Transactions. 5 



Address. 



Sir Eobert T. Keid, M.A., Q.C., M.P., then delivered an 

 address on " Antiquarianism as the Handmaid of History." He 

 said he was not himself a practical antiquarian ; that was to say, he 

 had not shared in the joys of isolated curiosity discreetly ajiplied 

 to the objects surrounding us, either of nature or history. He 

 could quite understand the ecstatic pleasure that sucli studies could 

 confer. Indeed he knew in his own family the intense enjoyment 

 that antiquarian resettrch gave to one who, he was sorry to say, 

 was no longer with us. But every educated man must take an 

 interest in antiquarianism from one point of view, namely, regard- 

 ing it as the handmaid of history He had his theory as to the 

 way in which history had been written in the past ; and, although 

 he was not prepared to carry his theory into pi'actice by writing 

 history himself, he had a very shrewd opinion that future generations 

 would require history to be written in a very different style. If they 

 called to mind the histories which we were condemned to study, 

 they wouhl find that they contained for the most part a bare 

 record of events, events of capital importance ; particulars of the 

 most general character about the personal character and conduct 

 and personal appearance of kings and queens, the intrigues of 

 statesmen, a large number of them incompetent or dishonest, many 

 of them both, subjects which formed a very uninteresting record 

 except so far as it was embellished by the intrinsic sublimity or 

 beauty of the events which the chroniclers were obliged to relate. 

 That was not what men were satisfied with now in history. What 

 we wanted was to know the traits of character, the peculiarities, 

 the habits, the points of view of great and distinguished men, who 

 have made the world what it is, and also of the corporate mass of 

 undistinguished men who have been their victims, their instruments, 

 or it might be their dupes in some cases, or who have received the 

 iunnense advantages that many nations have received from the 

 efforts of many great men. But this sort of information was not 

 to be found in general histories. It was only to be discovered by 

 interpreting and reading between the lines the mass of particulars 

 and details which may be elicited by searching through letters and 

 documents, papers, traditions, and other matters such as appertain 

 particularly to antiquarian research. The historian tells us nothing 

 about these things ; but the antiquary, properly employed, tells us 



