The republic. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1849-1853, 1851-06-25

BQU1YY.
Pyoposals By LirrLr = BsowN, liz Wssk;ngse~
street., Bost0n, for pslbIiahing by subs(ypeoN eoD
series Of Lasc and Equity Repwts.
THE want Of some system by which the deoisions
i and judicial opinions Of the several Courts Of
Law and Equity in England can be more prompt
this country. has long been seriously felt and
knowledged. To meet similar want in England,
the "LaiD Journal Reports," and "Ixs Jurist,"
which, together report decisions in al The Courts IN
Lap and Equity, within q few weeks after their
delivery, were commenced a 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-
Iation in this country, and their merits are yet
but little known among Us.
The Subscribers propose to Republican these re-
ports in full as fast az they appear in England and
Ct Be e. Hasy s
Council, u raj Courts Of Equity, the Court Of
Queens B6lI the Court of Common Pleas, the
Court of Exchequer and Exchcquer Chamber, the
Ecclesiastical and Admiralty Courts, the Court Of
Bankruptcy, including also the Election cases. the
Crown Gases 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, aud will be carefully
edited by member of the bar, with notes aud re-
ferences to analogous American decisions.
Each number will consist of over three hundred
pages closely printed octavo on the best paper and
in clear, fair type. and will contain table Of cases,
and full table Of contents, thus forming COM
plete volume by itself, well . part Of an en-
tire SERIES Every alternate or second number will
be PACED consccutively from the number imme-
daely preceding and will contain table Of cases,
and Of contents to both, and thus form,a complete
volume, ready for binding, Of op0 sir hundred pages
In each volume the 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.
CATION and thus establish nei1 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
Westminster Hall, nearly too years before they
could othertoise be obtained, and ongbefore the pub
hcation OF the contemporaneous decisions OF most
of our own tribunals
The price of this publication will be $40 for
twelve numbers, payable in advance, or for the six
volumes, handsomely aad uniformly bound in law
sheep, $12.
The parts will be sold separately, if desired, at
$ | each.
Single volume, bound So 25.
Parts L. and H., sttched, or Vol. l., bound in law
sheep, containing reports OF one hundred and
lightweight 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. Millard Fillmore, President of the
United States.
wAsHrNoroN, April 10, 1851.
JAMES BRowN, esq: MY Dean SIR-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 i
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 judicialtribunals of
England. have shed lustre upon the Common
Law, and illumined its profoundest depths. Icon
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 abbreviation of each
case, but a selection from the several cases, and
in the Digests. which deemed very important,
wholly omitted in the "condensed reports"
therefore hailed with great pleasure effort which
was made some time since to republish the whole.
If the English Reports entire, can be republishcd
with despatch in this country, at price 90 low
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. ! am your obedient
servant, WILLARD FILLMORE.
From the New York Literary World.
Messrs. Little s. Brown, of Boston, whose law
books, in point Of typographical execution, vic
with the best similar issues OF the English prcss,
and in point of value and importance are inferior
to none in this country, have just commenced the
publication Of legal series, 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 LGiU Journal Reports and
the Jusist, 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
msnt might be followed with great advantagein this
country, for the purpose OF obviating the delay
which necessarily attends the issuing Of the rcgu
lar volumes Of reports of particular courts and
glad to see the enterprise of our legal pub
lshers availing themselves OF it, to introduce the
English Reports promptly and regularly to the pro-
fcssion. 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
fucnce with our courts. Hitherto the difficulty has
been that the reported cases thcre have grown old
before they could bequoted and applied here, and
there was no way in which the current jurispru-
dence and adjudicatons 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-
chequer Chamber in January, will be ready for de-
livery here in April or May, long before adjudged
cases of the same date in our own courts appear in
Nearly two years will thus 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 of the present series s, that the
decisions which it 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 instance5, do not carry
with them the same authority and force.
The Reports are edited BY E. II. Bennett and
Chauncy Smith, esq.,, of the Boston bar. and their
Systematic arrangement, and the care with which
the notes, index, &C., 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-
tons, among which are included many of the most
Conspicuous and authoritative reatises of juris
prudence. Judge Story's works, for ming library
almost Of themselves, and familiar for their high
crs in general, as we'll as to the legal profession,
have all issued from their press; as have also the