TENTH ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

HBLD AT

THE HOTEL WINDSOR, VICTORIA STREET, WESTMINSTER.

WEDNESDAY, MAY 9, 1894.

SIR HENRY W. PEEK, BART., Vice-President, in the Chair.

THE Minutes of the Ordinary Meeting, held on March 14, were read and confirmed.

The following seven candidates were elected Fellows of the Society :

Miss Edith Louise De Grave, 1, Ilchester Gardens, Hyde Park, W.

Lancelot Walter De Grave, Esq., 24, Crompton Street, Derby. Miss Jessie Gilligan, Clevedon Cottage, Reading.

Lionel Landon, Esq., 34, Carlton Road, Putney, S.W.

Christopher Digges La Touche, Esq., Molesworth Street, Dublin.

Edmond Philip Le Feuvre, Esq., 10, Aberdeen Terrace, Blackheath.

The Signet Library, Edinburgh.

The Chairman then called upon the Hon. Secretary to read the Annual Report of the Council as follows:

Report of the Council to the Tenth Annual General Meeting, Wednesday, May 9, 1894.

During the past year the Society has lost twenty-seven Fellows by death and withdrawal, being two less than in the year May, 1892-May, 1893, and has gained twenty-three new Fellows as against twenty-four during the preceding year, the actual loss being thus reduced to four only. The number now on the list is 357, in addition to which there are 17 Honorary Fellows, making 374 in all; and considering the circumstances of the times and the losses suffered by other Societies, the Council think it is very satisfactory to find

that the Society has continued to be so well supported and to shew such good proof of undiminished vitality.

The Treasurer's Balance-sheet, accompanying this Report, shews a total income for the year ending December 31, 1893, of £430 14s. 3d., and an expenditure of £515 15s. 11d., being an excess of expenditure over income of £85 1s. 8d. This deficit, however, is apparent rather than real, being amply covered by a portion of the subscriptions paid in January last, though the accounts are, as usual, made up to the end of the previous month. The actual balance in hand this evening is £206 9s. 8d., subject to a charge of £76 6s. 1d., for accounts now due, and the Society also posseses the sum of £478 1s. 9d., invested in 23 p. c. Consols.

The Council are gratified to find that in spite of a smaller number of new Fellows having been elected during the past year, the sale of publications has increased from £32 17s. 6d. to £35 1s. Od., thus shewing that new members are generally anxious to secure complete sets of the Society's volumes.

A double allowance of quarto publications having been issued in the earlier half of 1893, the Council have thought it expedient to delay the present year's issue rather longer than they would otherwise have done. The volume, is however, already nearly complete in type, and Fellows may expect to receive it during the autumn. It will be the continuation of the Canterbury Registers edited by Mr. Hovenden. volume for 1895, being the first part of the Threadneedle Street Registers, edited by Mr. Moens, is also in the press.

The

The concluding number of the fourth volume of Proceedings will be issued almost immediately with the new annual List of Fellows, and the general Index to that volume is in preparation.

By the preliminary circular sent out in February, Fellows have been made aware of the proposal to hold a Summer Conference this year in Ireland, and the Council are very pleased to find that it has been received with even greater support than they had anticipated, a larger number of Fellows having expressed their intention to attend than on any previous occasion of the kind. The programme suggested by the Conference Committee will be presently submitted for approval, and the Council hope that a very successful Meeting may be the result.

To their colleagues retiring from office, Dr. Collins, Mr. Cussans, Mr. de Grave, and Mr. Waller, to the Auditors, Mr. Ouvry and Mr. Grellier, the Council desire to tender their thanks for constant and valued help during the past year.

They cannot conclude their Report without expressing their unfeigned regret at the absence this evening of the President, owing to prolonged and severe ilness. They hope that it may not be long before he is fully restored to his usual health, and enabled to contribute as actively to the Society's proceedings as he has always hitherto done.

The Report of the Council having been approved by the Meeting, the Hon. Secretary read the following Address from the President, who was prevented by illness from being present.

Address to the Tenth Annual General Meeting of the Huguenot Society of London. By the RIGHT HON. SIR HENRY A. LAYARD, G.C.B., President:

Ladies and Gentlemen,

In addressing you this evening, I must in the first place express my great regret at not having been able (owing to absence from England) to be with you at any of the Society's Meetings, since the very enjoyable one we held at Colchester in the summer of 1892. I had quite hoped to attend our Annual General Meeting last year, but illness unfortunately prevented my doing so, and at the last moment I was obliged to request your Vice-President, Sir Henry Peek, to take my place and read to you the Address which I had looked forward to delivering myself on that occasion. I would take this opportunity of publicly expressing to Sir Henry Peek my thanks for the very kind way in which he so readily, and to your great advantage, came to my help in this matter.

