392

A DESCRIPTION of WILTSHIRE. Sept.

from its being feated on a hill in the fartheft corner of the county, north. It has a good market on Wednesdays.

2. Swindon, about 8 miles S. W. of Highworth, has a good market on Mondays. It is but a fmall town, and yet the houfes are large, and well built of stone.

3. Auburn, 10 miles S. E. of Swindon, A a fmall town, with a market on Tuesdays, principally noted for the great quantity of rabbits it fends to London. It gives name to a chace, which lies weft of it.

4. Bradford, about 13 miles S. W. of Chippenham, has a market on Mondays, and drives a confiderable trade in cloth.

5. Trowbridge, 3 miles S. E. of Bradford, an ancient town, whole market is on Saturday. The clothing trade flourishes greatly in and about it. The court of the dutchy of Lancafter for this county is annually kept here about Michaelmas.

6. Warminster, 4 miles S. E. of Westbury, a very ancient town, that enjoyed great privileges, and is now noted for the vast quantities of corn that are brought to its market weekly on Saturdays. There are the remains of two old camps in its neighbourhood. The chief trade of the town is clothing and malt; and near it is Longleat, a noble feat belonging to the lord viscount Weymouth.

7. Lavington, called alfo Market-Lavington, 9 miles N. E. of Warminster, has a great corn-market on Wednesday. The earl of Abingdon has a noble feat at Weft-Lavington in the neighbourhood.

B

with a rampart as high and large as that at Winchester. On the north-weft fide of the county, betwixt it and Gloucestershire, are the remains of a trench, called Wanfdike, which fome think was a boundary betwixt the dominions of the Weft-Saxons and Mercians; but Dr. Gibson thinks it to have been a rampart against the Britons.

Stonehenge, on Salisbury Plain, z miles W. of Ambrefbury, and 6 N. W. of Saifbury, is reckoned one of the wonders of the kingdom, tho' authors are divided about the occafion of this monument. How fuch vaft ftones fhould come thither, fince the adjacent country wants common stones for building, is matter of furprize; and fome therefore think them to be artificial ftones, made up of fand, and cemented by a glutinous matter: But others think them to be natural ftones. Dr. Gibson offers feveral arguments to prove, that it is not a Roman monument, nor a place of chriftian fepulture; and that it is not a Danish monument, because it is mentioned by NinCnius almost 200 years before they had any confiderable footing in the island. He therefore thinks it more probable to be a British monument for fome victory, because there are fome like it both in Scotland and Wales, where the Romans and Danes never came. Time has much impaired these stones both as to fize and form. The number of them, as they now remain, is 71. This furprifing monument ftands on a rifing ground, encompaffed with a deep trench about 30 foot broad. It has three entrances from the Plain, the chief of which is towards the N. E. and at each of them on the outfide of the trench are raised 2 huge ftones gatewife, parallel to which on the infide are 2 leffer ones. After paffing the ditch, we afcend 35 yards before we come to the work itself, which confifts of 4 circles of ftones, and the outermoft circle is 100 foot diameter. The ftones of it are 4 yards high, 2 broad, and thick. Two yards and a half within this great circle is a range of leffer ftones. Three yards further is the chief part of the work, which Mr. Inigo Jones, the great architect, calls the cell. It is of an irregular figure, made up of 2

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8. Ambrefbury, about 15 miles S. E. of Lavington, a very ancient town, with a fmall market on Fridays, fupposed to derive its name from Ambrofius, a British king, who was flain near this place. The British history fays, fome ancient kings E were buried here, and that there was a monaftery of 300 monks in the town, founded by Ambrofius, to pray for the fouls of thofe that were flain by the treachery of Hengift, the Saxon chief. Not far from this place lies Everley, near which is the highest hill in Wiltshire, called Suthbury- Hill, on which are the remains of vaft fortifications; and at Eftcourt in the neighbourhood, near a Roman caufey, fome urns were dug up in 1693.

9. Mere, 9 miles W. of Hindon, has a market on Tuesdays, and is a great staple for wool.

F

Dr. Gibson fays, that at Silbury, there is the largest and most uniform burrow perhaps in England, fuppofed to be the place G where Ceol, king of the Weft-Saxons, was killed. About half a mile from hence is Aubury, a monument more confiderable in itfelf than known to the world, a village of the fame name being built within it, and out of its ftones. It is encompaffed

rows of stones. The outermoft confifts of great upright ones, 20 foot high, 2 yards broad, and I thick: Thefe are coupled at top by large tranfom ftones like architraves, 7 foot long, and 3 and a half thick. Within this lies another row of pyramidal ftones above 6 foot high. In the innermoft part there was a ftone not much above the furface of the earth, 4 foot broad and 16 foot long. Upon the whole, Dr. Gibson thinks it to have been built by the Britons, after the Romans came in, and to be a rude imiation of fome of their ftructures.

JOUR.

393

17518 JOURNAL of the PROCEEDINGS and DEBATES in the POLITICAL CLUB, continued from p. 354.

In order to understand the following
Debate, I must refer your Readers
to the Summary you have published
laft Month and the preceding, with
relation to the Proceedings in Par-
liament upon the Cafe of the Weft- A
minster Election; where they will
fee, that a Question arofe, Whether
the High-Bailiff of Westminster
fhould be asked, By whom, and by
what Means the Election was pro-
tracted by an affected Delay ?
Confidering the Circumftances of the B
Cafe, and the Importance of an im-
partial Inquiry into all controverted
Elections, we refolved to have a
Debate upon the Subject, which
was opened by T. Sempronius
Gracchus, in Subftance as follows,

viz.

