DOCTORS' COMMONS AND THE OLD COURT OF ADMIRALTY : A
Short History of the Civilians in England. By William Senior. (Longmans. 6s. net.) It was as exponents of a common law of nations that the Civilians as an organized profession originally obtained their footing in England ; and, although the doctors were also versed in Canon Law and manned the Court of Arches and other ecclesiastical courts, it is with their establishment in the Admirals' Courts, and the part they played in the develop- ment of maritime law, and in international affairs generally, as special ambassadors before the institution of the modern diplomatic service, that these notes chiefly deal. The failure of Roman Civil Law to be adopted as the common law of
England, and the subsequent struggles on the part of the .
Civilians, first between the fires of Constitution and Church, and secondly with the Courts of Common Law (a particularly ruthless foe was Chief Justice Coke) for possession of the mercantile litigation, are briefly traced. But it is difficult to understand the author's object in writing this little book. It is rather too slight to be of much use to the serious student of history, legal or international, and too technical to interest the average lay reader.
Previous page
