CLVI ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 



There is a great deal of picturesqueness in the centre of Bristol ; the 

 fact that the docks come right into the very heart of the city gives it a 

 special character of its own. In some of the busy streets the steamers and 

 vessels receiving and discharging cargoes make very pretty views. 



The city is not rich in statues. One of the oldest is that of 

 Neptune in Victoria street, which, tradition says, was erected to com- 

 memorate the destruction of the Spanish Armada in 1588. There is a 

 very fine equestrian statue of William III., which is said by connois- 

 seurs to be one of the finest equestrian statues in the United Kingdom. 

 It was set up in 1735, and towards its erection the corporation contri- 

 buted £1,000. In these days of representative government, the citizens 

 would scarcely consider it within their province, from public rates, to 

 make a contribution towards the erection of a statue. 



In the centre of the city there has been erected a statue to Samuel 

 Morley, who represented Bristol for about seventeen years in Parliament, 

 and who died about ten years ago, a great merchant, a great philanthro- 

 pist, a worthy and esteemed member of Parliament. 



There is a statue to the Queen in College G-reen, which was erected 

 in commemoration of the Jubilee ten years ago. 



In the Colston Avenue there is a statute to Bristol's greatest repre- 

 sentative in Parliament, Edmund Burke, and another to Bristol's great- 

 est philanthropist, Edward Colston. 



Downs. 



At the end of the last century the suburbs of Bristol, known as 

 Clifton and the Hotwells, were extremely fashionable. People came 

 from long distances to drink the mineral waters, which were supposed to 

 exercise a healing property upon rheumatism and kindred complaints. 

 At the same period Bath and Cheltenham were also fashionable centres 

 of the same character ; these two latter places are beginning once more 

 to assume their old importance as inland watering places, and an attempt 

 is made to restore the popularity of Bristol and Clifton in the same 

 respect, by the erection of a fine spa and baths, in which the mineral 

 spring which was so popular a hundred years ago, is being re-intro- 

 duced. 



The beauty of our suburbs, I venture to say, is almost unparalleled. 

 This you may assume to be a little pardonable egotism on the part of a 

 Bristol man ; but this opinion is so often expressed by visitors, that we 

 have little difficulty in persuading ourselves that it must be true. 



Our splendid downs, comprising about 600 acres, form a table-land 

 of about 300 feet above the sea level. It borders on the Avon Gorge. 

 Prom it you get an uninterrupted view of the mouth of the Severn and 

 the Welsh Hills, and upon it you feel the breezes of the Atlantic. It has 



