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XVII.
ON MONUMENTAL BRASSES, WITH SPECIAL NOTICE OE THOSE AT STOKE D'ABERNON.
By THE REV. CHAERLES BOUTELL, MA.
READ AT THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING HELD AT GUILDFORD 28TH JUNE, 1855.
The special objects for which institutions such as our Surrey Archæological Society are formed, may, I think, be assigned to one or the other of these two divisions; first, the wider diffusion of a taste for archaeological pursuits, studies, and researches, together with a just appreciation of their true character and bearing; and secondly, the application of a comprehensive and concentrated system to the practical treatment of archæology within the range of a certain locality. It would seem that the importance of the former of these objects is scarcely estimated aright by some who are themselves already masters in the science of archæology; and hence it occurs that the aid and co-operation of such learned and accomplished archaeologists is not always accorded to the country societies, either so readily or so zealously as might be expected as well as desired. Were they to reflect upon the value to the cause of archæology of a wide-spread taste for those pursuits which are grouped together under this general title, I cannot but consider that our most eminent archaeologists would regard archaeological societies as possessing peculiar claims upon them for the readiest