gather a history of the questions which agitated the American people from the year 1825 to the year 1860. Mr. Corwin was a Kentuckian by birth; migrated with his father to the Northwest Territory; drove a supply wagon for General Harrison's army, and was hence called the "wagon boy;" began public life as assistant to the clerk of a court; studied law in a lawyer's office; served as prosecuting attorney, representative in the Legislature, representative in Congress, Governor of Ohio, president of an Ohio Whig State Convention, Whig elector in 1844, United States senator, and Secretary of the Treasury under Fillmore; was again elected, and then re-elected, to Congress; was United States Minister to Mexico during our Civil War, and was finally a practitioner of the law in Washington, D. C., where he died in 1865. His opposition to the Mexican war rendered him unpopular for a time, but did not put an end to his public career. His memory is still preserved with an affectionate veneration by many of the older citizens of Ohio. In personal appearance Mr. Corwin was so dark that those that did not know him, sometimes suspected that he was a mulatto. His face was, however, intelligent, frank and strong. When he espoused a cause, he espoused it with all his heart, soul and strength. His speech against the Mexican war, delivered on the floor of the Senate of the United States on February 11th, 1847, will illustrate his earnest style of oratory. A few days after that speech was delivered, another great Whig, holding a different office, won the battle of Buena Vista, and thereby made himself President of the United States.

LAWSON ON BAILMENTS.- The Principles of the American Law of Bailments. A com. panion to the author's work on Contracts. By JOHN D. LAWSON, LL.D., Professor of Common Law in the University of the State of Missouri. St. Louis: The F. H. Thomas Law Book Co. 1895.

This book compares very well with the previous works of this distinguished law professor and writer. It belongs to a class of works that are primarily valuable for the instruction of students, and secondarily valuable for the practical work of the profession. Books of this kind, written by professors in the law schools, are generally prepared in the first instance in the form of lectures to law students. They are so prepared at places where the instructor has no access to a large library; consequently he generally collects his materials from the works of the original investigators and jurist writers; and he often helps himself liberally to those materials, and often without going to the original source for verification. It is always gracious to those authors to cite their works, but quotation marks are too often omitted. During this summer vacation, which in many schools lasts nearly six months- - such is the brevity of the law-school year· he works in some law library, and, to some extent, brings his work down to date by the examination of the latest cases. Some of the late illustrative cases will be found in this book, and there are a good many evidences of original thought and research. In some cases the authorities are massed, and a single page will direct the student to many cases supporting the text more or less closely; in others there are long quotations, as on page 315, et seq. This plan of treatment is justified by the consideration that where the law can be stated and explained in the language of a great judge, delivered in a decision which has since received general approval, that is better than for the author to state it in his own language; and besides it is easier for him. This

work will be found, we think, to present the modern law of bailments in an agreeable style with lawyer-like accuracy, and with a careful attention to those unfortunate complications of judicial opinion which exist on many leading questions. On the question of the propriety of what is called in the usury portions of our country, "the Texas doctrine," that is to say, the doctrine that damages may be recovered against a telegraph company for a failure to deliver a message which produces no other injury than an injury to the feelings, Dr. Lawson takes a vigorous stand in favor of that new doctrine, and in that we believe he is right. Altogether, we like this book better than any modern book on the same subject with which we are acquainted, and it is a pleasure to add that it is clearly and agreeably printed.

AMERICAN STATE REPORTS, VOL. 48.-The American State Reports. Containing the Cases of General Value and Authority Subsequent to those Contained in the "American Decisions" and the " American Reports," decided in the Courts of Last Resort of the Several States. Selected, Reported and Annotated by A. C. FREEMAN, and the Associate Editors of the "American Decisions." Vol. XLVIII. San Francisco: BancroftWhitney Company. 1896.

This excellent series continues to keep us abreast with the progress of modern judicial thought. Whether it is leading its great rival, the L. R. A., in the matter of annotations, we are not prepared to say. There are more or less valuable notes in this volume on the subject of the personal liability of the agents of corporations to third persons; the rights of travelers on ordinary highways and the presumption of negligence from being on the wrong side of the road, including considerable recent bicycle law; 2 constitutional law — equality of right,3 in which the learned editors start out with the proposition that the courts ought not to discriminate in favor of one citizen to the detriment of another, a proposition contradicted by the recent decision of the Supreme Court of the United States in the case of Plessy, elsewhere noticed in this number, in our Notes of Recent Decisions; on the construction of wills; on partnership real estate. Whether as the result of cheap paper, cheap ink, or worn-out type, or all three combined, the typographical appearance of this book is not as good as it should be.

