XIII 



ST. LUBBOCK'S DAY" 133 



I cannot at the same time but rejoice that you are 

 the possessor of a portion of the area of Avebury, and 

 if you have a fancy to come down and see your purchase 

 I hope you will let me offer you hospitality here (I am 

 only 3 miles from Avebury). You can have a bed 

 here, and I shall be very happy to see you under my roof, 

 and my carriage can fetch you from Calne whenever 

 you please. 



Having said thus much to you as the present owner 

 of a portion of Avebury, the next part of my letter may 

 seem paradoxical ; but I must now offer, as my good 

 friend Mr. Sotheron Estcourt urges me, and as I feel I 

 ought — that if you desire not to be burdened with the 

 purchase (now that you have rescued it from the spoiler), 

 the County of Wilts, through the Archaeological Society, 

 will feel bound to relieve you of it ; and if you desire 

 me to do so, I would at once proceed to collect the 

 necessary funds, and reimburse you. 



I hope you understand that we do not wish to do this, 

 but are ready to do it, if you express a wish to that effect. 

 In any case, we feel very grateful to you for the signal 

 service you have rendered us. — Believe me, yours very 

 sincerely, Alfred Charles Smith. 



The same year he was nominated a Vice- 

 President of the Royal Society. 



As has been mentioned already, one object 

 that he had in view when consenting to stand 

 for Parliament was to effect something which 

 might ameliorate the lot of small shopkeepers 

 and shop assistants. With this view he caused 

 a Bill to be drafted on the lines of the Factory 

 Acts, by Mr. Wright, subsequently the eminent 

 judge, and submitted it to his friend Mr. W. 

 Rathbone, then M.P. for Liverpool. 



Mr. Rathbone was a large employer of labour 

 in Liverpool, a man of generous and philan- 

 thropic sentiments and activities, and a co- 

 adjutor with Sir John in many of his schemes 

 for bettering the lot of the people. His reply, 



