I will not presume to occupy your ROYAL HIGHNESS's attention, by descanting upon the attractions which the County of Sussex presents to the eye of the artist-attractions, which are equalled by few, and certainly not exceeded by any of the Counties of England. An ardent admirer of the scenery of your country, it is impossible that this portion of it, with which your ROYAL HIGHNESS is in one respect directly identified, can have failed to interest your attention, and to excite your admiration. To embody these attractions, to present a more compendious collection of them than any hitherto published, has been my study during a considerable part of the last four years. Of the general merit of my Work, I may well be diffident; but that it possesses at least that claim to correctness of delineation at which I have constantly aimed, I cannot permit myself to doubt, since it has been honoured with the approbation of a Prince, not more illustrious by the splendour of his rank, than celebrated for the critical elegance of his taste. It would ill become an humble individual like myself, to allude to the patriotic and personal virtues which distinguish your ROYAL HIGHNESS. The unanimous affection of a grateful nation, renders such allusion superfluous. Equally unnecessary would it be to point out the advantages accruing to a people from the encouragement afforded to the arts by its Princessuch encouragement being one of the marked characteristics of your family, and of your ROYAL HIGHNESS in particular. I conclude, therefore, with offering my ardent hope, that your ROYAL HIGHNESS may long continue to adorn, as hitherto, the realms of literature, and of science; and to cheer, by your condescending patronage, as on the present occasion, the laborious efforts of the artist, when directed to an object which your ROYAL HIGHNESS may consider possessed of utility and interest. I have the honour to be, SIR, Your ROYAL HIGHNESS's most devoted, obliged, and obedient Servant, JAMES ROUSE. Walham Green, Fulham, PREFACE. IN contemplating the costly and splendid County Histories of various divisions of Great Britain, it has frequently become a matter of regret with me that there has, hitherto, existed no similar work for Sussex. This county, which is dear to my recollections, by all the charm of the most rural and beautiful scenery, is replete with those attractions, also, which captivate the antiquary and the historian. In my frequent tours through Sussex, I have examined all its picturesque beauty, with the eye of the habitual artist, and have never omitted to employ my pencil in delineating the ancient vestiges and Gothic edifices that in so many quarters embellish this diversified tract. My collection of accurate views from nature, having increased to a numerous extent, through a great partiality for the county, I undertook with alacrity the publication of a large work, which should include every portion of Sussex, and not relate merely to one division, like the very elegant history of Mr. Dallaway, and some still more confined publications. The present collections of the Beauties and Antiquities of Sussex will give a tolerably perfect idea of the county. The extraordinary variety of these subjects, inclusive of the stately cathedral, the parish church, the venerable monastery, and the ruined cell, with the castle of the old baron, each fragment of antiquity, and some locally beautiful sites of nature, will not fail to prove how sedulous I have been to please both the county resident, and the antiquary. These drawings may be depended upon for accuracy of outline, and a perfect execution as to the minutiæ. The plates which illustrate the present compendious description of the County of Sussex, are to the number of One Hundred and Forty Nine correctly-finished Views. At a considerable expense, lithography has been adopted for this work in preference to aquatint, (which in my other works is the line of art I invariably pursue,) from the knowledge that lithographic representations of stone edifices may be rendered peculiarly expressive of the mouldering form of each ancient ruin. Some highly flattering testimonials, as to the success of my plates in this respect, give me a confidence that these views will be approved of also in other respects: I have certainly studied to merit public approbation in each department; in none, indeed, more than in the question of the price affixed, which is very small, when the great number of plates produced, is considered. These highly-finished Views are so |