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= t2 
By the Rev. J. O. Picton. 279 
It does not come before us as merely a pursuit which may be taken 
up by way of amusement, or to gratify a temporary curiosity ; but 
is rather a mine which, if skilfully explored, will surrender up the 
richest treasures, and is a never failing source of interest to every 
one who seeks to trace on the widest scale the operation of the laws 
which relate to his kind. It is not a mere subject for the exercise 
of frivolous dilettantism, or only a graceful accomplishment of the 
man of letters, but is a department of knowledge, of which none 
who aspires to be deemed an educated person, can affect with im- 
punity to be wholly ignorant; nay, I would venture to add, that 
without some intimacy with its leading results, it is not practicable 
to entertain sound views in reference to the changes which are 
rendered indispensable by modifying circumstances and the lapse 
of time. It speaks to us of nations which have long since disap- 
peared from the face of the earth, some of which have left scarcely 
a vestige behind them, whilst others have extended their influence 
to our own day; and of nations which, having achieved the work 
they were destined to perform, gave way in their turn to others, 
who were to develope to higher extent those elements of civilization 
which they had received from their forerunners. With all its 
wearisome researches it yet has power to elevate the mind, expand 
the intellect, and purify the heart. Under its cheering guidance, 
to us it is permitted to dwell with sober delight on the past, to 
travel far back into the remote ages of mankind, and to realize the 
truth that the mighty spirits of old were not a different class of 
beings, but partakers of the same flesh and blood with ourselves, 
toiling, rejoicing, sorrowing, swayed by passions, hopes, and desires, 
by whatever stirs this mortal frame, in like manner as we are. In 
the prosecution of our efforts we must neither be so destitute of 
manly convictions as to value any thing that is old, simply because 
it is old, and not for its intrinsic worth and meaning; neither on 
the other hand, must we wrap up ourselves in the shallow conceit of 
the immeasurable superiority in every respect of the present age to 
all previous conditions. He would read antiquity rightly must 
have a heart as well as head; social feelings as well as critical acu- 
men; feed on the past and live in the present; and thus will he 
202 
