The cause of the settlement of the Tower is, as I have stated, the decay of the timber planking upon which its foundations are laid. This has taken place to a greater extent upon the west side than upon the east. The consequence of this has been to give the Tower a slight inclination westward. In 1868, Mr. Hesketh and my father were instructed by the Trustees to examine the foundations. They found that the planking had entirely perished upon the western side, and that the foundations in this part rested upon the natural soil, which is a compact loam. Upon the eastern side a thickness of 2½ inches of planking still remained, only partially decayed. The report which the architects made at that time stated, that it was probable that the planking under the eastern side would gradually perish, and that as this took place the Tower would settle down upon the eastern side until it rested upon the loam. The perpendicular position would thus be gradually restored, and no further movement would then occur. I have recently plumbed the Tower myself, and I find that this conjecture is borne out by the result of my measurements. The inclination of the Tower westward has _decreased_ from seven inches in 1868 to from four to five inches at the present time, thus affording a proof of the soundness of the conclusion arrived at by Mr. Heskett and my father six years ago. I give in a tabular form the results of the observations made upon the Tower at different dates, by which it will be seen that the inclination of the Tower has decreased steadily since 1829. {7} 1829 1861 1864 1866 1868 1874 Inclination westward in 10″ 6⅝″ 7¼″ 7¼″ 7″ 4¼″ to 5″ height of 78 feet Excess of subsidence on 2½″ 1⅝″ 1¾″ full 1¾″ full 1¾″ 1⅛″ to 1¼″ west side over that on east, causing the westward inclination It will appear from this that from 1¼″ to 1⅛″ thickness of planking remains still undecayed under the eastern foundations. At the present rate of movement, therefore, the decay will be complete in about six years time. The Tower will then have resumed its perpendicular position, and no further settlement need be anticipated. Even at the present time the inclination is less than the amount of the set-off of the Tower, without taking into account the spreading of the foundations. The top of the Tower, therefore, stands well within its base, and the apprehension of any sort of danger is absolutely unfounded. There exists, therefore, no excuse whatever for destroying our Tower. The second point to which I wish to draw attention is the important one of expense. The proposals of the Trustees are quite inconsistent with the limit of expenditure which they have fixed.