LIBRARY OF THE

LELAND STANFORD JR. UNIVERSITY.

@28.962

Northern District of New York, to-wit:

Be it remembered, that on the nineteenth day of July, in the forty-seventh year of the Independence of the United States of America, A. D. 1822, WILLIAM GOULD & [L. S.] Co., of the said District, have deposited in this Office the title of a Book, the right whereof they claim as proprietors, in the words following, to-wit:-" A Treatise on the Law of Injunctions, by the Hon. Robert Henley Eden, of Lincoln's Inn, Barrister at Law. First American Edition, with Notes and References to American Decisions." In conformity to the act of Congress of the United States, entitled "An Act for the encouragement of Learning, by securing the copies of Maps, Charts and Books, to the Authors and Proprietors of such Copies, during the times therein mentioned;" and also, to the act entitled "An Act supplementary to the Act, entitled An Act for the encouragement of Learning, by securing the Copies of Maps, Charts, and Books, to the.Authors and Proprietors of such Copies during the times therein mentioned,' and extending the benefits thereof to the Arts of Designing, Engraving and Etching historical and other Prints."

RICHARD R. LANSING, Clerk of the Northern District of New York.

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year one thousand eight hundred and thirtynine, by GOULD, BANKS & Co., in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States, for the Southern District of New York.

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year one thousand eight hundred and fifty-two, by BANKS, Gould & Co., in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States, for the Southern District of New York.

ELLIS BARNES & Co., Law Printers, 144 Nassau St.

PREFACE.

THE subject of Injunctions, though eminently practical, covers a diversified and extensive field in legal science, and comprehends a beautiful and harmonious system, full of learning.

The process which enjoins or restrains a party in the exercise of his real or supposed rights is, from its very nature, one, in the just and enlightened direction of which, every member of society has a personal interest. It can only be employed under some peculiar and pressing exigency, and it requires, in its proper exercise, judicial learning, good sense, decision, integrity and discretion.

It is somewhat remarkable that so important a branch of the law, and one, too, so constantly employed in the ordinary concerns of everyday life, should have been apparently neglected by law writers. It can only be accounted for by supposing that the elegant, lucid and profound Treatise of Mr. Eden is so complete as to render any other book on the same subject a work of supererogation. This is undoubt edly the case. In a style beautiful for its simplicity, Mr. Eden goes over the entire ground of injunctions, so concisely and plainly, and yet so learnedly, that the student and experienced lawyer are alike instructed; and while both the young and the old are edified with the vein of sterling common sense which runs through his writings, he treats his subject in so thorough a manner, as to leave nothing either undone or unfinished.

Hence it is that there is no American Treatise on Injunctions, and that EDEN is the only work of the kind, of any moment, in Great

Britain. Indeed, Mr. Eden's book, though first published in England over thirty years ago, is still the standard authority there; and I need scarcely say, that it is in equally high repute in the United States.

Two large editions of the work have been sold in this country, and the demand for it has steadily and rapidly increased. Both Chancellor Kent and Judge Story constantly refer to it in their writings; and the latter, in particular, very often avails himself of copious quotations from it. In all of the decisions of our higher courts it has the weight of authority. Indeed it is very much to be doubted whether, for a law-book of its unpretending general character, there has ever been one that commanded more universal and implicit deference in the higher walks of the profession. Though practical, and, in one sense, elementary, it is yet profound, and has commended itself alike to the student, the practitioner and the commentator.

A third edition of this invaluable treatise being called for, it seemed meet to accompany the English text with American notes and references so ample as to make a complete American work. This plan has been followed. The Reports of every State in the Union have been carefully and thoroughly examined, and every important decision has not only been cited, but has formed the subject of elaborate comment.

In carrying out this design, the great range and variety of cases to which the process of Injunction may be applied has sometimes necessarily led to a minute discussion of general principles and their application. Much general law has thus been embodied in the work, which, it is believed, will be found highly useful to the student, and of great practical convenience to the lawyer. The former will find in its pages just the information he needs. The latter, instead of being driven, when he resorts to an injunction, to ransack his library for the principles of law which apply to his particular case, will have in these volumes a complete epitome of all the law on the subject.

The additions which have been made to the work of Mr. Eden may be enumerated as follows:-An introduction, in which are discussed the leading principles of law relative to injunctions; copious notes, containing full citations from the English as well as the American

cases; an appendix of practical forms; a full index to the notes; and a greatly enlarged table of contents.

The task of the annotator is arduous and difficult. Scarcely any two minds view the same subject in precisely the same way; and the being obliged to follow the text and general arrangement of another is always irksome, and often takes away all freedom of thought and action. The annotator, moreover, is expected to give all the authorities, and to discuss the law of the text concisely, and yet thoroughly. He is sure to be censured if anything important is omitted; and if, haplessly, he states more than is necessary, or is guilty of repetition, untold maledictions fall on his devoted head.

It has been the honest and laborious endeavor of the editor of this work, to make it a useful American book. It has cost him many days. and nights of anxious toil; and he has incurred, and must bear, the responsibility of its reception. He, however, feels that he has discharged, fully and faithfully, his whole duty. In submitting these volumes to the profession, he has at least the satisfactory assurance that the most able are also, in general, the most candid and lenient critics.

THOMAS W. WATERMAN.

New York, No. 77 Nassau street, March 10th, 1852.