several modes in which an asserted claim may be reduced. Among these are stoppage, or equitable set-off, which is largely administered by courts of chancery, independently of any statute; recoupment, the right of diminishing damages on account of some matter arising out of the same transaction on which the claim for damages is founded (this doctrine of recoupment, which was of very limited application in the earlier times of the law, has recently been largely developed); counter-claim, as established in many of the new State codes, which comprises set-off and recoupment and "something more; " retainer, or the right of an executor to retain out of a legacy a debt due from the legatee, all of which the reader will find discussed in this book of Mr. Waterman, together with a collection of some eighteen hundred cases in which such matters have come up for decision.

It is, as Mr. Waterman observes, nearly thirty years since any book on the subject has been written; and this publication is well timed, giving, as it does, full and clear abstracts of all important cases on the doctrines of set-off and its kindred topics, which have hitherto generally occupied brief chapters in works on contract and on practice.

Mr. Waterman has searched the reports diligently. He has not, however, brought his researches down quite to the date of publication, and several important cases decided in the last few years have escaped him. We call his attention to the following places, in which he will find recent decisions, which might have been consulted and referred to with profit: L. R. 2 C. P. 593; L. R. 2 Ch. 808; L. R. 3 Eq. 196; L. R. 4 Eq. 675, s. c. 3 Ch. 195; L. R. 6 Eq. 344; 6 Wall. 484; 14 All. 20; 97 Mass. 166; 36 N. Y. 348; 31 N. J. 335; 24 Md. 527 ; Phil. (N. C.) Eq. 341; 27 Ind. 158; 36 Ill. 518; 37 Ill. 19.

On page 151, we notice a curious case of a lovers' quarrel, which found its way into court. "In Askins v. Hearns, 3 Abbott (N. Y.), 184, the action was brought to recover damages for the conversion of a ring. The answer of the defendant, after denying generally all the allegations of the complaint, proceeded to allege, as a counter-claim, that the parties had exchanged rings, and the defendant delivered a ring to the plaintiff at the time when he received hers, with the agreement in each case that each should keep the ring thus obtained until the other should be returned; that the defendant had complied with this condition, and tendered to the plaintiff her ring, and demanded his own, which she refused to deliver; and he therefore asked for judgment for his ring, or for its value, with costs. Held, that the answer was not admissible."

A Practical Treatise on the Power to Sell Land for the Non-payment of Taxes, embracing the Decisions of the Federal Courts, and of the Supreme Judicial Tribunals of the several States. By ROBERT S. BLACKWELL. Third Edition, Revised and Enlarged. Boston: Little, Brown, & Company. 1869.

THE way in which the law looks at tax sales is not only different, but diametrically opposed to that in which it regards other legal proceedings; instead of looking at the substance of the transaction, and making the largest intendments in favor of the regularity of what has been done, it denies the applicability to them of the maxim Omnia præsumuntur rite esse acta, and courts have rivalled each other in the astuteness with which they have picked flaws in the titles of the un

happy purchasers, so that one is sometimes disposed to doubt the truth even of the dictum attributed to a learned judge, that the law does recognize the possibility of a tax-title being valid.

The subject of sales for taxes has become a very important branch of the law of real property, especially in the Western States, and well deserves to be considered in a separate treatise. Mr. Blackwell's book has always borne a good reputation, and when we consider how entirely tax-sales are the creatures of statute, and how the statutes of every State differ, it is surprising that he was able to treat his subject in so well-arranged and systematic a manner.

This edition has been enriched with the citation of four hundred additional cases by Mr. Balch, of the Boston bar. His annotations are models of neatness, thoroughness, and accuracy. We would especially refer the reader to the additional note at the end of the volume, and to the very valuable collection of authorities on the constitutionality of local assessments on page 8.

A Selection of Leading Cases in Criminal Law. With Notes by EDMUND H. BENNETT and FRANKLIN FISKE HEARD. Second Edition, entirely revised and partly re-written. Boston: Litttle, Brown, & Company. 1869.

CRIMINAL LAW, from the variety and independent character of the topics with which it deals, is particularly adapted for treatment in the shape of Leading Cases; and this selection, from its first appearance, has been found worthy to rank with the Collections of Leading Cases in other branches of the law which now form one of our most valuable classes of text-books.

This second edition has undergone very great changes, which we will endeavor briefly to describe, for the benefit of those who may be acquainted with the first edition.

We have compared the two editions as well as we have been able, though much impeded by what is really the one serious defect of the book. We refer to the insufficiency of the means of reference. If we remember rightly, Lord Campbell, in one of his books, speaks of his intention of introducing a bill into Parliament that no book should be published without an index; such a law we have often wished was in force here. The index, both to this and to the first edition, is only such a digest as is usually attached to every volume of reports, a good enough guide to the principal cases, but a totally insufficient one to the very varied matter contained in the notes. If the index in the first edition was very inadequate, there was at least a table of cases; but this, for some unaccountable reason, is omitted from the present edition, an omission which seriously impairs the practical use of the work.

