It will be seen that I have quoted all the relevant words of this authoritative utterance verbatim. It seems, therefore, that I am not the only one who, " as a lawyer," has been guilty of "an inexcusable error" in this matter. A most distinguished Lord Chief Baron of H. M. Court of Exchequer is particeps criminis, and, unfortunately, I was content to quote his words as an accurate statement of the law as it existed when William Shakspere of Stratford made his will. Perhaps if I had included the words in quotation marks Dr. Tannenbaum might have treated them with rather more respect. But Dr. Tannenbaum may say, Surely the Lord Chief Baron ought to have known that "it was the execution' of a will-the fulfilment of certain legal requirements-that made a valid will?" Yes, truly, if he will substitute the word, "makes," for "made," and confine his argument to a judge of the present day and to the law of England as it exists at the present day! But a reference to the only "authority" which he cites, to wit, Swinburne's "Brief Treatise of Testaments," would tell him that the essential thing to a valid will in those old days was the appointment of an executor. "The essential forme common to every Testament is the naming of an executor. The naming of an executor is said to be the foundation of the Testament. There can be no Testament at all, written or nuncupative, without appointing an executor." Some form of "execution " was, no doubt, necessary for a written will in the early seventeenth century, but, certainly, not such as is now required by the definite provisions of the Wills Act (7 Will. IV and 1 Vict. C. 26), and the all-important requisite for a valid "execution," at that time, was "the naming of an executor." One word more, and I have done for the present at least. I have written, with regard to the hypothesis that the three words, "By me, William," in the third and last signature of Shakspere's will, were written not by the testator, but by some other-friend or scrivener, it may be-on his behalf (which, personally, I am convinced is a true one) that, in the year, 1616, there was "no actual legal necessity that a will should be signed at all." I have the most ample and indisputable legal corroboration for that statement; yet Dr. Tannenbaum sees fit to write, "All this is such a misleading and incorrect statement of the law and the practice relating to the execution of wills, so likely to deceive the unwary and the uninformed," that he feels it incumbent upon him "to set the matter right.” 6 Well, Mr. Editor, I am always glad to be set right by any critic, of any nationality, if I am wrong. But my book, "The Shakespeare Signatures and Sir Thomas More," has now been before the public for upwards of two years, and, hitherto, no English critic, lawyer or layman, has taken exception to my statement of the law with regards to wills in Shakespearian times, based as it is upon the authority of "Comyns's Digest"; nor have I previously been assailed by the epithets "misleading," "incorrect,” “likely to deceive the unwary and the misinformed" (save the mark!), which Mr. Samuel A. Tannenbaum has thought fit to hurl at my head, as though from some superior height of knowledge. I cannot profess to be much disturbed by these general accusations. I am quite prepared to defend my position if and when it should be attacked by any competent lawyer who can speak with at least some semblance of authority upon the law of the olden time, but as I know that I have already reached the limits that I can expect to be allowed me in Studies in Philology, I will, at present, do no more than express my thanks in anticipation for the publication of what I have already written. THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA PRESS Publications of Special Interest Analytical Index to the Ballad Entries in the Stationers' Registers By HYDER E. ROLLINS, Ph. D., Professor of English in New York University. Octavo. 324 pages. Cloth, postpaid $4.00. Paper, postpaid $3.00. This book covers the period 1557-1709 and is arranged in three separate indexes: I. The title of every ballad listed at Stationers' Hall, with complete bibliographical data and an immense amount of collateral information. II. An index of first lines. III. 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