YORKSHIRE PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY. 



REPORT OF THE COUNCIL 



ANNUAL MEETING OF THE SOCIETY ON THE 1st OF FEBRUARY, 1842. 



Twelve years have passed since the Yorkshire Philosophi- 

 cal Society emerged from a confined locality, to take posses- 

 sion of this ample edifice, and to act the part which had been 

 prescribed for it — the part of a Scientific Institution 

 FOR THE County of York : to urge and to aid its members 

 in their philosophical pursuits ; to cooperate with zeal and 

 good faith in the exertions of other Societies ; to feel and be 

 stimulated by the spirit of our age and country ; to share in 

 all enterprizes for the advancement of knowledge ; and always 

 to welcome with sympathy and encouragement every attempt, 

 from every quarter, to unfold the Natural History and Anti- 

 quities of Yorkshire. 



Within those years how many important circumstances 

 have occurred of a nature to test the sincerity of these views, 

 and to affect the power of performing them ! Burdened at the 

 commencement with a debt of ^£"1500. how was this Insti- 

 tution to contend with the cost of furnishing large apart- 

 ments, laying out extensive grounds, providing laboratories 

 and observatories, and restoring monuments of ancient art ? 

 The answer contained in this building, and in these grounds, 

 is both encouraging and warning ; it is the public sympathy 

 with our objects, the public confidence in our proceedings, 

 whkh have enriched our Museum, enlarged and beautified 

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