The Stonehenge Excursion. 33 
They were to-day following in his footsteps. They saw before them 
the remains of a period so remote that they could hardly contemplate 
its vastness. They had already seen other portions of those remains 
in the extraordinary museum which had been founded at Salisbury 
by Mr. Blackmore, to whom he took that opportunity of expressing 
his profound thanks for the great assistance which he had thus ren- 
dered to the science of archexology. In respect to Old Sarum, they 
were greatly indebted to the history of the late Mr. Hatcher, who 
devoted to a study of the subject no inconsiderable portion of his life, 
They were likewise greatly indebted to Mr. John Young Akerman, 
another Wiltshire archzologist. In examining Old Sarum they advan- 
ced to a later stage than that which was reached by Sir John Lubbock 
yesterday. They came on from the verge of pre-historic to historic 
archeology. Old Sarum was one of a great series of remains which 
extended throughout this country and France. By whom the 
originals were formed and established, it was impossible to say. One 
thing was certain, that when Cesar invaded Britain, some of the 
mother tribes were easily subdued. And the people were the better 
' for it. They might have lost the root of liberty, but they acequired 
civilization. In this part of Britain the Romans, after having es- 
tablished towns and formed roads thought it necessary to do some- 
thing more. Vespasian was sent over from Germany, and his pro- 
gress from the Isle of Wight to this part of the country had been 
carefully traced by Mr. Charles Warne, whose work he had the 
pleasure of commending to their notice. Vespasian took some twenty 
British towns from the Belgz and Deotriges, of which it was not 
unlikely that Old Sarum was one. In the fortresses which they 
formed the Britons were sagacious enough to provide for the pasture 
of their flocks and herds, as well as for the accommodation of vast 
numbers of people. They had an instance before them. As to the 
vallum near which they were standing, it was 106 feet deep, and 
was one of the greatest in this country. There were some which 
were more complicated—Maiden Castle, near Dorchester, for instance 
—but for depth and length this stood before all others. The speaker 
then proceeded to refer to the citadel, which, he said, was entirely 
Norman, and was surrounded by a massive wall which could still be 
VOL, XVII.—NO. XLIX, D 
