Mr. Donisthorpe gives one the impression of a man thoroughly familiar with his own ground, and whose conclusions have not been formed at hap-hazard or without deep and earnest reflection. The main idea of the book is that individualism properly understood furnishes the key to a true political system. The last thing Mr. Donisthorpe would wish to do would be to relax the bonds of society. His aim, on the contrary, is to strengthen and perfect society, in the first place, by a scientific separation of the domain of the state and that of private activity; and, secondly, by carrying to its fullest legitimate development the principle of individual liberty. Mr. Donisthorpe writes as a lawyer; and the influence of his juristic studies is visible on every page. At times his argument gains in force through the dispassionate practicality of the legal mind; and at times it assumes a character somewhat too forensic for the best general effect.
