doubt one of those guardian pledges bestowed upon his family—­by way of presage to his fall.  Deer’s antlers, there can be little doubt, were placed in the halls of our forefathers, a votive offering to the Diana of the Scandinavian Pantheon; as it was the custom in like manner to ornament the temples with the heads of sacrificial victims in the Greek and Roman worship.  The eagerness of our sportsmen for the “brush,” as the first trophy in the chase, has in all probability originated from the same propitiatory notion.

Few would expect to meet with fragments of the worship of Juno in the racing of country girls for an inner garment, and the hunting of the pig with his tail greased; yet practised, but rapidly becoming obsolete, in wakes and other pastimes from Scotland to the Land’s End.

Thus far we have examined tradition by the test of positive experience.  There is still a gleaning of poetry which might be culled, in some few districts, from the “lyre of the unlettered muse.”  There are songs scattered up and down our own and the neighbouring counties among the population least affected by the spread of literature which are of great antiquity, and are not to be found in any books or writings now extant.  A few of these might be gathered in; while to some, who love the tone and humour of the old ballads, they would be an acquisition of great value.  But the intercourse between master and man, between town and country, and even amongst the learned themselves, becomes so cold and repulsive, either from increasing refinement or reserve, that there seems little hope of our finding any one who will take the trouble to collect them, or a sufficient number of real admirers of these relics who would come forward to ensure a suitable reward for the labour.  We are sorely disgraced among foreigners for inattention to the course and progress of our own learning.  No work exists, like those which illustrate and embellish the French, Italian, and German literature, which professes to give a summary view of its history.  The knowledge of its antiquities, its customs, manners, laws, modes of feeling, and pursuits, except in the instances before mentioned, and a few other praiseworthy exceptions, have been shamefully obscured by an eagerness for supporting a system, the ridiculous rivalry of pretence, and by the discredit thrown upon such labours by modern pedantry.  A new version of Camden, rectified by all the discoveries subsequent to his time;—­that which is found useless or erroneous left out, and the work enlightened by new researches, entered into by a number of inquirers equal in all respects to the task, and exerted over every part of the country, would very much aid the cause of learning and the future progress of our knowledge.