The plan of the Commentary is to state, as concisely as possible, at the commencement of each Chapter, the existing law on the subject with which the chapter deals, and then to support the statement piecemeal by quotations from decided cases and other official sources. Every attempt thus to reduce unwritten law and custom to propositions must necessarily be imperfect, but I venture to hope that the book will be of use to those who are engaged in administering the law not only as a collection of
