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diff --git a/old/67389-0.txt b/old/67389-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 99d2696..0000000 --- a/old/67389-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,14237 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of Lives of the Founders of the British -Museum, by Edward Edwards - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: Lives of the Founders of the British Museum - with Notices of its Chief Augmentors and Other Benefactors, - 1570-1870. Part I of II - -Author: Edward Edwards - -Release Date: February 17, 2022 [eBook #67389] - -Language: English - -Produced by: Richard Tonsing, MWS and the Online Distributed - Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was - produced from images generously made available by The - Internet Archive/American Libraries.) - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LIVES OF THE FOUNDERS OF THE -BRITISH MUSEUM *** - - - - - - LIVES OF - THE FOUNDERS - OF THE - BRITISH MUSEUM; - WITH - NOTICES OF ITS CHIEF AUGMENTORS AND OTHER BENEFACTORS. - 1570–1870. - - - BY EDWARD EDWARDS. - - - - - PART I. - - - LONDON: - TRÜBNER AND CO., 60, PATERNOSTER ROW. - 1870. - (_All rights reserved._) - - - - - PRINTED BY J. E. ADLARD, BARTHOLOMEW CLOSE. - - - - - LIVES OF THE FOUNDERS, AND NOTICES OF SOME CHIEF BENEFACTORS AND - ORGANIZERS, OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM. - - - _COTTON—ARUNDEL—HARLEY—COURTEN—SLOANE—HAMILTON—CHARLES - TOWNELEY—PAYNE-KNIGHT—LANSDOWNE—BRIDGEWATER—KING GEORGE - III—BANKS—CRACHERODE—GRENVILLE—FELLOWS—LAYARD—CURETON—&c. &c. &c._ - - - - - WORKS BY THE SAME AUTHOR. - - - MEMOIRS OF LIBRARIES: INCLUDING A HANDBOOK OF LIBRARY ECONOMY. 2 vols. - 8vo. [With 8 steel plates; 36 woodcuts; 16 lithographic plates; and - 4 illustrations in chromo-lithography.] 48s. - - LIBRARIES, AND FOUNDERS OF LIBRARIES. 8vo. 18s. - - COMPARATIVE TABLES OF SCHEMES WHICH HAVE BEEN PROPOSED FOR THE - CLASSIFICATION OF HUMAN KNOWLEDGE. Fol. 5s. - - SYNOPTICAL TABLES OF THE RECORDS OF THE REALM. WITH AN HISTORICAL - PREFACE. Fol. 9s. - - CHAPTERS OF THE HISTORY OF THE FRENCH ACADEMY, &c. 8vo. 6s. - - LIBER MONASTERII DE HYDA; _comprising a Chronicle of the Affairs of - England from the Settlement of the Saxons to Cnut; and a - Chartulary_; A.D. 455–1023. Edited by the Authority of the Lords - Commissioners of Her Majesty’s Treasury, under the Direction of the - Master of the Rolls. 8vo. 10s. 6d. - - THE LIFE OF SIR WALTER RALEGH; BASED ON CONTEMPORARY DOCUMENTS - PRESERVED IN THE ROLLS HOUSE, THE PRIVY COUNCIL OFFICE, HATFIELD - HOUSE, THE BRITISH MUSEUM, AND OTHER MANUSCRIPT REPOSITORIES, - BRITISH AND FOREIGN. Together with his LETTERS, now first Collected. - 2 vols. 8vo. 32s. - - EXMOUTH AND ITS NEIGHBOURHOOD, ANCIENT AND MODERN; BEING NOTICES, - HISTORICAL, BIOGRAPHICAL, AND DESCRIPTIVE, OF A CORNER OF SOUTH - DEVON. Crown 8vo. 5s. - - FREE TOWN LIBRARIES, THEIR FORMATION, MANAGEMENT, AND HISTORY; IN - BRITAIN, FRANCE, GERMANY, AND AMERICA. Together with brief Notices - of Book-Collectors, and of the Respective Places of Deposit of their - Surviving Collections. 8vo. 21s. - -[Illustration: - - DALLASTYPE. - - The first British Museum; formerly the residence of the Duke of - Montagu. -] - - - - - LIVES OF - THE FOUNDERS - OF THE - BRITISH MUSEUM; - WITH NOTICES OF ITS CHIEF AUGMENTORS AND OTHER BENEFACTORS. - 1570–1870. - - - BY EDWARD EDWARDS. - -[Illustration: - - The old “Townley Gallery.” -] - - LONDON: - TRÜBNER AND CO., 60, PATERNOSTER ROW. - 1870. - (_All rights reserved._) - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - PREFATORY NOTE. - - -For the materials of the earlier of the ‘Lives’ contained in this volume -I have been chiefly indebted to the Collection of State Papers at the -Rolls House; to the Privy-Council Registers at the Council Office; and -to many manuscripts in the Cottonian, Harleian, Sloane, and Lansdowne -Collections at the British Museum. - - HIGHGATE; _6th May, 1870_. - - _The liberal deviseth liberal things; and by liberal things - shall he stand._ - - ISAIAH, xxxii, 8. - - _Man’s only relics are his benefits; - These, be there ages, be there worlds, between, - Retain him in communion with his kind._ - - LANDOR (_Count Julian_). - - - - - CONTENTS. - - - BOOK THE FIRST. - - _EARLY COLLECTORS:—THE GATHERERS OF THE FOUNDATION COLLECTIONS._ - - - CHAPTER I. - - _INTRODUCTION._ - PAGE - - _Chronological Epochs in the Formation of the British Museum_ 5 - - - CHAPTER II. - - _THE FOUNDER OF THE COTTONIAN LIBRARY._ - - _The Personal and Public Life of Sir Robert Cotton.—His Political - Writings and Political Persecutions.—Sources and Growth of the - Cottonian Library.—The Successors of Sir Robert Cotton.—History - of the Cottonian Library, until its union with the Manuscript - Library of Harley, and with the Museum and Miscellaneous - Collections of Sloane.—Review of some recent Aspersions on the - Character of the Founder_ 48 - - - CHAPTER III. - - _THE CHIEF COLLECTOR AND THE AUGMENTORS OF THE OLD ROYAL AND PUBLIC - LIBRARY AT ST. JAMES’._ - - _Life of Henry, Prince of Wales, son of James I, and virtual - Founder of the ‘Royal Library.’—Its Augmentors and its - Librarians.—Acquisition of the Library of the - Theyers.—Incorporation with the Collections of Cotton and of - Sloane_ 153 - - - CHAPTER IV. - - _THE COLLECTOR OF THE ARUNDELIAN MSS._ - - _Political Exile and Foreign Travel under Elizabeth and under - James.—Life of Thomas Howard, Earl of Arundel.—The Consolations - of Connoisseurship.—Vicissitudes of the Arundel Museum.—The - gifts of Henry Howard to the Royal Society_ 172 - - - CHAPTER V. - - _THE COLLECTOR OF THE HARLEIAN MSS._ - - _The Harley Family.—Parliamentary and Official Career of Robert - Harley, Earl of Oxford.—The Party Conflicts under Queen - Anne.—Robert Harley and Jonathan Swift.—Harley and the Court of - the Stuarts.—Did Harley conspire to restore the - Pretender?—History of the Harleian Library.—The Life and - Correspondence of Humphrey Wanley_ 203 - - - CHAPTER VI. - - _THE FOUNDERS OF THE SLOANE MUSEUM._ - - _Flemish Exiles in England.—The Adventures, Mercantile and - Colonial Enterprises, and Vicissitudes of the Courtens.—William - Courten and his Collections.—The Life and Travels of Sir Hans - Sloane.—His acquisition of Courten’s Museum.—Its Growth under - the new Possessor.—History of the Sloane Museum and Library, and - of their purchase by Parliament_ 247 - - - BOOK THE SECOND. - - _THE ORGANIZERS, AND EARLY AUGMENTORS._ - - - CHAPTER I. - - _INTRODUCTORY._ - - _Househunting.—The Removal of the Sloane Museum from - Chelsea.—Montagu House, and its History.—The Early Trustees and - Officers.—The Museum Regulations.—Early Helpers in the - Foundation and Increase of the British Museum.—Epochs in the - Growth of the Natural History Collections.—Experiences of - Inquiring Visitors in the years 1765–1784_ 317 - - - CHAPTER II. - - _A GROUP OF CLASSICAL ARCHÆOLOGISTS AND EXPLORERS._ - - _Sir William Hamilton and his Pursuits and Employments in - Italy.—The Acquisitions of the French Institute of Egypt, and - the capture of part of them at Alexandria.—Charles Towneley and - his Collection of Antiquities.—The Researches of the Earl of - Elgin in Greece.—The Collections and Writings of Richard Payne - Knight_ 346 - - - CHAPTER III. - - _A GROUP OF BOOK-LOVERS AND PUBLIC BENEFACTORS._ - - _Notices of some early Donors of Books.—The Life and Collections - of Clayton Mordaunt Cracherode.—William Petty, first Marquess of - Lansdowne, and his Library of Manuscripts.—The Literary Life and - Collections of Dr. Charles Burney.—Francis Hargrave and his - Manuscripts.—The Life and Testamentary Foundations of Francis - Henry Egerton, Ninth Earl of Bridgewater_ 413 - - - CHAPTER IV. - - _THE KING’S OR ‘GEORGIAN’ LIBRARY;—ITS COLLECTOR, AND ITS DONOR._ - - _Notices of the Literary Tastes and Acquirements of King George - the Third.—His Conversations with Men of Letters.—History of his - Library and of its Transfer to the British Nation by George the - Fourth_ 464 - - - CHAPTER V. - - _THE FOUNDER OF THE BANKSIAN MUSEUM AND LIBRARY._ - - _The Life, Travels, and Social Influence, of Sir Joseph Banks.—The - Royal Society under his Presidency.—His Collections and their - acquisition by the Trustees of the British Museum.—Notices of - some other contemporaneous accessions_ 487 - - - BOOK THE THIRD. - - _LATER AUGMENTORS AND BENEFACTORS._ - - 1829–1870. - - - CHAPTER I. - - _GENERAL VIEW OF THE HISTORY OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM, UNDER THE - ADMINISTRATION, AS PRINCIPAL-LIBRARIAN, OF JOSEPH PLANTA._ - - _Notices of the Life of Joseph Planta, third - Principal-Librarian.—Improvements in the Internal Economy of the - Museum introduced or recommended by Mr. Planta.—His labours for - the enlargement of the Collections—and on the Museum - Publications and Catalogues.—The Museum Gardens and the Duke of - Bedford_ 515 - - - CHAPTER II. - - _INTRODUCTION TO BOOK III (continued):—GROWTH, PROGRESS, AND INTERNAL - ECONOMY, OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM, DURING THE PRINCIPAL-LIBRARIANSHIP OF - SIR HENRY ELLIS._ - - _Internal Economy of the Museum at the time of the death of Joseph - Planta.—The Literary Life and Public Services of Sir Henry - Ellis.—The Candidature of Henry Fynes Clinton.—Progress of - Improvement in certain Departments.—Introduction of Sir Antonio - Panizzi into the Service of the Trustees.—The House of Commons’ - Committee of 1835–36.—Panizzi and Henry Francis Cary.—Memoir of - Cary.—Panizzi’s Report on the proper Character of a National - Library for Britain, made in October, 1837.—His successive - labours for Internal Reform.—And his Helpers in the work.—The - Literary Life and Public Services of Thomas Watts.—Sir A. - Panizzi’s Special Report to the Trustees of 1845, and what grew - thereout.—Progress, during Sir H. Ellis’s term of office, of the - several Departments of Natural History and of Antiquities_ 527 - - - CHAPTER III. - - _INTRODUCTION TO BOOK III (continued):—GROWTH, PROGRESS, AND INTERNAL - ECONOMY, OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM DURING THE PRINCIPAL-LIBRARIANSHIP OF - SIR ANTONIO PANIZZI._ - - _The Museum Buildings.—The New Reading-Room and its History.—The - House of Commons’ Committee of 1860.—Further Reorganization of - the Departments.—Summary of the Growth of the Collections in the - years 1856–1866, and of their increased Use and Enjoyment by the - Public_ 583 - - - CHAPTER IV. - - _ANOTHER GROUP OF ARCHÆOLOGISTS AND EXPLORERS.—THE SPOILS OF XANTHUS, - OF BABYLON, OF NINEVEH, OF HALICARNASSUS, AND OF CARTHAGE._ - - _The Libraries of the East.—The Monasteries of the Nitrian Desert, - and their Explorers.—William Cureton and his Labours on the MSS. - of Nitria, and in other Departments of Oriental Literature.—The - Researches in the Levant of Sir Charles Fellows, of Mr. Layard, - and of Mr. Charles Newton.—Other conspicuous Augmentors of the - Collection of Antiquities_ 608 - - - CHAPTER V. - - _THE FOUNDER OF THE GRENVILLE LIBRARY._ - - _The Grenvilles and their Influence on the Political Aspect of the - Georgian Reigns.—The Public and Literary Life of the Right - Honourable Thomas Grenville.—History of the Grenville Library_ 670 - - - CHAPTER VI. - - _OTHER BENEFACTORS OF RECENT DAYS._ - - _Recent Contributors to the Natural History Collections.—The Duke - of Blacas and his Museum of Greek and Roman Antiquities.—Hugh - Cuming and his Travels and Collections in South America.—John - Rutter Chorley, and his Collection of Spanish Plays and Spanish - Poetry.—George Witt and his Collections illustrative of the - History of Obscure Superstitions.—The Ethnographical Museum of - Henry Christy, and its History.—Colonial Archæologists and - British Consuls: The History of the Woodhouse Collection, and of - its transmittal to the British Museum.—Lord Napier and the - Acquisition of the Abyssinian MSS.—The Art Collections and - Bequests of Felix Slade.—The Travels and the Japanese Library of - Von Siebold_ 686 - - - CHAPTER VII. - - _RECONSTRUCTORS AND PROJECTORS._ - - _The Plans and Projects for the Severance and Partial Dispersion - of the Collections which at present form ‘The British Museum,’ - and for their re-combination and re-arrangement_ 721 - - INDEX 763 - - - - - LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. - - - PAGE - I. VIEW OF THE GARDEN-FRONT OF OLD MONTAGU HOUSE, - THE FIRST ‘BRITISH MUSEUM;’ as it appeared at - the opening of the Institution to the Public in - 1759 _Frontispiece._ - - II. VIEW OF THE OLD TOWNELEY GALLERY (built for the - reception of the Towneleian Marbles in 1805, - and pulled down on the erection of the existing _Vignette on - Museum) Title-page._ - - III. GROUND-PLAN OF THE PRINCIPAL FLOOR OF THE - ORIGINAL BRITISH MUSEUM OF 1759 325 - - IV. GROUND-PLAN OF THE SECONDARY FLOOR OF THE SAME 327 - - V. SUGGESTIONS MADE IN 1847 FOR THE ENLARGEMENT OF - THE LIBRARY OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM; being the - facsimile of a Plan inserted in a Pamphlet - (written in 1846) entitled ‘_Public Libraries _To face p._ - in London and Paris_’ 556 - - VI. REDUCED COPY OF BENJAMIN DELESSERT’S ‘_PROJET - D’UNE BIBLIOTHÈQUE CIRCULAIRE_,’ 1835 587 - - VII. GENERAL BLOCK-PLAN OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM, as it - was in 1857 589 - - VIII. GROUND-PLAN OF THE NEW OR ‘PANIZZI’ READING-ROOM, - and of the adjacent Galleries, 1857 590 - - IX. INTERIOR VIEW OF THE NEW READING-ROOM, 1857 591 - - X. COLOURED PLAN OF THE GROUND-FLOOR OF THE BRITISH - MUSEUM, as it was in 1862. _Copied from the _To face p._ - Parliamentary Return, No. 97 of Session 1862_ 750 - - XI. COLOURED PLAN OF THE GROUND-FLOOR &C., (as - above); TOGETHER WITH THE ALTERATIONS PROPOSED - TO THE LORDS OF THE TREASURY BY THE TRUSTEES OF - THE BRITISH MUSEUM; in their Minutes of - December, 1861, and January 21st, 1862, and in - their Letter to the Treasury of 11th February, _To face p._ - 1862. _Copied from the same Return_ 752 - - XII. COLOURED PLAN OF THE UPPER FLOOR OF THE BRITISH - MUSEUM, as it was in 1862. _Copied from the _To face p._ - same Return_ 754 - - XIII. COLOURED PLAN OF THE UPPER FLOOR, &C. (as above); - TOGETHER WITH THE ALTERATIONS PROPOSED TO THE - TREASURY BY THE TRUSTEES; in their Minutes of - December, 1861, and January, 1862, and in their - Letter of 11th February, 1862. _Copied from the _To face p._ - same Return_ 756 - - - - - BOOK THE FIRST. - _EARLY COLLECTORS:—THE GATHERERS OF THE FOUNDATION COLLECTIONS._ - - - - - _CONTENTS OF BOOK I._ - - - CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION. - - II. THE FOUNDER OF THE COTTONIAN LIBRARY. - - III. THE COLLECTORS AND AUGMENTORS OF THE OLD ROYAL AND PUBLIC - LIBRARY AT ST. JAMES’. - - IV. THE COLLECTOR OF THE ARUNDELIAN MSS. - - V. THE COLLECTOR OF THE HARLEIAN MANUSCRIPTS. - - VI. THE FOUNDERS OF THE SLOANE MUSEUM. - - - - -... “The reverence and respect your Petitioners bear to the memory of -the most learned Sir ROBERT COTTON are too great not to mention, in -particular, that from the liberal use of his Library sprang (chiefly) -most of the learned works of his time, for ever highly to be valued. The -great men of that age constantly resorted to and consulted it to shew -the errors and mistakes in government about that period. And, as this -inestimable Library hath since been generously given and dedicated to -the Public use for ever, to be a National Benefit, your Petitioners -presume that no expression of gratitude can be too great for so valuable -a treasure, or for doing honour to the Memory and Family of Sir ROBERT -COTTON.”—‘_Petition to the Honourable House of Commons from the -Cottonian Trustees_’ (drawn up antecedently to the Foundation Act of the -British Museum); 1752. - - - - - CHAPTER I. - INTRODUCTION. - - - _Chronological Epochs in the Formation of the British Museum._ - -In two particulars, more especially, our great National Museum stands -distinguished among institutions of its kind. The collections which -compose it extend over a wider range than that covered by any other -public establishment having a like purpose. And, if we take them as a -whole, those collections are also far more conspicuously indebted to the -liberality of individual benefactors. [Sidenote: THE PUBLIC DEBT TO -PRIVATE COLLECTORS.] In a degree of which there is elsewhere no example, -the British Museum has been gradually built up by the munificence of -open-handed Collectors, rather than by the public means of the Nation, -as administered by Parliament, or by the Governments of the day. - -The real founders of our British Museum have been neither our British -monarchs nor our British legislators, as such. They have been, commonly, -individual and private British subjects; men loyal both to the Crown and -to the People. Often, they have been men standing in direct lineal -descent from the great Barons who dictated the Charter of our liberties, -in the meadow near Windsor, and from those who led English knights and -English bowmen to victory, on the wooded slopes near Poitiers. -Sometimes, they have been men of very lowly birth; such as could point -to no ancestral names appended to _Magna Charta_, or to the famous -letter written from Lincoln to Boniface the Eighth; such as may, indeed, -very well have had ancestors who gave their lives, or their limbs, for -England at Poitiers or at Cressy, but who certainly could point to no -heraldic memorials of feats of arms done on those bloody fields of -France. Not a few of them, perhaps, would have been vainly asked to tell -the names of their grandfathers. One boast, however, is common to both -of these groups of our public benefactors. They were men who had alike a -strong sense of gratitude to those who had gone before them, and a -strong sense of duty to those who were to come after them. To nearly all -of the men whose lives will be told in this volume are applicable, in a -special sense, some words of Julius HARE:—‘They wrought in a magnanimous -spirit of rivalry with Nature, or in kindly fellowship with her.... -[Sidenote: J. & A. Hare, _Guesses at Truth_, vol. ii, p. 18.] When they -planted, they chose out the trees of longest life—the Oak, the Chestnut, -the Yew, the Elm,—trees which it does us good to behold, while we muse -on the many generations of our Forefathers, whose eyes have reposed -within the same leafy bays.’ They were men whose large impulses and deep -insight led them to work, less for themselves than for their successors. -It is by dint of what men of that stamp did—and did, not under the -leading of the Gospel according to Adam SMITH, but of a Gospel very much -older than it—that upon us, whose day is now passing, Posterity, so to -speak, ‘has cast her shadow before; and we are, at this moment, reposing -beneath it.’ Of Public Benefactions, such as those which this volume -very inadequately commemorates, it is true, with more than ordinary -truth, that we owe them, mainly, to a generous conviction in the hearts -of certain worthies of old days that they owed suit and service to -Posterity. This may, indeed, be said of public foresight, when evidenced -in material works and in provisions to smooth some of the asperities of -common life and of manual toil. But it may be said, more appropriately -still, of another and a higher kind of public foresight;—of that -evidenced in educational institutions, and in the various appliances for -raising and vivifying the common intellect; for enlarging its faculties; -diffusing its enjoyments; and broadening its _public_ domain. As it has -been said (by the same acute thinker who has just been quoted) in better -words than any of mine:—‘The great works that were wrought by men of -former times; the great fabrics that were raised by them; their mounds -and embankments against the powers of evil; their drains to carry off -mischief; the wide fields they redeemed from the overflowings of -barbarism; the countless fields they enclosed and husbanded for good to -grow and thrive in; ... all this they [mainly] achieved _for -Posterity_.... [Sidenote: J. & A. Hare, _Guesses at Truth_, vol. ii, p. -13.] Except for Posterity; except for the vital magnetic consciousness -that while men perish, Man survives, the only principle of prudent -conduct must have been, “_Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die_.”’ - - -The pages which follow have been written in the belief that they -afford—whatever the defects of their Writer—useful illustrations of this -great and pregnant truth. To him it has not been given to work ‘_for -Posterity_,’ otherwise than as a Chronicler of some of the workings of -other men. But he owns to a special delight in that humble function. Its -charm,—to his mind,—is enhanced, on the present occasion, by the very -fact that so much of the work now about to be narrated is the work of -men who only rarely have been labouring with other means, or with other -implements, than those which were personal to themselves, as -individuals. - -In the chief countries of the Continent of Europe—on the other -hand—great national Museums have, commonly, had their origin in the -liberality and wise foresight either of some sovereign or other, or of -some powerful minister whose mind was large enough to combine with the -cares of State a care for Learning. In Britain, our chief public -collection of literature and of science originated simply in the public -spirit of private persons. - - -The BRITISH MUSEUM was founded precisely at that period of our history -when the distinctively national, or governmental, care for the interests -of literature and of science was at its lowest, or almost its lowest, -point. As regards the monarchs, it would be hard to fix on any, since -the dawn of the Revival of Learning, who evinced less concern for the -progress and diffusion of learning than did the first and second princes -of the House of Hanover. As regards Parliament, the tardy and languid -acceptance of the boon proffered, posthumously, by Sir Hans SLOANE, -constitutes just the one exceptional act of encouragement that serves to -give saliency to the utter indifference which formed the ordinary rule. - -Long before SLOANE’s time (as we shall see hereafter), there had been -zealous and repeated efforts to arouse the attention of the Government -as well to the political importance as to the educational value of -public museums. Many thinkers had already perceived that such -collections were a positive increase of public wealth and of national -greatness, as well as a powerful instrument of popular education. It had -been shewn, over and over again, that for lack of public care precious -monuments and treasures of learning had been lost; sometimes by their -removal to far-off countries; sometimes by their utter destruction. -Until the appeal made to Parliament by the Executors of Sir Hans SLOANE, -in the middle of the eighteenth century, all those efforts had uniformly -failed. - -[Sidenote: THE REAL FOUNDERS OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM.] - -But Sir Hans SLOANE cannot claim to be regarded, individually or very -specially, as the Founder of the British Museum. His last Will, indeed, -gave an opportunity for the foundation. Strictly speaking, he was not -even the Founder of his own Collection, as it stood in his lifetime. The -Founder of the Sloane Museum was William COURTEN, the last of a line of -wealthy Flemish refugees, whose history, in their adopted country, is a -series of romantic adventures. - -[Sidenote: THE ACQUISITION, BY THE NATION, OF THE COTTON LIBRARY.] - -Parliament had previously accepted the gift of the Cottonian Library, at -the hands of Sir John COTTON, third in descent from its Founder, and its -acceptance of that gift had been followed by almost unbroken neglect, -although the gift was a noble one. [Sidenote: (T. Carte to Sir Thomas -Hanmer, Speaker of the House of Commons; _Hanmer Corresp._, p. 226.)] -Sir John, when conversing, on one occasion, with Thomas CARTE, told the -historian that he had been offered £60,000 of English money, together -with a _carte blanche_ for some honorary mark of royal favour, on the -part of LEWIS THE FOURTEENTH, for the Library which he afterwards -settled upon the British nation. It has been estimated that SLOANE -expended (from first to last) upon his various collections about -£50,000; so that, even from the mercantile point of view, the COTTON -family may be said to have been larger voluntary contributors towards -our eventual National Museum than was Sir Hans SLOANE himself. That -point of view, however, would be a very false, because very narrow, one. - -Whether estimated by mere money value, or by a truer standard, the -third, in order of time, of the Foundation-Collections, that of the -‘Harleian Manuscripts,’—was a much less important acquisition for the -Nation than was the Museum of SLOANE, or the Library of COTTON; but its -literary value, as all students of our history and literature know, is, -nevertheless, considerable. Its first Collector, Robert HARLEY, the -Minister of Queen Anne and the first of the Harleian Earls of Oxford, is -fairly entitled to rank, after COTTON, COURTEN, and SLOANE, among the -virtual or eventual co-founders of the British Museum. - - -Chronologically, then, Sir Robert COTTON, William COURTEN, Hans SLOANE, -and Robert HARLEY, rank first as Founders; so long as we estimate their -relative position in accordance with the successive steps by which the -British Museum was eventually organized. But there is another -synchronism by which greater accuracy is attainable. Although four years -had elapsed between the passing—in 1753—of ‘_An Act for the purchase of -the Museum or Collection of Sir Hans Sloane, and of the Harleian -Collection of Manuscripts, and for providing one general repository for -the better reception and more convenient use of the said Collection, and -of the Cottonian Library and of the additions thereto_,’ and the gift—in -1757—to the Trustees of those already united [Sidenote: THE OLD ROYAL -LIBRARY, formed by PRINCE HENRY (son of James I) at St. James’.] -Collections by King GEORGE THE SECOND, of the Old Royal Library of the -Kings his predecessors, yet that royal collection itself had been (in a -restricted sense of the words) a Public and National possession soon -after the days of the first real and central Founder of the present -Museum, Sir Robert COTTON. But, despite its title, that Royal Library, -also, was—in the main—the creation of subjects, not of Sovereigns or -Governments. Its virtual founder was HENRY, Prince of Wales. It was -acquired, out of his privy purse, as a subject, not as a Prince. He, -therefore, has a title to be placed among the individual Collectors -whose united efforts resulted—after long intervals of time—in the -creation, eventually, of a public institution second to none, of its -kind, in the world. - -Prince HENRY’s story is not the least curious of the many life-stories -which these pages have to tell. That small span of barely eighteen years -was eventful, as well as full of promise. And it may very fitly be told -next, in order, after that of COTTON, who was not only his contemporary -but his friend. - -[Sidenote: THE MSS. OF LORD ARUNDEL.] - -As the Royal Library was, in a certain degree, a Public Collection -before the foundation of the Museum, so also was the Arundelian Library -of Manuscripts. It did not become part of the British Museum until -nearly eighty years after the amalgamation of the Cottonian, Harleian, -Sloanian, and Royal Collections into one integral body. But the -munificent Earl who formed it had often made it public, for the use of -scholars, in his own lifetime. One or two of his descendants allowed it -to fall into neglect. Before it left old Arundel House, in the Strand, -it was exposed, more than once, to loss by petty thefts. But when, by -another descendant, the injury was repaired, and the still choice -collection given—at the earnest entreaty of another of our English -worthies, John EVELYN—to the Royal Society, the Arundelian MSS., like -the Library at Saint James’ Palace, became (so far as a circle of -literary men and of the cultivators of scientific inquiry were -concerned) a public possession. Many of the Arundelian marbles had also -become—by other acts of munificence worthy of the time-honoured name of -HOWARD—to the Public at large, and without restriction, ‘things of -beauty,’ and ‘joys for ever.’ Others of them, indeed, are—even in these -days—shut up at Wilton with somewhat of a narrow jealousy of the -undistinguished multitude. But, by the liberality of the Dukes of -MARLBOROUGH, the choice gems gathered by the Earl of ARUNDEL during his -long travels on the Continent, and his widespread researches throughout -the world, have long been made available to public enjoyment, in more -ways than one. The varied narrative of that famous Collector’s life may, -perhaps, not unfitly be placed next after that of the best of the Stuart -princes. ARUNDEL, like HENRY, was the friend of Sir Robert COTTON, and -was proud of that distinction. - - -Undoubtedly, there is more than one point of view from which we may -regard the preponderating share borne by private collectors in the -ultimate creation of our national repository as matter of satisfaction, -rather than matter of shame. It testifies to the strength amongst -us—even at times deeply tinged with civil discord—of public and -patriotic feeling. Nor is this all. It testifies, negatively, but not -less strongly, to a conscientious sense of responsibility, on the part -of those who have administered British rule in conquered countries, and -in remote dependencies of the Crown. Few readers of such a book as this -are likely to be altogether unacquainted with national museums and -national libraries which have been largely enriched by the strong hand -of the spoiler. Into some such collections it is impossible for portions -of the people at whose aggregate expense they are maintained to enter, -without occasional feelings of disgust and humiliation. There are, it is -true, a few trophies of successful war in our own Museum. But there is -nothing in its vast stores which, to any visitor of any nationality -whatever, can bring back memories of ruthless and insolent spoliation. - -That narrowness of conception, however, which has made some publicists -to regard the slenderness of the contributions of the Nation at large, -when contrasted with the extent of those of individuals, as if it were a -cause for boasting, is visibly, and very happily, on the decline. It is -coming to be recognised, more implicitly with every year that passes, -that whatever can be done by the action of Parliament, or of the -Government, for the real promotion of public civilisation,—in the -amplest and deepest meaning of that word,—is but the doing of the People -themselves, by the use of the most effective machinery they have at -hand; rather than the acceptance of a boon conferred upon them, -extraneously and from above. - - -If that salient characteristic in the past history of our BRITISH MUSEUM -is very far from affording any legitimate cause of boasting to the -publicist, it affords an undeniable advantage to the narrator of the -history itself. It not only broadens the range of his subject, by -placing at its threshold the narrative of several careers which will be -found to combine, at times, romantic adventure and political intrigue -with public service of a high order; but it binds up, inseparably, the -story of the quiet growth of an institution in London with occasional -glimpses at the progress, from age to age, of geographical and -scientific discovery, of archæological exploration, and of the most -varied labours for the growth of human learning, throughout the world. - -As an organized establishment, the BRITISH MUSEUM is but little more -than a century old. The history of its component parts extends over -three centuries. That history embraces a series of systematic -researches,—scientific, literary, and archæological,—the account of -which (whatsoever the needful brevity of its treatment in these pages) -must be told clumsily, indeed, if it be found to lack a very wide and -general interest for all classes of readers—one class only excepted. - - -[Sidenote: THE DIVERSITY OF THE MUSEUM COLLECTIONS.] - -Even the least thoughtful among those visitors who can be said to -frequent the Museum—as distinguished from the mere holiday guests, who -come only in crowds, little favourable to vision; to say nothing of -thought—will occasionally have had some faint impression or other of the -great diversity and wonderful combination of effort which must have been -employed in bringing together the Collections they look upon. Every part -and almost every age of the world has contributed something; and that -something includes the most characteristic productions and choicest -possessions of every part. Almost every man of British birth who,—during -many centuries,—has won conspicuous fame as a traveller, as an -archæologist, or as a discoverer, has helped, in one way or other, to -enrich those collections. They bear their own peculiar testimony to -nearly every step which has been taken either in the maritime and -colonial enterprise, or in the political growth, of the British empire. -Nor is their testimony a whit less cogent to the power of that feeling -of international brotherhood, in matters of learning and science, which -grows with their growth, and waxes stronger with their strength. - - -To the remarkable career of the first of those four primary Collectors, -whose lifelong pursuits converged, eventually, in the foundation of an -institution, of the full scope of which only one of the four had even a -mental glimpse—and SLOANE’s glimpse was obviously but a very dim one—the -attention of the reader has now to be turned. Sir Robert COTTON’s -employments in political life (unofficial as they were), and the -powerful influence which he exerted upon statesmen much abler than -himself, will be found, it is hoped, to give not a little of historical -interest to his biography, quite additional to that which belongs to his -pursuits as a studious Collector, and as the most famous of all the -literary antiquaries who occur throughout our English story. - -To the conspicuous merits which belong to Sir Robert COTTON as a -politician of no mean acumen, and as,—in the event,—the real Founder of -the British Museum, are added the still higher distinctions of an -eminently generous spirit and a faithful heart. His openhandedness in -giving was constant and princely. His firmness in friendship is -testified by the fact that although (in a certain point of view) he was -the courtier both of JAMES THE FIRST and of CHARLES THE FIRST, he -nevertheless stood persistently and unflinchingly by the side of ELIOT, -and of the men who worked with ELIOT, in the period of their deepest -court disgrace. By the best of the Parliamentarian leaders he was both -reverenced and loved. And he reciprocated their feeling. - -[Sidenote: RECENT ATTACKS ON SIR ROBERT COTTON’S MEMORY.] - -My personal pleasure in the task of writing the life of such a man as he -was is much enhanced by a strong conviction that certain recent attacks -upon his memory are based upon fallacious evidence, shallow -presumptions, and hasty judgments. It is my hope to be able to shew to -the Reader, conclusively, that COTTON was worthy of the cordial regard -and the high esteem in which he was uniformly held by men who stood free -of all bias from political and party connexion—such, for example, as -William CAMDEN, who spoke of him, almost with dying lips, as ‘the -dearest of all my friends,’—as well as by those great Parliamentarian -leaders whose estimate of him may, perhaps, be thought—by hasty -readers—to rest partly, if not mainly, on the eminent political service -which he was able to render them. - - -When these pages shall come from the Press just three hundred years will -have elapsed since Sir Robert COTTON’s birth. Our English -proto-collector was born in the year 1570. The year 1870 will, in all -probability, witness the definite solution of a knotty problem as to the -future of the great institution of which he was the primary and central -founder. - - -COTTON may be regarded as the English ‘proto-collector,’ in a point of -view other than that which concerns the British Museum. No Library in -the United Kingdom can, I think, shew an _integral_ ‘Collection,’ still -extant, the formation of which—as a Collection—can be traced to an -earlier date than that of the collection of the Cottonian Manuscripts. - - -Whether the BRITISH MUSEUM shall continue to be the great national -repository for Science, as well as for Literature and Antiquities, is a -question which is fast ripening for decision; and it is one which ought -to be interesting to all Britons. It is also, and very eminently, one of -those questions of which it is literally—and not sarcastically—to be -affirmed that ‘there is much to be said on both sides.’ - -Personally I have a very strong conviction on that subject. But in -treating of it—in the ‘Postscript’ which closes the present volume—it -has been my single and earnest aim to state, with the utmost -impartiality I am able to attain, the leading arguments for maintaining -the Museum in its full integrity; and also the leading arguments for -severing the great Natural History Collections from the rapidly growing -Libraries and from the vast Galleries of marbles, bronzes, pottery, -medals, and prints. It is the business of writers to state and marshal -the evidence. It is the business of Parliament to pronounce the -judgment. - - -The main epochs in the History of the British Museum afford what may be -looked upon almost as a ‘table of contents’ to the present volume. And -they may be brought under the Reader’s eye in a way which will much -facilitate the correct apprehension of the author’s plan. I exhibit them -thus:— - -[Sidenote: EPOCHS OF BRIT. MUSEUM GROWTH AND INCREASE.] - - ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ - │ CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF THE DATES, FOUNDERS, AND CHARACTER, OF THE │ - │ COMPONENT COLLECTIONS, OUT OF WHICH THE BRITISH MUSEUM HAS BEEN │ - │ FORMED OR ENLARGED:— │ - ├───────────────────────────────────────────────────────┬─────────────┤ - │ CLASS I.—=Foundation Collections, 1570–1762=. │ | - │ │ | - │ I. COTTONIAN MANUSCRIPTS, COINS, MEDALS, AND OTHER │ │ - │ ANTIQUITIES. │ │ - │ │ │ - │_Collected_ by =Sir Robert Cotton=, Baronet (born in │ │ - │the year 1570; died 6 May, 1631). _Given_ to the Nation│ │ - │by =Sir John Cotton= in 1700. _Augmented_ during the │ │ - │Collector’s lifetime by the gifts of =Arthur Agarde= │ │ - │(1615), =William Camden= (1623), =John Dee= (1608), │ │ - │=William Lambarde= (1601), and others; and, after his │ │ - │death, by the acquisitions of Sir Thomas COTTON and Sir│INCORPORATED │ - │John COTTON, his descendants; and also by the Printed │by the Act │ - │Library of =Major Arthur Edwards=, given in 1738. │(A.D. =1753=)│ - │ │26 Geo. II, │ - │ II. OLD ‘ROYAL LIBRARY.’ │c. 22, │ - │ │entitled, │ - │Re-founded, or restored, by =Henry, Prince of Wales= │‘_An Act for │ - │(born in 1594; died 6 November, 1612). [See CLASS II, §│the Purchase │ - │1.] │of the Museum│ - │ │or Collection│ - │ III. ARUNDELIAN MANUSCRIPTS. │of Sir Hans │ - │ │Sloane and of│ - │_Collected_ by =Thomas Howard, Earl of Arundel and of │the Harleian │ - │Norfolk=; Earl Marshal of England; K.G. (Born in 1586; │Collection of│ - │succeeded as XXIII^{rd} Earl of Arundel in 1603; died 4│MSS.; and for│ - │October, 1646.) [See CLASS II, § 33.] │providing one│ - │ │General │ - │ IV. THOMASON TRACTS (Printed and Manuscript). [See │Repository │ - │ CLASS II, § 3.] │... for the │ - │ │said │ - │ V. HARLEIAN MANUSCRIPTS. │Collections │ - │ │and for the │ - │_Collected_ by =Robert Harley, Earl Of Oxford= (born in│Cottonian │ - │1661; died 21 May, 1724). _Augmented_ by incorporation,│Library and │ - │at various times, of the Collections, severally, or of │additions │ - │considerable portions of the Collections of =Sir │thereto_;’ │ - │Humphrey Gilbert= (died 1584), =John Foxe= (1581), │ │ - │=Daniel Rogers= (1590), =John Stowe= (1605), =Sir Henry│Opened, for │ - │Savile= (1622), =Sampson Lennard= (1633), =Sir Henry │Public Use, │ - │Spelman= (1641), =Sir Symonds D’Ewes= (1650), =Sir │on Monday the│ - │James Ware= (1666), =William Sancroft=, Archbishop of │15th January,│ - │Canterbury (1693), =Peter Séguier=, Chancellor of │=1759=; and │ - │France (1696), =John Bagford= (1716); and others. [See │subsequently │ - │BOOK I, c. 5.] │AUGMENTED, │ - │ │from time to │ - │ VI. ‘SLOANE MUSEUM’ OF NATURAL HISTORY AND OF │time, by │ - │ ANTIQUITIES; AND LIBRARY OF MANUSCRIPTS AND PRINTED │numerous │ - │ BOOKS. │additional │ - │ │Collections; │ - │_Collected_ by =William Courten= [known during part of │and, MORE │ - │his life as ‘William CHARLETON’] (born in 1642; died 26│PARTICULARLY,│ - │March, 1702); _continued_ by =Sir Hans Sloane=, Baronet│by the │ - │(born in 1660; died 11 January, 1752); _bequeathed_, by│following— │ - │the Continuator, to the British Nation,—conditionally │ │ - │on the payment to his executors, by authority of │ │ - │Parliament, of the sum of £20,000,—in order that those │ │ - │his Collections—to use the words of his last Will—being│ │ - │things ‘tending many ways to the Manifestation of the │ │ - │Glory of God, the Confutation of Atheism and its │ │ - │consequences, the Use and Improvement of the Arts and │ │ - │Sciences, and benefit of Mankind, may remain together │ │ - │and not be separated, and that chiefly in or about the │ │ - │City of London, where they may by the great confluence │ │ - │of people be of most use.’