the whole into a deep gloom, well suited to its ancient character.'

We are induced to extend our antiquarian ramble to another relic of kindred interest, namely, the noted Blowing Stone, which is situated at Kingston Lisle, five miles due north of Lambourn, and the same distance from Wantage. At the back of the stone grows an old elm-tree. The stone itself is a species of red sandstone. It is about three feet high, three feet six inches broad, and two feet thick; but it is of rough and rather irregular surface. It has several holes in it of various sizes. There are seven holes in the front, three at the top, a large irregular broken hollow at the north end (as it stands north and south), and one if not more holes at the back. If a person blows in at any one of three of the holes, an extremely loud noise is producedsomething between a note upon a French horn and the bellowing of a calf; this can be heard in a favourable state of weather at Farringdon Clump, a distance of about six miles; and a person standing at about a yard distant from either end of the stone while it is blown into, will distinctly feel the ground shake. The holes in the stone are of various sizes; but those which, if blown into, produce the sound, easily admit a person's finger. The hole most commonly used to produce the sound is at the top of the stone; and if a small stick, eighteen inches long, be pushed in at this hole, it will come out at a hole at the back of the stone, about a foot below the top, and almost immediately below the hole blown into. It is evident that this is the place at

which the air finds its exit, as, after the stone has been blown into at the top for a considerable time, this hole becomes wet. There seems, however, no doubt that there are chambers in the stone, as the irregular broken hollow at the north end of it has evidently formed a part of another place, at which a similar sound might have been produced. In the neighbourhood there exists a tradition that this stone was used for the purpose of giving an alarm on the approach of an enemy. In the Penny Cyclopædia, whence the above description has been abridged, the belief is stated that there is no account of the Blowing Stone in any other publication. Its position is marked in the Ordnance map.

The Vale of White Horse to this day presents to the curious observer the earthworks and other relics of warlike times the means of our early civilisation. Here may be traced the camp and the castle, the rude trophy of triumph cut upon the face of the lofty hill, and the grave of the victor- the desolator desolate '-in the peaceful valley. There are the works of centuries since—of the early Briton, the Roman, the Saxon, and the Dane, whose ancient roads, in their directions, afford abundant studies for the patient antiquary and topographer. Through this long lapse of ages, defaced by the struggles for the mastery among war-tribes, the Vale of White Horse has maintained its fame for containing some of the most fertile lands in England; including rich pastures and corn-lands, and a belt of rich lands along the Thames, whose pent-up waters and tributary streams must have fed considerable lakes in past ages.

On the hills which border the Thames may be enjoyed extensive views over the Vale of White Horse into Oxfordshire; and in general the aspect of the country from any considerable hill is that of great richness and variety. The contrast is suggestive. Here 'Decay's effacing fingers' have spared us studies of the past, which luxuriant Nature, in her reproductiveness, invests with picturesque beauty; the Roman road of centuries ago is almost obliterated by the railway of to-day; and the green turf was once the site of the tower'd city, with its busy hum of men.'

THE DUKE OF MONMOUTH'S LAST DAYS.

ANY are the memorials which exist to this day of the unfortunate Duke of Monmouth,' the natural son of Charles II.; and whose popularity with the nation, still more than the presumed partiality of his father, made him a somewhat formidable competitor for the succession in the actual circumstances of the legitimate heir.

Somerset and Dorset were the closing scenes of Monmouth's career. In 1680 he made a memorable progress, accepting the hospitality of his distinguished friends, and visiting the estates of the country party; but the gentlemen of the court shrank from contact with one whose connection with the opposition and democratic members of Parliament was so notorious. In August, when Monmouth started on his progress, incredible numbers flocked to see this great champion of the English nation who had been so successful against the Dutch, French, and Scots. He first went into Wiltshire and honoured the worthy Squire Thynne, of Longleate House, with his company for some days. From Longleate, Monmouth journeyed into Somer

set, caressed with the joyful acclamations of the country people, who cried, 'God bless King Charles and the Protestant Duke!' In some towns and parishes through which he passed they strewed the streets and highways with herbs and flowers, especially at Ilchester and South Petherton; others presenting him with bottles of wine. When the Duke came within ten miles of White Lackington House, the seat of George Speke, Esq., one mile distant from Ilminster, he was met by two thousand persons on horseback, whose number increased to twenty thousand. To admit so large a multitude, several perches of the park paling were taken down. His Grace, his party, and attendants, took refreshment under the famed sweet Spanish chestnut-tree, now standing, which measures at three feet from the ground upwards of twenty-six feet in circumference. The old branches have been mostly removed by the ravages of time; but there are others attached to the stock which produce large timber, as well as a quantity of fruit every year. White Lackington House is now a farm: a great part of the edifice has been pulled down.

It was in the village of Norton St. Philip's, between Bath and Frome, that the ill-fated Duke was attacked on June 27, 1685, by the Royalists, whose advanced guard had marched from Bath under the Duke of Grafton, Monmouth's half-brother. Colonel Holmes, who was at the head of Monmouth's army, had an arm nearly shot off in the engagement; and it is related that the brave soldier,