CURRENT LITERATURE.
The Civil Laws of France to the Present Time. By D. M. Aird. (Longmans.)—This volume may be said to have a twofold interest,—as a contribution to jurisprudence, and as a practical guide. The Code Civil de Francais, as a part of the Code Napoleon, is in fact an adapta- tion to the requirements of modern life of the Roman Civil Law. How this adaptation has been effected, what modifications have been made, is an interesting subject for study. Mr. Aird, while claiming, as be says in his preface, to give a "concise and lucid translation" of the -Code Civil, supplies notes which indicate the points where this has diverged from the lines of its model. On the practical utility of the book it is needless to enlarge. Every lawyer should he capable of advising a client, not, indeed, on the more difficult questions of French law, but on its material divergencies from our own practice,—on such matters, for instance, as the law of marriage and of wills. It would be well even for non-legal persons to have a handy-book to which they can turn in ease of need. Nor must it be supposed that this need can arise only outside the boundaries of British dominion. The principles of the Code Napoleon are operative, more or less, wherever the French element, or the element of other nationalities that have been influenced by the French, is to be found,—in Mauritius, for instance, and Lower Canada, and in the Cape Colony. As we have spoken of wills, we may mention one curious point of difference between French law and our own, which will probably be new to most of our readers,—that a holo- graphic will, one written, i.e., wholly in the handwriting of the testator, is valid without witnesses. We can strongly recommend this book as full of valuable and interesting matter, well arranged and lucidly explained.
Previous page
