Judge Edward Lewis, late presiding justice of the St. Louis Court of Appeals, died suddenly at his residence in that city on September 21, from the bursting of a blood-vessel in his head. Judge Lewis was born in Washington, D. C, Feb. 22, 1820, and was a blood relative of George Washington.
Hon. Ninian W. Edwards, a prominent Illinois lawyer, died at Springfield in that State on September 2. He was the son of Ninian Edwards, the first and only territorial governor of Illinois, and was born April 15, 1809. He graduated from the law department of Transylvania University in 1833. As a lawyer he attained the highest rank, and his views and advice were frequently sought by the profession. He held many political offices, filling them all acceptably.
REVIEWS.
In an article on the establishing of "A Court of Criminal Appeal," in the September number of the Scottish Law Review, the writer, discussing trial by jury, says: "It is open to grave doubt whether the interposition of a jury in criminal cases has any advantage at all; but if the people think it has value, and are willing to serve on juries, the system will be continued. The day may come when the public will cease to regard the benefits of jury trial as equivalent to the trouble and expense which it involves. If our confidence in the honesty and wisdom of our judges grows as it has grown for generations, the time may come sooner than some imagine when juries will be dispensed with as cumbersome, valueless, and unnecessary."
A few more "Cronin" cases may bring Americans to the same way of thinking regarding juries.
The third number of the Juridical Review (Edinburgh) maintains the high standard of its predecessors. Charles Scott contributes an interesting paper on "Insanity in its Relation to the Criminal Law;" John M. McCandlish discusses "Insurance Companies and the Income-Tax;" Ex-Chief-Justice Macleod gives an interesting sketch of the "Administration of Justice on the Gold Coast;" and there are articles on "The History of the Colonial Office," and "The Judicial System of Germany," by A. Wood Renton and J. J. Cook, respectively. The number contains a finely executed portrait of the late Lord Fraser.
In the Political Science Quarterly for September, Prof. F. W. Maitland commences an article on "English Legal History," which will be read with interest by the layman as well as by the legal profession. Prof. W. J. Ashley contributes an account of "James E. Thorold," the English Economist, and his writings; and there are readable articles on "Town Rule in Connecticut," "Farm Mortgages," "Railroad Indemnity Lands," and "Italian Immigration."
The Criminal Law Magazine and Reporter for September has, for its leading article, "Admissions and Confessions in Criminal Cases," by Stewart Rapalje. The other contents are full of interest to the profession.
BOOK NOTICES.
We find the third volume of this valuable series equal in every respect to those previously issued. The character of the cases reported, the completeness of the report of every case, the thorough annotation by Mr. Desty, and the thorough indexing must commend these Reports to the profession.
It is nearly twenty-five years since the publication of the "Law of Reparation" by the same author. The structure and arrangement of the present volume make it substantially a new work rather than a second edition of the old one. Although denominated a treatise on the reparation of injuries as administered in Scotland, it covers so wide a scope, and goes so thoroughly into the general principles of the law of damages, that it will be found of great use to the legal profession in this country. The author treats
