8o A HISTORY OF 



of November 1750, the annual election of officers 

 took place, when William, Earl of Harrington, lord 

 lieutenant, became president ; George, Archbishop of 

 Armagh ; Charles, Archbishop of Dublin ; James, 

 Earl of Kildare ; John, Earl of Grandison ; Hum- 

 phrey, Viscount Lanesborough ; Sir Arthur Gore ; 

 and Sir Thomas Taylor vice-presidents ; Robert 

 Downes, treasurer; Dr. John Wynne and Thomas 

 Prior, secretaries ; William Maple, registrar ; and 

 William Hawker, clerk. The most remarkable name 

 in this list is that of Primate George Stone, who 

 had been Vice-President for some years previously, 

 As pointed out by Mr. Litton Falkiner, 1 the office at 

 this period was much more political than ecclesiastical, 

 and Stone's appointment was due to his known aptitude 

 for the management of affairs. He was an able states- 

 man and parliamentarian, and as such his connection 

 with the Dublin Society was of great importance to 

 its interests. 



On the 2ist October 1751, the Society sustained a 

 severe loss in the death of Thomas Prior, who for 

 twenty years had laboured incessantly in its behalf, 

 and who had acted as Secretary from its commence- 

 ment. The newspapers stated that he died after a 

 tedious and severe illness, and on the 25th of October, 

 " the corpse of that great and good man " was de- 

 posited in the church of Rathdowney, Queen's county. 

 Faulkner's Dublin Journal contained a most apprecia- 

 tive notice of his useful and beneficent life and labours. 

 At the meeting held on the 3ist of October, the 

 Bishop of Meath (Henry Maule), moved that a monu- 

 ment be raised to the memory of Mr. Prior, and 

 subscriptions were to be invited. The commission was 



1 Essays Relating to Ireland (Archbishop Stone), ed. E. Dowden, 

 1909. 



