have fallen under ſeveral Viciſſitudes of Fortune, which, in the Time of mining there, and the Intercourſe of the Tin-Trade, flouriſhed in an uninterrupted State of Proſperity.
In collecting the ſeveral Materials of this Hiſtory, I have endeavoured to trace the Series of the Governments, as the Iſlands have been differently inhabited. Firſt from the Phœnician to the Roman Government, and thence to the Britiſh and Saxon Kings, Princes, and Earls of Cornwall; 'till the Time of their Conqueſt by King Æthelſtan, the VIIIth Saxon King of England. Since whoſe Reign it appears, that theſe Iſlands were granted by the Kings of England, his Succeſſors, to the Abbats of Taviſtock-Abby, as Lords of Scilly, 'till the Diſſolution of Monaſteries, when (A°. 30. Hen. VIII.) they were ſurrender'd to the Crown. They have ſince been granted by
Patent,
