Je trouve un plaisir sensible à rechercher l' origine des arts et des sciences, et à suivre les progrès qu'ils ont fait successivement dans les tems de la plus haute antiquité. Je les vois naissans et commeau berceau en Egipte; je les considere dès là portés en Grèce, ou ils montent insensiblement au plus haut degré de perfection.

Je trouve un plaisir sensible à rechercer l' origine des arts et des sciences, et à suivre les progrès qu'ils ont fait successivement dans les tems de la plus haute antiquitè. Je les vois naissans et come au berceau en Egipte: je les considère dès là portés en Grèce, où ils montent insensiblement au plus haut degrè de perfection.

Qui veritatis indagandae studio ea, quae de Mercurio vetustas prodidit, diligentius animo volvit, is non modo Gallorum deum, verum etiam, nisi me fallit animus, primum hujus gentis ducem reperiet, quem Galli ut fuum heroem, fuum ducem, quinimo fuum Herculem caeteris gentibus opposuerunt, utpote non minus strenuum et facundum.

Qui veritatis indagandae studio ea quae de Mercurio vetustas prodidit, diligentius animo volvit, is non modo Gallorum deum, verum etiam, nisi me fallit animus, primum hujus gentis ducem reperiet; quem Galli ut suum heroem, suum ducem, quinimo suum Herculem, caeteris gentibus opposuerunt, utpote non minus strenuum et facundum. Etenim gentium conductores. quae late per terras et maria immensa dispersae, in heroum, imo deorum immortalium numero veteribus fuisse positos, antiqua suadent historiarum monumenta, De Gallis quis dubitet, reliquarum imitatos consuetudinem, primum suum ducem, quisquis ille demum fuerit, eo honoris dignitatisque evexisse, ut reliquis gentium conductoribus aemulum facerent, Hunc esse Herculem ilium Ogmium, de quo, praeter Lucianum, nemo veterum aliquid memoriae prodidit, nova via slabilire decrevi; et circa hunc proavorum nostrorum deum, ea, que vel lectione veterum, vel propria meditatione assecutus sum, paucis expediam.

Having had some conversation with your Lordship last summer with regard to Caerphyli (or Sengenneth Castle), and having afterwards travelled very much, at my leisure, round the sea coast of Wales, I take the liberty of troubling you with such observations as have occurred to me in relation to these venerable ruins, of which there is such a profusion in the principality.

Having had some conversation with your Lordship last summer with regard to Caerphyli (or Sengenneth Castle), and having afterwards travelled very much, at my leisure, round the sea coast of Wales, I take the liberty of troubling your Lordship with such observations as have occurred to me with relation to these venerable ruins, of which there is such a profusion in the principality.

It seems at present generally received among the learned, that the principality of Wales supplies very few remains of Roman antiquities. Some of the inscriptions collected by Camden have scarcely been admitted as genuine by succeeding antiquaries. Upon considering, however, that the second Augustan legion had indisputably their head-quarters at Caerleon in Monmouthshire; that there were other Roman stations (as Maridunum, Luentium, and Segontium) in the more remote parts of the country; and that the eleventh and twelfth Iter in the Itinerary of Antoninus skirted the North and East sides of it; I was hence persuaded, that the intermediate provinces might afford more traces of the Romans than have hitherto been observed; and a late tour through Wales gave me an opportunity of making some enquiries relative to this subject.

It seems at present generally received among the learned, that the principality of Wales supplies very few remains of Roman antiquities. Some of the inscriptions collected by Camden have scarcely been admitted as genuine by succeeding antiquaries. Upon considering, however, that the second Augustan legion had indisputably their head-quarters at Caerleon in Monmouthshire; that there were other Roman stations (as Maridunum, Luentium, and Segontium) in the more remote parts of the country; and that the eleventh and twelfth Iter in the Itinerary of Antoninus skirted the North and East sides of it; I was hence persuaded, that the intermediate provinces might afford more traces of the Romans than have hitherto been observed; and a late tour through Wales gave me an opportunity of making some enquiries relative to this subject. Little new may, perhaps, be expected after such distinguished writers as Leland, Camden, and the ingenious author of the Archaeologia. But as the former only proposed an Itinerary through the country; as it does not appear that Camden visited every part himself; and as Lhwyd sometimes depended on the relations of others; sufficient scope yet remains for the researches of the inquisitive. As, therefore, these researches formed one principal object of my tour, I esteem myself obliged to communicate the fruits of them to the judgment of this learned Society; and have endeavoured to merit their indulgence, by confining myself to a mere narration of facts.

In the parish of Ardmore, and county of Waterford, in Ireland, there is a round tower built of hewn stone, upwards of one hundred feet high, and forty-five feet in circumference at the base; the door is fifteen feet from the ground; the roof is pyramidal, being of stone, very well cut, and closely joined together, and well plaistered within side, from top to bottom, as clean and white as if newly done. The whole fabric is divided into four unequal beltings or stories, with a window to each; having four windows in the upper story. On the top is a kind of cross.

