President's Address. 



291 



in cathedrals, churches, and other public places and buildings, as, in 

 I their opinion, it would be desirable to place under the protection of 

 the Government, with a view to their proper custody and preserva- 

 tion/'' The Rev. Canon Jackson undertook to make a return for 

 Wilts, which has been published in a tabulated form. The special 

 j committee in their report say that they have taken only those 

 monuments which are absolutely known to belong to those individuals 

 to whom they were erected. Sir John Lubbock, on Monday night, 

 j gave notice in the House of Commons that next session he should 

 | move for leave to introduce a bill for the preservation of historic 

 ] monuments of interest. (Hear, hear.) And perhaps I may be 

 allowed to draw your attention to a work by Mr. Fergusson on 

 Stone Monuments. He says a good deal about Stonehenge and 

 Abury, and is of opinion in connection with Mr. Algeron Herbert 

 and other antiquaries, that they are not so old as supposed. Of 

 Stonehenge, in particular, he holds that it is of the fifth century. 

 For my own part, I cannot offer a conjecture which is satisfactory 

 to myself concerning the origin of this great Wiltshire antiquity, 

 but agreeing perfectly with what has been said by a noble president 

 of this Society, Lord Nelson, and strongly urged by Mr. Matcham, 

 of New House, I hope with them to see a Stonehenge congress of 

 savants composed of English, Irish, Welsh, and French, who, united 

 in an assembly, shall form such an opinion as may perhaps set at 

 rest this vexed question for ever. (Hear, hear.) I need hardly 

 descant upon the great value of these proceedings, not only to the 

 archaeologists of Wiltshire, but to the whole body of antiquaries. 

 We still hope to see more of those u Parochial Histories ** so ably 

 commenced by the Rev. Prebendary Wilkinson, and we shall gladly 

 welcome any contribution in the shape of local history from our 

 members, both new and old. And while we have such free leave 

 given to us by our county families to examine their family papers 

 and archives, I hope the students of Wiltshire topography may also 

 in due course have free access to the Sarum registry. I am informed 

 that free access has been obtained for the public to ancient wills and 

 records in other registries — that all fees have been abolished and full 

 power given to make extracts, which could only be done before by 



VOL. XIII. — NO. XXXIX. Y 



