At a public meeting of the society, held on 19th September, 

 1833, a statement of the total receipts and expenditure to date 

 was submitted. From that it appeared that the total cost of 

 the building and of furnishing the parts then in use amounted 

 to ^"2,321 9s. 8d., and the receipts were £1, 5 94 8s. 6d., leaving 

 a balance due of ^727 is. 2d. A new financial scheme was 

 proposed with a view of liquidating this debt, and this scheme 

 was so successful that by October it was announced that, through 

 the continued exertions of some members of the society, the 

 Museum was then absolutely free from debt. 



Up to, and for some time after the year 1836 the large upper 

 room of the building continued unfurnished, but not entirely 

 unused, as during the period from 1836 to 1843, I find mention 

 of several exhibitions of paintings being held in it. The follow- 

 ing paragraph is from the annual report presented in May, 

 1838 : — " ' The Belfast Association of Artists,' having applied 

 this session again for permission to hold another exhibition 

 of paintings in the Museum, the council agreed to their request, 

 and a large collection of paintings and statuary was accordingly 

 exhibited for six weeks. . . . The success of these exhibi- 

 tions has led to a proposal for erecting in Belfast a building 

 devoted entirely to the fine arts." I observe that in 1842 the 

 " Northern Art Union" were having an exhibition of paintings 

 in the Museum, and a " fashionable promenade," with a regi- 

 mental band in attendance, was advertised to take place on 1st 

 and 3rd December. In August, 1843, another exhibition of 

 paintings, this time got up by the " Belfast Fine Arts Society," 

 was opened in the Museum. Here within seven years there 

 appears to have been three bodies or associations holding art 

 exhibitions in our building. Meantime the meetings of the 

 society had become so popular and largely attended that the 

 accommodation in the ordinary lecture-room was inadequate, 

 and more space was wanted for the proper display of the 

 constantly increasing collections. It was therefore proposed (in 

 1838) " to erect in the rear of the Belfast Museum a spacious 

 lecture-room, with a laboratory and an apparatus-room attached." 

 The estimated cost of this projected building was ^"800, towards 



