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The Green Bag
transition to the limited constitutional monarchy of the present time. It is not to be inferred from this, however, that Mr. Lucas adopts the idea of Professor Freeman regarding the unbroken con tinuity of Saxon institutions. That view has lost its vogue, because investigation has shown the importance of the effects of the Conquest and what came after. Freeman, moreover, was no lawyer, and for this reason was handicapped in mak ing a close study of the deeper signifi cance of some of his materials. Mr. Lucas supplies the point of view of the lawyer rather than of the historian simply, and his study is carried out in so philosophical a spirit that he is able to detach the substance from the form of the Constitution, and to give due weight to the customary and unformulated elements of a constitutional system. If in some respects the author may be inclined to take too much for granted, the general treatment is undeniably instructive and helpful. Whether Professor Adams may not attach too great importance to the influ ence of the Norman Conquest on the political future of England is a question raised by his learned study of the bear ings of the feudal system in general, and of Magna Carta, which he deems its natural outgrowth, in particular, on constitutional development. The asser tion that the trend of Anglo-Saxon development, before the Conquest, was in the direction of such a Carolingian monarchy as existed on the Continent, is not substantiated by direct proof on his part, and though the principle of contract involved in the feudal system did supply the barons of King John's reign with a weapon of defense against royal encroachment, it is difficult to see how their resistance would not have been equally successful if no such weapon had been at hand. At the same time,
the feudal system here receives search ing scrutiny, directed at the discovery of its effects on the growth of the Con stitution, and no future investigator cannot afford to neglect Professor Adams's researches in so important a field, of which his mastery is unsur passed. A very useful and at the same time thoroughly competent resum6, of an uncontroversial sort, is found in Pro fessor White's more elementary work designed for use as a college text-book. Following a less intensive method of treatment than either of the two fore going works, it supplies more informa tion regarding the important sub-topics of local government and the functions of Parliament. It is marked by a breadth of view that makes it an admir able introduction to the studies of more creative writers like Maitland, Vinogradoff, Holdsworth, and Adams.
AN INDIANA VILLAGE A Hoosier Village; A Sociological Study, with special reference to Social Causation. By Newell LeRoy Sims. Columbia University Studies in History, Economics and Public Law, v. 46, no. 4 (whole number 117). Columbia University; Long mans, Green & Co., New York, and P. S. King & Son, London, agents. Pp. 181. ($1.50, paper covers.)
A DESCRIPTION of the life of a provincial community which treats minutely of its distinguishing features can be made as interesting as a novel. One puts aside Dr. Sims' study with as vivid sensations as if one had visited the locality in person. This interest comes largely from the obvious necessity of viewing "Aton," the village studied under a disguised name, as typical of a class of communities situated in the backwaters of the normally progressive current of American life. The class to which Aton belongs may not be large. Towns so completely stationary through
