ADVERTISEMENT

.TO THE FIRST EDITION.

THE number of volumes containing reports of cases decided in Pennsylvania, has increased so considerably of late years, that a work which should contain a systematic compilation of the adjudged points, seemed to the author likely to prove a convenient manual for the profession, and an useful addition to the means possessed by the public in general of becoming acquainted with the state of the common law, and with the exposition of legislative acts. The, perhaps necessary, brevity of most of the indexes, and the consideration that some of the printed cases were to be found only in pamphlets or in public journals, and were not easily accessible, furnished additional motives for the commencement of the present undertaking. The original design of the author had no greater extent than is here indicated; but in the progress of the work, having obtained access to a considerable number of manuscript cases, he determined, for the purpose of giving a fuller view of the adjudicated law, to incorporate an abridgement of these with that of the printed cases.

For the valuable manuscript reports of the Circuit Court of the United States for this district, which embrace all the decisions of that Court from 1803 to 1815, when Mr. Peters's useful reports commence, the author is indebted to the kindness of Judge Washington, and to the liberality of Mr. Peters, with whom they had been deposited. With the decisions in the Common Pleas and Orphans' Court, the author has been obligingly favoured by Judge Hallowell, and with several cases in the Supreme Court and District Court, by Mr. Rawle, Mr. Binney, and other gentlemen. The addition of the manuscript cases has procrastinated the appearance of the work, and given it a greater bulk

than was anticipated. The delay of publication, however, has enabled the author to include the fifth volume of the valuable reports of Sergeant and Rawle; and both the delay and the increased size of the book will probably be excused, when the importance of the additional materials is considered.

Upon the manner in which the work has been executed, it may not be improper for the author to say a few words. It has been his endeavour to give each case a careful consideration, and to state the points decided with as much fulness as is consistent with the nature of an abridgement. In no instance has he relied upon the marginal abstract or index of the reporter. The principle of each case is frequently given in the very words of the court, and generally in language nearly similar, and with all the restrictions that seemed to have been designed to accompany it. Besides the main points of each case, the author has collected such dicta of the judges as appeared important, distinguishing them from the opinion of the court by subjoining the name of the judge. In the distribution of the subjects, he experienced difficulties, which he cannot flatter himself with having completely surmounted. Doubtless, in many instances, a preferable classification might have been adopted; and in other instances it may be found, that cases have been placed under certain heads, with which it may be conceived that they have less relation than with others. With the view, however, of enabling the reader to correct such mistakes, if they have occurred, a pretty full table of contents and references has been prefixed, and an index of the names of parties, both in the printed and manuscript cases, has been subjoined.

Some contradictory decisions will be found in this book. There are perhaps fewer than might have been expected from the number of the tribunals, and the period of time embraced in the digest. In some instances the author has attempted to harmonize conflicting cases, but generally they are placed together, leaving it to the judgment of the profession to decide upon the discrepancies.

The cases decided in the Supreme Court of the United States, and reported in the third and fourth volumes of Dallas, have been omitted, not coming entirely within the author's plan, and having been already introduced into Mr. Wheaton's Digest.

PHILADELPHIA, June, 1822.

ADVERTISEMENT

TO THE SECOND EDITION.

A NEW edition of this Digest being required, I have availed myself of the opportunity to make some alterations in the arrangement of the subjects, to correct some errors of reference, and to modify the expressions of certain passages, in which the points of law were believed to be imperfectly or inaccurately stated.

Besides the cases contained in the first edition, the present work will be found to comprise the ten volumes, since published, of the reports of Messrs. Sergeant and Rawle, some other printed cases, for the principal of which I have been indebted to Mr. Ingraham's valuable Treatise on the Insolvent Laws, and a few additional adjudications from manuscript notes, with which I have been obligingly furnished. The cases cited in the first edition from the MS. reports of the Circuit Court of the United States for the Third Circuit, having since been published, they are now, with a few exceptions, referred to as they are contained in the three volumes of Judge Washington's Circuit Court Reports, edited by Mr. Peters.

The Rules of the several Courts held in Philadelphia, which occupied a considerable space in the first edition, have been omitted in the present. Being of local value merely, and a revision of their rules being contemplated by several of the Courts, it was thought that their place might be supplied by subjects of more general and permanent interest.

T. I. WHARTON.

PHILADELPHIA, May, 1829.

TITLES

OF THE

REPORTS DIGESTED IN THIS WORK.

1. Reports of Cases ruled and adjudged in the Courts of Pennsylvania, before and since the Revolution. By A. J. Dallas, Vol. 1, 2d edition. Philadelphia, 1806, 3d edition, 1830. Vol. 2, 1798. Vol 3, 1799. Vol. 4, 1807.

2. Reports of Cases adjudged in the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. By Horace Binney. 6 volumes. Philadelphia, 1809-1815.

3. Reports of Cases adjudged in the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, with some select cases at Nisi Prius and in the Circuit Courts. By the Hon. Jasper Yeates, one of the Judges of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. 4 volumes. Philadelphia, 1817-1819.

