1 says, speaking of Kent's Commentaries, "They contain all the learning of real and permanent importance that is to be found in the Commentaries of Blackstone, if we except that portion of his work which relates to the English constitution and government, and they supply deficiencies that all the readers of Blackstone admit and regret. They are, indeed, exactly the work that the condition of our country and of the law, and the daily wants of its students and professors, had long demanded; nor would it be easy to define the extent, or limit the duration of the benefits that have flowed, and must continue to flow, from its general reception, use and authority." This attempt to render the crowning work of Chancellor Kent's useful and distinguished career, into a form calculated to facilitate the acquisition of its valuable contents, is submitted with diffidence, but in the confident hope that it will command a place among works useful to the profession. It was undertaken and prosecuted, the writer is happy to say, with the knowledge and approval of the Hon. William Kent. He, also, takes pleasure in stating that T. M. Lalor, Esq., author of "The Law of Real Property of the State of New York," published in 1855, bus rendered the most valuable assistance in preparing this work. J. C. D. NEW YORK, October, 1859. NOTE.-The ninth and last edition of Kent's Commentaries was used in the preparation of this volume. The numbers in the text, at the end of the questions respectively, refer to marginal paging of the Commentaries, etc. |