in the West Point Military Academy in 18 18; but two years later, when his father died of yellow fever in New Orleans, young Latrobe resigned from West Point, and returned to his mother in Baltimore, entering as a student the law office of Gen. Robert Goodloe Harper. He was admitted to the bar in 1825. The young lawyer employed much of his idle time in literary and artistic labors. While yet a student he began " Latrobe's Justice's Practice," — a work which ran through many edi tions. In 1828 Mr. Latrobe was engaged as coun sel by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, and was an honored adviser of the company to his death. The venerable lawyer's greatest achievement was the establishment of the Republic of Liberia in Africa. Mr. Latrobe was President of the Mary land and National Colonization Societies, and it was through his individual efforts that Liberia was established as the " Black Republic." His was the pen that drafted their Constitution, and this Code stands almost entirely unchanged at the present day. Dr. Hall, who went to Africa a short time ago and completed negotiations with local chiefs, who ceded large tracts of land to Liberia, went through Mr. Latrobe's efforts. The King of Belgium continued a correspondence with Mr. Latrobe on the subject of Liberia for a number of years. Mr. Latrobe was one of the party who took the first railroad trip ever made in the world, going from Baltimore to Ellicott City behind Peter Cooper's locomotive. He was also counsel for the first telegraph company ever organized. The Latrobe stove, the model of all fireplace heaters, was one of his inventions. Edgar Allan Poe first came into notice through Mr. Latrobe. A prize was offered by a weekly paper of Baltimore for the best story and the best poem. Many contribu tions were sent in to the committee, of whom Mr. Latrobe was at the head. The prize for the poem was awarded to the late Prof. J. H. Hewitt, and for the story to Poe. With the Masonic fraternity in Maryland Mr. Latrobe was identified in a con spicuous manner.
REVIEWS. The Political Science Quarterly for Septem ber is equally strong on the American and the for eign side. Frederic Bancroft, of the United States
489
State Department, describes "The Final Attempts at Compromise " during the winter of 1860-1 861. Thomas L. Greene discusses " Railroad StockWatering " and railroad rates. Prof. F. J. Good now, of Columbia College, traces the development of " The Writ of Certiorari " in England and the United States. Three articles deal with foreign questions. Prof. Richard Hudson, of the Uni versity of Michigan, takes " The Formation of the North German Confederation " as the text for an acute and suggestive criticism of all the legal the ories regarding the Federal State. Prof. Ugo Rabbeno, of Bologna, gives an extended resume of the " Present Condition of Political Economy in Italy." This article contains a mass of infor mation not elsewhere accessible, and will therefore be invaluable to all students of economic science. Finally, Prof. W. J. Ashley, of Toronto University, Canada, subjects General Booth's scheme for the social regeneration of England through Salva tion Army " colonies " to a destructive scientific criticism. The contents of the September Century speak for themselves, and a mere enumeration of them will be sufficient to show their varied and inter esting character. The list comprises the follow ing articles : " A Winter Journey through Siberia" (illustrated), by George Kennan; " The WoodNymph's Mirror " (Adirondacks), by Charles Henry Liiders; " The Poems of Thomas Bailey Aldrich," by Frank Dempster Sherman; " To California in 1849 through Mexico" (illustrated), by A. C. Ferris; " Elder Marston's Revival" (illustrated), by Le Roy Armstrong; " Vigilance," by Charlotte Fiske Bates; " The Distribution of Ability in the United States," by Henry Cabot Lodge; "The Sijuirrel Inn," Conclusion (illus trated ), by Frank R. Stockton; " Building," by John Albee, "The Faith Doctor," VIII., by Edward Eggleston; " 'Zeki'l " (illustrated), by Matt Crim; " De Morte Beata," by Theodore C. Williams; " Present Day Papers : The Gov ernment of Cities in the United States," by Seth Low; "A Painter's Paradise" (illustrated), by Elizabeth Robins Pennell; " Italian Old Masters" (illustrated), by W. J. Stillman; "Treatment of Prisoners at Camp Morton " (illustrated), by W. R. Holloway and John A. Wyeth; " Country News papers,"' by E. W. Howe; " The Possibility of Mechanical Flight," by S. P. Langley.
