47 
This is clearly shown hy the character of the masonry. The 
future of the ruins of St. Mary’s Abbey is a subject which no 
one can contemplate \vithoiit apprehension and concern. They 
are suffering from the ever-increasing effects of atmospheric 
influences by which they will sooner or later be destroj^ed. 
The beautiful vine-leaves which ornament the hollows of the 
great west door, become every year fainter and more indistinct. 
When I first saw, 35 years ago, the equally beautiful door 
which leads from the vestibule into the ruined Chapter-house, 
the carving was exquisitely crisp and delicate. Now, it is 
mouldering away so rapidJy that, if it is to be saved at all, it 
must be put under cover without farther delay. It may seem 
cruel to remove the stones and set them up in the Hospitium, 
but some such severe remedy must be attempted before long if 
the sculptures are to be preserved. Another desideratum is the 
proper exhibition of the remains of the chancel. There has 
been too much of a tendency to subordinate the ruins to the 
garden, instead of subordinating the garden to the ruins. 
What I recommend, and what is adopted in other places, as for 
instance at Fountcdns Abbejq is this, to clear away the soil and 
debris to the old floor level, that we may see the old lines, and 
expose the bases of the pillars, the remains of the encaustic 
pavement, and such monuments as remain. The difficulty 
here is the presence of several large chestnut trees, which must 
be allowed to fall into the decay which is so imminent, and 
which, on no account must be renewed. All trees and earth 
must be removed from within the walls of the abbey. And more 
than this. It is necessary that on the nortli side of the chancel 
the buttresses and walls shoidd be properly shown, and for this 
the earth between the church and the new garden, or the 
greater part of it, ought properly to be taken away. We shall 
never know the character of the architecture, or ascertain how 
the old church and the new are mutuallv connected, unless this 
earth is removed. 
December 7th. — Mr. T. S. Noble, the Hon. Secretary, 
read a Paper by the Pev. Caxon Paine, who wns unavoidably 
absent. The paper was as follows :—“ On one of the last days 
