Studies on Roman Law, with comparative views of the Laws
of France, England, and Scotland. By Lord Mackenzie. (William Blackwood and Son.)—The appearance of Lord biackenzie's book is a curious sign of the times, for it is avowedly written to satisfy the urgent demand for information about Roman jurisprudence. It con- tains a sketch of the historical development of Roman law, a general outline of the chief subjects included in the institutes of the Roman schools, and a comparative view of the laws of France, England, and Scotland. Such a work has long been needed since students, who, desirous of learning more details of the Roman system of law than could be gained from Mr. Maine's brilliant essay, find themselves hindered at the threshold of their studies by want of a manual. Lord Mackenzie, to some degree, supplies what they require. He has, how- ever, attempted too much. A volume of 400 pages might have possibly provided an English manual something like Wahrnkiinig's excellent Latin work. Into the same space might have been compressed a comparison of the laws prevalent in the chief European countries. No ingenuity could cram into one short volume both a good introduc- tion to Roman law and a comparison of modern legal systems. Still, if Lord Mackenzie has not followed the best of schemes, he has performed a work which merits the thanks of students. In default of better teachers, they are glad enough to follow his guidance, and Cambridge has, we are informed, adopted his Roman Law as a text-book.
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