144 



The Thirtieth General Meeting. 



order and pictures of no ordinary merit were displayed. After 

 luncheon our excursionists lingered on the lawn and gardens for 

 half-an-hour, and then the Rev. A. C. Smith having- in the name 

 of the Society thanked Mr. and Mrs. Seymour for their extreme 

 hospitality and kindness, and Mr. Seymour having assured his guests 

 of the pleasure their visit had given them, the Secretaries' whistle 

 summoned the party to the carriages, and a short drive brought 

 them to Pyt-house, where Mr. Fane Benett Stanford was ready to 

 receive and conduct them through his house, and especially directed 

 their attention to a considerable number of autograph letters from 

 Charles I, to Prince Rupert, which had been accidentally discovered 

 some years since in an old chest. Mr. Benett Stanford also pointed 

 out an interesting portrait of John Locke, when a young man, another 

 of Francis L by Albert Durer, and others of Prince Rupert, King 

 Charles, &c. He then conducted the party to Hatch House, but a 

 few hundred yards away. This was the original seat of the Hyde 

 family ; and though now occupied as a farm-house, is carefully 

 preserved and protected from injury. After hearty expressions of 

 gratitude to Mr. Benett Stanford for his courtesy, the archaeologists 

 next proceeded to Wardour Castle, where they were kindly received 

 by Lord and Lady Arundell, and entertained with tea, coffee, ices, 

 and other refreshments. Lord Arundell personally led the party 

 through the house, and pointed out in every room the principal 

 pictures, of which there is a very fine and large collection; the state 

 bedroom in which King Charles slept when at Wardour ; the 

 celebrated " Glastonbury Cup/' or Peg Tankard, of the sixteenth 

 century; last, but by no means least, the beautiful and richly 

 ornamented chapel, &c, &c. At the conclusion of the visit, the 

 Rev. A. C. Smith expressed, on behalf of the Members, their 

 hearty thanks to Lord and Lady Arundell for the great courtesy as 

 well as hospitality with which they had been received ; and then 

 they drove on to the ruins of Wardour Castle, from whose picturesque 

 ivy-covered walls and the shady lawns which surround this charming 

 spot, it was somewhat difficult for the Secretaries' whistle to dislodge 

 them. There had been so much to see in the day's excursion, and 

 the brilliant warm weather had. so conduced to lingering, that it 



