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of our vast national records—a collection quite without a rival in 
the world ; and it is upon the uses to which he may put such 
collections, whether those belonging to the nation or to be found 
in the great libraries, on the resources from which he may 
reasonably expect material, and on his best method of distributing 
the subject that I proposed to say a few words to suggest deeper 
inquiries than can be dwelt on in such an address as this. 
The first necessaries of the Topographer are a heart to love his 
district and an eye to see it ; he should be a resident, he must be 
a frequent and diligent visitor. Fortunately for him he may now 
reside in a remote part and yet be able to use the treasures 
of Oxford and London. Having acquired through travelling, 
reading and the use of maps a general knowledge of England, he 
must bring that knowledge to the valuation of whatever seems to 
him remarkable in his own district. He must have sufficient 
architectural knowledge to be able to verify history by his 
inspection of the details of the ancient buildings which adorn his 
district. He must have such philology as shall save him from the 
trippings of nomenclature. He must bring to the service a power 
of decyphering old deeds, coins and inscriptions, which may be 
best obtained at the great museums. He must possess himself 
for easy reference of such standard books as Camden, Dugdale or 
Collins, and the works of his own local predecessors, if he has any. 
Unless the Topographer’s country contains some great abbey of 
early foundation or some seat of royal power, he will have little 
to do with the speculative history of times before the eleventh 
century. It will be a mistake if he draws the scene of a battle of 
the Heptarchic crows and kites, or of the Danish invasion within 
his boundaries, only to swell his volume with the great deeds of a 
king. It is only when there are remains to be described that the 
events of national history may be introduced into Topography for 
their elucidation. Such events belong to the wider field, and a 
reference to them is sufficient. On the same principle the fact 
that a single parish or small manor belonged (perhaps with scores 
