ality of origin. The word his refers to the foreign government. The plaintiff contended that his nationality of origin being British and the law of 1874 being in force when the Convention of 1882 became law in France, he was entitled to claim the exemptions provided therein, and that on the principle well admitted in French law: Legi speciali per generalem non derogatur, apart from the fact that the International Convention in itself is binding outside the general law, the General Act of 1889 does not interfere with special enactments relating to a particular class of persons.

The judgment of the Court of First Instance at Bordeaux (July 11, 1892) passes over article 11 of the Military law entirely. It declares, without explanation, that, according to the law of 1874, the plaintiff during his minority was French, and that, therefore, the Convention of 1882 does not apply to him.

It admits that he had a right, but holds that it was not a droit acquis (vested right), that it was a mere expectative and would only have been a droit acquis if the lad had reached his twenty-first year when the law of the 26 June, 1889, came into operation, and could have actually at once exercised it.

It will be interesting to see how the higher Court deals with the questions submitted, not perhaps so much as a matter of law, as this is clear enough, but as a matter showing to what extent Law Courts in France are independent of government, and can be relied upon to apply the law without reference to any consideration but its provisions.

THOMAS BARCLAY.

REVIEWS AND NOTICES.

[Short notices do not necessarily exclude fuller review hereafter.]

Handbuch des Handelsrechts. Von L. GOLDSCHMIDT. Dritte völlig umgearbeitete Auflage. Erster Band: Geschichtlich-literarische Einleitung und die Grundlehren. Erste Abtheilung. Universalgeschichte des Handelsrechts. Erste Lieferung, Stuttgart: Ferdinand Enke. 1891. 8vo. xviii and 468 pp.

THE introduction to the third edition of Geh. Rath Goldschmidt's classical (but unfortunately uncompleted) handbook on mercantile law forms at the same time a separate work on the history of the subject, to be published in two instalments, of which the volume now before us is the first. The author is well known as the foremost living.mercantile lawyer both in respect of historical learning and of practical knowledge. As a judge of the Supreme German Mercantile Court (the first Supreme Court of the new German Empire), as one of the most active and influential promoters of mercantile legislation, and as a teacher and author, he has been one of the men whose work has shown that historical learning is a help and not a hindrance to those who are engaged in the solution of important practical problems. The book before us, on the other hand, proves that the monuments of the past are best understood by those who are familiar with the manifestations of the present. Our Law Merchant is now part of the Common Law, but it need hardly be pointed out that at one time it was a separate system, applicable only in respect of dealings between traders, and that even at the end of the last century the opinion that there were special rules of law, applicable to such dealings only, had by no means disappeared. On the continent Handelsrecht' (Droit Commercial) is still a separate body of law, which, notwithstanding local variations, is fairly uniform in its leading characteristics. The object of Geh. Rath Goldschmidt's work is to trace the evolution of this system of legal rules. His researches begin at a very early period and include Eastern and Western countries. Documents relating to mercantile transactions in Assyria, dating back as far as the seventh and sixth century before the Christian era, engraved on tablets in cuneiform character, tell us of mercantile associations, credit and interest transactions, contracts, sureties and mortgages, agency and assignment. As regards Greece, some institutions of Mercantile Law are traceable in Attica. Among these may be mentioned the privileged position of foreign merchants-as distinguished from strangers generally-and the special procedure which, as it seems, was applied to mercantile litigation (dikaι éμπopikai). Trade generally was not considered as an occupation worthy of a free citizen, but it was less derogatory to a man's dignity to trade on a large (europía) than on a small scale (καπηλεία). The τραπεζίτης performed the functions of a modern banker, and the disgrace attached to trade did not prevent the higher classes from deriving income from foenus nauticum.' Roman legal literature does not