... [See BOOK I, c. 6.] │ │ - └───────────────────────────────────────────────────────┴─────────────┘ - - - CLASS II.—=Primary Accession Collections.= - -=1757–1831=:— - - - (I) - -=1757.= Old ‘ROYAL LIBRARY.’ - -[Sidenote: EPOCHS OF BRIT. MUSEUM GROWTH AND INCREASE.] - -_Restored_, by =Henry, Prince of Wales=, in the year 1609, by the -purchase—and incorporation with the remnants of an ancient collection—of -the Library of =John de Lumley, Lord Lumley= (Born _circa_ 1530; -Restored in blood, as VIth Baron Lumley, in 1547: Died 1609); -_Continued_ by =Charles I= and =Charles II=, =Kings of England, &c.=, -from 1627 to 1683; _Given_ to the Nation by =King George the Second= in -1757. - - This OLD ROYAL LIBRARY, although, as above mentioned, it still - contains fragments of the more ancient Collection of the Kings of - England—and among them books which undoubtedly belonged to King - HENRY THE SIXTH, if not to earlier Plantagenet kings—may fairly be - regarded as of Prince HENRY’s foundation in the main. Lord LUMLEY’s - Library (which the Prince bought in bulk) contained that of his - father-in-law, Henry =Fitzalan=, Earl of Arundel, into which had - passed a part of Archbishop =Cranmer’s= Library. But this conjoined - Collection has not wholly passed to the British Museum. It suffered - some losses after Prince HENRY’s death. On the other hand, it had - acquired the collection of MSS. formed by the THEYERS (John and - Charles), in which was included another part of the Library of - CRANMER; as I shall shew hereafter. - - [See BOOK I, Chapter 3.] - - - (II) - -=1759.= HEBREW LIBRARY (Printed and Manuscript) of DA COSTA. - -_Collected_ by =Solomon Da Costa=, formerly of Amsterdam, and chiefly -between the years 1720 and 1727; _Given_ by the Collector, in 1759, to -the Trustees of the British Museum ‘for inspection and service of the -Public, as a small token of my esteem, reverence, love, and gratitude to -this magnanimous Nation, and as a thanksgiving offering ... for -numberless blessings which I have enjoyed under it.’ (From DA COSTA’s -Letter to the Trustees.) - - A collection, small in extent, but of great intrinsic worth; and - very memorable, both as the generous gift of a good man; and as - instancing the co-operation (at the very outset) of the love of - learning in a foreigner—and a Jew—with a like love in Britons, for a - common object; national, indeed, but also much more than national. - - - (III) - -=1762.= The THOMASON COLLECTION OF ENGLISH BOOKS and TRACTS, Printed and -Manuscript. - -_Collected_ by =George Thomason= (Died 1666); _Purchased_ by =King -George the Third=, in 1762, for presentation to the British Museum. - - This Collection—the interest of which is specially but by no means - exclusively political and historical—was formed between the years - 1641 and 1663 inclusive, and it contains everything printed in - England during the whole of that period which a man of great - enterprise and energy could bring together by daily watchfulness and - large outlay. It also contains many publications, and many private - impressions, from printing-presses in Scotland, Ireland, and the - Continent of Europe, relating to or illustrating the affairs of the - United Kingdom and of the Commonwealth. In his lifetime, the - Collector refused £4000 for his library, as insufficient to - reimburse his costs, charges, and labour. His heirs and their - assigns kept it for a century and then sold it to King George III - for £300. It includes many political MSS., which no printer dared to - put to press. - - - (IV) - -=1766.= The SOLANDER FOSSILS. - -_Collected_ by =Daniel Charles Solander= (Died 16 May, 1782); Purchased -by =Gustavus Brander= and by him _presented_ to the Museum (of which he -was one of the first Trustees) in 1766. - - The ‘Solander Fossils’—so called from the name of the eminent - naturalist who found and described them—formed the primary - Collection on which by gradual accessions the present magnificent - collection of fossils has been built up. - - - (V) - -=1766.= The BIRCH LIBRARY OF PRINTED BOOKS and MANUSCRIPTS. - -_Collected_ by =Thomas Birch, D.D.=, a Trustee of the British Museum -(Died 1766), and _bequeathed_ by the Collector. - - - (VI) - -=1772.= The HAMILTON VASES, ANTIQUITIES, and DRAWINGS. - -_Collected_ by =Sir William Hamilton= (Died 6 April, 1803); _Purchased_ -by Parliament from the Collector in 1772 for £8400. - - [See BOOK II, Chapter 2.] - - - (VII) - -=1790–1799.= The MUSGRAVE LIBRARY. - -_Collected_ by =Sir William Musgrave=, a Trustee (Died 1799); -_Acquired_, partly by gift in 1790; partly by bequest in 1799. - - [See BOOK II, Chapter 1.] - - - (VIII) - -=1799.= The CRACHERODE LIBRARY and MUSEUM. - -_Collected_ by the Reverend =Clayton Mordaunt Cracherode=, a Trustee of -the British Museum (Died 1799), and _bequeathed_ by the Collector. - - [See BOOK II, Chapter 3.] - - - (IX) - -=1799.= The HATCHETT MINERALS. - -_Collected_ by =Charles Hatchett=, and _purchased_ for £700. - - - (X) - -=1802.= The ALEXANDRIAN COLLECTION of EGYPTIAN ANTIQUITIES. - -_Collected_ by the =French Institute of Egypt= in 1800; _Transferred_ to -the Crown of England by the terms of the Capitulation of Alexandria in -1801; _Given_ to the Museum in 1802 by =King George the Third=. - - [See BOOK II, Chapter 2.] - - - (XI) - -=1802.= The TYSSEN ANGLO-SAXON COINS. - -_Collected_ by =Samuel Tyssen=; _Purchased_ by the Trustees (for £620). - - - (XII) - -=1805–1814.= The TOWNLEY MARBLES, COINS, and DRAWINGS. - -_Collected_ by the Townley Family, and chiefly by =Charles Townley=, of -Townley in Lancashire; and acquired by Parliament, by successive -_purchases_, in the years 1805 and 1814, for the aggregate sum of -£28,200. - - [See BOOK II, Chapter 2.] - - - (XIII) - -=1807.= The LANSDOWNE MANUSCRIPTS. - -_Collected_ by =William Petty Fitzmaurice=, Marquess of Lansdowne (Died -1805), who _incorporated_ in it from time to time parts of the Libraries -and Manuscript Collections of =William Cecil, Lord Burghley= (Died -1598); of =Sir Julius Cæsar= (Died 1636); of =White Kennet=, Bishop of -Peterborough (Died 1728); of =John Strype= (Died 1737); of =Philip -Carteret Webb= (Died 1770); and of =James West= (Died 1772). _Purchased_ -by Parliament for the sum of £4925. - - [See BOOK II, Chapter 3.] - - - (XIV) - -=1810.= The GREVILLE MINERALS. - -_Collected_ by =Charles Greville=. _Purchased_ by Parliament for the sum -of £13,727. - - [See BOOK II, Chapter 2.] - - - (XV) - -=1810.= The ROBERTS ENGLISH COINS. - -_Collected_ by =Edward Roberts=, of the Exchequer; _Purchased_ by -Parliament for the sum of £4200. - - This Collection extended from the Norman Conquest to the reign of - George the Third. It was purchased for the Collector’s heir. - - - (XVI) - -=1811.= The DE BOSSET GREEK COINS. - -_Collected_ by =Colonel De Bosset=. _Purchased_ by the Trustees for the -sum of £800. - - - (XVII) - -=1813.= The HARGRAVE LIBRARY. - -_Collected_ by =Francis Hargrave=. _Purchased_ by Parliament for the sum -of £8000. - - [See BOOK II, Chapter 3.] - - - (XVIII) - -=1815.= The PHIGALEIAN MARBLES. - -_Discovered_, in 1812, amongst the ruins of Ictinus’ Temple of Apollo -‘the Deliverer’ at Phigaleia, in Arcadia, built about B.C. 430. -_Purchased_ in 1815, for the sum of £15,000. - - [See BOOK II, Chapter 2.] - - - (XIX) - -=1815.= The VON MOLL LIBRARY and MUSEUM. - -_Collected_ by the =Baron Von Moll= (Died ...). _Purchased_ (at Munich) -for the sum of £4768 (including the contingent expenses), out of the -Fund bequeathed by =Major Edwards=. - - The Library of BARON VON MOLL comprised nearly 20,000 volumes, and a - considerable Collection of Portraits and other Prints. His Museum - consisted of an extensive Herbarium and a Collection of Minerals. - The purchase was completed in 1816. - - - (XX) - -=1816.= The BEROLDINGEN FOSSILS. - - Acquired by _purchase_; and the only considerable acquisition, made - in this department, between BRANDER’S gift of Fossils (gathered from - the London Clay) in 1766, and the purchase of HAWKINS’ fine - Collection, in 1835. - - - (XXI) - -=1816.= The ELGIN MARBLES. - -_Collected_, under firman of the Ottoman Porte, between the years 1801 -and 1810—and chiefly in the years 1802 and 1803—by =Thomas Bruce, Earl -of Elgin= (Died 14 October, 1841). _Purchased_ by Parliament in 1816 for -the sum of £35,000. - - [See BOOK II, Chapter 2.] - - - (XXII) - -=1816.= The MONTAGU ZOOLOGICAL COLLECTIONS. - -_Collected_ by =Colonel George Montagu= (Died 20 June, 1815), and -arranged, as a Museum of British Zoology—and especially of -Ornithology—at Knowle, in Devonshire. _Purchased_ at a cost of £1100. - - - (XXIII) - -=1818.= The BURNEY LIBRARY. - -_Collected_ by =Dr. Charles Burney= (Died 28 December, 1817). -_Purchased_ by a Parliamentary vote for the sum of £13,500. - - [See BOOK II, Chapter 3.] - - - (XXIV) - -=1818.= MRS. BANKS’ ARCHÆOLOGICAL COLLECTIONS. - -Collected by =Mrs. S. S. Banks=, and by =Lady Banks=; comprising a -valuable series of coins, medals, prints, &c., and _presented_ to the -Museum by the Survivor. - - - (XXV) - -=1823–1825.= The KING’S LIBRARY. - -_Collected_ by =King George the Third= (Died 1820); inherited by King -George the Fourth, and by him transferred, on terms, to the British -Museum. - - [See BOOK II, Chapter 4.] - - - (XXVI) - -=1824.= The PAYNE-KNIGHT CABINETS, LIBRARY, and MUSEUM. - -_Collected_ by =Richard Payne Knight= (Died 24 April, 1824), a Trustee; -comprising Marbles, Bronzes, Vases, Prints, Drawings, Coins, Medals, and -Books. _Bequeathed_ by the Collector. - - [See BOOK II, Chapter 3.] - - - (XXVII) - -=1825.= The PERSEPOLITAN MARBLES. - - [See BOOK II, Chapter 2.] - - - (XXVIII) - -=1825.= The ORIENTAL COLLECTIONS of CLAUDIUS JAMES RICH. - -=Claudius Rich= was British Consul at Bagdad (Died 5 Oct., 1821). He -made an extensive gathering of Persian, Turkish, Syriac, and Arabic -MSS., and of Coins, &c. These were purchased by a Parliamentary vote. - - - (XXIX) - -=1825.= SIR RICHARD COLT HOARE’S ITALIAN LIBRARY. - -_Given_, by the Collector, in 1825, and subsequently increased, by -another gift. - - [See BOOK II, Chapter 3.] - - - (XXX) - -=1827.= The BANKSIAN LIBRARY, HERBARIA, and MUSEUM. - -_Collected_ by =Sir Joseph Banks=, P.R.S. (Died 19 June, 1820), and a -Trustee. _Bequeathed_ by the Collector, with a prior life interest, to -=Robert Brown= (Died 1858); and by him _transferred_ to the British -Museum in 1827. - - Sir Joseph’s botanical Collections included the Herbaria, severally, - of =Cliffort=; of =Clayton= (the basis of the ‘_Flora Virginica_’); - of =John Baptist Fusée d’Aublet= (Died 6 May, 1728); of =Nicholas - Joseph Jacquin=, author of the ‘_Floræ Austriacæ_’ (Died 24 October, - 1817); and of =Philip Miller=, author of ‘_The Gardener’s - Dictionary_’ (Died 18 December, 1771); with portions of the - Collections of =Tournefort=, =Hermann=, and =Loureiro=. - - - (XXXI) - -=1829.= The HARTZ-MOUNTAINS MINERALS. - -_Collected_ at various periods and by several mineralogists. This fine -Cabinet was for a considerable period preserved at Richmond. _Presented_ -by =King George the Fourth=. - - - (XXXII) - -=1829.= The EGERTON MANUSCRIPTS. - -_Collected_ by =Francis Henry Egerton, Earl of Bridgewater= (Died 11 -February, 1829). _Bequeathed_ by the Collector; together with a sum of -£12,000, to be invested, and the yearly income to be applied for further -purchases of MSS. from time to time; and with other provision towards -the salary of an ‘Egerton Librarian.’ - - [See BOOK II, Chapter 5.] - - - (XXXIII) - -=1831.= The ARUNDELIAN MANUSCRIPTS. - -_Collected_, between the years 1606 and 1646, by =Thomas Howard, Earl of -Arundel=, &c. (Died 4 Oct., 1646); _Given_ in 1681 by his eventual heir, -=Henry Howard=, Esquire (afterwards XIIth Duke of Norfolk—Died in 1701), -and at the request of John Evelyn, to the Royal Society; _Transferred_ -by the Council of that Society, in 1831,—partly by purchase, and partly -by exchange—to the Trustees of the British Museum. The Collection -includes the bulk of the Library of =Bilibald Pirckheimer=, purchased at -Nuremberg, by LORD ARUNDEL, in 1636. - - [See BOOK I, Chapter 4.] - - - - - _COLLECTIONS OF PICTURES BELONGING TO THE TRUSTEES OF THE BRITISH - MUSEUM, BUT DEPOSITED IN THE NATIONAL GALLERY._ - - - (XXXIV) - -=1823.= The BEAUMONT GALLERY. - -_Collected_ by =Sir George Howland Beaumont= (Died 7 February, 1827); -_Given_ by the Collector in 1823 to the British Museum, on condition of -its usufructuary retention, during his lifetime. Deposited in the -National Gallery, under terms of arrangement, after the Collector’s -death. - - - (XXXV) - -=1830.= The HOLWELL-CARR GALLERY. - -_Collected_ by the Reverend =William Holwell Carr= (Died 24 December, -1830), and by the Collector _bequeathed_ to the British Museum. -_Deposited_ under arrangements similar to those adopted for the Beaumont -Pictures in the National Gallery. - - -These are the primary Accession-Collections that came to the British -Museum, during the first seventy years which elapsed after its public -opening (January, 1759). They form a noble monument alike of the -liberality and public spirit of individual Englishmen, and of the -fidelity of the Trustees to the charge committed to them as a body. And -the reader will hardly have failed to notice how remarkable a proportion -of the most munificent of the Benefactors of the institution were, -previously to their gifts, numbered amongst its Trustees. - -If the liberality of Parliament failed to be elicited in due -correspondency—in respect either to the amount or the frequency of its -grants—to that of individuals, the failure is rarely, if ever, -ascribable to oversight or somnolency on the part of the Trustees. If, -during the lapse of those seventy years, they obtained grants of public -money which amounted, in the aggregate, to but £151,762—little more, on -an average, than two thousand pounds a year—they made not a few -applications to which the Treasury, or the House of Commons, refused to -respond. Meanwhile, the gifts of Benefactors probably much more than -trebled the public grants. - -At the outset, the Museum was divided into three ‘Departments’ only: (1) -_Manuscripts_; (2) _Printed Books_; (3) _Natural History_. - -The acquisition, in 1801, of the Alexandrian monuments, was the first -accession which gave prominence to the ‘Antiquities’—theretofore -regarded as little more than a curious appendage to the Natural History -Collections. Four years later came the Townley Marbles. It was then -obvious that a new Department ought to be made. This change was effected -in 1807. The Marbles and minor Antiquities, together with the Prints, -Drawings, Coins, and Medals (formerly appended to the Departments of -Printed Books and of MSS.) were formed into a separate department. -Twenty years afterwards the ‘Botanical Department’ was created, on the -reception of the Banksian herbaria and their appendant Collections. The -division into five departments continued down to the date of the -Parliamentary inquiry of 1835–36 [Book III, Chapter 1]. Soon afterwards -(1837), the immediate custody of the ‘Prints and Drawings’ was severed -from that of the ‘Antiquities’ and made a special charge. In like -manner, the Department of ‘Natural History’ was also (1837) subdivided; -but in this instance the one department became, eventually, three: (1) -Zoology; (2) Palæontology; (3) Mineralogy. The two last-named divisions -were first separated in 1857. How the eight departments of 1860 have -become _twelve_ in 1869 will be seen hereafter. - -It will also, I think, become apparent that this subdivision of -Departments has contributed, in an important measure, to the enlargement -of the several Collections; as well as to their better arrangement, and -to other exigencies of the public service. - - -We have now to enumerate the more salient and important among the many -successive acquisitions of the last forty years. Taken collectively, -they have so enlarged the proportions of the national repository as to -make the ‘British Museum’ of 1831 seem, in the retrospect, as if, at -that time, it had been yet in its infancy. - -In 1831 there were still living—here and there—a few ancient Londoners -whose personal recollections extended over the whole period during which -the Museum had existed. One or two of them could, perhaps, still call to -mind something of the aspect which the gaily painted and decorated rooms -of old Montagu House presented when—as children—they had been permitted -to accompany some fortunate possessor of a ticket of admission to ‘see -the curiosities;’ and were hurried by the Cerberus in charge for the day -from room to room; the Cerberus aforesaid (unless his memory has been -libelled) seeming to count the minutes, if a visitor chanced to show the -least desire for a closer inspection of anything which caught his eye. -And, in some points—although certainly not in that point—the Museum of -1831 was not very greatly altered, much as it had been enlarged, from -the Museum of 1759. Cerberus had long quitted his post; but many -portions of the Collections he had had in charge retained their wonted -aspect, much as he had left them. - -Such octogenarian survivors—if endowed with a good memory—would see, in -their latest visits to Great Russell Street much more to remind them of -what they had seen in the first, than a new visitor of 1831 could now -see,—in 1869,—were he, in his turn, striving to recall the impressions -of _his_ earliest visit. - - -The period now to be briefly outlined—in order to a fair preliminary -view of our subject—is marked, like that of 1759–1831, by continued -munificence on the part of private donors; but it is also marked—unlike -that—by some approach towards proportionate liberality from the keepers -of the public purse; as well as by energetic and persistent efforts for -internal improvement, on the part both of Trustees and of Officers. It -forms a quite new epoch. It may be said, unexaggeratedly, to have -witnessed a re-foundation of the Museum, in almost everything that bears -on its direct utility to the public. - -In regard to this last period, however—no less than in regard to the -foregoing one—only the more salient Collections can here be enumerated. -Many minor ones have been passed over already, notwithstanding their -intrinsic value. Many others—equally meriting notice, were space for it -available—will have, in like manner, to be passed over now. - - - CLASS III.—=Recent Accession-Collections. 1833–1869.= - - - (XXXVI) - -=1833.= The BORELL CABINET of GREEK and ROMAN COINS. - -_Collected_ by the late =H. P. Borell=, of Smyrna. _Purchased_ by the -Trustees for £1000. - - - (XXXVII) - -=1834.= SAMS’ COLLECTION of EGYPTIAN ANTIQUITIES. - -_Collected_ by =Joseph Sams=. _Purchased_, by a Parliamentary grant, for -£2500. - - [See BOOK III, Chapter 3.] - - - (XXXVIII) - -=1834= (and subsequent years). The HAWKINS FOSSILS. - -_Collected_ by =Thomas Hawkins=, of Glastonbury. _Purchased_, by -successive grants of Parliament, in the years 1834 and 1840. - - [See BOOK III, Chapter 3.] - - - (XXXIX) - -=1835.= The HARDWICKE ORNITHOLOGICAL MUSEUM. - -_Collected_ by =Major-General Hardwicke=. _Bequeathed_ by the Collector. - - [See BOOK III, Chapter 4.] - - - (XL) - -=1835.= The SALT MUSEUM of EGYPTIAN ANTIQUITIES. - -_Collected_ by =Henry Salt=, British Consul at Alexandria (Died 30 -October, 1827). _Purchased_ (at various times) by Parliamentary grants. - - Of Mr. Salt’s successive Collections of Egyptian antiquities the - most valuable portions have come to the Museum; chiefly in the years - 1823 and 1835. - - [See BOOK III, Chapter 3.] - - - (XLI) - -=1836.= The MARSDEN CABINET of ORIENTAL COINS. - -_Collected_ by =William Marsden= (Died 6 October, 1836). _Bequeathed_ by -the Collector. - - [See BOOK III, Chapter 3.] - - - (XLII) - -=1836.= The SHEEPSHANKS COLLECTION of ETCHINGS, PRINTS, &C. - -_Collected_ by =John Sheepshanks= (Died October, 1863); and _Given_ by -the Collector. - - - (XLIII) - -=1837–43.= The CANINO VASES. - -A selection from the superb Museum of the Prince of =Canino= (Died 29 -June, 1840); acquired by successive purchases before and after the -Collector’s death. - - - (XLIV) - -=1839.= The MANTELL FOSSILS. - -_Collected_ by =Gideon Algernon Mantell= (Died November 10, 1850). -_Purchased_ by a Parliamentary grant. - - [See BOOK III, Chapter 4.] - - - (XLV) - -=1841–1847.= SYRIAC MANUSCRIPTS from the NITRIAN MONASTERIES. - -_Collected_ by the Reverend =Henry Tattam= and by =M. Pachot=. -_Purchased_ by the Trustees, by three successive bargains, in the years -1841–1847. - - [See BOOK III, Chapter 3.] - - - (XLVI) - -=1842.= The HARDING PRINTS and DRAWINGS. - -_Purchased_, for the Trustees, by selection at the Collector’s sale. The -selection comprised 321 very choice specimens of early German and -Italian masters; and was acquired for the sum of £2390. - - - (XLVII) - -=1843.= The RAPHAEL MORGHENS PRINTS. - -_Purchased_ by the Trustees, by a like selection, at a public sale in -1843. - - - (XLVIII) - -=1845.= The LYCIAN or XANTHIAN MARBLES. - -_Discovered_ by =Sir Charles Fellowes= (Died 1860) in the years -1842–1844. _Transferred_ to the Museum at the cost of the Trustees in -1845. - - [See BOOK III, Chapter 3.] - - - (XLIX) - -=1847.= The GRENVILLE LIBRARY. - -_Collected_ by the Right Hon. =Thomas Grenville= (Died 17 December, -1846). _Bequeathed_ by the Collector. - - [See BOOK III, Chapter 2.] - - - (L) - -=1847.= The MICHAEL HEBREW LIBRARY. - -_Collected_ by =H. J. Michael=, of Hamburgh. _Purchased_ by the Trustees -from his Executors. - - [See BOOK III, Chapter 4.] - - - (LI) - -=1847.= JOHN ROBERT MORRISON’S CHINESE LIBRARY. - -_Collected_ by =J. R. Morrison= (son of the eminent Christian Missionary -and Lexicographer—Died 1843). _Purchased_ from his Executors by a -Parliamentary grant. - - [See BOOK III, Chapter 4.] - - - (LII) - -=1848.= The CROIZET FOSSIL-MAMMALS. - -_Collected_ by =M. Croizet= in Auvergne. _Purchased_ by the Trustees. - - - (LIII) - -=1851–1860.= The ASSYRIAN ANTIQUITIES. - -Partly _discovered_ by =Austen Henry Layard=. Excavated at the public -charge, and under the joint direction of the Trustees of the British -Museum and of the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, in 1851 and -subsequent years by the Discoverer, and by =H. Rassam=, and =W. K. -Loftus=. - - [See BOOK III, Chapter 3.] - - - (LIV) - -=1853.= The GELL DRAWINGS. - -_Drawn_ and _Collected_ by =Sir William Gell= (Died 4 February, 1836). -_Bequeathed_ by the Honorable =Keppel Craven= (Died 1853). - - [See BOOK III, Chapter 3.] - - - (LV) - -=1853.= The STEPHENS CABINET of BRITISH ENTOMOLOGY. - -_Collected_ by =James Francis Stephens= (Died 22 December, 1852). -_Purchased_ by the Trustees. - - Although this Collection contained about 88,000 specimens, it cost - the Trustees only £400. - - - (LVI) - -=1854.= The DES-HAYES TERTIARY FOSSILS. - -_Collected_, in France, by =M. Des Hayes=. _Purchased_ by the Trustees. - - - (LVII) - -=1855–1860.= The HALICARNASSIAN and CNIDIAN MARBLES. - -_Discovered_ and excavated by =C. T. Newton= (then Vice-Consul at -Mitylene) and other Explorers (earlier and later). In part _Presented_ -by =Lord Canning= of Redcliffe (then Ambassador at Constantinople); and -in part excavated and transported by the Trustees, with the aid of -Parliamentary grants made in 1855 and subsequent years. - - [See BOOK III, Chapter 3.] - - - (LVIII) - -=1856.= The TEMPLE MUSEUM of ITALO-GREEK and ROMAN ANTIQUITIES. - -_Collected_ by =Sir William Temple= (Died 1856) during his Embassy at -Naples. _Bequeathed_ by the Collector. - - [See BOOK III, Chapter 3.] - - - (LIX) - -=1857.= The CAUTLEY FOSSILS from the Himalayas. - -_Collected_ by =Major Cautley=, during his service in India. _Purchased_ -by the Trustees. - - - (LX) - -=1858.= The BRUCHMANN FOSSIL PLANTS. - -_Collected_ by =Bruchmann= at and near Œningen. _Purchased_ by the -Trustees. - - - (LXI) - -=1859.= The CARTHAGINIAN ANTIQUITIES. - -_Discovered_,—and excavated (partly at the cost of the Trustees),—by -=Nathan Davis= and others, during the year 1856 and subsequent years. -The Davis Collection includes a series of Phœnician Inscriptions, some -of which are of great antiquity. _Purchased_ from the Collector. - - [See BOOK III, Chapter 3.] - - - (LXII) - -=1860.= The ALLAN-GREG CABINET of MINERALS. - -_Collected_, mainly, by =R. H. Greg=, of Manchester. _Purchased_ by the -Trustees. - - [See BOOK III, Chapter 4.] - - - (LXIII) - -=1860.= The GARDNER HERBARIUM of BRAZIL. - - [See BOOK III, Chapter 4.] - - - (LXIV) - -=1860.= The CYRENE MARBLES. - -_Discovered_, and excavated by Lieutenants =R. M. Smith= and =Porcher=, -under firmans from Constantinople, and at the charge of the Trustees, in -1860 and subsequent years. - - [See also No. LXVI under the year ‘1863,’ and - -BOOK III, Chapter 3.] - - - (LXV) - -=1862.= The HAEBERLEIN FOSSILS. - -_Collected_ by =Haeberlein=. Brought from Solenhofen; and _Purchased_ by -the Trustees. - - - (LXVI) - -=1863.= The SICILIAN ANTIQUITIES. - -_Discovered_ and excavated by =George Dennis= (Her Majesty’s Consul at -Benghazi), under direction from the Foreign Office, in 1862 and -subsequent years. _Presented_ by =Earl Russell=. - - - (LXVII) - -=1863.= The BOWRING COLLECTION of FOREIGN INSECTS. - -_Collected_ by =John Bowring=. _Presented_ by the Collector. - - The Collector obtained a large portion of this fine Cabinet of - Entomology during his own travels in India, Java, and China. It - consists chiefly of Coleopterous insects. - - - (LXVIII) - -=1864.= The WIGAN CABINET of COINS. - -_Collected_ and _Presented_ by =Edward Wigan=. - - [See BOOK III, Chapter 3.] - - - (LXIX) - -=1864.= The RHODIAN MARBLES. - -_Excavated_, at the charge of the Trustees, by =MM. Salzmann= and -=Biliotti=, in 1863 and subsequent years. - - - (LXX) - -=1864.= The CURETON ORIENTAL MANUSCRIPTS. - -_Collected_ by the late =William Cureton, D.D.= (Died 17 June, 1864). -_Purchased_ by the Trustees from his Executors. - - [See BOOK III, Chapter 3.] - - - (LXXI) - -=1864.= The WRIGHT HERBARIUM of CUBA and NEW MEXICO. - - [See BOOK III, Chapter 4.] - - - (LXXII) - -=1864.= The TRISTRAM CABINET of the ZOOLOGY of the HOLY LAND. - -_Collected_ by the Reverend =H. B. Tristram, M.A.= _Presented_ by the -Collector. - - [See BOOK III, Chapter 4.] - - - (LXXIII) - -=1865.= The HEBREW LIBRARY of ALMANZI. - -This valuable series of Hebrew Manuscripts, &c. was _collected_ by the -late =Joseph Almanzi=, of Padua; and was _purchased_ by the Trustees of -his Executors. - - [See BOOK III, Chapter 4.] - - - (LXXIV) - -=1865.= The ERSKINE ORIENTAL MANUSCRIPTS. - -_Collected_ by =William Erskine=, during his residence in India. -_Purchased_ by the Trustees. - - [See BOOK III, Chapter 4.] - - - (LXXV) - -=1865.= The MALCOLM PERSIAN MANUSCRIPTS. - -_Collected_ by =Sir John Malcolm= (Died 31 May, 1833) during his Embassy -to Persia. _Purchased_ by the Trustees. - - [See BOOK III, Chapter 4.] - - - (LXXVI) - -=1865.= The KOKSCHAROW MINERALS. - -_Collected_ by =Colonel de Kokscharow=. _Purchased_ by the Trustees. - - [See BOOK III, Chapter 4.] - - - (LXXVII) - -=1865.= The EPHESIAN MARBLES. - -Excavated, at the charge of the Trustees, by Vice-Consul =Wood=. - - [See BOOK III, Chapter 3.] - - - (LXXVIII) - -=1865.= The CHRISTY PRE-HISTORIC and ETHNOLOGICAL MUSEUM. - -_Collected_ and _Bequeathed_ by =Henry Christy= (Died 4 May, 1865). - - [See BOOK III, Chapter 4.] - - - (LXXIX) - -=1865.= The BANK of ENGLAND CABINET of COINS and MEDALS. - - [See BOOK III, Chapter 1.] - - - (LXXX) - -=1865.= WITT’S ETHNIC MUSEUM. - -_Collected_ and _Presented_ by =Henry Witt=. - - [See BOOK III, Chapter 4.] - - - (LXXXI) - -=1866.= The BLACAS MUSEUM. - -_Collected_ by the =Dukes of Blacas= (The elder Collector died in 1839; -the younger, in 1865). _Purchased_, by the Trustees, of the heirs of the -Survivor. - - [See BOOK III, Chapter 4.] - - - (LXXXII) - -=1866.= The WOODHOUSE MUSEUM. - -_Collected_ by =James Woodhouse=, Her Majesty’s Treasurer at Corfu (Died -February, 1866). _Bequeathed_ by the Collector. - - [See BOOK III, Chapter 4.] - - - (LXXXIII) - -=1866.= The CUMING CONCHOLOGICAL COLLECTION. - -_Collected_ by =Hugh Cuming= (Died 1866). Acquired by the Trustees in -1866, partly by gift, and partly by purchase, under the directions of -the Collector’s Will. - - [See BOOK III, Chapter 4.] - - - (LXXXIV) - -=1867.= The HAWKINS COLLECTION OF ENGLISH POLITICAL AND HISTORICAL -PRINTS. - -_Collected_ by =Edward Hawkins= (Died 1867). _Purchased_ by the -Trustees. - - [See BOOK III, Chapter 1.] - - - (LXXXV) - -=1868.= The ABYSSINIAN ANTIQUITIES and MANUSCRIPTS. - - Acquired by the Trustees during and after the Abyssinian War; partly - by gift from the British Government, and partly by the researches of - the Representative of the Trustees in the British Camp. Another and - a very valuable portion of the Abyssinian Manuscripts came to the - India Office, by the gift of =Lord Napier= of Magdala; and by the - Secretary of State for India was given to the British Museum. - - [See BOOK III, Chapter 4.] - - - (LXXXVI) - -=1868.= The SLADE ARCHÆOLOGICAL COLLECTION. - -_Collected_ by =Felix Slade= (Died 1868). _Bequeathed_ by the Collector. - - [See BOOK III, Chapter 4.] - - - (LXXXVII) - -=1869.= The HAYS COLLECTION of EGYPTIAN ANTIQUITIES. - - [See BOOK III, Chapter 4.] - - -As I have had occasion to observe in a former paragraph, the preceding -list is, of necessity, an abridged list. It is by no means a complete or -exhaustive one. The prescribed bounds—those of a single volume for a -very wide and multifarious subject—compel the writer to treat his -subject by way of selection. The reader is solicited to keep that fact -in mind; as well for its bearing on the chapters which follow, as on the -introductory chapter now under his eye. And in regard both to this brief -enumeration of the successive component parts of the Museum, and to the -biographical notices of which it is the preliminary, the cautionary -remark here repeated applies to _every_ Department of the national -repository. It holds good of the Natural History Collections, and of the -Collections of Antiquities, no less than of the Collections of Printed -Books and of Manuscripts. - -Among the many minor, but intrinsically important, Collections -thus—compulsorily—passed over, in the present volume, are some of which -brief notices have been given (by the same hand) in a preceding work, -published in 1869. Those ‘Notices,’ however, relate exclusively to -collectors and collections of Printed Books, of Engravings, of Drawings, -and of Manuscripts. Thus,—to give but a few examples,—important -collections, now forming part of the British Museum, and gathered -originally by =Thomas Rymer= (1713); =Thomas Madox= (1733); =Brownlow -Cecil, Earl of Exeter= (1739); =David Garrick= (1779); =Peter Lewis -Ginguene= (1816); the =Abate Canonici= (_circa_, 1818); =John Fowler -Hull= (1825); =Frederick North=, sixth =Earl of Guildford= (1826); -=Count Joseph de Puisaye= (1827); the =Marquess Wellesley= (1842); =D. -E. Davy= (_circa_ 1850),—are all noticed in an Appendix headed -‘Historical Notices of Collectors’ to the volume entitled ‘_Free Town -Libraries_’ published in 1869. Of that Appendix the notices above -referred to form, respectively, Nos. ‘848’ (_Rymer_); ‘570’ (_Madox_); -‘186’ (_Cecil_); ‘351’ (_Garrick_); ‘372’ (_Ginguene_); ‘165’ -(_Canonici_); ‘462’ (_Hull_); ‘683’ (_North_); ‘781’ (_Puisaye_); ‘1049’ -(_Wellesley_); and ‘249’ (_Davy_). - - -The existing constitution of the Board of Trustees of the British Museum -has been on many occasions, and by several writers, somewhat freely -impugned. More than once it has been the subject of criticism in the -House of Commons. With little alteration that Board remains, in 1869, -what Parliament made it in 1753. Obviously, it might be quite possible -to frame a new governing Corporation, in a fashion more accordant with -what are sometimes called the ‘progressive tendencies’ of the period. - -But I venture to think that the bare enumeration of the facts which have -now been briefly tabulated, in this introductory chapter, gives a proof -of faithful and zealous administration of a great trust, such as cannot -be gainsaid by any the most ardent lover of innovation. Both the -Collections given, and the Collections purchased, afford conclusive and -splendid proofs that the Trustees and the Officers have alike won the -confidence and merited the gratitude of those whose acquirements and -pursuits in life have best qualified them to give a verdict on the -implied issue. - - -If, of late years, the public purse has been opened with somewhat more -of an approach to harmony with the openhandedness of private Englishmen, -that result is wholly due to unremitting effort on the part both of the -Trustees who govern, and of the Officers who administer, or have -administered, the British Museum. And, to attain their end, both -Trustees and Officers have, very often, had to fight hard, as the later -chapters of this volume will more than sufficiently show. - - - - - CHAPTER II. - =THE FOUNDER OF THE COTTONIAN LIBRARY.= - - - ‘Est in hac urbe nobilis Eques, homo pereruditus rerum vetustarum et - omnis historiæ, sive priscæ, sive recentis, studiossisimus, qui ex - ipsis monumentis publicis et epistolis duarum reginarum Angliæ et - Scotiæ veram eorum quæ gesta sunt, historiam didicit, et jam regis - jussu eandem componit, digeritque in ordinem.’ - - CASAUBON to DE THOU (London, 5 Kal. Mart., 1611). _Epistolæ_, 373. - - _The Personal and Public Life of Sir Robert_ COTTON.—_His Political - Writings and Political Persecutions.—Sources and Growth of the - Cottonian Library.—The Successors of Sir Robert_ COTTON.—_History - of the Cottonian Library, until its union with the Library of - Harley, and with the Museum and Miscellaneous Collections of_ - SLOANE.—_Review of some recent Aspersions on the Character of the - Founder._ - - -[Sidenote: BOOK I, Chap. II. LIFE OF SIR ROBERT COTTON.] - -Sir Robert COTTON was the eldest son of Thomas COTTON of Conington and -of Elizabeth SHIRLEY, daughter of Francis SHIRLEY of Staunton-Harold in -Leicestershire. He was born on the 22nd of January, 1570, at Denton, in -the county of Huntingdon. Denton was a sort of jointure-house attached -to that ancient family seat of Conington, which had come into the -possession of the Cottons, about the middle of the preceding century, by -the marriage of William COTTON with Mary WESENHAM, daughter and heir of -Robert WESENHAM, who had acquired Conington by his marriage with Agnes -BRUCE.[1] - -[Sidenote: PARENTAGE AND ANCESTRY OF SIR ROBERT COTTON.] - -The Cottons of Conington were an offshoot of the old Cheshire stock. -They held a good local position in right of their manorial possessions -both in Huntingdonshire and in Cambridgeshire, but they had not, as yet, -won distinction by any very conspicuous public service. Genealogically, -their descent, through Mary WESENHAM, from Robert BRUCE, was their chief -boast. Sir Robert was to become, as he grew to manhood, especially proud -of it. He rarely missed an opportunity of commemorating the fact, and -sometimes seized occasions for recording it, heraldically, after a -fashion which has put stumbling-blocks in the way of later antiquaries. -But the weakness has about it nothing of meanness. It is not an -unpardonable failing. And with the specially antiquarian virtues it is -not less closely allied than with love of country. In days of court -favour, JAMES THE FIRST was wont to please Sir Robert COTTON by calling -him cousin. Sir Robert’s descendants became, in their turn, proud of his -personal celebrity, but they too were, at all times, as careful to -celebrate, upon the family monuments, their Bruce descent, as to claim a -share in the literary glories of the ‘Cottonian Library.’ - -This cousinship with King James—and also a matter which to Sir Robert -was much more important, the descent to the Cottons of the rich Lordship -of Conington with its appendant manors and members—will be seen, at a -glance, by the following— - - +---------------------------------------------------------------------+ - | PEDIGREE OF COTTON, OF CONINGTON. | - | | - | EDMUND, called _Ironside_,----King of England. | - | | | - | Edward = Agatha, Daughter of the Emperor Henry III. | - | | | - | +-----------------+ | - | | | - | MALCOLM, = Margaret (Saint). | - | Cean-mohr, King of Scotland.| | - | +------------------+ | - | | | - | DAVID, King of Scotland = Maud,[2] daughter, and heir | - | | of Waltheof, Earl | - | | of Huntingdon. | - | +---------------+ | - | | | - | Henry, = Ada, daughter of the William de COTTON | - | Prince of Scotland. | Earl of Warren. (of Cotton, in Cheshire).| - | +----+ | | - | | | | - | David, = Margaret, daughter | | - | Earl of Huntingdon and Angus, | and heir of Ralph, | | - | Lord of Conington. | Earl of Chester. | | - | | | | - | +-------+ | | - | | | | - | Robert BRUCE, = Isabel, heiress of | | - | Lord of Conington | Conington. William de COTTON | - | (_jure uxoris_). | (of Hampstall-Ridware | - | +-----------+-------------+ in Staffordshire). | - | | | | | - | Robert BRUCE, Sir Bernard de BRUCE, [*] | - | Earl of Carrick, Lord of Conington | - | Competitor for the [‘by the gift of his Mother, | - | Crown of Scotland. 37 Henry III,[3]-_Sir R._ | - | | _Cotton’s Note in MS._ Harl.] | - | +-------+ | - | | | - | ROBERT, = . . . . | - | King of Scotland. | | - | +-----------+-----+ | - | | | | - | DAVID, Marjory BRUCE = Walter STUART. | - | King of Scotland. | | - | +------------------+ | - | | | - | ROBERT (Stuart) II, | - | King of Scotland. | - | | | - | JAMES I, King of Scotland. | - | | | - | | - | | | - | JAMES VI, of Scotland, | - | and I, of Britain. | - +---------------------------------------------------------------------+ - | Sir Bernard de BRUCE | - | Lord of Conington. | - | | | - | Sir John de BRUCE, = Margaret Beauchamp. | - | Lord of Conington. | | - | +---------------+----------+ | - | | | | - | Agnes BRUCE, = Sir Hugh de Joan BRUCE = Sir Nicholas | - | eldest daughter | WESENHAM. 2nd daughter | Greene. | - | and co-heir. | and co-heir. | | - | | +------------+ | - | +-+--------------------+ | | - | | | | | - | Thomas WESENHAM Robert WESENHAM _a quo_ | - | (d. 39 Hen. VI, (died 17 Edw. IV). Culpeper | - | without issue). | and | - | +-------+ Harington. | - | [*] | | - | | | | - | William de COTTON (2nd son = Mary WESENHAM | - | of Richard de COTTON), | (heir of Conington). | - | (of Hampstall Ridware) | | - | slain at the Battle of | | - | St. Albans, 33 H. VI. | | - | +-------------+ | - | | | - | Thomas COTTON = Eleanor Knightley. | - | (Lord of Conington). | | - | +-----+ | - | | | - | Thomas COTTON = Jane Paris. | - | | | - | +-----+ | - | | | - | Thomas COTTON = Lucy Harney. | - | | | - | +-----+ | - | | | - | Thomas COTTON = Elizabeth Shirley. | - | | | - | +-----+ | - | | | - | SIR ROBERT (BRUCE) COTTON, | - | Knight and Bart., Lord of Conington, &c., and | - | FOUNDER OF THE COTTONIAN LIBRARY (Born | - | 1570; Died 6 May, 1631).[3] | - +---------------------------------------------------------------------+ - - [From the COTTON ROLL XIV, 6 [by SEGAR, CAMDEN, and ST. GEORGE]; - compared with MS. Hark 807, fol. 95, and with MS. LANSD., 863, - containing the heraldic Collections of R. ST. GEORGE, Norroy, Vol. - III, fol. 82 verso.] - - [For the continuation of the COTTON PEDIGREE, showing (1) the descent - from Sir Robert of the subsequent possessors of the COTTONIAN - LIBRARY, up to the date of the gift to the Nation made by Sir John - COTTON, and (2) the relationship of the Cottonian Trustees of the - British Museum, see the concluding pages of the present Chapter.] - -Robert COTTON was educated at Trinity College in Cambridge, where he -took the degree of B.A. towards the close of 1585.