The republic. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1849-1853, 1851-05-29
ENGIksn REPORTS IN LAW AND

ENGlIsn REPoRTs IN Law AND
EQUITY.
ProposoIs by LITTLE & BRowN, ll2 Warrington
street, Bosfon for publishing BY subscription nsso
series Of LaU and Equity Reports.
TINE want Of some system by which the decisions
i and judicial opinions Of 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 &C
knowledged. To meet similar want in England,
the "Lato Journal Reports" and "1hs Juvist,"
which, together, report decisions in all the Courts n
Lap and Equity, within a few weeks after their
delivery, were commenced number of years
since, and have met with the universal approba-
ton OF the legal profession. Their high cost, how
ever, has hitherto prevented their general circu-
lation in this country, and their merits as yet
but little known among US.
The subscribers propose to republish these re-
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 Exchequcr 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 or
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-
ferenccs to analogous American decisions.
Each number will consist of over three hundred
pages closely printed octave, on the best paper and
In clear fair type, and will contain table Of cases,
and full table of contents, thus forming a COM
pletc volume by itself, as we'll part OF an en-
tire series Every alternate or second number will
be PACED consecutivcly from the number imme-
datcly preceding and will contain table Of cases,
and Of contents to both, and thus form a complete
volume, ready for binding, of hundred pages.
In each volume the Of the several courts will
be found arranged together, and, in point of style
and roHl.t~ tfnv. -
fully equal to the best reports of England or this
country.
tits designed to make this PERMANENT PUBL
CATION, and thus establish 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 too years before they
could otherwise be obtained and long before the pub
LEGATION OF the contemporaneous decisions of most
of our own tribunals
The price of this publication will be $40 for
twelve numbers, payable in advance, for the six
volumes, handsomely and uniformly bound in law
sheep, $l2
The parts will be sold separately. if desired, at
s each.
Single volume, bound, So 25.
Parts i. 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 the publication Of the first num-
Letter from Hon. lIlard Fillmore, Presidents of the
WAsHINGroN, April l3, 1851.
JAMES BnowN, ESQ.,: MY Dean SIR-Some days
since received, by the hand of the Postmaster
General, the frat number Of the English Reports,
comprising every case reported in England; and
now have your letter of the 9th instant inquiring
my. opinion Of the enterprise.
While pursuing my profession, took deep in.
xa.o vx,xl,l tpv&o cEt Ls.xA a1,l
judges who have adorned the judicial tribunals of
England, have shed lustre upon the Common
Law, and illumined it's profoundest 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 a ' condensed" form. This condemnation;
however, consisted, not in an abbreviation of each
case, but a selection from the several cases. and
was often annoyed by finding reference to cases
in the Digests. which deemed very important,
wholly omitted in the "condSnsed reports.'
therefore hailed with great pleasure an effort which
made some time since to republish the whole.
II the English Reports entire, can be republished
with despatch in this country, at price low as
to bring them within the reach of the members of
the bar generally, conceive that it will confer
great benefit upon tho 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
servant, WILLARD FILLMORE.
From the Nep York Literary World.
Messrs. Little & Brown, of Boston, whose law
books, in point OF typographical execution, vie
with the best similar issues Of the English press,
and in point Of value and importance are inferior
to none in this country, have just commenced the
publication Of legal scrics 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 Lao Journal Reports and
the Jurist, 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
country, for the purpose OF obviating the delay
which necessarily attends the issuing Of the rcgu
lar volumes Of reports Of particular courts and
we are glad to see the enterprise of our legal pub
fishers avaing themselves Of it, to introduce the
English Reports promptly and regularly to the pro-
cssion The authority of Westminster Hall has lost
nothing of its sanction and the permanently high
character of the English judiciary gives to their
iuence 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 was no way in which the current jurispru-
dence and adjudications of the day in the English
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 cases decided in the
Queens Bench, the Common Pleas, and the Ex-
chcquer Chamber in January, will be ready for de-
livery here in April or May. long before adjudged
of the same date in our own courts appear in
the regular reports in which they are perpetuatcd
Nearly two years will thus be gained 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 of the present series ia, that the
decisions which it gives are those of courts in banc,
the deliberate judgments of the bench, and 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 E. H. Bennett and
Chauncy Smith, csqs., of the Boston bar. and their
systematic arrangement, and the care with which
the notes, index, &C., are prepared, evidence the
thorough manner in which the proposed series will
be carried out
In this connection we take pleasure in adverting
to Messrs. Little and Browns other legal publica-
vti incl, dod