The debt which the convention owed immediately to the existing State constitutions can only be realized by one who takes the pains to read these documents where we often find the very words which were adopted in the Federal constitution. Dr. Stevens might with advantage have dwelt at greater length upon this phase of his subject. He shows a tendency to give the remoter causes which influenced the convention an undue emphasis while he certainly neglects the influences which may be traced immediately to the institutions of the several American States. Too little is said of that most fruitful period perhaps of all our history in the matter of constitutional growth, namely, that which intervenes between the recommendation of congress (1775) that the several States provide themselves with constitutions, and the meeting of the Constitutional Convention of 1787. This period immediately preceding as it did the drafting of our present form of government, is the most important link in the chain of development. While Dr. Stevens quotes the vague reports of Cæsar and Tacitus concerning early Germanic customs he makes no direct reference to the constitution of New York of 1777 or that of Massachusetts of 1780. The theory of Mr. Douglass Campbell, who would attribute a Dutch origin to most of our institutions, is carefully treated by Dr. Stevens and satisfactorily refuted. "In simple truth," the author concludes, "the presence in America of other races than the English has left scarcely a trace in the national constitution." (p. 5 n.) Dr. Stevens has erred perhaps in not incorporating in his text in some instances the matter contained in the foot-notes. For the notes instead of furnishing simple amplifications of the text often discuss points essential to the general presentation of the subject. The style and general arrangement of the book is, however, excellent. The work has evidently been for him a work of love and Dr. Stevens has made a really important addition to our historical literature. JAMES HARVEY ROBINSON. NOTES. "Les Lois sociologiques "* is not a treatise on sociology proper, but an inquiry into its nature and an attempt to vindicate its character as an exact science. This, of course, involves a denial of the validity of metaphysics, and an attempt to explain social phenomena by purely physical causes. Comte's familiar hierarchy of the sciences is examined, adopted in the main and supplemented by a science of which Comte was necessarily ignorant. The physical sciences, commonly so called, lead to physiology, physiological psychology and sociology, each more complicated but not less physical or capable of exact statement than those at the beginning of the list. The most of the book is filled with examples of social phenomena for which the author thinks he sees a physical cause. These examples differ much in significance and conclusiveness. They generally illustrate, frequently support, but never prove the author's theory. Sometimes their relevancy is not apparent, being little more than metaphorical applications of the laws of physics to social phenomena. That the book makes a contribution to the discussion, begun by Spencer and Ward as to the nature of social laws must be admitted, but our inability as yet to separate combined forces, to measure and quantitatively state their results makes conclusive proof impossible, and does not justify the dogmatism with which our author, in common with others who hold his view, occasionally decries opposed theories or states conclusions which should at best be held as tentative. This defect is not marked, however, and while the book is a minor contribution, it has real excellence. SELDOM is as much scientific good sense crowded into narrow space as is found in a recent work on "Domestic Economy." It contains, first, a terse statement of the elements of physiology; second, a clear analysis of the hygienic and other properties of all the commoner kinds of food; and, finally, a similar statement regarding clothing materials and their use. It contains, perhaps, nothing very new or startling, but it is an eminently practical contribution to the study of this most important and most neglected department of our economic life. Indeed, so neglected is it that the mention of a work on domestic economy or the economic organization of the household will doubtless strike many persons as out of place in an economic journal. A work on the *Les Lois sociologiques. Par GUILLAUME DE GREEF. Pp., 181. Paris: Félix Alcan. +Domestic Economy. By F. T. PAUL. Pp., 218. London: Longmans, Green & Co. development of manufacturing industries would doubtless be quite in place. The popular perspective in all its distortion thus becomes too often the seemingly normal perspective of science. But we shall never have a truly profitable national industrial organization till we have a successful utilization of goods in the home. That the general use of this little book would greatly contribute to this end can hardly be doubted. Unfortunately, the author's refusal absolutely to declare injurious the use of alcoholic beverages in any quantity, and under all circumstances (though the danger of their use is impartially and adequately stated), and his eminently just condemnation of the excessive use of tea, will arouse much well meant and, perhaps, profitable prejudice. Purely scientific statements are not ready and efficient tools for the reformer, and a book to be successful, even to be useful, must be a delicate compromise between regnant prejudice and scientific verity. The criticism herein implied is one proof of the inherent excellence of the book. * FROM the Historical Seminary of Brown University comes an interesting account of "The Development of the Nominating Convention in Rhode Island."