232 president's address. 



not be so well acquainted with his letters under the pseudonyms 

 of " Curiosis " and " Historicus," addressed, from time to time, 

 some years ago, to the "Exeter Flying Post," some of which 

 were afterwards collected and published in three thin 8vo 

 volumes under the title of "Ecclesiastical Antiquities of Devon, 

 and some Memoranda of the History of Cornwall." There is, 

 however, not much in these volumes relating to Cornwall, and 

 the work has become very scarce. Dr. Oliver's papers after his 

 his death passed to Colonel Harding, then of Exeter, afterwards 

 of Upcott near Barnstaple, who, jointly with Mr. Grould, of the 

 Probate Court at Exeter, issued a prospectus for publishing a 

 new and enlarged edition of the Antiquities of Devon in two 

 vols. 8vo. This new work was commenced, and 208 pages were 

 worked off, when the issue ceased, for what reason I have not 

 heard satisfactorily explained. 



Colonel Harding, on his death at Upcott in 1886, aged 93, 

 bequeathed the whole of this valuable collection and a vast 

 number of MS. drawings, and other documents, &c., of great 

 interest and value, many of them collected by himself with a 

 view to a new " History of Cornwall and its Churches," which^ 

 at one time, he contemplated, to the "North Devon Athenaeum 

 and Barnstaple Free Library." It is only natural to expect 

 that these newspaper letters would fall into many hands, and 

 would be preserved by gentlemen of antiquai'ian tastes. The 

 late Mr. Pobert Dymond, of Exeter, had a good many, which are 

 now in the possession of his family. Mr. James Dallas, (one of 

 the Editors of that useful little monthly periodical, published 

 by Pollard, of Exeter, called " Notes and Cleanings, ") has many, 

 which are being printed from time to time in that publication. 

 Doubtless, not only the Harding-Oliver collection, but other 

 dispersed slips would be accessible to any antiquary engaged in 

 compiling a new History of Cornwall. 



In conclusion, I must say a few words with respect to the 

 great Repository of Historical evidence, The Record Office, in 

 Fetter Lane (London). It is too vast, and its contents too 

 manifold, to admit of my attempting any description of them. 

 I could scarcely touch the fringe of the subject. Here is collected 

 the chief of the treasures which England possesses as the 



