Page:Harvard Law Review Volume 10.djvu/95

69 REVIEWS. 69 author has been to produce a book that can be used as supplementary to the statute of any particular jurisdiction. As far as can be judged by a hasty review, the law is clearly and carefully stated. The questions that may arise from the adoption of the remedy to the final disposition of the case are taken up in order and exhaustively treated, so that the practi- tioner may comply intelligently with the requirements of his statute. Owing to the treatment of attachment and garnishment in separate volumes, the work is admirably arranged for ready reference. A further aid to reference is the copious index. e. s. The French Law of Marriage. By Edmond Kelly. Second Edition, Revised and Enlarged by Oliver E. Eodington, of the Inner Temple. New York: Baker, Voorhis, & Co. 1895. pp. xvi, 280. " In no respect does the spirit of French law differ more radically from our own than in relation to marriage." Thus Mr. Kelly begins his book. That the differences between the two systems are very striking, the reader must admit. The curious French rule, which requires a man of any age who is about to marry to solicit the consent cf an unwilling parent by the formal petition known as the acte respectueux^ and which allows the parent to delay the marriage upwards of two years, certainly has no counterpart in our law. Nor have we any provision which charges a father-in-law with the support of an indigent son-in-law (see p. 73), nor any doctrine that promises of marriage are void as trenching on the abso- lute freedom of choice which should prevail until the actual ceremony (see p. 28). The discussion of these points of difference renders the book very interesting. Its practical value lies in its clear statement of the many difficulties attendant on marriages between French citizens and foreigners, and of the formalities essential to render such marriages valid. The author's work is supplemented by copious selections from the French Code, accompanied by a translation. r. g. d. The Nature of the State. By Westel W. Willoughby, Ph. D., Lec- turer on Political Philosophy at Johns Hopkins University. New York and London : Macmillan & Co. 1896. pp. xii, 448. This treatise would more naturally be found on the shelves of an economist than on those of a lawyer, for its aim is the construction of a system of political philosophy. There is, however, an interesting dis- cussion of the origin and nature of law, followed by a chapter on ana- lytical jurisprudence. The author adopts the views of the English analytical school, and, following the theory of Bentham and of Austin, maintains that all law, whether legislative or judicial, is a command of the sovereign. On this line he shows that " not until a principle has been declared by the legislative mouthpiece of the State or judicially ac- cepted by the courts, and the courts' rulings in turn acquiesced in by the ruling authorities, as evidenced by the enforcement thereof, does such a principle become stamped with the quality of law in the Austinian sense." He repudiates the historical view that customary law becomes invested with a legal character by the general recognition of its binding force before its acceptance by the courts. The book is well written, and is sure to be interesting to students of political science. h. c. l.