140 Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. 



ing into the execution of the Exchange conducted by a committee 

 'of certain citizens therein named, together with fifteen wholesale 

 merchants, freemen of the Guild of Merchants to be chosen by the 

 wholesale freemen of the Guild of Merchants from among themselves." 

 The earlier entries in the book are concerned with the steps taken to 

 raise funds for the erection of the Exchange, the money voted by 

 Parliament being absorbed by the cost of the site. These funds were 

 for the most part obtained by means of lotteries. On Feb. 23, 1768, 

 it was resolved ' ' that a scheme be grafted on the State Lottery now 

 depending in England in order to raise a further sum towards the 

 expense of erecting an Exchange on the reserved ground on Cork Hill, 

 and that an advertisement for that purpose be published in due time 

 in all the Dublin papers, except the Gazette." The minute-book is 

 crowded with entries, between the dates 1768 and 1778, relating to 

 the progress of the building, including a resolution of 24th Feb., 1769, 

 for the payment of the bills "for the expenses of entertaining the Lord 

 Lieutenant on the occasion of his laying the foundation stone," not- 

 withstanding the Committee are of opinion they are exceedingly 

 extravagant. The bills amounted to £298 13s. \^d. 



But the Committee of Merchants was concerned with topics more 

 serious than these. They busied themselves from the fii'st in such 

 matters as the procui-ing an amendment in the Irish Banki'uptcy Laws, 

 in movements for the direct importation of spirits from the British 

 plantations without first landing them in Great Britain, and other 

 questions directly affecting the commercial interests of Ireland. That 

 they also took a lively interest in the mercantile development of their 

 own city is evident from the space devoted in their records to such 

 topics as the building of the new Custom House, and a proposal for 

 erecting Law Courts in College-gi'een. Both of these projects were 

 opposed by the merchants on the ground that they tended to shift 

 the commerce of Dublin fi'om its old centre in the neighbourhood of 

 Essex-quay ; the latter scheme was especially obnoxious as tending 

 " to the erection of a bridge east of Essex Bridge " ; and the foi-mer 

 was foi-mally condemned as " extremely injurious to the interests of 

 thousands of individuals, and highly prejudicial to the commerce of 

 this city in general." ^ It is interesting to note that the erection of the 



^ Oa 30tU Dec, 1773, it was resolved: — "That the removal of the Custom 

 House below Temple Lane slip will tend to draw the inhahitants of the city further 

 down the river, and so furnish a pretext for building a bridge to ttie east of Essex 

 Bridge, which would be still more injurious to private property, to trade, and tonavi- 

 gation than even the removal of the Custom House." — [Extract f rom Mimite-book.y 



