him a larger audience and enabled him to do a more extended work. As long as there are human rights to be defended; as long as there are great interests to be guarded; as long as the welfare of nations is a matter for discussion, so long will public speaking have its place."

...

Himself a master of oratory, Mr. Bryan's comments on the orator are worthy of great attention. He says: "The speaker is eloquent in proportion as he knows what he is talking about and means what he says. Because he conceives that he has a mission, he touches and moves those whom he addresses. Eloquent speech is not from lip to ear, but rather from heart to heart. ... Brevity of statement also contributes to the force of a speaker. . . . To know when to stop is almost as important as to know where to begin and how to proceed."

Contrasting Cicero and Demosthenes he remarks: "When Cicero spoke people said, 'How well Cicero speaks!' but when Demosthenes spoke they said, 'Let us go against Philip.' From this he concludes that Demosthenes, in that he impressed his subject on his hearers rather than himself, was the greater orator.

As pointed out by the authors, by reading great orations one gains an insight into the mental methods and style of great minds and obtains an epitome of the times as well. "Nowhere is so much information crowded into so many words as in a memorable speech."

The volumes embrace what the authors deem to be the best oratorical products of the greatest minds of all ages and countries, including Greece, Rome, Great Britain, Ireland, Continental Europe and America. From Demosthenes and Pericles, Cato and Cicero to Lords Beaconsfield and Balfour, Washington, Patrick Henry, McKinley and Roosevelt the gems of many epochs and times are included.

Attractively printed and bound, the collection will appeal to lawyer and layman alike.

"ALICE-FOR-SHORT." By William De Morgan. Henry Holt & Co., New York.

In "Alice-for-Short," Mr. William De Morgan's second book, he has succeeded in performing a remarkable literary feat. He has come boldly forward in these days of condensed tabloid literature, with a three volume novel of the generous, old-fashioned English type, and not only obliged us to read every word of it, but to enjoy it so much that we lay down the book with regret. This, too, in spite of the other fact, that, although there are several murders, ghosts and suicides in it, the story itself deals chiefly with the somewhat uneventful life of an average English family and their protege, a little London waif called "Alice-for-Short" by the young artist who first befriends her.

In thus throwing down the gauntlet to the conventions of literature Mr. De Morgan has drawn down on himself of necessity the charge of overwordiness; but, if he does somewhat unduly insist, after the manner of Dickens, upon the foibles of his characters, at least he has also caught some of the other's charm of thought and humor. This prolixity, and a constant tendency to jump abruptly from the third to the first person, are, however, the few faults that mar Mr. De Morgan's easy style.

The good humor, sympathy and understanding of the book are its chief claims to notice, and the characters are so evidently drawn from a life lived closely among them that they have our ready interest and affection. He shows a marked ability in seizing upon the chief characteristics of the modern person, and sketching it vividly in a sentence or two. Mr. Jerrythought (reminiscent of Dickens), who "showed his good will by jerks of incipient actions, indicating readiness to help, and having his good intentions always disappointed by some one else anticipating him and doing what was wanted instead," Charles Heath, the young artist, with his "Landscapes with Cattle," and "Portraits of Her Majesty walking on the slopes," and Mr. Heath, Senior, whose gold-rimmed, double eyeglass "made you think as you looked at it of its owner's balance at the bank-with its extra bit on the left, the same in both," and who never disclosed the fruits of his reflections, and his hidden treasure of thought seemed all the more valuable on that account," are all people we have met and known.

66

Altogether the book holds us with a certain charm and old-world sweetness difficult of dissection, and bids fair even in this busily shifting world of letters to make a permanent place for itself.

J. I. H.

BOOKS RECEIVED.

FALLACIES OF THE LAW. By Henry S. Wilcox. Cloth, 8vo, pp. 206. $1. Legal Literature Co., Chicago.

FORCING ARBITRATION.

The Court of Appeals of New Zealand has finally declared that the great strike of the slaughter house men and their sympathizers is illegal. The workingmen who have participated in it, the Court holds, have violated the award of the Court of Arbitration and may be fined, and in case of nonpayment of the fine may be imprisoned for a term not exceeding one year.

Old Lawyer: So, you got Blink O' Ryan off on that robbery charge? Pretty good; what

did you charge him?

Young Lawyer: He had $69.23 on his person.

VOL. VII.

SECOND QUARTER, 1907-8

NO. 4

SOME COMPARISONS, GERMAN AND AMERICAN LAW.

BY HON. HUGO MUENCH.1

The Germany of to-day is one of the most pronounced "CodeStates," but it was not always so. . . . The German House of Lords ("Bundes-Rath") in 1874 took such preliminary steps as in a few months resulted in the appointment of a commission of nine jurists, two of whom were professors of law in universities, which commission entered upon its task of constructing a German Code on September 17, 1874. By its own terms, this new code was not to take effect, nor supersede existing laws, until January 1, 1900, thus granting the courts, the bar and the people of Germany abundant time to become familiar with its detailed provisions, and allowing the publication of a number of volumes which instituted critical comparisons between laws present and future.

I feel positive that no code has thus far been evolved from human understanding which sets forth the rules of action that should regulate and control the affairs of our latter-day complex civilization in so admirable and complete a manner as this civil code, known the world over under its title of "Buergerliches Gesetzbuch."

Its subdivisions are on the whole logical, as its definitions are mostly clear and terse. Involved and mere technical language is avoided whenever possible, and with provisions so well calculated to strike the average understanding, we can readily appreciate that the presumption as to everybody's knowledge of the law has become. less irksome in Germany than with us.

The first provision of importance fixes the age of legal majority

'Judge Muench, of the St. Louis Circuit Court, while in failing health spent three years in his parents' native Germany, as American consul, and during the sojourn made the investigations which bore fruit in this paper, read upon his return to the St. Louis Bar Association. Owing to its exhaustive character, it has been necessary to strike out some less important paragraphs.