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 Hobhouse and Hmnmond : Lord Hobhotise 141 The account of the reform act of 1832 and its passage through Par- liament is especially full and especially good. The writer points out clearly the importance of the act and the fact that it was in the nature of a compromise between the extremely radical demands of one party and the conservative opposition of the other. Issue may, however, be taken with his conclusion that the act created a revolution in the English state system by destroying the balance between King, Lords and Com- mons and throwing the final decision of all disputed questions into the hands of the lower house. The truth is that the act never could have been passed if the revolution had not already taken place, and if the Lords and King had not already been relegated to a position of secondary importance in the English constitution, ^^'hat the act did was to furnish means for the completion of a revolution already far on the way to com- pletion. It is a pity that Mr. Brodrick did not live to give the book its final revision. As already intimated, Mr. Fotheringham was hardly equal to completing the task as well as his elder would have done it. Some minor criticisms connected with the failure to revise thoroughly may be made. For instance, Mr. Fotheringham very absurdly uses the names Peter and Pedro indifferently in speaking of the Emperor of Brazil. He does this constantly and on the same page. Such carelessness is inexcusable. Ibrahim Pasha was the adopted son of Mehemet Ali. It is doubtful if the break-up of the coalition killed Pitt. Napoleon did not need Santo Domingo in order to hold Louisiana, but desired Loui- siana in order to carry out his Santo Domingo policy. The bibliography is lamentably weak in foreign titles, and Seknosos for Seignobos is an error sufficient to justify doubt of the compiler's knowledge of the French writer. Finally, it would have been better to omit the chapter on Litera- ture and Social Progress. R.LPH C. H. Catter.^ll. Lord Hobhonsc, a Memoir. By L. T. Hobhouse and J. L. H.m- MOND. (London, New York and Bombay: Longmans, Green and Company. 1905. Pp. 280.) Though the name of Lord Hobhouse will be known on this side of the Atlantic only to specialists, he played a considerable part in the readjustment of modern English society to changed conditions. As a member of the Charity Commission he was conspicuous in attacking abuses connected with charitable endowments. On the endowed Schools Commission he did similar work. He was partly instrumental in secur- ing wider rights for married women to hold property independently of their husbands. He served in India as the legal member of the govern- ing Council. In time he became a member of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council and he was made a peer in order that he might aid in the legal work of the House of Lords. He also was, in later years, a member of the London School Board and of the London County Council.