14 REPORT OF THE 



The Council received an application from the Committee of 

 the Art Treasures Exhibition, which is to take place in 

 Manchester during the approaching Spring and Summer, to 

 contribute from the Museum such articles as might illustrate 

 the progress of art, from the departure of the Romans to its 

 revival after the Middle Ages. To this request the Council 

 vnllingly acceded ; and Mr. Waring, as the Agent of the 

 Manchester Committee, visited York, and selected several 

 objects which seemed suitable for the purpose of the Exhibi- 

 tion. It is probable that some of the remains of Saxon art, 

 in the Museum, may also be sent to Manchester. Every pre- 

 caution will be taken to secure the safe conveyance and 

 preservation of what is lent ; and the Council feel persuaded 

 that the members will not regret the temporary removal of 

 some objects of interest from their collections, when they 

 consider the important national purpose of the Exhibition, and 

 the readiness with which works of art, of inestimable value, 

 have been contributed by their possessors. 



The statement of the receipts at the gate will shew that 

 they have recovered from the temporary diminution, caused by 

 the war and the cessation of railway excursions. They exceed 

 those of any previous year with the single exception of that in 

 which the Royal Agricultural Society held its meeting in this 

 city. At the suggestion of several members of the Society, 

 the Council opened the Gardens, on Saturday afternoon, to the 

 working classes, on the payment of a penny. The privilege 

 has not been so extensively used as the Council hoped ; but it 

 has been attended with no inconvenience to the members of 

 the Society, nor any injury to its grounds or collections. 



It has been customary to open both Gardens and Museum 

 to the public, gratuitously, on Whit-Monday and Tuesday; 

 but the Council propose this year, if approved by the members, 

 to charge a penny for admission on those days. * They suggest 

 this change, not from any desire to make it a source of income 

 to the Society, but to render the privilege really more useful 

 to the class for whose benefit it is designed. An entirely 



* It will be seen by the Resolutions passed at the Annual Meeting, that this 

 proposal was adopted with a modification. 