In the first edition, the notes by the writers were intermingled throughout the two volumes, being distinguished only by the initials "E. H. B." and ""H." attached to their respective contributions. Now all the cases annotated by Mr. Bennett are collected in the first volume, those by Mr. Heard in the second. The cases supplied by Mr. Bennett are the same as those in the first edition; no new cases are added, but the notes have been largely increased with valuable matter. We have especially observed the important additions to the note attached to the case of Commonwealth v. McKie, which even in its earlier form always seemed to us the most lucid exposition of the distinction between prima facie evidence and the burden of proof.

In the second volume the changes are far more radical. Some cases have been substituted for others, as forming better introductions to the law treated of in the notes. Thus on indictment for larceny of goods stolen in another State, Commonwealth v. Uprichard, 3 Gray, 434, and Commonwealth v. Holder, 9 Gray, 7, are substituted for Simmons v. Commonwealth, 5 Binn. 617. But the main alteration has been in the numerous omissions and additions. The changes have been, on the whole, an improvement. Some of the cases omitted turned on petty points of practice, or were otherwise wholly unworthy to find place in such a collection; and others, as those on the larceny of domesticated wild-fowl, were matters rather of curious learning than of much practical moment. We regret, however, the absence of the cases on writs of error brought to reverse erroneous judgments, with the extract from the admirable opinion of Lord Denman, in O'Connell's Case. The notes to the cases which have been retained have been brought down with careful research to the present time.

The wholly new cases (that is, cases on topics not discussed at all, or but partially treated in the earlier edition) seem to be Commonwealth v. Bean, 11 Cush. 414, on indictments upon statutes; Commonwealth v. McDonald, 5 Cush. 365, and Reg. v. Collins, Leigh & C. 471, s. c. 9 Cox C. C. 497, on attempts at larceny from the person; The King v. Ellis, 9 Dowl. & R. 174, s. c. 6 B. & C. 147, on evidence in cases of connected felonies; The Queen v. Goodhall, 1 Den. C. C. 187, on abortion; and Reg. v. Lewis, Dearsly & Bell C. C. 182, on death within the body of a county resulting from a felonious stroke given on the high seas. At the end of the note to the latter, reference is made to the case of Commonwealth v. McLoon, in Massachusetts. The statutes of that State provide, that, if a mortal wound is given on the high seas, by means whereof death ensues in any county of the State, such offence may be prosecuted in the county where the death happens. The indictment in this case charged a beating on the high seas as the means of death, and the death as ensuing in the County of Suffolk. The ship was English, and it was not alleged that the defendants were citizens of Massachusetts, or amenable to its laws. It was contended that the State courts had no jurisdiction. Mr. Heard speaks of the case as undecided; but, since the publication of his work, it has been determined in favor of the jurisdiction.

A Treatise upon the United States Courts and their Practice, explaining the Enactments by which they are controlled, their Organization and Powers, their peculiar Jurisdiction, and the modes of Pleading and Procedure in them. With numerous practical Forms. By BENJAMIN VAUGHAN ABBOTT and AUSTIN Аввотт. Vol. I.—Enactments; Organization; Jurisdiction. New York: Diossy & Company. 1869.

THIS treatise is intended, as stated in the preface, to supply the needs of those practitioners, who, though familiar with the practice of the courts of their own State, are yet little acquainted with the practice and procedure of the United States courts. Since the abolition, in most of the States, of the old forms of pleading and practice, and the substitution of codes, practice acts, and other devices for making law easy, the necessity for a work of this character has been constantly increasing, and we feel sure that this treatise will meet with a cordial reception.

Book I., comprising the first one hundred and sixty-six pages, consists of a compilation of those statutes which peculiarly affect the United States courts and their procedure, followed by the rules of the Supreme Court, which govern its own procedure and that of the courts subordinate to it. We would suggest that this portion of the volume should be provided with a separate index, as in its present form it is scarcely of sufficient practical utility to warrant the surrender of so large a space to a mere reprinting of statutes and rules which can easily be found elsewhere.

The original portion of the work begins with Book II., on p. 167. This treats of the Judiciary, and consists of an introductory chapter, followed by chapters on the Judicial Power, the Judicial Organization, the District Courts, the Circuit Courts, the Supreme Court, and the Reports of the United States Courts.

In the diagram or chart of the reports, by the way, we observe that Clifford's Reports are made to follow immediately after Curtis's. There is in fact a gap, lacuna valdede flenda, of at least two years.

