2 The Thirty -Fourth General Meeting. 



The intention of this preliminary meeting- was two-fold ; first, the 

 formal reception of the Institute and the hearty assurance of 

 welcome on the part of the city authorities and the county Archaeo- 

 logical Society, both of which were most cordial in their expressions 

 of satisfaction and the honour they felt in receiving' the visit of the 

 Royal Archaeological Institute : and then the hearing of the Presi- 

 dent's Address. 



The Mayor said that on behalf of the Corporation and his fellow 

 citizens he had much pleasure in bidding them a cordial and hearty 

 welcome to the ancient city of Salisbury. They rejoiced that this— 

 the second visit of the Members of the Royal Archaeological Institute 

 of Great Britain and Ireland, after a lapse of thirty-eight years — had 

 fallen on more happy times than did the former visit to the city in 

 1849. On that occasion, under the presidency of the late lamented 

 scholar and statesman, Sidney Herbert, the Members o£ this Insti- 

 tute met at a time when the country, and Salisbury in particular, was 

 suffering from a fearful visitation of epidemic cholera. But the present 

 visit occurred during a year of unprecedented thanksgiving and re- 

 joicing, for the fifty happy and glorious years' reign of the Queen, in 

 which he trusted the ancient and loyal city of Salisbury had taken 

 a prominent part. It would ill become him in the presence of so 

 "many learned and distinguished archaeologists to enlarge on the 

 subject of their visit. It had often been asserted that few if any of 

 the counties in England could vie with Wiltshire in the variety and 

 interest of its ancient remains, evincing the successive ages of Celtic, 

 Roman, Saxon, and Norman occupations. The city and immediate 

 neighbourhood afforded a rich field for architectural and archaeo- 

 logical study. Old Sarum — the parent city— held no mean place 

 in our national antiquities. That masterpiece of Gothic architecture, 

 Salisbury Cathedral, with its steeple pointing heavenward, was the 

 just pride of the city. The downs and plains teemed with memorials 

 —-notably Stonehenge— of a far distant epoch; mute mysteries 

 reared by a race that had passed away and left no record behind. 

 To the archaeologist their thanks were due for reviving interest in 

 the preservation of those ancient landmarks whose origin baffled 

 all research and conjecture. In conclusion he desired to express 



