2 The Ninth General Meeting. 



well as he could. But before he pioceeded to do so, he begged to 

 oflfer in the name of the authorities of this town, and the people in 

 the neighbourhood, a hearty welcome to their visitors. The Society 

 would find many objects of interest ; the old Abbey Church was 

 well worthy of a visit from those who came from a distance, and 

 even Salisbury with its beautiful cathedral, and Wilton with its 

 gorgeous church, need not be ashamed of belonging to the same 

 county as Malmesbury Abbey. In conclusion he called attention 

 to the objects which would be visited in the course of the excursions 

 that had been arranged, and requested the Rev. A. C. Smith, one 

 of the Honorary Secretaries, to read the Annual Report. 



REPORT FOR 1862. 

 "The Committee of the "Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural 

 History Society" has again the pleasant duty of congratulating its 

 members, on the continued prosperity and the flourishing state of 

 their affairs : indeed, in proof of this assertion, we may point with 

 satisfaction to the cheering fact, that from the commencement of 

 the Society at Devizes, in 1853, to the present moment, the number 

 of members has steadily advanced ; so that, though we have annually 

 to deplore many losses from our ranks by death, withdrawal, or 

 removal from the county, the enrolment of new members has every 

 year counterbalanced that loss ; and the result is that while 

 deprived of only 12 members since our last annual meeting, we 

 have gained 27 new ones, and the number of names now on the 

 books amounts to 390. But though our loss has been numerically 

 small, it has been intrinsically greater than perhaps in any single 

 year of our existence, as we have to lament the decease of four of 

 our more active members, who contributed to the pages of our 

 Magazine, or assisted at our annual meetings. The name of the 

 late Venerable Archdeacon of Wilts (Archdeacon Macdonald), 

 will be held in grateful remembrance by us, as having been a most 

 active and zealous member of the Council, when not prevented by 

 illness or absence, or more important duties ; and also as the author 

 of a Paper in our sixth volume, called " Historical Memoirs of the 

 parish of Bishops Cannings." The other able coadjutors whom we 



