The republic., 1851-06-09
ENGLISH REPORTS IN LAW AND
EQUITY.

Prop0saIs by LITTLE x BRowH, liz Waahingt0n
street Soston, for publishing by subscription ns0
series Of Lao and Equity Reports
1VHE want of some system by which the decisions
l. and judicial opinions Of the several Courts of
Law and Equity in England can be more prompt
" and cheaply furnished to the legal profession ia
this country, has long been seriously felt and ac-
knowledged. To meet similar want in England,
the "LGD Journal Reports" and sIhe Jurist,"
which, together, report decisions in all the Courts
Lao and Equity, within 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-
Iation IN this country and their merits are as yet
but little known among US.
The subscribers propose to republish these re-
ports IN ul as last rs they appear in England and
can be received here. They will contain reports
of cases decided in the House of Lords the Priyy
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 notcs 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 a full table Of contents, thus forming q COM
plete volume by itself, as well as a part Of an en-
tire series. Every alternate second number will
be PACED consecutively from the number imme-
dately 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
be found arranged together and, in point Of style
and typographical execution, this series will be
fully equal to the beat reports of England this
country.
lis designed to make this PERMANENT PUBL
sk,,-
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 tioo gears before they
could otericse be obtained, and long before the pub
lcation 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, $l2.
The parts will be sold separately, if desired, at
$ each.
Single volume, bound, So 25.
Parts !. and H., stitched, or Vol. l., bound in law
sheep, containing reports of hundred and
eighty eight cases, now ready for delivery.
The following are among the opinions Of this
Def
Letter from Hon. Miard Fillmore, President Of the
United States.
WAsHINGroN, 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 repubsh in this country,
comprising every case reported in England; and
now have your letter of the 9th instant, nquiring
my opinion Of the enterprise.
While pursuing my profession, took q 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 itsProfoundest depths. Icon
Il. IL loAo tkckI
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 an abbreviaton of each
Gaze, but 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 effort which
was made some time since to republish the whole.
If the English Reports entire, be rcpublished
with despatch in this country, at price SO low as
to bring them within the reach of the mcmbers 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, aud
can only express the hope that your reward may
be equal to your merits. ! am your obedent
servant, MlLLARD FILLMORE.
From the Ne,o 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 series, deserving the especa,
attention of the profession throughout the country.
The basis of this series, of which the fret num-
Der ia before US, are the Lato 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
s,,~,r
ment might be followed with great advantagein 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
lishcrs availing Themselves off to introduce the
English Reports promptly and reguarlyto 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
ndjudications continued weight and decisive in
huence with our courts. Hitherto the difficulty has
been that the reported casea thcre have grown old
before they could be quoted and applied here and
there no way In 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 Ex
cheauer Chamber in January, will DO ready for de-
livery here In April or May, long before adjudged
of the same date in own 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 ia, that the
decisions which 1t gives those of courts in banc
the deliberate judgments of the bench, and not the
less reliable decisions at Nisj Prius, which, how
ever interesting in many instances, do not carry
with them the same authority and force.
The Reports are edited 6y H. H. Hcnnctt and
Chapncy 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 advcrting
TO Messrs. Little and Browns other legal publica-
tions, among which are included many Of the most
conspicuous and authoritative treascs of our uris-
prudence. Judge Story's works, for ning a library
almost OF themselves, and familiar for their high
value and extensive reputation to American read
ers in general, as we'll to the legal profession
have all issued from their prcss; have also the
several works OF Professor Grcenleaf Two very
valuable and extensive nnua publicationa are asn