256 Fourth General Meeting. 
speak of Littlecote—the representative of which house is here to-day, 
in the person of Mr. Prebendary Popham—and recollect the various 
incidents and romances connected with it, and which give it such 
an abiding interest—I say, when I refer to Littlecote—a house 
which Macaulay has perpetuated in his pages—I feel that I am not 
wrong in selecting it as one of the great points of Wiltshire 
archeological attraction. Again, need I—standing under the 
picture which hangs over my head'—remind you that close in the 
vicinity of this town stands the most splendid specimen of the 
later Tudor times that is perhaps to be found in England—a man- 
sion which, in the days of Camden, was remarkable in its way, but 
which is now far more remarkable, and will be more remarkable 
still before we leave this neighbourhood.—That house is thus 
described by Camden :— 
“The west limit of this shire goeth down directly from hence 
southward, by Longleat, the dwelling-place of the Thins, a very 
faire, neate, and elegante house, in a foule soile, which although 
once or twice it hath been burnt, hath risen eftsones more faire.” 
I will at once say that, much as I respect Camden, I believe that 
“the foule soile” which he describes as surrounding this “neate 
and elegante”’ house, and which brought upon it the sharp asperity 
of our friend, consisted of nothing more than a pond, which has 
long since been emptied. As to the house itself a more interesting 
specimen of the later Tudor times, as I have before said, does not 
perhaps exist. It was here, (as Macaulay, I think, mentions) that 
Monmouth entertained the peasantry of those periods, who met in 
admiration of his person—here that he gathered together “the 
hearts and loves of this western part of England.” Here again 
it was, in later times, that the venerable Ken sighed out his weary 
pilgrimage, submitting with perfect contentment of soul to the 
cross he had to bear—yes, here, beneath the shades of Longleat, 
it was that he whose memory will live as long as the English 
tongue remains, and as long as the praises of God are sung in 
morning and evening hymns—here it was that Ken found a rest 
1 Thomas, Marquis of Bath, grandfather of the present Marquis. 
