than any other. And the Scotch are well following it up. There are the Bannatyne, Spalding, and Maitland Clubs, which have published some very handsome books, and I have here a sample of their works, if you would like to inspect them. They have a few subscribers, and they select some points of historic value, publish a work upon it, and give a copy for the subscriptions. In Ireland, too, which is very rich in its antiquities and historical associations, a movement has been made. Mr. Petrie has published a work on the Round Towers of Ireland,—a subject about which some difficulty and mystery arose, but which he has settled in a very satisfactory manner. They have also taken to publish an account of some of their own antiquities. I have here a work called the "Annals of the Four Masters,"—one volume,—though there are seven or eight, I believe. It is printed in double columns; the original Gaelic is given on one side, and the English on the other. It is a journal kept by the heads of the monasteries, telling you just what passed day by day. It is not a thing to be read as a history—it is not very amusing—you may try a page or two, if you please; but I don't think a perusal will repay any one who has not an especial object in the research. It tells you from the very earliest period the exact same history. It is nothing more, from beginning to end, than some savage, called a king, murdering some other savage, called by some other great name, by treachery and fraud. There are a great many other works of importance upon these subjects. The last Duke of Buckingham had a very valuable library; a portion has gone into the British Museum, but there still remain a vast number of very valuable documents. It is very remarkable that during the French Revolution the French destroyed no public documents. They robbed all the monasteries, they robbed all the cathedrals, and robbed everybody else; but they destroyed none of these papers. They transferred them to the Prefecture,—an office resembling, perhaps, that of the sheriff's officer in this country; and one of the consequences of that was a fact which I will mention. A friend of mine, the Count de Crouy, when he went and settled in Hungary, asked to be made indigenate, that is, to be considered by the laws as a native. In support of his application, he produced every single document necessary to prove that he was a lineal descendant from Andrew II., King of Hungary at the time when the country round Grenoble belonged to Hungary. The reply was, "We can't grant you indigenate, for you have proved yourself indigenate." I don't believe that that could have been done in any other country than France. (Hear.) There is also an admirable society in Normandy of this kind, who have published some works, such as the "Memorials of the Royal Society of Antiquaries in Normandy;" "The Anglo-Norman Chronicles;" and another, called, "Unedited Documents relating to the History of France;" and also the "Chronicles of the Dukes of Normandy." The documents are interesting, as relating to the origin of the first families who came over to this country with William I. Mr. Stapleton, the brother of Lord Beaumont, has conferred considerable benefit by publishing the Pipe Rolls—or Rolls of the Exchequer in Normandy—as to the terms on which they
