Sooner or later, in any antiquarian search, the printed sources of information will be exhausted, and are not unfrequently found to be untrustworthy, especially existing county histories, which, being compiled by men unacquainted with every minor detail of the locality, are naturally liable to confuse places of similar names. Nor is it possible in so large a subject as a county history to enter minutely into the separate parish histories of places and people. Thus after awhile the untrustworthiness and insufficiency of book-knowledge will be discovered, and some more original source of information become desired. Manuscripts exist in plenty, but are of little value unless studied personally; for professional readers, although able to read quickly and correctly, only give the information desired; whereas in a personal search one subject opens out fresh clues to others of equal importance, and new light is continually being thrown upon hitherto unnoticed points; moreover, only by a personal investigation can the antiquary be certain that he has obtained exactly what he required. There are now plenty of opportunities open to the public of seeing the old documents pertaining to various offices and societies, besides private collections, but without some previous knowledge of the old handwritings, etc., this permission is practically valueless. Therefore, ‘Persevere and practise’ is the best motto I can give to those interested in the matter, for proficiency comes quickly to those who seek it; and, as in all subjects, ‘Nothing succeeds like success.’
APPENDIX.
LEGAL MEMORY.
(See page [42].)
‘Whitchurch Rectory,
‘Reading,
‘October 12, 1892.
‘Dear Miss Thoyts,
‘I must even send you an instant reply to your note, in order to satisfy your perplexity.
‘I was many years searching for the reason why legal memory began with Richard I. I once asked an eminent Q.C. the question, and though he had been a Law Lecturer, and was shortly afterwards put upon the Bench, he could not tell me why—he only knew the fact.