INTRODUCTION xv 



times, and enables the mind to reconstruct, in living form 

 and colour, the earlier stages of our island-history. Every 

 sentence in the several essays is an appeal not only to 

 scientific interest but also to local patriotism. Nor is such 

 a sentiment, especially Avhen it finds vent in methodical 

 research, an unworth}^ or fruitless impulse. There is a 

 human touch in these researches which brings the men of 

 that early date into close contact with ourselves. In the 

 patient exploration of an ancient site, in the scientific 

 study of the results of that research, the scholar of our time 

 experiences the same feelings which prompted Dr. Johnson's 

 famous rapture about his visit to lona: "To abstract the 

 mind from all local emotion would be impossible, if it were 

 endeavoured, and would be foolish if it were possible. 

 Whatever "vvithdraws us from our senses, whatever makes 

 the past, the distant, or the future, predominate over the 

 present, advances us in the dignity of thinking beings." 

 We feel the same as he, though we might nowadays put it 

 differently. Manchester itself, though a gi'eat industrial 

 and commercial centre, has never been wholly given to the 

 idolatry of wealth. It is not the slave of materialism, nor 

 are its sons and daughters mere drudges of the mill, the 

 market, or the forge. The Muses have not yet deserted 

 us, in spite of the smoke and din : Clio and Euterpe make 

 willing and welcome sojourn. Non tarn aversus equos 

 nostra sol jungit ah urbe. 



E. L. HICKS. 



Whitsuntide, 1906. 