throw much light on the origin and development of mercantile law. The logical mind of the classical jurists could not conceive any set of circumstances to which the ordinary rules, modified'utilitatis causa' in cases of hardship, were inapplicable. There were, however, in classical Roman Law a number of legal institutions created for the convenience and by the necessities of commerce. The actio exercitoria' by which the validity of contracts made by agents on behalf of their principals was first recognised, the 'receptum argentarii' to which Geh. Rath Goldschmidt assigns the place of a modern banker's acceptance, the receptum nautarum,' &c. which imposed special liabilities on certain classes of traders, the foenus nauticum,' which has since been changed into the modern bottomry bond' and which then took the place of mercantile insurance, while at the same time performing some of the functions of a bill of exchange, the rules relating to warehouses (horreae), &c. are all conspicuous instances. But, as Geh. Rath Goldschmidt points out, the mercantile customs, which were elements in the formation of mercantile law, cannot be adequately ascertained from the Corpus Juris. As the etymologist cannot dispense with the study of conversational and provincial Latin, the historian who wishes to trace the influence of Roman law must inquire into provincial and local customs. Law has its dialects like language, and the dialects of Roman law which Geh. Rath Goldschmidt-adopting an expression invented by Professor Brunner-describes by the comprehensive name of Vulgarrecht,' and about which a great deal may be learned from lay writers like Plautus and Livius, as well as from inscriptions and other similar sources, throw much light on the subsequent development of mercantile law. Expressions like 'recipere,' 'accepi,' 'permutare,' 'commendare' (derived from 'cum mandare'=manui dare), had technical meanings well understood in everyday life but ignored by the jurists. The last-named word describes a transaction which under the name of 'commenda' has played an important part in mediaeval mercantile life (the modern société en commandite' being one of its developments), but which in legal literature is hidden under the head of 'depositum irregulare.'

The most noticeable fact after the foundation of the Byzantine Empire is the influence on general commerce which the Arabs acquired. Their contributions to mercantile language and usage (e. g. the following words: 'Admiral,'' Magazine,' 'Average' [awâr damaged goods], 'Tariff,' also the use of the Arabic figures), and the universality of their trade (Arab coins are found in countries so distant as Russia and Scandinavia) are pointed out by the author, but he has not as yet been able to discover whether their highly-developed system of law has left any trace in the institutions of the

West.

In Germany the progress of trade, and therefore of mercantile law, was very slow. The growth of municipal corporations, which originally were associations for the holding of markets, with their own market law (sometimes called Kaufmannsrecht' [Merchant's law]); the formation of artizans' companies (Zünfte) bringing the members of each trade under the protection and control of their fellow-craftsmen; the extension of the ancient Merchant guilds (Kaufgilden) and their transformation into powerful organizations for the carrying on of foreign trade (Hanse Leagues) are referred to as incidents in that progress. But the insecurity of the sea as well as of the land, the weakness of the Central Authority and the corresponding importance of territorial divisions, obstructed commercial enterprise in all directions. Commerce on a large scale, as carried on under the old Roman Empire, ceased to exist, and Gei manic mercantile customs

were, therefore, evolved out of the customs of small tradesmen and artizans. Geh. Rath Goldschmidt points out that for this reason they were slow to incorporate the ideas of Roman law, and that when that incorporation took place, the institutions derived from Germanic sources had become so firmly rooted that they retained a permanent influence on the general body of mercantile law. The author quotes the following instances of the influence of Germanic habits of thought: the distinction between real and personal property, which in the author's opinion is in close connection with the principle of Hand muss Hand wahren' and with the mercantile law of pledge and lien; the materialisation' of the law of possession; the substitution of the bottomry bond for 'foenus nauticum'; the restrictions of continental mercantile law in respect of actions for breach of warranty, and on the other hand the development of the doctrine of 'merchantable goods' (Kaufmannsgut, Marchandise loyale et marchande); the introduction of rules relating to the assessment of damages, &c. The connection of the modern law of negotiable securities with the Germanic law of contract is also referred to and explained.

