the entry of a marriage which took place in 1708, and which was found by the Vicar in a few moments. Mr. EDWARD ERNEST STRIDE advocated the transcribing and printing in extenso of the registers of the refugee congregations, as he considered that those registers were practically almost inaccessible to the student of Huguenot history and genealogy, while the information to be obtained from them was of the highest possible value. Mr. W. J. C. MOENS, replying to the remarks of the various speakers, referred to the French Prayer Book, mentioned by Mr. Kershaw, as having been printed for "les isles de Sa Majesté," and stated that the church at Southampton called itself L'Eglise Wallonne et les isles de Jersey, Guernsey, Serq, Origny," &c.; also that the original "discipline" of the church at Norwich, copied and described by Miss Toulmin Smith, is in the MS. department at the British Museum. From the observations of Mr. Hovenden, with which Mr. Moens quite agreed, he trusted that the documents (which, as well as the funds of the French church of St. Martin's-leGrand, were now in charge of trustees under a scheme approved by the Charity Commissioners, and sanctioned by the Court of Chancery) would be soon taken possession of and arranged. That the minute-books, member-books, &c., of the various French churches must have all been in existence in 1846 is certain, for the late Mr. John Southerden Burn compiled his valuable book on the French Protestant Churches in England chiefly from those sources, which gravitated to the two remaining churches with the registers, as the congregations were gradually dissolved. It is stated that some registers of nonparochial churches were given up by the managers of Dr. Williams's library, but some minute-books may still be in that collection. Replying to Mr. Labilliere, Mr. Moens stated that marriages appeared to have been discontinued in the foreign churches towards the end of the year 1753, and that therefore they must have been celebrated in the parish churches. The register section of the Harleian Society devotes its energies to the transcription and publication of the registers of city churches, and it is to be hoped that a way may be found for the two societies to pursue together this desirable work, which is so greatly needed. By the Act 6 & 7 Will. IV. cap. 56, the foreign churches were enabled to be registered for again solemnising marriages. In regard to Mr. Stride's suggestion as to the propriety of having the registers transcribed and printed in extenso, that course would be both tedious and expensive. In every entry there is a repetition of set forms, which would be useless for information, and would treble the bulk and the expense of publication. The names of the respective parties, the witnesses, godfathers and godmothers, were alone required. The meeting was adjourned to Wednesday, 10th June, at 8 p.m. 60 THE HUGUENOT SOCIETY OF LONDON. FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. Held at "The Criterion," Piccadilly. Wednesday, 10th June, 1885. Lieut.-General Frederic P. Layard in the Chair. The Minutes of the Ordinary Meeting, held on the 13th May, having been read and confirmed, the Chairman said, "Before the Report of the Council is presented, I am desired to express to the Meeting the great regret of our President, the Right Hon. Sir Henry Austen Layard, G.C.B., that he cannot be with us this evening. "It may be remembered that at the Inaugural Meeting, on the 15th April, Sir Henry Layard hesitated to accept the office of President of our Society on the ground that his duties and engagements would take him from England for some months during this year. He left very shortly after that meeting, and is now at Venice-rather overburdened with work and out of the reach of books bearing upon our particular subject. Under these circumstances, and seeing that the Society has been less than two months in existence, Sir Henry Layard proposes that the first Presidential Address shall be given at the next Annual Meeting, when he trusts that a year's successful operations will have to be reviewed. "I will only add that our President, in his letters, expresses the greatest interest in the progress we are making, and I know that he will be gratified to receive, in a few days, the proof of our first issue of "Proceedings," and the sketch for our form of Diploma, the first of which is here for inspection. "I will now ask the Treasurer to submit his statement of accounts.' The following statement was then read by the Treasurer: Br. THE HUGUENOT SOCIETY OF LONDON. (INAUGURATED APRIL 15TH, 1885.) TREASURER'S STATEMENT OF ACCOUNTS FROM APRIL 15TH TO JUNE 10TH, 1885. £ s. d. April 15th to June 10th. By Messrs. Phipps and Connor for Printing Circu- Rent of Room at "Criterion" and Reporters' Messrs. Thomas and Sons for Stationery, &c. Postage Stamps and Envelopes (Hon. Secretary). £4 9 3 At the request of the Chairman, Mr. A. Giraud Browning then read the following Report of the Council: Ladies and Gentlemen, The By-laws of this Society, which were passed at the meeting held on the 13th of last month, ordain, that, besides four meetings in the year for the reading of papers and the transaction of general business, an Annual Meeting shall be held on the second Wednesday in June, at which, among other things, a Report of the Council shall be submitted. Our Society has been in existence for barely two months, and, while this first Annual Meeting should not be omitted to be held, it is inevitable in the circumstances that it must be of a formal character, and that the Report of your Council must deal rather with the aims and prospects of the Society than with work accomplished. The Society, as you know, was inaugurated on the 15th April last, at a meeting over which the Right Hon. Sir Henry Austen Layard, G.C.B., very ably presided, and at which a series of resolutions constituting the Society was passed. That meeting was followed by another on the 13th May, when by-laws, which had been drawn up by the Council for the regulation of the Society, were submitted, discussed, and substantially adopted. Another important step taken at this meeting was the election, as Honorary Fellows of this Society, of the Presidents and Honorary Secretaries of the Huguenot and Walloon Societies in France, Holland, and America, together with several other distinguished writers and workers in the wide field of Huguenot literature. Sufficient time has not elapsed for acknowledgments to be received from all who were so elected, but the replies which have already reached your Council are most gratifying, as showing that the whole subject of Huguenot history, in its many and varied phases, is being investigated with a patient industry and treated with a thoroughness worthy of a new science. These letters are also especially valuable as evincing a warm sympathy and a readiness to help on the part of many eminent and learned men who have long been travelling the road on which we, as a society, are now starting. The formal business of the meeting being concluded, Mr. W. J. C. Moens (Member of Council) read an admirable paper on French and Walloon Church Registers in England, full of interesting information, and of great value to the student of Huguenot Genealogy. The reading was followed by a discussion which |