You could
use some force to prevent him, you could not kill him, or put out his
eyes, or treat him roughly. The law only gave you the right to proceed
against him to recover money damages for the legal injury. A court of
equity has a preventive remedy. If one threatens to fill up your well
you can petition or pray the court to order that he shall refrain
until there has been a legal hearing to determine whether he has any
right to do so and the court will order him to desist until it has
heard the case, and will enforce its order with a fine or penalty
should he disobey.

The term equity contains a larger element of justice than law; and the
courts often say that an act is just or equitable, meaning that an act
which is just or equitable may not always be a legal act. Equity
therefore is a broader term, and is in constant use in legal
proceedings.

Another word frequently used in this book is action. When a person has
wronged another, for example, has not paid a promissory note that is
due, and the wronged party wishes to collect it through the courts, he
brings an action, so called, against the wrongdoer for that purpose.
Sometimes the word suit is used. Suit, or case in court, is a common
expression.

Finally something should be said about courts of law. Every state has
three kinds or classes of courts. First a court in which suits are
brought and tried relating to small matters, the recovery of money,
for example, for one or two hundred dollars or less, also for small
petty criminal offenses. Next is a higher court in which suits for all
larger matters are begun and tried, as well as appeals from the lower
court. Lastly is a third court of review, usually called the supreme
court, composed in most of the states of five, or more often, seven
judges, who review the decisions of the court below whenever
application is made founded on erroneous matters, the wrongful
admission of, or refusal to admit, evidence and the like, and their
decisions form the great body of the common law.

The federal government also has three courts corresponding somewhat to
the courts established by the states. First is a court existing in
every state called the district court, while some states, like New
York, are divided into several districts. An appeal lies from its
decision to the court of appeals consisting of three judges. There are
nine of these courts, one for each circuit into which the United
States is divided. Lastly appeals