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 which the Surrey Archæological Society, with others, is formed to promote; and therefore the details they give of the times to which they refer are incomplete and imperfect. There is one fact I may mention—which is almost a disgrace to us Englishmen,—that the best history of the reign of Charles I., a period so full of interest to us all, has been written by a Frenchman, M. Guizot. (Hear, hear.) Every one who has read that work will allow that it is the most impartial history of the period that has yet been written; and it is not reflecting much credit upon Englishmen to say that one of our best historical works is written by a foreigner. (Hear, hear.) I cannot regard those researches as useless or unimportant which have for their object the investigation and preservation of the records of our forefathers, and improving our knowledge of them. The advantage of different persons being engaged in investigating the customs and habits of men living in past ages, and comparing the results of their labours, is to me so apparent that I feel I need not dilate upon it. I only wish that every county in England had its Archæological Society. They have had a very excellent one in the neighbouring county of Sussex for some years; and it is highly creditable to the parties who have promoted it, that one is now established in this county. I think the whole county of Surrey is highly indebted to those gentlemen who have commenced the present movement; and I sincerely hope they will achieve that for this county which has been achieved for other counties by societies similar to this. (Hear.) The county of Surrey is very peculiar in some respects. While a part of it is as wild and rural as any county in England, the other portion includes two very large and important boroughs of the metropolis. Therefore we have an extensive and varied field to work upon. We have on the one hand the connected boroughs of Lambeth and Southwark, and on the other hand a very extended tract of country on which to pursue our investigations. With regard to our buildings, we have not many churches distinguished either for splendour or architectural style; but they are not to be despised on that account; for if they possess no peculiar interest in themselves, they are, generally speaking, of great antiquity, many of them being supposed to have been built before the Conquest. (Hear.) I sometimes think that all architects might, with great advantage to themselves, become the students of archæology; for by observing the character and style of the buildings they are called upon to restore, they would be better qualified to make that restoration; however, a great improvement has taken place in this respect, and many of our architects now study the antiquity of the building they are called upon to repair or restore. Although we have not many ecclesiastical edifices of much splendour, I believe there is no county more rich in historical associations than Surrey. We have the two ancient towns of Guildford and Kingston, neither of which is unknown in history; but they are both of them pregnant with interesting associations of by-gone times (hear, hear), most of which are so well known to you that I need not stay to point them out. There is another very peculiar feature of interest in antiquarian research, and that is, the number of races with which we are brought into contact. There is the ancient British, a people who afford most interesting points to study,