ories are neatly ticketed.

M. Valery inclines strongly to the rule prevailing in England and the United States, the theory of "declaration," as opposed to the theory of "information" (i. e., as opposed to the doctrine of M'Culloch v. Eagle Ins. Co., 1 Pick. 277). He would be willing to carry this in some respects much farther than it has been carried here, and would, for instance, hold that the entry by a merchant (in the books which he is required by French law to keep) of an acceptance should bind the other party. One, however, who was not bound to keep books should not, he says, be able to bind the offerer until he mails his answer. The hardship of this doctrine upon an offerer who does not hear of his acceptance is to be completely obviated by an obligation imposed upon the acceptor ex bono et æquo, corresponding to our condition or contract implied by law, to see that the offerer is duly informed of the acceptance, a suggestion worth consideration here.

Those idealists who feel that the foreign commercial law has none of the faults of our own will be disappointed to find that the doctrine which makes acceptances binding for the benefit of those who take on the faith of them though they be not on the bill, is at least not unknown abroad. M. Valery states as law that they are binding, and backs it up by citing decisions (p. 223). He seems, it may be added, to be well wonted to the use of decisions as authority, and to place much reliance on them.

In many other respects (for instance, the scope of tacit contracts), the book will prove interesting to any reader.

R. W. H.

THE LAW OF JUDICIAL WRITS AND PROCESS. By W. A. Alderson, of the New York Bar. New York: Baker, Voorhis, & Co. 1895. 8vo. pp. lix, 667.

In a great system of law, it is useless to try to memorize much, when one has but to peep into a few good books to find what is needed; but there are some rules that every lawyer must in practice have at his fingertips, and the law of judicial writs and process includes an unusually large number of such points. As this most important branch has never, hitherto, been at all fully or adequately treated, the profession will welcome in Mr. Alderson's book a work conscientious in its thoroughness, and sincere in its attempt to discuss aggressively and carefully each and every doctrine of that law. Far more authorities on this subject are gathered here than can, probably, be found anywhere else; and although this collection is hardly exhaustive (important authorities treating of this topic in Ames and Smith on Torts are not, for example, referred to), yet it shows throughout a vast amount of diligence and labor.

The student might, however, complain with some justice of certain features of the work. It is, perhaps to some extent, presented in an unnecessarily expanded and undigested form; and the sense of proportion, and true test of really fundamental sifting and classification, is not always properly maintained.

Although in these respects, perhaps not thoroughly satisfactory to the student, the book will, undoubtedly, prove valuable to every practitioner wherever located, and can hardly fail to assume a well-merited and respectable position in the ranks of recent legal publications.

D. A. E.

RULES OF EVIDENCE. By George W. Bradner. Chicago: Callaghan & Co., 1895.

This book aims to occupy a middle position between exhaustive treatises, like Greenleaf, and digests, like Stephen. Although the author follows in the main Stephen's classification, his statement and explanation of the principal rules of evidence are fuller. On the other hand, no attempt is made to follow out the law into all its ramifications. The book is not intended to take the place of the large standard treatises such as Greenleaf and Best. Accordingly, the older cases are not cited where there is recent authority in point. The author writes for American lawyers, and seeks especially to present to them in small compass the results of the more recent decisions in this country. He says at the close of his Introduction: "All we propose to do is to collate the work of the judges, and put it into a concise form for the use of the profession." To this modest plan he has adhered throughout. One could wish there were more of the author's own comment and criticism in the work. Busy lawyers in search of the latest decisions in American jurisdictions will find Mr. Bradner has done them good service by his abstracts.

F. B. W.

A TREATISE ON THE FEDERAL INCOME TAX OF 1894. By Roger Foster and Everett V. Abbot. Boston: The Boston Book Co., 1895. pp. ix, 546.

This volume appeared just long enough before the recent decision upon the constitutionality of the income tax, which it in a great degree foreshadowed, to give its authors an opportunity to establish a reputation for prophecy, though their preface disclaims any such ambition. As its size would indicate, it is the most exhaustive manual that has yet appeared upon the subject. Indeed, it leaves little to be said further in any direction, only a brief could be more thorough.

To the student of politics and economics the short historical sketch, including extracts from the debates on taxation in the Convention of 1787, will be interesting; while the busy lawyer, compelled to prepare a brief on short notice, will appreciate the carefully written chapters on the incidence of the tax and the income subject to it, as well as the abundance of cross references, and the copious citations from cases, department rulings, and former acts. Persons subject to the tax, also, will find a full collection of fac-simile forms with directions for use, well calculated to keep them from making faulty returns. If a full bench of the court declares the remainder of the act unconstitutional, the chapter devoted to "Remedies of the Taxpayer" will be invaluable to those unfamiliar with the unwonted procedure of recovering a tax.

Altogether, whether one wishes to pay his tax properly, or to resist it successfully, this manual will be found equally useful.

J. P. H.

AMERICAN ELECTRICAL CASES, with annotations. Edited by William W. Morrill. Albany: Matthew Bender. 1894, 1895. 8vo. Vol. I 1873-1885, pp. xxi, 894; Vol. II. 1886-1889, pp. xxi, 915.

At a time when the tendency toward specialization in law is daily increasing, a collection of cases, on so important a subject as electricity, is sure to be well received. The editor of "American Electrical Cases"

proposes to make, in effect, a new series of reports, devoted exclusively to this subject. The number of cases is already so considerable that several volumes will be required to bring the work down to date, after which a new volume is to be added as often as the further accumulation of cases demands. It is needless to remark on the many advantages of such a plan. The first two volumes are at hand, and bear evidence of much careful preparation. The cases are well arranged, the annotations numerous, and the index a model for all books of this class.

