A11175

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1845, by

CHARLES C. LITTLE & JAMES BROWN,

in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts.

PHILADELPHIA:

STEREOTYPED BY L. JOHNSON & CO.

CAMBRIDGE:

METCALF AND COMPANY,

PRINTERS TO THE UNIVERSITY.

TO THE

HONORABLE JOSEPH STORY,

ONE OF THE ASSOCIATE JUSTICES OF THE SUPREME COURT
OF THE UNITED STATES.

MY DEAR SIR:

IN expressing to you my sincere acknowledgments for your permission to inscribe this work to you, I have afforded to me the opportunity to record my full sense of your high judicial character; of your deep and universal learning in the law; of the great value of your decisions on the important questions of constitutional and statute law which have come before the Supreme Court during your long and honorable presence in that tribunal, in the maintenance of those constitutional principles on which, only, our government can permanently rest; and of your arduous and successful labors to elevate and diffuse the science of jurisprudence in our country.

In other relations to you, I ask leave to declare my grateful feelings for your kind and affectionate friendship, and for the esteem with which you have always been pleased to

regard me.

This work is indebted to you for its existence. It has been prepared according to a plan suggested by you; and in your approbation of the manner in which it has been edited by me, there is a perfect assurance that it will receive the sanction and support of all. This is a proud and complete title to the claims of the work to public patronage.

I have the honor to be,

My dear Sir,

Very respectfully and faithfully,

Your obedient servant,

RICHARD PETERS.

PHILADELPHIA, January, 1845.

ADVERTISEMENT.

THE Publishers would call the attention of all those who have occasion to consult the laws of the United States to the following characteristics of this edition, which justify them in unhesitatingly recommending it as worthy of the public approbation, in addition to high testimonials in the accompanying letters as to its merits.

1. It has the sanction of Congress, and is issued under their auspices. It is to be the edition supplied to the officers of government, and an interest in the copyright is reserved to the United States.

2. It will contain all the laws, and yet will be put at a less price than those editions which contain only a portion of those laws. The purchaser will be sure that he can find every law which he may have occasion to refer to. 3. It is enriched with copious notes of the decisions of the courts of the United States on the several statutes, and with references to other

statutes.

4. It will be the only edition in which the laws are chaptered as is directed by the joint resolution of Congress of March 3, 1845, except the session acts, which are too expensive to be within the reach of but very few persons. 5. It can be relied upon for accuracy. It is printed with great care, from authorized editions of the laws, and then is subjected to a careful revision by the records at the seat of government. The value given to it, by so great care to secure its entire authenticity, will be at once perceived by all professional persons. The Publishers would refer those whose pursuits have not given them occasion to appreciate the importance of the entire accuracy of the text, to the letters of the Hon. RUFUS CHOATE, and of the Hon. ROBERT C. WINTHROP, which are printed herewith.

6. The superiority of the paper on which it is printed, and of its typographical execution, over all other editions, will be seen and appreciated at once by every one.

a 2

LETTERS

ADDRESSED TO THE PUBLISHERS.

Letter from the Hon. Robert C. Winthrop, of Massachusetts.

"GENTLEMEN :

"BOSTON, 25 November, 1845.

"I take pleasure in putting on paper, agreeably to your request, the favorable opinions I have already expressed, in relation to your new edition of the Laws of the United States.

"The mere fact, that your edition has been freshly and carefully compared with the originals in the Department of State, would seem a sufficient commendation of it to all who appreciate the importance of an accurate text to the just understanding of the statutes. This comparison, I learn, has not been instituted in the preparation of previous editions of the laws, (except that of Bioren and Duane,) and has resulted, in the present instance, in the discovery and correction of numerous errors.

"But your edition promises to be as comprehensive and complete as it is accurate. It embraces all the laws which have been enacted since the foundation of our government, Private as well as Public, District as well as National, the obsolete and repealed as well as those now in force. It includes, also, all our Treaties with foreign governments and with the Indian tribes. And you have furnished it, still further, with copious references to the Decisions of the Federal Courts, and with an ample and elaborate Index. There would thus seem nothing left to be desired for the completeness of our National Code.

"I say nothing of the typographical execution of the volumes, or of the moderate price at which you propose to supply them. These matters will speak for themselves, and will combine with the other considerations which I have suggested in securing for your work the patronage it deserves. It will afford additional satisfaction to purchasers, to know that you intend to publish an annual supplement, containing the laws which may be passed by Congress from year to year, and conforming in all respects to the body of the work.