literally, though not always accurately. The awkward English of the translations may, however, be excused, on the plea that it is as good as the Latin of the originals. Each maxim is followed by a couple of pages of illustrations, with the references to the books cited in a mass together at the end, not distinguishing which particular case is referred to in any one sentence. The second part of the original work is a list of eight hundred maxims, with translations; and is followed, in this edition, by the maxims cited in the New York reports, with the references from Abbott's Digest, and a short selection of maxims, with notes, prepared for incorporation in the New York Code. This is a very simple piece of book-making, but not without its value. Of course, by the combination of several lists there is a good deal of repetition; and some of the sentences seem to have no title to a place in any collection, unless the test of a maxim be that it is a Latin sentence found in a law-book. We have not, indeed, observed in this book any such remarkable rule of law as licet saepius requisitus, which figures in the table of maxims in the Massachusetts Digest; but certainly many of the dicta cited by the author would hardly be looked for in such a work. Any one, however, may find profit as well as interest in looking over the list, being careful always to do his own translating. Scintilla Juris. By ******S ***N ******G, Esq., of the Inner Temple, Barrister-at-Law. San Francisco: Sumner Whitney & Co. 1877. 12mo, pp. 76. THIS book is aptly named. It would be difficult to describe it better than the title does. It is witty and entertaining, and contains many shrewd suggestions, the value of which a practising lawyer will recognize at once, although they are quaintly clothed. We should say that the eleven short essays of which it is composed were written by some philosophic barrister to amuse himself and his friends, and were given to the world at the suggestion of the latter. They are," says the preface, "like other culinary directions, designed for the information of the cooks only, and not for the enlightenment of those who are to partake of the broth." The general character of the book may be gathered from a few selections. The essay "Of Prisoners" begins, for example, thus: "It is a curious principle in our law that prisoners charged with having committed a crime are the only people in the world presumed to be innocent of it. But this great advantage is not conceded to them for nothing, since they are also supposed to speak falsely, when they deny that they are guilty of the very offence which they are presumed not to have committed; and, therefore, if they should desire to assert their innocence under the sanction of an oath, this is forbidden, because they are further presumed to be addicted to perjury." "That a prisoner's wife may not be called, even by himself, is a beneficent provision, designed by his enemies to save him from his friends." Of female witnesses, the author says: "Women are invariably angry in the witness-box, for the rules of evidence happen to be peculiarly repressive of feminine conversation; wherefore they look upon them as prominent examples of the laws designed for the subjection of their sex." The essays, entitled "Of Telling a Story,' ""Of Examining-in-Chief," and "Of Cross-examination," are well worth study; and we would quote some specimens, but it is hardly fair to quote very liberally from so small a book, and we advise our readers to look for themselves. The Memphis Law Journal. M. B. TREZEVANT, Proprietor. Vol. I., January, 1878, No. 1. Memphis: S. C. Toof & Co. 1878. THIS new magazine, as we infer from the introduction to this number, is intended primarily to meet the wants of the profession in Tennessee, Arkansas, and Mississippi, and to furnish a fuller record of current legal events in those States, and an opportunity for more thorough discussion of local questions, than reviews which aim at a wider circulation can give. The first article on "The Chancery System of Tennessee," is by Chancellor Cooper. It discusses the present tendency of law reformers to abolish the distinction between law and equity, which in Tennessee has led to a curious enactment. The act of March 26, 1877, provides, "That jurisdiction of all civil causes of action now triable in the Circuit Court, except for injuries to person, property, or character, involving unliquidated damages, are hereby conferred upon the Chancery Court, which shall have and exercise concurrent jurisdiction thereof along with the Circuit Court." An act which provides that "jurisdiction . . . are conferred" bears on its face the evidence that it was not carefully considered, and it is not easy to • say what the effect of such a statute will be. The Chancellor's suggestions in regard to it are valuable, and we commend his article to the attention of those who are interested in the subject. Mr. Henry Craft contributes an article on the judiciary, in which he points out the dangers of the elective system, and Mr. Heiskell criticises with much force the recent tax legislation in Tennessee. The number also contains reports of recent cases, including, among others, a case in which the statute which we have quoted was construed, and its constitutionality affirmed, where the defendant demurred to a bill filed to collect an open account for goods sold. We have read this first number of our new contemporary with interest, and we hope that it will meet with cordial support. Reports of Cases decided in the Court of Chancery, the Prerogative Court, and, on appeal, in the Court of Errors and Appeals, of the State of New Jersey. JOHN H. STEWART, Reporter. Vol. I. Trenton, N. J. 1877. THIS Volume, the twenty-eighth of the equity series of this State and the first by Mr. Stewart, contains the opinions delivered at the February, May, and October Terms, 1877, of the Court of Chancery, and the Prerogative Court, and, on appeal, in the Court of Errors and Appeals at the March, June, and November Terms, 1877. There are not many of them of such novelty and general interest as to warrant an extended notice. In The Camden Horse Railroad Co. v. The Citizens' Coach Co., p. 145, the chancellor enjoins the respondents from using the complainant's tracks in the prosecution of a