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976 976 HARVARD LAW REVIEW were properly disposed, leading one into another without Confusion; where every part was subservient to ye whole, all uniting in one beautiful Symmetry: & every Room had its distinct Ofl&ce allotted to it. But as it is now, swoln, shrunk, curtailed, enlarged, altered & mangled by various & contradictory Statutes &c; it resembles ye same Edifice, with many of its most useful Parts pulled down, with preposterous Additions in other Places, of diflferent Materials & coarse Workmanship: according to ye Whim, or Prejudice, or private Convenience of ye Builders. By wch means the Communication of ye Parts is destroyed, & their Harmony quite annihilated; & now it remains a huge, irregular Pile, with many noble Apartments, tho' awkwardly put together, & some of them of no visible Use at present. But if one desires to know why they were built, to what End or Use, how they communicated with ye rest, & ye like; he must necessarily carry in his Head ye Model of ye old House, wch will be ye only Clew to guide him thro' this new Labyrinth. "I have trespassed so far on yr Patience, that I am almost afraid to venture any farther. But I happen'd t'other day upon a Case in a Civil Law Book, wch I should be glad to know how you imagine Chancery wd decide. A Man dies & leaves his Wife with Child: & by his Will ordains that, if his Wife brought forth a Son; ye Son shd have 2 3ds & ye Mother one 3d of ye Estate: If a Daughter, then ye Wife to have 2, & ye Daughter I 3d. The Wife brought Twins, a Boy & a Girl. Qu. How shall ye Estate be divided? NB. We must suppose a Jointure, or something, in Bar of Dower. "We are quite in ye Dark as to Intelligence here in Town; You must observe what strange, perplexed, incoherent Accts ye Gazette affords us. I fear our Loss in Scotland was greater than they care to own. But at ye same time, even Victory must lessen ye Niunber of ye Rebels, while we are continually recruiting. There is a Talk of assessing all personal Estates & raising thereby 3 millions. If so ye Assessment must run high. "I wa3 sensibly concerned at hearing of Mat. [?] Richmond's Illness; but hope, by not hearing lately anything further, that all is well again. My hearty Goodwishes attend him, & my Cousin, who I shd think might take a Trip to Town this Spring. My Aunt of Worting [?] will be at Lincolns-inn-fields about Easter; & probably wd be glad of a Com- panion to partake of some of ye gay Diversions. "Excuse, Sir, this tedious Length, wch I promise never to be guilty of again, & when You have an idle hour, be so good as to think of. Sir, "Your most obliged humble Servant "Will. Blackstone" Arundel-Street Jan. 28. 1745 BOOK REVIEWS The Centennial History of the Harvakd Law School, 1817-1917. Cam- bridge: Harvard Law School Association. 1918. $1.50. To an Englishman trained at Oxford or Cambridge, the Harvard Law School is by far the most interesting educational experiment in America. The average American college has contributed little to the technique of academic life. It has