( clxvi ) 



ledgment of its receipt, though, we have been anxiously 

 expecting one during the period of more than three months 

 which has since elapsed. But, on the 17th of May, we were 

 informed by the letter of the Under Secretary, to which 

 we have already referred, that the charge of our Yote had 

 been transferred to the Science and Art Department. 



"It may be supposed by some that the Academy, by its 

 action in relation to Lord Sandon's proposal, has set itself in 

 opposition to the establishment of a Science and Art Museum 

 in Dublin, and is thus impeding the bestowal of a great benefit 

 on the people of Ireland. Ilo representation could be more 

 unfounded. What was sought from us in his Lordship's 

 letter was the union of our Antiquarian Collections to the pro- 

 posed new Museum. To this we distinctly assented, on condi- 

 tions such as we thought were required in the interest of the 

 country, involving arrangements similar to those which were 

 accorded in a like case to the Scottish Society of Antiquaries, 

 and under which the National Collection of Antiquities in 

 England is managed by the Trustees of the British Museum^ 

 without interference from the Science and Art Department, 

 which has no concern with Archaeology. 



" The only reasons given for the transfer of the charge of 

 our Yote are founded in misapprehension. It is stated that 

 such a change was recommended by the Commissioners of 

 1868. But this is an erroneous statement, not supported by 

 the Report of the Commissioners, and contradicted by some of 

 them, who have come forward to repel the assertion. 



" The other reason alleged is, that the change has been in- 

 troduced to further a proposed amalgamation of ' Scientific 

 Institutions in Dublin.' But the Government has not given 

 its sanction to any such amalgamation, and it was not proposed 

 in Lord Sandon's letter. The project of such an amalgamation 

 has been rejected by the Academy, and the idea of forcing it 

 on a reluctant body may be treated as quite out of the 

 question. 



The Royal Irish Academy is not an Educational Institution 

 like those with which the functions of the Science and Art 

 Department properly connect it, but a learned Society, occu- 



