Page:Archaeological Journal, Volume 7.djvu/143

Rh NOTICES OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL PUBLICATION'S. 101 notice that, in giving the interpretation by Finn Magnussen, no allusion is made to its publication (in 1846) in the Archaeological Journal (vol. iii., p. 72), through the kindness of Mr. Michael Jones, who communicated his corres- pondence with the learned Professor, accompanied by accurate drawings and a cast from the inscription. The circumstance might not have claimed observation, since the author might have previously received, through some other channel, the solution by the great antiquaiy of the north, first pub- lished, as we believe, in this Journal. Our surprise is, however, excited by observing that the woodcuts then given, for the designs for which we were indebted to Mr. Jones, have been reproduced without a word of acknowledgment. We do not allude to this to raise querulous remonstrance against appro- priation of literary or archaeological materials. It is the aim and province of the Journal to record facts for general use ; but justice, alike to ourselves and to Mr. Michael Jones, by whose friendly aid we were enabled to publish the first accurate representation of this remarkable monument, calls for these observations. We would cheerfully cede to Mr. Harlaud the credit of the copy given of these mysterious characters, and stated to have been decyphered with his wonted skill in such occasions ; but, being assured that the original monument is now to be seen in the Museum of Manchester, where he resides, " carefully preserved in a glass case, for the gratification of antiquaries," we must observe that it would have been more gratifying if the " copy' to which we allude had been taken from the original, so near at hand, in preference to a facsimile of the woodcuts provided for this Journal by Mr. Delamotte.

The comparison of analogous facts, still more of the actual vestiges of the past, existing in various countries, which have been subjected, iu their social development, to the same local conditions, or to the like influence of immigration or conquest, is a subject claiming our most careful attention. Nor is it solely to the archaeologist or the antiquarian collector, that such consideration is fraught with interest ; the soil of our country teems with relics of the tribes by whom it has been successively peopled, of singular value in the elucidation of difiiculties which the student of history or ethno- graphy, in the absence of any sufficient written evidence, and without such aid, would find insurmountable. In these vestiges, submitted to scientific classification, and compared with similar remains from other lands and of other periods, the early history of a country may be read, and the progress of advancing civilisation traced through the obscure ages of its " primeval " conditions. The facility for comparison, in the establishment of collections of national antiquities, is therefore one of the greatest advantages that can be afforded to the student of the early history of a country ; and it is, doubtless, due to the judicious care which has provided for this important department of public instruction, in the States of Denmark, that we owe the publication