the complete Gentleman; whose VIRTUES were superior to the trials of every age; who presented in YOUTH a model for the affluent and ennobled, by the disdain of enervating pleasures, and the dedication of his talents to the most arduous field in which his Country required exertion; whose PRIME OF MANHOOD was equally useful in the Senate, and admirable in the exemplary practice of social duties; and who, in the retirement of ADVANCED AND DECLINING LIFE, inspirited patriotic effort by PRECEPT, as before by ExAMPLE, solacing the pains of decrepit seclusion by the exercise of benevolence, and the encouragement of the Literature and the Arts of that Country which his whole personal Career was calculated to adorn.

To the Memory of such a Nobleman,

HUGH, DUKE OF NORTHUMBERLAND, this Work, a humble Tribute to his lamented FuneralMonument, is inscribed by

IN concluding this extensive work, the Publisher and Proprietors repeat the sentiments expressed on the completion of the first volume.They await the decision of the Public, with confidence, intermingled with fear. The former is the offspring of the unceasing solicitude bestowed on every part of the undertaking; the latter of the occasional inaccuracies, and deterioration of embellishment, which, even with the most sedulous attention, seem hardly possible to be avoided in a performance of this description.

The time for professions is now passed. The work, in a complete state, is in the hands of the Subscribers; and must, from its own character, evince the every avowal formerly

made. Buincerity of

in adverting to this circumstance, and whilst consigning the volumes to a reliance on their intrinsic merits, the Proprietors would beg leave respectfully to observe that their duty

consisted

consisted in selecting, and duly seconding the exertions of, literary men and artists. After the performance of such an obligation to the Subscribers and to themselves, on the part of the Proprietors, the opinions of the reader and connoisseur in the arts must apply to the respective writers, draughtsmen, and engravers. And it is hoped, that the efforts of all concerned have been equally zealous and able; and have gratified the expectations of those who have supported the undertaking.

Whilst speaking of this work, viewed as a whole, the Publisher reverts to those observations which he submitted on the completion of the Beauties of England and Wales as far as regarded the county surveys, and independent of the present volume, comprising an Essay introductory to the prosecution of Topographical researches, and to the study of our National Antiquities.

"It will be readily admitted by the candid of every class, and especially by those conversant in topographical investigation, that some errors and oversights are unavoidable in every department of a work so multifarious in its notices, and published with periodical expedition. These casual faults will plead, it is hoped, their own excuse with the liberal; and it is confidently presumed that no topographical work, equally comprehen

sive, has appeared with less numerous inaccuracies in a first edition.

"If the same scale of comparison may be allowed, the Publisher would beg permission to suggest, in regard to such Subscribers as have complained of the length of time employed in the progress of the BEAUTIES OF ENGLAND, that it is believed a work so comprehensive, founded on actual and minute survey, was never written, printed, and produced to the Public, in a shorter period, although this has been retarded, in many of its parts, by circumstances peculiarly unpropitious."

The Subscribers and the Public are entitled to a full explanation of the rise and progress of a work which has received extensive patronage, and has, assuredly, conduced in a memorable degree towards rendering an object of fashionable pursuit that species of research, which, until late years, was considered destitute of interest to all but the dull explorer of pedigrees, and the melancholy and tasteless examiner of ruinous masses of stone, who venerated such fragments only because they were old.-Without undue assumption, it may be asserted, that the BEAUTIES OF ENGLAND AND WALES have performed the laudable task of ameliorating much that was repugnant in the crust of antiquity; have shewn that even the discussion of pedigrees may become a delightful source of information,

information to the general reader, by extracting, and holding forth to notice, names little known, but connected with interesting passages in the story of past days; and have proved that ponderous masses of monastic or castellated stone, nearly shapeless through age, and overgrown with ivy, are often fraught with tales of touching emphasis.

They have endeavoured to render it familiar with the polite, as well as the erudite, that no expanse of British ground is so steril as to want a claim on the feelings and taste of the investigator, who combines the shades of past scenery with present appearances. It has, indeed, been their aim to prove that the walk of Topographical Literature is not calculated for confinement to the dry indiscriminate antiquary and the genealogist; but that the description of a particular place may be rendered the inspiriting centre of intelligence at once various, amusing, and instructive; uniting the beauties of natural history, and the progress of science and the arts, with a display of the last noble result of cultivated nature-moral and intellectual excellence, botsany lioris

The rise of this Work; its procedure through the first nine volumes; and its known influence on the topographical literature of the age; are thus explained in a letter from Mr. Britton to the Editor of this Introductory volume. turpitres fo mdomos laihlgish a emoood van suuhython to

Letter