PREFACE TO THE FIFTH AMERICAN EDITION. THE fourth American edition of Abbott on Shipping was fully and thoroughly edited by the late lamented Mr. Justice Story, in 1829. Since that time a new edition of this work has been published in England, enriched by the learned labors of William Shee, Serjeant at Law. The edition of Mr. Justice Story is now out of print, and this, together with the fact that many cases bearing upon, and illustrating the law of Shipping, have been decided in America since 1829, has induced the publishers to bring out a new edition of this work, with the additions of Mr. Shee, and with notes of the late American decisions. The Editor is well aware, that it would have been more desirable that Mr. Justice Story should have reëdited this book, than that it should have fallen into the present hands. His system would have been better preserved, and his great learning would have given immensely greater value to the work. But this change of editors is only one of the many evils which we all suffer by the extinguishment of so great a light of the law, and of general jurisprudence. The main object of this edition has been to search a* out, examine, and cite all the cases which have been reported on this subject, not before cited by Mr. Justice Story, and also those that have been decided since the publication of his edition. Many cases relating to Shipping have not found their way into any book of reports; these, however, have been referred to in the learned publications where they are to be found. And it is hoped, and confidently believed, that no cases of importance touching the matters here discussed, have been omitted. The Editor has placed in the Appendix all the statutes respecting the subject of Shipping that have been enacted since the year 1829, and has also added many new forms, of shipping and other instruments, connected with the general subject. The act of February 26, 1845, extending Admiralty jurisdiction to cases of contracts and torts upon the lakes and navigable waters connecting the same, has very much enlarged the necessity for works upon Shipping in the States where those lakes and waters exist. The Editor has, therefore, to make this work more useful in those States, referred to all the cases which he has been able to find heretofore decided, arising out of contracts and torts connected with this inland navigation. The Index has also been enlarged to meet the new state of the work. With these remarks, the whole is submitted to the indulgence of the profession, by J. C. PERKINS. Salem, April 15, 1846. } ADVERTISEMENT TO THIS [SEVENTH ENGLISH] EDITION. THE asterisks (*) which will be frequently met with in the following pages, are used to denote the additions of the present Editor [Mr. Shee] to the Fifth Edition of this Treatise, which was published in 1827. They will be found at the commencement and at the end of the new matter, and where it consists of one or more pages, at the beginning of the first and last lines of every page. A Table of Contents has been prefixed to every Chapter for the convenience of the Reader. The Statutes now in force relating to the subjects of this Treatise, and several additional forms of practical utility, will be found in the Appendix. |