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you the best means of carrying
on this Association; I would beg permission to congratulate you,
not only upon the large assemblage which I see here this day; but
also, upon the great success which has attended the formation of
the Society, the Members of which already number about five
hundred.
It is also a matter of congratulation that there
should be so many ladies present today, and that such a large
number of them are among the Members of the Society, because I am
sure that they will be very instrumental in promoting its welfare
; and many of them will assist it by recording with their pencils
the features of old buildings and other ancient objects of
interest. The formation of Societies similar to this, in many
other counties of England, has been attended with great success,
their researches contributing in no small degree to a truer
knowledge of the history of past ages, and awakening an interest
in the preservation of the relics of old times. I can see no
reason why the same success should not attend your efforts,
especially as Kent is a county which, for its ancient buildings,
is not surpassed in the whole kingdom,a county which can boast
of such cathedrals as Rochester and Canterbury,of such ancient
remains as are to be found at Richborough, Dover, and of such
baronial mansions as those of Knole, Cobham, Leeds, and Penshurst.
Before I sit down, I wish to communicate to the
Meeting that I have received letters from the Earl of Darnley and
Sir Walter Riddell, regretting that severe indisposition prevents
their attendance today, and from Earl Stanhope, Mr. Deedes, M.P.,
Wykeham Martin, Esq., M.P., and Mr. Knatchbull Hugessen, M.P., who
are detained in London by Parliamentary business
I will now call upon the Secretary to read to you the
Eeport
of the Provisional Committee.
The Rev. LAMBERT B. LARKING, the Honorary Secretary,
then read the following Report, and the Rules as recognized by the
Committee, as at p. xiii.:
" By a reference to the Resolutions passed at
the original Meeting for the formation of our Society, you will be
reminded that a Special Committee was formed, to whom certain
duties were assigned. In pursuance of this charge, the Committee
immediately after their nomination issued a large number of
circulars to those in every part of the county who they supposed
might be favourable to the objects
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