The Eighth General Meeting. 



233 



He wished that some appropriate means would be devised of record- 

 ing for the admiration of those who came after, and for the purpose 

 of handing down to posterity, the name of one who preferred the 

 welfare of his country, the Church, his friends, and neighbours 

 to himself, and who was ever foremost to promote every good 

 cause, and everything that tended to the glory of God and the good 

 of man. He had taken the liberty of bringing this matter before 

 them, because he knew there was a strong feeling on this subject 

 throughout the county of Wilts. 



He would now turn to the business of the meeting; and in the 

 first place he thought the Wiltshiremen ought to offer an apology 

 to the men of Dorset for making a foray across the border into their 

 county. It certainly would have been a most impudent act, if they 

 had not been told that their Dorset friends were still behind Wilts, 

 and that they had no Archaeological Society of their own. The 

 Wiltshire Society had visited Shaftesbury for the purpose of en- 

 larging the sphere of their operations, and he trusted that their 

 visit to Dorsetshire would lead to the establishment of a sister 

 association in that county. The counties of Dorset and Wilts were 

 very nearly connected. They were both in the same diocese. He 

 should like, then, to see two Archaeological Societies holding alternate 

 meetings ever} 7 year. The Right Hon. gentleman then remarked 

 that archaeology was a very fascinating study, for it had its merits 

 and its demerits. They all knew that an imaginative turn of mind 

 was the property of antiquaries, and at these meetings the members 

 were desirous of hearing all sides of the question, and of forming 

 their own judgment, on the speculations of their friends. He con- 

 cluded a long and very amusing speech by dwelling on the advan- 

 tages of archaeological pursuits, and by alluding to the business 

 which would be transacted during the meeting in Shaftesbury. 



The Rev. A. 0. Smith, of Yatesbury, Oalne, one of the Hon. 

 Secretaries, read 



THE REPORT. 

 " The Committee of the Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural 



