pete volume by itself, well as a part OF an en-
tire series. Every alternate or second number VIII
be PACED consecutivey from the number imme-
diatey preceding, and will contain table Of cases.
and Of contents to both, and thus form complete
volume, ready for binding, of oUer Sirhndred pages
IN each volume the cases Of the several courts will
be found arranged together and, In point OF style
and typographical execution, this series will be
fully equal TO the best reports OF England or this
country.
tits designed to make this PERMANENT PUBL
CATION, and thus establish nelo series of English
Law and Equity Reports, which shall, In all re-
spects be far in advance of any other reprint Of
English Reports in this country, and which shall
furnish to the American lawyer the decisions OF
Westminster Hall, nearly tioo gears before they
could otherwise be obtained and long before the pub
lcation of the contemporaneous decisions OF most
of our own tribunals
The price of this publication will be so for
twelve numbers payable in advance, or for the six
volumes, handsomely and uniformly bound in law
sheep, $l2.
The parts will be sold separately, il desired, at
81 each.
Singie volume, bound, So 25
Parts l. and H., stitched, or Vol. l., bound in law
sheep, containing reports OF one hundred and
eighty-eight cases, now ready for delivery.
The following are among the opinions OF this
work expressed on the publication of the first num-
Der:
Letter from Hon Willard Fillmore, President of The
United States.
WAsHINeToN, April Is 1851.
JAMES BRowN, ESQ., My DEAR SIR-Some days
since | received, by the hand of the Postmaster
General the first number of the English Reports,
which you propose to repubsh in this country,
comprising every case reported in England; and !
now have your letter of the 9Th instant, inquring
my opinion of the enterprise.
While pursuing my profession, took deep in
terest in publications of this kind The able
judges who have adorned the judicial tribunals OF
En gland, have shed lustre upon the Common
Law, and illumined its proioundest depths | CON
slider no law library complete that does not contain
their principal reports in Law and Equity, and in
their Ecclesiastical Courts, and in Admiralty. For
some years had been in the habit of receiving
these in condensed form This condensation,
however, consisted, not in an abbreviaton of each
case, but selection from the several cases, and
was often annoyed by finding reference to cases
in the Dgests. which l deemed very important,
wholly omitted in the "c0adersed reports"
therefore hailed with great Pleasure effort which
made some time since to republish the whole
If the English Reports entire, can be republished
with despatch in this country, at price so low as
to bring them within the reach of the members OF
the bar generally, conceive that it will confer
great benefit upon the profession and the judiciary
and consequently upon the country at large. Know
ing your enterprise, anticipate your success, and
can only express the hope that your reward may
be equal to your merits | atn your obedient
servant, WILLARD FILLMORE.
From the Neto York Literary rVorld.
Messrs. Little s. Brown, OF Boston, whose law
books, in point of typographical execution, vie
with the best similar issues of the English press,
SOD in point Of value and importance are inferior
publication of legal serics, deserving the especial
attention of the profession throughout the country
The basis of this series, of which the first num-
Der is before us, the Lato Journal Reports and
the Juyist, two English serials which communicate
TO the British Bar, within few weeks after their
delivery, the prominent decisions of all the courts,
from the House of Lords to the Court of Bankrupt
cy, and other tribunals of limited but practically
important jurisdiction. This excellent arrange
Inent might be followed with great adyantagein this
country, for the purpose of obviating the delay
which necessarily attends the issuing of the regu-
lar volumes OF reports Of particular courts and
glad to see the enterprise of our legal pub
fishers avalng themselves of it, to introduce the
English Reports promptly and regularly to the pro-
fession. The authority OF Westminster Hall has lost
nothing Of its sanction ; and the permanently high
character OF the English judiciary gives to their
adjudications a continued weight and decisive in
fiuence with courts. Hitherto the difficulty has
been that the reported cases there have grown old
before they could be quoted and applied here, and
there no way in which the current urispru-
dence and adjudicatons of the day in the En- glsh
courts could be made available by the American
bar, except at great expense and by continual vigil
lance. This difficulty Messrs. Little & Browns
Reports will remove; the decided in the
Queens Bench, the Common Pleas, and the Ex
chequer Chamber in January, will be ready for de-
livery here IN April or May, long before adiudged
cases of the same date in own courts appear in
the regular reports in which they are perpetuated
Nearly two years will THUG be gained over the pre-
sent system, which requires delay until the large
volume of authorized reports is published on the
other side and has then been reprinted on this.
One advantage oil the present series is, that the
decisions which il gives those of courts in banc
the deliberate judgments of the bench, and not the
less reliable decisions at Nisi Prius, which, how
ever interesting in many instances do not carry
with them the same authority and force.
The Reports edited by Z. H. Bennett and
Chauncy Smith, csqs., of the Boston bar, and their
systematic arrangement, and the with which
the notes, index, &c, are prepared, evidence the
thorough manner in which the proposed series will
be carried out
In this connexion We take pleasure in adverting
to Messrs. Little and Browns other legal publica.
tions, among which are included many ofthe most
conspicuous and authoritative treatises of our uris-
prudence. Judge Story's works, for ming library
almost OF themselves and familiar for their high
value and extensive reputation TO American read
era in general, as well as to the legal profession,
have all issued from their press; have also the
several works OF Professor Grcenleaf Two very
valuable and extensive annual publications are also
issued by them, the United States Digest and the
Statutes at Large; the latter being the authorized
edition Of the Acts of Congress, got up in much
better style, both for reference and preservation
than under the old regime OF public printing at
Washington, which included the annual statutes
and sent them forth to the world on thin paper and
in bad type.
From the Neto York Evening Post.
n N