added, in 1859 the arts exhibition, and in 1864 the exhibition of specimens of Honiton lace. In 1861 an amalgamation was effected with the Southern Counties Association, and the meetings are held alternately in the two districts. The centenary meeting in 1877 was fitly held in the place of its birth-Bath, and was honoured by a visit from the ex-president of the United States, General Grant, who declared that in all his experience he had never seen a town so beautifully decorated as the city was on that occasion. A stone fountain has been erected by subscription in Laura Place in commemoration of the meeting. With the change of the character of the society, Hetling House was given up, and it has now only offices on Terrace Walk. The library, however, is deposited in the Royal Institution.

Royal Wictoria Park.

One of the most charming features of Bath is undoubtedly this extensive and tastefully arranged domain, and whatever else the stranger may omit seeing he ought not to be deterred from paying it a visit, particularly if it be in spring or summer. An agition was commenced about the year 1820, to lay out the Freemen's estate on the western confines of the city with walks and shrubberries, for the purpose of making a suitable and attractive place of recreation. Various suggestions were made with the view of effecting this then much-needed object, but nothing of a practical character was done until two worthy citizens, Messrs. J. Davis and T. B. Coward, devoted themselves to the work. In this, as in so many other undertakings, people with benevolent aspirations found it so much more easy to scheme and devise than to labour earnestly in carrying out their suggestions. -Happily, the gentlemen above-named left people with

teeming brains to take their own course, while they called a meeting of the citizens at the York House, and there laid their plans before them. The Corporation being memorialised, the members of that body, together with the Freemen, lent the undertaking their countenance and support. The Freemen granted the land in their possession at a moderate rent, Lady Rivers conceded the privilege of a passage through what was then known as the Crescent Fields, and on the 1st Jan., 1830, a public meeting was held, when various resolutions were passed, and a subscription inaugurated which soon reached the sum of £4,000. The Corporation headed the list with £100, and gave that sum annually to its support, but after the passing of the Municipal Reform Act it was discontinued. Having these funds in hand, the embellishment of the domain was entrusted to Mr. E. Davis, architect. Situated as it is on a gentle declivity, and slightly undulating, it afforded ample scope for the genius of the landscape gardener to display itself; and, at an expenditure of about £8,000, beautiful walks and drives, diversified by shrubberies and adorned with choice and rare trees, soon intersected the forty-six acres forming the Park. During the autumn of 1830 the Duchess of Kent and the Princess Victoria being in Bath, the Duchess consented at the request of the Corporation to make the first circuit of the improvements. Her Royal Highness, accompanied by the Princess, and attended by the civic dignitaries as well as thousands of the citizens, formally opened the Park, and it was at the request of the Duchess that it received the name of "The Royal Victoria Park."

With the lapse of time great improvements have been effected in these beautiful grounds. Indeed, such is the fostering care with which they are managed, that scarcely a year passes but what some change for the better is effected in the details. While taste and.

judgment are thus brought to bear in the management, the development of the trees and shrubs enhances its beauties, as seen in the shady recesses and cool, refreshing walks with leafy canopies. The side entrances leading to the Royal avenue are surmounted with bronzed lions, the gift of Mr. Geary, and at the other extremity are sphinxes, sustained on pedestals, presented by Mr. I. Williams and Mr. Reeves. For the elegant tazza with its pyramid of flowers, observed midway, the public are indebted to Signor V. Pieroni; and the fine vase in its rear, as well as one or two others, the citizens owe to the public spirit of Mr. W. Bush. On the left hand of the Royal avenue is a large and well-kept lawn, with an orchestra in the centre for the City band. Adjacent the lawn is a large and handsome flower-stand in three tiers, the last gift of the late Rector of Bath, who was chairman of the Park Committee. Passing on through the other gates, the pretty Gothic cottage on the right is the farmhouse built by the Freemen, and the obelisk in front was erected, from the designs of Mr. Manners, to commemorate the attainment of her Majesty's majority in 1837. The guns on either side are Russian trophies, the gift of the Government after the close of the Crimean War. A small tree standing on the triangular lawn a little beyond is the Prince of Wales' oak, which was planted by the Mayor with great pom and circumstance on the day of the marriage of his Royal Highness--March 10th, 1863. The lake was enlarged and remodelled in 1880, and is now a very charming addition to the varied attractions of the Park. Near it, beneath a gracefully drooping willow tree, is a vase, the gift of the late Alderman Hancock, and another on the opposite side of the lake, standing on a pedestal, placed there by subscription, commemorates the jubilee of the opening of the Park. At a short distance is a small erection of

some

historic interest, presented by Mr. E. Dowding. Beneath a cupola sustained on pillars, is a vase which nearly a century ago graced

the lawn of Lady Miller, of Batheaston, where the wits of that day assembled and where there were poetical tournays for the honour of receiving myrtle wreaths from the mistress of the mansion. A smaller vase was used as a receptacle for the effusion of the competitors in these bouts rimés, which, we may add, were discontinued owing to a mischievous satire having been found among the contributions, the authorship of which was attributed to Wilkes who was in Bath at that time. Pursuing his course the visitor will soon reach the Shakespeare dell, one of the gems of the Park, where a votive altar was placed to commemorate the tercentenary of the birth of the immortal bard of Avon. Close at hand is likewise a colossal head of Jupiter, standing on a base and pedestal surrounded with rock-work, the whole being screened with ivy and other creeping-plants with the exception of the head. The latter was executed by a self-taught artist of this city, named James Osborn. It is seven feet high, and was chiselled from one single block of Bath stone, weighing upwards of six tons.

A great improvement was effected in the Gay Street entrance to the Park by the removal of a house on the right hand side. The demolition of this building enabled the space it occupied, together with the garden in the rear, to be added to the thoroughfare, and the public convenience was thereby largely promoted.

Under the powers of the Bath Act, 1880, the Town Council have purchased the Bath Commons Estate from the Freemen, and the Royal Avenue from the trustees of the Kivers Estate, with a provision that the property can never be built upon. The management of the Park, however, remains as before in the hands