The republic. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1849-1853, 1852-01-30
ENGLISH REPORTS IN LAW AND
EQUITY.

EQUITY.
Prcposals by LITTLE Il Baows, ll2 Warrington
street, Boston, for publishing by subscription ner
series Of Lac and Equity Reports.
VNHE want of some system by which the decisions
i and judicial opinions Of the several Courts oil
Law and Equity in En- gland can be more prompt
iy and cheapy furnished to the legal profession III
this country has long been seriously felt and &C
knowledged To meet similar want in England,
the "LaiD Journal Reports" and "Ihs JWisf,
which, together, report decisions in all the Courts IN
Lam and Equity, within a few weeks after their
delivery, commenced number OF years
since and have met with the universal approba-
tion of the legal profession. Their high cost, how
ever, has hitherto prevented their general circu-
ation in this country, and their merits are as yet
but little known among Va.
The subscribers propose to repubsh these
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 Privy
Council the several Courts Of Equity, the Court o!
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
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 on the best paper,
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 OF an en-,
tire series Every alternate or second number VIII
be PACED consecutively from the number lrnme-
dately preceding and will contain table Of cases,
and Of contents to both, and thus form a complete
volume, ready for binding, of oUer sic hundred pagfs
In each volume the cases OF the several courts VIII
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.
It's designed to make this n PERMANENT PUBL
cATIoS and thus establish a ,e,o 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
Westminster Hall, nearly t,oo years before they
could oetoss bo obtained, and long before the pub
LEGATION 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, il desired, at
= 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 Tor delivery. ,:-
The following among the opinions OF this
work expressed on the publication OF the hrst num-
Der:
Letter from Hon. NHuard Fillmore President of the
United States.
WAsHiNoToN, 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.
conprising every reported in England; and
now have your letter of the 9th instant, inquring
my opinion of the enterprise
While pursuing my profession, took deep in
tcrest in publications OF this kind. The able
Judges who have adorned the judicial tribunals Of
England, have shed lustre upon the Common
4 -.
slider 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 " condensed' form. This condensation,
however, consisted, not in Authorization of each
case, but a 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 "c0ndsnsed reports" !
therefore hailed with great Pleasure effort which
was made some tame since to repubsh the whole.
II the English Reports entire, can be republishcd
with despatch in this country, ut price 80 low
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, aud
can only express the hope that your reward may
be equal to your merits. | am your obedient
servant. MlLLARD FILLMORE.
From NE Netp York Literary World
Messrs. Little Brown, of Boston, 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 basic Of this series, Of which the first mum
Der 10 before Us, the Lar Journal Reports and
the JiHisf, two Engl5h 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 folowed with great advantage 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 see the enterprise of our legal pub
lshers availing Themselves OF it, to Introduce the
English Reports promptly and regularly To the pro-
fcssion The authority Of w estmin.cr Hall has Iost
nothing of lie sanction and the permanently high
character Of the English judiciary gives to their
adjudcations a continued weight and decisive in
huence with cours. Hitherto the difficulty has
been that the reported cases there have grown old
before they could be quoted and applied mere, and
there 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 ,pense and by continual yiri-
lance. This difficulty Messrs Little & Browns
Reports will remove; the cases decided in the
Queens Bench, the Common Pleas, and the Er
cheuuer Chamber in January, will be ready for de-
livery here in April or May, long before sdjudgcd
cases OF the same date in own courts appear in
the regular reports IN which they are perpetuated
Nearly two years will thus be gained 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 seros is, that the
decisions which IL gives those Of courts in banc
the deliberate judgments of the bench and not the
less reliable decisions at Nisi Pris, which, how
ever interesting in many instances, do not carry
/ With them the same authority and force.
The Reports are edited by +. "A. Bennett and
Chauncy Smith, esqs, Of the Boston bar. and their
systematic arrangement, and the with which
the notes, index, &c, arc prepared, evidence tho
thorough manner in which the proposed series will
/ be carried out
! In this connection take pleasure in adverting
TO Mcssrs. Little and Browns other legal publica
tons, among which hre included many of the most