Thomas Madox as Constitutional and Legal Historian I
![handle is hein.journals/lqr32 and id is 278 raw text is: .268
THOMAS MADOX AS CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL
HISTORIAN. I.
T HE reigns of Anne and of George I will always be memorable
in the annals of English antiquarian study.' Through official
and private enterprise much was accomplished in the way of
collecting and preserving national and local records. Scholars of
ability devoted untiring effort to the writing of works which still
rank as classics of antiquarian literature; and a little group of
these earnest men organized the Society of Antiquaries and started
it upon its long and distinguished career of usefulness.2
Among the historical researchers of this time Thomas Madox
was easily the foremost.3 Gifted by nature and fitted by training
for a life of incessant and intelligent labour, he has left us a record
of achievement that has called forth deservedly the praise of all
succeeding generations of scholars. In his lectures upon Maitland,
Mr. A. L. Smith accords to Madox the distinction of being the
'greatest of all antiquarian historians ,.4 But it is not necessary
to subscribe to this high estimate : it is sufficient to say that Madox
was a great antiquary-great in qualities of mind and of work-
manship. The life and the writings of this man should receive, at
the hands of a competent biographer and critic, the thorough
consideration which they so richly merit. In the meantime we do
well to hold in remembrance his eminent services to historical
study, to contemplate his quiet life of patient toil, to note his
1 The following editions of the works of Madox have been used in the preparation
of the present paper:-
Formulare Anglicanum, I7O2 [=F.A.].
The History and Antiquities of the Exchequer of the Kings of England, x711
£=H.E.]l.
Firma Burgi, 1726 [=F.B.].
Baronia Anglica, 1736 [=B.A.].
Madox, like other writers of his time, was prodigal of capital letters and italics.
It has not been thought necessary to retain all of them in the quotations given in
the present paper.
By a typographical error two sections of the preface to F.A. are both numbered
VIII. In the present paper reference will be made to the first and the second
§ VIII.
2 Brief references to the antiquaries of this -age will be found in the Cambridge
History of English Literature, vol. ix, pp. 341-58, 530-41.
3 iadox's contemporaries include such men as Rymer, Hickes, Holmes, Anstis,
Hearne, Gale, and West.
4 A. L. Smith, Frederic William Iaitland, p. 35.](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/lqr32&div=30&collection=journals&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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Thomas Madox as Constitutional and Legal Historian I
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