profession in Winnipeg, the remaining five being resident in other parts of the province. Those appointed in Winnipeg are G. H. Aikins, Fletcher S. Andrews, George H. Davis, E. J. Tarr, E. H. Bennest, W. R. Cottingham, Robert D. Guy, H. B. Hudson, Jules Preudhomme and E. T. Leech. Mr. G. H. Aikins is the son of the Honourable Sir James Aikins, K.C., President of the Canadian Bar Association. Mr. Aikins went overseas with the 184th Battalion, and held a staff appointment in France during the war. Mr. W. R. Cottingham is Legal Adviser to the Manitoba Legislature. He is also the Treasurer of the Conference of Commissioners on Uniformity of Legislation in Canada. Mr. R. D. Guy is a member of the Executive Council of the Canadian Bar Association, and also the Chairman of the Entertainment Committee which functioned so successfully at the Annual Meeting of the Association in Winnipeg during the month of August last.

The names of the appointees residing outside the City of Winnipeg are S. E. Clement, Brandon; S. H. Forrest, Souris; W. D. Card, Portage la Prairie; John H. Black, Morden; Cecil L. St. John, Minnedosa.

THE LATE MR. JUSTICE MACLENNAN.-On the 13th June last the Honourable Farquhar Stuart Maclennan, Judge of the Superior Court of Montreal and Local Judge in Admiralty of the Exchequer Court of Canada, passed away at the age of 65 years. Before his elevation to the Bench Mr. Justice Maclennan practised his profession in Montreal, at one time being a partner of the late Sir Donald MacMaster, K.C. He was a capable and painstaking Judge, and in the course of his occupancy of the Bench was called upon to decide many cases of difficulty and importance. As a member of the Canadian Bar Association he showed a most enthusiastic interest in its welfare, and the loss of his counsel and practical assistance is very deeply deplored by his fellow-members.

THE LATE GEORGE PATTERSON, K.C.-On the 23rd of August last George Patterson, K.C., one of the oldest and most respected members of the Canadian Bar, died at Winnipeg. Mr. Patterson was born at Perth, Ontario, on the 20th April, 1846. In 1867 he graduated at the University of Toronto, being the gold medalist of his year in mathematics. After his graduation Mr. Patterson was appointed teacher of mathematics in the Collegiate Institute at Hamilton, and also became an examiner in mathematics at his University. He was called to the Ontario Bar in 1874, practising his profession in Toronto as a member of the firm of Laidlaw & Patterson until 1882, when he removed to Winnipeg. For a time he was a partner of Sir James Aikins. In 1888 he was appointed examiner to the Law Society of Manitoba, and in 1894 became editor of the Law Reports. In 1904 he was made Deputy Attorney-General for the province of Manitoba, and acted as Crown Prosecutor. In 1911 he was appointed Master and Referee in Chambers in the Court of King's Bench for Manitoba, and in 1920 became Registrar in Bankruptcy-holding both offices until his decease. We quote the following from an appreciation of Mr. Patterson contributed to the University of Toronto Monthly by the Honourable W. E. Perdue, Chief Justice of Manitoba:

"He was an ideal civil servant. He did his work promptly and well, and when, as sometimes happened, additional duties were imposed upon him, without additional emolument, he assumed and performed them uncomplainingly. He was always at his post. Sickness or accident never called him from his work. There is no record of his being absent for a day. Even his last illness came upon him in the long vacation." "His is the record of a long and busy life. He inherited, not fortune, but those valuable gifts, a sound and capacious mind in a strong and healthy body. Of these gifts he made the best use, as a good citizen and as an admirable servant of the State, services whose worth cannot be estimated in terms of ordinary values."

CORRESPONDENCE.

The Editorial Board of the Canadian Bar Association does not hold itself responsible for the opinions of Correspondents. Contributions to this department of the REVIEW will be published only over the genuine names of the writers.

LORD WESTBURY.

Editor of THE CANADIAN BAR REVIEW:

I notice in the October number of THE CANADIAN BAR REVIEW that Mr. R. W. Shannon, referring to Lord Westbury, says, "If any sighs were uttered on the announcement of his death, they must have been sighs of relief."

