American Leading Cases, Vol. 1: Select Decisions American Courts, Several Departments of Law; With Special Reference to Mercantile Law; With Notes (Classic Reprint)

Excerpt from American Leading Cases, Vol. 1: Select Decisions American Courts, Several Departments of Law; With Special Reference to Mercantile Law; With Notes

The approbation which the plan of Mr. Smith's Selection of Leading Cases generally received, has induced the Editors of the American Edition of that work, to employ the same method in treating of other points supposed to possess interest and importance in the jurisprudence of this country. The popularity of Mr. Smith's book was undoubtedly due, in a very great degree, to the clearness, neatness, and simplicity with which the most difficult subjects were explained in the notes of that intelligent and accomplished writer. In these qualities the present Editors make no pretension to be his rivals. The design of his Work, however, is quite as well adapted to the laws and the reports of this country, as to those of England. The essential merits of the plan seem to consist, partly, in the arrangement which it suggests, by which the subjects are distributed according to a connexion, natural and positive, rather than speculative and theoretical; and partly, in introducing the discussion of a topic of law, with a practical exemplification of the principal doctrine, in which it is seen at large and in its applied form. The plan of Mr. Smith's work has therefore been followed; and the title of Leading Cases has been adopted, although it cannot with quite the same propriety be applied to any considerable selection of American decisions. The common law of the different States of the Union is, to a great extent, the same: but the instances are not very numerous in which cases in any of the courts can be referred to, as having, for the first time, established particular principles, and, by force of authority, led other tribunals to adopt them.

About the Publisher

Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com

This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.