A. K. G.

THE UNITED STATES INTERNAL REVENUE TAX SYSTEM, embracing all Internal Revenue laws, now in force, as amended by the latest enactments. Edited by Charles Wesley Eldridge. Boston and New York: Houghton, Mifflin, & Co. 1895. 8vo. pp. vii, 722. Mr. Eldridge's book is not a commentary. Its object is to present a reliable statement of the whole law of internal revenue taxation, as it exists to-day, with a digest of decisions and rulings, placed under the sections to which they relate. The book has been carefully prepared by one who had a hand in revising the internal revenue laws, and will doubtless be found a helpful guide to all who have occasion to explore the wilderness of the revised statutes on the subject. An improvement might be suggested in the facilities for reference and cross reference. "Compare with sec. 118, Act June 30, 1864, as amended, infra," and " see Appendix," are perhaps not as precise references as could be desired, where sec. 118 is in another chapter, and the Appendix occupies forty pages.

A. K. G.

By

OLIVER'S PRECEDENTS AND FORMS OF PRACTICE. Fifth edition. Bordman Hall, LL.B. Boston Little, Brown, & Co. 1895. 8vo. pp. xlviii, 773.

Although this treatise was originally published in 1842, it has managed to survive the various codes and practice acts, and to attain a high rank in the esteem of practitioners of the day, who find that the need of common forms and precedents has by no means disappeared. This useful work has generally succeeded in filling an important place, and the present edition promises to enhance its value in the future. A great deal of what was unnecessary or obsolete has been omitted, much has been rewritten, and convenient improvements have been made in the classification and indexing of the material. Many new precedents have been added, and States outside of New England have not been as entirely neglected as in the past. The scope of the work has, on the whole, been well recognized, and its objects carried out with creditable success.

HANDBOOK OF CRIMINAL PROCEDURE. By William L. Clark.

D. A. E.

St. Paul:

West Publishing Company. 1895. (Hornbook Series) 8vo. pp. viii, 658.

This, the latest Hornbook, represents in a great degree the general nature of this useful little series. It is characterized by the same virtues, and to some extent by the same defects, that have been pointed out in previous reviews. It aims to afford to the student a rapid and comprehen. sive view of the subject of criminal procedure, and, on the whole, does

this well. Its flaws occasional errors arising from lack of nice discrimination are ones which are, perhaps, not easily avoidable in a work of this sort, of which not the least valuable portion is the brief and almost necessarily dogmatic statement of rules. This volume will, doubtless, take a deservedly high position in a series in which some of the best work has been contributed by its author, Mr. Clark.

D. A. E.

THE INSURANCE AGENT: His Rights, Duties, and Liabilities. By John A. Finch. Indianapolis: The Bowen-Merrill Company. 1894. pp. viii and 36.

This little book is a reprint of a series of articles written by a lawyer for the use of fire insurance agents. It is chiefly composed of brief notes of propositions of law, with references to cases. The reasons for the propositions are not given, nor even the limitations, that are quite as important as the propositions themselves. Hence there may be some danger of misleading the laymen for whom the book is intended. For example, the author lays down many wide propositions as to the powers of agents, but he does not indicate that restrictions upon those powers may be successfully brought home to the assured, still less that after the policy is issued restrictions contained in the policy itself may curtail the future exercise of the agent's apparent authority.

E. W.

DIGEST OF INSURANCE CASES. For the year ending Oct. 31, 1894. By John A. Finch. Indianapolis: The Rough Notes Company. 1894. pp. xxiv, 220.

This volume, the seventh of a series of year books useful to the insurance lawyer, digests four hundred and forty-nine cases. The fire insurance cases are the most numerous, comprising almost half of the total number. The cases on fraternal-benefit orders appear to exceed in number those on life insurance of the ordinary sort. Next comes accident insurance. Lower in the list is marine insurance, with only sixteen cases. A minor defect in the volume is the neglect to distinguish the reports of the Probate Division from those of the Queen's Bench Division.

E. W.

HARVARD

LAW REVIEW.

VOL. IX.

OCTOBER 25, 1895.

NO. 3.

IN

THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH LAW AT

UNIVERSITIES.1

N so great a country as ours, so wide and so diversified, it is peculiarly well, now and then, to gather together from far and near, and meet on a common footing as Americans. And so we have come now to this beautiful city, a novel and strange place to many of us, to breathe for a day or two this exhilarating atmosphere of a common nationality, the broad and general air that blows not merely here or there in our country, but everywhere; to think the thoughts and interchange the sentiments that concern us as American lawyers. For myself, I have been chiefly moved, in coming here from the far-away sea-coast of Maine, by the desire to say a few words towards urging a very thorough and learned study of our English law, and the maintenance of schools of law which conform in all respects to the highest University standards of work.

We, in America, have carried legal education much farther than it has gone in England. There the systematic teaching of

1 An address, read at Detroit, August 27, 1895, as Chairman of the Section on Legal Education of the American Bar Association.

The reader is requested to observe that this paper does not deal with mere method of teaching, or with any differences which may be supposed to be appropriate in under graduate instruction as contrasted with that of postgraduate and professional courses, It is directed to the University teaching of English law, by whatever methods carried on, in whatever departments, and for whatever purpose. The author had chiefly in mind the law schools," properly so called; that is to say, schools aiming directly at professional education.