Page:Archaeological Journal, Volume 11.djvu/469

THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL IXSTITUTK. 405 The following members of the Institute were also elected aulitors for the year 1854 : William Parker Ilamond, Jun., Esq., George Gilbert Scott, Esq. The Noble President then invited the consideration of the members to the selection of the place of meetin;^ for 18.55. The Institute, he observed, had received friendly requisitions from several places presenting advantages and attractions fully equal to those afforded by several of the cities previously visited by the Institute. A very cordial renewal of welcome at Peterborough h:ul been received from the Dean and from other friends to the Society in Northamptonshire. That interesting cathedral town, how- ever, might appear so nearly adjacent to the place of this year's assembly, that it might be expedient for the present to defer their visit. The Committee had also received a friendly invitation from the Mayor and municipal authorities of Southampton, a town which would afford many facilities, and a meeting there might combine many objects of considerable interest iu Hampshire and adjacent localities. A very agreeable requisition had been addressed to the Institute by the Dean, the Vicar, and many of the chief inhabitants of Bangor, inviting the Society to that interesting locality. The wish had also been expressed by several friends and members of the Institute in Anglesea and North Wales, that Bangor might be selected as the scene of the next assemby, and it had been hoped that the Cambrian archaeologists might on such an occasion fraternise with the Institute, and combine the meetings of the two kindred societies. From Shrewsbury also the Committee had encouraging assurances of a favourable reception. The Viscount Hill, Lord Lieutenant of Shropshire, had readily assented to be Patron, in the event of a meeting of the Institute being held iu Shrewsbury, and many assurances of co-operation evinced the friendly' feeling of the chief residents in that ancient town and in the county at large. The objects of Archaeological attraction were numerous and varied. The Central Committee accordingly recommended Shrewsbury as the most eligible place of meeting for the ensuing year. It was then proposed and unanimously agreed that the meeting for 1855 should be held at Shrewsbury. These proceedings having been thus brought to a close, the members adjourned to the Norrisian School. The * chair having been taken by Phofessor Willis, Mr. J. H. Cooper, Secretary to the Cambridge Archaeological Society, read a memoir on the Priory Church of St. Andrew the Less, Cambrido"e, now in course of restoration under the auspices of the Society. Professor Willis, in thanking Mr. Cooper for his communication, protested against the excessive restorations of ancient ecclesiastical buildings, now too frequently undertaken, and amounting in many cases to the destruction of all the ancient features of the monuments of antiquity. The Rev. J. J. Smith laid before the meeting proposals for the publica- tion of an " Athena) Cantabrigienses," dwelling upon the great value of the similar work on the sister University, by Anthony a Wood, and mentioning the numerous sources of information available for a like history of Cambridge worthies. He thought such a work should not be imdertaken by private speculation, but should be accomplished by a society. Mr. NoRRls Deck thought it a work that might be appropriately carried on by the Syndics of the Pitt Press, and he did not despair of seeing it commenced under such auspices : he hoped they would not wait with the idea of getting a perfect work, but would leave it to a future generation