107 



" The zest with which the Princes of the house of Orange enter 

 into this noble sport can only be exceeded by the princely affability 

 with which they welcome the members of the society ; showing that 

 even a crown shines with additional lustre when worn by the first 

 gentleman, as well as the most powerful prince of his people." 



Allow me, Gentlemen, to congratulate you on the possession of 

 so graphic an account of a pastime, of which, in the present day, 

 so little is really known, but which has always been a matter of 

 equal interest to the sportsman, the naturalist, and the antiqua- 

 rian. 



But from hawking we must " return to our mutton," as we did 

 — at the Lamb, After which, Dr. "Wright gave us his description 

 of his new and extremely beautiful species of Pteroceris. 



The President gave a rough sketch of the proceedings of the 

 Club during the summer; and the Secretary made the hitherto 

 unheard of demand, for the sum of 3s. Gd. from each member for 

 the year's expences, and after fixing the days of meeting for the 

 following summer, we adjourned till our first spring meeting on 

 May 13. 



On this day our Club assembled in large numbers at the White 

 Hart Inn, at Cirencester, from whence we visited — first, the house 

 of our Archaeological, as well as every other o-logical member, Mr. 

 Buckman, who had kindly spread out for us on his floors, the ori- 

 ginal tracings of the tessellated pavements lately found at Ciren- 

 cester. These drawings being not a copy merely of the general 

 outline and colouring, but actual tracings of every tessella coloured 

 on the spot, represented the original works of the Romans with a 

 fidelity which will not be surpassed — till Lord Bathurst shall have 

 carriea out the design which he has undertaken with the spirit and 

 liberality which characterizes all his works, whether for the good 

 of the town of Cirencester, or for the benefit of the neighbourhood 

 in general, of erecting a building in which these choice and inter- 

 esting relics of ancient times shall be deposited, and secured to 

 future ages, free from the risks that must attend their present 

 literally transition state. There is no lover of archaeological 

 research, no well wisher to the town of Cirencester, who does 

 not look forwards anxiously to seeing these pavements secured to 

 posterity — by design (as they have been secured to our time by 

 obscurity) and to the adding to the town an attraction which can 

 be equalled by nothing — except Mr. Villebois' hounds. 



"We then proceeded to the College, where the Museum of Natu- 

 ral History has been arranged with a care which, we trust, will 

 encourage all who can assist it, to do their best to add to a collec- 

 tion, which has shewn itself really worthy of the best help which 

 can be given it, especially — as regards the immediate objects of the 

 College — the room attached for preparations illustrative of vete- 

 rinary science, under the able direction of the Professor of that 

 branch of agricultural instruction, Mr. Brown. "We then walked 

 through the farm buildings to the railroad cutting through the 

 Bradford clay — at the point where it crosses the Ackman street — 

 where we found even in our brief search, many specimens of its 