competing business. In Manhattan Life Ins. Co. v. Paulison, p. 304, a mechanic's lien is given priority over a mortgage, although the lienor's work was done after the mortgage was recorded, and the construction of the building was interrupted for months at a time at certain seasons of successive years. In Re Newark Savings Institution, on the application of a savings-bank for direction in the management of its affairs, the court, on the intimation that it was uncertain whether all depositors could be paid in full, interfered to prevent the payment of any in full. We are much pleased with the method of reporting in this volume, and only wish all reporters would be as concise and thoughtful as Mr. Stewart. We also wish to call attention to his valuable annotations of some of the more important cases. Reports of Cases argued and determined in the Supreme Court of the State of Wisconsin, with Tables of the Cases and Principal Matters. O. M. CONOVER, Official Reporter. Vol. XLII. Containing Cases determined at the January and August Terms, 1877. Chicago: Callaghan & Co. 1878. We are unable in this number to give other than a passing notice of the current volume of these reports. It comes to us with the promptness that we have learned to expect from the reporter, who regularly issues two volumes in each year. Perhaps, the most noticeable decisions are those in which railroad companies are defendants, as the Granger spirit seems to find less expression in the determination of their rights than formerly. We should, perhaps, except Bass v. Chicago & Northwestern R. R. Co., page 654, which upholds a verdict of $2,500 in favor of a passenger who, having taken a seat in the ladies' car, was forcibly removed by a brakeman without notice, the brakeman being retained in the employ of the company, and subsequently promoted. We find, also, examples of the working of a statutory provision giving to parties to actions the right to have special verdicts, for in one case in this volume the defendant's counsel propounded sixteen special conundrums to the jury, in answering one of which they failed to be as direct and explicit as the court thought proper, and so the defendant had a new trial. In Bass v. R. R. Co., cited above, the jury made twenty-three special findings. This provision of law must be of great service to defendants who have weak cases and ingenious counsel. New Cases, Selected chiefly from Decisions of the Courts of the State of New York. With Notes. By Austin Abbott. Vol. II. New York: Ward & Peloubet. 1878. WE noticed at some length last year the first volume of this series of reports (11 Am. Law Rev. 759), where we took occasion to speak of the fitness of Mr. Abbott for such work. We cannot say that an inspection of the volume before us has furnished us with any thing to add to, or to take from, what we then said. The practice under the Code of New York is illustrated by these volumes. They are, therefore, principally useful to the profession of that State. They contain some reports of cases before inferior tribunals, and to that extent are of very little use anywhere. Mr. Abbott's notes are of considerable general value, and the volume is, perhaps, worth purchasing, to obtain the cases to which they form an important illumination. We can see no reason why the publishers should inflict so inferior a quality of paper, printing, and binding, on a profession already severely burdened. We think we merit better treatment at their hands, even if it be at the expense of a reduced profit to them. Hubbell's Legal Directory for Lawyers and Business Men, containing the names of one or more of the leading and most reliable attorneys in nearly three thousand cities and towns in the United States and Canada. A synopsis of the collection laws of each State and Canada, with instructions for taking depositions, the execution and acknowledgment of deeds, wills, &c., and a concise synopsis of the bankrupt law, with registers in bankruptcy; also times for holding courts throughout the United States and Territories, for the year commencing Oct. 1, 1877, to which is added a list of prominent banks and bankers throughout the United States. J. H. HUBBELL, editor and compiler. J. H. Hubbell & Co., New York. A LIST OF LAW BOOKS PUBLISHED IN ENGLAND AND AMERICA SINCE JANUARY, 1878. Abdy, J. T. Kent's Commentary on International Law. Second edition. Post 8vo, cloth, 10s. 6d. Stevens & Sons, London. American Criminal Reports. By John G. Hawley. Vol. 1. 8vo, sheep, $7.50. Callaghan & Co., Chicago. American Decisions. Containing all the Cases of General Value and Authority decided in the Courts of the Several States, from the earliest Issue of the State Reports to the Year 1869. Compiled and Annotated by John Proffatt. 8vo, sheep, $5.00. A. L. Bancroft & Co., San Francisco. American Railway Reports. & Co., New York. Vol. 9. (Shipman.) 8vo, sheep, $6.00. Cockcroft American Reports. Edited by Isaac Grant Thompson. Vol. 22. 8vo, sheep, $6.00. John D. Parsons, Jr., Albany. Andrews, John. Precedents of Leases. With Practical Notes. Second edition. Archbold, J. F. Poor Law. Comprising the whole of the Law of Relief, Settlement, and the Removal of the Poor. Thirteenth edition. By W. Cunningham Glen. Post 8vo, cloth, 35s. Shaw & Sons, London. Bainbridge, W. Law of Mines and Minerals. Fourth edition. By A. Brown. 8vo, cloth, 45s. Butterworths, London. Bedford, E. H. Final Examination Guide to Bankruptcy. Third edition. Post 8vo, cloth, 6s. Stevens & Sons, London. Bishop, Joel P. The Doctrines of the Law of Contracts in their Principal Outlines, Stated, Illustrated, and Condensed. 8vo, sheep, $3.50. Soule, Thomas, & Wentworth, St. Louis. Bump, Orlando F. Notes of Constitutional Decisions; being a Digest of the Judicial Interpretations of the Constitution of the United States, as contained in the Various Federal and State Reports. 8vo, sheep, $4.50. Baker, Voorhis, & Co., New York. Cabinet Lawyer. A Popular Digest of the Laws of England. Twenty-fifth edition. 12mo, cloth, 9s. Longmans, London. Charley, W. T. New Practice and Pleading under the New Judicature Acts. Third Comyns, W. H. Handy Book of Exercises, in a Series of Abstracts of Title to Davidson's Precedents and Forms in Conveyancing. Third edition. Vol. 5, Part 2. Royal 8vo, cloth, 32s. Maxwell, London. |