Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1858-05-28
New Publications.


ontain 50 additional pages of matter, with Il
out any increase of expense 70 the purchaser. "
OPINIONS OF EMINENT LAWYERS on VARIOUS :, y
POINTS OF ENcLIsH JURISPRUDENCE, Chiefly Il
Tire Colonies, Fisheries and conn il
lnercc Of Great Britain Collected and dlgcs- I
ted from the originals in the Board OF Trade q
and other dcpositories. By GEORGE CHN- q
mERs, lso, F. r. ). 5. \. Svopp. 7o7
Burlington Vt, C.. Goodrich q Co., 1858. ,
The contents Of the volume before Us consist I
of collection of Opinions by the Law of {
fcers Of the British crown, upon great
variety OF questions growing chiefly ont IF
the relations between the British home govern
ment and the Anglo-Amcricau colonies.
together with brief preface, life OF the
compiler, and shcr, biographical notices OF
the distinguished iurists whose resolutions it
records. The subjects are Chased as fellows
FIRST The Kings Prerogativc abroad, and,
under this head I, eight opinions upon
ecclesiastical authority in the colonies; II,
forty-cght opinions On his civil authority in
the extent t. which the kings subjects who
cmigr,te carry with them the law Of Eng |
land, and twenty-five opinions on the Colon !
ial Constitutions, Wowcr Ufcolonal authori- |
tics under charters; ", three opinions on
the laws Of Maryland relating to the cstab-
ishment Of the Church of England V. four
teen opinions on the want of sovereignty in
the colonial legislatures VI, forty opini ms
on notifications Of the power of the colonial
| iudicatories VIII, fourteen opinions on
| Admiralty jurisdiction. Secondly Nine
| opinions on various points connected with
Fisheries. Thirdly. Thirty-four opinions on
commercial questions. Fourthly. Seventy
four opinions on questions arising under the
Law of Nations.
From this list of subjects, it will BE- readi
ly seen, that the questions discussed possess
no less interest for the student of politics and
history than for the legal inquirer. They
| are, for the most part, Of nature which
brought them under the jurisdiction Of the
political, rather than the Judicial authorities
of England and therefore, though often very
important in their bearing upon civil and
personal rights, they have been rarely agita-
ted and determined in courts oflaw. There
is consequently 20 record of them TO be
found in the reports of the adjudcations of
the British legal tribunals, nor indeed are
they anywhere accessible, except in the
volume of which the present is the first
American edition.
In the list Of authors, we find the names of
all the great luminaries of the forensic pro-
ftssion in England in the eighteenth century,
and there is scarcely a question connected
with the legal relations between the mother
/ country and the colonies, which will not be
: found to be ably clucidatcd in these discuss.
ions. 1t was upon these opinions, that tbs
! British Ministry mainly relied in guiding th'
. | policy Of the Crown in all its action with re
G spect 10 tho American Provinces Of the En-
e pire, and it is evident, therefore, that the,
cannot fail to throw much light on man,
points of our carly history, which are obscur
= without knowledge Of the principles Of -
is thority and right to which, in all disp..e
e points, the parties respectively appealed. Tn
&c publicity Of the proceedings of Congress an
y, OF the Colonial Legislatures, furnishes Us sui
&c ficicnt means Of ascertaining the grounds o
b which the American authorities based thei
I claims, but as the King in Council decide
!. many important points, without reference t
the British Parliament, We do not possess
J. in the history of that body, the same iaclite
W for estimating the soundncss of the principle
= on which the royal Government proceeded
N in tho great struggle that ended in the sever
ance of the British Empire The opinion
y before us constitute the only authentic expo
l. sition and authoritative statement of thos
n principles, and, therefore, form a nccessar
II ! complement to all other sources of historica
=. information on the subject.
D, Nor are these discussions without som
u practical bearing upon great prcsen
~ American interests 1t has been said, wit
l. much truth, that the Declaration of indie
N pendence proposed, and our statesmen an
- soldiers of that day effected, not so much
4 as change in the executive and suprem
y legislature. If this be SO, the relations be
r tween government and people depend nue.
l. upon the same principles-the principles q
I'd old English Lbcrty-as before, and, of course
- the opinions of great lawyers on those roa
" tions may still, in many cases, have an appli
al cability. But they are, probably, more val
N liable in another point of view. The Fedora
Constitution is quito indefinite in its limita
t, ton of tho respective rights and powers of tn
n national and territorial Governments, an
there are points where even the relative juris
~ dictions of the federal and state Government
ID are not we'll settled. The relations of boil
O. Territories and States to the National Legis
- laturo and Executive are, in many points
" analogous to those which formerly subeiste
between the Anglo-American Colonies an
the British Government, and IN the discussion
of ques ions conflicting jurisdiction betwee
IF these authorities, we may sometimes find in
&c s,ructiou in the history of similar controver
T, si.s between the mother country and he
4 provinces.
re These considerations apply with still great
:! er force to the present American possession
}. of Great Britain, and the people of thos
: colonies may trace in these opinions the fun
le damental grounds of British colonial policy
:. ifnot determinations Of the precise questions
q which now and then arise between them auC
II the home government.