The republic. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1849-1853, 1851-07-02

seTieS " LGto and Equity Reports.
TINHE want of come system by which the decisions
IL and Judicial opinions of the several Courts of
Law and Equity in England can be more prompt
y and cheaply furnished TO the legal profession in
this country, has long been seriously felt and ac-
knowledged. To meet similar want in England,
the "LGlD Journal Reports" and "1hs Jlrist -
which, together, report decisions in all the Courts in
Lao and Equity, within few weeks after their
delivery, 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-
ation in this country, and their merits are as yet
but little known among US.
The subscribers propose to republish these re-
ports in full fast they appear in England and
can be received here. They will contain reports
of cases decided in the House of Lords, the Prvy
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 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-
ierences to analogous American decisions.
Each number will consist of over three hundred
pages closely printed octave, the best paper and
in clear, fair type, and will contain table of cases,
and full table of contents, thus forming n com
| plete volume by itself, as well as part of
| tire SERIES Every alternate or second number will
| be PACED consecutively from the number imme-
daely preceding, and will contain table of cases,
and Of contents TO both, and thus form complete
volume, ready for binding of 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.
! tits designed to make this PERMANENT PuBLI-
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 tto0 gears before they
could 0thertcse 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, or for the six
| volumes, handsomely and uniformly bound in law
sheep, Sl2.
The parts will be sold separately, if desired, at
| 81 each.
| Single volume, bound, 50 %.
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 num-
Letter from Hon. DIilIard Fillmore, President of the
United States
WAsHINGToN, April l3, 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 republish in this country
comprising every case reported in England; and
now have your letter of the 9th instant, inquirng
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 lustrc upon the Common
Law, and umned 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 cOuQelSPQ'
however, consisted, not in abbreviation of each
case, but selection from the several cases, and
often annoyed by finding reference to cases
in the Digests, which deemed very important,
wholly omitted in the g condensed reports.' |
therefore hailed with great pleasure effort which
was made some time since to republish the whole.
If the English Reports entire, 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 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. l am your obedient |
servant, WILLARD FILLMORE.
From the Nero York Literary Uorld.
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 inferior
to none i'll 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, are the LaW Journal Reports and
the Jlrist, 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
nent mil ht be followed with great advantage in 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
| oral h.
fishers availing themselves of it, to 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 oil the English judiciary gives to their
adjudications a continued weight and decisive in
fluencc 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 way in which the current urispru-
dence and adiudicatons of the day in the En- glish
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 Elk
chequer Chamber in January, will be ready for de-
livery here in April May, long before adjudged
cases of the same date in courts appear in
the regular reports in which they perpetuated.
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 is that the
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 E. II. Bennett and
Chauncy Smith, esqs., 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 conncxon VIC take pleasure in adverting
to Messrs Little and Browns other legal publca
| tions, among which are included many of the most
conspicuous and authoritative treatses of jurs
| prudence Judge Story's 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 as to the legal profession,
have all issued from their press as have also the
several works of Professor Grcenleaf Two very
valuable and extensive annual publications are also
issued by them, the United States Digest aud the
Statutes al 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