THE ROYAL DUBLIN SOCIETY 213 



1804 Parliament, as before, gave the Society ,£5500 

 for establishment charges, and £4500 for new buildings. 

 By the end of the year arrears of subscriptions had 

 been reduced to a sum of £2828. 



The report of the committee of accounts, presented 

 in May 18 16, is selected as showing particulars which 

 demonstrate the financial position of the Society after 

 its acquisition of Leinster House. 



I. Debts and engagements, including Establish- 

 ment expenses, for the year ending March 

 181 7 (showing what are now payable), £ s. d. 



amounted to 4614 12 4 



II. Debts due by the Society, incurred by under- 

 takings previous to March 1816, and not 

 applied to expenditure of the year ending 

 March 1817 43 66 l 6 



III. Unavoidable estimated expenses of year ending 



25th March 1817 8076 16 8 



IV. Debts due, and requiring payment, included 



in estimated expenditure for year to 25th 



March 1817 248 10 10 



Against this, £119, 2s. ^d. stood in bank; and 

 there were also the Hawkins street premises, which 

 were valued at £10,000; and the yearly subscriptions 

 of members. (Full accounts for the year ending 

 March 18 17 will be found in Proceedings, vol. lii. 

 p. 217.) In August 1 83 1, when the estimates for 

 the ensuing year were being prepared, it was found 

 that the grant to the Society was to be reduced to 

 £5500. The Imperial Parliament had granted £10,000 

 a year for twenty years from the date of the Union ; 

 then it was made £7000, and now it was again being 

 reduced. In the Proceedings for 1831, p. 290, is a 

 report on this matter. In Proceedings, vol. lxvii., 

 appendix v., will be found a petition to the House 

 of Commons on the threatened reduction. 



In 1832-3, the Society's estimate for its needs was 



