258 Fourth General Meeting. 
and subscribed largely to put the building to rights. But no; I’ll 
tell you what they did. They found the middle pillar in a most 
uncertain and tottering position—in such a state that it was indeed 
a mercy it did not fall; and—what do you suppose they did? 
They got together all the blacksmiths in Salisbury, if not all the 
blacksmiths in the county, and they welded together a number of 
things, something like the splints which are used to mend mens’ 
legs when they are broken, and with these they tied and buckled 
all the loose members of the Chapter-house to the loosest member 
of all—the pillar in the middle; so that when you entered the 
building it gave you the idea of a spider’s web of iron. That was 
their idea of restoration! But a fresh spirit came over the land; 
archeology, directed by religion, and warmed by a right sense of 
the honour due to the temples of God, revived, and the result has 
been, that you cannot now see in all England—and I know some- 
thing of the majesty of York, and of the elegance of Lincoln— 
I say, as an adopted Wiltshireman, that you cannot now see 
throughout the length and breadth of our land, a building so 
peculiar in its character, and at the same time so beautiful, as the 
restored Chapter-house of our glorious Cathedral. 
The rev. gentleman in conclusion said, the Society, he thought, 
might safely appeal to the sympathies of the clergy in reference 
to the restoration of ecclesiastical edifices. He referred to the 
clergy because they were, by their office, the guardians of these 
ancient magnificent temples of God. How grateful ought they 
to be when a Society like this came forward, and, drawing together 
the energy, muscle, and strength of different members of society, 
all thrown into one common stock, said—‘ Let us guard these 
buildings—let us promote their restoration as a society—let us 
kindle in the minds of the public a reverence for these monuments 
of our forefathers. Up to the present time, the meetings of this 
Society had been most successful.—The first was held at Devizes, 
but that was only of a preliminary character. There were, however, 
plain indications of the way in which this Society would take root 
in the county. They saw the Noble Marquis of Lansdowne taking 
a large and active interest in the subject. They saw, again, one 
