1 68 HARVARD LAW REVIEW, DICEY'S "CONFLICT OF LAWS.^ AT last we have an adequate treatise on a branch of the law the importance of which to an American lawyer is great and growing. Some years ago Professor Dicey very successfully dealt with the subject of Domicil, using the rather common English form of rule, comment, and illustration. His work on Domicil is incor- porated into this book, and the same method is adopted for treat- ing the whole subject. He has done the work as well as it could be done. The subject perhaps lends itself to such treatment less successfully than evidence, for instance, or torts, because so many of its rules are not clearly determined, and are still subjects of controversy. Full discussion is needed, rather than dogmatic treat- ment. It is not yet time to formulate the rules governing foreign- acquired rights. Passing over the form of treatment, however, Professor Dicey's book is highly satisfactory. He has succeeded in a few lines in stating the fundamental principles of his subject better than they have ever been stated before. " The courts, e. g. of England, never in strictness enforce foreign law ; when they are said to do so, they enforce, not foreign laws, but rights acquired under foreign laws. . . . The rules as to extra-territorial effect of law enforced by our courts are part of the law of England."^ He had already said, still more forcibly,^ "" The rules of so called private interna- tional law are based on the recognition of actually acquired rights, i. e. of rights which when acquired could be really enforced by the sovereign of the State where they have their origin." Starting with these principles, Professor Dicey could write, and has written, the best book on the subject. His analysis and arrangement are strikingly novel, and commend themselves en- tirely; though one may perhaps be allowed to doubt the expedi- ency of treating the great subject of jurisdiction of law under 1 A Digest of the Law of England with Reference to the Conflict of Laws. By A. V. Dicey, Q. C, B. C. L. With Notes of American Cases, by John Bassett Moore. London : Stevens and Sons, and Sweet and Maxwell. Boston : The Boston Book Co. 2 Pages ID, II. 8 I Law Quart. Rev., 284.
