176 Congress of British Arc /geological Association at Devizes. 



together and try to get leave from Government to thoroughly ex- 

 plore the place. They would, of course, want a little money for that 

 purpose, and also for the proposed work at Stonehenge. And now a 

 few words as to the abbeys and priories. He had especially to thank 

 Mr. Bramble for the very admirable paper he gave them at Edington. 

 One thing was quite new to him that he never befere thoroughly 

 realised. Everybody thought that Henry the Eighth was the man 

 who did away with the monasteries, and that they had never been 

 touched before. He thought everyone of tbem would be willing to 

 allow that monasteries in their day did do a great deal of good, but 

 when their work was done it was God's will that they should come 

 to an end, and they now found that in Henry the Fifth's time, when 

 the monasteries made themselves political when we were at war with 

 France, and gave intelligence to the enemy, the King began the 

 principle o£ alienating their revenues, and Eton and King's College, 

 Cambridge, were endowed with the properties of which the alien 

 monasteries had been despoiled. That was really the beginning. And 

 then there was another word that might be said to save poor Henry 

 the Eighth. It was a well-known historical fact that the case of the 

 monasteries at that time was so bad in many parts of the world that 

 the Pope and the Cardinals named a committee, with some very emi- 

 nent Cardinals upon it who reported that many of them must be 

 done away with. He had now tried to give a rough summary of 

 what they had done, but they must not for a moment suppose that 

 the week's work could be fully appreciated until the able papers that 

 they had heard, had been carefully studied, and until those gentlemen 

 who had given their lives to those particular studies,and who had shown 

 that they were not merely walking books but walking libraries,had had 

 time to consider what portions of the matters which had been brought 

 before them were worthy of being accepted as truth. He could only 

 say, and he said it unfeignedly, that he regretted the week was over. 



Mr. Pict.on, F.S.A., said a very pleasant task had been assigned 

 to him — a duty which he had great pleasure in performing. It was 

 to move a vote of thanks to their respected and honoured President. 

 They had had a most enjoyable week ; he could say that, on behalf of 

 all present. Wiltshire abounded in beauties, and they had had an 



