or **Wilton-shire**, the 30th of the English counties in point of population, and the 14th in point of size, is bounded by Oxford and Gloucestershire on the N., Dorsetshire on the S., Hampshire on the E., and Somersetshire on the W. Its area is computed at 874,880 statute acres. Population in 1851—males, 125,728; females, 128,493—in all, 254,221. Greatest length, from N.E. to S.E., 54 miles; greatest breadth, from E. to W., 36 miles. The county returns four members to parliament: the boroughs of Chippenham, Cricklade, Devizes, Marlborough, and Salisbury, two each; and those of Calne, Malmesbury, Westbury, and Wilton, one each. Marlborough confers on the Churchill family a dukedom; Salisbury, on the Cecils a marquessate; Malmesbury, on the Harris family, and Wilton, on the Herberts, an earldom.

The county is naturally divided into North Wiltshire and South Wiltshire—the plain district, rich in fertile meadows, pleasant groves, and abundant corn-fields; and the hill district, where ranges of chalky downs, undulating and breeze-swept, overlook deep shadowy valleys of almost romantic obscurity. On these hills occurred that long series of battles between Celt and Saxon which has left to the men of a later time so many memorials of interest, in camps, entrenchments, and tumuli. The chalk-country is almost surrounded by a belt of the Wealden. At Inkpen Beacon, on the borders of Wiltshire, Berkshire, and Hampshire the chalk reaches the height of 1011 feet, and thence sends out four huge far-reaching arms into Sussex, Surrey, Dorsetshire, and even into Norfolk. The oolitic formation is principally detected in the north of the county, and partly in the west, and at Stourhead and in its neighbourhood the greensand attains to a considerable elevation. Alfred's Tower is 800 feet above the sea-level.

As might be expected from its geological characteristics, Wiltshire is fertilized and enlivened by a multiplicity of "water-courses." The hill-district is the birthplace of many pleasant streams. The Thames cuts off a small angle in the north, and waters Cricklade before it winds into Gloucestershire. The Lower Avon (the Celtic Af, Afon, Avon, i.e., running waters) rises near Wootton Bassett, and flows onwards to Malmesbury, where it is swelled by some tiny tributaries. The Upper Avon rises at Brandon Hill, receives "the gentle Calne," and flows past Amesbury, Old Sarum, and Salisbury, into Hampshire, emptying itself into the Channel at Christchurch. The Willy has its source among the clay-hills; waters Warminster, where the Deverill joins it; and, after enlivening Heytesbury and Wilton, effects a junction with the Avon near Salisbury. "The Kennet swift, for silver eels renowned," rises near Barbury Castle, and runs, with many windings, past Marlborough and Hungerford (famous for its trout fisheries), into the Thames. There are three canals—the Avon and Kennet, which connects the valley of the Avon with the Thames; the Wiltshire and Berkshire; and the Thames and Severn, which crosses the northern part of the county. The Great Western Railway has its principal depot at Swindon, and thence penetrates, by way of Warminster and Heytesbury, to Salisbury, where it meets the Salisbury and Andover, and the Salisbury and Southampton branches of the London and South-Western Railway.

Wiltshire is rather an agricultural than a manufacturing county, and its corn and cheese are in better repute than the products of its looms. Its bacon has long been celebrated, and Kennet ale has a wide-spread notoriety. There is much cloth, however, wrought in many districts, and Wiltshire Wilton carpets are still esteemed.

When Caesar invaded England, Wiltshire was occupied by the Belgae; and the Wansdyke is pointed to as a portion of the defences which they constructed. It was afterwards included in the province of Britannia Prima, and important Roman stations were established, of which the chief was placed at Sorbiodunum (Old Sarum). The Saxons under Cerdic were defeated by Arthur and his famous knights, but conquered the country when led by Cynric, and annexed it to the kingdom of Wessex. It became the battle-field between Saxon and Dane for many long years of warfare. A great council was held at Sarum in 1086, by William the Conqueror, which firmly fixed upon the conquered land the feudal system of the Normans. During the civil war, many important engagements took place in various parts of the county, and especially at Devizes and Malmesbury, between roundheads and cavaliers.

In antiquities of the prehistoric period Wiltshire is remarkably rich, and there is scarcely a rood of land in its hilly fastnesses which is not "hallowed ground." Of Stonehenge we have spoken at length in our twentieth volume, and we can but allude to the remarkable Celtic barrows which encircle the temples of Avebury and Stonehenge, and to the curious and interesting camps on the heights of Battlebury and Scratchbury. The Roman roads from Cirencester to Bathford (the Fosseway), from Old Sarum to Calleva (Silchester), from Old Sarum to Winchester, from Cirencester to Aldbourn (the Ermin street), from Bath to Marlborough (the Julian street), may still be traced. The most important Norman remains are at Marlborough, Devizes, Malmesbury, Wardour, and Ludgershall.

Among the worthies to whom this county has given birth, are Joseph Alleyn the divine, born at Devizes in 1633; the great Earl of Clarendon at Dinton in 1609, which also gave birth to Henry Lawes, the musician, whom Milton has immortalized. Marlborough boasts of Sir Michael Forster the jurist; of Michael Harte, whose *Life of Gustavus Adolphus* is still an authority; and of Dr Henry Sacheverell, who so disturbed the cabinets and councils of Queen Anne. George Herbert the poet was rector of Bemerton from 1630 to 1635, and the fig-tree and medlar which he planted may still be seen there. At Stratford Manor House was born, or at least was nurtured, William Pitt, "the great Earl of Chatham." Malmesbury is identified with the fame of its philosopher, Hobbes, the author of *The Leviathan*. Chippenham has given birth to two theologians of widely different character and genius—the Rev. John Scott, the commentator, and Ludovick Muggleton, the founder of a sect. Addison was born at Millston, near Amesbury, of which place his father was rector, in 1672. Philip Massinger (1584), and John Harris, the author of *Hermes* (1709), were natives of Salisbury.

Among the principal seats and mansions of the nobility and gentry, we may mention Bowood (Marquis of Lansdowne), Littlcot Peak (—— Popham, Esq.), Wilton House (Earl of Wilton), Longford Castle (Earl of Radnor), Wardour Castle (Lord Arundell), Longleat (Marquis of Bath), Stourhead (Sir H. A. Heare), Laycock Abbey (W. Fox Talbot, Esq.), Chatton Park (Earl of Suffolk), and Corsham Court (Lord Methuen). The picture galleries of Bowood, Wilton House, Charlton Park, and Longleat are of unusual extent and interest.