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Considerations on the Abolition of the Common Law in the United States
Considerations on the Abolition of the Common Law in the United States Author:Joseph Hopkinson 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: ministration of justice must be abandoned, the business of the country stand still, and confusion, uncertainty and injustice universally prevail; that the great ... more »standard of right and wrong would be thrown down, and our remedies and checks upon dishonesty, oppression and vice, utterly lost, can it be doubted that its meditated destruction will be averted? A writer, who from the skill of his pen and the candour of his demeanour, is no vulgar re- viler and not to be classed with those who assault the Common Law merely to indulge a -passionate prejudice, or with more sinister views, has lately published the first number of a pamphlet, advocating the propriety of abolishing this system of jurisprudence in the United States, and substituting, in its place, one or more statutes to comprehend all those parts and provisions of the Common Law which are applicable to our form of government and situation. He has stated his reasons for this proposition, and promises hereafter to communicate the manner in which this project may be carried into effect. I regretted to learn. upon inquiry, that it is not his intention to perform this promise very speedily, or I should have postponed the publication of my ideas of this subject until I had all his plan before me. This author offers six reasons against the continuance of the Common Law Of England in the United States. Without repeating them literalty, I will state their substance. 1. That its identity cannot be preserved in both countries, owing to the changes that are made in it in 'England, and other changes in America, by legislative regulations. That these changes will subvert its identity as a system, and it must be gradually lost. 2. That the Common Law is not, in many particulars, applicable to our situation or form of government. ...« less