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An Inquiry Into the Present State of the Civil Law of England
An Inquiry Into the Present State of the Civil Law of England Author:John Miller Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: of any separation consists. No emergency can arise in which it can without detriment be disregarded. When Courts of Law relax their rules from considerations of ... more »natural equity, and the rules of Courts of Equity become so inflexible that they preclude that relief which was the sole object of their institution, the separation of the two jurisdictions has degenerated into one of the most inconvenient and oppressive expedients that ever was adopted for the distribution of justice. Having made these preliminary observations, we shall now proceed to make some inquiry into the Constitution, Procedure, and Doctrines of the supreme Courts of Common Law and Equity; beginning on each occasion with the Courts of Common Law, the harshness incidental to whose judgments it is the principal business of Courts of Equity to correct. SECTION I. Of the Constitution of the Supreme Courts of Common Law. The supreme courts set apart for the administration of Common Law in England are, the Courts of King's Bench, Common Pleas, and Exchequer, the last of which serves as a court of Equity as well as a court of Common Law. The points respecting them which it seems most important to notice are, 1. The number of judges1 of which they are severally composed ; 2. The times during which they severally sit; 3. The actions that may be brought in each; 4. The persons that practise in them ; and 5. The duties and emoluments of their inferior officers. 1. The number of the judges of which each of the Courts of Common Law consists.—There is nothing within the sphere of jurisprudence, about which greater diversity of sentiment seems to have prevailed in different countries, than the number of judges best fitted to constitute a court of justice. Scarcely any two states, in past or present times, can be po...« less