The republic. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1849-1853, 1851-11-27
ENGLISH REPORTS IN LAW AND
EnWTWmV

and judicial opinions of the several Courts Of
Law and Equity in England can be more prompt
Nv and cheaply furnished 10 the legal profession in
this country, has long been seriously felt and ac-
knowledged. To meet a similar want IN England,
the ''LaIp Journal Reports" and '1he Jtrrlst,"
which together, report decisions In all the Courts IN
Laip aud Eqtafu 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 hlgh cost now
ever, has hitherto prevented their general circu-
laton in this country, and their merits are as yet
but little known among u.s.
The subscribers propose to republlsh these re-
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
Gases.
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-
ferences 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 COM
pete volume by itself, as well as part OF an en-
tire series Every alternate or second number will
be PACED consecutvely from the number immc-
diately preceding and will contain table OF cases,
and of contents TO both, and thus form complete
volume ready for binding, of ouer siI hundred 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.
Its designed to make this PERMANENT PUBL
CATION, and thus establish a series of English
Law and Equity Reports, which shall, in all
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
The price of this publication will be $40 for
twelve numbers, payable in advance or for the six
volumes, handsomely and uniformly bound in law
sheep, Sl2.
The parts will be sold separately, il desired, at
S each.
Sings volume, bound, So %.
Parts /. 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
Der:
Letter from Hon Millard Fillmore, President of the
United States
WAsHINaToS, April l3 1851.
JAMES BRowN, ESQ: My DEAR SlR-Some days
since / received, by the hand of the Postmaster
General, the first number of the English Reports
which you propose to republish in this country,
comprising every case reported in England; and
have your letter of the 9th instant, inquiring
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
England, have shed lustre upon the Common
Law, and illumined its 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 SO condensed form. This condensation,
however, consisted not in an abbreviation of each
case, but a selection from the several cases, and
often annoyed by finding reference to cases
in the Digests. which / deemed very important, |
wholly omitted in the "condensed reports.o
therefore hailed with great pleasure effort which
was made some t)me since to republish the whole. |
If the English Reports entire, can be republished |
with despatch in this country, price 30 low as
to bring them within the reach of the members of !
the bar generally, conceive that it will confer a
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. / your obedient
servant. WILLARD FILLMORE.
From the Nelr York Literary JForld.
Messrs. Little & Brown, Of Boston, whose law
with the best similar issues of the English press,
and IN point Of value and importance inferior
TO none IN this country, have just commenced the
publication of legal series, deserving the especa!
The basis of this series, of which the first mum
Der is before US, the Lato Journal Reports and
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 |
ment might be followed with great advantage in ths
country, for the purpose of obviating the delay |
which necessarily attends the issuing of the regu
lar volumes OF reports OF particular courts and |
we are glad to see the enterprise Of our legal pub
lishers availing themselves of it, introduce the
English Reports promptly and regularly to the pro-
fesson. The authority of Westminster Hall has lost
nothing Of its sanction and the permanently high
character OF the English judiciary gives TO their
authorizations 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 was no way in which the current iurispru-
dence and adjsdications 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 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 adjudged
of the same date in our own courts appear in
the regular reports in which they are perpetuated
Nearly two years will thus be gained over the pre-.
cent 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 is that the
decisions which it gives those of in barc
the deliberate Judgments Of the bench and not the
fess reliable decisions at Nisi Prius, which, how
SfSI lilltISrAitAS lHbldnCes 90 not carry
with them the same authority and force.
The Reports edited BY E. II. Bennett and |
Chauncy Smith, esqs., Of the Boston bar, and their
systematic arrangement, and the care with which
the noies, index, &c. are prepared, evidence the |
thorough manner IN which the proposed series viii
be carried out
Ia this connexion we take pleasure in adverting
TO Messrs Little and Browns other legal publica
tions, among which are included many of the most
conspicuous and authoritative trease5 Of our uris
prudence. Judge Storys works, for ming library
almost Of themselves and familiar for their high |
value and extensive reputation to American read
ers in general, as we'll az to the legal profession
have all Issued from their press; have alec the
several works OF Professor Greenleaf Two very
valuable and extensive annual publications ire 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 al
Washington, which included the annual statutes
and sent them forth to the world thin paper and
in bad type
From the NetD York EUening Post
Little & Brown, of Boston, to whose enterprise I
IL IL. -. n