Book III. treats of the subjects of jurisdiction, containing chapters on Admiralty, Bankruptcy, Collision, Copyright, Crimes, Equity, Extradition, Habeas Corpus, Patents, Prize, Revenue, Salvage, Seamen, Seizures, and Shipping.

The present volume is well written, and will abundantly repay a careful perusal. In conformity with the general plan and object of the work, a general knowledge of law on the part of the reader is assumed, and those subjects only are treated of, which peculiarly pertain to the United States courts and their practice. Its greatest charm consists in its freedom from a fault, which is becoming so common in the law books of the present day, that of degenerating into a mere digest, each paragraph or sentence being the head-note of an adjudicated case. It is, as its name denotes, a treatise, and will be found very agreeable reading.

The second volume is to be occupied with detailed directions for pleading and practice, accompanied by practical forms; and promises to be of service to those lawyers who are unacquainted with the practice of the United States courts.

The Law and Practice in Bankruptcy. The Bankrupt Law of the United States, with all the Amendments, and the Rules and Forms as amended; together with Notes referring to all Decisions reported to October 1, 1869. To which is added the Rules of the District Court of the United States for the Southern District of New York. Annotated by ORLANDO F. BUMP, Register in Bankruptcy. New York: Baker, Voorhis, & Company. 1869.

THIS is the second edition of a book the first edition of which was published about a year ago, and was noticed by us at the time of its appearance (3 Am. Law Rev. 347). That edition contained about two hundred cases, which number has in the present edition been more than doubled.

When we first spoke of Mr. Bump's book it was just published, and we could only say that the plan was good; since that time we have often had occasion to use it in practice, and we can now speak as favorably of the execution. It is a useful and convenient manual.

Cases and Opinions on Constitutional Law, and various points of English Jurisprudence, collected and digested from Official Documents and other Sources;

with Notes. By WILLIAM FORSYTH, M.A., Q.C., &c. London: Stevens & Haynes. 1869.

A LARGE proportion of the most important opinions printed in this book is taken from the collection published by Mr. George Chalmers in London, in 1814, and reprinted in 1858, and well known to all who have made any considerable study of public law. Indeed, scarcely any opinions earlier than 1814 are here printed for the first time, except a handful from the manuscripts of Sir James Marriott. The selections and omissions from the earlier collection have been generally made with good judgment. Some curious rubbish has been left out, such as the opinions of Sir Creswell Levinz, Attorney General of Charles II., upon the mode of trying the question whether certain imported "earthenwares be painted or not"; and the granting of a monopoly for "a new invention of making black pepper white." 2 Chalmers's Opinions, 284, 320. The collection of Mr. Chalmers, however, is by no means superseded, as it contains many official opinions of Sir Philip Yorke (afterwards Lord Hardwicke), Sir William Murray (afterwards Lord Mansfield), Mr. Richard West (afterwards Lord Chancellor of Ireland), and other eminent lawyers, which are not republished by Mr. Forsyth, and some of which are of much value and interest to an American reader.

Mr. Forsyth has added many new opinions, given by the law officers of the crown during the last half century, and has much increased the usefulness of his work by full tables of the contents, of the names of the authors, of the cases and statutes cited, and, above all, by learned notes, which embody the only English attempt with which we are acquainted, except the treatise published by Mr. Herbert Broom some three years ago, at any thing like a commentary on constitutional law. Mr. Forsyth's book, indeed, like those of most English lawyers, is quite deficient in references to decisions in this country. His want of acquaintance with our authorities is sufficiently manifested by the fact that the only writings of American lawyers which he prints are three pages of extracts from opinions of Mr. Legaré, and thirty-four pages of the opinions of Mr. Cushing, from the printed volumes of Opinions of Attorney Generals of the United States; and fifty pages of Mr. David Dudley Field's argument in McCardle's case, reprinted verbatim, from the opening words, "May it please the court," to the final flourish about "neither foreign domination nor domestic oppression."

In order to enable our readers to form some opinion of the variety and interest of the contents of Mr. Forsyth's volume, we will refer briefly to the chapters in their order.

CHAPTER I. On the Common and Statute Law applicable to the Colonies. This chapter fitly begins with the pithy opinion of Mr. West, stating the familiar rule on the subject, and ending, "Let an Englishman go where he will, he carries as much of law and liberty with him as the nature of things will bear." This is followed by other opinions on the application of the same rule, on the king's right of governing the colonies, and on the powers of the colonial legislatures. And the notes contain an elaborate collection of authorities relating to the law prevailing in the colonies, whether acquired by conquest, by cession, or by

occupancy.

CHAP. II. On the Ecclesiastical Law applicable to the Colonies. To an American