ΤΟ THE EARL OF RADNOR. MY LORD, THE following descriptive sketches of Wiltshire are, with respectful deference, submitted to the public tribunal, under the sanction of your Lordship's name. The motives which induced me to solicit such distinguished patronage originated in my knowledge of your Lordship's attention to the general interests of literature; in the important services which you have individually rendered to the capital of this county, and in the various improvements which your Lordship's truly patriotic exertions have been instrumental in promoting. The polite and liberal manner with which you acceded to my request, enhanced the value of the obligation, and excited in my bosom the warmest sensations of respect and gratitude; and I thus publicly acknowledge my high sense of the eminent favor which invested me with the privilege of dedicating this volume to The Right Honourable JACOB PLEYDELL-BOUVERIE, EARL OF RADNOR, Viscount Folkstone, Baron of Longford, and Baron Pleydell-Bouverie, of Coleshill, Lord Lieutenant of the County of Berks, and Recorder of THE CITY OF SALISBURY, By his obliged, Humble servant, JOHN BRITTON. A PREFACE, Is generally considered as a matter of ceremony, and, like the common forms of salutation, has become too habitual to be regarded. I am conscious, however, that it will prove to me the most difficult and perplexing portion of my work; for herein I have much business to settle, many debts to discharge, and obligations to acknowledge; yet, as I consider this preface to be ARSOLUTELY NECESSARY, I hope the reader will neither pass it unnoticed, nor be displeased with the freedom of its language. The patronage bestowed by an enlightened and cultivated society on Topographical writings, furnishes a demonstrative proof of their importance and utility *; yet the variety of attain ments * To corroborate this remark, I shall extract a few lines from the Monthly Review; a periodical journal which is generally replete with the most judicious and learned observations. "Antiquities and local histories have lately seemed to ments necessary to be possessed by the person engaged in their production, is seldom adverted to, even by their most ardent admirers. The difficulties that interrupt the progress of a county historian can hardly be conceived by those who are not intimately acquainted with the intricacy of the channels through which he must be contented to derive his intelligence; and but very few, I believe, who knew the obstacles that would oppose their researches, could assume sufficient courage to undertake a performance of this description. The TOPOGRAPHER, above all others, should be possessed of undeviating perseverance; for the complete attainment of his object, the perfection of his labours, is dependant as much on patient investigation, as on the more volatile effusions of the most animated genius. His intellects should be unclouded, his talents preeminent, his acquirements universal. He should possess a knowledge of the languages, be famicontitute a fashionable study; and if an author has sufficient ability to render the former entertaining, and the latter generally interesting, he is entitled to no small share of praise. Works of this sort may serve nobler ends than the gratification of idle curiosity or provincial vanity. Local histories are calculated to give an insight into the customs, manners, and those moral and political habits which render a nation happy and flourishing." |