In spite of overwhelming evidence, it is most difficult for a citizen of western Europe to bring thoroughly home to himself the truth that the civilisation which surrounds him is a rare exception in the history of the world.

Maine charged McLennan in his theory of primitive society with neglecting and misunderstanding of the Indo-European evidence. F. The article though unsigned by the rule of the Quarterly at the time was Maine's reply to the McLennan brothers' attack on the historical reconstruction of the Indo-European family system put forward in Ancient Law and supplemented in Early Law and Custom.

" According to the thesis in the ancient world individuals were tightly bound by status to traditional groups while in the modern one in which individuals are viewed as autonomous agents they are free to make contracts and form associations with whomever they choose. Sir Henry James Sumner Maine KCSI (15 August 1822 – 3 February 1888) was an English comparative jurist and historian.