Page:Why the History of English Law is Not Written.djvu/24

15 truth is hidden from us by current phrases about 'historical methods of legal study', that is another reason why the history of our law is unwritten. If we try to make history the handmaid of dogma she will soon cease to be history.

Macaulay in an amusing passage, amusing because it comes from him, has told us how "the historical literature of England has suffered grievously from a circumstance which has not a little contributed to her prosperity A Frenchman", he says, "is not now compelled by any strong interest either to exaggerate or to underrate the power of the kings of the house of Valois The gulph of a great revolution completely separates the new from the old system. No such chasm divides the existence of the English nation into two distinct parts With us the precedents of the middle ages are still valid precedents and are still cited on the gravest occasions by the most eminent statesmen In our country the dearest interests of parties have frequently been staked on the researches of antiquaries. The inevitable consequence was that our antiquaries conducted their researches in the spirit of partisans." Well, that reproach has passed away; but the manipulation which was required to make the political precedents of the middle ages serve the turn of Whig or Tory was a coarse and obvious distortion when compared with the subtle process against which the historian of our law will have to be on his guard, the subtle process whereby our common law has gradually accommodated itself to changed circumstances. I make no doubt that it is easier for a Frenchman or a German