Bristol." He also granted "unto the women aforesaid vi bucks, to be delivered them in right season... and also one hogshead of wine." Some time after, he made Cirencester a corporate town. The rest of its history may be quickly passed over, as nothing of much consequence occurred. At the commencement of the great civil war it was garrisoned for the Parliament, but was taken after a sharp attack by Prince Rupert, whose chaplain published an account of the capture; and during the continuance of the war it changed hands more than once. Since then, the only notable occurrence perhaps is, that the first blood spilt in the almost bloodless revolution of 1688 was shed here.

"Of all counties in England," says Fuller ('Ch. Hist.,' b. vi.), "Gloucestershire was most pestered with monks, having four mitred abbeys," whence, he says, grew "a topical wicked proverb, As sure as God's in Gloucestershire.'" Cirencester possessed one of these mitred abbeys, and it was a tolerably wealthy one, the income at the dissolution being estimated at 10517. 7s. 1d. Little is left of the ecclesiastical splendour of the town. Of the noble abbey the only vestige is a gateway leading to Grove Lane. Of the three churches which formerly existed only one remains. In Leland's day there were two standing. "S. Lawrence yet stondeth," he says, "but as no paroch church. S. Cecilia church is clene down." That which yet stands is dedicated to St. John. It is a spacious and very handsome edifice, and would be a great ornament to the town could it be fairly seen. At present it is nearly hidden by a parcel of mean houses, which, whilst they hide the church, obstruct the Gloucester road. The church has a large nave and aisles, a chancel, and four mortuary chapels. The parts are

of different styles, having been erected at different periods between the thirteenth and sixteenth centuries. The tower is one hundred and thirty-four feet high, and of graceful proportion. Originally the windows were filled with stained glass, but very little of it escaped the Puritanic mallet. A few years back the scattered fragments were collected by Mr. S. Lyson, the antiquary, and arranged in the great west window. The interior of the church has suffered a good deal of improvement. There are, however, some interesting relics left there are several noble wooden roofs which remain uninjured; a few brasses and some monuments will repay examination; and there is a very curious but rude sculpture in relief of a "Whitsunale." The lord of the feast holds in his hand a scroll with the words "Be Merrie," and the figures of the lady, the steward, jester, and other officers of the ale are easily made out. The chapels are the most interesting parts of the building: that of St. Catherine is very beautiful; in St. Mary's are some fresco paintings of purgatory, which were discovered a few years back on removing the whitewash; Trinity chapel, now used as a mausoleum of the Bathurst family, was once the richest of these chapels, it containing the gifts and adornings of the votaries of St. Thomas à Becket, whose altar was within it, and of whose martyrdom there is a representation in fresco near the altar. Under the painting is an inscription in black letter, which deserves to be quoted as a striking evidence of the kind of worship once claimed for that most famous of English saints, and of the benefits that were promised by his intercession :-" What man or woman worshippeth this holy Saint, Bishop, and Martyr, every Sunday that beth in the year, with a Paternoster

and Ave, or giveth any alms to a poor man, or bringeth any candle to light [at the altar], less or more, he shall have v gifts of God. The i is, he shall

have reasonable good to his life's end. The ii. is, that his enemies shall have no power to do him no bodily harm nor disease. The iij is, what reasonable thing he will ask of God and that holy saint, it shall be granted. The iv is, that he shall be unburdened of all his tribulation and disease. The v is, that in his last end he shall have shrift and housil, great repentance, and sacrament of anointing, and then he may come to that bliss that never hath end. Amen."

Let us get into the open air.

Other objects in the town we need not stay to examine, though the town-hall and an old house or two would perhaps repay us. As I mentioned the little regard which the townsmen formerly paid to their antiquities, it is proper to add here that they have now a museum established for the reception and preservation of such as are left.

We have not now time to do more than glance at Oakley Grove, Lord Bathurst's seat and park, though it is the most celebrated place in the neighbourhood, and one which the visitor to Cirencester will do well to stroll through at leisure. It is extensive, being sixteen miles in circumference, and associated with it are some of the most eminent names of what used to be called the Augustan era of our literature. Pope, Swift, Addison, Prior, Gay, Arbuthnot, Bolingbroke, and other lesser stars used to assemble here to partake of the hospitality of Lord Bathurst, a nobleman who outlived them long enough to welcome Sterne as their successor, and whose lengthened existence gave rise to a celebrated

passage in Burke's speech on moving his resolutions for a conciliation with America in 1775. Many a spot in the grounds of Oakley Grove bears one or other of the names of the famous men who used to assemble there. Pope, who "looked upon himself as the Magician appropriated to the place, without whom no mortal can penetrate into the recesses of these sacred shades," in his letters, frequently refers to the "enchanted forest," and his taste is said to have contributed to the arrangements of it. Besides the associations, it contains many other attractions, such as, a very extended avenue, an architectural combination called Alfred's hall, the ancient cross which formerly stood in Cirencester market-place, and, what is perhaps most interesting, there is in it one of the finest Roman tesselated pavements existing in this country; while the house, though not remarkably handsome, is a large building, and contains some good pictures. Permission to see these objects is readily granted to the stranger.

But we must with our stream proceed onwards. Leaving Cirencester, it runs, a reedy brook, for some distance alongside the Cricklade road, and then by Addington, and South Cerney-a pretty village with a fine old church-to the foot of Hailstone Hill, where, about a mile short of Cricklade, and close to the North Wilts Canal, it unites with the other branch, and they flow on together as the Isis, or, more correctly, as the Thames. The length of the stream which issues from Thames-head to the junction here is about ten miles; the length of the Churn from Seven Springs is about twenty miles.

* Letter to Mr. Digby, 1722.

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CHAPTER III.

THE PATH.

CRICKLADE, which our stream leaves a little on the right, is a very uninteresting place. It is dull to look at, dull to live in, and no less dull to talk about. Some of our old writers discovered, or invented, a strange etymology for its name. Along with King Brute there came over to England, they affirmed, a colony of philosophers, who established themselves here-tempted, it may be, by the place, which seemed so little likely to divert their attention from their studies,-though Drayton gives another reason.* The college which they founded became famous for its Greek learning, and hence the town that grew up about it was called Greeklade. About the same time, it is added, there was established, a few miles lower down the river, a rival college, which excelled in Latin scholarship, and gave rise to the town of Latinlade. In process of time the colleges, like rival railways in our

*What Drayton says ought to be quoted, at least in a

note:

"Greeklade, whose great name yet vaunts that learned tongue,

Where to great Britain first the sacred Muses sung;
Which first were seated here, at Isis' bounteous head,
As telling that her fame should through the world be

spread."

Poly-Olbion, Song 3.