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 to give a general chart, whereby each inquirer may shape his course, and develope such element of antiquity as he best may propose for general benefit. Our end will be attained if we impress any mind with the value of Surrey records in their bearing upon the history of the English people, of the vast treasury of ancient lore which this county especially contains. Our business is, in this respect, one of compilation; the profit will result in the analysis by himself of the material submitted to each reader's mind; but not only is this portion of our labour important, but it appeared to us inconsistent to publish the account of a society's proceedings, without describing the scene of its labours, and some appropriate subjects of their exhibition.

According to Ptolemy, who, probably, is the most reliable authority, Surrey was inhabited by the Regni, who occupied the portion of Britain south of the Atrebatii and Cantii. These Regni had joined the Belgæ, who dispossessed the aboriginal Britons long before Julius Cæsar; besides Surrey, they held also Sussex, and probably the greater part of Hampshire. During the 400 years of Roman occupation, four large cities were founded in the Regnian provinces, one of which called Noviomagus, generally supposed to have been built in Surrey, has afforded fertile topic of antiquarian investigation. Like Homer's birthplace, various towns compete for its site—old Croydon, Wallington, Guildford—until it has been carried out of. the county altogether, and deposited at Holwood Hill, in Kent. Woodcote, Carshalton, Beddington, Whaddon, all places abounding in Roman records, have severally claimed the original Noviomagus under the advocacy of Camden, Aubrey, Salmon, and others. As a slight