Reference to the Solicitors' Journal of the 20th day of July, 1873, does not quite bear this statement out. That journal says: "Since his death, so many eminent persons have testified to his great kindliness of nature, that we must conclude that beneath all the sarcastic bitterness that lay on the surface of his character, there beat a humane and genial heart." Who these many eminent persons were, I cannot tell, but I know that Lord Selborne spoke of his frankness, kindness and generosity; Lord Cairns testified to the unvarying manner in which kindness was ever extended to him by Lord Westbury; and Lord Hatherley acknowledged his kindness.

It is true that he had a mordant wit, but he abhorred lengthy judicial divagations. "What fools these judges are!" he once said, but he only referred to the verbosity of their decisions.

He was always of the opinion that nothing was so miserable in our law as the existence of a number of reported cases which might be cited in support of almost any proposition.

He interested himself to a remarkable extent in the spread of the principles of jurisprudence as chairman of the Council of Legal Education and as president of the Judicial Society.

Scribere jussit amor.

Edmonton.

I am,

Yours very truly,

WALTER S. SCOTT.

BOOKS AND PERIODICALS.

Publishers desiring reviews or notices of Books and Periodicals must send copies of the same to the Editor, care of THE CARS WELL COMPANY, LIMITED, 145 Adelaide Street West, Toronto, Canada.

Reports of Cases in the Vice-Admiralty of the Province of New York, and in the Court of Admiralty of the State of New York, 1715-1788. Edited by Charles Merrill Hough, LL.D., United States Circuit Judge. New Haven: Yale University Press. 1925. Price $5.

"

This is a unique and very interesting volume. It has been compiled and edited, no slight task, by Charles Merrill Hough, LL.D., Judge of the United States Circuit Court of Appeals in New York. The contents comprise not only decisions of the Vice-Admiralty Court of the British Province of New York between 1715 and 1776, but much shrewd and informed comment by the author on the proceedings of the Court and its officers. The charm of the book is that it takes one back to the stormy days when Britain ruled the waves that washed the shores of many countries, one of which, as Judge Hough remarks, administered her maritime law "wholly untrammelled by any traditions of Admiralty as pursued in England." A perusal of the cases contained in the volume entirely sustains the opinion of the learned Judge that in the result "the freedom and inclination to novelty displayed by a small but vigorous Bar produced beneficial results through the (latter) United States Court, which took up the work in the same spirit" and "laid the foundations of most procedure and much substance of the American Admiralty."

To Canadians, the origin of whose Vice-Admiralty Courts was the same as that of New York, and especially to members of the same profession, it is pleasant to note that what was evidently a labour of love to the author, was made possible by the generosity and care of the American Bar. Among the names of those who thus contributed are some well known to the Canadian Bar: Mr. G. W. Wickersham, Mr. H. W. Taft, and one, Mr. Charles S. Haight, who represented the owners of the S.S. "Storstad" with skill and candour in the enquiry at Quebec, presided over some years ago by Lord Mersey, into the sinking of the " Empress of Ireland" in the St. Lawrence near Rimouski.

The cases reported in this volume are drawn from records which have lain in the files of the United States District Court, so we are told, since its organization in 1789, consisting of minute books from 1715 to 1774 with the papers, evidence and exhibits in the various cases. There are some rather amusing things in the book. One a remark of a French naval officer who visited New York shortly after the Revolution: "the inhabitants engage in contraband trade with marvellous skill," a dictum applicable in one direction just now. Another is from Governor Hunter (1715) who wrote to the Board of Trade: "Mr. Mompesson, our Chief Justice is dead. I have commissioned Lewis Morris in his room for these reasons among others: that he is a sensible honest man, and able to live

without salary, which they will most certainly never grant to any in that station, at least sufficient to maintain his clerk."

Among the roll of Judges who presided over the Vice-Admiralty Court while New York was a Colonial Province occurs the name of Wm. Smith, Jr., who adhered to the Crown, and afterwards became Chief Justice of Upper Canada, dying in 1793. Before his appointment, he appeared in most of the cases reported in this volume.

The earliest Judge whose opinions are recorded therein, Francis Harrison, exercised his Admiralty functions under his designation as Chief Justice of New York, from 1715 to 1721. His successors were all appointed by Royal authority and were commissioned under the Great Seal of the High Court of Admiralty in England. The Court sat in the City Hall of New York in Wall Street.

