10 REPORT OF THE 



two collections shall have been combined and properly arranged, 

 the Society will have cause to boast of a Museum of local Anti- 

 quities, superior, the Curator thinks he may venture to assert, to 

 anything that even the metropolis itself contains. Most ardently 

 is it to be wished that all the remains of ancient times which have 

 been found in York, — Roman, Saxon, and Mediaeval, — and are 

 now in the hands of private individuals, could be restored to 

 this city, and deposited in the Museum, where they would be in 

 security, and contribute to the public gratification ; and that 

 distant collectors would not tempt those who are so frequently 

 discovering the hidden relics of past times in this neighbour- 

 hood, to separate them from their proper locality, where they 

 naturally possess the highest interest. 



This great increase in the Society's Collection renders it 

 necessary to provide a large additional space for this department. 

 The Council have therefore determined to remove to the upper 

 room of the Hospitium of St. Mary's Abbey the whole of the 

 Antiquities at present dispersed in different parts of the Museum. 

 That building was a few years ago, to a considerable extent, 

 placed in a state of repair, and its lower story has since 

 been appropriated to the reception of the sculptured fragments 

 of the Abbey and other ancient edifices in York. The upper 

 room has more recently received additional repairs ; and, with 

 some further outlay, the Council and the Curator of Antiquities 

 consider it will afford the most suitable repository for a great 

 Yorkshire Collection of Roman and Mediaeval Art. 



The Archaeological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, 

 under the presidency of Earl Fitzwilliam, assembled in York in 

 July last, when the Council, with the approbation of the last 

 Annual Meeting, were happy to afford a hospitable reception to 

 that learned body. The Museum and Gardens were thrown 

 open to the Members of the Institute, and the use of the Theatre 

 and Hospitium given for its sectional and general meetings. 

 The Society was amply repaid by the gratification of welcoming 

 within its walls many individuals distinguished both in archaeo- 

 logical and general Science, and by the interesting communi- 

 cations brought forward at the Meeting. The forthcoming 



