Among the victims of the recent terrible elevator accident in Cincinnati, was Hon. W. M. Dickson, a prominent member of the Bar of Cincinnati. Judge Dickson was sixty-two years old. He was born in Indiana in 1827; graduated at the Miami University, in that State, in 1846, and at Harvard Law School in 1850. He worthily filled many public offices, — Prosecuting Attorney, Judge of the Common Pleas Court of Hamilton County (appointed by Governor Chase to fill a vacancy), Presidential Elector, and others of minor import ance, — but his greatest influence was in private life, where his thoughtful conversation and his brilliant pen contributed much to moulding the public opinion of his time. His personal life was pure and lovable. Respected by all, and loved by those who best knew him, he leaves behind the reputation of one who did his work well and passed away full of years and of honor.
Hon. John T. Nixon, Judge of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey, died on the 28th of September, having almost completed the twentieth year of his service on the bench. He was a graduate of Princeton College. He studied law with Judge Pennypacker, who was Judge of the United States Court for the Western District of Virginia, and was admitted to the bar in that State. He served in the State Legislature of New Jersey for two terms, and was twice elected to Congress. His death will be greatly deplored, not only by the Bar of New Jersey, but by many eminent counsel from other States.
REVIEWS. The November number of the Century con tains a feast of good things, and he must in deed be hard to satisfy who does not find therein instruction and entertainment. The long looked for autobiography of Joseph Jefferson, whose "Rip Van Winkle " has made his name a house hold word, is begun in this number, and will be continued during 1890. No more interesting record of a life upon the stage could be laid before the public. Mr. Jefferson is the fourth in a generation of actors, and, with his children and grandchildren, there are six generations
of actors among the Jeffersons. His story of the early days of the American stage, when, as a boy travelling in his father's company, they would settle down for a season in a Western town, playing in their own extemporized theatre; the particulars of the creation of his famous " Rip Van Winkle; " how he acted " Ticket-of-Leave Man " before an audi ence of that class in Australia, etc., — all this, enriched with illustrations and portraits of contem porary actors and actresses and with anecdotes, will form one of the most delightful serials the Century has ever printed. The prospectus of the magazine for the coming year is most attractive. Amelia E. Barr, Frank R. Stockton, Mark Twain, H. H. Boyesen, and many other well-known writers will furnish the fiction for the new volume, which is to be unusually strong, including several novels, il lustrated novelettes, and short stories. " The Women of the French Salons " are to be described in a bril liant series of illustrated papers. The important dis coveries made with the great Lick Telescope at San Francisco (the largest telescope in the world) and the latest explorations relating to prehistoric Amer ica (including the famous Serpent Mound, of Ohio) are to be chronicled in the Century. Prof. George P. Fisher of Yale University is to write a series on " The Nature and Method of Rev elation," which will attract every Bible student. Bishop Potter of New York will be one of several prominent writers who are to contribute a series of "Present-day Papers " on living topics, and there will be art papers, timely articles, etc., etc., and the choicest pictures that the greatest artists and en gravers can produce. The Harvard Law Review for October contains an exceedingly interesting and valuable article by Prof. F. W. Maitland on "The History of the Register of Original Writs." The other con tents are : " Is the Statutory Action for Injuries causing Death Transitory?" by Jesse W. Lilianthai; " The Doctrine of Stare Decisis as applied to Decisions of Constitutional Questions," by D. H. Chamberlain. To the Law Quarterly Review for October Edwin H. Woodruff contributes an article of particular interest to the Bar of this Common wealth, entitled " Chancery in Massachusetts." A peculiar interest attaches, as the author says, to the history of chancery jurisdiction in Massachu setts, from the fact that " the opposition continued
