The republic. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1849-1853, 1851-07-01
ENcLIsH REPORTS IN Law AND


Law and Equity in England can be more prompt
y and cheapy furnished to the legal profession il
this country, has long been seriously felt and &c
: knowledged To meet similar want in En- GLAND
the "Ldio Journal Reports" and "Ihe JIrist,
which, together, report decisions in all the Courts ~
I-aic and Equity, within few weeks after theii
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
lotion In this country, and their merits are as YET
but little known among us.
The subscribers propose to rcpublish these re-
ports in full fast they appear in England and
can be received here. They will contain report.
of cases decided in the House of Lords, the Privy
Council, the several Courts of Equity the Court oil
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 Cana
Cases
These reports will be published in numbers or
parts, commencing with the decisions of Michael
mas (Noycmber) term, 1850 and will be carefully
edited by member of the bar, with notes and re-
! terences 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 com
pletc volume by itself, well as n part Of an en-
tire series Every alternate or second number will
| be paged ,con5ecutively from the number imme-
diately preceding, and will contain table of cases.
and OF contents to both, and thus form a complete
volume, ready for binding, of ouer hundred pages
IN each volume the cases of the several courts will
he found arranged together, and in point of style
and typographical execution this series will be
fully equal to the best reports Of England this
country.
! Its designed 70 make this a PERMANENT pupLI-
! CATION, and thus establish 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 she decisions of
! WpatmInstGr nCnrlV ~ bef OTpf HefJ
could otherwise be obtained and long before the pub
licaton OF the contemporRncous decisions Of most
! of our tribunals
The price of this publication will be $40 for
| twelve numbers, payable in advance, or for the six
yolumes, handsomely AID uniformly bound in law
sheep, Sl2.
The parts will be sold separately if desired, at
| 81 each.
| Single voluyne bound, 50 25
! Parts |. and H., stitched, VOL L., bound in law
sheep, containing reports OF one hundred and
eighty eight cases, now ready for delivery.
| The following among the opinions of THE
work expressed the publication of the first num-
| Der;
Letter from Hon. DTlard Fillmore, President Of the
United States.
| WAsHINeToN, April IS, 1851.
JAMES BRowN, Esq: MY DEAR SlR-Somc 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
my opinion ofthe enterprise
While pursuing my profession, took a deep in
terest III publications of this kind. The able
Judges who have adorned the judicial tribunals of
England, have shed usire upon the Common
Law, and iilunined its proioundest depths. con-
slider no law library complete that does not contain
their principal reports in Law and Equity, and in
their Eccle5iastical Courts, and in Admiralty For
some years had been in tho habit of receiving
these in coadensed' form. This condensation
however, consisted, not IN an abbreviaion of each
Gaze, but selection from the several cases, and
was often annoyed by fndlng reference to cases
in the Digests, which ] deemed very important,
wholly omitted IN the "condensed rcports."
therefore hailed with great pleasure effort which
was made some time since to republish the whole.
II the English Reports entire, can be repubished
with despatch III 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 | am your obedient
servant WILLARD FILLMORE
From he Ne,o York Literary JVorld
Messrs Little s Brown, of Boston, whose law
books, in point Of typographical execution, vie
with the beet similar Issues of the English press,
and i'll point Of value and importance 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 Lato Journal Reports and
the Jnist, two English,scrials 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
ment might be followed with great advantage in this
country for the purpose OF obviatng 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 awaiting themselves ofit to introduce the
English Reports promptly and regularly TO the pro-
tession. The authority OF Westminster Hall has lost
nothing of its sanction ; and the permanently high
character of the English judiciary gives to their
authorizations continued weight and decisive in
huence with our 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 III which the current iurispru-
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 Elk
chequcr Chamber in january, will be ready for de-
livery here in April or May, long before adjudged
cases of the eaIne date in courts appear in
the regular reports in which they are 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
decisions which it gives are those of courts in bdnc
less reliable decisions at Nisi Prtus, which, how
ever interesting i'll many instances, do not carry
with them the same authority and force.
The Reports edited by +. IL. Bennett and
Chauncy Smith, esqs, 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 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 trcatises ofour uris
prudence. Judge Story's works, for ming library
almost OF themselves, and familiar for their high
value and extensive reputation to American reed
era in general, as well to the legal profession,
have all issued from their press; have also the
several works OF Professor Greenleaf. 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 CongresT, got up in much
better style, both for reference and preservation
than under the old regime OF public printing at
Washing ton, which included the annual statutes,
IL. I.-I Il 4 A