THE eOUNCIL. 17 



the Society has been the instrument of tracing and preserving 

 the most venerable of the antiquities which record the an- 

 cient greatness of this city, a memorial of the mighty power to 

 which we owe the first civilization of our country, and of the 

 era when York was the strong hold of the Roman power in 

 Britain, and when the court of the sovereigns of the world 

 was contained within these walls. 



A subscription was opened to meet the expense^ of the ex- 

 cavation and enclosure of the remains so unexpectedly brought 

 to light, and the Council contributed to it £50. on the 

 Society's account. This sum is therefore added to the stand- 

 mg debt, which has been further augmented by the expendi- 

 ture required in completing, as far as prudence would permit, 

 the furniture of the Museum on the pineiple laid down in the 

 last Report. 



It was there stated that there existed " an imme(Kate and 

 pressing want of fiirther means for arranging the specimens 

 and books, and that the Council could not advise the supply- 

 ing this want by a system of shifts and expedients, which in the 

 end entail more expense with less either of ornament or use.'' 

 When it had been determined that a general scientific Meeting 

 should be held in York, it became the more necessary to exe- 

 cute at once the contemplated arrangements. The furnishing 

 of the theatre and two of the Museums, has in consequence 

 been completed ; such cases as were required fbr the collections 

 in the other rooms have been added, the Library has been 

 fitted up, and the Laboratory rendered available. These 

 expenses, with that of the enclosure of the Roman wall, have 

 occasioned an increase in the Society's debt of about ^£'300,, 

 and it may now, therefore, be stated as amounting to <£170(X 

 The sum, however, which will bear interest wiU be less than 

 this by several hundred pounds, on the supposition that the 

 Members will take care that their annual subscriptions shall 



