PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. — SECTION" D. 57 



■enquirers : and that total mass of new matter which the last half 

 ■century has accumulated amounts to thousands of volumes. In 

 view- of changes and trains such as these, it has become impos- 

 sible for the historical writer of the present age to trust with- 

 out reserve even the most respected secondary authorities. The 

 honest student tinds himself continually deserted, retarded, 

 misled by the classics of historical literature, and has to hew his 

 own wav through multitudinous transactions, periodicals, and 

 official publications in order to reach the truth." 



The aspect of the modern student's position set forth in the 

 concluding sentence may seem to suggest that the advantages 

 of well-equipped archives are not unmixed with difficulties and 

 perils of another kind, but this at least is obvious, that the facts 

 which make for truth are being made available, and though it 

 may not be true that he who runs may read it is evident that 

 he who is prepared to sit down and study national history in 

 many countries has now opportunities to which most of the 

 great historians of the past were entire strangers. 



That the colonies should be very far behind the older coun- 

 tries in this matter is not at all surprising, but one fact stands 

 out in the history of the younger nations which is pointedly 

 sugg"estive here, and it is this — The attainment of nationhood 

 has invariably been followed by a desire to promote the study 

 of the national development. What this has produced in one 

 particular instance has already been referred to in passing, and 

 Washington, with the immense resources at its disposal, has 

 created archives to which it is almost possible to apply such a 

 word as perfect, so thoroughly has the search for material been 

 pro.secuted, and so generously and advantageouslv has it been 

 placed at the disposal of the student. 



The Dominion of Canada affords another striking example 

 of the manner in which nationality asserts itself in this direc- 

 tion when once self-government attains its majority in national 

 union. The story of the Canadian archives, though not asso- 

 ciated with such large financial resources as that of the United 

 States, and though little more than a quarter of a century has 

 elapsed since the first report of the Archives appeared, tells of 

 most remarkable work attempted and accomplished. Xot onlv 

 has the local material been collected, systematized and indexed, 

 but vast collections of records in Great Bfitain and France, 

 the two countries most intimately concerned with its history, 

 have been investigated and copied, or in some instances bodily 

 transported to Canada, by permission of the particular authori- 

 ties concerned. 



Following" the same national impulse, the Commonwealth of 

 Australia has also made a beginning. The delav in deciding 

 upon a site for the national capital has necessarily delaved the 

 work, but it has not been lost sight of, and the steps alreadv 

 taken to secure records of the early history of the colonies 

 which were united to form the Commonwealth promise to be 

 most fruitful of result as soon as a permanent home for the 

 historical treasures is secured. 



How greatly the work of those Archives is valued, and 

 how potent are the influences which they exert, is evidenced 