The

A few weeks ago I little thought that I should have to make my excuses to you, not only for my absence last year, but for my failing to meet you this evening also. I can hardly tell you how grievously disappointed I am at being again prevented from taking my place amongst you to-night and properly discharging my duty as your President. disappointment is, if possible, intensified by the feeling that on this occasion there are not hundreds of miles intervening between us as was the case last May, but that I am here in London close by, and yet absolutely unable to come amongst you. But I shall, in thought, follow all your proceedings this evening, and must trust to your kindly forbearance to pardon not only my personal absence, but also the imperfections of the very brief Address which is all that I have strength to send for your acceptance.

It has been said (and, I think, with a good deal of truth) that "happy are the people who have no history"; and, looking back upon the past year, it seems that this old saying may be very appropriately applied to our Society. The twelve months that have elapsed since the last General Meeting have been singularly uneventful, both as regards the Huguenot Society of London and the various other Huguenot Societies on the Continent and in America. I consequently have not the usual numerous items of interest to dwell upon in noticing the work that has been accomplished by our foreign colleagues and by ourselves. On the other hand, I am happy to feel able to congratulate you on the comparative immunity of our Society from the heavy losses which I understand have been so universal amongst other historical and literary Societies in this country during the past year. Several, indeed, of our members, I am sorry to say, have been taken from us by death, but on the whole we have reason to be well satisfied with the numbers we have been able to maintain. As you have just heard by the Report of the Council, we now have on our books 357 subscribing Fellows and 17 Honorary Fellows, and I hope that during the coming year many others may join us. Let me again impress upon you, as I have so often before done, that we should one and all do our best to persuade our Huguenot and antiquarian friends to unite with us in pushing forward the very large amount of work we have undertaken; work which needs not only a steady increase of funds, but also a steady increase of workers.

You will recollect that in the earlier half of last year we were able to issue two volumes of the quarto series of publications instead of only one; and the Council have consequently deemed it advisable to let a longer interval than usual elapse before issuing the next volume of this series. That volume, is however, far advanced towards completion and is, moreover, I am pleased to say, already partially paid for, and we may expect to have it placed in our hands early in the autumn. It will contain the continuation and, I believe, completion of the Canterbury Registers which are being so carefully edited for us by Mr. Hovenden, and which are amongst the most useful and interesting of these old Huguenot records.

We also have in the press, for issue in 1895, the first volume of the very important Registers of the Threadneedle Street Church, under the editorship of Mr. Moens. I have been much concerned to hear that, owing to a prolonged and

serious illness, Mr. Moens has lately been quite unable to attend to this or any other work; but I am glad to hear he is now recovering, and I hope he may speedily be well enough to resume the labours he has so kindly undertaken in our behalf.

Within the next few days we shall receive the concluding number of the fourth volume of our Proceedings, in which will be found an interesting account of the Westminster French School by Mr. Beaufort. This should appeal strongly to our Huguenot sympathies, both as a record of the past and as treating of an institution still existing and doing much good work in a quiet, but thoroughly efficient way.

Having regard to the number of these publications and the very considerable expenditure of time and labour which they involve, I think we may fairly say that we are kept well supplied with much very solid reading; and I am quite sure you will gladly allow me to express to the various editors and contributors our hearty thanks for enabling the Society to produce so much that is of real historical value.

Although prevented from attending, as I could wish, to my duties as your President in England, I have been doing what I could at Venice to promote the genera! objects of the Society; and as the result of my labours during the past winter I have had pleasure of placing in the hands of our Secretary a transcript and translation of some interesting MSS. in the Venetian archives. These consist of some despatches of Marc' Antonio Barbaro, the representative of the Republic at the French Court towards the close of the 16th century, which supplement those already published by the Society and, in fact, complete the series from our Huguenot point of view. These despatches were for many years entirely lost sight of, and were supposed, indeed, to have been destroyed. You can therefore imagine my pleasure when, after a long and fruitless search in the archives at Venice, I was at last rewarded by the discovery of them. I now place the transcript and my accompanying translation of it unreservedly at the disposal of the Council to deal with as they think best. It may not be thought advisable to print them in quite the same form as those already published, but at all events they will remain in our library for reference, and, I trust, be of some use and value.

The mention of these diplomatic relations between France and the Venetian Republic reminds me of the somewhat remarkable share taken by descendants of the Huguenots in