The countries round the Mediterranean formed the centre of mediaeval commerce, and of these the Italian republics were the most powerful and prosperous. The author's elaborate and extensive researches relating to the legal and mercantile history of these republics have enabled him to supply the readers of his book with a large mass of most valuable and interesting facts. These facts are found in numerous byelaws, statutes, and treaties, in legal documents and books of forms and precedents, notaries' journals, and other records giving a direct insight into mercantile life. The body representing the merchants generally (mercanzia) and the associations representing particular trades (described by various names, as 'ars, misterium [ministerium], collegium, curia, ordo,' &c.), were organised on the model of the municipal corporations of which they formed the principal constituent elements, and were governed sometimes by one 'consul,' generally by several 'consuls' under the assistance of a small and a large council. The list (matricula) of members, assistants, and apprentices-as pointed out by Geh. Rath Goldschmidt-served as a model for the continental registers of traders (Handelsregister) of the present day. The tribunal of the association did not in any way partake of the character of a modern mercantile court, its chief business being the maintenance of order and discipline among the members and the decision of disputes between them in matters concerning the company (causa quae ad artem pertinet— in the case of the general 'mercanzia,' causa mercantilis), and the frequent attempts to define these matters, so as to avoid conflicts of jurisdiction with the ordinary tribunals, have in some measure prepared the way for the modern discussions as to the limits of the province of mercantile law, which on the Continent are of great practical importance. A kind of international law was created by the numerous treaties concluded by the Italian Republics with each other and with foreign states. Many of these treaties referred to the settlements of Italian traders (Lombards) in those foreign countries where no regular colonies and dependencies (logie) were established, and secured to their 'consules' an extra-territorial jurisdiction which has served as a pattern for the consular jurisdiction of our own days. Interesting particulars are given as to these Lombard settlements which have played so prominent a part in the history of mediaeval finance.

The tribunals of the Italian traders' Companies to which we have referred above differed in character from the consulatus maris'-the authorities established by the shipowners' guilds in various Italian, French and Spanish

cities. The consulatus maris' of Barcelona is specially referred to by Geh. Rath Goldschmidt on account of its great influence on the development of maritime law. The shipping guild of that city, 'Commune riparie Barchinonae,' existed in the middle of the thirteenth century, and seems at that time to have had a concurrent jurisdiction with the royal authorities, but it was gradually merged with the municipal corporation to whom in 1347 the privilege was granted to appoint a judicial and administrative board: 'consules maris et judicem eorum.' The Judgments and Regulations of this Board are the foundation of the Costumes de la mer' which have been published in several collections and translations, and form an essential part of modern maritime law. The maritime tribunal of the island of Oléron has had a similar influence.

Much attention is given to the mercantile history of France, and more especially to the fairs of the Champagne and Lyons which seem to have been meeting-places for the traders of the whole of Europe, being convenient centres not only for the buying and selling of goods, but also for the collection and discharge of debts, for which latter purpose a regular clearinghouse system seems to have been established.

Having thus described the mercantile life of the various Continental nations, Geh. Rath Goldschmidt proceeds to trace the history of the individual institutions of mercantile law. The commenda, a favourite form of investment for the mediaeval capitalist, has already been referred to; the modern partnership (the mediaeval name for which was 'compagnia,' has a much humbler beginning, having originally served as a form of association for poor artizans who wished to establish a community similar to a joint household (cum panis'-the analogy with ouooirot is pointed out by the author). In a similar way the other institutions of Mercantile law are traced to their beginnings, one of the most interesting parts of this division of the book being the one dealing with Bills of Exchange. author shows how they were created by the necessities of the transmission of money from place to place (a transaction known to the Roman 'Vulgarrecht' under the name of 'permutatio'), how they originally consisted of two documents--a promissory note by which the maker bound himself to pay in a foreign, and an order to pay addressed to the maker's foreign agent, and how their modern form was evolved.

The

The enumeration of subjects given in this notice, though very incomplete, will be sufficient to give an idea of the wealth of material presented to me by Geh. Rath Goldschmidt as well as of its varied and interesting character. We hope that the book will find many readers both inside and outside the legal profession.

E. S. [The Arabic derivation of 'average' is considered and rejected by Dr. Murray in the Oxford English Dictionary s. v.-ED.]

The Old English Manor: a Study in English Economic History. By CHARLES MCLEAN ANDREWS. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins Press. 1892. La. 8vo. xii (one blank) and 291 pp.

DR. ANDREWS of the Johns Hopkins University has done an opportune and useful piece of work in collecting and digesting the present sum of our knowledge as to the Anglo-Saxon origins of the manorial system which prevailed in England through the Middle Ages. This is a study which, as our readers need not be told, offers at every turn difficult and mixed