Mr. Prefident,
SIR,

W

been his choice, to have applied to this houfe for redrefs. But the fcrutiny ended the 30th of April, and furely, from the 12th to the 30th, no great harm to one candidate, or benefit to the other, could have been obtained by any affectation of delay; for if there was any affectation of delay between the end of the fcrutiny and the declaration, it must have been in the high-bailiff himself. However, let us fuppofe, that fome other perfon was guilty of an affectation of delay between the 12th and 30th of April, or between the 30th of April and 12th of May, when the high-bailiff made his declaration in favour of the noble lord who now moved for his attending, and for his being afked this question: Was it C not the high bailiff's duty to have made his complaint to this houfe the very first day of the feffion? But inftead of this, he neglects to make any complaint for feveral days after our first meeting; and at last a petition being prefented to us by a very great number of the electors, complaining of the injuftice of his return, of the irregularity of his proceedings, and of his having protracted the election for gain, he is called upon to come and retort the accufation; and, I fuppofe, it is by this question intended, that we should examine into this retorted complaint, and punish the perfons accufed by him, before we make the leaft inquiry into the original complaint a gainst him.

HEN the motion was made for calling this gentleman to attend the houfe immediately, I could not fug- D geft to myfelf the reason for fuch an extraordinary motion, or the ufe that was intended to be made of it; and therefore my curiofity led me to be paffive, in order to discover what I could not then comprehend. Last feffion, it is true, he received the E directions of this houfe to expedite the election, and if he met with any thing to obftruct him therein, which he could not prevent, to apply for the fupport of this houfe in the difcharge of his duty. The houfe continued fitting till the 12th of April following without any complaint from him, confequently we cannot fupa pofe, that before that day any one protracted the election by an affected delay; for if any one had, it was his duty, and would, I believe, have E of E. September, 1751.

F

This, Sir, I can now fee is the intention of the noble lord, who moved for this gentleman's being ordered to attend immediately; and I can forefee, that this gentleman's complaints will be directed chiefy against thofe, who were the managers upon the fcrutiny for the unfucceísful candidate; becaufe from the nature of

Dad

394 PROCEEDINGS of the FOLITICAL CLUB, &c. Sept.

of things, thofe managers must be
the chief, if not the only witneffes,
upon whom the petitioners can de-
pend, for proving the grounds of
their complaint against him. This,
I fay, Sir, feems plainly to be the
intention of those, who defired the A
immediate attendance of this gentle-
man; but it is an intention, to
which the house will not, I hope,
give any countenance. What the
gentleman may now alledge, or
whom he may accufe, I do not pre-
tend to any certain knowledge of; B
but in charity to him, I must fup-
pofe, that he met with no material
obftruction in any part of the late
election for Westminster, because I
cannot fuppofe otherwife, without
deeming him guilty of a neglect of
duty, in not bringing his complaints
before this houfe, either before the
close of last feffion, or presently af
ter the opening of this. If he really
has any fuch complaints, it feems to
me that he was confcious of fome
breach of duty in himself, and that
he was willing to compound with D
the petitioners, on condition, that'
if they would not complain against
him, he would wave complaining
against them, or any of their friends;
which is a fort of compofition, this
house, I hope, will never counte-
Inance or encourage.

But now fuppofing, Sir, that he was very much, and very riotoufly obftructed in the late election, and that his not complaining of it fooner, proceeded folely from neglect, or too much good-nature, will not these complaints come naturally and neceffarily before us upon hearing the merits of the election? Can they come regularly before us in any other manner? If the complaints be fuch as no way relate to the election, they muft be fuch as we have no right to inquire into: If they do relate to the election, can we regularly or justly inquire into them, before the day we have appointed for hearing the merits of that election? The

E

G

parties concerned will then be all properly before us; whereas, if we proceed to hear the complaints of the high bailiff before the day appointed for hearing thofe against him, it will be a heating ex parte, which is a method always unjust, and in the prefent cafe it is a method that may deprive the petitioners of their most material witneffes, or difcredit the teftimony of fuch as they can bring to be examined in fupport of their petition.

I therefore hope, Sir, you will not at prefent give this worthy gentleman, the high-bailiff, any further trouble, but leave him to make good his defence, when the matter comes regularly before us, either by juftifying or recriminating, or both, as he fhall then think fit. This is what I hope you will do: This is what I think you fhould do; and therefore I fhall conclude with moving for the order of the day.

Upon this P. Curiatius ftood up, and
Spoke to this Effect.
Mr. Prefident,
SIR,

A

S this houfe had laft feffion, in the most folemn manner, given the high bailiff directions relating to the Weftminster election then depending, I am furprized how, any gentleman could be at a lofs for the reafon of defiring him to attend. Surely, it is incumbent upon us, to inquire how the directions we then gave were purfued; and is not the high-bailiff the moft proper and the F only proper perfon for answering fuch a queftion? As to the intention of the noble lord who moved for his attending, I believe I am as well acquainted with that noble lord's intentions as any gentleman in this houfe; and I am perfuaded, he had no other intention in making that motion, but that the houfe might be informed of what we have a right L-V-C.

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