[4] Of his collegiate -career very little is discoverable, save that it was an eminently -studious one. [Sidenote: COTTON’S EARLY FRIENDSHIPS.] Long before he -left Trinity, he had given unmistakeable proofs of his love for -archæology. Some among the many conspicuous and lifelong friendships -which he formed with men likeminded took their beginnings at Cambridge, -but most of them were formed during his periodical and frequent sojourns -in London. John JOSCELINE, William DETHICK, Lawrence NOWELL, William -LAMBARDE, and William CAMDEN were amongst his earliest and closest -friends. Most of them were much his seniors. Whilst still in the heyday -of youth he married Elizabeth BROCAS, daughter and eventually coheir of -William BROCAS of Thedingworth in Leicestershire. Soon after his -marriage he took a leading part in the establishment of the first -Society of Antiquaries. Some of COTTON’S fellow-workers in the Society -are known to all of us by their surviving writings. Others of them are -now almost forgotten, though not less deserving, perhaps, of honourable -memory; for amongst these latter was— - - ‘that good Earl, once President - Of England’s Council and her Treasury; - Who liv’d in both unstain’d with gold or fee,’ - -at a time when such praise could seldom be given truthfully. It was as a -contributor towards the common labours of that Society that COTTON made -his earliest appearance as an author. The subjects chosen for his -discourses at the periodical meetings of the Elizabethan antiquarians -indicate the prevalent bias of his mind. Nearly all of them may be said -to belong to our political archæology. - -[Sidenote: GROWTH OF THE COTTONIAN LIBRARY AND GALLERY.] - -Before the close of the sixteenth century, his collections of -Manuscripts and of Antiquities had already become so large and important -as to win for him a wide reputation in foreign countries, as well as at -home. His correspondence indicates, even at that early period, a -generous recognition of the brotherhood of literature, the world over, -and proves the ready courtesy with which he had learned to bear somewhat -more than his fair share of the obligations thence arising. In later -days he was wont to say to his intimates: ‘I, myself, have the smallest -share in myself.’ From youth, onwards, there is abundant evidence that -the saying expressed, unboastingly, the simple facts of his daily life. - -[Sidenote: FRIENDSHIP WITH CAMDEN.] - -CAMDEN was amongst the earliest of those intimates, and to the dying day -of the author of the _Britannia_ the close friendship which united him -with COTTON was both unbroken and undiminished. The former was still in -the full vigour of life when COTTON had given proof of his worthiness to -be a fellow-labourer in the field of English antiquities. In 1599 they -went, in company, over the northern counties; explored together many an -old abbey and many a famous battle-field. When that tour was made, the -evidences of the ruthless barbarism with which the mandates of HENRY THE -EIGHTH had been carried out by his agents lay still thick upon the -ground, and may well have had their influence in modifying some of the -religious views and feelings of such tourists. Not a few chapters of the -_Britannia_ embody the researches of COTTON as well as those of CAMDEN; -and the elder author was ever ready to acknowledge his deep sense of -obligation to his younger colleague. For both of them, at this time, and -in subsequent years, the storied past was more full of interest than the -politics, howsoever momentous or exciting, of the day. But, -occasionally, they corresponded on questions of policy as well as of -history. There is evidence that on one stirring subject, about which -men’s views were much wont to run to extremes, they agreed in advocating -moderate courses. In the closing years of the Queen, COTTON, as well as -CAMDEN, recognised the necessity that the Government should hold a firm -hand over the emissaries of the Church and Court of Rome, whilst -refusing to admit that a due repression of hostile intrigues was -inconsistent with the honourable treatment of conscientious and peaceful -Romanists. - -It was, in all probability, almost immediately after COTTON’S return -from the Archæological tour to the North which he had made with his -early friend, that he received a message from the Queen. ELIZABETH had -been told of his growing fame for possessing an acquaintance with the -mustiest of records, and an ability ‘to vouch precedents’ such as few -students, even of much riper years, had attained to. He was now to be -acquainted with a dispute about national precedency which had arisen at -Calais between Sir Henry NEVILLE and the Ambassador of Spain. [Sidenote: -THE TRACTATE ON ENGLISH PRECEDENCY OVER SPAIN.] It was Her Majesty’s -wish that he should search the records which bore upon the question, and -send her such a report as might strengthen NEVILLE’S hands in his -contest for the honour of England. - -Such a task could not fail to be a welcome one; and COTTON found no lack -of pertinent evidence. The bent and habit of his mind were always -methodical. He begins his abstract of the records by tabulating his -argument. Precedency, he says, must have respect either to the nation or -to the ruler of the nation. A kingdom must rank either (1) according to -its antiquity, or (2) according to ‘the eminency of the throne royal,’ -by which phrase he means the complete unity of the dominion under one -supreme ruler. On the first title to precedency he observes that it may -be based either upon the date of national independence, or upon that of -the national recognition of Christianity. He claims for England that it -was a monarchy at least four hundred and sixty years before Castile -became one; that Christianity had then been established in it, without -break or interruption, for a thousand years; [Sidenote: _Cottoni -Posthuma_, pp. 76, 77.] whereas in Spain Christianity was ‘defaced with -Moorish Mahumetisme,’ until the expulsion of the Moors by FERDINAND, -little more than a century before the time at which he was writing. - -His assertion of the greater ‘eminency of the throne royal’ in England -than in Spain is mainly founded on the union in the English sovereignty -alone of supreme ecclesiastical with supreme civil power; and on the -lineal descent of the then sovereign ‘from Christian princes for 800 -years,’ whereas the descent of the Kings of Spain ‘is chiefly from the -Earls of Castilia, about 500 years since,’ and the then King of Spain -was ‘yet in the infancy of his kingdom.’ - -Two minor and ancillary arguments in this tract are also notable: The -Spanish throne, says COTTON, hath not, as hath the English and French, -‘that virtue to endow the king therein invested with the power to heal -the king’s evil; for into France do yearly come multitudes of Spaniards -to be healed thereof.’ And he further alleges that ‘absolute power of -the King of England, which in other kingdoms is much restrained.’ The -time was to come when the close friend and fellow-combatant of ELIOT and -the other framers of the great ‘Petition of Right’ would rank himself -with the foremost in ‘much restraining’ the kingly power in England, and -would discover ample warrant in ancient precedents for every step of the -process. But, as yet, that time was afar off. - - -[Sidenote: MS. Cott. Vesp. C. xiii, ff. 158; 160, seqq. (B. M.)] - -Immediately on the accession of King JAMES, Sir Robert COTTON greeted -the new monarch with two other and far more remarkable tractates on a -subject bearing closely on our relations with Spain. Their political -interest, as contributions to the history of public opinion, is great. -Their biographical interest is still greater. But I postpone the -consideration of them until we reach a momentous crisis in Sir Robert’s -life on which they have a vital bearing. He also wrote,—almost -simultaneously,—a much more courtierlike ‘_Discourse of his Majesty’s -descent from the Saxon Kings_,’ which was graciously welcomed. -[Sidenote: _Domestic Correspondence_, James I, vol. i, f. 3 (R. H.).] In -the following September he received the honour of knighthood. [Sidenote: -RETURNED TO PARLIAMENT.] In JAMES’ first Parliament he sat for the -County of Huntingdon, in fellowship with Sir Oliver CROMWELL, uncle of -the future Protector. There is no evidence that at this period he took -any active part in debate. Nor did he, at any time, win distinction as a -debater. But in the labours of Committees he was soon both zealous and -prominent. Two classes of questions, in particular, appear to have -engaged his attention:—questions of Church discipline, and questions of -administrative reform. [Sidenote: _Dom. Cor._ as above; vol. xix, pp. 37 -seqq.; vol. xxvii, pp. 44 seqq. (R. H.); MS. Cott. Jul. C., iii, p. 10. -(B. M.)] He also assisted Bacon in the difficult attempt to frame -acceptable measures for a union with Scotland. - -The fame of his library and of his museum of antiquities continued to -spread farther and wider. He had many agents on the Continent who sought -diligently to augment his collections. His correspondence with men who -were busied in like pursuits both at home and abroad increased. Much of -it has survived. On that interesting point at which a glance has been -cast already, its witness is uniform. He was always as ready to impart -as he was eager to collect. Few, if any, important works of historical -research were carried on in his day to which he did not, in some way or -other, give generous furtherance. At a time when he was most busy in -forming his own library, he helped BODLEY to lay the foundation of the -noble library at Oxford. - -[Sidenote: FURTHER GROWTH AND SOURCES OF THE COTTONIAN LIBRARY.] - -Readers who can call to mind even mere fragments of that superabundant -evidence which tells of the neglect throughout much of the Tudor period -of the public archives of the realm, can feel little surprise that Sir -Robert COTTON should have been able to collect a multitude of documents -which had once been the property of the nation, or of the sovereign. -Those who are most familiar with that evidence ought to be the first to -remember that, under the known circumstances of the time, the -presumption of honest acquisition is stronger than that of dishonest, -whenever conclusive proof of either is absent. English State Papers had -passed into the possession not only of English antiquarians, but of -English booksellers—and not a few of them into that of foreigners—before -COTTON was born. Other considerations bearing on this matter, and -tending as it seems in a like direction, belong to a later period of Sir -Robert’s life. There is, however, a very weighty one which stands at the -threshold of his career as a collector. - -Almost the earliest incident which is recorded of COTTON’S youthful -days, is his concurrence in a petition in which Queen ELIZABETH was -entreated to establish a Public and National Library, and to honour it -with her own name. [Sidenote: ATTEMPT OF COTTON AND CAMDEN TO ESTABLISH -A NATIONAL LIBRARY.] Its especial and prime object was to be the -collection and preservation, as public property, of the monuments of our -English history. The proposal was not altogether new. It was a much -improved revival of a project which Dr. John DEE had once submitted, in -an immature form, to Queen MARY. It was the reiteration of an earnest -request which had been made to Queen ELIZABETH by Archbishop PARKER, at -a time when COTTON was still in his cradle. The joint petition of COTTON -and CAMDEN met with as little success as had attended the entreaties of -those who had taken the same path before them. [Sidenote: _Petition, -&c._ (undated) in Cotton MS. Faustina, E. V, ff. 67, 68.] The -petitioners were willing to bind themselves, and others like-minded, to -incur ‘costs, and charges,’ for the effectual attainment of their -patriotic object, on the condition of royal patronage and royal -fellow-working with them in its pursuit. When COTTON, upon bare -presumptions, is charged to be an embezzler of records, this Petition -comes to have a very obvious relevancy to the matter in question. The -relevancy is enhanced by the fact that two, at least, of those who had -(at various times) concurred in promoting its object, gave to the -Library of their fellow-labourer in the field of antiquity, manuscripts -and records which, had the issue of their project been otherwise, they -would have given to the ‘Public Library of Queen ELIZABETH,’ in express -trust for their fellow-countrymen at large. - -Indirectly, this same petition has also its bearing on a curious passage -relating to Sir Robert COTTON which occurs among the Minute-books of the -Corporation of London, and which has recently been printed by Mr. RILEY, -in his preface to _Liber Custumarum_. - -On the 10th of November, 1607, the Court of Aldermen of London recorded -the following minute: [Sidenote: COTTON AND THE CITY RECORDS OF LONDON.] -‘It is this day ordered, that Mr. Chamberlain, Mr. Town Clerk, Mr. -EDMONDS, and Mr. Robert SMITH, or any three of them, shall repair to Sir -Robert COTTON, from this Court, and require him to deliver to the City’s -use three of the City’s books _which have been long time missing_—the -first book called _Liber Custumarum_; the second, called _Liber Legum -Antiquorum_; and the thirde, called _Fletewode_, which are affirmed to -be in his custody.’ Of the results of the interview of Master -Chamberlain and his fellow-ambassadors with COTTON no precise account -has been preserved. It is plain, however, from the sequel, that they -found the matter to be one for which such extremely curt ‘requisition’ -was scarcely the appropriate mode of setting to work. The Corporation -appealed in vain to the Lord Privy Seal NORTHAMPTON; and they had -afterwards to solicit the mediation with COTTON of two of their own -members—Sir John JOLLES and another—who were personally known to him. -Their interposition was alike ineffectual. Of the interview we have no -report; but Sir Robert, it is clear, asserted his right to retain the -City books (or rather portions of books) which were then in his hands, -and he did retain them. They now form part of the well-known and very -valuable Cottonian MS., ‘Claudius D. XI.’ - -That these London records had once belonged to the citizens is now -unquestioned. That Cotton—both in 1607 and again in the following -year—asserted a title, of some sort, to those of them which were then in -his hands, seems also to be established. Is the fair inference this: -‘Their then holder, in 1607, had obtained them wrongfully, and he -persisted, despite all remonstrance, in his wrongful possession’? Is it -not rather to be inferred that, whosoever may have been the original -wrongdoer, Sir Robert COTTON had acquired them by a lawful purchase? -[Sidenote: THE DISPUTE ABOUT CITY RECORDS.] If that should have been the -fact, he may possibly have had a valid reason for declining to give what -he had, ineffectually and rudely, been commanded to restore. - -On the other hand, it is impossible to defend Sir Robert’s occasional -mode of dealing with MSS.,—some of which, it is plain, were but lent to -him,—when, by misplacement of leaves, or by insertions, and sometimes by -both together, he confused their true sequence and aspect. Of this -unjustifiable manipulation I shall have to speak hereafter. - - -The years which followed close upon this little civic interlude were -amongst the busiest years of COTTON’S public life. He testified the -sincerity of his desire to serve his country faithfully, by the choice -of the subjects to the study of which he voluntarily bent his powers. - -[Sidenote: COTTON’S MEMORIAL ON ABUSES IN THE NAVY.] - -Abuses in the management of the navy and of naval establishments have -been at most periods of our history fruitful topics for reformers, -competent or other. In the early years of JAMES there was a special -tendency to the increase of such abuses in the growing unfitness for -exertion of the Lord High Admiral. NOTTINGHAM had yet many years to -live,—near as he had been to the threescore and ten when the new reign -began. But even his large appetencies were now almost sated with wealth, -employments, and honours; and ever since his return from his splendid -embassy to Spain, he seemed bent on compensating himself for his hard -labour under ELIZABETH by his indolent luxury under JAMES. The repose of -their chief had so favoured the illegitimate activities of his -subordinates, that when COTTON addressed himself to the task of -investigating the state of the naval administration he soon found that -it would be much easier to prove the existence and the gravity of the -abuses than to point to an effectual remedy. - -The abuses were manifold. Some of them were, at that moment, scarcely -assailable. To COTTON, in particular, the approach to the subject was -beset with many difficulties. He was, however, much in earnest. -[Sidenote: THE INQUIRY INSTITUTED BY COTTON INTO ABUSES IN THE ROYAL -NAVY.] When he found that some of the obstacles must, for the present, -be rather turned by evasion than be encountered—with any fair chance of -success—by an open attack in front, he betook himself to the weaker side -of the enemy. He obtained careful information as to naval -account-keeping; discovered serious frauds; and opened the assault by a -conflict with officials not too powerful for immediate encounter,—though -far indeed from being unprotected. - -[Sidenote: Cotton, _Memorial on Abuses of the Navy;—Domestic Corresp._ - James I, vol. xli, p. 21. (R. H).] - -Of Sir Robert’s _Memorial_ to the King, I can give but one brief -extract, by way of sample: ‘Upon a dangerous advantage,’ he writes, -‘which the Treasurer of the Navy taketh by the strict letter of his -Patent, to be discharged of all his accounts by the only vouchee and -allowance of _two_ chief officers, it falls out, strangely, at this -time—by the weakness of the Controller and cunning of the Surveyor—that -these two offices are, in effect, but _one_, which is the Surveyor -himself, who—joining with the Treasurer as a Purveyor of all -provisions—becomes a paymaster to himself ... at such rates as _he_ -thinks good.’ It is a suggestive statement. - -COTTON’S most intimate political friendships were at this time with the -HOWARDS. Henry HOWARD (now Earl of Northampton),—whatever the intrinsic -baseness and perfidy of his nature, was a man of large capacity. He was -not unfriendly to reform,—when abuses put no pelf in his own pocket. To -naval reforms, his nearness of blood to NOTTINGHAM, the Lord High -Admiral, tended rather to predispose him; for when near relatives -dislike one another, the intensity of their dislike is sometimes -wonderful to all bystanders. Interest made these two sometimes allies, -but it never made them friends. NORTHAMPTON gave his whole influence in -favour of Sir Robert’s plan. He began the inquiries into this wide -subject by persuading the King to appoint a Commission. On the 30th of -April, 1608, Letters Patent were issued, in the preamble of which the -pith of the Memorial is thus recited: ‘We are informed that very great -and considerable abuses, deceits, frauds, corruptions, negligences, -misdemeanours and offences have been and daily are perpetrated ... -_against the continual admonitions and directions of you, our Lord High -Admiral_, by other the officers of and concerning our Navy Royal, and by -the Clerks of the Prick and Check, and divers other inferior officers, -ministers, mariners, soldiers, and others working or labouring in or -about our said Navy;’ [Sidenote: COMMISSION FOR INQUIRY ON THE ABUSES IN -THE NAVY.] and thereupon full powers are given to the Commissioners so -appointed to make full inquiry into the allegations; and to certify -their proceedings and opinions. COTTON was made a member of the -Commission, and at the head of it were placed the Earls of NORTHAMPTON -and of NOTTINGHAM. It was directed that the inquiry should be carried at -least as far back as the year 1598. The Admiral’s share was little more -than nominal. The proceedings were opened on the 7th of May, 1608, when, -as - -COTTON himself reports, an ‘elegant speech was made by Lord Northampton, -of His Majesty’s provident and princely purposes for reformation of the -abuses.’ Northampton, he adds, ‘took especial pains and care for a full -and faithful discharge of that trust.’ At his instance Sir Robert was -made Chairman of a sort of sub-committee, to which the preliminary -inquiries and general array of the business were entrusted; [Sidenote: -_Proceedings in the Commission for the Navy Royal_; MS. COTT. Julius F. -iii, fol. 1. (B. M.)] ‘Sir Robert COTTON, during all the time of this -service, entertaining his assistants at his house at the Blackfriars as -often as occasion served.’ - -The inquiry lasted from May, 1608, to June, 1609. COTTON was then -requested by his fellow-commissioners to make an abstract of the -depositions to be reported to the King. It abundantly justified the -Memorial of 1608. JAMES, when he had read it, ordered a final meeting of -the Commissioners to be held in his presence, at which all the -inculpated officers were to attend that they might adduce whatever -answers or pleas of defence might be in their power. ‘In the end,’ says -Sir Robert, ‘they were advised rather to cast themselves at the feet of -his grace and goodness for pardon, than to rely upon their weak replies; -which they readily did.’ The most important outcome of the inquiry was -the preparation of a ‘_Book of Ordinances for the Navy Royal_,’ in the -framing of which Sir Robert COTTON had the largest share. It led to many -improvements. But, in subsequent years, measures of a still more -stringent character were found needful. - -[Sidenote: THE INQUIRY INTO CROWN REVENUES.] - -In the next year after the presentation of this Report on the Navy, Sir -Robert addressed to the King another Report on the Revenues of the -Crown. The question is treated historically rather than politically, but -the long induction of fiscal records is frequently enlivened by keen -glances both at underlying principles and at practical results. Once or -twice, at least, these side glances are such as, when we now regard -them, in the light of the subsequent history of JAMES’S own reign and of -that of his next successor, seem to have in them more of irony than of -earnest. The style of the treatise is clear, terse, and pointed. - -On no branch of the subject does the author go into more minute detail -than on that delicate one of the historical precedents for ‘abating and -reforming excesses of the Royal Household, Retinue, and Favourites.’ He -points the moral by express reference to existing circumstances. Thus, -for example, in treating of the arrangements of the royal household, he -says, ‘There is never a back-door at Court that costs not the king £2000 -yearly;’ and again, when treating of gifts to royal favourites: ‘It is -one of the greatest accusations against the Duke of Somerset for -suffering the King [EDWARD VI] to give away the possessions and profits -of the Crown in manner of a spoil.’ - -Not less plainspoken are COTTON’S words about a question that was -destined, in a short time, to excite the whole kingdom. Tonnage and -poundage, he says, were granted simply for defence of the State, ‘so -they may be employed in the wars; and particular Treasurers account in -Parliament’ for that employment. [Sidenote: _Proceedings in the -Commission for the Navy Royal, &c._; as above.] ‘They are so granted,’ -he adds, ‘in express words; and that they proceed of goodwill, not of -duty. Precedents of this nature are plentiful in all the Rolls.’ A final -example of this sort may be found in the pithy warning grounded upon -RICHARD THE SECOND’S grant to a minion of the power of compounding with -delinquents. It was fatal, he says, both to the king and to his -instrument. ‘It grew the death of the one and the deposition of the -other.’ - -COTTON’S Report on the Crown Revenues has also an incidental interest. -Out of it grew the creation of the new dignity of baronets. Were His -Majesty, says the writer, ‘now to make a degree of honour hereditary as -Baronets, next under Barons, and grant them in tail, taking of every one -£1000, in fine it would raise with ease £100,000; [Sidenote: COTTON’S -PROPOSITION FOR THE CREATION OF BARONETS, 1609.] and, _by a judicious -election_, be a means to content those worthy persons in the -Commonwealth that by the confused admission of [so] many Knights of the -Bath held themselves all this time disgraced.’ When this passage was -written that which had been, under ELIZABETH, so real and eminent an -honour as to be eagerly coveted by patriotic men, had been lavished by -JAMES with a profusion which entailed their contempt and disgust. I have -before me the fine old MS. from a passage in which COTTON borrowed the -title of the new dignity. [Sidenote: 9 R. II. Durh. 17 July, 1385. -COTTON MS., Nero D., vi, § 16. (B. M.)] The word occurs thus:—‘_Ceux -sont les estatutz, ordenances ... de n̄re très excellent souv seigneur -le Roy Richard, et Johan, Duc de Lancastre, ... et des autres Contes, -Barons, et_ Baronnetz, _et sages Chivalers_.’ - -Sir Robert was himself amongst the earliest receivers (June, 1611) of -the new order. Its creation led to many jealousies and discords. It gave -both to the King and to his councillors not a little trouble in settling -the precise privileges and precedencies of its holders. In those -controversies the author of the suggestion took no very active part. -King JAMES was much more anxious for the speedy receipt of the hundred -thousand pounds, than about the ‘judicious election’ of those by whom -the money was to be provided. COTTON’S satisfaction with the ultimate -working out of his plan must have had its large alloy.[5] - -This is the more apparent, inasmuch as, at the first acceptance of his -project, Sir Robert had obtained the King’s distinct promise that no -future creation of a baron should be made, until the new peer had first -received the degree of baronet; unless he belonged to a family already -ennobled. Hearing of a probability that the royal promise in this -respect was likely to be broken, he wrote to Somerset:—‘If His Highness -_will_ do it, I rather humbly beg a relinquishing in the design of the -baronets, as desponding of good success.’ [Sidenote: Cotton to Somerset -(undated) MS. Harl., 7002, f. 380. (B. M.)] But to James all projects -for the opening of gold mines—whether at home or abroad—were much too -attractive to be staved off by any puritanic scruples about pledge or -promise. For him, from youth to dotage, the one thing needful was gold. - - -The question of the baronetcies is one of the earliest which brings us -in presence of the eventful political connection which subsisted between -COTTON and the Earl of SOMERSET. [Sidenote: THE POLITICAL INTERCOURSE OF -SIR R. COTTON WITH LORD SOMERSET. 1613–1615.] Of its first beginnings no -precise testimony seems to have survived. But there is a strong -presumption that when SOMERSET was led, by his fatal love for Lady -ESSEX, to change his early position of antagonism to the HOWARDS for one -of alliance and friendship, he came frequently into contact with Sir -Robert, who had long been familiarly acquainted with the Earl of -SUFFOLK—and also with his too well-known Countess—as well as with the -Earl of NORTHAMPTON. - -The one ineffaceable stigma on SOMERSET’S memory which was brought upon -him by his disgraceful marriage has barred the way to an impartial -estimate of his standing as a politician. A man who was branded by his -peers (though upon garbled depositions) as a murderer can scarcely, by -possibility, have his pretensions to statesmanship fairly weighed in a -just balance. Such testimony, it is true, as that on which SOMERSET was -found guilty of the poisoning of OVERBURY would not now suffice to -convict a vagrant of petty larceny. It would not indeed at this day be -treated as evidence at all; it would be looked upon as a mere decoction -of surmises. But the foul scandal of the marriage itself has so tainted -SOMERSET’S very name that historians (almost with one consent) have -condoned the baseness of his prosecutors. - -With some of this man’s contemporaries it was quite otherwise. Some -English statesmen whose names we have all learnt to venerate, looked -upon the murder of OVERBURY as a revengeful deed instigated by Lady -SOMERSET, wholly without her husband’s complicity; and they looked at -SOMERSET’S conviction of complicity in the crime as simply the issue of -a skilfully-managed court intrigue, for a court object. They knew that -SOMERSET’S enemies had been wont to say amongst themselves, ‘A nail is -best driven out by driving in another nail,’ and had, very effectually, -put the proverb into action. They knew, too, that to the rising -favourite the King had committed—most characteristically—the pleasing -task of communicating, on his behalf, with the Crown lawyers, as their -own task of compiling the depositions against the falling favourite went -on from stage to stage. - -Sir Robert COTTON believed not only that SOMERSET was guiltless of the -murder of OVERBURY, and that the Earl’s political extinction was -resolved upon, as the readiest means of making room for a new favourite, -but he also believed that SOMERSET’S loss of power involved the loss by -England—for a long time to come—of some useful domestic reforms, as well -as its subjection to several new abuses. This belief was a favourite -subject of conversation with him to his dying day. He was in the habit -of imparting it to the famous men who, in the early years of the next -reign, joined with him in fighting the battles of parliamentary freedom -against royal prerogative. There may well have been an element of truth -in COTTON’S view of the matter, though, in these days, it seems but a -barren pursuit to have discussed the preferability to England of the -rule of a Robert CARR rather than that of a George VILLIERS. - -[Sidenote: COTTON AND THE PROJECTED SPANISH MATCH.] - -What is now chiefly important in the close political connection which -was formed between COTTON and SOMERSET is the fact that it eventually -thrust Sir Robert’s fortune and entire future into great peril, even if -it did not actually hazard his life itself, as well as his fair fame -with posterity. The life that was preserved to him was also to be -redeemed by future and brilliant public service. [Sidenote: 1615.] His -fortune sustained no great damage, and much of it was afterwards spent -upon public objects. His reputation as a statesman, however, suffered, -and must suffer, some degree of loss. SOMERSET led him to become an -agent in urging on the treaty for the marriage of Prince CHARLES with -the Infanta of Spain. As it seems, his agency was—for a very brief -period—even active and zealous. Neither SOMERSET nor COTTON, however, -set that intercourse with GONDOMAR afoot which presently brought Sir -Robert within the toils. It was pleasantly originated by the wily -Spaniard himself, in the character of _a lover of antiquities_, deeply -anxious to study Sir Robert’s Museum, in its owner’s company. - -It is unfortunate for a truthful estimate of the _degree_ of discredit -attachable to Cotton for this agency in promoting a scheme pregnant with -dishonour to England, that little evidence of the share he took in it is -now to be derived from any English source. His own extant correspondence -yields very little, though it suffices to establish the fact of the -agency, apart from that testimony of GONDOMAR, which will be cited -presently. - -Under COTTON’S own hand we have the fact that in a conversation with -himself the Ambassador of Spain on one occasion held out (by way, it -seems, more immediately, of inducement to the English Government to -shape certain pending negotiations on other matters into greater -conformity with _Spanish_ counsels) [Sidenote: Cotton to Somerset; -(undated) Harleian MS. 7002, fol. 378. (B. M.)] the threat that, if such -a course were not taken, ‘turbulent spirits—of which Spain wanteth -not—might add some hurt to the ill affairs of Ireland, or hindrance to -the near affecting of the great work now in hand;’ a threat which COTTON -transmits to SOMERSET without rebuke or comment. - -Early in 1615, COTTON had an interview with GONDOMAR in relation to the -progress of the marriage negotiation in Spain. Of what passed at this -interview we have no _detailed_ account other than that which was sent -to the King of Spain by his Ambassador. The way in which COTTON’S name -is introduced, and the singular misstatement that he had the custody of -‘all the King’s archives,’ seem to imply that GONDOMAR had still but -little knowledge of the messenger now employed by JAMES and by SOMERSET -to confer with him. Throughout, the reader will have to bear in mind -that the narrative is GONDOMAR’S, and that all the material points of it -rest upon his sole authority. - -[Sidenote: 1615. April 18.] - -‘The King and the Earl of SOMERSET,’ writes the Ambassador, ‘have sent -in great secrecy by Sir Robert COTTON—who is a gentleman greatly -esteemed here, and with whom the King has deposited all his archives—to -tell me what Sir John DIGBY has written about the marriage of the -Infanta with this Prince. COTTON informed me that he was greatly pleased -that the negotiation had been so well received in Spain, because he -desired its conclusion and success. He enlarged upon the conveniencies -of the marriage, but said that the King considered DIGBY not to be a -good negotiator, because he was a great friend of the Archbishop of -Canterbury, and of the Earl of PEMBROKE, who were of the Puritan -faction, and was in correspondence with them.’... ‘In order to make a -beginning,’ continued COTTON, as GONDOMAR reports his conversation, ‘the -King must beg your Majesty to answer three questions: (1.) “Does your -Majesty believe that with a safe conscience you can negotiate this -marriage?” (2.) “Is your Majesty sincerely desirous to conclude it, upon -conditions suitable to both parties?” (3.) “Will your Majesty abstain -from asking anything, in matters of Religion, which would compel him to -do that which he cannot do without risking his life and his kingdom; -contenting yourself with trusting that he will be able to settle matters -quietly?” [Sidenote: Gardiner Transcripts of Simancas MSS.] When an -answer is given to these questions he will consider the matter as -settled, and will immediately give a commission to the Earl of Somerset -to arrange the points with me. [Sidenote: See also S. R. Gardiner, in -_Letters of Gondomar, giving an Account of the affair of the Earl of -Somerset_; (_Archæologia_, vol. xli.)] This Sir Robert COTTON is held -here, by many, to be a Puritan, but he told me that he was a Catholic, -and gave me many reasons why no man of sense could be anything else.’ He -afterwards adds: ‘Sir Robert COTTON, who has treated with me in this -business, tells me that after the marriage is agreed upon, [and] before -the Infanta arrives in England, matters of Religion will be in a much -improved condition.’ The writer of this remarkable despatch, it may be -well to mention, had asserted with equal roundness, but a few months -before, that JAMES himself had said, at the dinner-table: ‘I have no -doubt that the Roman Catholic Church is the true Church.’ - -[Sidenote: Simancas MSS. 2590, 10 (Gardiner Transcripts).] - -Nor is it unimportant, as bearing on the _degree_ of credibility to be -assigned to GONDOMAR’S despatches, when they chance to be -uncorroborated,—to remark that a despatch addressed by him to the Duke -of LERMA, in November, contains an express contradiction of an assertion -addressed to PHILIP, in the preceding April. To the King, as we have -just seen, he narrates COTTON’S communication of despatches written by -DIGBY. To the Minister he writes, six months later, that ‘a traitor had -given information’ against COTTON, for communicating Papers of State to -the Spanish Ambassador, and that the charge is ‘false.’ [Sidenote: -Simancas MS. 2534, 61 (Gardiner Transcripts).] Discrepancies like this -(howsoever easily explained, or explainable) suffice to show that -GONDOMAR’S testimony, when unsupported, needs to be read with caution; -and of such discrepancies there are many. Consummate as he was in -diplomatic ability of several kinds, this able statesman was -nevertheless loose (and sometimes reckless) in assertion. He was very -credulous when he listened to welcome news. It is impossible to study -his correspondence without perceiving that to him, as to so many other -men, the wish was often father of the thought. - -On the 22nd of June, Sir Robert paid another visit to GONDOMAR. He told -me, says the Ambassador, that the King’s hesitations had been overcome; -that JAMES was now willing to negotiate on the basis of the Spanish -articles, with some slight modifications; that Somerset had taken his -stand upon the match with Spain, had won the co-operation of the Duke of -Lennox, and was now willing to stake his fortunes on the issue. Sir -Robert COTTON, adds GONDOMAR, ‘assured me of his own satisfaction at the -turn which things had taken, as he had no more ardent wish than to live -and die an avowed Catholic, like his fathers and ancestors.[6] Whereupon -I embraced him, and said that God would guide.’ - - -Thus far, I have, advisedly, followed a Spanish account of English -conversations. Although believing that there exists, already ample, -evidence (both in our own archives and elsewhere) for bringing home to -the Count of GONDOMAR wilful misstatements of [Sidenote: SIR ROBERT -COTTON’S ACCOUNT OF THE FIRST INTERVIEW WITH COUNT GONDOMAR.] fact—in -the despatches which he was wont to write from London—as well as very -pardonable misapprehensions of the talk which he reports, I have -preferred to put before the reader the Ambassador’s own story in its -Spanish integrity. - -The mere fact, indeed, that an English historian[7], deservedly esteemed -for his acute and painstaking research, as well as for his eminent -abilities, has honoured GONDOMAR’S story by endorsing it, is warrant -enough for citing these despatches as they stand. But they have now to -be compared with another account of the same transaction given by -authority of Sir Robert COTTON himself. It was given upon a memorable -occasion. The place was the Painted Chamber in the Palace of -Westminster. The hearers were the assembled Lords and Commons of the -Realm.[8] - -The Spaniard, it seems, was far, indeed, from holding—as he says that he -held—his first conference with COTTON either in his own ambassadorial -lodging, or upon credentials given in the name and by the command of -King JAMES. That COTTON sought him he suggests, by implication. That the -visit, in which the ground was broken, was made at the King’s instance, -he states circumstantially. Both the suggestion and the assertion are -false. - -As the reader has seen, Sir Robert’s openness in exhibiting his library -and his antiquities was matter of public notoriety. [Sidenote: 1614. -February.] Profiting by that well-known facility of access, the Spanish -Ambassador presented himself at Cotton House in the guise of a virtuoso. -‘Do me the favour—with your wonted benevolence to strangers—to let me -see your Museum.’ With some such words as these, GONDOMAR volunteered -his first visit; led the conversation, by and bye, to politics; found -that COTTON was not amongst the fanatical and undiscriminating enemies -of Spain at all price—outspoken, as he had been, from the first, in his -assertion both of the wisdom and of the duty of England to protect the -Netherlanders; showed him certain letters or papers (not now to be -identified, it appears), and in that way produced an impression on -COTTON’S mind which led him to confer with SOMERSET, and eventually with -the King. So much is certain. Unfortunately, the speeches at the famous -‘Conference’ on the Spanish Treaty, in 1624, are reported in the most -fragmentary way imaginable. The reporter gives mere hints, where the -reader anxiously looks for details. Their present value lies in the -conclusive reasons which notwithstanding the lacunæ—they supply for -weighing, with many grains of caution, the accusations of an enemy of -England against an English statesman—whensoever it chances that those -accusations are uncorroborated. King JAMES himself (it may here be -added), when looking back at this mysterious transaction some years -later, and in one of his Anti-Spanish moods—said to Sir Robert: ‘The -Spaniard is a juggling jack. I believe he forged those letters;’ -alluding, as the context suggests, to the papers—whatever they -were—which GONDOMAR showed to COTTON at the outset of their intercourse, -in order to induce him to act as an intermediary between himself and the -Earl of SOMERSET. - - -At this time, the ground was already trembling beneath SOMERSET’S feet, -though he little suspected the source of his real danger. He knew, ere -long, that an attempt would be made to charge him with embezzling jewels -of the Crown. In connection with this charge there was a State secret, -in which Sir Robert COTTON was a participant with SOMERSET, and with the -King himself. And a secret it has remained. Such jewels, it is plain, -were in SOMERSET’S hands, and by him were transferred to those of -COTTON. Few persons who have had occasion to look closely into the -surviving documents and correspondence which bear upon the subsequent -and famous trials for the murder of OVERBURY, will be likely to doubt -that the secret was one among those ‘alien matters’ of which SOMERSET -was so urgently and so repeatedly adjured and warned, by JAMES’S -emissaries, to avoid all mention, should he still persist (despite the -royal, repeated, and almost passionate, entreaties with which he was -beset) in putting himself upon his trial; instead of pleading guilty, -after his wife’s example, and trusting implicitly to the royal mercy. - -For the purpose of warding off the lesser, but foreseen, danger, COTTON -advised the Earl to take a step of which the Crown lawyers made -subsequent and very effective use, in order to preclude all chance of -his escape from the unforeseen and greater danger. [Sidenote: 1615. -July.] By Sir Robert’s recommendation he obtained from the King -permission to have a pardon drawn, in which, amongst other provisions, -it was granted that no account whatever should be exacted from SOMERSET -at the royal exchequer; and to that pardon the King directed the -Chancellor to affix the Great Seal. The Seal, however, was withheld, and -a remarkable scene ensued in the Council Chamber. There are extant two -or three narratives of the occurrence, which agree pretty well in -substance. Of these GONDOMAR’S is the most graphic. The incident took -place on the 20th of August. The despatch in which it is minutely -described was written on the 20th of October. There is reason to believe -that the Ambassador drew his information from an eye-witness of what -passed. - -‘As the King was about to leave the Council Board,’ writes GONDOMAR, -‘SOMERSET made to him a speech which, as I was told, had been -preconcerted between them. [Sidenote: THE SCENE IN THE COUNCIL CHAMBER, -RESPECTING THE PARDON DRAWN BY SIR R. COTTON FOR SOMERSET.] He said that -the malice of his enemies had forced him to ask for a pardon; adduced -arguments of his innocency; and then besought the King to command the -Chancellor to declare at once what he had to allege against him, or else -to put the seal to the pardon. [Sidenote: 1615. August.] The King, -without permitting anything to be spoken, said a great deal in -SOMERSET’S praise; asserted that the Earl had acted rightly in asking -for a pardon, which it was a pleasure to himself to grant—although the -Earl would certainly stand in no need of it in his days—on the Prince’s -account, who was then present.’ Here, writes GONDOMAR, the King placed -his hand on the Prince’s shoulder, and added—‘That he may not undo what -I have done.’ Then, turning to the Chancellor, the King ended with the -words: ‘And so, my Lord Chancellor, put the seal to it; for such is my -will.’ The Chancellor, instead of obeying, threw himself on his knees, -told the King that the pardon was so widely drawn that it made SOMERSET -(as Lord Chamberlain) absolute master of ‘jewels, hangings, tapestry, -and of all that the palace contained; seeing that no account was to be -demanded of him for anything.’ And then the Chancellor added: ‘If your -Majesty insists upon it, I entreat you to grant me a pardon also for -passing it; otherwise I cannot do it.’ On this the King grew angry, and -with the words, ‘I order you to pass it, and you must pass it,’ left the -Council Chamber. His departure in a rage, before the pardon was sealed, -gave SOMERSET’S enemies another opportunity by which they did not fail -to profit. They had the Queen on their side. On that very day, too, the -King set out on a progress, long before arranged. For the time the -matter dropped. Before the Ambassador of Spain took up his pen to tell -the story to his Court, VILLIERS, ‘the new favourite,’ had begun to -supplant his rival; so that the same despatch which narrates the -beginnings of the fall of SOMERSET, tells also of the first stage in the -rapid rise of BUCKINGHAM. - -[Sidenote: THE SECOND PARDON DRAWN BY COTTON. 1615, Sept.] - -About a month after this wrangling at the Council Board, SOMERSET again -advised with Sir Robert COTTON on the same subject. [Sidenote: _Report -of the Trial of the Earl of Somerset._ (MS. R. H.)] COTTON recommended -him to have the Pardon renewed; saying to the Earl, ‘In respect you have -received some disgrace in the opinion of the world, in having passed’ -[_i. e._ missed] ‘that pardon which in the summer you desired, and -seeing there be many precedents of larger pardons, I would have you get -one after the largest precedent; that so, by that addition, you may -recover your honour.’ Strangely as these closing words now sound, in -relation to such a matter, they seem to embody both the feeling and the -practice of the times. - -In another version of the proceedings at the trial of May, 1616, -SOMERSET is represented as using in the course of his defence these -words: ‘To Sir Robert COTTON I referred the whole drawing and despatch -of the Pardon.’ And again: ‘I first sought the Pardon by the motion and -persuasion of Sir Robert COTTON, who told me in what dangers great -persons honoured with so many royal favours had stood, in former times.’ -[Sidenote: MS. Report of Trial (R. H.)] Sir Robert’s own account of this -and of many correlative matters of a still graver sort has come down to -us only in garbled fragments and extracts from his examinations, such as -it suited the purposes of the law-officers of the Crown to make use of, -after their fashion. The original documents were as carefully -suppressed, as COTTON’S appearance in person at the subsequent trial was -effectually hindered. At that day it was held to be an unanswerable -reason for the non-appearance of a witness,—whatever the weight of his -testimony,—to allege that he was regarded by the Crown as ‘a -delinquent,’ and could not, therefore, be publicly questioned upon -‘matters of State.’ There is little cause to marvel that a scrutinising -reader of the _State Trials_ (in their published form) is continually in -doubt whether what he reads ought to be regarded as sober history, or as -wild and, it may be, venomous romance. - - -One other incident of 1615 needs to be noticed before we proceed to the -catastrophe of the Gondomar story. - -[Sidenote: 1615. May 24.] - -In May of this year Sir Robert wrote a letter to Prince CHARLES, which -is notable for the contrasted advice, in respect to warlike pursuits, -which it proffers to the new Prince, from that more famous advice which -had but recently been offered to his late brother. [Sidenote: Comp. MS. -Cott. Cleop. F. vi, § 1. ‘_An Answer ... to certain military men, &c._, -(April, 1609).] He had lately found, he tells Prince CHARLES, a very -ancient volume containing the principal passages of affairs between the -two kingdoms of England and France under the reigns of King HENRY THE -THIRD and King HENRY THE FIFTH, and had caused a friend of his to -abstract from it the main grounds of the claim of the Kings of England -to the Crown of France; translating the original Latin into English. -This he now dedicates to the Prince, ‘as a piece of evidence concerning -that title which, at the time when God hath appointed, shall come unto -you.’ He ends his letter in a strain more than usually rhetorical:—‘This -title hath heretofore been pleaded in France, as well by ordinary -arguments of civil and common law, as also by more sharp syllogisms of -cannons in the field. There have your noble ancestors, Kings of this -realm, often argued in arms; there have been their large chases; there, -their pleasant walks; there have they hewed honour out of the sides of -their enemies; there—in default of peaceable justice—they have carried -the cause by sentence of the sword. [Sidenote: Sir R. Cotton to Prince -Charles. (MS. Lansd. 223. fol. 7.) (Copy.) (B. M.)] God grant that your -Highness may, both in virtues and victories, not only imitate, but far -excel them.’ - - -[Sidenote: The King to Archbishop of Canterbury, &c. _Domestic Corresp._ - James I, vol. lxxxvi, § 16. (R. H.)] - -The royal commission for the first examination of COTTON was issued on -the 26th of October, 1615. Two months afterwards he was committed to the -custody of one of the Aldermen of London. His library and papers were -also searched. - -COTTON’S accusation was that of having communicated papers and secrets -of State to the Spanish Ambassador. He was subjected to repeated -examinations, which (as we have seen) are extant only in part. He -maintained his innocence of all intentional offence. [Sidenote: COTTON’S -EXAMINATIONS BY COMMISSION Jan.-April, 1616.] ‘The King,’ he said, ‘gave -me instruction to speak as I did. If I misunderstood His Majesty my -fault was involuntary. I followed the King’s instruction to the best of -my belief and recollection.’ The examiners, however, were more intent by -far on extracting something from COTTON that would tell against -SOMERSET, than on the punishment of the fallen favourite’s ally and -agent. COKE, in particular, was indefatigable in the task. It was as -congenial to him as was the study of BRACTON or of LITTLETON. - -What then must have been his delight when,—whilst attending a sermon at -Paul’s Cross,—word was brought to him which gave hope of a discovery of -SOMERSET’S most secret correspondence? The pending proceedings had -stirred men’s minds in city and suburb, as well as at Court. A London -merchant had been asked, a little while before, to take into his charge -a box of papers. The depositor was a woman of the middle class, with -whom his acquaintance was but slight. At that time there was nothing in -the incident to excite suspicion. But, at a moment when strange rumours -were afloat, the depositor suddenly requested the return of the deposit. -The merchant bethought himself that the circumstances now looked -mysterious. If the papers should chance to bear on matters of State, to -have had any concern with them, howsoever innocent, might be dangerous. -He carried the box to Sir Edward COKE’S chambers. Not a moment was lost -in apprising the absent lawyer of the incident. Such news was of more -interest than the sermon. Probably, the preacher had not finished his -exordium, before all the faculties of COKE and of a fellow-commissioner -were bent on the letters which had passed between SOMERSET and -NORTHAMPTON. - -If GONDOMAR is to be believed, some secret papers belonging to King -JAMES himself were part of the precious spoil.[9] - -As usual, there are two accounts of the original secretor of the papers -so opportunely discovered. According to one of them, the box was -delivered by SOMERSET’S own order to the woman by whom it was carried to -the London merchant. [Sidenote: COTTON’S DEALINGS WITH SOMERSET’S -CORRESPONDENCE.] [Sidenote: 1615.] According to another, SOMERSET -entrusted the papers to COTTON; and the latter, anticipating the search -and sealing up of his library, gave them to a female acquaintance with -whom he thought they would remain in safety, but whose own fears led her -to shift their custody, in her turn. - -That the letters which NORTHAMPTON had received from -SOMERSET—containing, amongst many other things, numerous references to -the imprisonment of OVERBURY in the Tower—had been in Sir Robert -COTTON’S hands is unquestioned. After NORTHAMPTON’S death, COTTON, to -use his own words, had been ‘permitted to peruse and oversee all the -writings, books, &c. in the Earl’s study.’ In the course of this -examination he proceeds to say, ‘I had collected thirty several letters -of my Lord of SOMERSET to the Earl of Northampton, which, upon request, -I delivered to my Lord Treasurer [the Earl of SUFFOLK,] who sent them to -the Earl of SOMERSET.’ SUFFOLK, it is to be remembered, was -NORTHAMPTON’S heir. - -Thus far, no charge rests upon COTTON in relation to this -correspondence. What he did in disposing of SOMERSET’S letters was done -by order of the representatives of their deceased owner. It is far -otherwise with respect to their treatment after they had repassed, by -SUFFOLK’S gift, into the hands of SOMERSET, their writer. - -The letters were undated. That they should be so was in accordance with -the practice of a majority of the letter-writers of the time—as students -of history know to their sorrow. [Sidenote: Extracts of Examinations, -&c. (R. H.).] When suspicion was aroused and inquiry commenced about the -real cause of OVERBURY’S death, COTTON’S advice was sought by SOMERSET. -He told me, says SOMERSET himself: ‘These letters of yours may be dated, -so as may clear you of all imputation.’ Did he mean that the dates might -be forged, and so be made to bear false witness? Or did he mean that, by -putting their true dates to the letters, their contents would exculpate -an innocent man? To these questions there is absolutely no answer, save -the presumptive answer of character.[10] - -Whatever may be our estimate of the difficulty attending on the -admission of such exculpation as that, in respect of a charge which -amounts (in substance) to participation, after the fact, in the crime of -murder, there is really now no alternative. That Sir Robert COTTON put -dates to SOMERSET’S undated letters is certain. It was found to be -absolutely impossible, after desperate effort, to prove that the dates -were false. It is alike impossible to prove that they are true. These -dates are in COTTON’S own hand, without any attempt to disguise it. - -Upon the hypothesis of SOMERSET’S guilt, the question is beset with as -much difficulty, as upon the hypothesis of his innocence. By procuring -OVERBURY’S imprisonment—with whatever motive, or beneath whatever -influence—SOMERSET had brought himself under inevitable suspicion of -complicity in the ultimate result of that imprisonment. He was already -within the web. His struggles made it only the more tangled. - -Sir Robert COTTON remained in custody until the middle of the year 1616. -He was effectually prevented from appearing in May of that year as a -witness at his friend’s trial. [Sidenote: _Domestic Corresp._ James I, -vol. lxxxvii, f. 67 (R. H.).] He was himself put to no form of trial -whatever. But he had to purchase his pardon at the price of five hundred -pounds. It received the Great Seal on the 16th July. [Sidenote: Bacon to -Villiers, Feb. 1; and April 18; 1616.] Remembering BACON’S share in each -stage of the proceedings against SOMERSET, and the lavishness of his -professions to VILLIERS of the extreme delight he felt in following the -lead of the new favourite throughout every step of the prosecution of -the old one, it is suggestive to note that the framers, five years -afterwards, of a pardon for the Lord Chancellor BACON were directed to -follow the precedent of the pardon granted in July 1616 to Sir Robert -COTTON. - -Nor is it of less interest to observe that, to some of Sir Robert -COTTON’S closest friends, it seemed—at the moment when every part of the -matter was fresh in men’s minds—that it was much more needful for him to -exonerate himself from a suspicion of having stood beside SOMERSET too -lukewarmly, than to clear himself from the charge of committing a -forgery in order to cloke a murder. Very significant, for example, are -the words of one of those friends which I find in a letter addressed to -COTTON on the very day on which his pardon passed the Great Seal:—‘If I -say I rejoice and gratulate to you your return to your own house, as I -did lament your captivity, ... it will easily be credited.... The -unsureness of this collusive world, and the danger of great friendships, -you have already felt; and may truly say, with holy DAVID, _Nolite -fidere in principibus_.... As I hear, you have begun to make good use of -it, by receiving to you your Lady which God himself had knit unto you. -It is a piety for which you are commended. And, were it not for one -thing I should think my comfort in you were complete.... _It is said you -were not sufficiently sincere to your most trusting friend, the pitied -Earl. [Sidenote: E. Bolton to Sir R. Cotton; Cott. MS. Julius C., iii, -fol. 32. (B. M.)] Though I hold this a slander, yet being not able to -make particular defences, I opposed my general protestation against it -as an injury to my friend._ Yet wanting apt countermines to meet with -those close works by which some seek to blow up a breach into your -honour, I was not a little afflicted.... I leave the arming of me in -this cause to your own pleasure.’ - -The caution as to the danger of the friendships of grandees and great -favourites was one which COTTON took to heart. In the years to come he -had occasionally to give critical advice, in critical junctures. But, in -the true sense of the words, he learnt, at last, not to put his trust in -Princes. Long before his acquaintance with SOMERSET and his private -conferences with JAMES, a very true and dear friend had noted a -dangerous proclivity in Sir Robert’s character. [Sidenote: Arthur Agarde -to Sir R. Cotton: Cott. MS. Julius C., iii, fol. 1.] It prompted, by way -of counsel, the words: ‘Be yourself; and no man’s creature; but [only] -God’s. And so He will prosper all your designs, both to his glory and -your good.’ - -That ply had been taken too deeply, however, to be very easily smoothed -out. In the years to come Sir Robert COTTON approached—more than once, -perhaps—the brink of the old peril. As BUCKINGHAM clomb higher and -higher, and busied himself with many transactions of the nature of which -he had but a very insecure mental grasp, he felt his need of the -counsels of experienced men. He made occasional advances to COTTON, -amongst others. They were met; and not always so warily, as might now -have been expected. - -But against the danger which over-confiding intercourse with -too-powerful courtiers was sure to bring in its train, COTTON found a -better safeguard in wounded self-esteem, than even in dearbought -experience. He soon saw that in BUCKINGHAM’S character there was at -least as much of vacillation as of versatility. The famous lines which -describe the son as - - A man so various, that he seem’d to be - Not one, but all mankind’s epitome, - -would have a spice of truth if applied to the father. But their -applicability is only partial; whereas the lines which follow are almost -as true—a single word excepted—of the first Duke of Buckingham as they -were of the second— - - Stiff in opinions; often in the wrong; - He’s everything by starts, and nothing long. - -When Sir Robert COTTON perceived that James’s new favourite would -listen, in the morning, to grave advice on a grave subject, and affirm -his resolution to act upon it; and yet, in the afternoon suffer himself -to be carried from his purpose by the silly jests or malicious -suggestions of youngsters and sycophants, unacquainted with affairs and -often reckless of consequences, he saw the wisdom of standing somewhat -aloof. He rarely, however, refused his advice, when it was asked. In -regard to matters of naval administration,—the authoritative value of -his opinion on which was now everywhere recognised, save in the -dockyards and their dependencies,—he gave it with especial willingness. -But henceforward, to use AGARDE’S words, he was ‘no man’s creature.’ - -Five years passed on, marked by events which stirred England to its -core, but to Sir Robert COTTON they were years of comparative quiet. He -was, indeed, very far from being a careless bystander. He observed much, -and learnt much. [Sidenote: GROWTH OF COTTON’S LITERARY AND PUBLIC -CORRESPONDENCE.] Had it not been for the lessons which those publicly -eventful years impressed on his receptive mind, he might have gone to -his grave with no other reputation than that of a profound antiquary, -and the Founder of the Cottonian Library. - -Meanwhile, his pen worked as hard in the service of scholars, both at -home and abroad, as though he had been a busy proof-reader in a leading -printing-office. He supplied, at the same time, on the right hand and on -the left, precedents and formulæ, with a diligence and readiness which -would have won both fame and fortune for a long-accustomed conveyancer. -CAMDEN consults him, continually, for help in his historical labours. -Ben JONSON puts questions to him about intricate points of Roman -geography. [Sidenote: MS. Cott., Julius C., iii, fol. 239. (B. M.)] -William LISLE seeks COTTON’S aid in the prosecution of his studies of -the language and literature of the Anglo-Saxons. [Sidenote: _Ib._, fol. -288, seqq.] PEIRESC consults him on questions in Numismatics. [Sidenote: -_Domestic Corresp._, Jas. I, vol. lxxxi, § 15. (R. H.)] If great -officers of State chance to quarrel amongst themselves about their -respective claims to carry before the King the sword _Curtana_, at some -special ceremony, they agree to refer the dispute to Sir Robert COTTON -and to abide—without fighting a duel—by his momentous decision. If a -courtier obtains for a friend the royal promise of an Irish viscounty he -writes to COTTON, asking him to choose an appropriate and well-sounding -title. [Sidenote: MS. Cott., Julius C., iii, fol. 378.] Roger MAYNWARING -begs him to determine the legal amount of burial-fees. [Sidenote: _Ib._, -fol. 252.] Dr. LAMBE asks him to settle conflicting pretensions to the -advowson of a living which, in old time, belonged to an abbey. -[Sidenote: _Ib._, fol. 229.] Augustine VINCENT implores his help in a -tough question about patents of peerage. [Sidenote: _Ib._, fol. 379.] -The Lord Keeper WILLIAMS seeks advice on questions of parliamentary form -and privilege. [Sidenote: Edwards’ _Life and Letters of Ralegh_, vol. -ii, p. 321.] RALEGH writes to him, from that ‘Bloody Tower’ which he was -about to turn into a literary shrine for all generations of Englishmen -to come, by composing in it a noble ‘History of the World’—beseeching -him to supply a desolate prisoner with historical materials. [Sidenote: -MS. Julius C. iii, fol. 204.] The Earl of ARUNDEL writes to him from -Padua, begging that he would compile ‘the story of my ancestors.’ -[Sidenote: _Ib._, fol. 320.] The Earl of DORSET entreats him to make out -a list of the gifts which some early SACKVILLE had piously bestowed upon -the Church—not, however, with the smallest intention of himself -increasing them. And, anon, there comes to Sir Robert, from a third -great peer, the second of the Cecil Earls of Salisbury, an -entreaty—expressed in terms so urgent that one might call it a -supplication—‘Permit me, I pray you, to see my Lord of NORTHAMPTON’S -letters.... [Sidenote: Salisbury to Cotton, in MS. Cott., Julius C., -iii.] I will return them unread, and unseen, by anybody,’ save himself. -And then the Secretary of State writes to him in an impetuous hurry -which made his letter scarcely legible:—‘If you be not here’ [_i. e._ at -the Council Chamber] ‘with those precedents for which there is present -use, we are all undone. [Sidenote: MS. Cott., Julius C., iii, fol. 57.] -For His Majesty doth so chide, that I dare not come in his sight.’ - -Along with this busy correspondence—of which, in these brief sentences I -have given the reader but a very inadequate and scanty sample—the -surviving records of these years of comparative retirement supply us -with abundant notices of the growth and of the sources, from time to -time, of the Cottonian Library. It would be no unwelcome task to tell -that story at length. It would, indeed, be but the paying, in very -humble coin, of a debt of gratitude to a liberal benefactor. But within -the compass of these pages so many careers have to be narrated that the -due proportions of some of them—and even of one so interesting as -COTTON’S—must needs be closely shorn. On this point it must, for the -present, suffice to say that the acquisition of many Cottonian State -Papers, and of such as carry on their face the most irrefragable marks -of former official ownership, can be distinctly traced. The assertion is -no hasty or inconsiderate one. It is founded on an acquaintance with the -Cottonian MSS., which is now, I fear, thirty years old, and on the -strength of which (when reading some recent assaults on the fair fame of -their Collector), I have been tempted to put certain well-known lines -into Sir Robert’s mouth:— - - If I am - Traduced by o’er hasty tongues—which neither know - My faculties nor person, yet will be - The chroniclers of my doing—let me say - ’Tis but the fate of place, and the rough brake - That virtue must go through. - -Were it not, however, for one pregnant circumstance in Sir Robert -COTTON’S subsequent life, all this would have but a very meager -attractiveness for nineteenth-century readers. The story of the growth -of a great library has its charm, but the sphere of potency is of small -dimension. Few but those who are themselves imbued with a spice of -literary antiquarianism ever enter within the narrow circle. Just in -like manner, that active literary and political correspondence—spreading -from Exeter to Durham, and from Venice to Copenhagen—would nowadays have -but a slender interest for anybody (not belonging to the scorned -fraternity of Oldbuck and Dryasdust), were it not for that great war -between King and Parliament, Cavalier and Roundhead, of which, in one -sense, COTTON lived only long enough to see the gathering of forces, and -the early skirmishes, but in which, nevertheless, he played a part -second only to that played by ELIOT and by PYM. His close connection -with the Parliamentarian leaders of 1625–1629 lifts the whole story of -the man out of the petty circuit of mere ‘curiosities of literature,’ -into the broad arena of the hard-won liberties of England. - -[Sidenote: COTTON’S ALLIANCE WITH THE PARLIAMENTARIAN CHIEFS.] - -All students of the deeds done in that arena now know—and their -knowledge is in no slight degree due to the persistent labours of a -living writer—that the battle of the ‘Petition of Right’ was even a -greater battle than Naseby or Marston Moor. They know that the -marshalling of the forces which, at a period antecedent to that famous -Petition, succeeded in winning a safe place on ‘the fleshy tables’ of -the hearts of Englishmen for those political immunities it -embodied—after the first written record had been vainly torn from the -Council Book—was a feat of arms not less brilliant, in its way, than was -that arraying of Ironsides, on much later days of the long strife, which -resulted in ‘Darwen stream with blood of Scots imbued,’ and placed -Worcester’s laureat wreath on the brow of CROMWELL. There are many -senses in which we have all of us (or nearly all) learnt to see the -truth of the familiar words, ‘Peace hath her victories, not less -renown’d than War,’ but in no sense have those words a deeper truth than -when we simply invert MILTON’S own application of them. By him they were -pointed at something yet to be done, and which, as he hoped, might be -done by CROMWELL. Nowadays, the historian has good ground to point them -at an earlier victory, won when the great soldier was but looking on at -the parliamentary contest, which he could not much advance, and might -very possibly have seriously impeded. The one thing which has transmuted -Robert COTTON from the status of a dead antiquary into that of a living -English worthy, is his close fellowship with ELIOT, RUDYARD, and PYM. -His rights to a place amongst our national worthies is due—more than all -else—to the fact that the services which he rendered in that strife of -heroes were services which one man, and only one, throughout broad -England had made himself capable of rendering. COTTON could no more have -led the parliamentary phalanx, than he could have led the Ironsides. To -stir men’s minds as ELIOT or PYM could stir them was about as much in -his power as it was to have invented logarithms, or to have written -‘_Lear_.’ But if he could not command the army, he could furnish the -arsenal. At that day and under the then circumstances that service was -priceless. - -Sir Robert COTTON’S best and most memorable parliamentary service was -rendered under CHARLES; not under JAMES. But there is one incident in -his public career which occurred just before the change in the wearers -of the Crown that has a claim to mention, even in so brief a memoir as -this. - -Among the revenges wrought by the ‘whirligigs of time’ before JAMES went -to his grave, was the necessity laid upon him to direct a search for -precedents how best to put a mark of disgrace on a Spanish Ambassador -for misconduct in his office. The man selected by the Duke of Buckingham -to make the search, and to report upon it, was Sir Robert COTTON. Some -weeks before he had been chosen to draw up, in the name of both Houses -of Parliament, a formal address to the King for the rupture of the -Spanish match. - -[Sidenote: THE SEARCH FOR PRECEDENTS AGAINST AMBASSADORS.] - -When BUCKINGHAM made that famous speech at the Conference of Lords and -Commons on the relations between England and Spain, to which COTTON’S -well-known _Remonstrance of the treaties of Amity and Marriage of the -Houses of Austria and Spain with the Kings of England_,[11] was to serve -as a preface, he spoke with considerable force and incisiveness. -[Sidenote: 1624. 27 April.] His arguments were not hampered by many -anxieties about consistency with his own antecedents. His words were -chosen with a view to clinch his arguments to English minds rather than -to spare Spanish susceptibilities. The ambassadors—there were then, I -think, two of them—were furious at a degree of plain-speaking to which -they had been little accustomed. They appealed to the King. They knew -that the versatile favourite, once loved, was now dreaded. They tried to -work on the King’s cowardice. The Duke, they told His Majesty, had -plotted the calling of Parliament expressly to have a sure tool with -which to keep him in control, should he prove refractory to the joint -schemes of the Duke and Prince CHARLES. ‘They will confine your -Majesty’s sacred person,’ said they, ‘to some place of pleasure, and -transfer the regal power upon the Prince.’ - -The framing of such an accusation, writes Sir Robert, in the Report -which he addressed to BUCKINGHAM on ‘_Proceedings against Ambassadors -have miscarried themselves_,’ would, by the laws of the realm, amount to -High Treason, had it been made by a subject. [Sidenote: _Relation of -Proceedings, &c._; MS. LANSD., 811, ff. 133–139.] He then adduces a long -string of precedents for the treatment of offending envoys; advises that -the Spaniards should first be immediately confined to their own abode; -and should then, by the Speakers of both Houses of Parliament, in -person, be exhorted and required to ‘make a fair discovery of the ground -that led them so to inform the King.’ - -If, says Sir Robert, they refuse—‘as I believe they will’—then are they -authors of the scandal, and His Majesty should be addressed to send a -‘letter of complaint to the King of Spain, requiring justice to be done -according to the law of nations, which claim should the King of Spain -refuse, the refusal would amount to a declaration of war.’ This advice -was given by COTTON to the Duke on the 27th of April, 1624. Its author’s -momentary favour with the favourite of the now fast-rising sun was -destined (as we shall see presently) to be of extremely brief duration. - -Pen-service of this sort was eminently congenial with Sir Robert -COTTON’S powers. To his vast knowledge of precedents he added much -acumen and just insight in their application. Though never admitted to -the Privy Council as a sworn councillor of the Crown, his service as an -adviser on several great emergencies was conspicuous. - - -And it did not stand alone. Small as were his natural gifts for oratory, -COTTON’S earnestness in the strife of politics prompted him, more than -once, to put aside his own sense of his disadvantages, and to endeavour -himself to strike a good blow, with the weapons which he knew so well -how to choose for others. [Sidenote: COTTON’S SPEECH IN THE PARLIAMENT -AT OXFORD.] On one of these occasions he prepared a speech which proved -very effective. - -[Sidenote: 1625. 10 August.] - -Curiously enough, whilst the best contemporary reports of that speech -agree amongst themselves in substance; they differ as to the name of the -speaker by whom it was actually uttered within the walls of the House of -Commons. Internal evidence and external authority are also agreed that -the speech, if not spoken, was at all events prepared by Sir Robert -COTTON. On that point, all parties coincide. But according to one -account, he both wrote and uttered it. According to another, he wrote -it; but was prevented from the intended delivery,—either by an -accidental absence from the House, or by some inward and unwaivable -misgiving which led him at the eleventh hour to hand over the task to -the able and well-accustomed tongue of his comrade ELIOT. - -[Sidenote: COTTON’S? OR ELIOT’S?] - -If we turn, for help—in our strait—to the admirable biography of ELIOT, -by Mr. FORSTER, we shall find that its author rather accepts the doubt, -than solves it. Inclining to the opinion that Sir John ELIOT was the -actual utterer, he thinks nevertheless that the best course is to ‘let -the speech stand double and inseparable; a memorial of a fast -friendship.’ It was the friendship, I may add, of two statesmen who -fought a good fight, side by side; until one of them was violently torn -out of the arena, and thrust into a dungeon, in the hope that slow -disease might unstring the eloquent tongue which honours could not -bribe, and terrors could not silence. - -In Sir Robert’s posthumous tracts (as they were published by James -HOWELL) this speech has been printed as unquestionably spoken by him who -wrote it. But that publication—as I have had occasion to show already, -in relation to the ‘_Twenty-four Arguments_’—carries no grain of -authority. Spoken or simply composed by its author, the speech is alike -memorable in English history, and in the personal life of the man -himself. - -The existence of the plague in London had led to the adjournment of the -first Parliament of King CHARLES to Oxford. It was there, and on the -10th of August, 1625, that the speech which—whether it came from the -lips of John ELIOT or of Robert COTTON—made a deep impression on the -House, was spoken. It gave the key-note to not a few speeches of a -subsequent date, and it contains passages which, in the event, came to -have on their face something of the stamp of prophecy. - -Retrenchment in expenditure,—Parliamentary curb on Royal favourites,—No -trust of a transcendent power to any one Minister,—Less lavishness in -the bestowal of honours and dignities won by suit, or purchase, rather -than by public meed,—Wary distrust of Spain,—Abolition of unjust -monopolies and oppressive imposts;—these are amongst the earnest -counsels which (whether it were as writer, or as speaker) Sir Robert -COTTON impressed on his fellow-members in that memorable sitting at -Oxford. Both the pith and the sting of the Speech may be found in its -concluding words: ‘His Majesty hath ... wise, religious, and worthy -servants.... In loyal duty, we offer our humble desires that he would be -pleased to advise with them _together; ... not with young and single -counsel_.’ Well would it have been for CHARLES, had he taken those -simple words to heart, in good time. - -To us, and now, there is a special interest in an incidental passage of -this speech which relates to SOMERSET. The reader has seen how Count -GONDOMAR’S secret testimony—just disinterred from Simancas—against -SOMERSET, as well as against COTTON, has recently been dealt with by an -eminent historian. [Sidenote: (See, also, heretofore, the foot-note to -p. 73.)] It is worth our while to remember some other words on that -subject spoken publicly in the Parliament at Oxford almost two centuries -and a half agone. They were spoken in the ears of men whose eyes had -looked with keen scrutiny into the Spanish envoy as well as into the -English minister. SOMERSET was still living. Men who then sat in the -Parliament Chamber knew every incident in his official life, and not a -few incidents in his private life, as well as every charge by -which—publicly or privately—he had been infamed. They knew, exactly, Sir -Robert COTTON’S position towards the fallen minister. If we choose to -suppose that ELIOT was now speaking what COTTON wrote, the inference is -unchanged. To those listeners Sir John and Sir Robert were known to be -politically ‘double and inseparable.’ - -[Sidenote: COTTON’S EULOGY ON LORD SOMERSET’S POLICY (August, 1625).] - -The facts being so, what is the course taken by the speaker when he -finds occasion to remind the House of things that happened when ‘My Lord -of Somerset stood in state of grace, and had the trust of the Signet -Seal?’ Does he take a line of apology and use words of extenuation? Not -a whit. In the presence of some of the wisest and ablest of English -statesmen, he eulogises SOMERSET as an honest and unselfish minister of -the Crown. He asserts, that the Earl had discovered ‘the double -dealings’ of Spanish emissaries, and the dangers of the Spanish -alliance; and had made some progress in dissuading even King JAMES from -putting faith in Spaniards. Then, winding up this episode, in order to -pass to the topic of the hour, COTTON says: ‘Thus stood the effect of -SOMERSET’S power with His Majesty, when the clouds of his misfortune -fell upon him. What future advisers led to we may well remember. -[Sidenote: MS. LANSD.,[12] 491, fol. 195.] The marriage with Spain was -renewed; GONDOMAR declared an honest man; Popery heartened; His -Majesty’s forces in the Palatinate withdrawn; His Highness’s children -stripped of their patrimony; our old and fast allies disheartened; and -the King our now master exposed to so great a peril as no wise and -faithful counsel would ever have advised.’ - - -At Court, speech such as this was deeply resented, instead of being -turned to profit. A curious little incident which occurred at the -Coronation of CHARLES in the next winter testifies, characteristically, -to the effect which it produced on the minds both of the new King and of -his favourite. - - -At the date of that ceremony, Sir Robert’s close political connection -with the future Parliamentary chiefs was but in its infancy. His views -of public policy were fast ripening, and had borne fruit. His private -friendships were more and more shaping themselves into accordance with -his tendencies in politics. Amongst those whose intimacy he -cultivated—besides that of ELIOT and others who have been mentioned -already—were Symonds D’EWES, and John SELDEN. [Sidenote: FRIENDS AND -HOSPITALITIES.] It was at COTTON’S hospitable table, in Old Palace Yard, -that the two men last named first made acquaintance with each other. -Both were scholars; both were strongly imbued with the true antiquarian -tinge; both had an extensive acquaintance with the black-letter lore of -jurisprudence, as well as with the more elegant branches of archæology; -and both, up to a certain point, had common aims in public life; yet -they did not draw very near together. SELDEN’S more robust mind, and his -wider sympathies, shocked some of the puritanic nicenesses of D’EWES. -Precisely the same remark would hold good of the relations between -COTTON and D’EWES. But a certain geniality of manners in Sir Robert, -combined with his grandee-like openness of hand and mind, attracted his -fellow-baronet in a degree which went some way towards vanquishing -D’EWES’ most ingrained scruples. [Sidenote: Harl. MS., as above.] ‘I had -much more familiarity with Sir Robert COTTON, than with Master SELDEN,’ -jots down Sir Symonds in his Autobiographic _Diary_, and then he adds: -‘SELDEN being a man exceedingly puffed up with the apprehension of his -own abilities.’ That last sentence,—as the reader, perhaps, will agree -with me in thinking,—may possibly tell a more veracious tale of the -writer, than of the man whom it reproves. - -Be that as it may, the dining-room in Old Palace Yard witnessed frequent -meetings of many groups of visitors of whose tabletalk it would be -delightful could we find as good a record as we have of the tabletalk in -Bolt Court, or at Streatham Park; or even as we have of almost -contemporary talk around the board at Hawthornden. Glorious old Ben -himself was a frequent guest at Sir Robert COTTON’S table. Until late in -JAMES’ reign, CAMDEN, when his growing infirmities permitted him to -journey up from Chislehurst, would still be seen there, now and again. -During the rare sessions of Parliament, many a famous member, as he left -the House of Commons, would join the circle. And the high discourse -about Greeks and Romans, about poetry and archæology, would be -pleasantly varied, by the newest themes of politics, by occasional -threnodies on the exorbitant power of court minions, but also by -occasional and glowing anticipations of a better time to come. - -At one of these festive meetings, occurring not long before the -Coronation of CHARLES THE FIRST, the talk seems to have turned on the -coming solemnity. The plague at this time was still in London, though it -was fast abating. [Sidenote: COTTON AND THE CORONATION OF CHARLES I.] -That circumstance was to abridge the ceremonies, in order to permit the -Court to leave Westminster more quickly; but it was known that great -attention had been given by the King, personally, when framing the -programme, to the strict observance of ancient forms. D’EWES was one of -Sir Robert’s guests. Like his host, he had a great love for sight-seeing -on public occasions. And they would both anticipate a special pleasure -in witnessing the revival of certain coronation observances which had -been pretermitted during two centuries. In regard to the coronation oath -COTTON had been consulted, and he expected to be present, carrying in -his hand his own famous copy of the Gospels known as the ‘_Evangeliary -of King Ethelstan_.’ It was also expected that the watergate of Cotton -House would be the King’s landing-place, and that he would cross the -garden in order that he might enter the Palace more conveniently than he -could from its usual stairs, then under repair, or in need of it. Sir -Robert invited D’EWES, with other of his guests—not privileged to claim -places in Westminster Abbey on the great occasion—that at least they -might see their new sovereign, as he passed to take his crown. - -When the morning came D’EWES was early in his visit, but, he found -Cotton House already filled with ladies. The Earl Marshal had decorated -the stairs to the river and the watergate very handsomely. Sir Robert -had done his part by decorating his windows, and his garden, more -handsomely still. But to the chagrin alike of the fair spectators and of -their host, as they were standing, in all their bravery, from watergate -to housedoor, to do respectful obeisance, the royal barge, by the King’s -own commandment—given at the moment, but pre-arranged by BUCKINGHAM—was -urged onward. To our amazement, writes Sir Symonds, ‘we saw the King’s -barge pass to the ordinary stairs, belonging to the backyard of the -Palace, where the landing was dirty ... and the incommodity was -increased by the royal barge dashing into the ground and sticking fast, -before it touched the causeway.’ [Sidenote: D’Ewes; in Harl. MS., 646, -as before.] His Majesty, followed by the Favourite, had to leap across -the mud,—certainly an unusual incident in a coronation show. - -When COTTON—swallowing the mortification which he must have felt, on -behalf of his bevy of fair visitors, if not on his own—presently showed -himself in the Abbey, bearing the _Evangeliary_, he and it were -contemptuously thrust aside. - -As a straw tells the turn of the wind, this trivial incident points to a -policy. The insults both within the Abbey and without, had been planned, -by the King and Duke, in order to mark the royal indignation at the -close fellowship of COTTON with ELIOT and the other Parliamentary -leaders. That the insults might be the more keenly felt, the Earl -Marshal was left in ignorance of the plan. It is a help to the truthful -portraiture of CHARLES, as well as to that of BUCKINGHAM, to note that -to insult a group of English ladies was no drawback to the pleasure of -putting a marked affront upon a political opponent. Perhaps, it -increased the zest, from the probable near relationship of some among -them to the offender. - -But it is more important to note that another and graver intention in -respect to Sir Robert COTTON had been already formed. It was in -contemplation to do, in 1626, what was not really done until 1629. -[Sidenote: Mede to Stuteville; MS. Harl., 383, 18 April, 1626.] -BUCKINGHAM had advised the King to put the royal seals on the Cottonian -Library. That done, he thought, there would surely be an end to the -communication of formidable precedents for parliamentary warfare. More -wary counsellors however interposed with wiser advice. A fitting pretext -was lacking. Slenderness in the pretext would be no serious obstacle to -action. But some excuse there must be. The project, though abandoned for -the time, will be seen to have its value when considering, presently, -the strange story which is told, in the Privy Council Book, of the -‘_Proposition to bridle the impertinency of Parliaments_,’ and when -narrating the sequel of that high-handed act of power, which brought -COTTON’S head—as yet scarcely gray—with sorrow to the grave. - - -[Sidenote: ADVICE TO PRIVY COUNCIL ON CHANGE OF COINAGE.] - -Although, thus early in the reign of CHARLES, a court insult was -inflicted upon Sir Robert COTTON, after a fashion the extreme silliness -of which rather serves to set off the intended malignity than to cloke -it, only a few months passed before his advice was called for in -presence of the Council Board, on an important question of home policy. -The question raised was that of an alteration of the coinage. The Privy -Council was divided in opinion. There was a desire for the advice of -statesmen who were not at the Board, but who were known to have studied -a subject beset with many difficulties. Among these, Sir Robert COTTON -was consulted. He appeared at the Council Table on the 2nd of September, -1626, and we have a report of his speech to the Lords, which from -several points of view is notable. [Sidenote: MS. LANSD., ff. 141–152. -(B. M.)[13]] [Sidenote: _Council Registers_, James I, vols. v and vi, -_passim_. (C. O.)] But a preliminary word or two needs to be said on -what may seem the singularity that a man who, in 1625, was fighting -zealously beside the Parliamentary patriots, should, in 1626, be -speaking at the Council Table as a quasi-councillor of the Crown. - -It might be sufficient to point attention to the obvious difference -between questions affecting the liberty of the subject, and questions of -mere administration, were this the only occasion—or were it a fair -sample of the only class of occasions—in which COTTON appears as an -unofficial Councillor. But the fact is otherwise. And it is best to be -explained, partly, by the unsettled character of party connection during -the political strife of CHARLES’ reign, as well as long afterwards, and -partly by peculiarities belonging to the man himself. [Sidenote: _Life -of Sir John Eliot_, vol. i, p 468.] There are not many statesmen, even -of that period, of whom it could be said as the able biographer of Sir -John ELIOT says of Sir Robert COTTON: ‘He acted warmly with ELIOT and -with the patriots in the first Parliament of CHARLES. At the opening of -the third, he was tendering counsel to the King, _of which the -obsequious forms have yet left no impression unfavourable to his -uprightness and honour_.’ The result is unusual. How came it to pass? - -Perhaps the preceding pages may have already suggested to the reader’s -mind more than one possible and plausible answer to this question. Here -it may suffice to say that while Sir Robert COTTON was plainly at one -with the Parliamentarian leaders in the main points of their civil -policy, he never went to the extreme lengths of the puritanic faith, -either in things secular, or in matters pertaining to Religion. On some -religious questions he differed from them widely. In secular matters, a -tyrannic Parliament would have been as little to his liking as a -despotic king. Neither friend nor enemy—GONDOMAR excepted—ever called -him a Puritan (or pretended-Puritan) in his lifetime, any more than they -would have called him a Republican. His ultimate divergence was not -cloaked. It was no bar to the entire respect, or to the love and close -fellowship, of men like ELIOT, just because it was frankly avowed, and -had no selfish aim. COTTON,—had he lived long enough,—would probably -have ranged himself, at last, with the Cavaliers, rather than with the -Roundheads. He would have had FALKLAND’S misgivings, and FALKLAND’S -sorrow, but I think he would not have lacked FALKLAND’S self-devotion -also. - -And, in another point, he resembled Lord FALKLAND. Both would have -advised CHARLES to yield much of so-called ‘prerogative.’ Neither of -them would have bade him to yield a grain of true royal honour. In later -years, some words which COTTON wrote,—in 1627,—for the King’s eye may -well have come back painfully into CHARLES’ memory:—‘To expiate the -passion of the People,’ said Sir Robert, ‘with sacrifice of any of His -Majesty’s servants, I have ever found to be no less fatal _to the -Master_ than to the Minister, in the end.’ - - -The question of the Coinage, on which he was called into Council in -September 1626, had caused no small measure of discussion whilst JAMES -was still on the throne. [Sidenote: THE ADVICE GIVEN BY SIR R. COTTON ON -MINT AFFAIRS.] Many merchants of London had raised the old and hacknied -cry of complaint against an alleged ‘vast transportation of gold and -silver from England’ to the Continent. Others said that the complaint, -if not groundless, was misdirected. The following Minute of the Privy -Council will shew how the question stood in that early stage. It was -drawn up in November, 1618. - -[Sidenote: Council to the King, 30 Nov., 1618; James I, vol. iv, p. 45. - (C. O.)] - -‘Being by Your Majesty’s commandment to take into our consideration the -state of the Mint and to advise of the way or means how to bring bullion -more plentifully into the Kingdom, and to be coined there, as also how -to stop the great exportation of treasure out of the Realm,—a matter of -which the State hath been jealous: For our better information and Your -Majesty’s satisfaction we thought it fit first to know from the Office -of your Mint what quantity of gold and silver hath been there coined in -the last seven years of the reign of Queen Elizabeth and the seven years -last past of Your Majesty. And we find that in the said seven years of -the Queen there was coined in gold and silver of all sorts £948,713 -sterling, whereas in the seven late years of Your Majesty’s reign there -hath been coined of all sorts, in gold and silver, £1,603,998. So as, -comparing the one with the other, there hath been coined of both species -in the said seven years of Your Majesty’s reign £655,285 sterling, more -than in the seven years aforesaid of the Queen, the difference being -almost three parts to one. Next we required a certificate from the -Goldsmiths of London of the Plate that hath been made in those years -within the City of London; and it appeareth that there was made and -stamped in their hall the last seven years of Queen Elizabeth of silver -plate the worth of £22,187 more than in the seven later years of Your -Majesty’s reign. But upon the whole matter we cannot find and do humbly -certify the same unto Your Majesty as our opinion that there hath been -of late any such vast transportation of gold and silver into France and -the Low Countries as was supposed; neither that there is any such -notorious diminution of treasure generally in the Kingdom—at the least -of gold—since it is apparent that there hath been a far greater quantity -in the total coined within these seven years last past than in the last -seven years of the late Queen. Besides Your Majesty may be pleased to -observe that the making of so much silver plate cannot be the principal -cause of the decay of the Mint since there was more plate made in London -[in] those last seven years of the Queen,—when there came more silver to -be coined in the Mint,—than there hath been used of late years, when -silver in the Mint hath been so scarce though Gold more plentiful.... In -the mean time we do humbly offer ... that there is no necessity ... to -raise your coin, either in the one kind or in the other. [Sidenote: -_Registers of Privy Council_, as above, p. 46. (C. O.)] But rather that -the same may draw with it many inconveniences; and because the noise -thereof through the City of London and from thence to other parts of the -Realm, as we understand, hath already done hurt and in some measure -interrupted and distracted the course of general commerce, we think it -very requisite ... that some signification be forthwith made from this -Table time to raise your coins.’ - -The course thus recommended—and in the recommendation the Council seems -to have been well nigh unanimous—was precisely the course JAMES did not -wish to take. The Council Books abound with proof how hard it was to -dissuade the King from adopting this ‘intended project of enhancing the -coin [_i. e._ by debasing the standard], though, as COTTON afterwards -said at the Council Table, to do so would trench, both into the honour, -the justice, and the profit’ [_i. e._ the real and ultimate profit] ‘of -my royal Master very far.’ - -In his address at the Board, Sir Robert made an almost exhaustive -examination of the history of the English Mint. He did it with much -brevity and pith. His views about foreign trade are, of course, not free -from the fallacies which were accepted as aphorisms by very nearly every -statesman then living. But his advice on the immediate question at issue -is marked by sound common sense, by insight and practical wisdom. -[Sidenote: MS. LANSD., 811, ff. 148–152 (B. M.) [Compare the Report of -Proceedings in the House of Commons, Feby. 1621. (_Parl. Hist._, vol. i, -c. 1188–1194).]] His speech told, and he followed it up by framing, as -Chairman of a Committee, (1) an _Answer to the Propositions delivered by -some Officers of the Mint_; and (2) _Certain General Rules collected -concerning Money and Bullion out of the late Consultation at Court_. -Copies of both exist amongst the Harleian and Lansdowne MSS., and both, -together with the Speech, are printed in the _Posthuma_ (although not -without some of the Editor’s characteristic inaccuracies). - -The next question which it was Sir Robert’s task to discuss before the -Privy Council was a much more momentous question than that of the -Coinage. It was, potentially, both to Sovereign and to people, an issue -of life or death. - -In January, 1628 [N. S.], he delivered, at the Board, the substance of -the remarkable Discourse which has been more than once printed under the -title, ‘_The Danger wherein this Kingdom now Standeth, and the Remedy_.’ -[Sidenote: DISCOURSE ON THE CALLING OF A PARLIAMENT. 1628. Jany.] The -courtliness of its tone no more detracts from its incisiveness of -stroke, than a jewelled hilt would detract from the cleaving sweep of a -Damascus blade, when wielded by well-knit sinews. It led instantly to -the calling of the Parliament. [Sidenote: MS. LANSD., 254, ff. 258, -seqq.] But neither its essential and true loyalty to the King, nor the -opportune service which it rendered to the country was to make the -fortunes of its author any exception to those which—sooner or -later—befell every councillor of CHARLES THE FIRST, who, in substance if -not in form, was wont to put Country before King. - -In that third Parliament of CHARLES Sir Robert himself had no seat. In -the Parliament which preceded it he sat for Old Sarum, having lost his -seat for Huntingdonshire. But he continued to be the active ally and the -influential councillor of the leaders of opposition to strained -prerogatives. When the Parliament assailed Bishops NEILE and LAUD, the -inculpated prelates, it is said, threw upon COTTON as much of their -anger as they well could have done had he led the assault in person. - -The opportunity was not very far to seek. [Sidenote: THE ‘PROPOSITION TO -BRIDLE PARLIAMENTS.’ 1629. October.] Not long after the dissolution in -March, 1629, of that Parliament of the assembling of which Sir Robert -COTTON’S patriotic effort had been the immediate occasion, and to some -of the effective blows of which he had helped to give vigour, some -courtier or other brought to CHARLES’ hands a political tract, in -manuscript, and told him that copies of it were in the possession of -several statesmen. Those—with one exception—who were then named to the -King were men wont to be held in greater regard in the country than at -Court. The pamphlet bore for its title: ‘_The Proposicion for Your -Majesties Service ... to secure your Estate and to bridle the -impertinencie of Parliaments_.’ - -The consequences of this small incident were destined to prove of large -moment. The earliest mention we have of it occurs in a letter written by -the Archbishop of York—himself a Privy Councillor—to Sir Henry VANE, in -November, 1629: ‘The Vice-Chancellor,’ says Archbishop HARSNET, ‘was -sent to Sir Robert COTTON to seal up his library, and to bring himself -before the Lords of the Council.’ [Sidenote: _Domest. Corresp._, Charles -I, vol. cli, § 24. (R. H.)] In the words that follow the Archbishop is -evidently speaking from what he had been told, not from his personal -knowledge. ‘There was found,’ he proceeds to say, ‘in his custody a -pestilential tractate which he had fostered as a child, containing a -project how a Prince may make himself an absolute tyrant. [Sidenote: -_Ib._] _This pernicious device he had communicated to divers Lords._’ - -CHARLES was presently in intense excitement about the matter. Its next -stage cannot be better or more briefly told, than in the words which the -King himself addressed to his assembled Councillors—in unusual array, -for they were twenty-one in number—and afterwards caused to be entered -upon the Council Book: - -[Sidenote: 1629. 15 Nov.] - -‘This day His Majestie, sitting in Counsell, was pleased to imparte to -the whole Boarde the cause for which the [Sidenote: [_Council Register_, -vol. v, p. 495.]] Erles of CLARE, SOMERSET, and BEDFORDE, Sir Robert -COTTON, and sundry other persons of inferior qualitie, had bene lately -restrained and examined by a speciall Committee appointed by him for -that purpose, which cause was this:— - -‘His Majestie declared that there came to his handes, by meere accedent, -the coppie of a certain “_Discourse_” or “_The Proposicion_” (which was -then, by his commandement, read at the Boarde), pretended to be written -“for His Majesties service,” and bearing this title—”_The Proposicion -for Your Majestie’s Service conteineth twoe partes: [Sidenote: -PROCEEDINGS AGAINST SIR ROBERT COTTON IN THE PRIVY COUNCIL.] The one to -secure your Estate, and to bridle the impertinencie of Parlements; the -other to encrease Your Majestie’s Revenue much more then it is_.” - -‘Now the meanes propounded in this Discourse for the effecting thereof -are such as are fitter to be practised in a Turkish State then amongst -Christians, being contrarie to the justice and mildnesse of His -Majestie’s Government, and the synceritie of his intentions, and -therefore cannot be otherwise taken then for a most scandalous -invention, proceding from a pernitious dessein, both against His -Majestie and the State, which, notwithstanding, the aforesaid persons -had not onely read—and concealed the same from His Majestie and his -Counsell—but also communicated and divulged it to others. - -‘Whereupon His Majestie did farther declare that it is his pleasure that -the aforesaid three Erles, and Sir Robert COTTON, shall answere this -their offense in the Court of Star Chamber, to which ende they had -alreadie bene summoned, and that now they shoulde be discharged and -freed from their restraint and permitted to retourne to their severall -houses, to the ende that they mighte have the better meanes to prepare -themselves for their answere and defense. - -‘And, lastly, he commanded that this his pleasure should be signified by -the bearer unto them, who were then attending without,—having, for that -purpose, bene sent for. His Majestie, having given this Order and -direccion, rose from the Boarde, and when he was gone, the three Erles -were called in severally and the Lorde Keeper signified to each of them -His Majestie’s pleasure in that behalfe; shewing them, with all, how -gratiously he had bene pleased to deale with them, both in the maner of -the restraint, which was only during the time of the examination of the -cause (a thing usuall and requisite specially in cases of that -consequence), and in that they had bene committed to the custodie of -eminent and honorable persons by whom they were treated according to -their qualities; and lykewise in the discharge of them now from their -restraint that they may have the better convenience and meanes to -prepare themselves for the defense of their cause in that legall coursse -by which His Majestie had thought fit to call them to an account and -tryall. - -‘The like was also signified by his Lordship to Sir Robert COTTON, who -was further tolde that although it was His Majestie’s pleasure that his -Studies’ [meaning, that is, his Library and Museum,] ‘shoulde, as yett, -remaine shut up, yet he might enter into them and take such writtings -wherof he shoulde have use, provided that he did it in the presence of a -Clerke of the Counsell; [Sidenote: _Council Register_, Chas. I, vol. v, -ff. 495, 496 (C. O.).] and whereas the Clerke attending hath the keyes -of two of his Studies he might put a seconde lock on either of them so -that neither dores might be opened, but by him and the said Clerke both -together.’ - -A reader who now looks back on this singular transaction—and who has -therefore the advantage of looking at it by the stern-lights of -history,—will be likely to believe that the chief offence of the -pamphlet lay (in a certain sense,) in its truth. [Sidenote: CHARACTER -AND AUTHORSHIP OF THE ‘PROPOSITION TO BRIDLE PARLIAMENTS.’] It was the -much too frank exposition of a policy which clung very close to CHARLES’ -heart, though he could ill afford—in 1629—to have it openly avowed. The -undeniable fact that this ‘_Proposition for Your Majesty’s Service_’ was -indeed fitter for the latitude of Constantinople, than for that of -London, sounds but awkwardly on the royal lips, when connected with an -assertion (in the same breath,) of the ‘justice and mildness’ of the -King’s own government. The indictment which his Parliament brought -against CHARLES,—and which History has endorsed,—could hardly be packed -into briefer words than those which the King himself used that day at -the Council Board. His notions of kingly rule, like his father’s, were -in truth much better suited for the government of Turkey than for the -government of England. - -Sir Robert COTTON, however, had no more to do with the authorship of the -‘_Proposition_’ than had CHARLES himself. The author was Sir Robert -DUDLEY. The time of its composition was at least fifteen years before -the date of the imprisonment of COTTON and his companions in disfavour. -The place of its birth was Florence. It cannot even be proved that -COTTON had any personal knowledge of the fact that the offensive tract -had been found in his own library. He had recently read it, indeed,—in -common with BEDFORD, CLARE, and Oliver SAINT-JOHN, and no doubt, like -them, had read it with many surging thoughts,—but he had read it in a -recent transcript, written by a clerk. - -Of Robert DUDLEY’S motive in writing his ‘_Proposition_’ we have also no -proof. But the presumptive and internal evidence is so strong, as to -make proof almost superfluous. The tract bears witness, between the -lines, that it was composed to win the favour—or at least to arrest the -despoiling hand—of King JAMES. And there is hardly a suggestion in it -which might not be backed by some parallel passage in the writings, or -the speeches, of JAMES himself, when expatiating on kingly prerogatives -in some mood of mind a little more foolish than usual, or when -striving—only too successfully—to train up his successor to follow in -his own path. It seems like an irony of Fate to find that (in all -probability,—for here again the proof is not quite clinching,) the -King’s informer, against COTTON and the other offenders, was WENTWORTH, -who, not many years after 1629, was to sum up views of policy much akin -to Robert DUDLEY’S in the memorable word ‘_Thorough_.’ - -COTTON himself believed that this apparently trivial incident cost him -his life. He said not long before his death,—‘It has killed me.’ We -shall probably never know whether DUDLEY’S tract had anything to do with -bringing about in the mind of WENTWORTH that eventful change of -political views which is known to have passed over it (about the time -when the incriminated manuscript was sent so eagerly from hand to hand), -and which, in a few years more, was to work his death also. But one can -hardly avoid, in passing, a momentary thought on the curious possibility -that a pamphlet, written at Florence, in the hope that it might save, -for the writer, some wreck or remnant of a despoiled inheritance,—may -have proved fatal alike to the close political friend of ELIOT, and to -the close political friend of LAUD. A tract of such potency may well -claim a few words about its contents. They bear in every line the stamp -of mental energy, and also the stamp of moral recklessness. - -[Sidenote: CAREER OF SIR R. DUDLEY, (THE TRUE AUTHOR).] - -Sir Robert DUDLEY knew well enough that a rooted dislike of Parliaments -was, in JAMES’S mind, combined with a besetting dread of them. He knew -that, between hate and fear, a Parliament was like a nightmare, for ever -crouching behind the royal pillow. It is the purpose of his tract to -tell the King how to drive the nightmare away. He recommends, amongst -other and minor measures, the erection of a strong fortress in all the -chief towns of the Kingdom, to be manned by trained bands, and to be -placed in such situations as shall command the high roads. In addition -to these measures, your Majesty, he says, must set up a strict system of -passports, for travellers. Nor is all this merely a new and more -elaborate version of the old story of belling the cat. The writer of -this counsel knows, perfectly, that already the King’s poverty is the -Parliament’s power; and that to build fortresses and array soldiers -needs a full purse, not an exhausted one. But he says,—as WENTWORTH said -after him,—that soldiers can be set to work upon good hopes of the pay -to come. A resolute King, he thinks, with resolute troops at his back, -could do in England what had so often been done in Italy. He could tithe -men’s estates. He could make salt and some other things of prime -necessity a royal monopoly. He could set a tariff on dignities of -honour. He could establish sumptuary laws, such as should make the -vanity and jealousy of thriving nobodies—men with full pockets and blank -pedigrees—willing contributors to the King’s Exchequer. He could buy up -improvident leases of Crown lands, and resell them at a large profit. - -The shortsightedness of such advice as this is now obvious enough. But -advice quite as shortsighted and far less plausibly couched,—for the -eyes that were to read it,—had been fruitful of result, when offered to -Stuarts. Nor was the man who now offered it to CHARLES a mere clever -talker. He was a man who had already acquitted himself with conspicuous -ability in several spheres of action, lying widely apart. - - -Sir Robert DUDLEY possessed many splendid accomplishments. He had been -educated by the same ripe scholar who afterwards became tutor to Prince -HENRY. At the age of one and twenty, he had put himself into the lists -with RALEGH, as navigator and discoverer, by heading an expedition to -the Oronoco. [Sidenote: THE CAREER OF SIR ROBERT DUDLEY.] In the course -of that expedition he had captured nine Spanish ships; one of them of -twice his own strength. At three and twenty, he had fought, side by side -with RALEGH, in the naval battle in the bay of Cadiz; had handled his -ship with an ability which won the praise of his rivals; and had then -fought, in the land attack, side by side with ESSEX. When his own -unbridled passions and resentments gave a fatal opening for the equally -unbridled cupidity of JAMES, and of JAMES’S courtiers, to despoil him of -a great estate, and to drive him into exile, he showed that he knew how -to snatch honour out of defeat. He laid the foundation of a new English -trade with Italy and created—it is not saying too much—the maritime -prosperity of Leghorn. He drained vast Italian marshes, and made corn to -grow where corn had never grown before. The man who, in early life, had -won fame at once as a navigator full of pluck and resource, and as an -able soldier by sea and land:—and who, on attaining full manhood, had -shown himself both a clever diplomatist and a great engineer;—did not go -to his foreign grave before he had won literary fame with the pen, and -scientific fame at the furnace of the chemist. He had, in its fullest -measure, the versatility and the energy of his race. English family -biography, I suppose, can scarcely show a stranger group of lives than -the successive lives of the last four DUDLEYS of that line:—Edmund, the -Minister of HENRY VII, and author of _The Tree of the Commonwealth_; -NORTHUMBERLAND, the subduer of EDWARD VI, and the murderer of Jane GREY; -LEICESTER, the Favourite of ELIZABETH; Sir Robert, the self-made exile, -and the maker of Leghorn. Whilst English history, in its long course, -can scarcely match the fatality which seems to have foredoomed powers of -mind and strength of will, such as are rarely repeated in four -successive generations, to teem with evil instead of good for England. - - -Such, in few words, was the career of the man, the forgotten production -of whose pen was to shorten the life of a statesman whose only -connection with it—so far as the evidence goes—lay in the fact that a -copy chanced to turn up in his library; fell under the keen eye of a -lawyer who thought that something might be made of it; and was then -copied—probably by some clerk, who was in the habit of making -transcripts for students to whom money was less precious than time.[14] -In some points of the story there is still considerable uncertainty. But -so much as this seems to be established. How the tract came, at the -first, into Sir Robert COTTON’S library there is no evidence whatever to -shew. - - -It is not the least curious point in this transaction that the Earl of -SOMERSET should have been mixed up with it. He had been released from -the Tower almost eight years before (namely, on the 28th of January, -1622), but was prohibited from living near the Court. At first, he was -ordered to restrict himself to one or other of two old mansions in -Oxfordshire—Caversham and Grey’s Court. [Sidenote: _Council Registers, -James I_, vol. v, pp. 230, 425 (C. O.).] Afterwards, his option was -enlarged, by including, in the license, Aldenham, in Hertfordshire. It -is evident that, after BUCKINGHAM’S death, he began to hope that a -political career might be still possible for him. And statesmen like -BEDFORD and CLARE—as well as COTTON—kept up with him a correspondence. - -More than once or twice, coming events had cast their preliminary -shadows over Sir Robert, in relation to the very matter which so vexed -his heart in the winter of 1629. ‘Sir Robert COTTON’S Library is -threatened to be sealed up’ is a sentence which made its occasional -appearance in news-letters, long before King CHARLES hurried down to the -Council Chamber to vent his indignation on the handing about of DUDLEY’S -‘_Proposition to bridle Parliaments_.’ - -[Sidenote: BEN JONSON AND THE VERSES TO FELTON.] - -One cause of the rumour lay doubtless in the known enmity between -BUCKINGHAM and the great antiquary. This enmity, on one occasion, -brought Ben JONSON into peril. Ben was fond of visiting Cotton House. He -liked the master, and he liked the table; and he was wont to meet at it -men with whom he could exchange genial talk. On one such occasion, just -a year before the Florence pamphlet incident, some verses went round the -table at Cotton House, with the dessert. They began, ‘_Enjoy thy -bondage_,’ and ended with the words ‘_England’s ransom here doth lie_.’ -Only two months had then passed since BUCKINGHAM’S assassination, and -these verses were, or were supposed to be, addressed to FELTON. We can -now imagine more than one reason why such lines may have been curiously -glanced at, over Sir Robert’s table, without assuming that there was any -triumphing over a fallen enemy; still less any approval of murder. But -there seems to have been present one guest too many. [Sidenote: -_Domestic Corresp. Charles I_, vol. cxix, § 33.] Some informer told the -story at Whitehall, and JONSON found himself accused of being the author -of the obnoxious verses. He cleared himself; but not, it seems, without -some difficulty and annoyance. - - -The release from immediate restraint of the prisoner of November ’29 was -no concession to any prompting of CHARLES’ own better nature. -Fortunately for Sir Robert COTTON, his companions in the offence were -peers. Their fellow-peers shewed, quietly but significantly, that -continued restraint would need to be preceded by some open declaration -of its cause. During the course of the proceedings which followed their -release it was asserted—I do not know by whom—that not only had the -‘_Proposition_’ been copied, but that an ‘_Answer_’ to it had been -either written, or drafted. And that the reply, like the original tract, -would be found in Sir Robert’s library. - -This somewhat inexplicable circumstance in the story is nowhere -mentioned, I think, except in a Minute of the Privy Council. The Minute -runs thus:— - -‘A Warrant directed to Thomas MEWTAS, Esq. ... and Laurence WHITAKER, -Esq. [Clerks of Council] autorising them to accompanie Sir Robert -COTTON, Knight, to his house and assist him in searching amongst the -papers in his studie or elsewhere, for certaine notes or draughtes for -an answer to a “_Proposicion_” pretended to be made “_for His Majesties -Service_” touching the securing of His Estate, and also to seeke -diligently amongst his papers, and lykewise the trunkes and chambers of -Mr. JAMES, and [of] FLOOD, Sir Robert COTTON’S servant, as well for anie -such notes, as also for coppies of the said “_Proposicion_,” and for -other wrytings, of that nature, which may import prejudice to the -government and His Majestie’s service.’ [Sidenote: _Council Registers, -Charles I_; vol. 5, pp. 493, 495. 1629. Nov. 10. Whitehall. (C. O.).] -The new search, it seems, had not the desired, or any important, result. - -A year passed away. The proceedings in the Star Chamber proved to be -almost as fruitless, as had been the vain, but repeated, searches which -wearied the legs and perplexed the minds of Clerks of Council and of -Messengers of the Secretary’s office. [Sidenote: _Domestic Corresp. -Chas. I_, clxvii, § 65, seqq. (R. H.)] But the locks and seals were -still kept on the Cottonian Library. Sir Robert and his son (afterwards -Sir Thomas) petitioned the King over and over again. But CHARLES had set -his face as a flint, and would not listen. In vain he was told that the -Manuscripts were perishing by neglect; and that, as they occupied some -of the best rooms, the continued locking up made their owner to be like -a prisoner, in his own house. In order to go into any one of them he had -to send to Whitehall, to request the presence of a Clerk of the Council. - -[Sidenote: COTTON’S DECLINE OF HEALTH.—THE ARTFUL QUACK AND THE WARY - PATIENT.] - -Under such circumstances it is not surprising that his friends noticed -with anxiety his changed appearance. His ruddy countenance became sallow -and haggard. It grew, says his associate D’EWES, to be of ‘a blackish -paleness near to the semblance and hue of a dead visage.’ His somewhat -portly frame stooped and waned. Life had still some charms for him,—so -long at least as he could hope even faintly, for an opportunity of -returning, at last, to his beloved studies. He was told of the growing -repute of a certain Dr. FRODSHAM, who combined (it seems) experiments at -the retort and still of the chemist, with the clinical practice of the -physician,—when he could get it. Sir Robert sent for him and desired -that he would bring a certain restorative balsam, or other nostrum, that -had become the talk of the town. The worthy practitioner preferred to -send his answer in writing. With great frankness, he said to his -correspondent: ‘I have now an extraordinary occasion for money.... -Neither is it my accustomed manner to distil for any body, without some -payment beforehand. So, noble Sir, if pleas you, send here, _by this -berer_, £17 and 12_s._, for so much the druges will cum tow. I confes -that way I worke is deare, yett must say, upon my life, that I will -make’ [you] ‘as sound and able of body, as at thirty-five,—and’ [this] -‘within five weeks.’ [Sidenote: MS. Harl., 7002, fol. 318; H. Frodsam to -Sir R. Cotton (B. M.).] But the eye for which this naïve epistle was -meant was an eye keen enough to detect the difference between corn and -chaff. [Sidenote: _Ib._] ‘I did,’ replied Sir Robert, ‘expect something -of fact, to make me confident; before I could venture either my trial or -my purse.... Promises I have often met and rejected. Error of judgment -must be, to me, of more loss than the money.’ - -By way of addition to the combined anxieties of failing health, and of a -bitter grief, there came now to be heaped upon COTTON’S shoulders the -heavier burden of a conspiracy to assail his moral character. - -Large as had been his expenditure on his noble collections, and -openhanded as was his manner of life and of giving, Sir Robert COTTON -was still wealthy. Some persons who had benefited by his repeated -generosity thought they saw an opening, in the summer of 1630, to -increase the gain by a clever and lucrative plot. The method they took -reads, nowadays, less like a real incident in English literary -biography, than like one of those— - - ... last, best, of the ‘_Hundred Merry Tales_’ - Of how [a grave and learned sage] devised - To carry off a spouse that moped too much, - And cured her of the vapours in a trice; - - · · · · · - - For now the husband—playing Vulcan’s part,— - ... started in hot pursuit - To catch the lovers, and came raging up; - Cast then his net, and call’d neighbours to see - The convicts in their rosy impudence. - -The victim of this plot was now in his sixtieth year. Whatever may have -been the sins of his youth, there was obvious risk in a contrivance to -extort money by telling such a tale as that, about a man the fever of -whose blood must needs have abated; even had he not been already broken -down under cumulative weight of the sorrow and hunger of the heart. -[Sidenote: THE CONSPIRACY OF WILCOX AND STEVENSON AGAINST SIR R. -COTTON.] The intended victim, too, was a man with troops of friends. But -the conspirators, it is evident, thought that Sir Robert’s known -disgrace at Court would tell as a good counterpoise in their favour. A -man already in circumstances of peril would, they thought, be likely to -open his pursestrings rather than incur the burden of a new accusation. - -On a June morning in 1630 Sir Robert COTTON received an urgent letter -from an elderly woman—one Amphyllis FERRERS—who had the claim upon him -of distant kinship, and upon whom, in that character, he had bestowed -many kindnesses. The letter made a new appeal to his compassion; told -him of the distresses of the writer’s daughter—married not long before -to a needy man—and besought him to pay them a visit; that he might judge -of their necessities with his own eyes. Both mother and daughter lived -together in Westminster, at no great distance from Cotton House. - -Sir Robert paid the invited visit; was told of various family plans -connected with the recent marriage, and, amongst other things, of a -pressing need for some household furniture. When the talk turned upon -furniture, he was asked to look, himself, at an upstairs room, and form -his own opinion about the request. Both mother and daughter went up with -him; but the three had hardly entered the room, when a loud battering -noise was heard on the other side of the thin wall which separated them -from the neighbouring house. And, presently a still greater noise was -heard from the rush of footsteps upon the stairs. - -The daughter, it seems, was not in the plot. Her husband had -ostentatiously ridden away from the door on the previous morning, to go -into the country, for an absence of some days;—exactly like a hero in -BOCCACCIO. At night, he quietly returned, and took up his abode, by -preconcert with his neighbours, next door. In the morning he lay with -those neighbours in ambush. When they all tumultuously rushed up -stairs—into the man’s own abode—they were full of indignation at Sir -Robert’s wantonness; but,—unfortunately for their story—in their eager -haste they entered the room almost as soon as he himself had entered it, -with his two companions. Nevertheless, they persisted in their -accusation; permitting, however, when the first burst of virtuous wrath -had somewhat subsided, the appearance of a sufficient indication that -they were not wholly averse from listening to a reasonable proposal. -There was a way, and one way only, in which that fierce wrath might be -appeased. Sir Robert, however, was indignant in his turn. The purse of -the intended victim remained stubbornly closed. - -[Sidenote: 1630. July—Decr.] - -There is no need to pursue the unsavoury narrative. Nor would so much of -the story have here been told, but for the suggestion which lies within -it that the rapid breaking up of Sir Robert’s vigorous constitution was -not perhaps due, quite exclusively,—as has been commonly believed[15]—to -the malicious privation inflicted upon him by King CHARLES. For though -he was successful in extracting, from the chief accuser himself, a -confession of the falsehood of the charge, and an acknowledgment that -the object of the conspirators was to extort money, yet the matter -brought him much toil and vexation of spirit. One of the latest acts of -his life was to arrange the proofs of the conspiracy in due and formal -array.