Page:Archaeological Journal, Volume 5.djvu/167

 THE HALL OF OAKHAM. 125 lection of facts. To the genealogist and the topogra|)lier they may be more inviting, and like other local history possess attractions for them which the general enquirer will not be able to discover. It may however be remarked that manorial history, which is what we have now chiefly to deal with, is one of the tribu- tary streams of that vast expanse of national history which England more than any other country can boast of having preserved. And every fact, whether genealogical, manorial, statistical, anticpiarian, or architectural, though simple and trivial when viewed alone, helps to augment this mass of knowledge, as well as to give fresh insight into the thoughts and condition of our ancestors. It does even more than con- fer these benefits, for it is by a careful observation of things minute in themselves, that we are able to unravel what is complicated and obscure ; an acquaintance with details gives us the power of iiuluction, and the means of generalizing with accuracy, where those who are unschooled in the process can perceive solely a dull and profitless investigation. As the painter can only become a master of his art by a perfect knowledge of the anatomy and expression of the human figure, (and Sir Joshua has insisted very strongly upon the inqjortance of studying detail in one of his lectures,) or as the architect can- not plan with correctness, or design with taste, unless he has studied the proportions of good models, and the contour of the mouldings of the style he has selected, so on the other hand it would be a futile attempt to philosophize on the spirit of history until its facts were clearly established. The collection and study of these, therefore, can never be considered by thoughtful men an unprofitidjle employment ; a science which brings into actual view what was remote and dim, which gives a definite outline to what was uncertain and indis- tinct, can never be regarded with indifference. People, for want of a better term to denote their derision, have called these enquiries ' antiquarianism,' and it is only within the last few years that the progressive advancement of mental culture has dispelled what was intended to be a title of ridicule, and every branch of arcliLCological research has begun to take its ])roper place among those pursuits which improve and refine the lunnan intellect. Indeed it seems now fairly established by connnon consent, that in proportion as enquiries in the respective branches of knowledge approach or recede from