brought out several fresh matters of interest connected with the subject.

Up to this point the proceedings of the Society have been prepared for the press. On the table this evening is a proof of our proposed first issue of Proceedings. It contains a list of the First Fellows or Founders of the Society, numbering rather more than one hundred, the By-laws as adopted by the meeting on the 13th May, a full copy of Mr. Moens's paper and abstracts of the proceedings at the two meetings which have been held. To this matter will be added the present Report of the Council with notes of the proceedings at this meeting, and the first publication will then be completed and sent to the Fellows of the Society with as little delay as possible.

The correspondence resulting from the notices of this Society, which have appeared in the public press, and from the distribution of many hundred programmes, &c., shows conclusively, that, in every one of the objects named in the first prospectus, the Society will meet with hearty and sympathetic co-operation from descendants of Huguenot refugees into this country. Indeed, if any complaint has arisen, it is that the net has not been cast so wide as to embrace subjects which, though of supreme importance, your Council consider do not properly belong to a historical and literary society of this kind.

It is clear that, among the objects proposed to be worked out by the Society, none will prove of greater general interest to the representatives and descendants of Huguenot families than the collection and preservation of Huguenot church and other Registers, and the careful editing of refugee family histories and genealogies. Mr. Moens has shown us by example what it was possible to do in regard to the registers of the Dutch church in London, and he has taught us how very much remains to be done in bringing to light and rendering accessible to all who are interested the Registers of the many extinct French Protestant churches, as well as the records of those still existing. As a firststep in this direction, your Council are arranging for the copying of all presumably Huguenot or Walloon names and inscriptions in the cathedral, and in the numerous churches and churchyards in and around Canterbury. Mr. S. Wayland Kershaw, F.S.A. (Member of Council), has been good enough to undertake the editing of this work, which will form part of our next publication.

Some correspondents of Huguenot descent have also offered for the perusal of the Council, and, if thought desirable for publication, MS. records of the sufferings and flight from France of their ancestors, and other papers relating to individual family history.

No doubt such hidden treasures in the possession of refugee families, though far less abundant now than a century ago, still exist in unsuspected numbers, and this society will not have been formed in vain if it prove the means of rescuing and bringing to the light even a considerable proportion of such documents, which, but for the spirit of enthusiasm it has helped to kindle, would have been irretrievably lost.

The Report of the Treasurer, which has been laid before you with its balance to credit of £141 17s. 7d., appears to demand some explanation from the Council. The present year being the first of the Society's existence, each Fellow has paid both entrance fee and annnal subscription, so that next year, unless the numbers of Fellows be greatly increased, the income will be considerably reduced, while on the other hand the whole work of the Society has hitherto been gratuitously done by different members of your Council, and the Council Meetings have been held at the chambers of one of them. If, however, the Society is to effectively carry out its programme, it will be absolutely necessary to secure, as soon as possible, both a convenient office and the services of a competent paid Assistant-Secretary, These two items, with the cost of printing our Proceedings and Diplomas, will, by themselves, go far towards absorbing the amount which now stands to our credit.

It was with much regret that the Council learnt from the Rev. John de Soyres, almost immediately after the formation of the Society, that he was unable to act as Honorary Secretary. The duties attaching to that office have been undertaken, for a time, by one of their own members, but the Council trust that the Honorary Secretaryship will not long be allowed to remain. vacant, when so many of the Fellows of the Society have a special knowledge and aptitude, which would enable them, holding that office, to render invaluable aid to the Society.

The Council have yet to notice an important matter, in which many Fellows of the Society can afford material help, namely the appointment of Corresponding Members at the several places where Huguenot settlements were formed. Such correspondents, or local secretaries, would be able to advise with the Council in all matters relating to their own districts, and it is only reasonable to suppose that many would have or would be able to obtain access to church, parochial, and other registers, and permission, where needed, to copy them.

An ample supply of carefully-written papers on the subjects named in the prospectus is, of course, essential to the success and usefulness of the Society, and in this also the Council look

to the Fellows generally for assistance. Indeed, it cannot be too plainly stated, or too generally understood, that the usefulness of this Society will be measured by the readiness with which all its Members contribute to promote the objects laid down in the programme.

Most descendants from Huguenot refugees possess some tradition or document which, in its fragmentary or isolated form, is of little interest or use, but which, when collated with many. others of a similar kind, is found to acquire as well as to impart an interest and value quite unsuspected by its possessor.

It is hardly necessary for the Council to remind the Fellows that the time draws near when the Bicentenary of the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes will be celebrated by French Protestants and by Huguenot refugee descendants throughout the world.

The Act of Revocation was signed on the 18th and promulgated on the 22nd October, 1685.

In France the 18th October, which this year conveniently falls on Sunday, will be observed by the Protestants in the most solemn manner. The day will be set apart for special prayer, while in all the churches services will be held, at which the faith and constancy of the Huguenot Martyrs will be piously commemorated.