* The author, Mr. Neil Andrews, introduces his paper with a brief general sketch of the development of this important part of our American political system. He regards its growth in Rhode Island as especially interesting, because there it was earliest developed, and its different stages can be traced most easily. As early as 1790 is found the record of a legislative caucus, a convention of the Federalist members of the legislature for the purpose of nominating general officers. In the year 1810 the mixed legislative caucus was introduced, in which to the party conventions of members of the legislature there were admitted delegates from towns which were not represented in the legislature by members of the party in question. In 1824, the year when "the congressional caucus was ejected from the American political system," the mixed legislative caucus was in Rhode Island replaced by the pure nominating convention, to which each town chose delegates unless it authorized its representatives to serve in that capacity. Mr. Andrews has handled with no little skill his opaque materials," gathered mainly from contemporary newspapers. THROUGH the recent work of several investigators, it is at last becoming possible to study slavery without passion or prejudice, but simply as an institution, and to determine the nature and extent of * The Development of the Nominating Convention in Rhode Island. By NEIL ANDREWS, A. B. Pp. 14. Providence, R. I., 1894. the influence which it has exerted on the social and economic development of the various sections of the country. The third of a valuable series of monographs on this subject, published in the Johns Hopkins University Studies in Historical and Political Science, is contributed by Dr. Bernard C. Steiner, who writes the history of slavery in Connecticut.* During the colonial period, 1636 to 1774, Dr. Steiner finds that the people generally acquiesced in the existence of slavery, and that the slave code was by no means mild. Connecticut slavery began with Indian captives of war. Just when African slavery was introduced is uncertain; the Connecticut black code began in 1690 with a fugitive slave law. For the next half-century the laws repressing slaves grew harsher, but during the stormy years preceding the Revolution slavery received but little attention. In 1774 a mixture of motives led to the passage of an act prohibiting the importation of slaves into the colony. During this early period the slaves for the most part were treated with considerable indulgence; in the patriarchal family the condition of the slave differed but little from that of the apprentice, and slaves were not infrequently admitted into the local churches as fellow-members with their masters. Not later than 1774 agitation in favor of emancipation became common; during the Revolution slaves often received their freedom for service in the Continental army. In 1784 it was enacted that no negro or mulatto born after March 1, 1784, should be held as a slave after reaching the age of twenty-five; the holding of slaves was not absolutely prohibited until 1848. Until about 1830 emancipation was gradual, and the condition of the slaves was generally ameliorated; but after the rise of the Abolitionists the feeling against slavery became more bitter until it culminated in the resistance to the Fugitive Slave Act. A valuable feature of this monograph is its discussion of the important cases adjudicated before the higher courts with reference to slavery, the cases of Miss Prudence Crandall and her school, and that of the negroes on the Amistad being the most noteworthy. In addition to the full references given in the foot-notes, the appendix contains an extensive bibliography of the subject, and an interesting table showing the changes in the numbers of Connecticut slaves and free negroes from 1680 to 1890. "THE History of Education in Delaware," a monograph written by Lyman P. Powell and issued by the Bureau of Education, gives *History of Slavery in Connecticut. By BERNARD C. STEINER, Ph. D. Pp. 84. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins Press, 1893. The History of Education in Delaware. By LYMAN P. POWELL, A. B. Pp. 186. Washington: United States Bureau of Education, 1893. evidence of painstaking care, original research, and rare discrimination. In the opening chapters on colonial life in Delaware the author treats of education among the Swedes, the Dutch, and the English, and shows how these people made their schools reflect their peculiar social and religious ideas. In these no less than in subsequent chapters, after discussing private education in the towns, the author invites attention to Delaware's most prominent academies, viz.: Newark Academy and the Wilmington Conference Academy. Only a real insight into the essentials of a first-rate educational institution could have inspired the writing of these chapters. An illustration of this insight may be found in a single quotation: "Every boarding-school is a microcosm of the political and economic history of society. The child in its development to adult life represents the evolution of a primitive savage into a civilized being. Scarcely a school exists in which one may not find the various types of institutional government. The wise schoolmaster, recognizing this truth, strives to inspire his school to achieve the highest form of self-government.. Ideal government is attained only by that school which attains ideal democracy." The best work is done in the chapter which outlines clearly and succinctly the history of public education in the State. In rapid succession the free-school law of 1829, educational conventions, old-time schools, the law of 1875, present status of public schools, the school fund, teachers' institutes, and the State Teachers' Association, are ably presented. After paying his compliments to the schools of Wilmington, Mr. Powell closes with an excellent bibliography. As this monograph is the first history of the education of Delaware, it was written entirely from original sources. Mr. Powell evidently found it a labor of love. The work should be widely read and should find a place in the library of every student of educational history. RECENT FRENCH PUBLICATIONS. THE LAST VOLUME of the Petite bibliothèque française gives a collection of extracts from Karl Marx's "Capital" made by his son-in-law, Mr. Lafargue. Professor Vilfredo Pareto, the successor of Professor Walras at the University of Lausanne, has written an interesting introduction on Marx and his work. ("Karl Marx: Le Capital," extraits faits par son gendre M. Paul Lafargue, avec une introduction par M. Vilfredo Pareto. Paris: Guillaumin, 1893). “Systèmes généraux d'impots." By Professor René Stourm. Pp. 415. Paris: Guillaumin, 1893. This is the title of a very important elementary treatise on taxation. It embodies much of the material that the professor presents in so clear and satisfactory a way to his pupils at the |