Excerpt from A Treatise on the Law of Executors and Administrators, Vol. 1 of 3

In the last edition, the Editors, in their desire to leave as much as possible unaltered the text of the Author, did not attempt to do more than note up the cases and statutes which had been decided and passed since the last edition, for which Sir Edward Vaughan Williams was personally responsible, was published. What was done in the way of alteration was chiefly the work of my late brother, Walter Vere Vaughan Williams.

The lapse of a quarter of a century since the last edition by Sir Edward Vaughan Williams has made it impossible to avoid altogether alterations of and additions to the text of the Author. It was impos sible to introduce into the new edition, by means of notes only, great changes, of which the Judicature Acts and the Married Women's Property Acts are examples, and the text, therefore, had necessarily to be somewhat altered but feeling how much the authority of the book depends on the maintenance of the old text, I have tried to make these alterations as small as possible, and I hope that critics will indulgently remember that the problem how to maintain the text and yet introduce the new matter was one of great difficulty, and which could not be worked out with absolute uniformity. Moreover, day by day, as the work of this new edition proceeded, I became more and more filled with admiration for the original, and more impressed with my own inability as Editor to supply my father's place. This it is which makes me ask the indulgence of the profession toward What has been a great effort on my part. I, personally, have made every addition and alteration, except that my friend Mr. Eustace Smith, of the Chancery Bar, was good enough to re-draft for me the chapters upon Equity Practice.

I have also to thank my friend and late pupil, Mr. John Ogle, of the Inner Temple, for constant assistance throughout the whole of the necessarily long period devoted to the preparation of this edition. Mr. Wasey Sterry, of Lincoln's Inn, prepared the Index for me and has also afforded me much assistance by his conscientious work and lawyer-like accuracy when acting as my amanuensis. My friend and late pupil, Mr. E. W. Hansel], of the Inner Temple, also gave me his assistance, especially with the chapters on Common Law Practice. In conclusion I wish to say that I finished my work shortly before the Spring Circuit, and therefore, so far as I am concerned, the cases and statutes only come down to that date.

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