The CHAIRMAN begged to observe that he had received a very kind letter from Lord Westminster about a month ago, in reply to a communication of his own, having reference to the present meeting. His Lordship expressed great regret that circumstances would not allow him to be present, and intimated that he felt great interest in the success of the meeting. It would be his business, as President, to write to his Lordship, giving him some little account of what had passed, and he was not without hope that they might be allowed to continue the investigation. He suspected that many curiosities were lying hidden in the soil of Shaftesbury, and with the assistance of such an able Curator as Mr. Batten, a great deal might be discovered of considerable interest to all antiquaries. Mr. Estcourt then proposed the health of Mr. Alfred Seymour and Mr. Grove of Fern.

Mr. GROVE said he felt extremely grateful for the very kind manner in which they had drunk his health. He wished that he could have done more to promote the success of the meeting. He had many old parchments and other things which he should have been glad to have shown to the Society, but unfortunately he had been unable to lay his hand upon them at the proper moment. Mr. Grove of Zeals, also had some curious things, but he had been obliged to leave home.

Mr. ALFRED SEYMOUR said he was exceedingly glad to have been of assistance to the Society in sending to the Museum such things as he had either collected in his travels, or inherited. He rejoiced to find that the Society had crossed the border, and availed itself of the hospitality of a town so ancient and so renowned in history as the one in which they were then assembled. He only regretted that Dorsetshire, with which he was very closely connected, was unable to boast of a sister Society, but that was a want which he also hoped to see remedied ere long.

The CHAIRMAN said the success and pleasantness of their meetings had always been greatly enhanced by the presence of ladies; and for himself he thought nothing was so stupid as the old fashion of gentlemen dining alone, and leaving the ladies to come in in the evening. He rejoiced to see so many ladies present at that table,

and they would be sadly deficient in gallantry if they allowed the evening to pass without expressing their sense of the honour so conferred. He would therefore propose the health of the ladies, with thanks to them for having attended the meeting.

The MAYOR gave the health of the President, Mr. Estcourt, which was enthusiastically received.

The CHAIRMAN was very much obliged to the Mayor for the manner in which he had proposed his health. He did not conceive that any man who took a part in meetings of this kind could be said to be at all overstepping the position in which he was placed. He believed that nothing so conduced to the education of the people of this country, as the mixing up of different classes of Society for a common object, when that object was not only of an innocent and rational, but of an educational and improving character. The progress of education during the last thirty years had been most favourable to the developement of meetings for such objects as had then called them together. There had been a great change for the better, and he was most thankful that his lot had been cast in a generation when that improvement had taken place. Casting his eyes back over the number of years embraced in their archæological scope, he had often asked himself how was it possible that the Britons, who were possessed of letters and good schools, and were fond of literature and poetry, should not, as far as we knew, have left a single atom of writing or a single particle of literature for 400 years and upwards, from the time when Britain was made known by the invasion of Julius Cæsar? Coming to another period, to the 600 years during which the Saxons lived here, it was remarkable what a little remained to us. They had writers, poets, and historians, and yet it might be said, in a manner, that they had left nothing behind them. Then we came to the Normans, and to that amalgamated nation called by the old name of English, and yet nearly 800 years were allowed to pass without any such indications of the social improvement of the people as those of which he held the present meeting to be one. The change had been a pleasing one in every respect, and as good patriots they

ought to be glad of it-as country gentlemen, too, they ought to be glad of it, because they knew that it diffused a refined, a literary, and a superior feeling and taste among their neighbours. It was pleasing to make for themselves such opportunities as the present, of meeting in social intercourse for a rational and intellectual object -to pass an evening pleasantly, and to receive a certain amount of fresh information.

Mr. Estcourt then left the chair, and the company separated.

THE CONVERSAZIONE.

In the evening there was a Conversazione at the Market House, which was numerously attended.

Mr. ALFRED SEYMOUR read a paper on Wardour.

The Rev. W. H. JONES, of Bradford-on-Avon, next read a paper on "the Wiltshire possessions of the Abbess of Shaftesbury."

THURSDAY.