It may be assumed that in this, the highest form of commemoration, the English descendants of the Huguenots will not be behind their French kinsmen. Services are already being arranged at some of the churches most closely identified with the strangers, notices of which will be duly announced.

But while the Protestants of France can only turn from the contemplation of their heroic ancestors to the thought of the misery brought upon their country by this cruel Edict, which, in the words of the historian Alison, "closed the reign of Louis "XIV.in mourning, induced weakness and disgrace on the French "monarchy, spread the poison of irreligion, and finally overthrew "the throne which had made such an infamous use of its power," we in England can pass on to a grateful recognition of the benefits which have accrued to our country from the introduction among us of so many of the most thoughtful, the most cultivated, and the most inventive minds of France.

The precise manner of commemorating this great event in London has not yet been determined, but your Council has great pleasure in announcing that an invitation has been conveyed to them from the Directors of the French Protestant Hospital, Victoria Park, to join them in forming a programme

to be carried out at that Institution, between the 19th and 22nd October, and that the terms of the invitation include all Fellows of this Society who are willing and able to help in the work. This, in a manner, will take the place of the Summer Conference, which, at our last General Meeting, it was decided for the present to postpone.

The Council conclude by inviting the hearty co-operation of all Huguenot descendants in carrying out the objects of their programme. In particular they appeal to those who have already joined the Society, to make it widely known among their friends, and to help it by every means in their power to acquire and to maintain that position among kindred Societies which should be held by one professing to represent the descendants of the Huguenot refugees into Great Britain and Ireland.

The adoption of the Report was moved by Mr. H. J. P. Dumas, seconded by Mr. John E. Cussans, and carried unanimously.

Mr. A. GIRAUD BROWNING, after expressing the gratification of the Council at the unanimous adoption of their Report, invited the meeting to welcome Baron F. de Schickler, who in the double capacity of Président de la Société de l'histoire du Protestantisme Français and Honorary Fellow of this Society, was their guest this evening.

The BARON DE SCHICKLER acknowledged the distinction which the Huguenot Society of London had conferred upon the Paris Société by the election as Honorary Fellows of the President, Secretary, and Librarian. He spoke of the great interest with which the inauguration of this Society had been regarded by the French Protestants, and of the large area of research which was waiting to be explored by its members. From his own experience, while working occasionally among the Registers in London, Baron de Schickler could testify to the immense mass of important documents relating to the early French churches in London, which ought to be thoroughly investigated and in great part published or copied, if only as an insurance against total loss by fire. As Huguenot descendants in England, and in other countries, now look for the regular appearance of the bulletin of the Société de l'histoire du Protestantisme Français, so in future will French Protestants look for the publications of the Huguenot Society of London, which will be full of interest for them.

Baron de Schickler then referred to the approaching Bicentenary of the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, and to the proposed manner of its celebration by the Protestants in France. Sunday, the 18th October, will be observed as un jour d'humiliation. Special Services will be held in all the Protestant churches in France, at which the heroic faith and courage of the Huguenots will be commemorated, and their example of constancy held up for imitation. At these services many of the Psalms and Hymns of Clement Marot and Theodore de Bèze will be sung to the old Huguenot tunes by choirs who are already training. On Thursday, the 22nd, the date of the promulgation of the Edict, Protestants of all denominations will assemble in the church of the Oratoire, the largest Protestant church in Paris, when addresses will be given by M. Bersier, M. Viguier, and others, on subjects connected with the Revocation. At this gathering also the singing of Huguenot hymns will form a special feature.

In addition, the Société will publish a double number of the bulletin, containing many interesting documents and papers and in particular (by permission only just obtained from the Government) an exact fac simile of that document, which has the saddest and most intense interest for all French Protestants and their descendants-the Edict of Revocation. The Baron concluded by congratulating the Society on the success which had attended its first efforts, and which he fully believed would be enduring.

Mr. EDWARD ERNEST STRIDE was very pleased to hear Baron de Schickler's testimony to that part of the Council's Report which spoke of the importance of collecting and publishing Huguenot church registers, for he considered such publication should be looked upon as one of the first duties of the Society. He also held that the registers should be copied verbatim, not omitting the names of sponsors, witnesses &c., because these frequently afforded much light in genealogical investigations. As regards family registers, histories, pedigrees, and other documents, the Council would gladly receive them for perusal and publication at their discretion in the Transactions of the Society, though it would be obviously out of their power to take any responsibility for the correctness of the papers so published. In view of the considerable expense which would beincurred in carrying on satisfactorily the work of the Society, Mr. Stride appealed to those iuterested to endeavour to increase the number of Fellows, ladies as well as gentlemen.

Mr. H. MARETT GODFRAY spoke of the great number of French Protestant refugees who had settled in the Channel