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presenting to public attention a new project for the encouragement of intelligent researches into British antiquities, and vigilant care for their preservation, no preliminary commendation of such subjects of enquiry may now appear to be requisite, such as the oration delivered in 1589, by the Historian of Cornwall, Richard Carew, in praise of the study of antiquity, and received on his admission to the Society, formed in 1572 by Archbishop Parker, with no small applause. Our fellow countrymen need not to be reminded now, as in the charter granted by George II. on the foundation of the existing Society of Antiquaries of London, that "the study of antiquity, and the history of former times, has ever been esteemed highly commendable and useful, not only to improve the minds of men, but also to incite them to virtuous and noble actions." At the present time, the love and the study of ancient and historical monuments, which appear to have first assumed a definite character under the influence of Archbishop Parker, no longer confined to a limited number of curious enquirers, have become a national and a prevalent taste. The progressive advance of such a taste may be marked from year to year, not less in the formation of numerous local societies, and private collections, or in costly undertakings for the support or restoration of ancient public monuments, than in publications, by means of which the obscurities of the science of Antiquity have been rendered comprehensible and acceptable to the public.

The general impulse which, of late years, throughout almost all countries of western Europe, has caused an increasing attention to be paid to ancient memorials of a national and medieval character,