It is with unaffected diffidence that I find myself occupying a chair once honoured by so illustrious an historian as Grote, and so recently adorned by a man so memorable in the history of this century as the late Earl Russell. Each of these eminent men had special qualifications for the post of President of the Royal Historical Society such as I cannot pretend to possess. Both were historians, and both had taken an active part in the political events of their times. If in Mr. Grote the historian predominated over the politician, he yet largely contributed to shape and propagate the political ideas which have since inspired the measures of the party to which he belonged. If the reputation of Earl Russell as a statesman obscures that which he acquired as the historian of the British Constitution, his life from first to last was devoted to historical studies, his writings and speeches teemed with illustrations drawn from history, and perhaps more than any statesman of his age he kept in view historical precedents i n every measure which he framed, and in every State paper which he wrote; while he fixed his gaze on history as his guiding star throughout his long voyage over the dark and troubled waters of political strife.