14 The Eleventh General Meeting. 
The Mayor of Salisbury in returning thanks, said it was highly 
gratifying to himself and the citizens generally to find that Salis- 
bury had been selected as the place of the Society’s meeting, arid 
he hoped that the endeavours which had been made to render the 
gathering an agreeable and successful one, had not been altogether 
in vain. While proud of the distinction shown them, the citizens 
of Salisbury entertained no feelings of jealousy towards their 
friends in the north, and whether they assembled at Devizes or at 
Salisbury, he himself should always feel a pleasure in meeting the 
members of the Wilts Archeological Society. (Applause.) There 
were many objects of interest in and around Salisbury, and if they 
could not inspect all of them now, perhaps they might be induced 
to pay the city another visit on a future occasion. He hoped, also, 
that something would soon be done to bring about the proposed 
“Stonehenge Congress.” (Applause.) 
The Prestpent then gave the health of the visitors, many of 
whom he was glad to welcome amongst us, and to some of whom 
we were much indebted for valuable information contributed to 
day; he more especially alluded to Mr. Gambier Parry and Mr. 
Parker: who severally returned thanks. In the course of his 
speech Mr. Parker remarked that he had a great affection for these 
local Archeological Societies, because he believed they were doing 
an immense service throughout the country. They tended to 
preservation and not to destruction; and he hoped the nobility 
and gentry would yet do more than they had done to preserve the 
old manor houses of the country. Those old houses were more 
interesting in an archeological point of view than even our old 
churches, because the latter were far more numerous. (Hear, 
hear.) Archeology was history written in stone, and he rejoiced 
to know that he had had something to do with the formation and 
promotion of Archeological Societies. The Oxford Architectural 
Society, the members of which met at his house, was, perhaps the 
first Society of the kind. This was copied by Cambridge a few 
months afterwards ,and from both Oxford and Cambridge the idea 
was carried home by the youth of different counties. Such So- 
cieties were highly important. Descriptive books were exceedingly 
