THE ROYAL DUBLIN SOCIETY 31 



unrivalled authority where anything concerning Swift 

 is concerned, points out that the Dean held Anthony 

 Sheppard, jun., the treasurer, and his father, in con- 

 tempt * ; and from Swift's well-known habit of mind, 

 especially at a period when he had begun to fail, he 

 may possibly have contracted dislikes also to others 

 connected with the Society. Berkeley, too, who, as 

 will be seen, helped it later on by his writings and 

 encouragement, never formally joined its ranks. 



The list includes the names of twelve members of 

 the episcopal bench, and thirty-four clergymen (in- 

 cluding deans), some of whom were subsequently 

 elevated to the episcopate ; of sixteen peers and several 

 sons of peers, five members of the judicial bench, in- 

 cluding the Lord Chancellor and the Master of the 

 Rolls. The Speaker of the House of Commons was 

 also a member, and the remaining names are those of 

 baronets, retired army officers, country gentlemen, 

 barristers, medical men, Fellows of Trinity College, 

 and men holding high positions in the world of com- 

 merce. Thus all that was best in Dublin society, and 

 in the Ireland of the day generally, united in a common 

 and patriotic effort to improve the status of their 

 country, and we shall soon see how marked an im- 

 provement the labours of the Society effected in many 

 different directions. 



During the year 1734, the Society appears to have 

 brought itself in touch with Holland and with Dutch 

 methods. Mr. Robert Ross, of Rostrevor, a member, 

 was in Holland, when he was requested to purchase 

 Jacob Leupold's Laws of Mechanics, and the five 

 volumes of Dutch Laws, which he brought back with 



1 Swift's Correspondence, vol. vi. 6. In a letter to Thomas Sheridan, 

 9th April 1737, he says: "The old hunks Shepherd has buried his 

 only son^ a young hunks come to age." 



