A Profitable Book upon Domestic Law. By Perkins, Junior. (Longmans.)—Let
no reader be deterred by a title which does not seem to promise much entertainment. This is really an entertaining volume, and what is more—for have we not seen "A Comic Black- stone "7—contrives to be so without being in the least foolish or flippant. As far as we can tell, speaking without professional knowledge, the author has studied his subject carefully ; he has certainly dealt with nearly every matter which it would have occurred to us to look for, and we can testify without hesitation to the clearness, liveliness, and. vigour of his style. The larger part of the volume is occupied with a setting-forth of the law concerning the relation of husband and wife, but. other topics, "Real Estate," for instance, including the law of settlement and entail "The Family," "The Household," &c., are dealt with., It is the author's purpose, for the most part, rather to set forth the law as it is than to make suggestions for its alteration, but he has often hints to give which are worth attending to. The "guardianship of spendthrifts," for instance, is an institution which, sanctioned as it is by the precedent of the Roman law, and of not a few modern legislatures, is very properly commended to consideration. Apart from this, the " profitableneas " of the book as a guide in many affairs of daily life cannot be questioned. It is not every master or mistress, for instance, that is aware that when it is desirable for any reason to dismiss a servant, it can be done by paying a month's wages in advance, without incurring any claim for board wages. Advocates for relaxation of our marriage laws may not have realised the fact, and may, therefore, be pleased to hoar, that a man may marry his deceased wife's brother's widow. Advocates for woman's rights should know that a lady is entitled to the profits of any book that she may write, but can- not, unless the possessor of private property, be made liable for any loss occasioned by the publication. This is a very sound and well-considered book, which we gladly commend to our readers.
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