The republic. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1849-1853, 1851-11-15

p,onosals BIZ LITTLE & BRowN, ll2 WaShingfOn
street Boston, for publishing by subscription ne'o
series Of LGto and Equity Reports.
TVNHE want of some system by which the decisions
i and judicial opinions of the several Courts OF
Law and Equity in England can be more prompt
ly and cheaply furnished to the legal profession IN
this country has long been seriously iel4 ana ad
knowledged. To meet n similar want in England,
the "LGi0 Journal Reports" and ''Ihe JtI'st,
which, together report decisions IN all me SoHts ~
Laio and Equity, within a few weeks amer lIelI
delivery, were commenced NUMBER OF years
since, and have met with the universal apProoa-
ton Of the legal profession Iher hlgh COST now
ever has hitherto prevented their general circu-
laton in this country, and their merits are % ye'
but little known among u.s.
The subscribers propose to republlsh these re-
ports in full fast as they appear In England ana
can be received here. They viii contain reports
of cases decided in the House of Lords, the Prlvy
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 Canai
Cascs.
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-
ferences 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
plete volume by ITSELF as well as part oil an en-,
tire series. Every alternate or second NUMBER VIII
be PACED consecutively from the number lmme-
diately preceding, and will contain table OF cases,
and OF contents TO both, and thus form complete
volume, ready for binding, OF ousr siT hundred pages
In each volume the of the several courts Will
be found arranged together, and, in point oil style
and typographical execution, this series will be
fully equal to the best reports OF England or this
country.
tits 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 oil
Westminster Hail. nearly t,co years before they
could osrioise 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, or for the six
volumes, Handsomely AID uniformly bound In law
sheep, Sl2.
The parts will be sold separately, il desired, at
81 each.
Singic volume, bound 81 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 oil this
work expressed the publication of the first num-
Der:
Letter from Hon. Millard Fillmore, President of the
United States.
WAsHNeToN, April ID 1851.
JAMES BRowN ESQ: My DEAR SIR-Some days
since / received by the hand of the Postmaster
General, the first number ef the English Reports,
which you propose to repuolish IN tins country,
comprising every 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 a lustre upon the Common
Law, and illumined its profoundest depths. con-
slider no law library complete that does not contain
oir in La nd nd in
their Ecclesiast cal Courts, and in Admiralty. For
some years had been in the habit of receiving
these in 80 condensed form. This condensation,
however, consisted, not In abbrevlatlon OF each
case but selection from the several cases, and
was often annoyed by finding a reference to cases
in the Digests which deemed very important,
wholly omitted in the 80 condensed reports.'
therefore hailed with great pleasure an effort which
was made nme since to repubsh the whole.
If the English Reports entire, can be repubished
with despatch in 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. l am your obedent
servant, WILLARD FILLMORE.
From the Ne,p 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 especial
attention Of the profession throughout the country
The basis of this series, OF which the first
Der Is before US, the Ldtr Journal Reports and
the J,gist, 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
iinportant Jurisdiction. This excellent arrange
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
we are glad TO see the enterprise of our legal pub
fishers awaiting 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 OF the English Judiciary gives TO their
adjudications continued weight and decisive in
huence 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 no way in which the current jurispru-
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-
cheuucr Chamber in January, will be ready for de-
livery here in April or May, long before adjudged
cases Of the same date in own 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 the
other side and hec hen been reprinted on this.
One advantages If the present series is, that the
decisions which IL gives those of courts in 6ac,
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 care with which
the notes, index, &c, are prepared, evidence the
thorough manner in which the proposed series will
be carried out.
In this connection we take pleasure in adverting
70 Messrs. Little and Browns other legal publca-
tons, among which are included many of the most
conspicuous and authoritative treases Of uris-
prudence. Judge Story's works, for ming library
almost Of themselves, and familiar for their high
value and extensive reputation to American read.
err in general, well az to the legal profession
have ali issued from their press; have also th,
several works of Professor Greeneaf. Two very
valuable and extensive annual publications alsC
issued by them, the United States Digest and tn,
Stafttes at Large; the latter being the authorized
edition Of the Acts of Congress, got up in mucl
better style, both for reference and preservation
than under the old regime Of public printing q
Washington, which included the annual statutes