In an introductory Lecture which deals with generalities, it is hardly to be expected that I either can say or ought to try to say much which is absolutely new to any of my hearers; and I shall not affect to say anything peculiarly striking, but shall rather attempt to bring before you in a plain way a view of the subject, which aims at being concise and comprehensive; and in connexion therewith respectfully to submit a few observations which have relation to other Academical studies, as well as to the character of this particular Professorship.
What I propose then to do is this, first to explain what Archæology is; next to put in a clear light what the character of this Professorship is; after that to attempt a general sketch of the existing remains of Antiquity; then to point out the qualifications necessary or desirable for an archæologist; and in conclusion, to indicate the pleasure and advantage which flow from his pursuits.
The field of Archæology is vast, and almost boundless; the eye, even the most experienced eye, can hardly take in the whole prospect; and those who have most assiduously laboured in its exploration will be most ready to admit, that there are portions, and those large portions, which are to them either almost or altogether unknown.
For what is Archæology? It is, I conceive, the science of teaching history by its monuments[[1]], of whatever character those monuments may be. When I say history, I use the word not in the limited sense of the history of dynasties or of governments. Archæology does indeed concern itself with these, and splendidly does it illustrate and illuminate them; but it also concerns itself with every kind of monument of man which the ravages of time have spared.
[1]. Perhaps it would be more correct to say ‘by its contemporary sensible monuments,’ so as to exclude later copies of ancient writings, or the monumenta litterarum, which fall more especially to the province of the scholar. A MS. of Aristotle of the thirteenth century is an archæological monument of that century only; it is a literary monument of the fourth century B.C. But a Greek epigram or epitaph which occurs on a sepulchral monument of the same or any other century B.C. is an archæological as well as a literary monument of that century.
Archæology concerns itself with the domestic and the social, as well as with the religious, the commercial, and the political life of all nations and of all tribes in the ages that have passed away. All that men in ancient times have made, and left behind them, is the farrago of our study.
The archæologist will consequently make observations and speculations on the sites of ancient cities where men have dwelt; on their walls and buildings, sacred and profane; on their altars and their market-places; on their subterranean constructions, whether sepulchres, treasuries, or drains. He will trace the roads and the fosses along which men of the old world moved, and on which men often still move; he will explore the routes of armies and the camps where they have pitched, and will prowl about the barrows in which they sleep;
Exesa inveniet scabra robigine pila,
Grandiaque effossis mirabitur ossa sepulchris.
He will also collect and classify every kind of object, which man has made for use or for ornament in his own home, or in the city; in the fields, or on the water. He will arrange the weapons of offence and defence according to their material and age; whether of stone, of bronze, of iron, or of steel; among which some are so rude that a practised eye alone distinguishes them from the broken flint stones lying in the field, others again so elaborate as to rank among the most beautiful productions both of classical and medieval art; he will not disdain to preserve the bricks and the tiles, which have once formed parts of Asiatic cities or of Roman farms; he will excavate the villas of the ancients; unearth their mosaic pavements; clean their lamps and candelabra; he will mend or restore their broken crockery, and glass; he will even penetrate into the lady’s chamber, turn over her toilet, admire her brooches and her bracelets, examine her mirrors and her pins; and all this he will do in addition to studying the nobler works of ancient art, such as engraved gems and medallions; works chased, carved and embossed in the precious metals and in ivory; frescoes and vase-paintings; bronzes and statues. He will, likewise, familiarise himself with the alphabets of the ancient nations, and exercise his ingenuity in deciphering their written records, both public and private; whether these be contained in inscriptions on stones or metal plates, or in papyrus-rolls, or parchment books; or be scratched on walls or on statues; or be painted on vases; or, in fine, surround the device of a coin.