The republic. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1849-1853, 1851-10-06
ENGLISH REPORTS IN LAW AND
EOVTITtY.


series Of LatD and Equity Reports.
THE want of some system by which the decisions
IL and judicial opinions OF the eeSeral 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 &C
knowledged. To meet similar want IN England,
the @'LGio Journal Reports" and "Ihe JHist,
which, together, report decisions in all The Courts IN
! LdIo aud Equity within 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 hgh cost now
ever, has hitherto prevented their general clrcu-
atlon 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 Privy
Council, the several Courts OF Equity, the Court oil
/ Queens Bench, the Court OF Common Pleas, the
/ Court Of Exchequer and Exchequer Chambers 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-
terences 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 full table of contents, thus forming COM
plete volume by itself, well "a part OF an en-
| be PACED consecutively from the number imme-
diately preceding and will contain table OF cases,
and of contents to both, and thus form complete
volume ready for binding, OF oUer siT 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 series of English
Law and Equity Reports, which shall, in all re-
spects, be far in advance OF any other reprint oil
English Reports in this country, and which shall
furnish TO the American lawyer the decisions OF
Westminster Hall, nearly too years before they
could otherwise be obtained, and long before the pub
lication OF the contemporaneous decisions OF most
of our own tribunals.
The price of this publication will be $40 for
twelve numbers, payable in advance, for the six
volumes, handsomely and uniformly bound in law
sheep, $l2
The parts will be sold separately, il desired, at
s each
Single volume, bound, So 25.
Parts l. 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 oil this
work expressed the publication of the first num-
Der:
Letter from Hon. 1fillard Fillmore, President Of The
United Stdtss
WAsHINGToN, April Is 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, 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 Judicial tribunals OF
England, have shed lustre upon the Common
Law, and illumined its prooundest depths. con-
slider law library complete that docs 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 an abbrcviatiou of each
caee, 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 condensed reports"
therefore hailed with great pleasure effort which
made some time since to republish the whole.
If the English Reports entire, can be republished
with despatch in this country, at price 80 low as
to bring them within the reach of the members of
the bar generally, conceive that 1t 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 obedlent
servant, WILLARD FILLMORE.
From the Netp 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 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 Jtuist, 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
en might be followed with great advantag in this
| 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 availing themselves OF 1t, to introduce the
English Reports promptly and regularly to the pro-
fession The authority of Westminster Hall has lost
nothing of its sanction and the permanently high
character OF the English judiciary gives to their
adjudications continued weight and decisive in
uence 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 adiudicatons 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 s. Brown s
Reports will removes 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 or May, long before adjudged
cases of the date in our 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 ID published on the
other side and hs ben been reprinted on this.
One advantage 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 are edited by E. II. Bennett and
Chauncy Smith, csqs, of the Boston bar, and their
systematic arrangement and the with which
the notes, index, Sc, are prepared, evidence the
thorough manner in which the proposed series viii
be carried out
In this connexion we take pleasure in adycrting
to Messrs Little and Browns other legal publica
tons, among which are included many of the mos
conspicuous and authoritative treatiscs of uris
prudence. Judge Story's works, for ming library
almost OF themselves, and familiar for their higl
value and extensive reputation 10 American read
crs in general, well as to the legal profession
have all issued from their press; have also the
several works OF Professor Grcenleaf. Two very
valuable and extensive annual publications ais,
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
better style, both for reference and preservation
than under the old regime of public printing a