MACLAREN ON BILLS, NOTES AND CHEQUES.-The Bills of Exchange Act, 1890, Canada, and Amending Acts, with notes and illustrations from Canadian, English and American Decisions, and References to Ancient and Modern French Law. By J. J. MACLAREN, Q. C., D. C. L., LL.D., Member of the Bar of Ontario and of Quebec; Author of Banks and Banking, etc., etc. Second Edition. Toronto: The Carswell Co. (Ltd.), Law Publishers. 1896.

This work, as our readers doubtless know, is intended chiefly for the use of Canadian judges and practitioners. In the preface to the original edition it is stated that the Canadian cases cited number 950, the English about the same number, and the American nearly 400; and that the American cases have been selected from reports of the Supreme Courts of the United States, and of the higher courts of those States which follow most closely the common law and

the law merchant, and such as are not affected by local statutes or usages. In the second edition about 250 new cases have been added, more than one-half of them being Canadian cases. Perhaps there is no branch of the law which is so well settled in the United States as the law relating to commercial paper. Nevertheless, doubtful and difficult questions in that branch of the law do sometimes arise, and in such a case an American judge or practitioner will be glad to avail himself of a well-written work on the subject, for the purpose of discovering whether the question has not received attention at the hands of the judges of those British Provinces lying to the north of us, which have inherited from the mother country, as we have, the common law, which includes what is known as the law merchant. For this reason, if for no other, this excellent and well-written work should be in all of our American law libraries.

LA SCIENCE DU POINT D'HONNEUR.- Commentaire raisonné sur l'offense, le duel, ses usages et sa législation en Europe, la responsabilité civile, pénale, religieuse des adversaires et des témoins, avec pieces justificatives. Par A. CROABBON, avocat. Paris, Librairies-imprimeries réunies.

A French advocate, M. Croabbon, has studied the customs which control the duel and the laws which punish it in all the great States of the world. The present volume contains a theoretical discussion of offenses in general, their weight and classification; the various kinds of responsibility in connection with the duel, the incapacity and the duty of the seconds, the arbitration and the jury of honor.

Some difficult questions arise. A debtor may not call his creditor, unless he has previously paid his debt; the offended party who has brought a legal action loses his right to send a subsequent challenge. The duel is forbidden between ascendants and descendants, between brothers, between uncle and nephew. The father, the son, the brother, the relative, the friend are not allowed to avenge by a new provocation the son, the father, the relative, killed or wounded in a previous loyal encounter.

It must be said that the author's idea seems to be to render the duel as innocuous as possible.

In one word, this minute work forms a complete cyclopedia of the theory, practice, metaphysics and ethics of that relic of mediæval irrationality, the duel. E. ST.

TRAITÉ THÉorique et Pratique de DROIT INTERNATIONAL PRIVÉ. Par ANDRÉ WEISS, Professeur agrégé à la Faculté de droit de Paris, associé de l'Institut de Droit International. Paris: Larose et Forcel, 22 Rue Soufflot. Tome I. DE LA NATIONALITÉ, pp. 756. Tome II. LE DROIT DE L'ÉTRANGER, pp. 916.

There is no doubt that, during the last ten years, many excellent works on private international law have appeared in France. Amongst others, the Traité élementaire de droit international privé, by a professor of the University (Faculté de droit) of Dijon, received special attention, the favor of the students, and was crowned by the Institut de France.

The author, M. André Weiss, was appointed to lecture at the Faculté de Droit of Paris, shortly after the publication of his book. In pursuing his studies, he further brings out an elaborate and complete work on private international law, which will consist of six volumes.

Two volumes, gr. in-80, have appeared and soon met with the favor of the public.

The first volume is a comprehensive exposé of the question of nationality or citizenship; for if, according to American and English law, the civil rights of a person are determined by the law of his domicile, so according to French law, the same rights are determined by the law of the State of which he is a citizen. Therefore, whenever a conflict of law occurs, the first inquiry of the French judge must apply to the nationality of the interested parties.

After having explained the true notion of citizenship and its cardinal rules, the author gives an historical sketch of the acquisition of citizenship at the time of the Romans, of the Germani, of the medieval age, when the jus soli was the general rule of the French Revolution, at the time when the Code Civil of 1804 adopted the rule of citizenship by descent or extraction. Then appears

the Act of February 7th, 1851, and at last the present act of June 26th, 1889. The third chapter is devoted to the change of nationality, and the fourth to the competent authority of questions of the kind.

