10 
REPORT OF THE 
two collections shall have been combined and properly arranged, 
the Society will have cause to boast of a Museum of local Anti¬ 
quities, superior, the Curator thinks he may venture to assert, to 
anything that even the metropolis itself contains. Most ardently 
is it to be wished that all the remains of ancient times which have 
been found in York,—Homan, Saxon, and Mediseval,—and are 
now in the hands of private individuals, could be restored to 
this city, and deposited in the Museum, where they would be in 
security, and contribute to the public gratification ; and that 
distant collectors would not tempt those who are so frequently 
discovering the hidden relics of past times in this neighbour¬ 
hood, to separate them from their proper locality, where they 
naturally possess the highest interest. 
This great increase in the Society’s Collection renders it 
necessary to provide a large additional space for this department. 
The Council have therefore determined to remove to the upper 
room of the Hospitium of St. Mary’s Abbey the whole of the 
Antiquities at present dispersed in difierent parts of the Museum. 
That building was a few years ago, to a considerable extent, 
placed in a state of repair, and its lower story has since 
been appropriated to the reception of the sculptured fragments 
of the Abbey and other ancient edifices in York. The upper 
room has more recently received additional repairs; and, with 
some further outlay, the Council and the Curator of Antiquities 
consider it will afford the most suitable repository for a great 
Yorkshire Collection of Homan and Mediaeval Art. 
The Archaeological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, 
under the presidency of Earl Fitzwilliam, assembled in York in 
July last, when the Council, with the approbation of the last 
Annual Meeting, were happy to afford a hospitable reception to 
that learned body. The Museum and Gardens were thrown 
open to the Members of the Institute, and the use of the Theatre 
and Hospitium given for its sectional and general meetings. 
The Society was amply repaid by the gratification of welcoming 
within its walls many individuals distinguished both in archaeo¬ 
logical and general Science, and by the interesting communi¬ 
cations brought forward at the Meeting. The forthcoming 
