tion, in consequence of the encouragement mentioned , few more deserve notice than the county of Sussex ; and of that interesting part of the kingdom, no portion offers so fertile a field for the exertions of the local historian and the artist, as the district it is here proposed to publish an account of -- THE RAPE OF HASTINGS :
celebrated as the scene of some of the greatest events recorded in our Annals ; importantly connected ,as being the principal member of the Cinque Ports, with the rise and establishment of our naval
superiority ; singular, in many respects, from the peculiar nature of its political immunities ; and, abounding in antiquities and the finest picturesque views, it seems to afford more than usual facilities for the production of a work worthy the present advanced state of knowledge and the arts.
Besides joining the county of Kent, the civilization of whose
inhabitants gave them , with the Romans, a superiority over the
other aborigines of Britain, this part of Sussex was itself, with the other Belgic provinces, the recorded scene of no less than thirty two battles with that people. In the Saxon and Norman eras it became equally distinguished for its civil establishments and military transactions. Its religious foundations before the dissolution of monasteries, particularly that of Battel, were of the first class ; and, in the respectability and high antiquity of its nobility and gentry, it yields to no part of the empire.
The literary department of the work now offered to the public will contain a General History of the Rape of Hastings, its Towns, Villages, Hamlets, Parishes, Manors, &c. their Trade, Population, Public Establishments, and Government, both civil and ecclesiastical; Accounts of Convents, Churches, Castles, Seats, Mansions, and other Buildings ; Pedigrees, with Biographical Notices of Eminent Persons and Families ; funeral and other Monuments, and miscellaneous Objects of Antiquity and Curiosity . It will be compiled from unpublished manuscripts in public and private collections, and the best and most authentic printed authorities. The graphical embellishments will consist of highly - finished copper plate Views of Churches, Castles, Remains of Religious Edifices,-