The silver oar as the emblem of Admiralty authority was duly in evidence and was used like the Parliamentary Mace. "When the Court was in session it lay prominently on bench or desk before the Judge, and on adjournment was carried out with ceremony." It was also exhibited as the badge of his authority by the Marshal of the Court when his warrant was disputed.

The author mentions that the silver oar, emblem of the Admiralty jurisdiction of Bermuda, is still extant, and was carried in procession on the celebration of the Tercentenary of the establishment of parliamentary institutions in that Island.

A few items of general interest may be gathered from the cases reported: A slave taken in a vessel, was lawful prize to the captor and as such was sold in 1745. When slaves were salvaged with the vessel and not captured as prize they were sold, but customs duty had to be paid on them out of the proceeds of sale.

A captured vessel was restored to its owner because when taken it was shown to have been fired on by its assailant under the French flag. Its captor was in fact a British privateer which failed to hoist British colours on opening fire.

A private vessel without letters of Marque could not take as lawful prize the ships of the enemy (1757). These letters of Marque contained stringent provisions requiring the Privateer to bring in for condemnation all prizes to a convenient Vice-Admiralty Court, to keep an exact journal of all acts done in regard to prizes and to transmit it to the High Admiral of Great Britain. For the observance of these conditions a bond with sureties had to be given. Where in the proceedings before a Vice-Admiralty Court it appeared that Privateer had broken any of the Royal instructions contained in the letters of Marque, the sureties were held liable and adjudged to pay damages for the breach.

Where an enemy ship was captured by a British Privateer, and was found to have on board British subjects who were held on the captured ship as hostages for payment of the sums engaged to be paid when their ship was released by the enemy captors, the Court ordered one-half the agreed ransom money to go to the British captor. The hostages might be physically restrained or confined by the Court to enforce payment of the salvage on the ransom, to secure which they had been held by the enemy.

Fragmentary records of other Vice-Admiralty Courts established by Great Britain exist, showing their presence in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and South Carolina.

It is to be hoped that copies of this very interesting book will be procured for the use and information of the Judges of the Exchequer Court in Canada and of the Admiralty Judges throughout the Dominion.

F. E. H.

The Law relating to Compromises of Litigation, Disputes and Differences, with a chapter on Family Arrangements and similar transactions. By William Douglas Edwards, LL.B., and Frank C. Watmough, B.A. London: Sweet & Maxwell, Limited. Toronto, The Carswell Company, Limited.

This little book, which has just been issued, contains 291 pages, and covers an important branch of the law which has never previously been collected in one volume. It consists of 11 chapters entitled Definition and Characteristics of a Compromise, Forms of Compromises, Consideration as a Requisite of Compromise, Legal Capacity of Persons for Effective Compromises, Powers of Effecting Compromises on Behalf of Others, Legal Effects of Compromises, Mistake in Effecting Compromises, Unfairness of Affecting the Validity of Compromises. Unlawful Compromises, Practice in Enforcement and Setting Aside and Variation of Compromises, and Transactions Resembling Compromises, Including Family Arrangements. Each chapter is subdivided under appropriate headings, with full references to the authorities supporting every proposition of law therein contained. An Appendix of Forms is added, containing Agreements Before Litigation, Agreements After Commencement of Liti-gation, Clauses on Special Points, Judgments and Orders, and Contracts of Arrangement.

Naturally, the most important legal question in matters of this kind is that of consideration, and the learned authors deal with this subject in the opening sentences of the third chapter, as follows:-" In a compromise, considerations moving from the parties respectively, and constituted on either side by a promise or act, are essential elements of the contract in whatever form it be made. The consideration moving from the party, whose claim or defence is the subject of the compromise, is, or includes, the release, withdrawal or forbearance of his claim or defence or part of it, or a promise of the same. The consideration moving from the party against whom the claim is made, or the defence is set up, consists in some lawful act or promise whereby his opponent may be benefited or he himself may be prejudiced (including the release or withdrawal or forbearance, wholly or in part, of a claim or matter of defence on his side), and which is not a performance or promise of performance, wholly or in part, and specifically, of an undisputed legal liability on his side to his opponent, certain in character and immediately enforceable. A contract of compromise consisting in mutual un conditional promises effects an immediate discharge, by way of accord and satisfaction, of the claim or defence which is the subject of the compromise. A promise, giving rise to a legal right, is thereby accepted