The republic. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1849-1853, 1852-02-03
ENGLISH REPORTS IN LAW AND
EQUITY.

ENGLISH REPORTS IN LAW AND
EQUITY.
Proposals by LITTLE q BRowN, ll2 Washinsfo"
street Boston for publishing by subscription neo
series Of LaD and Equity Reports.
'INHE want of some system by which the decisions
| Il and judicial opinions of the several Courts ol
law aud Equity in England can be more prompt
iy and cheapy furnished 10 the legal profession IN
this country, has long been seriously felt and &C
knowledged. To meet a similar want In England,
! the ssLato Journal Reports" and "Ihe Jurist,"
which, together, report decisions IN all The Courts ~
Lao aud Equity, within few weeks after their
delivery, were commenced number oi 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-
aton in this country, and their merits arc as yet
! but little known among us.
| The subscribers propose to rcpublish these
ports in full fast as 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 OF
Queens Bench, the Court of Common Pleas, tho
| Court of Exchequer and Exchequcr Chamber, the
Ecclesiastical and Admiralty Courts the Court oil
Bankruptcy, including also the Election cases, the
Crown Cases Reserved, and the Railway and Canal
Cases.
Thcse reports will be published in numbers or
parts, commencing with the decisions OF Michael
mas (November) term, 1885, 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 estpaper, and
in clear fair type, and will contain table OF caseH
and a full table Of contents, thus forming com
plete volume by itself, as well as part OF an en-.
tire series. Every alternate or second number VIII
be PACED consecutively from the number IinIne-
diatcly preceding, and will contain table OF cases.
and of contents to boM and thus form complete
volume, ready for binding, Of peer rhundred 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 best reports OF England or this
country.
Its designed to make this PERMANENT PUBL
CATION, and thus establish he,D series of English
Law and Equity Reports, which shall, in all re-
spects be far in advance of any other reprint OF
English Reports IL this country, and which shall
furnish to the American lawyer the decisions of
Westminster Hall, nearly 100 years before they
could Ot,cise 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 so for
twelve numbers payable in advance, or for the six
volumes, handsomely and uniformly bound in law
sheep, $ IL.
The parts will be sold separately, il desired, at
8 each.
Single volume, bound, So 25
Parts ]. 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 among the opinions Of this
work expressed on the publication of the first mum
Letter from Hon. 1Illud Fillmore, President of the
United States.
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, nquiring
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 n lustre upon the Common
Law, and illumined Its protoundest depths. con-
slider no law library complete that does not contain
their principal reports in Law and Equity, and in
thr 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 abbrcvation of each
case, but a selection from the several cases. and
often annoyed by finding reference To
in the Digests, which ] deemed very important,
wholly omitted in the " cond1nsed reports"
therefore hailed with great pleasure effort which
made some time since 10 republish the whole.
If the English Reports entire, can be republishcd
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 il 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 As Nao York Literary JT'orid
Mcssrs. Little & Brown, of Boston, whose law
books, IN point OF typographical execution, vic
With the beet 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 ne, the Lar Journal Reports md
the Jlrist tw) En-, -lish serials which communicate
to the British Bar within few weeks after their !
delivery, the prominent decisions of all the curts
tltc off ord 10 thc ~ Ra
cy, aud other tribunals Of limited but practically
important jurisdiction. This excellent arrange
might be followed with great advantage in THE
country, Tor the purpose OF obviating the delay
which necessarily attends tho issuing of the rcpu-
lar volumes Of reports Of particular courts and
are glad to see the enterprise Of our legal pub
fishers avaling Themselves OF il, TO introduce the
Engl,sh Reports promptly aud regularly 10 the pro-
fcssion The authority Of Westminster Hall has lost
nothing Of its sanction and the permanently high
character OF the English judiciary gives to their
adiudications n continued weight aud 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 mere, and
there way in which the current jurispru-
dcncc and adjudicatons Of the day in the English
courts could be made available by the American
bar except az great expense and by continual vigil
lance. This difficulty Mossrs. Little & Browne
Reports will remove; the cases decided IN the
Queens Bench, the Common Plcaa, and the Ell.
chcqucr Chamber in January, will be ready for de-
livery here in April or May, long before adjudged
cases OF the same date in our courts appear IN
the regular reports in which they arc pcrpctuatod.
Nearly two years will thus be gained over the pre-.
sent system, which requires delay until the large
volume Of authorized reports s published on the
other side and has then been reprinted on this.
One advantage Of the present series is, that the
decisions which IL gives re those of courts in bunc
the deliberate judgments OF the bench and not the
Ices reliable decisions AT Nisi Prits, which how
ever interesting inJnany instances, do not carry
with them the same authority and force.
Tho Reports edited bw r.. IL Rcuuctt and
Chauncy Smith, csqs., Of the Boston bar, and their
systematic arrangement, and the care with which
the notes index, &c, are prepared, evidence the
thorough manner ia which The proposed series will
be carried out.
In this conncIon We take pleasure in adycrting
10 Mcssrs. Lttlc and Browns other legal publica
tons, among which arc included many oft the most
conspicuous and authoritative treatscs Of our uris