TO THE BUILDING. 
37 
But the native generosity of Yorkshircmen, their love of know¬ 
ledge, and, above all, that laudable jealousy which never suffers them 
to come behind other counties in promoting and fostering useful 
Institutions of every kind—the union of all these feelings supplied the 
means of erecting a Museum of such a character, as will, I confidently 
trust, add another proud ornament to the many which at present 
distinguish the City of York, and prove at the same time, an 
honourable and lasting monument of the zeal and exertions of those 
who, under the blessing of God, have been mainly instrumental in the 
accomplishment of so desirable an object. I will add but one more 
word— Flo REAT ! ” 
The President replied as follows ; 
“ My Lord Archbishop, 
“We are sufficiently reminded by the Ruins amongst which we 
stand, the mingled ruins of two great preceding structures, that the 
Building which we are now about to raise, though rising under the 
most favourable auspices, honoured with the highest Patronage, and 
dedicated to the most useful objects, cannot be expected to last 
for ever. 
“ I am directed, my Lord, by the Building Committee of the 
Yorkshire Philosophical Society, to request, that your Grace would be 
pleased to deposit in the new Foundations, these Records of the Society, 
being the Reports of the Institution from its first commencement in 
1823; that when, after benefiting, as we trust in Providence it may, 
many successive generations, this Building shall undergo the common 
fate of all the works of man, an honourable memorial of these times 
may hereafter perhaps be found, in a more advanced age of the world, 
by which it may appear, that however little, in this infancy of Art and 
Science, we may have known, we knew at least the value of know¬ 
ledge, and did our best, my Lord, to promote its advancement.” 
