YORKSHIRE PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY. 
REPORT OF THE COUNCIL 
TO THE 
ANNUAL MEETING OF THE SOCIETY ON THE Ist OF FEBRUARY, 1842. 
Twelve years have passed since the Yorkshire Philosophi¬ 
cal Society emerged from a confined locality, to take posses¬ 
sion of this ample edifice, and to act the part which had been 
prescribed for it—the part of a Scientific Institution 
FOR the County of York : to nrge and to aid its members 
in their philosophical pursuits ; to cooperate with zeal and 
good faith in the exertions of other Societies ; to feel and be 
stimulated by the spirit of our age and country ; to share in 
all enterprizes for the advancement of knowledge; and always 
to welcome with sympathy and encouragement every attempt, 
from every quarter, to unfold the Natural History and Anti¬ 
quities of Yorkshire. 
Within those years how many important circumstances 
have occurred of a nature to test the sincerity of these views, 
and to affect the power of performing them ! Burdened at the 
commencement with a debt of .PI500. how was this Insti¬ 
tution to contend with the cost of furnishing large apart¬ 
ments, laying out extensive grounds, providing laboratories 
and observatories, and restoring monuments of ancient art ? 
The answer contained in this building, and in these grounds, 
is both encouraging and warning; it is the public sympathy 
with our objects, the public confidence in our proceedings, 
which have enriched our Museum, enlarged and beautified 
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