The sun., 1909-02-07

the respective spheres Of influence OF the
Roman law and its derivatives, and OF the
English common law with its statutory
outgrowths will do we'll to read the book
entitled The Science Of Jurisprudsyee' BY
HANNIs TAILOR, LII. ID. (Macmillans).
This Ia treatise In which the evolution OF
positive law h unfolded by the historical
method. while its elements are CLASSIFIED
and defined by the analytical method
The world has 80 far produced only hve
distinct systems Of jurisprudence. namely.
the Roman. the English. the Mohamme-
dan, the Hindu and the Chinese. An at
tempt is made by DIR. Taylor to indicate
the limits Of the several geographical
areas 70 which each is confined. BY that
survey he believes himself 10 have estab-
lished the fact that about nine-tenths OF
the civilized world-we should have said
six-tenths, counting China and India
as civilized-is now dominated by Roman
and English law in not very unequal
proportions. II thus appears that the
student OF the science Of jurisprudenee.
a. this is defined herein. 10 directly con-
oerned only with Roman and English law.
from whose histories are to be drawn
practically the entire data with which
he has TO deal. Let us follow somewhat
In detail what Mr.. Taylor has to say about
their areas Of influence.
I.
Mr.. Taylor again insists on page - thet
after all fair deductions have been made
In favor Of the spheres occupied by the
Chinese, Mohammedan and Hindu sys-
TENS Of Jurisprudence the fact remains
that the Roman and English law systems
now cover nearly the whole Of the civil
ised and most Of the unoivilized world.
Roman private law, as modified by
national or local family customs and
modern legislation, survives In substan-
TALLY all the Continental countries which
form part either Of the ancient or the
medieval Roman Empire" Mr.. Taylor
goes on to note that it's main strongholds
in western Europe are Italy. Spain, Portu-
gal, France. Switzerland. Germany lin
Guiding the German and Slsvonio parts Of
the Austro- Hungarian monarchy. Hol-
land and Belgium. From Spain and
Portugal it has passed to Mexico. Central
America. South America. Cuba, Porto
Rico and the Philippines. From France
or Holland IL has passed TO the Canadian
province Of Quebec. Louisiana, Ceylon.
Mauritius, Dutch and French Guiana.
South Africa, French Africa, the Dutch
and French East Indies and West Indies.
From Germany it has passed to German
Africa. To these areas must be added
in western Europe Scotland. which
since the establishment OF the Court OF
Session in 1882 has built up it's juris-
prudence out Of Roman civil and 20 some
slight extent Roman canon law mate
rials. As outlying provinces more or
less closely connected with the system
Of Roman private law may be mentioned
Greece, Servia. Bulgaria. Rumania.
Poland. Russia. the Scandinavian coun-
tries and Japan. To the case Of Japan
special attention 10 directed.
The strongholds Of English law. on the
other hand. are England, Wales and Ire
land; most Of the British colonies includ-
ing Australia, New Zealand and all
Canada except Quebec: and the United
States OF America, except Louisiana and
the new dependencies. in which Roman
or native law Is administered. II thus
appears that the Roman and English law
systems prevail in every country now
exerting any appreciable influence upon
modern civilization. At present. indeed,
the area occupied by Roman law and its
derivatives is the wider Of the two, but
the fact cannot be ignored that owing TO
the rapid growth Of the United States and
Of the British colonies and to theexten-
sion Of English law in India that relation
may ere long be reversed.
what asks DIR. Taylor. .is to be the
ultimate outcome? is one system to
supersede or supplant the other or is
there to be an assimilation out OF which
there shall arise a universal code of pr-
vate law embodying a system OF rules
substantially identical as to property and
contracts. enforcible through a uniform
system of civil procedure?" The author
Of this book reminds US that for centuries
such process of assimilation or Of fusion
has been advancing through the absorp-
ton, as is demonstrated in one OF these
chapters, by the English system of masses
OF Roman law materials, which have been
embodied in the equity. csnonical. ad-
miralty and commercial branches OF
English law to an extent never fully
realized or at least admitted until very
recent times. At present the commercial
law Of all civilized nations is everywhere
substantially the same. and nothing is
more marked than the tendency among
English speaking peoples on both sides
Of the Atlantic to substitute for common
law pleadings the more convenient and
reasonable forms OF procedure in use dur
ing the later Roman Empire and now
known in the United States as -the re-
formed code procedure DIR. Taylor
points to en- equally strong tendency in
our commercial cities to withdraw COM
plicated business transactions from the
consideration Of juries in order to submit
them TO referee. He recalls that -lons
ago there was a revival in the English
universities OF the study OF Roman law,
which has extended to this country, where
interest has been quickened in the subj ject
by the close relations recently estab-
lished with Porto Rico and tho Philip
pines The author adds that all juriets
Of the more ambitious kind within the
English speaking world now understand