Page:Marvin, Legal Bibliography, 1847.djvu/681

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STO Title, thereby giving form and symmetry to this important department of the law -which had not heretofore been so clearly done. Story's Bail- ments affords one of the best examples, in modern times, of the illustra- tion which our laws are susceptible of, by the aid of foreign jurispru- dence. Had he written no other w^ork than this, his reputation as a learned jurist, not only among his own countrymen but foreigners, would have been secure. The successive editions of each of this author's works are not simply reprints, but considerably enlarged, the latest edi- tions embodying the intervening decisions. The introductory pages of IIr. Charnock's edition contain a bibliographical account of the principal works cited in the Commentaries. Greenleafs Dis. 30; 23 L. M, 250; (21) 233 ; 7 A. J. 128 ; (9) 24 ; 2 Kent, 611 ; Hoff. Leg. Stu. 418 ; 4 M. L. M. 84, 208, 288; (7) 267; (8) 69, 151, 229, 297; (9) 61, 134, 195 ; (10) 193, 282 ; 2 L. R. 92 ; 3 Law Rev. 374. STORY, JOSEPH. Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States ; with a Preliminary Review of the Constitutional History of the Colonies and States before the adoption of the Constitution. 3 vols. 8vo. Boston. 1833. The judicial station of the author, his opportunities for hearing consti- tutional questions mooted and settled, for the last quarter of a century, his habits of patient and thorough investigation, give a weight and value to Judge Story's writings upon Constitutional Law, which few similar works can claim. The disciple of Chief Justice JNIarshall, thus qualified, undertook the exposition of our Constitutional Law, commencing with the history of the Colonies, their rights and privileges, and tracing the progress of the Constitutional Law in America, down to the publication of his work. Whoever seeks for a complete history and exposition of this branch of our jurisprudence, will have recourse to the above work, which is written with great candour, and characterized by extended re- search, and a careful examination of the vital principles upon which our government reposes. Taking the Federalist as the basis of his Com- mentaries, he advocates a liberal construction of ihe palladium of our liberties, in order to attain a proper exercise of the functions of the govern- ment ; and though he sustains his positions with great power of argu- ment, fulness of illustration, and by indisputable authorities, his views have given rise to several works of an opposite character, in which this doctrine is freely canvassed, and ardently combatted. They are, however, greatly inferior, in point of learning and elaboration, to the Commenta- ries, yet to the student of our Constitutional Law they are by no means to be neglected. The above volumes of Judge Story were translated into German, by Professor Buss, of Frybourg, and have been repeatedly commended, by learned foreigners, as well as by the author's own coun- trymen, as aiTording a most satisfactory and admirable explanation of the powers of the Federal Government of the United States. A late writer 669