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THE GREEN BAG

his epitaph must be, "Hie jacet persona ficta." To these studies are doubtless owing the course of lectures on the theory of the corporation which, announced under a more restricted title in 1899, but not then given, were actually delivered in 1900. In 1901 he was appointed Rede Lecturer, and his little discourse, which he afterwards printed with an elaborate apparatus of notes and references under the title of English Law and the Renaissance, fills a considerable gap in the history of English civilization as well as English law. In this work he dealt with and settled the delicate question of why England escaped the reception of the Roman law which overwhelmed her conti nental neighbors. It is pleasant to remem ber that. he made this solid bit of work the means of expressing his appreciation of American legal learning by dedicating it to the late Professor Thayer. Meanwhile he was repeating the courses of lectures which he had already given, and it is a significant fact that, with the exception of the Intro duction to the History of English Law, the subjects are no longer historical in char acter. He was dealing with equity, con tract, and real property, and in the last term of all gave what seems to have been a new course on future estates and perpetui ties. His work of research, meanwhile, was focussed upon the Year-Books. He desired passionately to secure a proper critical edition of these so important monuments of English legal history. Upon the pro motion of this end he deliberately concen trated all his energy and interest. As early as 1900 he said to me that he would never again do anything but Year-Books, and it was only the higher demand of picias that led him to turn aside into the field of letters and write the life of Leslie Stephen. He used to say laughingly that he thought the edition of the Year-Books could be accommodated to the limits of some two hundred volumes. Although he did not live to see more than a small part of his ideal realized — the publication of the Year-

Book, 1-4, Edward II — it must have been a satisfaction to him to know how much he had done to make the work of future editors accurate and efficient. In his three volumes he had set the pattern for the critical treat ment of the documents. He had discussed and, as most people will think, had settled the question of the authority of the reportsand their relation to the Plea-Rolls. Finally he had removed the long-standing reproach of English legal studies by putting, for the first time, its proper language, the AngloFrench, upon a sound grammatical basis. This subject he dealt with scientifically, and his treatise might well pass for the work of a highly trained philological specialist. I have said nothing of Maitland's abun dant and valuable contributions to period ical literature. Some of them have been collected and the rest will no doubt be brought together in good time. Nor have I mentioned his excursion into sixteenth cen tury ecclesiastical history upon which I shall touch in another connection. I have tried only to trace the main outline of the work to which he devoted his life. This is neither the time nor the place toattempt an analysis or an appreciation of Maitland's genius. Still, one may be allowed to detach and emphasize one or two signifi cant characteristics. Perhaps the most striking trait was the unfeigned, the pas sionate interest which he brought to his studies. His desire to know was not due solely, I think, to his capacity, great as it was, to interpret and relate knowledge; he loved the thing for itself as well. Ten years ago he put to a beginner in historical re search, who had come to him for help, the appalling question, "Where would you draw the line between history and archaeology or antiquarianism? ' ' His own jesting answer came quickly to the relief of the embarrass ment which he had occasioned — "For my own part I regard anything in which I am interested as history." It is no small part of his distinction that he was able to seize upon and develop the historical value of the