Twentyone Years' Work in the Holy Land Author:Walter Besant Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: 23 CHAPTER II. CHRONICLE OF THE SOCIETY: Cromlech in Galilee. IN the year 1865-66, the first or preliminary expedition was sent out under Captain Wil... more »son and Lieut. Anderson, the results of which are detailed in chapter III. (see p. 38). In the year 1867, a great stimulus was given to the Society by the announcement that excavations were about to be made in Jerusalem, and letters were written to the Times by Mr. George Grove, which, backed by one or two leading articles, created for a short time very great enthusiasm. It must be remembered that the founders hoped to accomplish all their objects in a very few years, and by the expenditure of a comparatively small sum. With this belief the Committee contemplated a brief existence and began by askingfor donations, rather than for annual subscriptions, so that in the first three years the comparatively large sum of .£8,000, which was raised in answer to their appeals, consisted almost entirely of donations. The Queen, who became the Patron of the Society gave £150; the University of Oxford £500; the University of Cambridge £250; the British Association £ 150 ; the Grand Lodge of Freemasons £ 105; the Syria Improvement Committee £250—this Committee subsequently voted other large sums ; the City of Edinburgh sent up £200; Glasgow £140; Cambridge £100; and Oxford £90. There were eleven donors of £100, and a great many others in the first lists who gave between £50 and £ ioo each. But as yet there were hardly any annual subscribers. These had to be created when the need for them arose, namely, when all the money of the " first sprightly flow " had been spent. The time of great donations has never passed away, and scarcely a year passes but some gift of a very substantial kind rejoices the Committee; but the Society no lon...« less