The second volume treats of the rights of the foreigner and is divided as follows:

1. History of the condition of the foreigner.

2. The condition of the foreigner in France with regard to the public law; individual freedom, right of thought and of association.

3. The same with regard to private laws, marriage, rights of parents, property, patents, etc.

4. The existence and capacity of foreign corporations.

And on each of the points discussed, the laws of every civilized nation is carefully examined and explained.

The book is completed by an appendix giving the principal treaties made by France concerning the rights of foreigners in France and of Frenchmen in foreign countries.

The statement of principles, the exact and complete information on every subject discussed, make the two volumes now published by Professor Weiss a valuable work, in fact the best and most complete work on international law in the French language, and promise well for the others which will follow. EMILE STOCQUART, Avocat à la Cour d'appel.

BRUSSELS.

DICEY ON THE CONFLICT OF LAWS, WITH AMERICAN NOTES BY MOORE.- A Digest of the Law of England, with reference to The Conflict of Laws. By A. V. DICEY, Q. C., B. C. L., of the Inner Temple; Vinerian Professor of English Law in the University of Oxford; Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford; Hon. LL.D., Glasgow and Edinburgh. With notes of American cases, by JOHN BASSETT MOORE, Professor of International Law, Columbian University, New York, N. Y.; Author of a work on Extradition and Interstate Rendition, etc. London: Stevens and Sons, Limited, 119 and 120 Chancery Lane. Sweet and Maxwell, Limited, 3 Chancery Lane. Boston, U. S. A.: The Boston Book Company, Law Publishers and Booksellers. 1896. All rights reserved. The present edition of this work appears to be the joint work of the eminent author and of Professor J. B. Moore, of Columbia College, New York, author of the leading American work on Extradition and an authority on questions of interstate and international law. Professor Dicey's text, as is well-known, is

in the form of rules, comments, and illustrations. It is, therefore, in form, a codification of that branch of the law to which it relates. The comments and illustrations are drawn with the view of explaining in each case the rule which they follow. Whether this is the best way of conveying to the mind's eye a clear conception of the state of the law upon a given subject, we are not prepared to say. The contribution which Professor Moore has made to this work is valuable, though necessarily very condensed. It consists of a chapter of American notes appended to each of the chapters of the English author. The work of Professor Moore is consequently distinct from that of Professor Dicey, and his conclusions rest upon American cases alone. Those of our readers who have perused the frequent contributions which Professor Moore has made to the pages of the AMERICAN LAW REVIEW, will be prepared for the statement that his part of the work has been thorough, practical, sound, and is consequently valuable. We are sorry that the demands upon our space do not admit of our giving more attention to the various subjects embraced in this most excellent work. This work will not, of course, supersede other works printed in the English language on the same subject. At the same time, no other work can supersede this work.

FOSTER ON THE CONSTITUTION.-Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States, Historical and Juridical, with Observations upon the Ordinary Provisions of State Constitutions, and a comparison with the Constitutions of other Countries. By ROGER FOSTER, of the New York Bar, Author of a Treatise on Federal Practice, etc. Vol. 1. Boston: The Boston Book Company. 1895.

It is difficult to form an estimate of this work on an examination of the first volume. It is hard to understand on what definite conception, if any, it is written; and there is no preface to enlighten us on this point. There is certainly one great constitutional lawyer remaining on the bench of the Supreme Court of the United States, and the learned author missed an opportunity of dedicating his work to that one. This work, so far as the first volume exhibits its character, is historical, legal, and argumentative. Although it is historical, it is not historical in the sense of treating events and constitutional developments in their chronological order; for it contains in an early portion of the work a constitutional history of the Southern Confederacy, of Reconstruction, etc. Although it bears on the back of the volume the words "Preamble to Impeachment," it cannot be said to take up the constitution of the United States at its preamble and proceed to the subject of impeachments, either topically or otherwise. It is characterized by discursiveness, by the multiplication of instances, and by the publication of documents, extracts from speeches, judicial decisions, etc. For instance, there is a long appendix relating to State impeachment trials, a subject which can have no very close connection with the subject of impeachments under the Federal constitution; whereas, under the subject of Federal impeachments the procedure, in the case of an impeachment by the House of Representatives and its trial by the Senate, is minutely pointed out. We regard this work as in the nature of materials to be used in making a commentary on the constitution of the United States, rather than such a commentary itself. An able writer, pursuing the style of Gibbon, would construct a lucid and agreeable text, and would relegate most of the documents, extracts, etc., which are included in this text, to foot-notes,