The republic. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1849-1853, 1851-09-15
THE REPUBLIC.
ENGLISH REPORTS IN LAW AND
Equity.

Proposals by LITTLE q Brown, liz WaMtAStnl
street. Boston, for publishing By subscriptions neo
series of Lato and Equity Reports.
TINE want of some 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 "Lal0 Journal Reports" and the Ji"ist,
which, together report decisions In all the Courts an
/ Lao aud Equity, within lew weeks after thelr
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 clrcu-
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 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 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 a 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 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 as u part of an en-
tire series Every alternate or second number Will
| be PACED consecutvely from the number imme-
diately preceding, and will contain table OF cases,
and Of contents to both, and thus form q complete
volume, ready for bnding of ooer sac hundred pages
In each volume the of the several courts Will
be found arranged together and, in point of style
! and pographical execution, this series will be
! fully equal to the best reports OF England or this
country
Its designed to make this a PERMANENT PUBL
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 tico gears before they
could oeloss 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 go for
twelve numbers, payable in advance, or for the six
volumes, handsomely AID uniformly bound In law
sheep, $l2.
The parts Will be sold separately, ii desired, AT
s each.
Single volume, bound, So %.
Parts /. and H., stitched, VOL l., bound in law
sheep, containing reports of one hundred and
eighty cases, now ready for delivery.
The following among the opinions OF this
work expressed on the publication of the first num-
Der:
Letter from Hon. Milard Fillmore, President of the
United States.
WAsHNGToN, April 10, 1851.
JAMES BRowN, ESQ: My DEAR SIRASome days
since | received, by the hand of the Postmaster
General the first number of the English Reports,
which you propose to repubish in this country,
comprising every case reported In England and
now have your letter of the 9th instant, inquiring
nay opinion of the enterprise.
While pursuing my profession, / took deep in
terest in publications of this kind. The able
iudges 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 a condensed" form. This condensation,
however, consisted, not in an abbrevaton of each
case, but selection from the several cases, and
often annoyed by finding reference to cases
in the Dgests, which | deemed very important
wholly omitted in the CONDENSED reports" |
therefore hailed with great pleasure an effort which
was made some time since to repubish the whole
If the English Reports entire, can be republished
with despatch in this country, at price so low
to bring them within the reach of the members of
the bar generally, conceive that it will confer
great benefit upon the profession andthe 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 obedent
servant, WILLARD FILLMORE.
From the Ne,o York Literary Uold.
Messrs. Little & Brown, of Boeton, whose law
books, in point of typographical execution, vic
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 especial
attention of the profession throughout the country
The basis of this SERIES of which the first num-
Der is before u.s. the Latc 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
! important jurisdiction This excellent arrange
ment might be followed with great advantagei 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
we are glad to the enterprise of our legal pub
fishers availing themselves of it, to introduce the
English Reports promptly and regularly to the pro-
fession The authority of Westminster Hall has lost
nothing of It's sanction and the permanently high
| character OF the English judiciary gives to their
! adiudications 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 in which the current jurispru-
dence and adjudications of the day in the En- glsh
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 May, long before adjudged
cases of the same date in our own courts appear in
the regular reports in which they arc 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 the
other side and b hen been reprinted on this.
One advantag, f the present series is that the
decisions which II 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 instances, do not carry
with them the same authority and force
The Reports edited by E. H. Bennett and
Chauncy Smith, esqs., of the Boston bar, and their
systematic arrangement, and the care with which
the notes, index, SC, are prepared, evidence the
thorough manner in which the proposed series will
be carried out
In this connexion take pleasure in adverting
to Messrs. Little and Browns other legal publca-
tons, among which are included many of the most
conspicuous and authoritative treatses of our urs
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 well as to the legal profession
have all issued from their press as have also the
eeveral 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 Congress, got up in much