4. Reports of Cases adjudged in the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. By Thomas Sergeant and William Rawle, Jun. 17 volumes. Philadelphia, 1818-1829.

5. Reports of Cases adjudged in the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. By William Rawle, Jun. 5 volumes. Philadelphia, 1829-1836.

6. Reports of Cases adjudged in the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. By William Rawle, Jun., Charles B. Penrose, and Frederick Watts, Counsellors at Law. 3 vols. Vol 1. Harrisburg, 1830; Vols. 2 and 3,. Carlisle, 1832 and 1833.

7. Reports of Cases argued and determined in the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. By Frederick Watts, Counsellor at Law. 10 vols. Philadelphia, 1834-1841.

8. Reports of Cases adjudged in the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, in the Eastern District. By Thomas I. Wharton. 6 vols. Philadelphia, 1839-1841.

9. Reports of Cases adjudged in the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. By Frederick Watts and Henry J. Sergeant. 3 vols. Philadelphia, 1842-1843.

10. Reports of Cases adjudged in the Circuit Court of the United States for the Third Circuit. By John B. Wallace. Philadelphia, 1801. 11. Reports of Cases argued and determined in the Circuit Court of the United States for the Third Circuit. Volume 1. Containing cases determined in the district of New Jersey from 1803 to 1818, and in the district of Pennsylvania in the years 1815, 1816, 1817, 1818. By Richard Peters, Jun., Counsellor at Law. Philadelphia, 1819.

12. Reports of Cases determined in the Circuit Court of the United States for the Third Circuit, &c. Commencing at April Term, 1803. Published from the Manuscripts of the Hon. Bushrod Washington, one of the Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States. 4 volumes. Philadelphia, 1826-1829.

13. Reports of Cases determined in the Circuit Court of the United States in and for the Third Circuit; comprising the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and the State of New Jersey. By Henry Baldwin, one of the Judges of that Court. Vol. 1. Philadelphia, 1837.

14. Admiralty Decisions in the District Court of the United States for the Pennsylvania district. By the Hon. Richard Peters. Containing also some decisions in the same Court, by the late Francis Hopkinson, Esq. To which are added, Cases determined in other districts of the United States. With an Appendix, &c. 2 volumes. Philadelphia, 1807. 15. The Works of Francis Hopkinson, Esq. Vol. 3. Containing judgments in the Admiralty of Pennsylvania. Philadelphia, 1792.

16. Reports of Cases adjudged in the District Court of the United States, for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. By Henry D. Gilpin. Philadelphia, 1836.

17. Reports of Cases in the County Courts of the Fifth Circuit, and in the High Court of Errors and Appeals of the State of Pennsylvania. By Alexander Addison, President of the Courts of Common Pleas of the Fifth Circuit. Washington, 1800.

18. Reports of Cases adjudged in the Courts of Common Pleas of Pennsylvania, and in the District Court for the City and County of Philadelphia. By Peter A. Browne. 2 volumes. Philadelphia, 1811, 1813.

19. Reports of Cases adjudged in the Courts of Common Pleas, Quarter Sessions, Oyer and Terminer, and Orphans' Court of the First Judicial District of Pennsylvania: with Notes and References. By John W. Ashmead. Philadelphia. Vol. 1, 1831. Vol 2, 1841.

20. Reports of Cases determined in the District Court for the City and County of Philadelphia. By John Miles, Counsellor at Law. Philadelphia. Vol. 1, 1836. Vol 2, 1842.

21. The American Law Journal and Miscellaneous Repertory, &c. By John E. Hall, Esq. Vol. 1, 2, 3. Philadelphia, 1808-1810.

22. The Journal of Jurisprudence, a new series of the American Law Journal. By John E. Hall, Esq. Vol. 1. Philadelphia, 1821.

23. The two Trials of John Fries, on an indictment for treason, in the Circuit Court of the United States, &c. Philadelphia, 1800. Pamphlet. 24. Report of the Case of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania versus John Smith, Esq., Marshal of the United States for the District of Pennsylvania, on a habeas corpus, before the Hon. William Tilghman, Esq., Chief Justice of Pennsylvania. By a member of the Bar of Philadelphia. Philadelphia, 1809. Pamphlet.

25. A Report of the whole trial of General Michael Bright and others, before Judges Washington and Peters, in the Circuit Court of the United States for the Third Circuit, &c. By Thomas Lloyd. The arguments of Counsel, and charge of the Judge, revised by each respectively. Philadelphia, 1809. Pamphlet.

26. The Case of Alien Enemies considered and decided, upon a writ of habeas corpus, allowed on the petition of Charles Lockington, an alien enemy, by the Hon. William Tilghman, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. Reported by Richard Bache, Esq. Philadelphia, 1813. Pamphlet.

27. The Trial of Richard Smith, late lieutenant in the 23d regiment United States infantry, for the murder of Captain John Carson, on the 20th of January, 1816, at a Court of Oyer and Terminer, held at Philadelphia, May, 1816, by the Judges of the Court of Common Pleas, Judge Rush, President. Taken in short-hand by J. C. a member of the Philadelphia Bar. Philadelphia, 1816. Pamphlet.