besides being a failure in nine hundred and ninetynine cases out of a thousand." As to what a novel should be, we leave our readers to ascertain from the book itself, which is written in a delightfully easy, chatty style.
THE ODD WOMEN. By GEORGE GISSING. Macmillan & Co., New York, 1893. Cloth, $1.00. We confess to a feeling of some doubt as to the author's object in writing this book. Ostensibly it is a tirade against marriage; and the heroine is a woman who devotes her life to inculcating ideas against marriage in the minds of young girls. But even she yields to that strongest of all passions, — love; and while she does not end by marrying the man she loves, she would undoubtedly have done so had he been willing to dispense with the forms recognized generally as necessary to constitute a valid marriage. Another of these odd (single) women is driven by her sense of loneliness to drink, and finds refuge in an asylum. So, after all, the unmarried state does not appear to be so entirely satisfactory as the author would fain make us believe. The story is very inter esting, and quite worth reading.
PERSONAL REMINISCENCES, 1840-1890. Including some not hitherto published of Lincoln and the War. By L. E. CHITTENDEN. Richmond, Croscup, & Co., New York, 1893. Cloth, $2.00. This book is a delightful sequel to " Recollections of President Lincoln and his Administration," which the author gave to the public some time since. The present volume abounds in interesting and striking anecdotes told in.graphic and masterly manner. The opening chapter is devoted to an account of the or ganization of the Free Soil party, and is of itself a valuable addition to political history. Other chapters deal with out-door recreations and excursions, and are pervaded with the invigorating atmosphere of mountain, forest, lake, and stream. Mr. Chittenden's account of his experiences in the Treasury Depart ment are extremely interesting, and his stories of prominent officials vastly entertaining. The lawyer, however, will find an especial attrac tion in the legal reminiscences anc! anecdotes to which a great portion of the work is devoted. Noth ing could be better than the account of " The Humor and Mischief of the Junior Bar;" and the sentence passed upon a tramp, convicted before Judge Elias Keyes of the larceny of the boots of Senator Dudley Chase, is a fitting companion-piece to Baron Maule's celebrated sentence in a "bigamy" case. Judge Keyes's sentence was as follows : —
"You are a poor creature," said the judge. "You ought to have known better than to steal. Only rich men can take things without paying for them. And then you must steal in the great town of Windser, — and the boots of a great man like Senator Chase, the greatest man any where around. If you wanted to steal, why did n't you steal in some little town in New Hampshire, and the boots of some man who wasn't of any consequence? And then you must steal from him when he was on the way to Washington, — and perhaps the only boots he had. You might have compelled him to wait until some shoe maker made him another pair; and shoemakers never keep their promises And perhaps by the delay some important treaty might have failed of ratification because he was not present in the Senate. . . . What have you got to say why you should not be sentenced to Stateprison for the term of your natural life for stealing Sena tor Chase's boots?" "I have got to say that you seem to know a derned deal more about stealin' boots nor what I do I " piped the prisoner. "That is a sound observation," said the judge, "and I will give you only one month in the county jail not so much for stealing as for your ignorance in not knowing better than to steal the boots of a great man like Senator Dudley Chase." Taken as a whole, we do not know of a more thor oughly entertaining book for both the lawyer and the layman, and we sincerely trust that Mr. Chittenden may be induced to continue " reminiscing." A book like this whets the reader's appetite for more good things. Let us have them. Mr. ¿bittenden!
THE SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES : Its History, by HAMPTON I. CARSON, of the Phila delphia Bar; and its Centennial Celebration, Feb. 4, 1890. Prepared under the direction of the Judiciary Centennial Committee. A. R. Keller Company, Philadelphia, 1892. Two vols. Cloth, $12.00. This superb work of Mr. Carson's was originally published in one volume; and on noticing it in our December number, 1891, we said: "Taken as a whole, no work has ever been offered to the profes sion which possesses such intrinsic value." This we now repeat, and desire to emphasize. No such valuable collection of historical facts regarding the Supreme Court of the United States has heretofore been placed at the command of the student of our judicial history; and the story of the inception and growth of our Supreme Tribunal is one of exceed ing interest, and one which must appeal strongly to every lover of his country. While Mr. Carson has not attempted to write a treatise on constitutional law, he has given a clear and interesting account of
