By the Rev. Canon J. E. Jackson, F.S.A. 331 



a liking for local antiquities, but it is acknowledged that by their 

 means much is saved from oblivion that would otherwise be utterly 

 lost. They assist the regular historian in a humble way, by bringing 

 to light from neglected documents secret history which very often 

 puts an entirely new face upon history as commonly received. Then 

 the spade and the plough, carefully watched (for this is most essential), 

 often disclose memorials of times past that throw fresh light upon 

 the former state of things in an unexpected yet undeniable way. 

 Mr. Green, in the preface to his popular book called " The Making 

 of England," says that "In addressing himself to a very difficult 

 task in a very obscure period, he has availed himself of some resources 

 that hitherto have been unduly neglected. Archaeological researches 

 on the sites of villas and towns, or along a line of road or dyke, 

 often furnish us with evidence even more trustworthy than that of 

 written chronicle." 



But there is another reason why such societies are to be encouraged. 

 The pursuits of the archaeologist lead him to take more pleasure in 

 his home and neighbourhood. Those places are all part, not of a 

 new country of mushroom growth, but of a very old one ; every 

 nook and corner of which has some little history or tradition of its 

 own. We have not all of us the liberty of wild geese, to be flying 

 all over the world : we must be content to be tame geese, biding at 

 home in our farmyards : and the more we can pick up there the 

 more satisfied we shall be to stop there. 



Let me quote the words of a distinguished man, one of your own 

 county, the late Lord Palmerston. Addressing on a certain occasion 

 a company who had kept up some old-fashioned custom, he said, <( I 

 honour you for it. There is nothing which more dignifies man than 

 clinging to ancient and honourable traditions. Our patriotism, like 

 our charity, ought to begin at home. A man should begin by 

 loving his home and his family : he should then love his town and 

 his district : he should then love his county : and then he will love 

 his country. So far from these local attachments narrowing the 

 human mind or cramping and debasing its sympathies, they are the 

 real; the true and stable foundation for the true and honest feelings 

 that bind men to the nation and country in which they live/' I 



