268 A Century of Science 



these early works, which have become very scarce, 

 will before long be collected and reprinted. 



When, after these publications on architecture, 

 Freeman began publishing books and articles on 

 ancient Greece and on the Saracens, I presume 

 there were many of his readers who thoughtlessly 

 assumed that he had changed his vocation; he 

 must more than once have had to answer the stupid 

 question why he had gone over from architecture 

 to history. But in his mind the evolution of 

 architecture was never separated from the course 

 of political history ; and the effect of these early 

 studies in architecture, which were indeed never 

 abandoned, but kept up with enthusiasm in later 

 years, was to give increased definiteness and con- 

 creteness to his presentation of historical events. 

 When I use such a word as " evolution " in this 

 connection, I do not mean that Mr. Freeman was 

 in any sense a " disciple " of the modern evolution 

 philosophy. There is nothing to show that he 

 ever gave any time or attention to the study of 

 that subject, or that he had any technical knowledge 

 even of its terminology. Whether consciously or 

 unconsciously, however, he was an evolutionist in 

 spirit. From the outset he was deeply impressed 

 with the solidarity of human history, and no stu- 

 dent of political development in our time has made 

 more effective use of the comparative method. 



