opinion you have formed in favour of the portraits of Lord Strafford and his secretary, at. Wentworth-House; or, at least, you would be obliged to pronounce, with the Irishman, that they were both the chef d'œuvres of Vandyke.

There are, also, a very fine laughing Democritus-An Old Man selling sugar-plumbs to children, all the figures laughing, by Frank Hals. Single Head, illuminated by a candle placed before the face, by Van Schalken.

The grounds have much of their beauty from nature, and borrow some from art; distant objects being introduced, and managed with considerable judgment and taste.

The Palladian bridge, also, is shewn as a beautiful specimen of architecture, as well as a judicious ornament. The former claim to praise we may allow it, but must altogether deny the latter, since the incongruity of sticking a temple upon a bridge, over which a wise man would pass as quickly as possible without stopping to make vows or pour out petitions, however sanctioned by the authority of practice, is too obvious to be reconciled to nature, truth, or taste.

Wilton is a borough town, returning two members to Parliament; but neither in size nor appearance retaining that grandeur which

was formerly sufficient for it to impose a name upon the county, and to reckon within itself twelve churches, only one of which at present remains. The beauty and superiority of the Wilton Carpeting are generally known and acknowledged. About one hundred looms are employed in making this article, and five hundred for the manufacture of Linseys; one of the latter machines may be seen in the house of every poor inhabitant, by which a woman and boy are enabled, in three weeks, to earn the miserable pittance of ten shillings.

With still less attention than I have paid to Wilton, shall I pass through Salisbury, with its noble cathedral, (rendered the most finished piece of Gothic architecture by the liberality of Barrington the present Bishop of Durham, and the exquisite taste of Mr. Wyatt) since amplé descriptions of it are in the hands of every one. You must, therefore, be content to refer to the numerous Guides with which the industry of others have furnished the public, and accompany my route to Old Sarum, two miles from the city, of which it is the parent.

The labours of our ancestors, the ancient Britons, assume in no part of England a more

majestic appearance than in two instances in the neighbourhood of Salisbury, Old Sarum and Stonehenge, a city and a temple. The former is seen for miles round, lifting its proud head to an enormous height, and, after the tempests of Heaven have beaten upon it for more than two thousand years, still claiming admiration from its elevation, hugeness, and extent. It is a circular work of most regular plan, consisting of the following members-a vast vallum, with a ditch within it; a flat space, bounded by a second still larger vallum about ninety feet in its oblique ascent; this falls into another more extensive flat space, measuring in breadth one hundred and forty-five paces, terminated by an immense ditch, and a third mighty vallum, rising obliquely, in an angle of fifty degrees or more with the plane of the horizon, to the height of one hundred and fifty feet; within this is the interior circular area, of eighty-five paces in diameter. Of the three parts into which the work is thus divided, the first, or outward one, seems to have been occupied by the suburbs; the second, by the city; and the third, by the castle. The entrance into the outward area was to the eastward, by two narrow passes on each side of a curious horse-shoe mount, ditched and

banked, forming a rude but strong sort of hornwork. Opposite to this, at the western point, was another gateway of smaller dimensions, and somewhat different form. The interior vallum seems to have been walled entirely round, and part of a gateway to the west, where was the only entrance, is remaining to this day, consisting of an unintelligible congestion of flint stones and blocks of grit, cemented by a very strong mortar. Two dorsa, or banks, of great height and dimensions, run exactly north and south from the interior of the second vallum to the edge of the last ditch, terminating in a path way that takes an oblique and gentle descent into the hollow, for the accommodation of the garrison that inhabited the castle.

In the north-east corner of the first area, a singular discovery was made at the breaking up of the frost in 1795, which may still be seen, though not in the perfection wherein it appeared on its being found, as the farmer who rents the land partly destroyed it, to prevent the curious from treading down his corn in their visits to it. It is a subterraneous passage, cut out of the solid chalk rock, and dipping for the first twenty feet in a direction nearly perpendicular. At the entrance it may be about six

feet high and five feet wide, but gradually assumes wider and higher dimensions, as well as a less abrupt descent, as it continues its course. We penetrated about forty yards under the earth. by means of this excavation, and were then stopped by a quantity of rubbish, which had been cast into it by the parsimonious farmer. Its opening had been secured by oaken planks placed over it, and a strong door fixed on coarse stone-work just within it; the descent had been facilitated by steps cut in the chalk rock, which appeared on the first discovery to have been little worn, and evinced that the passage was a very secret one; probably designed either for a sallee port, a deposit for treasure, or a magazine for the materials of war. Due north of this hole, and in a situation exactly corresponding with it, in relation to the entrance, is another hollow or sinking of the ground, so perfectly similar to the appearance of the ground in the neighbourhood of the one just described, previously to its discovery, that I cannot doubt a like subterraneous passage would be found there, if proper investigation were made for the purpose of detecting it.

All our antiquaries, you know, my dear sir, agree in giving Old Sarum a British original,