8 Anniversary Address. 



Let me conclude by expressing a hope that all the mem- 

 bers of the Club, present and future will thoroughly and 

 habitually identify themselves with its work. To make it 

 really useful more is needed than regular attendance by the 

 many, and the preparation of elaborate papers by the few. 

 Work quite as important may be done by us, acting apart, 

 each in his own neighbourhood endeavouring to interest 

 others in scientific and antiquarian research and keeping 

 vigilant watch that no fresh discovery may pass unnoticed, 

 nor any act of Vandalism be perpetrated without protest. 

 Our archaeologists most of all have need to do so. Every 

 year relics of the past are being destroyed, or come into 

 sight for a moment only to disappear. There are many 

 cases in which this might be prevented, if there were some 

 one at hand who could enlighten the ignorant, or cause the 

 heedless to reflect, or shame the selfish. You must have 

 noticed how often people, who have been long familiar with 

 some memorial of bygone ages, think of its disappearance 

 as no loss because it has fixed itself indelibly in their own 

 recollections. It may be that an ancient building which 

 has almost lost its identity in successive reconstructions, 

 still retains one or two architectural features which fix its 

 date or illustrate its histor}^. When structural changes again 

 become necessary, the venerable arch or doorway, win low 

 or sculptured stone, is recklessly sacrificed for some passing- 

 fancy of trifling gain. At such a moment judicious expostu- 

 lations might save it to be a source of interest and instruc- 

 tion for ages to come. Smaller objects of archaeological 

 interest, which have been discovered in past years without 

 attracting public notice, lie neglected in the hands of people 

 who do not appreciate them, till an accident destroys them, 

 or they are thoughtlessly given to some stranger who forgets 

 or never learns their history, or in the breaking up of a 

 household they are lost for ever. If on your suggestion the 

 existence and history of any such treasure are recorded in 

 our Proceedings, or an engraving of it inserted there, its 

 value is enhanced in the eyes of the owner, and his pride in 



