Whatever merit this Memoir may possess it owes to Maitland and to the
circle of those who cherish his memory. My own disabilities will be
made plain to the reader, but, lest he entertain false expectations,
let me explain at the outset that I was educated neither at Eton, nor
at Cambridge, nor at Lincoln's Inn, that I am no lawyer, and that I
have never received a formal education in the law. Finally, I did
not make Maitland's acquaintance till he was in his thirty-seventh
year. These are grave shortcomings, and if I do not rehearse the long
roll of benefactors who have helped me to repair them, let it not be
imputed to a failure in gratitude. I cannot, however, forbear from
mentioning five names. Before these sheets went to Press they were
read by Mrs Maitland, by Mrs Reynell, by Dr Henry Jackson, by Dr A. W.
Verrall and by Professor Vinogradoff. To their intimate knowledge and
weighty counsels I owe a deliverance from many errors. Dr Jackson has
generously laid upon himself the additional burden of helping me to see
the volume through the Press.