Page:Harvard Law Review Volume 9.djvu/191

163 REVIEWS, 163 side their county was held for centuries after the Admiral's court had been established. Piracy, for instance, was anciently tried by the com- mon law; but in 1429, according to Mr. Marsden, the jurisdiction of the common law fell into desuetude. The reason given by Lord Coke for this fact was that just indicated, — that no jury could be found which knew of the piracy (Co. Lit. 391^; 13 Co. 51). The Admiral, sitting without a jury, could find the truth of facts wherever they happened. In view of this reason for the establishment of a court of Admiralty, it is curious to notice that in a few instances a jury was summoned into the court (pp. 35, 89, 122). The series of records of the court does not begin till 1524, though its establishment was as early as the middle of the 14th century. There were at first several courts, — there being an Admiral of the West, an Admiral of the North, etc. Two records from the Court of Admiralty of the West (of the years 1390 and 1404) are here printed, having been re- moved by Certiorari into Chancery, and there preserved. Both records deal with alleged unlawful acts of the officers of the court. The other records here printed fall between the years 1527 and 1545. As was natural, the jurisdiction of the Admiral was not at first sharply defined, and proceedings in Admiralty for contempt in suing in other courts, and writs of prohibition to the Admiral, were common pastime. The bulk of business was like that at present. Cases involving the law of shipping were much the most frequent ; and there were many prosecu- tions for piracy, and disputes as to the title to vessels. Torts also were commonly dealt with ; not exclusively what we should now regard as maritime torts. One is surprised, for instance, to find between 1527 and 1 541 two actions of slander, — jurisdiction apparently being taken because the words were spoken on shipboard. Several interesting documents are printed, — bills of lading, charter- parties, bills of sale, and bottomry bonds, or bills obligatory. An anal- ogy between the bottomry bond and the policy of insurance is suggested by the case of The George Duffield (p. 106). Money having been lent on bottomry, the vessel was cast away at St. Michael's, not having com- pleted the voyage. Recovery was nevertheless claimed on the bond upon two grounds, — that the vessel was unseaworthy when she sailed, and that the master had abandoned her rather than repair and complete the voyage. The editor mentions a libel upon a policy of insurance in the year 1550, — a very early example of such a suit. It is a pity that the print- ing of the records is not brought down far enough to include the case. An excellent and artistic reproduction, in copper, of the seal of the Court of Admiralty accompanies the volume. The Elements of Jurisprudence. By Thomas Erskine Holland. D.C.L. Seventh Edition. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1895. 8vo. pp. XX, 402. IMr. Holland's book, first published in 1882, has never gone four years without a new edition, and as a treatise on Jurisprudence deserves the popularity which the new editions show that it has enjoyed. Eminently readable, never digressing, as Austin does, to wrestle with giants which do not lie in its path, it furnishes a compact view of the essentials of law from an Anglo-Saxon standpoint. It is never to be forgotten, however,