Under the guidance of the Local Secretaries, the Rev. H. J. Glyn and Mr. Bennett, a large party of excursionists, having on their way visited King's Settle Hill, and Castle Rings, inspected the Church of Donhead St. Mary's, where their attention was especially directed to the remarkable and (as is supposed) unique telescopealtar-table, which was at a former period moved into the centre of the chancel at the time of celebration of the Holy Communion, placed east and west, and then lengthened by means of drawing out the top, after the manner of modern telescope dining tables: other objects of interest were the ancient font and the capitals of the pillars. Hence to Donhead St. Andrew where the Church, lately restored, elicited much commendation: and then to the ruins of Old Wardour Castle. Here the company remained a considerable time, examining the massive walls, the ruined staircases and chambers, the bold architecture, groined roofs, and elegant window tracery still apparent amidst the ivy which encircled them. Nor did they omit to mark the impressions in the outer walls left by the cannon directed against the Castle when it sustained its memorable

siege, and was so gallantly defended by the Lady Blanche Arundel, the history of which had been recounted to the Society the previous evening by Mr. Alfred Seymour, in his paper on Wardour Castle, and the knowledge of which added very considerably to the interest of those who now visited the ruins. After luncheon, the next point was Tisbury. Here the fine old Parish Church with its restored nave and aisles, the floriated windows of the Chancel, the old carved oak ceilings of the aisles, one bearing date 1535, and the other 1616; the monumental brass of Lawrence Hyde, grandfather of the Chancellor Edward Earl of Clarendon, and last though not least, the venerable parish clerk and sexton, who has held those offices sixty years, and is now ninety years old, in turn received notice: nor must we forget a very ancient yew tree in the churchyard, whose hollow trunk is said to exceed any other in the county. From Tisbury the party walked across the fields to "Place Farm,” an admirable example of early domestic architecture; here they were kindly received by the occupier, Mr. Bracher, who pointed out the old kitchen with its enormous fire place, the massive barn, the fine old gateway, and other objects of interest. From Place Farm the procession of carriages returned to Shaftesbury by Pyt House, the property of Mr. Vere Fane Benett; Hatch House, the old residence of the Hyde family, and the village of Semley.

About 7. 30. p.m. Mr. Sotheron Estcourt took the chair, and a valuable paper on Cromlechs was read by the Rev. W. C. Lukis. The lecture was illustrated by a number of well-executed diagrams; and the theory of their sepulchral character was afterwards confirmed, at the invitation of the Chairman, by the father of the lecturer F. C. Lukis, Esq., of Guernsey. This was followed by another paper on the curious holes called "Pen Pits," by Mr. William Cunnington, F. G. S. The object of these pits, extending over a vast area, and amounting to several thousands in number, has been the subject of much controversy, some inclining to the belief that they are simply the result of early quarrying for querns or millstones found in that locality; others contending that they were the rude habitations of primitive and uncivilized races; to the latter of

these views Mr. Cunnington gave his adherence, and proceeded to state his reasons, which were confirmed by the general opinion of the meeting.

The CHAIRMAN now called on Mr. Alexander of Westrop House, to explain some well executed tracings of the figure of St. Dunstan, and inscriptions found on the walls of Highworth Church; and the meeting then separated, most of the company adjourning to the Museum, where they again inspected the many interesting objects collected there.

FRIDAY.

The excursionists, in nearly the same number, and as nearly as possible in the same order, left Shaftesbury this morning punctually at half-past nine, Stourhead being the principal attraction for today. They halted first at Motcombe Church, where the only object of interest is a rude stone slab, let into the wall over the porch, charged with a rude recumbent crowned figure, said to be that of Nebuchadnezzar devouring grass, but whether it is so or not is not very evident. Hence crossing the valley towards Mere, they turned aside to visit the interesting old house of Woodlands, which was courteously thrown open to inspection, by its occupier, Mr. Jupe. The old chapel, converted into a sitting room, with the tracery of its windows remarkably perfect; a dark dungeon, and other relics of antiquity are still to be seen at this excellent specimen of a dwelling-house of old times. In the venerable Church at Mere, the principal points for notice are the profusion of old carved oak in the panels and ends of the open seats; the rich and beautiful carved oak screens; the font, the ancient monumental brasses, one bearing date 1398; the other 1430; and the Grove Chapel. From Mere, and halting at Zeals House, where they were kindly received by Mrs. Grove, the party proceeded to Stourhead. Here they spent two hours in viewing the pictures and works of art, and in wandering through the beautiful pleasure grounds, but more especially in examining with minute attention the famous archæological collections of the late Sir Richard Colt Hoare, the urns, stone