642
The Green Bag
must forever remain a blank, the details concealed alone in the breast of Theodore Durrant. That is why we asked you if you would convict on cir cumstantial evidence, and you severally answered 'Yes.' It was a deed which the eye of man could not see. If you ask for further details, we must supply them from our imaginations, and mine has been suggested to me by a bit of verse by Blanche Higginson:— "The devil he stood at the gates of hell And yearned for an angel above; And he sighed, 'Come down, sweet siren, and learn The lesson of passion and love.' "The angel she leaned from the gates of gold (The devil was fair in her eyes), And she thought it would be very nice if she Could lift him up to the skies. "The angel she leaned from the gates of gold And she clasped him with arms of snow, And while she was striving to draw him up The lower she seemed to go. "'Don't struggle, sweet angel,' the devil he cried, As he bore her on passion's swell; 'When an angel's arms have embraced me but once She belongs to the devil and hell '" The book is not in any sense a historical compilation of causes cftfbres, but the speeches are prefaced by notes giving the general facts and also are followed by a comment on the manner in which the jury disposed of the case. The reader can thus review the Tilton-Beecher trial, the trial of Dr. E. M. Brown of New York for the murder of Miss Anderson, the Haywood trial, the trial of Durrant for the murder of Miss Lamont, and the trial of Dunbar for the murder of two children in Westerlo, New York. Among other features are a selectionof short, eloquent perorations, and an abstract of the interesting colloquy between Susan B. Anthony and Judge Hunt, at the time of her conviction for voting "without having a lawful right to vote." THE ROMANCE OF BURGLARY "Mr. Justice Raffles." By E. W. Hornung. Charles Scribner's Sons, New York. ($1.50.) THE latest "Raffles" story furnishes a good evening's entertainment, and is not easily set aside, because of the dramatic interest of Raffles's latest burglarizing ex ploits in circumventing the scoundrelly money lender, Levy. The title suggests Raffles as an impostor elevated to the bench and prac tising his roguery in that extraordinary capac ity. In this respect, however, the book dis appoints. The only basis for the soubriquet "Mr. Justice" lies in the fact that when
he has secured his prisoner, manacled and caged in the lonely tower, he burlesques the instrument of the law in sentencing him to condign punishment. If the two cardinal points of literary tech nique are to portray clearly or to suggest vividly every smallest detail upon which a work of art depends for completeness, such a book as this falls far short of the mark. Raffles is not an unattractive person. His characteristics are by no means indistinct, but his personality is suggested rather than portrayed, not designedly but because the author can do no better. Mr. Hornung is unable to present his roguish hero solely in the light of his own natural words and deeds. The task requires high literary talent. He must rather overlay the idea of Raffles with an arabesque of self-conscious posing and dull joking, which leads one to think that Raffles might easily be more attractive as a real than as a fictitious being. Moreover, it is a matter of common observation that one can hardly write sympathetically of vulgarity and wholly avoid it. But it is possible to lend to it a greater fascination than Mr. Hornung has done. Possibly if a book like this was intensely realistic, it might do some harm, but written as it is it can only furnish harmless pleasure of no high order. NOTES Addison C. Harris has issued in pamphlet form the address on "Modern Views of Compensation for Personal Injuries" which he delivered recently before the Indiana State Bar Association. It contains not only an extended discussion of legal principles, but much information with regard to the workmen's compensation laws of European coun tries. Those interested in the subject of employer's liability legislation should secure a copy and will find it worthy of preservation. "The Bench and Bar of Litchfield County, Connecticut, 1709-1909," is the title of an interest ing volume prepared with great research by Dwight C. Kilbourn, clerk of the Superior Court, and a member of leading historical societies. Mr. Kil bourn has included in this volume a large amount of interesting information, biographical sketches of members of the Litchfield County Bar, a cata logue and history of the famous law school at Litchfield, and many historical notes. The nineteenth annual Index of Legislation com piled at the New York State Library lists or briefly digests 2254 general and permanent laws passed at fourteen regular and fifteen special sessions held in the various states during the year ending October 1, 1908. The Index also contains references to statutes declared unconstitutional by state courts
