"It is manifest that such a manual as Every Man His Own Lawyer would be a snare to the unwary, because it does not content itself with teaching the reader what to avoid, but professes to guide him in the labyrinthian paths of substantive law and technical procedure. It is equally clear, however, that a rudimentary acquaintance with the main principles of jurisprudence is indispensable to those who purpose to mingle in active life at all, and discharge the most familiar duties of the citizen. But law books are not inviting to the general reader--we may imagine, indeed, that Blackstone has rather lost than gained in the esteem of his professional brethren by the attempt to make his commentaries an exception to the rule--and the volumes may be counted on the fingers which are at once entertaining and trustworthy compends of legal lore. To the meagre collection of attractive introductions to this subject an addition has recently been made by BENJAMIN VAUGHAN ABBOTT in a couple of brochures, respectively called _The Travelling Law School and Famous Trials_, which are published in one volume by D. Lothrop & Co. The book is ostensibly written for boys, but it may be heartily commended to adult readers of both sexes. It is surprising how much sound law the author manages to insinuate in the guise of interesting incidents and pleasing anecdotes. Even they who are sickened by the scent of sheepskin and law calf, and who would as soon think of entering on a course of Calvinistic theology as on a study of jurisprudence, will imbibe through the author's cheerful narrative a good many useful notions of their legal rights and duties, just as children are persuaded to swallow an aperient in the shape of prunes or figs. "In 'The Travelling Law School,' as the name implies, the reader is invited to accompany a party of young students in a tour through several of the Atlantic States, the incidents of the journey suggesting succinct accounts of the main features of Federal, State, and municipal law. A much larger sum of information can be thus informally conveyed in about a hundred pages than would at first sight be deemed possible; and notwithstanding the suspicion with which lawyers are apt to regard the transmission of knowledge through such a pleasant medium, we are able to vouch in this instance for its accuracy. We have been particularly struck by the light which the author manages to throw, in a quick, unaffected way, on the characteristic features of the American Constitution. This he does by illustrations drawn from the organic laws of other countries possessing parliamentary institutions, and his references, on the whole, are singularly exact, though he might perhaps have laid more stress on the centralizing tendencies which survive in the executive branch of the French republican Government.