him to know what they look like, and I should certainly want him to be able to check a translation from either in print, short of the really obscure passages where translation has to be more or less conjectural. This involves, no doubt, a fair knowledge, and the more all-round the better, of both mediæval Latin and mediæval French: I do not see why that is too much to expect. For a man, at all events, who has already grappled with the niceties of classical Greek and the intricate structure of Latin, the task cannot be deemed formidable; and it seems likely that for some time to come our scholars in legal history will be mainly recruited from those who have passed through some classical training. Moreover, I think the suggested requirement would be well fitted to discourage amateur antiquaries from trying to pose as jurists; and I really do think there is less danger to legal science from the frank and shameless ignorance of the illiterate practitioner than from the sciolism and wild guesswork of the half-trained amateur. Great is the wilderness wherein the wild mare maketh her nest, and many there by that find it. What is more, the lay people may take those deluded adventurers for real explorers and discoverers, as like as not; for most laymen believe all law to be so absurd that no doctrine in or about it can be too absurd to be probable.

We have, besides our judicial records proper, large classes of official and administrative documents more or less closely connected with judicial proceedings, and at times so much mixed up with them that it is hard to say where the judicial character ends and the merely official begins. An obvious example is afforded by the revenue side of the Exchequer. The reasons for seeking to increase the knowledge of these records, and the profit to be derived therefrom, are much the same as in the case of records actually belonging to Courts of judicature, and most of what I have said is equally applicable to the semi-judicial or quasi-judicial archives.

As to the actual denominations, distribution, and custody of our judicial and official records, it may be useful to some of my hearers to indicate very briefly where the proper information can be found. Everything necessary for the student's guidance, except the elements of history, law, and politics on the one hand, and detailed instruction in language and palaeography on the other, is given in Mr. Scargill Bird's Guide to the Public Records and other Record Office publications, the article "Record," by Mr. Crump of the Record Office, in the

eleventh edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica, Mr. Hubert Hall's Studies in English Official Historical Documents and the accompanying Formula Book (1908-9), and (by no means least, though it is quite a short tract), Mr. Pike's Oxford lecture on "The Public Records and the Constitution " (1907). Mr. Pike's article on the Record Office in the Encyclopædia of the Laws of England, and the First Report of the Royal Commission on Public Records (1912), may also be consulted. This is very far from exhausting the profitable literature on the subject, but it is enough to begin with. In this lecture I have purposely avoided any fragmentary presentation of facts which have been methodically and fully set out by men acquainted with them at first hand, and which mostly do not admit of profitable or safe abridgement.

FREDERICK POLLOCK.

EVOLUTION IN ANNOTATION.

BY HENRY P. FARNHAM, M.L.

[ED. NOTE-Mr. Farnham's long experience and high standing as a law editor and legal author eminently qualify him to speak of the progress which has been made in furnishing the lawyer with better working tools, and of those editorial ideals which ever tend to make the modern law library more valuable and efficient. This is a practical question worthy of the careful attention of every busy practitioner.]

A report of a law case which makes no pretention to being annotated to-day is almost as rare as was the case which was annotated thirty-five years ago. The theory seems to prevail that the duty of a reporter is not done if he merely furnishes a correct copy of the opinion with accurate headnotes, adequate statement of facts, and helpful excerpts from briefs. He must, in addition, give the reader some additional light upon the problems solved by the Court by reference to other cases in which the same or similar problems were involved. The spirit which animates this additional matter is good in all cases, and when the publication is sold, largely because of its annotation, it is necessary. While a judicial decision is now, as always, an application of a principle to a given state of facts, the modern lawyer is not satisfied with one elucidation of the principle, no matter how accurate and profound, but he wishes to know how other Courts have dealt with the same question, even when he himself is capable of discerning the principle and reasoning to a proper conclusion the question of its applicability to particular states of fact. If he is not capable of thus reasoning as to principle, he insists upon knowing the various conclusions which have been reached in cases presenting similar facts, and to be given the opportunity of counting the decisions upon the respective sides so as to know what the weight of the authority is. Aids to this knowledge are, therefore, welcome and more or less helpful; according to the fullness and accuracy of the information conveyed. To furnish these aids, annotation is furnished. This is of many varieties and many degrees of excellence. That requiring the least effort, and costing the least money, is composed of references to places where cases have been gathered either in notes to other reports and text-books, or in digests. The value of this annotation depends entirely upon the quality

of the work to which reference is made. If it is to a carefully prepared and exhaustive collection of cases which are fully set out, accurately classified and distinguished, it may be very helpful in pointing the reader to the place where he will find a solution of his problem. If it is to a mere collection of cases which are not classified or distinguished, it may save a little time by relieving the reader of the necessity of searching through books of reference for himself, but he is still left to do most of the work in examining original sources and ascertaining the true force and value of the cases cited. If it is to a section of a digest, it merely saves him the time which would otherwise be required to turn to the scheme of the subject in the digest to ascertain which section deals with the subject-matter under examination which, when found, is the mere crude material from which briefs, reports, and annotation proper is made; for experience shews that as cases are collected in a digest section, with nothing to shew their distinguishing or harmonizing features, the material found is little better than a reference to so many cases to look up.

SUBSEQUENT HISTORY OF CASE.

Another class of annotation which is of value within certain narrow and well-defined limits is that which shews where the reported case has been cited, criticised, followed, explained, distinguished, or overruled. This class of annotation has two principal values: First, it shews how the case under consideration has been treated by other Courts, and therefore, to an extent, its value as a precedent; and, second, it sometimes, in cases containing novel points, assists in finding other similar cases which might not be readily found in the ordinary reference books. If the citing cases are unclassified, the reader may have to examine a large number of references without finding anything of value to him, the citations being to minor or unimportant points in the cases. This annotation is more valuable if the citing cases are classified, but a serious objection to it is that it is likely to furnish only cases in harmony with the case under consideration, and thereby mislead by failing to disclose what there may be on the other side. If this annotation is properly classified, and its limitations are kept in view, its value is sufficient to justify its addition to the library.

LEADING CASES.

Another class of annotation consists of a collection of leading or important cases more or less in point with the case reported. This annotation is usually prepared by the Judge writing the opinion, or by the official reporter of it. Its value depends upon the care with which the cases are chosen, and the fullness and accuracy with which they are set out, the value increasing as the necessity for consulting the original reports diminishes. Of slightly more value is the annotation which purports to be an exhaustive collection of the cases in point, arranged in a few general groups, with now and then an illustrating case set out fully enough to illustrate the general application of the principle involved. Experience teaches that few cases are actually on all fours with respect to the point actually decided in them. Many may be found which will lay down the same broad principle as a basis for reasoning, or as leading to the conclusion reached; and when many cases are found grouped under one proposition, examination will disclose that the reader receives little aid beyond ascertaining the general subject to which they relate, and that he must examine them, case by case, to learn what application was made of the principle involved, and whether or not it is of value in the solution of his problem. Such general grouping can be easily and quickly done, but, unfortunately, it leaves the reader to perform the real work himself, telling him only what cases to include in his examination.

Much more useful than the above is the annotation prepared by the competent text-writer, based on elucidation of the principle involved in the decision under review, illustrated and fortified by well-reasoned cases. This annotation seldom purports to make an exhaustive collection of cases upon the subject, but intends to utilize the leading ones, and so illuminate and expound the principle involved that the reader will have no difficulty in determining its scope and applicability, and will be able to settle his own problem whether he finds a case directly in point or not. Such work requires ability of a high order, incessant study, and a judicial temperament. Few annotators can produce satisfactory work of this kind.

VOL. XXXIII. C.L.T.-53