Page:Essays and Addresses.djvu/289

 reproduction of the most important Greek manuscripts in the libraries of Europe ; the influence of its members might well be employed in promoting the institution of travelling studentships, or other aids to archaeological study abroad; and, without transgressing the bounds of reasonable hope, it might further contemplate the eventual establishment of an English institute at Athens. France and Germany have long possessed such institutes; Russia is now to have one; all that is needed in order to secure a similar advantage for England is the co-operation of those sympathies to which our Society appeals. The value of such a permanent station has frequently been illustrated by fruitful enterprises, but seldom, perhaps, more signally than by the French exploration of Delos.