Page:The first report, etc., of the Lichfield Society.djvu/13

 DELIVERED BY THE

REV. PREBENDARY GRESLEY, V. P.,

CHAIRMAN.

HIS being our first Annual Meeting, I have been requested to state, in general terms, what are the views of the Lichfield Architectural Society, and what are the advantages contemplated, and the modes by which it is to be hoped that those advantages may be secured. Other members, more competent than myself, will, I hope, lay before you some interesting details connected with Architectural subjects. It will be my office to invite your attention to more elementary topics, which may serve as an introduction to the proceedings of this Society.

The study of Ecclesiastical Architecture,—besides its evident connexion with the highest and holiest subjects, is one eminently calculated to improve the taste, and, at the same time, to enlarge the intellect. The facts and objects which it presents to us are not only beautiful and picturesque, but they are linked so closely with our national history, and with the moral condition of the English people, as well as with our deepest religious associations as Churchmen, that without some acquaintance with them, no one can have an accurate knowledge of the history of his Church and country, or of the feelings and manners of by-gone ages. I might begin by directing your attention to those splendid monuments of Architectural skill, the noble cathedrals which are still