ten with the greatest circumspection; but it is now out of print, and the latest edition some years old.* Mr. Chitty's treatise is a laborious and full collection of almost all the cases, by an eminent counsel, the extent of whose legal acquire_ ments, and the readiness of their application can only be appreciated by those who have been in the habit of personal intercourse with him. But the size of the book is an objection with many, and a cloud of authorities will sometimes obscure the most luminous arrangement. This little work does not aspire to compete with either of the above learned performances, but merely to supply a want felt by many, of a plain and brief summary of the principal practical points relating to bills and notes, supported by a reference to the leading or latest authorities. In many cases the reader will, however, find the law laid down in the very words of the judgment, a plan which the Author has been induced to adopt, partly that those who may not have ready access to the authorities may be satisfied that the law is correctly stated; and partly because he distrusted his own ability to enunciate, on so complicated a subject, a general rule, neither too narrow nor too wide, beset, as almost all such general rules now are, with numerous qualifications and exceptions. No pains have been spared to render the subject intelligible. How far the book is likely to be useful in practice, it is for others to determine. JOHN BARNARD BYLES. INNER TEMPLE, 16th April, 1829. * A new edition has since been published. |