In the parish of Ardmore, and county of Waterford, in Ireland, there is a round Tower built of hewn stone, upwards of one hundred feet high, and forty five feet in circumference at the base; the door is fifteen feet from the ground; the roof is pyramidal, being of stone, very well cut, and closely joined together, and well plaistered within side, from top to bottom, as clean and white as if newly done. The whole fabric is divided into four unequal beltings or stories, with a window to each; having four windows in the upper story. On the top is a kind of Cross.

The drawing, or rather sketch, I now lay before you, was made from a Roman altar lately dug up in the vicar's garden at Brough on the Sands in Cumberland, which is supposed to have been the Axelodunum of the Notitia, but certainly was a Roman station, close adjoining on Severus's wall.

It is of a course red stone, adorned only with plain mouldings, as represented in the sketch. The inscription is complete, but the letters very rude and meanly cut, though very legible, consisting but of two words, viz.

which certainly stands for Belatucadro, and is, I think, the fifth inscription which has been discovered in Great Britain addressed to this Local Deity, for such I am inclined to pronounce it with Camden and Gale; or at least another name for Apollo, with Dr. Ward, and not a cognomen of Mars, or another appellation of him as has been conjectured.

The drawing, or rather sketch, I now lay before you, was made from a Roman altar lately dug up in the Vicar's Garden at Brough on the Sands in Cumberland, supposed to have been the Axelodunum of the Notitia, but certainly was a Roman station, close adjoining on Severus's wall.

Yours, dated at London, April 9th, 1692, came to my hands about ten days after; since that time, I have been using my best endeavours for obtaining a satisfactory answer to your queries: if that which I now send you be not such as I desired, and, it may be, you expected, it is none of my fault: for I not only visited sundry of those antiquities (to the number of six or seven) concerning which you desire to be informed; but also employed the assistance of my friends, whereof some were going from this place to other parts of the country, and others live at a distance. I have been waiting all this time for an account of their diligence; and albeit I have not heard as yet from all those persons to whom I wrote and spoke for information, yet I thought it not fit to delay the giving you a return any longer, lest you should apprehend, either that your letter had miscarried, or that I had neglected the contents of it.

Yours, dated at London, April 9th, 1692, came to my hands about ten days after; since that time, I have been using my best endeavours for obtaining a satisfactory answer to your queries: if that which I now send you be not such as I desired, and, it may be, you expected, it is none of my fault: for I not only visited sundry of those antiquities (to the number of six or seven), concerning which you desire to be informed; but also employed the assistance of my friends, whereof some were going from this place to other parts of the country, and others live at a distance. I have been waiting all this time for an account of their diligence; and albeit I have not heard as yet from all those persons to whom I wrote and spoke for information, yet I thought it not fit to delay the giving you a return any longer, lest you should apprehend, either that your letter had miscarried, or that I had neglected the contents of it.

The culture of the vine here in England having been lately under contemplation; I thought it might be worth while, and by no means mal à propos, to examine minutely into the cultivation of it more antiently amongst us; and I here beg leave to present you with the result of my inquiries, as a testimony of that inviolable regard I have so long entertained for your undeserved friendship.

The culture of the vine in England having been lately under contemplation; I thought it might be worth while, and by no means mal à propos, to examine minutely into the cultivation of it more antiently amongst us; and I here beg leave to present you with the result of my enquiries, as a testimony of that inviolable regard I have so long entertained for your undeserved friendship.

Yours of the 11th of July, inclosing an antient Greek inscription, and honouring me with a request of its explication, came not to my hands till the other week in the country; and as it is now vacation, I am just about setting out on a tour through the west of Scotland. This hurry allows not the leisure requisite to investigate the dark parts of the inscription; but I will chearfully give you my conjecture at first sight.

Yours of the 11th of July, inclosing an antient Greek inscription, and honouring me with a request of its explication, came not to my hands till the other week in the country; and as it is now vacation, I am just about setting out on a tour through the west of Scotland. This hurry allows not the leisure requisite to investigate the dark parts of the inscription; but I will chearfully give you my conjecture at first sight.

This copy, which is taken from a fine Chartulary in the possession of Thomas Astle, Esquire, is curious both for the instrument itself, and the seal. It was perused by our famous Kentish Antiquary Mr. John Philipot, who tells us, in his account of Wickam-Brews, that, “in the twentieth year of William the “Conqueror, Odo, Bishop of Baion, and Earl of Kent, held this “place of the gift of his half brother, which was that Prince, and “Trendley Park adjoining.

This deed, which is copied from a fine Chartulary in Sir Edward Dering's library, is curious both for the instrument itself, and the seal. It was perused by our famous Kentish antiquary Mr. John Philipot, who tells us, in his account of Wickam-Brews, that, “in the twentieth year of “Wil- “ liam the Conqueror, Odo, bishop of Baion, and earl of Kent, held this place of the gift of his half brother, which was “that prince; and Trendley Park, adjoining there, was a composition between the archbishop and this man, for certain land “of the said archbishop, to be inclosed, and included within the “said park at Trendley: which signifies thus much unto us, “that Woodstock, which boasts itself to be the first inclosed “park of England, was not so ancient as this at Trendley.”