Review of Periodicals "C. What is the nature of the shareholders' interest? "If again, we examine the nature of cor porate existence with reference to proffered solutions, we shall find again that the cor poration is a fictitious person, or a real per son, or a form of co-ownership, or a form of agency or action by representation. It re mains to consider these views with reference to the extent to which they resolve the problem." Jurisprudence (Hungary). "Hun garian Law," by F. Nagg: Law Magazine and Review (vol. xxxiv, p. 1). Address given at Budapest, September 22, 1908, at the 25th conference of the Inter national Law Association. Jurisprudence (Early Development of Equity). "Reason and Conscience in Sixteenth-Century Jurisprudence," by Paul Vinogradoff. Law Quarterly Review (vol. xxiv, p. 373). Interesting analysis of St. Germain's Doctor and Student as showing "what a stimulating influence was exerted on the English juris prudence of the fifteenth and sixteenth cen turies by the later Schoolmen and canon lawyers. Henry VIII and the Reformation put an end to canon law in England, but the process described by St. Germain had not taken place in vain; it left distinct traces on the theory and jurisdiction of English equity." Jurisprudence. "Law and Morals," by James Barr Ames. Harvard Law Review (vol. xxii, p. 97). "Primitive law," says Professor Ames, "regards the word and the act of the indi vidual; it searches not his heart. 'The thought of man shall not be tried,' said Chief Justice Brian, one of the best mediaeval lawyers, 'for the devil himself knoweth not the thought of man.' As a consequence, early law is formal and immoral." Dean Ames sets out to see if this is true of the English common law. He finds that it was in the early days but he also finds and gives many instances to show that it has progressed much in this respect. The work, however, is not done. "It is obvious that the spirit of reform which during the last six hundred years has been bringing our system of law more and more into harmony with moral principles has
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not., yet achieved its purpose. It is worth while to realize the great ethical advance of the English law in the past, if only as an encouragement to effort for future improve ment. In this work for the future there is an admirable field for the law professor. The professor has, while the judge and the prac tising lawyer have not, the time for syste matic and comprehensive study, and for be coming familiar with the decisions and legis lation of other countries. This systematic study and the knowledge of what is going on in other countries are indispensable if we would make one system of law the best pos sible instrument of justice. The training of students must always be the chief object of the law school, but this work should be supplemented by solid contributions of their profession to the improvement of the law." Jurisprudence (Danger from Science) . "Mechanical Jurisprudence," by Roscoe Pound. Columbia Law Review (vol. viii, p. 605). A strong and interesting paper on the present condition of our law, which Mr. Pound regards as too mechanical. "Two dangers have to be guarded against in a scientific legal system, one of them in the direction of the effect of its scientific and artificial character upon the public, the other in the direction of its effect upon the courts and the legal profession. With respect to the first danger, it is well to remember that law must not become too scientific for the people to appreciate its workings. ... It must not become so completely artificial that the public is led to regard it as wholly arbi trary. No institution can stand upon such a basis to-day. Reverence for institutions of the past will not preserve, of itself, an insti tution that touches everyday life as pro foundly as does the law. Legal theory can no more stand as a sacred tradition in the modern world than can political theory. It has been one of the great merits of English law that its votaries have always borne this in mind. When Lord Esher said, 'the law of England is not a science,' he meant to pro test against a pseudo-science of technical rules existing for their own sake and sub serving supposed ends of science, while defeating justice. And it is the importance of the r61e of jurors in tempering the admin istration of justice with common sense and preserving a due connection of the rules
