The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-10-07
So
NEW BOOKS.


that the former was indebted him. without writ.
warrant, or any process whatever.
Dron,io should certainly have b cen made to
stand In the corner for such amentable iRno-
rance He should have got 1t Just where 1t
would have hurt him most Ash lawyer he Is
the rankest OF impostors. But most conclusive
Of all is tho evidence Afforded by The Mer-
chant OF Venice" wherein the gentle Porttd.
acting as anic,,s cur iR las DR.. Appleton Nor
ran once most humorously pointed OUT makes
many rulings that are bad In law. in logic and
in morals Moreover. Mr.. Devecmon. as
lawyer, solemnly assures us that Shvlock's
action could never have been sustained In any
court OF law Yet mark how Portia delivers
judgment:
"a pound of that same merchants flesh is thine.
The court awsrdsit. and'the law doth give it,"
And furthermore she adds:
"Tsrry little. there is som thing else.
The bond doth give thee here lot OF blood
Tho words expressly are. = pound Of flesh;
Then take thy bond. take thou thy pound Of hesh
But. in the cutting it, II thou dost shed
One drop OF Christian blood. thy lands and goods
Are by the laws of Venice conhscate
Unto tho state
As Mr.. Devecmon puts 1t:
We'll might .Shvlock eIclaim; Is that the law'
who ever heard Of flesh without blood? Az with
out seeds; nut without q shell? ?"
Surely. had Shakespeare been man OF law.
the play would have been written very diher-
emily.
Tho Court, having pronounced Judgment and
awarded execution, tells Shviock that he must him
self execute the judgment He might woll have an
swered. 'Ihave come here for the court to give
me justice. not to take the law in my own hands
! not officer Of the court; let tho Courts ON
GERS execute it's judgment, and lot them be respon
forf cal, lniap he Co
gave judgment for so much money should per
haps render myself liable in an action for damages
If attempted to collect it myself 1t would be the
business of the Court. through its own officers to
collect my money. and it is the business and duty
OF the Court to deliver me my pound OF flesh. have
no right to take IL myself and no court OF Justice
can have the legal power or moral right to make a
sutton therein responsible for the execution Of its
judgments"
No: in spite OF all that learned Chief Justices.
erudite Germans. Baconian theorists and
others may say to the contrary. let us admit
that Shak sspeare was no lawyer. He was prob
ably content to be poet. And. as we remarked
before. there seems to be no end to the things
that one may prove about him-if one have a
mind to set about it,
The first volume OF q series OF short illus
trated biographical and critical monographs
published under the general title. The Great
edited by G. G. Williamson. L. H. D.. ia devoted
to Bernadino Luini and Is written by the ed-
tor The mysterious silence OF Vasari as to
Luni and the scarcity Of documentary records
necessarily make the biographical portion Of
tho work fraRmentary and imperfect. and at
best. largely a matter Of tradition. and it 10
not probable that much will ever now
be known OF the life OF tho great painter
II whom Ruskin says: He has left nothing be-
hind him that is not lovely. and is perhaps the
best central type OF the highly trained Italian
painter. Woodworking. industrious. who
labored with his whole heart and soul" Mr.
Williamson has added to the volume q COM
plete descriptive catalogue OF the works OF
Luini and OF certain works attributed to him.
arranged according to tho galleries In which
they are contained. With respect to the pic
lures" the author says In his preface. 81 have
endeavored to avoid such criticism as 10 purely
destructive. ! attach considerable impor-
lance to tradition. and hesitate to dis
turb 1t whom able to give we'll
defined reasons for so doing At the same time
have been critical and. hope. discriminative.
but in many cases have preferred to leave a
question open. rather than to dogmatize upon
insufficient evidence. Almost every picture
has been carefully examined by me and by
means OF a large collection OF photographs
have compared picture with picture and in
cluded in my scrutiny those few works which
1t has been impossible for mo to examine"
The illustrations are very uneven in quality.
In Sketches in Egypt. Written and IIiustrat-
ed by Charles Dana Gibson" Doubleday 4
Mcclure Co... We meet a number OF old familiar
types. Some OF them are clad in the flowing
burnous Of the Oriental and some in tho regi-
mentals OF the British soldier-and of course
tho young girl Ia there. She looks as beaut-
full. as lengthy OF limb and as embarrassing as
ever: and she eats sandwiches and drinks bot
tied Bass on the steps Of the Pyramids or at the
Tombs OF the Kings at Thebes with all her old
time grace. She wears we'll. and her adven-
lures In the East and those OF her fellow globe
trotters are here quite innocuously chroniced
by her originator.
Biographies o! Admiral Dewey still continue
to arrive. This week there are two" The
Life and Letters OF Admiral Dewey. from Mont
pslier to Manila" by Adelbert NJ. Dewey The
woodfall Company. and The Hero OF Manila
Dewey on the Mississippi and the Pacific" by
Rossiter Johnson. tApplotons,l The former
contains reproductions in fac mile OF letter,
OF George Dewey during the Admirals nava
career. extracts from his logbook and over
two hundred and fifty photographs and illustra
tons. and it has been compiled with the assist
ance of members OF the immediate family o
the Admiral. 1t seems to weigh at least ter
pounds. The latter appears in the series en-
titled Young Heroes OF Our Navy"
We have received the seventh and IN al volum,
Of Commentaries on the Law OF Private Cor
porations." by Seymour ID. Thompson. LII. u
This volume contains recent decisions from
1895 to 1890 and n copious and exhaustive
general index OF the whole work together will
a separate table OF the cases examined an,
cited 1t Is published by the Bancroft Whitney
Company OF San FIR ancisco. Cal.
- al L.