6 



OUR COLUMNS. 



Marct 21, 1891. 



Mr. Mayes added that the membership now was actually little short of 1100, and that 

 there had been an increase of £25 in the year 1890 from the ' subscriptions of members. 

 In the miscellaneous items £6 3s. was for framing many of the pictures now on the walls 

 of the Institution. In reply to a member, Mr. Mayes said that much of the arrears of 

 £117 had been already paid during the first month of 1891. 



Mr. W. H. Jackson moved that the Reports be adopted, and considered them both 

 eminently satisfactory. 



Dr. Sexton seconded ; and the motion was carried. 



Mr. H. H. Fkasek moved, />ro formd^ that as no new names had been proposed, the 

 existing Council be re-elected en masse. 



Dr. Sexton seconded, and the motion was carried. 



The President congratulated those present on the gratifying nature of the Report 

 and Statement of Accounts, both of which he considered perfectly satisfactory. One 

 great thing about this Library was that it was not only a Library, but also a Literary and 

 Scientific Institute. It had done all it could to forward those interests, and had made a 

 grant to provide books specially wanted by the students of the University Extension 

 Lectures now held in Bedford. He wished more members would 23ropose books that were 

 needed, and assured them the Committee would consider the merits of them wdth care, and 

 a desire to improve the Library. The great event of the year had been the amalgamation 

 of the Archaeological and Natural History Society with this Society. They owed a great 

 deal to the members of that Society, and also to the members of the Council who had 

 assisted in effecting that union. The only wish of the Council was to increase the 

 efficiency of the Institution. Lectures were being arranged — a Night with Tennyson ; 

 a lecture by Mr. B. Seebohm on the breaking up of the Yenisei, or a cognate subject ; 

 and, he hoped, a science lecture by Mr. Elger. Before sitting down he wished to propose 

 a vote of thanks to Dr. Steinmetz for his services as secretary ; for 3 1 years he had con- 

 ducted the Society with tact and skill, and always in the most genial way, and he deserved 

 all they could give him. 



Mr. Fkasek seconded, and took the opportunity to suggest that the Council should 

 place another copy of the Times in the Reading-room early in the morning. 



The vote was carried with great cordiality. 



Dr. Steinmetz said what he had done he had always found much pleasure in doing. 

 For 31 years he had striven for the welfare of the Society, and during 21 years of that 

 time he and Mr. Mayes had been working together in the most friendly and harmonious 

 manner. 



The President next moved a similar vote to Mr. George Mayes, and said it was always 

 important that they should have a good Chancellor of the Exchequer, one who would, — 

 as Mr. Mayes always did, — look carefully after all matters of finance, and be ready wdtli 

 his advice in every crisis. 



Dr. Poole seconded with great pleasure, and referred to the ability Mr. Mayes dis- 

 played in financing the institution. His excellent management was known to them all. — 

 The vote was heartily agreed to. 



Mr. Mayes said he was much obliged to all of them for their acknowledgement of his 

 services. He was amply repaid in two ways — first, by always receiving their kind words 

 of thanks, and, secondly, by seeing the Institute flourish in the way it did. 



Mr. Elger, in moving a vote of thanks to the President, eulogized him for his diligence 

 and devotion to the welfare of the Library. He also referred to some of the interesting 

 facts on the origin of the Society, which he was at once invited to throw into concise form 



