It is quite impossible to get hold of the present situation without considering historical facts. They may be dull; but they arc necessary. For convenience sake we will divide the historical review under these headings: (1) Prior to 1870. (2) From 1870 to 1902, (3) From 1902 to 1906. I know I shall be horribly dull, and that all the dates and statistics will bore you; but I cannot help it. My subject is, for the greater: part, historical: I am no skilled public entertainer; I am no practised lecturer; I am only a man who has had to learn by experience the historical facts of his noble lineage, and who is trying now, however clumsily, to put those facts at your disposal.