By William Long, Esq. 131 



of much later date, where such stones are described as the stones of 

 a crown — literally, ' circled stones lifted up for an ensign upon the 

 land/ Zech. ix., 16." 



Mr. J. H. Parker, C.B., the energetic explorer and expounder of 

 Roman Antiquities, holds that Stoneheuge is a Gilgal, and was 

 erected for the purpose of celebrating holy rites, a place where the 

 army met, and where the chieftains were buried. It might be called 

 a burial place, or a House of Commons. 



The Rev. Canon Jackson, to whom all members of this Society 

 and readers of its Magazine are so deeply indebted, read a paper on 

 Stonehenge at the Society's meeting at Marlborough, in 1859. It 

 has never been published, but was briefly reported in the newspapers 

 ot the time, together with some observations, in reply, of the veteran 

 Wiltshire antiquary, Mr. Matcham, who was one of the friends and co- 

 adjutors of SirRichard Colt Hoare, and a member of the Stourhead Anti- 

 quarian Club, of which Mr. Joseph Hunter gives such an interesting 

 account in the Salisbury volume of the Archseological Institute. In 

 this Salisbury volume are " Remarks on two communications re- 

 specting Stonehenge,'" in which Mr. Matcham urges that Stonehenge, 

 like Abury, " is susceptible of an entire astronomical explanation ; 

 and that it displays in its different groups not only the rudiments 

 of a lunar calendar, but according to the Oriental and Metonic system 

 a accurate measurement of the solar year." Canon Jackson^s paper 

 was (in substance) as follows : " He said many ingenious theories as to 

 the origin of the structure had been put forward by various writers. 

 We were not obliged to adopt their conclusions, but at the same time 

 we ought to feel indebted to them for their exertions to clear iip the 

 mystery that hung over it. His own belief was, that while writers 

 had ransacked the world in search of an explanation of Stonehenge, 

 the real key to the mystery lay all the time at home. The late Mr. 

 Algernon Herbert's opinion was that it was erected in the fifth cen- 

 tury, shortly after the Romans abandoned Britain, and it was to the 

 150 years between A.D. 408 and A.D. 552 to which he (Mr. Jackson) 

 wished to call their attention. The first point to be considered was 

 the political and religious state of the country at that time. The 

 Romans, then, were masters of the country, but they did not people 



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