Page:The political value of history.djvu/12

 of much real value, addressing an unknown audience, and relating to fields of knowledge so vast, so multifarious, and in many of their parts so far beyond the range of my own studies? On reflection, however, it appeared to me that in this, as in most other cases, the proverb was a wise one which bids the cobbler stick to his last, and that a writer who, during many years of his life, has been engaged in the study of English history could hardly do better than devote the time at his disposal tonight to a few reflections on the political value of History, and on the branches and methods of historical study that are most fitted to form a sound political judgment.

Is History a study of real use in practical, and especially in political, life? The question, as you know, has been by no