[16] [Sidenote: _Cottonian Charters_, &c., i, 3, seqq.; MS. -ADDIT., 14049, ff. 21–43. (B. M.)] When he had done that, and had once -again made an effort—as fruitless as the efforts which had been made -before—for the recovery of his library, he seems to have prepared -himself for death. - -[Sidenote: _Domestic Corresp._, Charles I, vol. clxvii, § 45, seqq. (R. - H.).] - -Sir Robert’s repeated efforts to regain his Library were not unseconded -by friends powerful at Court. But the King’s stubbornness would not give -way—till concession was too late. The Lord Privy Seal (the -newly-appointed successor of WORCESTER, recently dead), was amongst -those who interceded with CHARLES. [Sidenote: COTTON’S DEATH.] A little -before Sir Robert’s death his Lordship sent to him John ROWLAND—one of -his officers—to tell him that, at length, his mediation had been -successful, and the King was reconciled to him. [Sidenote: Rowland, in -Pref. to the Political Satire entitled _Gondomar’s Transactions_, &c.] -COTTON answered, ‘You come too late. My heart is broken.’ - -COTTON, when he came to lie on the bed of death, had certain topics of -reflection—of a secular sort—on which he might well look back with some -measure of complacency. As a student of Antiquity he had been -conspicuously successful. [Sidenote: COTTON’S DEATHBED REFLECTIONS.] He -had won the respect and reverence of every man in Europe who had proved -himself competent to judge of such studies. And he had not been a -selfish student. He had made his own researches and collections seed -plots for Posterity. If, as a Statesman, he had missed his immediate -aims more frequently than he had reached them, he had none the less -rendered, on some salient occasions, brilliant public service. He had -shewn, incontestably, that the true greatness of England lay near his -heart. - -One of his contemporaries presently said of him—when told of his -death—‘If you could look at Sir Robert COTTON’S heart “_My Library_” -would be found inscribed there;—just as Queen MARY said “_Calais_” was -printed deeply on hers.’ But the character impressed on every volume of -that large collection which he so loved is ‘England.’ To illustrate the -history, and to enlighten the policy, of Englishmen was the object which -made COTTON, from his youth, a Collector. - -On the other hand, when the inevitable deathbed reflections passed from -things secular to things sacred,—and also from Past to Future,—there was -very little room for complacency of any sort. A few years before, when a -better and more famous man than COTTON lay in like circumstances, this -thought came into his mind:—‘Godly men, in time of extreme afflictions, -did comfort themselves with the remembrance of their former life, _in -which they had glorified God_. It is not so in me. I have no comfort -that way. All things in my former life have been vain,—vain,—vain.’ - -Those words were among Sir Robert COTTON’S own early recollections. When -he was sixteen years of age some of the dying words of Philip SYDNEY -were repeated in almost every manor-house of England, and at many a -cottage fireside. Those particular words came under his eye, at the most -impressionable period of his life. The document which has handed them -down to us was preserved by his care.[17] Did the exact thought they -embody, and the very words themselves, come into his mind, as they well -might, when he, too, lay upon his deathbed? - -Be that as it may, such words in Sir Robert’s mouth would have had a -special fitness. And he knew it well. Happily, he also knew where to -look for comfort. He found it, just as Philip SYDNEY—in common with many -thousands among the nameless Englishmen who had passed away in the -interval between 1586 and 1631—had found it before him. He could say, as -SYDNEY said:— - - ‘My Faith is frail; Hope constant never, - Yet this my comfort is, for ever, - God saves not man for merit.’[18] - -Not long before he died, COTTON said to a friend (after a long -conference which he had held with Dr. OLDISWORTH, a Divine who spent -many hours, from day to day, at his bedside) such comfort as I would not -want, to be the greatest monarch in the world.’ [Sidenote: THE LAST -SCENE.] Bishop WILLIAMS—who passed the greater part of the last night in -conversation with him—remarked, as he went his way in the morning, ‘I -came to bring Sir Robert comfort, but I carry away more than I brought.’ -To the last, however, the ruling passion of COTTON’S nature asserted -itself. He could forgive his persecutors, but he could not shake off the -memory of the bitterness of the persecution. Turning to Sir Henry -SPELMAN, he said: ‘Tell the Lord Privy Seal, and the rest of the -Council, that their so long detaining my books from me has been the -cause of this mortal malady.’ SPELMAN gave his message, and the ‘Lord -Privy Seal’ himself hastened to Sir Robert’s bedside to express his -regrets. The interview was narrated to CHARLES, and presently the Earl -of DORSET was sent, from the King himself. The new comforter came half -an hour too late. The persecuted man had passed to his rest. He died, -trusting in the one, only, all-sufficient, Saviour of sinful men. His -death occurred on the 6th of May, 1631. [Sidenote: John Pory to Sir -Thomas Puckering; MS. HARL., 7000, fol. 310.] His body was removed to -Conington, and was interred with more than the usual demonstrations of -respect. The inscription on his monument is printed at the end of this -chapter. - - -[Sidenote: THE ROYAL MESSAGE TO SIR THOMAS COTTON, 2nd BART.] - -When Lord DORSET, on his arrival at Cotton House with the royal message, -found that Sir Robert was already dead he turned to the heir. If the -Earl has been truly reported, the terms in which he expressed his -master’s condolence and good wishes were ill-chosen: ‘To you, His -Majesty commanded me to say that, as he loved your father, _so_ he will -continue his love to yourself.’ [Sidenote: Pory to Sir T. Puckering, as -above.] The comfort of the promise could not have been great. Sir -Thomas’ experiences of the rubs of life were, however, to come chiefly -from the King’s opponents; not from the King. - -His life was a quiet one, up to the time of the outbreak of Civil War. -Until then, its most notable incidents grew out of the circumstance that -it fell to his lot to serve as Sheriff of Huntingdonshire, during the -busy year of ‘Shipmoney.’ - -Sir Thomas COTTON was in no danger of being tempted to follow the -example of HAMPDEN. The readiness with which he discharged the -troublesome task of collecting the impost throughout his county probably -laid the first foundation of a strong feeling of personal ill-will -towards him, on the part of the lower class of the adherents of the -Parliament, during subsequent years. He never ranged himself with the -King’s party. Neither would he take any prominent part on the side of -the Parliament. He had little taste for public life; and regarded the -quarrel with the aloofness of spirit natural to a man with no dominant -political convictions, and with a decided love for country sports and -for the pleasures of domesticity. - -[Sidenote: _Domestic Corresp._, Charles I, vol. cccxliii, § 67; cccxlvi, - § 115; cccxlv, § 17; cccxlviii, cccl, § 40; cccliv, § 58; - ccclxi, § 104; ccclxvi, § 13; ccclxxi, § 58. (R. H.)] - -He had sat in Parliament (for Marlow) during his father’s lifetime, and -in his father’s company. His correspondence shows considerable talent. -The extensive portion of that correspondence—in the years 1636 and -1637—which was imposed on him by the Shipmoney business, shews also -considerable power of dealing with official details, little as he could -have liked them. It exhibits an anxiety to acquit himself -conscientiously of a difficult duty, and not to shirk any of the -incidents of duty merely on account of their distastefulness. In the -‘Short Parliament’ of 1640 he sat as member for his own county. He does -not seem to have sought for any seat in the memorable Parliament which -followed. - -[Sidenote: THE COMMITTEE OF SEQUESTRATIONS FOR HUNTINGDONSHIRE.] - -His troubles began in 1644. Much to his disgust he was appointed to be -one of the ‘Committee of Sequestrations’ for Huntingdonshire. The duty -was one which any English gentleman might well have disliked without -incurring the reproach either of idleness or of undue fastidiousness. -Sir Thomas’ repugnance to the work was backed by a repugnance, not less -keen, to those who would fain have been his fellows in its performance. - -‘This County of Huntingdon’—so he writes not long after his own -nomination to an ungenial office, which he refused to accept on the -ground of an illness, that was far from being feigned for the -occasion—‘is in an unhappy condition by Sequestrators. Only four or five -men, of mean reputation and estate, are “Committees;” and they act (all -of them) as Judges, Jury, and Executioners.’ His own experience was -destined to become a pregnant comment on that pithy text. - -His avoidance of all share in the task of punishing, by fine and -imprisonment, those of his old friends and country neighbours who -thought that the duty of loyalty to the Crown was still a duty, however -glaring the faults of the man who, for the time, wore the Crown, was the -primary offence given by Sir Thomas COTTON to the busy patriots who -would fain have had him work with them as a fellow-sequestrator. His -illness (as I have said) was doubtless real enough; but he also disliked -the work, and took no pains to conceal his dislike. Medical advisers -told him that Bedfordshire—where he also had property—was a better -county than Huntingdonshire for a man who suffered from chronic ague and -low fever. But Sir Thomas needed no adviser to tell him that, under the -existing circumstances of the country and the times, Eyworth would be a -much more satisfactory abode than Conington for a quiet-loving man who -had other duties than those of a soldier, who abhorred civil war with -all his soul, and who ardently desired such a solution of the current -issues as would neither make the King a mere dependent on his -Parliament, nor make the Parliament an absolute ruler over the kingdom. -Sir Thomas went into Bedfordshire. Lady COTTON continued to abide at -Conington. Very soon after his departure she received a summons, -addressed to her husband, and couched exactly in these words: ‘You are -assessed eight hundred pounds, according to an Ordinance of Parliament. -[Sidenote: 1643. 16 August.] The King and Parliament hath present use of -these monies. Therefore, we pray you, send it up to us at Huntingdon on -Saturday next.’ Before the receipt of this very summary ‘assessment’ -many of Sir Thomas COTTON’S horses, with a good deal of farm produce and -other property, had been already seized, by measures more summary still. -Meanwhile Sir Thomas had committed no act of delinquency; he had simply -removed himself into another county. Payment was refused. - -[Sidenote: The Proceedings of the Huntingdonshire Sequestrators at - Conington.] - -The sequel of the story depicts, in small, what was then passing at -large over much of the length and breadth of England. The farmers on the -Conington estate were told, in the plainest of words, that if they did -not pay their rents ‘to us at Huntingdon,’ their moveables would be -seized and themselves treated as ‘delinquents.’ Execution, in those -days, followed hard on process; and little difference was made, either -in word or deed, at the farms and at the manor-house. On one morning, -Lady COTTON was visited in her bedchamber—before she could dress—by five -troopers, who, under her own eyes, broke open her drawers and trunks, -and carried off what they thought meet. On another, one of Sir Thomas’ -confidential servants received a similar visit; had his papers rifled in -a like fashion, and his apparel stolen. At the stables and out-offices -scarcely any three days passed, during the entire summer of 1643—from -May to August—without some raid or other for plunder. For much of this -there was scarcely the semblance or the pretext of a legal warrant. -During those saturnalia of ‘liberty’ there was, virtually, no judge in -England, and not a few men did whatsoever seemed good in their own eyes. - - -Sir Thomas COTTON was old enough to remember the early stages of the -long conflict of which—in 1643—this was seemingly the upshot. In the -Parliament at Oxford he had sat beside his father and his father’s -friends. His correspondence at this time—so far as it appears to have -survived—deals merely with the passing events. It contains, I think, no -disclosure of any reflections which may have crossed his mind on the -principles which underlay them. He was probably shrewd enough to see -already that the grossness of the current abuses of popular power -carried with it no scintilla of valid blame upon the first leaders in -that conflict—the real issues of which were still far off. What he, in -common with so many of the best gentlemen in England, was now smarting -under was the consequence rather of the royal triumphs of CHARLES’ -earlier years, than of the royal defeats of his later years. Had the -policy of Robert COTTON and of John ELIOT prevailed a quarter of a -century sooner, there would (very probably) have been no county -committees of sequestrators; no political scaffolds at Whitehall; no -ruling of England by brute force under artificers suddenly transformed -into generals; no wholesale massacres in Ireland, fraught with mischief -for the whole empire during centuries to come. - - -Be that however as it may, things were not yet at so bad a pass, but -that a curb could, now and then, be put on the necks of such busy -patriots as those who sat in perpetual Committee at Huntingdon. Redress -was impossible; seeing that the plunder was dissipated almost as fast as -it was made. But, in Sir Thomas COTTON’S case, it was found practicable -to put a check on its progress. He invoked the aid of a powerful friend, -Henry, Earl of Manchester, who represented the authority of the -Parliament in Huntingdonshire. The Earl summoned the Sequestrators to -show cause for their raids on Conington. He held a court. The new -functionaries were brought—after some ineffectual bluster—to confess -that they knew of no act done by COTTON which brought him within purview -of the Parliamentary Ordinance, nor of any other legal cause to subject -him to sequestration. As the words of confession were on the lips of one -active Committee-man, another functionary blurted out—most -felicitously—‘You are wrong. [Sidenote: _Proceedings in the -Sequestration of the Estate of Sir T. Cotton_; MS. ADDIT., 5012, ff. 34, -seqq.] Master Serjeant Wilde wished it should be done.’ And, in the -sequel, ‘Master Serjeant’ proved to be strong enough to protract the -inquiry, and even to procure its adjournment to London; though his -attempt to maintain the sequestration—on a plea the falsehood of which -was conclusively proved—came at last to be entirely foiled. - -When Sir Thomas COTTON came to sum up his losses he found that they -amounted to more than four thousand pounds (in the money of that day). -[Sidenote: _Ib._, ff. 71, seqq.] ‘They have had,’ he wrote, ‘£1500, in -money; besides eleven horses, worth £140; Billeting at Conington, -Eyworth, and other places, which came to £100; spoil made at Sawtrey and -at St. Germans which £300 will not make good; and besides the decay of -my rents to an amount of at least £600 a-year; ... and now the layers -and taxes will take up the whole of Ladyday’s rent.’ [Sidenote: _Ib._, -74.] Meanwhile his unlucky tenants, in Huntingdonshire alone, had been -deprived of a hundred and ninety horses, and their farms had been -stripped both of provisions and of forage. - -By way of pleasant diversity to his troubles in Huntingdonshire and -Bedfordshire Sir Thomas received, presently, a letter from John -SELDEN—the old and warmly-attached friend of his family—warning him that -the capabilities of Cotton House in London had caught the eye of certain -other Committee-men, and had made a deep impression on them. [Sidenote: -THE ATTEMPT TO SEIZE ON COTTON HOUSE.] They saw that it would do -capitally both as a lodging house for the entertainment of distinguished -strangers who might come to Westminster, to wait on the Parliament, and -as a State prison for very eminent delinquents. These watchful -Committee-men were also members of the Council of State; and the time -had now come when King JAMES’ sarcastic and well-remembered jest—‘Bring -me sax chairs, for I see sax kings approaching’—was turning itself into -a very awkward fact. These Committee-men, too, (like their humbler -fellows at Huntingdon,) had their Serjeant at hand to give them advice -on elastic points of law. ‘Serjeant DENDY,’ wrote SELDEN, ‘fairly told -me that the Committee and Council were informed that, by the Patent -under which you claim, it was provided that your interest [in Cotton -House] should cease, _during the time of the Parliament_.’ [Sidenote: -Selden to Sir T. Cotton; in an Appendix to Cotton MSS. marked ‘16. l.’ -fol. 50 (B. M.)] Certainly, an awkward clause to appear in a man’s -lease, in days when a Parliament, beginning its ‘time’ in 1641 had not -quite ended it until 1660. This claim of the Council of State proved, in -the sequel, to have in it no more of real validity than had that other -claim to procure the Conington rents to be paid ‘to us at Huntingdon’; -but, like that, it gave Sir Thomas COTTON a good deal of annoyance -before he succeeded in getting quit of it. - -It is much to his honour that petty but cumulative misfortunes like -these did not sour Sir Thomas COTTON’S temper. When quieter times came, -he showed himself the worthy son of his eminent father, both by the -improvement of his library, at considerable charge, and by the -liberality with which he lent his choicest manuscripts, and, in many -ways, made them and his other collections serviceable to literature. The -still extant acknowledgments of service of this sort from historians and -great scholars are very numerous.[19] - -By his first marriage with Margaret HOWARD, daughter of William Lord -HOWARD of Naworth, Sir Thomas had one son and two daughters. By his -second marriage with Alice CONSTABLE he had four sons, two of whom died -without issue. Alice was the daughter and sole heir of Sir John -CONSTABLE of Dromondley in Yorkshire, and the relict of Edmund ANDERSON -of Eyworth and of Stratton in Bedfordshire, and she brought with her a -considerable dowry. - -Sir John COTTON, the eldest son of the first marriage, sat in Parliament -for the borough of Huntingdon in the reign of CHARLES THE SECOND, and -for Huntingdonshire in that of JAMES THE SECOND. But he took no -prominent part in public affairs. Like his father he was twice married. -And his first wife became step-daughter as well as daughter-in-law to -his father, being Dorothy, daughter and heir of Edmund ANDERSON of -Eyworth above mentioned. His second wife was Elizabeth HONYWOOD. He -seems to have resembled his father both in his tastes for a quiet -country life, and in the liberality with which he allowed (on reasonable -cause and to proper persons) access to his library. Nor did Sir John, -any more than Sir Thomas, escape animadversion, when he allowed himself -to form his own judgment of the fitness or the timeliness of any -particular application. [Sidenote: _Autobiog. and Corresp._, vol. ii, p. -40.] [Sidenote: _History of the Reformation_, vol. iii, _Introd._, p. 8. -(Edit. of 1714.)] Caustic Symonds D’EWES writes down Sir Thomas COTTON -as ‘unworthy to be master of so inestimable a library.’ Caustic Bishop -BURNET writes in his turn of Sir John COTTON: ‘A great Prelate had -possessed him with such prejudices against me that ... he desired to be -excused’ [from granting BURNET admittance to the Cottonian Library] -‘unless the Archbishop of Canterbury or a Secretary of State would -recommend me as a person fit to have access.’ Against strictures such as -these, it were easy, but is not needful, to adduce a score of -acknowledgments of deep obligation, from writers more eminent by far -than either D’EWES or BURNET. - -The eldest son (also John) of Sir John COTTON, by his wife Dorothy, did -not live to inherit either the famous library or the ancestral estates. -He died in 1681, and his later days seem to have been marked by some -stormy incidents. In one point, his troubles resembled those which -disturbed the last year of his great-grandfather’s life;—in so far as -that they were caused by a lady. But whereas Sir Robert had the lady -thrust upon him, to suit the purposes of other men, the misfortunes of -his great-grandson appear to have grown out of an ardent but illicit -passion—as ardently, and not less illicitly, returned by its object. -Some scraps of their correspondence which have chanced to be preserved -read, after two centuries of dusty repose, as if they were still all -aflame with that fierce love which an experienced poet describes as -‘passion’s essence.’[20] - -Sir John COTTON survived till nearly the close of the seventeenth -century. He was succeeded in the baronetcy and estates by John, the son -of the last-mentioned John COTTON, who had married Frances, daughter and -heir of Sir George DOWNING of East Hatley in Cambridgeshire. Sir John, -fourth baronet, married Elizabeth HERBERT, one of the grand-daughters of -Philip, Earl of Pembroke and Montgomery. Like his ancestors of many -generations, this Sir John COTTON sat in Parliament for Huntingdonshire. -His chief claim to honourable memory is that he settled the Cottonian -Library on the British nation for ever, and thus made its founder, Sir -Robert, the virtual and first FOUNDER OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM. This was -done by Act of Parliament, in the year 1700. - -This eminent public benefactor died, in 1731, without surviving issue. -The baronetcy then reverted to Robert the eldest son of the second -marriage of the first Sir John COTTON, grandson of the Founder. From Sir -Robert, fifth baronet, the dignity came, in 1749, to a fourth ‘John -COTTON’ who then became sixth baronet and who was the last surviving -male heir of his honoured line. - -Sir John had lost his only son—a fifth John—many years before his -accession to the baronetcy, which, on his own death (27 March, 1752), -became extinct. Conington had long previously passed to a younger son of -Sir Thomas COTTON, second baronet; as shown in the following— - - +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ - | CONCLUSION OF THE PEDIGREE OF COTTON OF CONINGTON, | - | SHOWING ALSO THE DESCENT OF THE COTTONIAN TRUSTEESHIP | - | OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM. | - | | - | | - | Sir Robert (BRUCE) COTTON = Elizabeth BROCAS. | - | Founder of the | | - | Cottonian Library. | | - | | | - | | | - | Alice CONSTABLE, = Sir Thomas COTTON, = Margaret HOWARD, | - | daughter and sole heir | (2nd Bart.) | daughter of William, | - | of Sir John CONSTABLE, | of Conington, Hunts, | Lord HOWARD of | - | of Dromondley, in | and of Eyworth, | Naworth [First Wife]. | - | Yorkshire; Relict | Bedfordshire. | | - | of Edmund ANDERSON, | [X] | - | of Eyworth and of | | - | Stratton, in | | - | Bedfordshire. | | - | | | - | +-------------+-------+----------------------+---------------+ | - | | | | | | - | Thomas Sir Robert COTTON = Gertrude Philip COTTON, William COTTON, | - | (died in of Hatley St. | MORRICE. eventually of of Cotton Hall, | - | infancy). George, County | Conington, in Cheshire. | - | of Cambridge, | died without | | - | Knight. | issue, leaving | | - | | Conington to | | - | | Thomas COTTON, | | - | | his nephew. | | - | | | | - | +----------------------+ +---------------------------+ | - | | | | - | Alice = Robert TREFUSIS. Thomas COTTON, | - | | of Conington, | - | | devisee of Philip. | - | | | | - | Robert-Cotton TREFUSIS. Frances = Dingley ASCHAM. | - | | (sole heir). | - | | | - | From whom | - | the present | - | Charles Henry | - | Rolle TREFUSIS, | - | 18th Baron Clinton, | - | of Maxtoke. | - +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ - | [X] | - | | | - | +-----------------------------+-------+ | - | | | | | - | Elizabeth HONYWOOD = Sir John COTTON = Dorothy ANDERSON, Lucy. Frances. | - | [Second Wife]. | (3rd Bart.) | daughter and sole | - | | of Conington, | heir of Edmund | - | | and of Eyworth, | ANDERSON, of | - | | succy. M.P. for | Eyworth and of | - | | Borough and | Stratton [First | - | | County of | Wife]. | - | | Huntingdon. | | - | | [Y] | - | | | - | +---------+-----------------------------+------------+ | - | | | | | - | Sir Robert COTTON = Elizabeth WIGSTON. Elizabeth. Mary. | - | of Gedding, in Hunts, | | - | succeeded, as 5th Bart., | | - | on the death, in 1731, | | - | of Sir John COTTON. | | - | | | - | +--------------+ | - | | | - | Sir John COTTON = Jane BURDETT. | - | Succ. as 6th Bart | | - | in 1749. Died, | | - | without surviving | | - | male issue, | | - | 27 March, 1752. | | - | +----------+ | - | | | | - | John, Jane = Thomas HART, | - | died in infancy. of Warfield, | - | Berkshire. First | - | Parliamentary | - | Trustee of the | - | COTTONIAN LIBRARY. | - +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ - | | - | [Y] | - | | | - | John COTTON = Frances DOWNING, | - | Died in 1681 | daughter of Sir George | - | in his Father’s | DOWNING, of East | - | lifetime. | Hatley, Cambridgeshire. | - | | | - | | | - | +----------+----------------------+-------+ | - | | | | | - | Sir John COTTON = Elizabeth HERBERT, Thomas Frances = William HANBURY.[21]| - | (4th Bart.) grand-daughter of COTTON. | | - | M.P. for Philip, Earl of | | | - | Huntingdon, Pembroke, &c. | | | - | Donor of COTTON | | | - | Library to | | | - | the Nation. | | | - | +-+ | | - | | | | - | Mary, Mary HANBURY = Martin ANNESLEY.| - | sole heir | | - | | | - | | | - | | | - | +----------------+--------+ | - | | | | - | Revd. Francis ANNESLEY, George ANNESLEY,| - | Present COTTONIAN TRUSTEES of | - | the British Museum. | - +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ - -The reader who glances at this pedigree will notice that some of the -COTTONS of 1600–1750 were as fortunate in getting heiress-wives as had -been their foregoers of preceding centuries. But their possessions were -scattered almost as rapidly as they had been augmented. Conington, which -was the most valued possession of Sir Robert, was less prized by his -descendants. The Council Books show that some of its appendant manors -and members—notably Glatton and Hulme—gave to the Founder himself a good -deal of trouble. The Sequestration Books show the anxieties and losses -which the busy Parliamentarians of Huntingdonshire inflicted on his next -successor. Other circumstances tended also to bring the place into -disfavour with owners who had a choice of seats. It lay so close to the -great northern road, as to be exposed to undue demands alike from the -movement of troops and from the tramping of professional vagrants. Nor -was it less exposed, from its situation, to injuries by great floods. -[Sidenote: DESERTION OF THE OLD SEAT OF CONINGTON.] Long before the -extinction of the male line, Conington was deserted, in favour of more -attractive abodes in southern counties. We learn from a passage in -Stukeley’s _Itinerary_ that the house was fast becoming a ruin, even in -the reign of GEORGE THE FIRST; although it had been solidly rebuilt by -Sir Robert himself. - -‘I thought it,’ writes that antiquary, ‘a piety to turn half a mile out -of the road, to visit Conington the seat of the noble Sir Robert -COTTON,—where he and Camden have often sat in council upon the -Antiquities of Britain, and where he had a choice collection of Roman -inscriptions picked up from all parts of the kingdom. I was concerned to -see a stately old house of hewn stone, large and handsome, already -falling into ruin.’[22] - -By the Statute which established the COTTON Library as a national -institution, it was enacted as follows: ‘The Cottonian Library ... shall -be kept and preserved, in the name and family of the COTTONS, for public -use and advantage. [Sidenote: THE ESTABLISHMENT ACT OF 1700.] And -therefore, according to the desire of the said Sir John COTTON, and at -his request, the said Mansion House, ... and also all the said -Library, ... together with all the Coins, Medals, and other -rarities, ... shall be vested in Trustees ... with a perpetual -succession.’ The first Trustees were the Lord Chancellor SOMERS, Mr. -Speaker HARLEY (afterwards Earl of Oxford), and the Lord Chief Justice, -_ex officio_; together with Sir Robert COTTON, of Hatley St. George, -Cambridgeshire; Philip COTTON, of Conington; Robert COTTON of Gedding, -in Cambridgeshire, and William HANBURY, of the Inner Temple. [Sidenote: -12 & 13 WILL. III, c. 7.] It was provided that on the decease of any one -of the four family trustees the heir male, for the time being, of Sir -Robert COTTON, the founder, should appoint a successor. - -The furious party-spirit which at this time divided the country into -hostile camps, the leaders of which were at any moment ready to fly at -each other’s throats, was eminently unfavourable both to the -guardianship and to the growth of the new institution; as it was, -indeed, to all matters of learning or of mental culture. Hardly seven -years had passed before it was found necessary to pass ‘_An Act for the -better securing of Her Majesty’s purchase of Cotton House in -Westminster_.’ - -This Act recites that since the preceding enactment of 1700 ‘very little -had been done in pursuance thereof to make the said Library useful to -the Public, except what had been lately done at Her Majesty’s charge;’ -and that the place wherein the Library then was, being ‘a narrow little -damp room, was improper for preserving the books and papers.’ The Act -then proceeds to declare that an agreement had been made for the -purchase of Cotton House for £4,500, ‘to the intent that it might be in -Her Majesty’s power to make this most valuable collection useful to her -own subjects, and to all learned strangers.’ - -Within five years, however, this unfortunate Library had to be removed -from Cotton House to Essex House, in the Strand (1712); and thence -again, in 1730, to Ashburnham House, at Westminster (already containing -the Royal collection), where it had not long been lodged, when the fire -occurred by which it was so seriously injured. [Sidenote: THE FIRE AT -ASHBURNHAM HOUSE.] The account which the Parliamentary Committee of -Inquiry gave to the Public, shortly after the occurrence of this -calamity, runs thus: - -‘On Saturday morning, October 23, 1731, a great smoke was perceived by -Dr. BENTLEY, and the rest of the family at Ashburnham House, which soon -after broke out into a flame. It began from a wooden mantel-tree taking -fire which lay across a stove-chimney that was under the room where the -MSS. of the Royal and Cottonian Libraries were lodged, and was -communicated to that room by the wainscoat and by pieces of timber, that -stood perpendicularly upon each end of the mantel-tree.’ - -‘They were in hope, at first,’ continues the Committee, ‘to put a stop -to the fire by throwing water upon the pieces of timber and -wainscoat, ... and therefore did not begin to remove the books so soon -as they otherwise would have done. But, the fire prevailing, Mr. CASLEY, -the Deputy Librarian, took care in the first place to remove the famous -Alexandrian MS. and the books under the head of Augustus’ [twelve of the -Cottonian presses, it will be remembered, were adorned by the heads of -the twelve Cæsars, whence the still existing designations or -press-marks, as for instance, that of the famous _Evangeliary of King -Ethelstan_, NERO D. vi, mentioned on page 132] ‘in the Cottonian -Library, as being esteemed the most valuable amongst the collection. -Several entire presses, with the books in them, were also removed; -but ... several of the backs of the presses being already on fire, they -were obliged to be broke open, and the books, as many as could be, -thrown out of the windows.’ All the MSS. that were saved, and the -remains of what been burnt, were removed to the Dormitory of Westminster -School. - -[Sidenote: 1731 October.] - -At the time of this disastrous fire, the number of MS. volumes was 958. -Of this number 114 were reported to be ‘lost, burnt, or entirely -spoiled; and 98 damaged so as to be defective.’ Mr. Speaker ONSLOW took -immediate measures, in conjunction with Dr. BENTLEY and Mr. CASLEY, for -the examination of the burnt MSS., and for the repair of such as were -then deemed alone reparable. Three months afterwards the Record Clerk to -whom the task was more particularly committed, thus reports his -progress: ‘One hundred and upwards,’ he says, ‘being volumes of Letters -and State Papers, have been quite taken to pieces, marked, and bound -again.’ [Sidenote: _Report of the Committee appointed to view the -Cottonian Library_ (1732), pp. 11–15; and Casley’s Appendix thereto.] -But he laments that ‘there having no way hitherto been found out to -extend vellum and parchment that has been shrivelled up and contracted -by fire to its former dimensions, part of several of the vellum MSS. -must remain not legible, unless the desideratum can be supplied.’ - -For nearly a century some of the most precious of the injured MSS. -remained as the fire had left them. But in 1824, by the care of Mr. -FORSHALL, the then Keeper of the MSS. in the British Museum, a -commencement was made towards their restoration, which his successor, -Sir F. MADDEN, zealously and successfully continued. Nearly three -hundred volumes have been repaired, and more or less completely -restored, (a considerable number of which were previously regarded as -beyond all hope of recovery) to a state of legibility.[23] - - -The calamity of 1731 brought about what may, in a sense, be termed a -partial compensation, by inducing Major Arthur EDWARDS to make an -important bequest, with the view of precluding its recurrence. -[Sidenote: THE BEQUEST OF ARTHUR EDWARDS.] Owing to the protraction of a -life interest in the legacy—the terms of which will be cited in -describing that eventual Act of Incorporation which created the British -Museum—it did not become available until other arrangements had made its -application to building purposes needless. It was, consequently, and in -pursuance of the Testator’s contingent instructions, appropriated to the -purchase of books in the manner, and with results, which will be spoken -of in a subsequent chapter. Major EDWARDS also bequeathed his own -collection of about 2,000 volumes of printed books, by way of addition -to the Cottonian Library of MSS. These, however, were not actually -incorporated with the Museum collections until the year 1769. - - -For several years, BENTLEY conjoined the Keepership of the Cottonian -with that of the Royal Library. His predecessors in the office were Dr. -Thomas SMITH (hitherto the only biographer of the Founder,) and William -HANBURY, who had married a descendant of the Founder. [Sidenote: THE -KEEPERS OF THE COTTONIAN LIBRARY.] Dr. SMITH was less eminent as a -scholar—though his learning was great—but far more estimable as a man, -than was his successor in the Keepership, the imperious and covetous -Master of Trinity. For conscience sake, SMITH had given up both a good -fellowship and a good living, at the Revolution. Literature profited by -the loss of Divinity. He died in May, 1710. HANBURY—by a very -undesirable plurality—was a Trustee as well as Keeper. That he was not, -in either capacity, strictly faithful to the spirit of the Trust -confided to him seems to be established by incidents which I find -recorded in the MS. Diary of Humphrey WANLEY. The reader will observe -that it is possible to reconcile WANLEY’S statement with the supposition -that the MSS. alienated had never actually been made part of the -Cottonian Library, though it is as plain as sunlight that a really -faithful trustee would have made them part of it. As it turned out, the -sale of them did no actual and eventual mischief. On December 2nd, 1724, -says WANLEY, ‘I had a conversation with Mr. HANBURY, who owned that he -hath still in his possession many original and valuable papers given him -by his wife’s brother, Sir John COTTON, which now lie in different -places. These papers and whatever else happens to be among them—as -books, rolls, &c.—he hath agreed to put into my hands for my Lord’s -[OXFORD’S] use. [Sidenote: _Wanley’s Diary_, MS., ii, 40 (B.M.).] I have -promised that he shall be very well paid and considered for the same.’ - -WANLEY had already recorded a previous visit in which HANBURY had -delivered ‘for my Lord OXFORD’S use, a small but curious parcel of old -letters,’ adding: ‘I believe he expects a gratuity for them.’ On the -last day of December he received another parcel; and on the 4th January, -1725, he again writes: ‘Mr. HANBURY gave me another parcel of letters -written to Sir Robert COTTON.’ - -Without endorsing the violent diatribe of Lord OXFORD (the second of the -Harleian Earls) against HANBURY’S successor—as the almost wilful -destroyer of part of the Cotton MSS.—it must be admitted that there is -conclusive evidence that neglect of duty on Dr. BENTLEY’S part was a -moving agent in the disaster. Under his nominal keepership the practical -duties of Cottonian Librarian were discharged by an industrious and -otherwise meritorious deputy, David CASLEY. - - -[Sidenote: THE PROJECT OF 1707 FOR UNITING THE COTTONIAN, ROYAL, AND - ARUNDEL, LIBRARIES.] - -There were many projects for making Sir Robert COTTON’S noble -collections, both in literature and antiquities, the foundation of a -‘British Museum,’ before a feasible and successful project was hit upon. -[Sidenote: Sloane to Charlett, 7 April, 1707. (Bodleian Library, -Oxford).] It is curious to note that one of these schemes embraced, as -the groundwork of the projected national Museum, the collections of Sir -Robert COTTON, of Prince HENRY, and of Lord ARUNDEL; and that some -particulars of the plan were narrated—to a country correspondent—by Sir -Hans SLOANE, almost fifty years before his own conditional bequest gave -occasion and means for the eventual union of the collections so spoken -of with the vast gatherings of all kinds, in literature and in science, -to the procuring of which so large a portion of his own useful and -laborious life was to be devoted. - -When that occasion came, two of the then Cottonian Trustees framed a -Petition to Parliament in which they expressed their acknowledgments for -‘seasonable and necessary care’ of the Cotton Library. They alleged that -it had remained ‘almost useless’ to the Public, during many years, for -want of a fixed and convenient building to receive it; that it had been -exposed to many dangers by frequent removals, and had once run the -hazard of ‘a total destruction by fire.’ If, said they, the loss which -the Public then sustained proved to be less than had been feared, the -Public owed the obligation ‘to a great member of this House’ [of -Commons] ‘who powerfully interposed and assisted in its preservation.’ -The allusion is to the Right Hon. Arthur ONSLOW, the then Speaker, who -afterwards became one of the first Trustees of the Museum established by -the Act of 1753. - -[Sidenote: Petition of Samuel Burroughs and Thos. Hart; MS. in Cottonian - ‘Appendix’ (B. M.).] - -The Petitioners proceed to state that their most earnest wishes are -accomplished by seeing a Library, famed throughout Europe, with the -generous gifts of Major EDWARDS annexed thereto, placed out of all -further dangers from neglect, and that they rejoice to perceive that the -Museum of their own Founder is about to be enlarged by other rare and -valuable collections. ‘We are,’ say they, ‘fully persuaded that an -edifice raised upon such a stately plan will, by degrees, be stored with -benefactions and become a common Cabinet for preserving with safety all -curiosities and whatsoever is choice or excellent in its kind. Moreover, -being a new institution for the service of the learned world it will be -an honour to the Nation, an ornament long wanted in this great city, and -a distinguished event in the history of our times.’ [Sidenote: -Heretofore, p. 3.] Then follows the passage which I have prefixed, by -way of motto, to this first division of the volume now in the reader’s -hands. - - -When these Petitioners went on to state to Parliament that ‘no -expression of gratitude can be too great ... for doing honour to the -memory of Sir Robert COTTON,’ their assertion gave rise to no utterance -of hostile feeling. [Sidenote: RECENT CHARGES AGAINST THE CHARACTER AND -FAME OF SIR R. COTTON.] They were not even charged with undue laudation -of their ancestor. People who at that time troubled themselves to think -of such matters at all, were agreed in regarding Sir Robert COTTON as -unquestionably one of the worthies of England. Nowadays—as I have had -occasion to show already—there are many gainsayers. A distinguished -historian (Mr. GARDINER) asperses COTTON’S character both for -statesmanship and for truthfulness; whilst a distinguished archæologist -(Mr. BREWER) charges him with embezzling records. - -The first charge has been partly met, in these pages, by the simple -apposition and collation of contemporary evidence. The reader has his -choice between the cumulative testimony of several English peers and -statesmen; and the unsupported testimony of one foreign diplomatist, who -made it his boast to be the enemy of Englishmen, and whose hostility was -graduated in tolerably exact accordance with the qualities and the deeds -which have made England proud of them. The home witnesses gave their -testimony whilst the events were still fresh in men’s minds. They gave -it in broad daylight, and with open doors. The foreign witness put his -evidence into a secret dispatch, to be seen by no human eye, out of the -Spanish Cabinet, until our own historian disinterred it, at Simancas, -two centuries and a half after date. Nor is this quite all. - -If GONDOMAR’S account be true, not only was Sir Robert COTTON’S life as -a statesman a protracted lie, but his duplicity was so superbly cloaked -as to deceive the most keen-sighted of his contemporaries. The men who -sat habitually at his board in his days of health, and who ministered at -his bedside in all the offices of tender friendship in his days of -sickness and of death, were all wrong about his character. [Sidenote: _A -Discours wether yt be fitt for Inglande to make peace with Spaine._ MS. -Cott. Vespas. C. xiii, ff. 160, seqq. (B. M.).] And there is this other -little fact to boot: Sir Robert COTTON began his public life by as open -a declaration of anti-Spanish policy in relation to the great question -of the Netherlands as ever came from the lips of our RALEGH. He ended -his public life with as staunch an adherence to the principles, both in -Church and State, which the rulers of Spain abhorred as that which had -been shown by RALEGH on the scaffold in Old Palace Yard, or by ELIOT in -the dungeon of the Tower of London. Meanwhile, just in the mid-channel -of his career, and in the prime of his faculties, Sir Robert COTTON -threw himself, gratuitously, at the feet of GONDOMAR. He humbly asked -leave to take Spanish service in the guise of a political slave. The -historian’s proposition is a bold one. And its evidence needs to be -cogent. English readers now know quite enough about GONDOMAR to judge -whether or not his sole testimony is sufficient to damn the fame of such -a man as COTTON;—to degrade him from the rank of an English worthy;—to -brand him as a criminal virtually convicted of apostacy in religion, and -of treason to his avowed convictions in politics?[24] - -From the nature of things the second charge cannot be so directly, so -compactly, or so effectively met. Almost a third of the manuscripts -which form the most important section of the Cotton Library consist of, -or contain, Papers of State. Of these a very considerable proportion -once belonged to the State. How came they to pass into the hands of Sir -Robert COTTON? - -[Sidenote: MR. BREWER’S ACCOUNT OF SIR R. COTTON’S ACQUISITION OF STATE - PAPERS.] - -By Mr. BREWER the question has been answered, unhesitatingly and -exhaustively. Large portions of the Diplomatic Correspondence of HENRY -THE EIGHTH were, he says, ‘carried off in 1614, if not before, by Sir -Robert COTTON.... The original bundles appear to have been broken up -under the keepership of AGARDE, when the Treasury of the Exchequer was -rifled of its most precious contents to augment the collections of Sir -R. COTTON.... [Sidenote: _Calendar of the State Papers_; Reign of Henry -VIII, Pref., pp. viii, ix.] For the early years of HENRY, his [Sir -Robert’s] collections are more numerous, and even more interesting, than -the documents in the English, the French, or the Spanish Archives. They -are equally authentic.... By what fraud or negligence they found their -way into the possession of Sir Robert COTTON it is not for me to -inquire.’ - -No writer can be better qualified to speak with authority on such a -topic as this than is Mr. BREWER. Familiar with State Papers and with -records of all kinds for a very long period, he has won the deep respect -of all students of our history by the uses to which his knowledge has -been applied. But the ablest writer will sometimes write hastily. The -most impartial inquirer will now and then reach a conclusion by -overleaping part of the evidence. - -The sweeping passage which I have quoted, like other passages in Mr. -RILEY’S preface to _Liber Custumarum_, previously noticed, leaves -altogether out of view three or four whole classes of testimony—chains -not links—having a vital bearing on the issue. For example— - -[Sidenote: Sir T. Wilson to King James I, _Domestic Corresp._, vol. - xcvi, § 41*, seqq. (R. H.)] - -I. It disregards the fact that certain bundles of State letters and -papers were given by the King’s order to Sir Robert COTTON, during the -reign of JAMES THE FIRST. These, indeed, were commanded to be -‘subscriptions and signatures of Princes and great men, attached to -letters _otherwise unimportant_.’ But who is to tell us what was the -estimate of ‘importance’ in papers of State formed, two centuries and a -half ago, by JAMES, who gave the order, or by Sir Thomas WILSON, who -received it? - -II. It disregards the fact that long before, as well as long after, that -known order of 1618, Sir Robert’s possession of papers once the property -of the Government was so published and so recognized as to imply, by -fair induction, that the possession must have been—as far as he was -concerned—a lawful one. In his own writings, he iterates and reiterates -reference to national documents then in his own collection. His -references are specific and minute. Secretaries of State write to him, -asking leave to inspect original Treaties (sometimes in order to lay -them before the King in person) and promising to return them promptly. -[Sidenote: _Domestic Corresp._, as above, 1621, March; and _passim_; -also _Council Books_ (C. O.).] Law Officers of the Crown desire him -kindly to afford them opportunities for collating public instruments, -preserved at Cotton House, with public instruments still in the -repositories of the Crown. - -III. It leaves out of sight the fact that in the correspondence of Sir -Edward COKE with Sir Robert COTTON there is a passage which also -_implies_—though it does not expressly assert—that Sir Robert had -received from King JAMES a permission to select records, of some kind or -other, from the Tower of London, anterior to the qualified permission, -[Sidenote: Sir E. Coke to Sir R. Cotton; MS. Cott. Julius, ciii -(Undated; probably 1612). (B. M.)] above mentioned, given in 1618, to -select ‘autographs’ from the Paper Office; - -IV. It disregards that strong implication of a lawful possession—so far -as Sir Robert COTTON, individually, is concerned—which necessarily -arises out of the fact that at two several periods the Cottonian Library -was under the sole control and custody of Crown officials; [Sidenote: -_Registers of Privy Council_, 1616; 1629; 1630; _passim_ (C. O.)] that -it remained under such control for an aggregate period of more than two -years; that COTTON’S bitter enemies were then at the head of affairs; -that in 1630 a Royal Commission was actually issued [Sidenote: _Signs -Manual_, Charles I, vol. xii, § 15 (R. H.).] ‘to search what Records or -other Papers of State in the custody of Sir Robert COTTON properly -belong to His Majesty, and thereof to certify;’ and that the existing -Cottonian MSS., together with those burned in 1732, were, one year after -the issue of that Commission, restored by the Crown to Sir Robert -COTTON’S heirs; - -[Sidenote: _e. g._ MS. Harl., 7002, ff. 120, 122, &c., MS. Cott. Julius - ciii, _passim_ (B. M.).] - -V. It overlooks the circumstance, vital to the issue now raised, that -amongst the MSS. which most indubitably were once Crown property many -can still be minutely traced from possessor to possessor, prior to their -reception into the Cottonian Library; - -And VI. It disregards the fact, hardly less important, that a patriotic -statesman conversant both with the arcana of government at large, and -with the special arcana of the State Paper Office and Secretary’s -offices, under King JAMES THE FIRST and King CHARLES THE FIRST, might -have cogent reasons for believing that some important classes of State -Papers would be likely to remain much more truly and enduringly the -property of the English nation if stored up at Cotton House—even had no -‘British Museum’ ever been created—than if stored up at Whitehall. - - -Inferences and implications such as these are far from amounting to -conclusive proof. But most readers, I think, will assent to the -assertion that, cumulatively, they amount to a very strong presumption -indeed that the stigma which has been impressed on Sir Robert COTTON’S -memory is both precipitate and unjust. Precipitate it plainly is, for a -confident verdict has virtually been pronounced—upon a grave -issue,—before hearing any evidence for the accused. Unjust I, for one, -cannot but think it, inasmuch as circumstances which at most are but -grounds of mere suspicion of the greater offence charged, have been so -huddled up with proofs of a minor and (comparatively) venial offence, -that readers giving but ordinary attention to the allegations and their -respective evidence are almost certain to be misled. - -For, undoubtedly, Sir Robert COTTON stands convicted of dealing, more -than once, with manuscripts which he had borrowed very much as though -they had been manuscripts which he possessed. Mr. RILEY’S testimony is, -on this point, conclusive. An independent witness, Dr. Sedgwick -SAUNDERS, the able Chairman of the Library Committee of the Corporation -of London, tells me that both the _returned_ MS. of _Liber Custumarum_, -and also that of _Liber Legum Antiquorum_, bear as unmistakable marks of -a claim to ownership on Sir Robert’s part, as those of which the return -was refused. - -To such proofs as these I can myself add a new instance. Archbishop LAUD -had procured, from the Principal and Fellows of St. John’s, the loan to -Sir Robert COTTON of a certain ancient Beda MS. of great value. Many -years passed, and the MS. had not returned to St. John’s. The Fellows -cast severe blame on their eminent benefactor. [Sidenote: Archbp. Laud -to Sir R. Cotton, MS. Cott. Julius C., iii, f. 232.] LAUD had to -petition his friend COTTON for the return of Beda, in terms almost -pathetic; and he was so doubtful whether pathos would suffice that he -added bribe to entreaty. If, he said, ‘anything of worth in like kind -come to my hands, I will freely give it you in recompense.’ - - -The reader has seen the abounding proofs of that generous furtherance of -every kind of literary effort which COTTON gave, throughout life, with -an ungrudging heart and an open hand. [Sidenote: Bolton to Camden; MS. -Harl., 7002, f. 396.] Sir ROBERT’S openness made his library—to use the -words of an eminent contemporary—the ‘Common treasury’ of English -antiquities. The reader now sees also the drawback. It remains for him -to strike a true balance; and to strike it with justice, but also with -charity. - - - - - CHAPTER III. - THE CHIEF COLLECTOR AND THE AUGMENTORS OF THE OLD ROYAL AND PUBLIC - LIBRARY AT ST. JAMES’. - - ‘Death never makes such effectual demonstration of his power, as - when he singles out the man who occupies the largest place in public - estimation;—as when he seizes upon him whose loss is felt, by - thousands, with all the tenderness of a family bereavement;—puts a - sudden arrest, ... before the infirmities of age had withdrawn him - from the labours of usefulness;— ... and sends the fearful report of - this his achievement through the streets of the city, where it runs, - in appalling whispers, among the multitude.’— - - THOMAS CHALMERS. - - _Life of_ HENRY, _Prince of Wales, son of_ JAMES I, _and virtual - Founder of the ‘Royal Library.’—Its Augmentors and - its Librarians.—Acquisition of the Library of the_ - THEYERS.—_Incorporation with the Collections of_ COTTON _and of_ - SLOANE. - - -[Sidenote: BOOK I, Chap. III. LIFE OF HENRY, PRINCE OF WALES.] - -HENRY, Prince of Scotland, and afterwards of Wales, was born at Stirling -Castle on the 19th of February, 1594. King JAMES had married ANNE of -Denmark more than four years before the Prince’s birth, but a certain -grotesqueness which had marked some of the characteristic circumstances -of the marriage in Norway (in 1589) was not without its counterpart -among the incidents that came to be attendant on the subsequent event at -home. One of these incidents is thus narrated in the quaint narrative of -a Scottish courtier who made it his business to chronicle the movements -of the Court with newsmanlike fidelity:—‘Because the chappell royal was -ruinous and too little, the King concluded that the old chappell should -be utterly rased, and a new [one] erected in the same place that should -be more large, long, and glorious, to entertain the great number of -strangers’ who were expected to be present at the baptism. The interval -demanded for the restoration of this decayed chapel at Stirling entailed -an unusual delay between the child’s birth and his baptism, but it -gratified the King by enabling him to send invitations far and wide. Had -all of them met with acceptance they would have resulted in the presence -of a cloud of witnesses, such as had rarely been seen in Scotland upon -any the most famous occasion of courtly rejoicing. - -[Sidenote: PRINCE HENRY’S BAPTISM AT STIRLING.] - -For the presence of two guests in particular JAMES was anxious. He -wished to see an ambassador extraordinary from the Court of ELIZABETH, -and another from that of HENRY THE FOURTH. HENRY would not gratify his -wish, and the omission was much resented. ELIZABETH, on the other hand, -was ostentatiously swift to comply, but her willingness was well nigh -defeated by one of the common accidents of life. She had fixed her -choice on the brilliant Earl of CUMBERLAND, whose love of magnificence -was scarcely less prominent than was his love of adventure. He could -grace a royal festivity, as conspicuously as he could lead a band of -eager soldiers, or a crew of daring navigators. Just as the Earl’s -costly preparations for his embassy were completed, he fell sick. Some -days were lost in the hope of his speedy recovery, but the Queen was -soon obliged to nominate the Earl of SUSSEX in his stead. SUSSEX had -then to make preparations in turn. The day fixed for the ceremony in -Scotland had to be more than twice postponed, in order to ensure his -presence. In all, more than six months elapsed before the babe was -really baptized. We will hope that the Court Chronicler exaggerates a -little when he tells us that ‘the time intervening was spent in -magnificent banquetting and revelling.’ [Sidenote: _True Reportarie of -the baptisme of the Prince of Scotland_, MS. ADDIT., 5795 (B. M.).] If -so, the potations at Stirling must have vied with those of Elsinore. - -When the long-expected day arrived (30 August, 1594) the child lay ‘on a -bed of estate richly decored ... with the story of HERCULES.’ The old -Countess of MAR lifted him into the arms of LENNOX, and by him the babe -was transferred to those of the English ambassador who held him during -baptism. Then Patrick GALLOWAY, we are told, learnedly entreated upon a -text from the 21st chapter of Genesis. - -The Bishop of ABERDEEN taught, in his turn, upon the Sacrament of -Baptism—first in the vulgar tongue and then in Latin—and his discourse -was followed by the twenty-first Psalm, ‘sung to the great delectation -of the noble auditory,’ and also by a panegyric upon the Prince, -delivered in Latin verse, from the pulpit. Then came a banquet, at which -‘six gallant dames’ had the cruel task assigned them of performing ‘a -silent comedy.’ To the banquet succeeded a ‘desart of sugar,’ drawn in -upon a triumphal chariot. The original programme had provided that this -richly-laden chariot should be drawn by a lion, for whose due tameness -the projector had pledged himself. But to King JAMES a lion, like a -sword, was at all times an unpleasant object. He said that it would -affright the ladies, and that ‘a black-moore’ would be a more safe -propeller. Banquet and dessert together lasted from eight o’clock in the -evening until three of the following morning. At intervals, the cannon -of Stirling Castle roared, until, says our chronicler, ‘the earth -trembled therewith.’ - -Thus was ushered in a brief but remarkable life. It lasted less than -nineteen years. [Sidenote: _Ibid._, pp. 6–17, verso.] Then to the cradle -which had been so richly emblazoned with the labours of HERCULES, in all -the colours of embroidery, there succeeded the hearse of black velvet -thickly set with its plumes of sombre feathers. One half, however, of -those nineteen years that stood between cradle and hearse were years -passed upon an arena to which the course of events had given almost -world-wide importance and conspicuousness. The Prince’s career was, by -the necessity of his position still more than by reason of his youth, a -career of promise, not of performance. But every year which passed after -the removal from Scotland seems to have intensified the promise in the -eyes of those who watched it, as well as to have deepened a conviction -in the minds of nearly all thoughtful bystanders that to a grand -ambition there were about to be proffered, in GOD’S due time, means and -appliances more than usually large, and a grand field of action. So it -seemed to human expectation. And because, in those long-past years, it -reasonably seemed so, there is still somewhat of a real human interest -attaching to incidents which, otherwise, would be trivial and barren. - - -EARLY DISSENTIONS AT COURT. - -One unhappy circumstance which occurred before HENRY was eighteen months -old testified to the existence, even at that date, of unhappy domestic -relations of the kind which on many subsequent occasions brought -bitterness into his daily life. Queen ANNE was deprived of the care of -her child very soon after his baptism. The Earl of MAR was appointed to -be his governor, and the Earl’s mother assumed that place in the -upbringing of the royal infant which, in most cases, custom no less than -nature would have assigned to the Queen herself. Her natural resentment -brought about more than one angry discussion at Court. After one of -those scenes of turbulence, JAMES gave to MAR, in writing, this -characteristic command: ‘Because in the surety of my son consisteth my -surety, I have concredited unto you the charge of his keeping.... This I -command you out of my own mouth, _being in the company of those I like_. -Otherwise, for [_i. e._ notwithstanding] any charge or necessity that -can come from me, you shall not deliver him.’ - -In 1599, Adam NEWTON became Prince HENRY’S tutor; and the choice seems -to have been a happy one. The boy had a most towardly inclination to -learn. The tutor had both a genuine love of letters and a real delight -in teaching. He had also the wisdom which shuns extremes. Under NEWTON’S -care the child remained, in spite of an obliging offer from Pope CLEMENT -THE EIGHTH to have him educated at Rome under the papal eye. - -At the death of ELIZABETH, and after receiving the news of his own -proclamation as her successor, the delighted father wrote to his -son—then just entering on his tenth year—a letter which depicts its -writer in a way as lifelike as does the warrant addressed to MAR. -[Sidenote: JAMES’ LETTER TO PRINCE HENRY ON THE ACCESSION TO THE ENGLISH -CROWN.] I quote it, literally, from the hurriedly-written original, as -it now lies before me: ‘My Sonne, That I see you not before my pairting, -impute it to this greate occasion, quhairin tyme is so precious. But -_that_ I[25] shall, by Goddes grace, shortlie be recompenced by your -cumming to me shortlie, and continuall residence with me ever after. -Lett not this news make you proude or insolent. For a Kings sonne and -heire was ye before, and na maire are ye yett. The augmentation that is -heirby lyke to fall unto you is but in caires and heavie burthens. Be -therefore merrie, but not insolent. Keepe a greatness, but _sine fastu_. -Be resolute, but not willfull. Keeye your kyndness, but in honorable -sorte. Choose none to be your play fellowis but thaime that are -well-borne. And above all things, give never good countenance to any but -according as ye shall be informed that thay are in estimation with me. -Looke upon all Englishmen that shall cum to visit you as among youre -loving subjects; not with that ceremonie as towardis straingers, and -yett with such hartines as at this tyme they deserve.’ And so forth. -For, notwithstanding the King’s haste to set out on his journey, his pen -ran on. But all his advice is in one strain. The variations are for -ornament. In me, he says (only not so briefly), you see a model king. -Mould yourself after that pattern, and you will be a model prince. ‘I -send you my booke,’ he adds—referring to Βασιλικον δωρον— ... ‘ye must -level everie mannis opinions or advices unto you, as ye finde thaime -agree or discorde with the rules thaire sett down.’ Near as they -commonly were in person, in the after years, JAMES still found occasion -to write to HENRY a good many letters. This one theme runs through them -all. But no amount of hortatory discourse could hinder the new metal -from overrunning the worn and antiquated mould. - -[Sidenote: PRINCE HENRY IN ENGLAND.] - -Prince HENRY came into England in the June of 1603. He was invested with -the Garter on the 2nd of July at Windsor. Sir Thomas CHALONER (son of -ELIZABETH’S well-known ambassador to the Emperor) succeeded MAR in the -office of Governor. He was a man of many accomplishments, and had a -strong bias for some of the physical sciences. But it does not seem that -he possessed that force of character which in the elder Sir Thomas -CHALONER was a conspicuous quality. - -From a very early age, HENRY showed that in him were combined in happy -proportions a strong relish for the pleasures of literature with a -relish not less keen for the pursuits and employments of an active and -out-of-doors life. He could enjoy books thoroughly, without being -absorbed by them. He had a manly delight in field sports, without -falling under the temptation to become a slave to his pastime. If in -anything his enjoyments tended to excess, as he grew towards maturity, -it was seen in his devotion to warlike exercises. So that even the -excess testified to that real manliness of spirit which keeps the body -in subjection, instead of pampering its pleasures and its aptitudes. He -seems to have learnt, unusually early in life, that the natural -instincts of youth will have their truest gratification, and will retain -their fullest zest, when made, by deliberate choice, steps towards a -conscious fitness for the duties of manhood. Alike in what we have from -his own pen, and in the testimonies of those who were the closest -observers of his brief career, we see evidence that he had formed a due -estimate of the responsibilities that, to human view, lay close before -him. Of his thoughts about kingship we possess only fragments. Of his -father’s thoughts on that subject we enjoy an exhaustive exposition. The -contrast in the thinking is curiously significant. - -Some of the best known anecdotes of HENRY’S life exhibit the interest he -felt in naval matters. That tendency may, perhaps, have taken its birth -in a London incident of March, 1604. The Earl of NOTTINGHAM, Lord High -Admiral, was then in the flush of Court favour. The Prince had been but -for a few months in England, and his sight-seeing had not, as yet, -included the baptism[26] of a ship. [Sidenote: ORIGIN OF HENRY’S -INTEREST IN NAVAL AFFAIRS.] The Admiral prepared that novelty to please -him. It was at the Tower that the Prince first examined the ‘_Disdain_’ -(15 March, 1604). Whether at the same time he made his first -acquaintance with the most famous inhabitant of the Tower is matter of -mere conjecture. [Sidenote: _Life of Pett_, MS. HARL., vol. 6279 (B. -M.). (Cited by Birch, p. 39.)] RALEGH, at all events, was there[27] on -the day when Phineas PETT moored his new vessel off Tower Wharf, for the -Prince’s delight. Before any long time had passed, RALEGH was busy in -the composition of a _Discourse of a maritimal voyage, and of the -passages and incidents therein_, with a like object. The acquaintance, -however began, was improved with every passing year. Of the many hopes -which came to a sudden end eight years afterwards, few, it is probable, -were more sanguine or more far-reaching than those of the King’s keenly -watched and dreaded prisoner. [Sidenote: HENRY AND RALEGH.] For England, -RALEGH saw in Prince HENRY a wise and brave king to come. For himself, -he saw not only a generous friend, but a man who might be the means of -giving shape and substance to many patriotic schemes with which a brain -that could not be imprisoned had long been teeming. - -There is evidence that on more than one topic of public policy RALEGH’S -counsel made a deep impression on HENRY. One instance of it will be seen -presently. But apart altogether from such positive results as admit of -testimony, their intercourse is memorable. It must have been by virtue -of some congeniality of nature that a youth in HENRY’S position so -quickly leapt—across many obstacles—to an appreciation, alike of the -circumstances and of the character of RALEGH, which still commends -itself to those who have looked into them most searchingly. The estimate -has been many times confirmed by the investigations of history, long -afterwards, but it was strongly opposed to the broad current of -contemporary opinion. A heart larger than the average may have its -divinations, as well as the intellect that is more acute and better -furnished than the average. - -[Sidenote: THE INVESTIGATION INTO THE NAVAL DOCKYARDS.] - -But the generous heart is often allied with a hasty temper. The -impression made on the Prince by RALEGH’S writings on naval matters had, -amongst other results, that of increasing both his interest in the -management of the royal dockyards, and his familiar intercourse with -Phineas PETT. PETT was master shipwright at Chatham, and, as we have -seen, the designer of the prince’s first vessel _Disdain_. [Sidenote: -1608. April. See Chap. ii, pp. 62, 63.] When Sir Robert COTTON had -induced the King to issue that Commission of Inquiry into the Navy, of -the results of which some account has been given in the preceding -Chapter, PETT was one of the persons whose official doings were brought -into question. HENRY took a warm interest in the inquiry and testified -openly his anxiety on PETT’S behalf. A specific charge about an alleged -disproportion between timber paid for and the vessels built therewith -was investigated at Woolwich. Both the King and the Prince were present. -HENRY stood by PETT’S side. [Sidenote: MS. Life of Phineas Pett, in MS. -HARL. 6279 (B. M.) p. 45.] When the evidence was seen to disprove the -charge, the Prince cried with a loud voice—disregarding alike the royal -presence and the forms of law—‘Where be now those perjured fellows that -dare thus abuse His Majesty with false informations? Do they not -worthily deserve hanging?’ - -The warmth of HENRY’S friendship seems to have suffered little -diminution by the absence of its objects. [Sidenote: HENRY’S FOREIGN -CORRESPONDENCE.] When his friends went to far-off countries he -encouraged them to be active correspondents by setting them a good -example. He welcomed all sorts of real and worthy information. About the -government and affairs of foreign countries his curiosity was -insatiable. When important letters came to him he not only read them -with care but made abstracts of their contents. When the labour-loving -Lord Treasurer SALISBURY noticed, with regret, in his son CRANBORNE -certain indications of a turn towards indolence, it was by an appeal to -Prince HENRY’S example that he strove to correct the failing. HENRY -evinced eagerness to learn by all methods. Books, letters, conversation, -personal insight into notable things and new inventions,—were alike -acceptable to him. - -[Sidenote: HIS PURCHASE OF LORD LUMLEY’S LIBRARY.] - -In April, 1609, the death of John, Lord LUMLEY, without issue, enabled -the Prince to gratify his love of books by purchasing a Library which -probably was more valuable than any other collection then existing in -England, with the exception of that of Sir Robert COTTON. - -Thirty years before, Lord LUMLEY had inherited the fine library of his -father-in-law, Henry FITZALAN, Earl of ARUNDEL, who had been a collector -of choice manuscripts at a time when the reckless dispersion of monastic -treasures impoverished the nation, but gave, here and there, golden -opportunities to openhanded private men. When the estates of the -FITZALANS came to LUMLEY—in virtue of an entail made by the Earl of -ARUNDEL during Lady LUMLEY’S lifetime—the splendid succession had lost -its best charm. The wife who had thus enriched him was dead, and he was -childless. His wife’s sister, the Duchess of NORFOLK, was also dead, but -had left a son. [Sidenote: Muniments at Norf. House (Sussex, Box 7), as -cited in Tierney’s _Arundel_, p. 19.] LUMLEY sold his life interest in -the broad lands, and forests, and in the famous castle of Arundel, to -the next heir, but he kept the library and found one of the chief -pleasures of his remaining term of life in liberally augmenting it. -HENRY’S first care, after his purchase, was to have a careful catalogue -made of the collection. And he soon gave evidence that he had bought the -books for use; not for show. [Sidenote: _Privy Purse Book_; in _Domestic -Correspondence_, JAMES I, vol. lvii, § 87, p. 4. (R. H.)] He also made -many important additions, from time to time, during his three years’ -ownership. - -Perhaps the most festive days of that brief span were the sixth of -January, 1610, and the sixth of June of the same year, on both of which -Whitehall again witnessed a gay tournament. [Sidenote: THE TOURNAMENTS -OF 1610.] On twelfth-day, at the head of a band of knights which -included LENNOX, ARUNDEL, SOUTHAMPTON, HAY, Sir Thomas SOMERSET, and Sir -Richard PRESTON, HENRY kept his barriers against fifty-six assailants, -and before a brilliant court, for whose pleasure the long mimic fight -was diversified by the gay devices of Inigo JONES, and the graceful -verses of Ben JONSON. Next day the jousting was followed by a banquet -not less splendid. [Sidenote: _Chronicle of England_, p. 898. _The -Speeches at Prince Henries Barriers_; and _Oberon, a Masque_. (Jonson’s -_Works_, vol. v, pp. 965–974, 1st edit.)] At Whitehall,—as at Stirling -sixteen years before,—the banquetting lasted seven hours, but it was -enlivened by a comedy in which the ladies were not condemned to silence. -In the following June, HENRY’S creation as Prince of WALES was -celebrated by tiltings on a more extensive scale, as well as by masques -and dances, and by an elaborate naval battle upon the Thames. But the -prince himself seems to have taken more pleasure in witnessing from time -to time, at Woolwich or at Chatham, the launching of real ships fitted -for real warfare. Nor are indications wanting that during his ponderings -on the many advices which he received of the course of public events in -Europe, he had occasional presentiments that a crisis was drawing near -which would make the adoption of a warlike policy to be alike the duty -of the King, and the recognized interest of the nation. - -Be that as it may, the broad contrasts of character which existed -between the wearer of the crown and its heir apparent became -increasingly obvious during the long negotiations and correspondence -about the projects of marriage for the prince himself and for his -sister. [Sidenote: THE PROJECTS FOR ROYAL MARRIAGES.] [Sidenote: -1611–1612.] Something, indeed, of the difference in character between -JAMES and HENRY was indicated when, in 1611, the prince directed RALEGH -to draw up, in his prison, a paper of advice on the scheme of a double -marriage with Savoy and on the relations between Savoy and Spain. It -came out more forcibly when, on occasion of the proposal from France for -his own marriage with CHRISTINA (the elder sister of HENRIETTA MARIA), -he wrote to his father in these words: ‘The cause which first induced -your Majesty to proceed in this proposition by your Ambassador was the -hope which the Duke of BOUILLON gave your Majesty of breaking their -other match with Spain. If the continuance of this treaty hold only upon -that hope, and not upon any desire to effect a match with the second -daughter, in my weak opinion I hold that it stands more with your -Majesty’s honour to stay your Ambassador from moving it any more than to -go on with it. Because no great negotiation should be grounded upon a -ground that is very unsure and uncertain, and depends upon their wills -who were the first causers of the contrary.’ For this letter the Prince -was rebuked. Two months afterwards, it was found indispensable to desire -him to express again his opinion upon a new stage of the negotiation. He -did so in words to which the events of the next few years were destined -to give significance. I quote from the original letter, preserved (with -a large mass of other letters from the same hand) amongst the Harleian -MSS.[28] - -‘As for the exercise of the princess’ religion,’ wrote HENRY, on the 5th -of October, 1612, ‘your Majesty may be pleased to make your Ambassador -give a peremptory answer that you will never agree to give her greater -liberty in the exercise of it than that which is agreed with the -Savoyeard, which is—to use his own word—_privatemente_; or, as Sir Henry -WOTTON did expound it, “in her most private and secret chamber.”’ Then -he touches on the delicate question of dowry, and the relative -preferability of the alliance proffered by France and that proffered by -Savoy; adding,—with an obvious mental reference, I think, to the advice -given him by RALEGH in the preceding year,—these pregnant words: ‘If -your Majesty will respect rather which of these two will give the -greatest contentment to the general body of the Protestants abroad, then -I am of opinion that you will sooner incline to France than to Savoy.’ - -[Sidenote: 1612. Oct. 5. Henry to James; MS. HARL., 6986, f. 180.] - -The writer then hints a fear that he may, unwittingly, have incurred a -renewal of the paternal displeasure which some expressions of opinion in -his former letter on the same subject had excited. Let his father kindly -remember, he entreats, that his own special part in the business,—‘which -is to be in love with any of them, is not yet at hand.’ - - -Death, not love-making, was at hand. One month afterwards, the arm that -penned this letter was stretched out,—still and rigid. - -The Prince was seized with sudden illness on the 10th of October, five -days after its date. [Sidenote: DEATH. 1612. November.] The first -appearances were such as are wont to follow upon a great chill, after -excessive exercise—to which HENRY was always prone. In spite of much -pain and some alarming symptoms, he persisted in removing from Richmond -to St. James’ on the 16th, in order to receive the Elector Palatine, -soon to become the husband of his sister. Within very few days it was -apparent that his illness was of the most serious nature. He left his -apartment at St. James’ on the morning of the 25th, to hear a sermon at -the Chapel Royal. The text was from the fourteenth of Job, ‘_Man, that -is born of a woman, is of short continuance_.’ Afterwards he dined with -the King, but was obliged to take his leave, being seized with faintness -and shivering fits. These continued to recur, at brief intervals, until -his death, on the evening of the sixth of November. Almost the only -snatch of quiet sleep which he could obtain followed upon the -administration of a cordial, prepared for him in the Tower by RALEGH, at -the Queen’s earnest request. It was not given until the morning of the -last day. - -HENRY died calmly, but under total exhaustion. For many hours before his -death he was unconscious, as well as speechless. The last words to which -he responded were those of Archbishop ABBOT:—‘In sign of your faith and -hope in the blessed Resurrection, give us, for our comfort, a sign by -the lifting up of your hands.’ HENRY raised both hands, clasped -together. It was his last conscious act. - - -Here, to human ken, was a life all seed-time. The harvest belonged to -the things unseen. Contemporaries who had treasured up, in memory, many -of those small matters which serve to mark character, were wont -sometimes to draw contrasts between the prince and his brother. And many -have been the speculations—natural though unfruitful—as to the altered -course of English history, had HENRY lived to ascend the throne. One -fact, observable in the correspondence and documentary history of the -times, will always retain a certain interest. Some of those who were to -rank among the staunchest opponents of CHARLES were men who thought -highly of HENRY’S abilities to rule, and who held his memory in -affectionate reverence. - -[Sidenote: DISPOSAL OF THE PRINCE’S LIBRARY.] - -HENRY had died intestate. The library which he had purchased from the -Executors of Lord LUMLEY fell to the disposal of the King. The greater -part of it went to augment the remains of the old royal library of -England, portions of which had been scattered during JAMES’ reign, as -well as before it. By that disposal of a collection, in which the prince -had taken not a little delight during his brief possession, he became -virtually, and in the event, a co-founder of the British Museum. - -[Sidenote: UNION OF THE ST. JAMES’ AND WHITEHALL LIBRARIES.] - -The library remained at St. James’ under the charge, for a time, of the -prince’s librarian, Edward WRIGHT. The relics of the royal collection at -Whitehall were then in the keeping of the eminent scholar and -theologian, Patrick YOUNG. Eventually they too were brought to St. -James’, and YOUNG took the entire charge. It was by his exertions that -the combined collection was augmented by a valuable part of the library -of Isaac CASAUBON. [Sidenote: Roe, _Negotiations_, pp. 335; 618.] It was -to his hands that Sir Thomas ROE delivered the ‘Alexandrian Manuscript’ -of the Greek Bible, the precious gift to King CHARLES of Cyril LUCAR, -Patriarch of Constantinople. - -YOUNG survived until 1652, but he was deprived of his office in 1648. In -that turbulent time the library narrowly escaped two perils. Some of the -soldiers of the triumphant party sought to disperse it, piecemeal, for -their individual profit. Some of the leaders of that party formed a -scheme to export it to the Continent for a like purpose. It stands to -the credit of a somewhat fanatical partisan—Hugh PETERS, one of the many -men who are doomed to play in history the part of scapegoats, whatever -their own sins may have really been—that his hasty assumption of -librarianship (1648) saved the library from the first danger. [Sidenote: -Comp. _Order-Book of Council of State_, vol. v, p. 454, and vol. xxiv, -p. 604. (R. H.)] A like act on the part of Bulstrode WHITELOCKE, in the -following year (July, 1649), saved it from the second. Probably, it was -at his instance that the Council of State made or designed to make it a -Public Library. [Sidenote: WHITELOCKE’S _Embassy to Sweden_, vol. i, p. -273. (Reeve’s edit.)] Four years afterwards, WHITELOCKE held at -Stockholm a curious conversation with Queen Christina about its -manuscript treasures, of some of which, he tells us, she was anxious to -possess transcripts. - -Under the Commonwealth, the librarianship had been combined, first with -the keepership of the Great Seal, and then with an Embassy to Sweden. -Under the Restoration, it was held in plurality with an active -commission in the Royal Navy. [Sidenote: ACQUISITION OF THE THEYER -LIBRARY.] CHARLES II, however, caused some valuable additions to be made -to the library. Of these the most important was the manuscript -collection which had belonged, successively, to John and Charles THEYER. -The sum given was £560. The collection came to St. James’ Palace in -1678. It was rich in historical manuscripts and in the curiosities of -mediæval science. It embraced many of the treasured book-possessions of -a long line of Abbots and Priors of Llanthony,[29] and the -common-place-books of Archbishop CRANMER. - -At CHARLES THE SECOND’S death the number of works in the royal -collection had increased to more than ten thousand. No doubt, in that -reign, the books could have brought against their owner the pithy -complaint to which PETRARCH gave expression, on behalf of some of their -fellows, at an earlier day: ‘Thou hast many books tied in chains which, -if they could break away and speak, would bring _thee_ to the judgment -of a private prison.... [Sidenote: Petrarch, _De remediis utriusque -fortunæ_.] They would weep to think that one man—ostentatious of a -possession for which he hath no use—should own a host of those precious -things that many a passionate student doth wholly lack.’ - -No true lover of books, for their own sake, indeed, was ever to possess -that rich collection, until it passed into the ownership of the nation. -Its entail, so to speak, as a heirloom of the Crown, was cut off, just -as it was about to pass into the hands of the one English King who -alone, of all the Monarchs since CHARLES THE FIRST, cared about books. -That it should pass to the Nation had been proposed by Richard BENTLEY, -when himself royal librarian, sixty years before the proposal became a -fact. ‘’Tis easy to foresee,’ said BENTLEY, ‘how much the glory of our -Nation will be advanced by erecting a Free Library of all sorts of -books.’ In his day, he saw no way to such an establishment, otherwise -than by transfer of the royal collection. - -There is a reasonable, perhaps it might be said a strong, probability -that when BENTLEY gave expression to this wish, at the close of the -seventeenth century, he was unconsciously reviving one among many -projects for the public good which had been temporarily buried in the -grave of Prince HENRY. For under the Commonwealth, the Library at St. -James’ had been ‘Public’ rather in name than in fact. - -[Sidenote: THE ULTIMATE INCORPORATION OF THE ROYAL LIBRARY WITH THE - COLLECTIONS OF SLOANE AND OF COTTON.] - -When the time came, the number of volumes of the Royal Collection which -remained to be incorporated with the Museum of SLOANE and with the -Library of Sir Robert COTTON was somewhat more than twelve thousand. The -number of separate works—printed and manuscript together—probably -exceeded fifteen thousand. - -Amongst the acquisitions so gained by the nation the first place of -honour belongs to the _Codex Alexandrinus_. It stands, by the common -consent of biblical palæographers, in a class of manuscripts of the Holy -Scriptures into which only two or three other codices in the world can -claim to be admitted. Of early English chronicles there is a long series -which to their intrinsic interest as primary materials of our history -add the ancillary interest of having been transcribed—sometimes of -having been composed—expressly for presentation to the reigning Monarch. -Here also, among a host of other literary curiosities, is the group of -romances which John TALBOT, Earl of Shrewsbury, caused to be compiled -for MARGARET of Anjou; and the autograph _Basilicon_, written for Prince -HENRY. Among the innumerable printed treasures are choice books which -accrued as presentation copies to the sovereigns of the House of TUDOR, -beginning with a superb series of illuminated books on vellum, from the -press of Anthony VERARD of Paris, given to HENRY THE SEVENTH. For large -as had been the losses sustained by the original royal library, and -truly as it may be said that Prince HENRY’S acquisitions amounted -virtually to its re-foundation, many of the finest books of long -anterior date had survived their varied perils. And some others have -rejoined, from time to time, their old companions, after long absence. - -The royal collection has also an adventitious interest—in addition to -the main one—from another point of view. It includes results of the -strong-handed confiscations of our kings, as well as of the purchases -they made, and the gifts they received. Both the royal manuscripts and -the royal printed books contain many memorials of careers in which our -poets no less than our historians have found, and are likely to find, an -undying charm. - - - - - CHAPTER IV. - THE COLLECTOR OF THE ARUNDELIAN MSS. - - ‘The English nobles are high-spirited, active, educated men, born to - wealth and power, who have run through every country and have kept, - in every country, the best company; have seen every secret of art - and nature; and—when men of any ability or ambition—have been - consulted in the conduct of every important action. You cannot wield - great agencies without lending yourself to them. When it happens - that the spirit of the Earl meets his rank and his duties, we have - the best examples.... These are the men who make England that - strong-box and Museum it is; who gather and protect works of art, - dragged from amidst burning cities and revolutionary countries, and - brought hither, out of all the world.... When I saw that, besides - deer and pheasants, these men have preserved ARUNDEL MARBLES, - TOWNLEY GALLERIES, HOWARD and SPENCER LIBRARIES, WARWICK AND - PORTLAND VASES, SAXON MANUSCRIPTS, MONASTIC ARCHITECTURES, AND - MILLENIAL TREES, I pardoned their high park-fences.’— - - R. W. EMERSON, (_English Traits_, § xi). - - _Political Exile and Foreign Travel under Elizabeth, and under - James.—Life of Thomas_ HOWARD, _Earl of Arundel_.—_The - Consolations of Connoisseurship.—Vicissitudes of the Arundel - Museum.—The gifts of Henry_ HOWARD _to the Royal Society_. - - -[Sidenote: BOOK 1, Chap. IV. THE COLLECTOR OF THE ARUNDELIAN MSS.] - -The Collector of the Arundel Marbles and Founder of the Arundel Library -was the great-grandson of that twenty-first Earl of ARUNDEL (Henry -FITZALAN) by whom had been collected the choicest portion of the library -which passed, in 1609, from the possession of John, Lord LUMLEY, to that -of HENRY, Prince of Wales. [Sidenote: chap. iii, p. 162] That Earl had -profited by the opportunities which the dissolution of the monasteries -presented so abundantly to collectors at home. The new Earl profited, in -his turn, by larger and far more varied opportunities, offered to him -during a long course of travel abroad. For himself, his travels ripened -and expanded a somewhat crude and irregular education. He attained, at -length, and in a much greater degree (as it seems) than any of his -contemporaries, to that liberal culture which enabled him to appreciate, -and to teach his countrymen to appreciate, the arts from which Greece -and Italy had derived so much of their glory; whilst in England those -arts had, as yet, done very little either to enhance the enjoyments and -consolations of human life, or to call into action powers and aptitudes -which had long lain dormant. It is not claiming too much for the Earl of -ARUNDEL to say that of whatever, upon a fair estimate, England may be -thought to owe to its successful cultivation of the Arts of Design, he -was the first conspicuous promoter. Nor is his rank as a pioneer in the -encouragement of the systematic study of archæology—a study so fruitful -of far-reaching result—less eminent. - -[Sidenote: FOREIGN TRAVEL, UNDER TUDORS AND STUARTS.] - -He may also be regarded as setting, by the course he took with his own -children, the fashion of foreign travel, as a necessary complement of -the education of men of rank and social position. The example became -very influential, and in a sphere far broader than the artistic one. -Under ELIZABETH, the Englishmen best known on the Continent had been -political exiles. Most of them were men self-banished. Many of them -passed their lives in defaming and plotting against the country they had -left. The jealous restrictions upon the liberty of travel imposed by the -Government rarely kept at home the men of mischief, but were probably -much more successful in confining men whose free movements would have -been fruitful in good alike to the countries they visited and to their -own. The altered circumstances which ensued upon the accession of JAMES -notoriously gave facilities to wider Continental intercourse; and it was -by men who followed very much in Lord ARUNDEL’S track that some of the -best social results of that intercourse were won. - - -Thomas HOWARD, Earl of Arundel, Surrey, and Norfolk, was twentieth in -lineal descent from that William de ALBINI who, in the year 1139, had -acquired the Castle and Earldom of Arundel by virtue of his marriage -with the widow of King HENRY THE FIRST. He was born at Finchingfield, in -Essex, in 1585,—a date which nearly marks the period of lowest -depression in the strangely varied fortunes of an illustrious family. -[Sidenote: Thomas, D. of Norfolk to his son Philip, &c., MS. Harl., -787.] Philip, Earl of ARUNDEL, the father of Earl Thomas, was already in -the Tower, and was experiencing, in great bitterness, the truth of words -written to him by his own father, when in like circumstances:—‘Look into -all Chronicles, and you shall find that, in the end, high degree brings -heaps of cares, toils in the State, and most commonly (in the end) utter -overthrow.’ Before Thomas HOWARD had reached his fifth year his -mother—co-heiress of the ‘DACRES of the North’—had to write to the Lord -Treasury BURGHLEY: ‘Extremytye inforceth me to crave succour,’ and to -illustrate her assertion by a detail of miseries. - -The hopes with which the STUART accession was naturally anticipated by -all the HOWARDS, were by some of them more than realized, but the heir -of Arundel was not of that number. He was, indeed, restored in blood to -such honours as his father, Earl Philip, had enjoyed, and also to the -baronies forfeited by his grandfather, Thomas, Duke of NORFOLK, in 1572. -But the dignities were restored without the lands. His nearest relations -profited by their influence at Court to obtain grants of his chief -ancestral estates. The Earls of NOTTINGHAM, NORTHAMPTON,[30] and SUFFOLK -had each of them a share in the spoil;—salving their consciences, -probably, by the reflection that, despite his poverty, their young -kinsman had made a great marriage. For his alliance, in 1606, with Lady -Aletheia TALBOT, daughter and co-heir of Gilbert, Earl of SHREWSBURY, -had already brought to him considerable means in hand, and a vast estate -in prospect. The marriage, in higher respects, was also a happy one. But -a natural and eager desire to recover what his father had forfeited cast -much anxiety over years otherwise felicitous. He could not regain even -Arundel House in London, until he had paid £4000 for it to the Earl of -NOTTINGHAM. - -[Sidenote: ARUNDEL AT COURT.] - -Lord ARUNDEL made his first appearance at Court in 1605. In May, 1611, -he was created a Knight of the Garter. Thirteen years of JAMES’ reign -had passed before the Earl was admitted to the Privy Council. This -honour was conferred upon him in July, 1616. Five years more were to -pass before his restoration to his hereditary office of Earl Marshal of -England, although he had been made one of six Commissioners for the -discharge of its duties in October, 1616. The baton was at length (29th -August, 1621) delivered to him at THEOBALDS. [Sidenote: _Domestic -Corresp._, James I, 1621, 21 July. (R. H.)] ‘The King,’ wrote John -CHAMBERLAIN to Sir Dudley CARLETON, when communicating the news, ‘would -have given him £2000 a year pension withal, but—whatsoever the reason -was—he would accept but the ordinary fee, which is twenty pounds per -annum.’ It is plain, however, that this assertion was an error. -According to the ancient constitution of the Earl Marshal’s office there -were certain fees accruing from it which were now, under new -regulations, to cease. The question arose, Shall the Earl Marshal be -compensated by pension, or (according to a pernicious fashion of the -age) by the grant, or lease, of a customs duty upon some largely vended -commodity? [Sidenote: Minutes of Correspondence in Sec. Conway’s Letter -Book; (R. H.) and Council Books (C. O.).] The ‘impost of currants’ was -eventually fixed upon. But the Earl had subsequent occasion to adduce -evidence before a Committee of the Privy Council, that the rent paid to -the King sometimes exceeded the aggregate duty collected from the -merchants.[31] - -There is some uncertainty as to the date of the earliest of Lord -ARUNDEL’S many visits to the Continent. According to Sir Edward WALKER, -he was in Italy in 1609. But that statement is open to doubt. There is -proof that in 1612 he passed some time in Florence and in Siena. With -Siena, as a place of residence, he was especially delighted. Of the -foundation of his collections—to which his Italian journeys largely -contributed—there are no distinct records until the following year. - -[Sidenote: Arundel to Rochester, MS. Cott. Titus, B. vii, f. 463.] - -The tour of 1613, followed immediately upon the marriage of the Princess -ELIZABETH with FREDERICK, Count Palatine of the Rhine. The royal pair -were escorted into Germany by both Lord and Lady ARUNDEL, who soon left -the Rhine country on a new visit to Italy, and remained there until -nearly the close of 1614. [Sidenote: BEGINNINGS OF THE ARUNDELIAN -COLLECTIONS.] During that long residence the Earl established a wide -intercourse with the most distinguished artists and archæologists of -Italy, and made extensive purchases. The fame of his princely tastes was -spread abroad. It soon became notorious that by this open-handed -collector marbles, vases, coins, gems, manuscripts, pictures, were -received with equal welcome. And from this time onwards many passages -occur in his correspondence which indicate the keen and minute interest -he took in the researches of the agents who, in various parts of the -Continent, were busy on his behalf. The pursuit did not lack the special -zest of home rivalry, as will be seen hereafter. - - -Not the least singular incident in the early part of Lord ARUNDEL’S life -was his commitment to the Tower, at a moment when his favour with King -JAMES was at its height. - -[Sidenote: 1621, May.] - -[Sidenote: THE QUARREL BETWEEN LORDS ARUNDEL AND SPENCER.] - -In one of the many impassioned parliamentary debates which occurred -during the session of 1621 an allusion was made by Lord SPENCER to the -unhappy fate of two famous ancestors of the Earl of ARUNDEL, and it was -made in a way which induced the Earl to utter an unwise and unjust -retort. The matter immediately under discussion was a very small one, -but it had grown out of the exciting question of monopolies, and it was -mixed up with the yet more exciting question of the overweening powers -entrusted by the King to BUCKINGHAM. In the course of an examination at -the bar of the House of Lords about the grant of a patent for licensing -inns, Sir Henry YELVERTON had made a furious attack upon the Duke. The -attack was still more an insult to the House, than to the King’s -favourite, and it had been repeated. It was proposed, on a subsequent -day, to call YELVERTON to the bar for the third time, in order to see if -he would then offer the apology which before he had refused. ARUNDEL -opposed the motion. ‘We have his words; we need hear no more,’ he said. -Lord SPENCER rose to answer: ‘I remember that two of the Earl’s -ancestors—the Earl of SURREY, and the Duke of NORFOLK, were unjustly -condemned to death, without being heard.’ The implied parallel was a -silly one, but its weakness and irrelevancy did not restrain ARUNDEL’S -anger. ‘My Lords,’ said he, ‘I do acknowledge that my ancestors have -suffered. It may be for doing the king and the country good service; and -at such time, perhaps, as when the ancestors of the Lord that spake last -kept sheep.’ The speaker failed to see that by using such words he had -committed exactly the same offence as that for which he had, but a -moment before, censured the late Attorney-General, and had moved the -House to punish him. On all sides, he was advised to apologise. He -resisted all entreaty. When committed to the Tower, he still refused -submission. Both the King and the Prince of Wales had to intercede for -him with the House before he could regain his liberty. - - -With rare exception, the public incidents of LORD ARUNDEL’S life during -the remainder of the reign of JAMES are such as offer little interest, -save as illustrations of character. In that respect, many of them -testify to the failing which appears so strikingly in the story of the -quarrel with Lord SPENCER. Some noble qualities lost part of their real -lustre when pride was so plainly seen in their company. All that was -best in Lord ARUNDEL revolted at the grossness of the Stuart court. He -often increased his own disgust by contrasting what he saw at Whitehall -with the memories of his youth. His office of Earl Marshal precluded him -from very long absences. Sometimes, when forced to mingle with courtiers -for whose society he had little liking, he rebuked their want of dignity -by exaggerating his own dignity into haughtiness. Against failings of -this kind we have to set many merits, and amongst them a merit eminently -rare in that age. ARUNDEL was free from covetousness—save in that -special sense in which covetousness, it may be feared, cleaves to all -‘collectorship.’ - -[Sidenote: ADVENTURE OF LADY ARUNDEL AT VENICE.] - -In 1622 some anxiety was occasioned to Lord ARUNDEL by a singular -adventure which befell his wife during her residence in the Venetian -territory, whither (in the course of a long Italian tour) she had gone -to watch over the education of their sons; little anticipating, it may -well be supposed, that her name and that of Lord ARUNDEL, would be made -to figure in Venetian records in connection with the strange story of -the conspirator Antonio FOSCARINI. - -After making some stay in Venice, Lady ARUNDEL had taken a villa on the -Brenta, about ten miles from the City. - -In April, 1622, she was on her way from this villa to the Mocenigo -Palace, her residence in Venice, when she was met by the Secretary of -Sir Henry WOTTON, English ambassador to the Republic. The secretary said -that he was sent by the ambassador to inform her that the Venetian -Senate had resolved to command her ladyship to leave their city and -territory within a few days, on the ground of a discovery that FOSCARINI -had carried on some of his traitorous intrigues with foreign -ministers—and more especially with those of the Pope and Emperor—at her -house. [Sidenote: 1622, April.] To this the messenger added, that it was -Sir Henry WOTTON’S most earnest advice that Lady ARUNDEL should not -return to Venice, but should remain at Dolo, until she heard from him -again. Having listened to this strange communication in private, she -desired the secretary to repeat it in the presence of some of the -persons who attended her. Then she hastened to the ambassador’s house at -Venice. Her interview with WOTTON is thus, in substance, narrated by -Lord ARUNDEL, when telling the story to his friend the Earl of CARLISLE, -then ambassador to the Court of France. - -‘Lady ARUNDEL went immediately to my Lord Ambassador [WOTTON], telling -him she came to hear from his own mouth what she had heard from his -servant’s.’ When Sir Henry had repeated the statement of his secretary, -the Lady asked him how long the accusation and the resolution of the -Senate had been known to him. He replied that reports of the alleged -intercourse with FOSCARINI had reached him some fifteen days before, or -more; but that of the resolution of the Senate he had heard only on that -morning. ‘She asked him why he did never let her understand of the -report all that time? He said because she spake not to him of it.’ To -Lady ARUNDEL’S pithy rejoinder that it would have been hard for her to -speak of a matter of which she had never heard the least rumour until -that day, and to her further protestation that she had not even seen -FOSCARINI since the time of his visit to England, some years earlier, -Sir Henry replied, ‘I believe there was no such matter;’ but he refused -to disclose the name of the person who had first spoken to him of the -accusation. To his renewed advice that her ladyship should not stir -farther in the matter, she declined to accede. [Sidenote: MS. ADDIT., -4176, § 156. (B. M.)] It concerned her honour, and her husband’s honour, -she said, to have public conference with the Doge and Council without -delay. From carrying out this resolve the ambassador found it impossible -to dissuade her. - -That conference took place on the following day with the remarkable -result of a public declaration by the Doge that no mention had ever been -made of Lady ARUNDEL’S name, or of the name of any person nearly or -remotely connected with her, either at any stage of the proceedings -against FOSCARINI, or in any of the discussions which had arisen out of -his conspiracy. - -When the audience given to Lady ARUNDEL by the Doge had been made the -subject of a communication to the Senate, that body instructed the -Venetian Ambassador in England to confer with Lord ARUNDEL. [Sidenote: -_Deliberations of the Senate of Venice_; printed by Hardy, in _Report on -Venetian Archives_, pp. 78–84 (1866).] ‘You are,’ said they, ‘to speak -to the Earl Marshal in such strong and earnest language that he may -retain no doubt of the invalidity of the report, and may remain -perfectly convinced of the esteem and cordial affection entertained -towards him by the Republic; augmented as such feelings are by the open -and dignified mode of life led here by the Countess, and in which she -hastens the education of her sons in the sciences to make them—as they -will become—faithful imitators of their meritorious father and their -ancestors.’ - -Sir Henry WOTTON’S motive in the strange part taken by him in this -incident is nowhere disclosed. He had to listen to several indirect -reproofs, both from the Doge and from the Senate, which were none the -less incisive on account of the courtly language in which they were -couched. - -Two years afterwards, the Earl was himself hastily summoned to the -Continent to attend the death-bed of his eldest son, James, Lord -MALTRAVERS, who is described by a contemporary writer as a ‘gentleman of -rare wit and extraordinary expectation.’ [Sidenote: DEATH OF ARUNDEL’S -ELDEST SON.] The Countess and her two elder sons, James and Henry, were -then returning from Italy to England. [Sidenote: _Royal license to -travel_, July, 1624.] They passed through Belgium in order to visit the -Queen of BOHEMIA. Whilst at Ghent, upon the journey, Lord MALTRAVERS was -seized with the smallpox. He died in that city in July, 1624. The -affliction was acutely felt. [Sidenote: _Domestic Corresp._ James I, -vol. cxlix, § 67; vol. clii, § 55.] ‘My sorrow makes me incapable of -this world’s affairs,’ wrote the Earl to one of his political -correspondents, in the autumn of the year. To the outer world, reserved -manners and a stately demeanour often gave a very false impression of -the man himself. Throughout his life, ARUNDEL’S affectionate nature was -so evinced in his deeds, and in his domestic intercourse, as to stand in -little need of illustration from his words. Mainly, as it seems, to this -characteristic quality he was soon to owe a second imprisonment in the -Tower of London. - -[Sidenote: THE STUART MARRIAGE AND ITS RESULTS.] - -The new Lord MALTRAVERS shortly after his return to England fell in love -with the Lady Elizabeth STUART, daughter of Esme, Duke of LENNOX. -ARUNDEL had formed other wishes and plans for the son who was now his -heir, and there is evidence that he was reluctant to give his consent to -the prosecution of the suit. Nor did the kinship of the prospective -bride with King CHARLES appear to him, it seems, at all an inviting -circumstance in the matter. So long as BUCKINGHAM stood at the helm of -affairs ARUNDEL was likely to have a very small share in the new king’s -affections, so that pride and policy as well as inclination stood in the -way of his approval. He knew also that it was CHARLES’ eager wish that -his kinswoman should marry Lord LORNE, the eldest son of the Earl of -ARGYLE. But the young lover was ardent, and his entreaties -unintermitting. At length, we are told, he not only wrung from the Earl -the words ‘You may try your fortune with the lady that you seem to love -so well,’ but prevailed upon him to confer paternally on the subject -with the lady’s aunt and guardian, the Duchess of RICHMOND. MALTRAVERS, -meanwhile, had resolved to incur no risk of defeat by waiting for a -royal assent to his marriage. He had long before won his cause with the -lady, but had kept the secret. Two passionate lovers[32] went gravely -through the ceremony of a formal introduction to each other. - -MALTRAVERS then induced her to consent to a private marriage. When Lord -ARUNDEL was informed of the fact he immediately disclosed his knowledge -to the King, and besought pardon for the culprits. But CHARLES’ wrath -was unbounded. He placed the new-married pair under restraint in London. -He committed ARUNDEL himself to the Tower. He commanded Lady ARUNDEL to -remain at Horsley, in Surrey, a seat belonging to the Dowager Countess, -her mother-in-law. - -When Lord ARUNDEL was thus imprisoned Parliament was sitting. The Lords -declared his arrest to be an infringement of their privileges. The King -replied that ‘the Earl of ARUNDEL is restrained for a misdemeanour which -is personal to the King’s Majesty, and has no relation to matters of -Parliament.’ The Lords still insisted that it was the Earl’s -unquestionable right ‘to be admitted to come, sit, and serve in -Parliament.’ CHARLES released ARUNDEL from the Tower, and then confined -him to Horsley. Royal evasion did but provoke increased earnestness and -firmness from the Peers. At length they resolved that they would suspend -public business until the Earl presented himself in his place. -[Sidenote: _Secretary Conway’s Letter Book_, pp. 251 seqq. (R. H.)] -Nearly three months had been spent in debate and altercation before -Secretary CONWAY was directed to write to ARUNDEL in these terms: ‘It is -the King’s pleasure that you come to the Parliament, but not to the -Court.’ - -[Sidenote: _Lords’ Journals_, vol. iii, p. 653, &c.] - -The sequel of the story, as it tells itself in the State Papers, affords -an early and eminent illustration of the qualities in CHARLES THE FIRST -which, as they ripened, brought about his ruin. The King resolved that -his concession should as far as was possible be retracted. Directly the -sitting of Parliament was suspended, the King commanded CONWAY to -apprise the Earl that his restraint to Horsley was renewed, ‘as before -the Earl’s leave to come to Parliament.’ [Sidenote: _Domestic Corresp._, -Charles I, vol. xxxv, p. 16 (R. H.).] ARUNDEL on his part made courtly -and even lavish declarations of submission. ‘I desire to implore the -King’s grace by the humblest and best ways I can.’ This was written in -September, 1626. Whenever it was indispensable that he should obtain -leave to visit the capital a petition had to be prepared. In March, -1627, he writes: ‘The King has limited my stay in London until the 12th -of March. I will obey, but I beg you to represent to His Majesty that I -have necessary business to transact ... and that I have so carried -myself as to shew my desire to give His Majesty no distastes. If now, -after a year has passed, the King will dissolve this cloud, and leave me -to my own liberty, I will hold myself to be most free when living in -such place and manner as may be most to His Majesty’s liking.’ It was -all in vain. Another whole year passes. ARUNDEL has still to write: ‘I -beseech the King to give life to my just desires, and after two years of -heavy disfavour to grant me the happiness to kiss his hands and to -attend him in my place.’ To this humble representation and entreaty it -was replied by Secretary CONWAY: ‘His Majesty’s answer is that the Earl -has not so far appeased the exceptions which the King has taken against -unkindness conceived, as yet to take off his disfavour. [Sidenote: -_Ibid._, vol. lvi, p. 86; vol. xcv, pp. 51, 85, &c. _Conway’s Letter -Book_, pp. 295, &c. (R. H.)] As for the Earl’s proffered duty and -carriage in the King’s service, the King will judge of that as he shall -find occasion.’ - -He found occasion ere long; but not until after BUCKINGHAM’S death. -ARUNDEL rendered useful service, on some conspicuous occasions, both at -home and abroad. If his successive diplomatic missions to Holland in -1632, and to Ratisbon in 1638, on the affairs of the Palatinate, failed -of their main object, it was from no miscarriage of the ambassador. In -the unostentatious labours of the Council Board he took during a long -series of years a very honourable share. And it is much to his honour -that by the men to whom the chief scandals of a disastrous reign are -mainly ascribable, ARUNDEL was, almost uniformly, both disliked and -feared. - -[Sidenote: ARUNDEL AND STRAFFORD.] - -[Sidenote: 1641. March and April.] - -As Lord High Steward of England, ARUNDEL had to preside at the trial of -the Earl of STRAFFORD. He acquitted himself of an arduous task with -eminent ability, and with an impartiality which won respect, alike from -the managers of the impeachment and from the friends of the doomed -statesman. The only person who expressed dissatisfaction with ARUNDEL’S -conduct on that critical occasion was the King. The historians who have -most deeply and acutely scanned the details of that most memorable of -all our State Trials are agreed that in order to have satisfied CHARLES, -the Earl of ARUNDEL must have betrayed the duty of his high office. - -Shortly after the trial of STRAFFORD, it became ARUNDEL’S duty as Earl -Marshal to attend the mother of the queen (MARY of Medicis), on her -return to Holland; and he received the King’s license to remain beyond -the seas during his pleasure. [Sidenote: LATEST EMPLOYMENTS.] He -returned however to England in October of the same year. [Sidenote: -Rushworth, vol. iv, pp. 317, 318.] In the following February, a similar -ceremonial mission was his last official employment. He then conducted -Queen HENRIETTA MARIA on her journey into France, and took his own last -farewell of England. [Sidenote: 1642. February.] It was an unconscious -farewell. [Sidenote: Sir E. Walker, in MS. Harl., as before.] Nor does -his departure appear to have been dictated by any desire to shrink from -sacrifices on behalf of the cause with which—whether rightly or -wrongly—all his personal sympathies, as well as the political views of -his whole life, were bound up. At the hands of the first STUART he had -met with capricious favour, and with enduring injustice. By the second, -during several years, he was treated with marked and causeless -indignity; and then, during several other years, rewarded grudgingly for -zealous service. In exile, his contributions in support of the royal -cause were upon a scale which impoverished both himself and his -family.[33] - -Such a fact is a conclusive proof of magnanimity of spirit, whatever may -be thought of its bearings in regard to political insight. [Sidenote: -COLONIZING EFFORTS OF LORD ARUNDEL.] Opinion is less likely to differ -with respect to exertions of quite another order which occasionally -occupied Lord ARUNDEL’S mind and energies during at least twenty years -of his political life. - -One of the best known incidents in his varied career is also one of its -most honourable incidents. His friendship for RALEGH grew out of a deep -interest in colonization. And the calamitous issue of that famous voyage -to Guiana in 1617 which ARUNDEL had promoted was very far from inducing -him to abandon the earnest advocacy of a resumption, in subsequent -years, of the enterprise which RALEGH had had so much at heart. His -efforts were more than once repeated, but the same influences which -ruined RALEGH foiled the exertions of ARUNDEL and of those who worked -with him. - -[Sidenote: _Grant Book_, James I, pp. 307, seqq. _Domest. Corresp._, - James I, vol. cviii, § 85.] - -He then turned his attention towards the wide field of colonial -enterprise which presented itself in New England. From the autumn of -1620 until the summer of 1635 he, from time to time, actively supported -the endeavours of the ‘Council for the Planting of New England.’ -[Sidenote: _Proclamation Book_, May 15, 1620. (R. H.)] The Minute in -which that Council summed up the causes which induced it, at the date -last-named, to resign its charter is an instructive one. [Sidenote: -SURRENDER OF THE NEW ENGLAND CHARTER.] It expresses, in few words, the -views of Lord ARUNDEL and of his ablest fellows at the board:—‘We have -found,’ say the Councillors, in their final Minute, ‘that our endeavours -to advance the plantation of New England have been attended with -frequent troubles and great disappointments. We have been deprived of -near friends and faithful servants employed in that work. We have been -assaulted with sharp litigious questions before the Privy Council by the -Virginia Company, who had complained to Parliament that our Plantation -was a grievance.’ They proceed to say that a promising settlement which -had been established, under the governorship of Captain GORGES in -Massachusetts Bay, had been violently broken up by a body of speculative -intruders who, without the knowledge of the Council of New England, had -found means to obtain a royal ‘grant of some three thousand miles of the -sea-coast.’ Finding it by far too great a task, for their means, to -restore what had thus been brought to ruin, ARUNDEL, and his -fellow-councillors were constrained to resign their charter. - -[Sidenote: _Colonial Papers_, vol. viii, § 58. (R. H.)] - -Four years later the Earl formed an elaborate plan for the colonization -of Madagascar. But the events of 1639–40 soon made its effectual -prosecution hopeless. - - -The latest notice we have of the Earl of ARUNDEL, from the hand of any -eminent contemporary, occurs in the Diary of John EVELYN, and is dated -six months before the Earl’s death. [Sidenote: DEATH AT PADUA, 1646.] In -June of the preceding year (1645) EVELYN had paid a visit to Lord -ARUNDEL at his house in Padua, and had then accompanied him to a famous -garden in that city known as the ‘Garden of Mantua.’ [Sidenote: Evelyn, -_Diary_, vol. 1, p. 212.] They had also explored together some ancient -ruins lying near the Palace of Foscari all’ Arena. When EVELYN renewed -his visit in March, 1646, the Earl was no longer able to leave the -house. [Sidenote: _Ibid._, pp. 218, 219.] ‘I took my leave of him,’ says -the diarist, ‘in his bed, where I left that great and excellent man in -tears, on some private discourse of crosses that had befallen his -family, particularly the undutifulness of his grandson, Philip, turning -Dominican friar; and the misery of his country, now embroiled in civil -war. He caused his gentleman to give me directions, written with his own -hand, what curiosities I should inquire after in my journey; and -so—enjoyning me to write sometimes to him—I departed.’ The Earl died at -Padua on the 24th September, 1646, having entered into the sixty-second -year of his age. In compliance with the directions of his Will his -remains were brought to England and buried at Arundel. - - -It remains only to add a few particulars of the character and sources of -the splendid collections which the Earl of ARUNDEL, by the persistent -labours and the lavish expenditure of more than thirty years, had -amassed. The surviving materials for such an account are, however, very -fragmentary. [Sidenote: NOTICES OF THE ARUNDELIAN COLLECTIONS.] Those -which are of chief interest occur in the correspondence which passed -between the Earl and Sir Thomas ROE during the embassy of that eminent -diplomatist to the Ottoman Porte in the years 1626–1628. - -The Earl’s zeal as a collector, and the public attention which his -personal successes in that character during his Italian travels had soon -attracted, naturally excited a like ambition on the part of several of -his contemporaries. Conspicuous in this respect were his brother-in-law -the Earl of PEMBROKE, and his political rival and enemy the Duke of -BUCKINGHAM. ARUNDEL’S success in amassing many fine pictures had, in -like manner, already attracted the attention of Prince CHARLES to that -peculiarly fascinating branch of collectorship. - -[Sidenote: CORRESPONDENCE WITH SIR THOMAS ROE.] - -When Sir Thomas ROE set out for Constantinople he was charged with -commissions to search for antiquities on BUCKINGHAM’S behalf, as well as -on Lord ARUNDEL’S. He was himself a novice in such inquiries. He had to -encounter excessive difficulties from the jealousy, and sometimes the -dishonesty, of the Turkish and other agents whom he was obliged to -employ. Most of them were stubborn in their belief that a search for old -marbles did but mask the pursuit of buried treasure of greater currency. -And to difficulties of this sort was added a standing fear that every -service rendered to the Earl Marshal might be esteemed an offence to the -powerful favourite at Whitehall. - -To an urgent letter which he had received from ARUNDEL just as he was -embarking, Sir Thomas replied, from Constantinople, in January, 1622. ‘I -moved our Consul, Richard MILWARD, at Scio, whom I found prepared and -ready,’ he reports. ‘We conferred about “the Maid of Smirna” which he -cannot yet obteyne, without an especiall command [from the Porte]. I -brought with mee from Messina the Bishop of Andre, one of the islands of -the Arches, a man of good learning and great experience in these parts. -Hee assured mee that the search after old and good authors was utterly -vaine.... The last French ambassador had the last gleanings. Only of -some few he gave mee notice as of an old Tertullian, and a piece of -Chrisostome ... which may be procured to be copied, but not the -originall.... Concerning antiquities in marbles, there are many in -divers parts, but especially at Delphos, unesteemed here, and, I doubt -not, easy to be procured for the charge of digging and fetching, which -must be purposely undertaken. It is supposed that many statues are -buried to secure them from the envy of the Turks, and that, leave -obteyned, [they] would come to light, which I will endeavour as soon as -I am warm here.’ After mentioning that he had already procured some -coins, he adds, with amusing naïveté, ‘I have also a stone, taken out of -the old pallace of Priam in Troy, cutt in horned shape, but because I -neither can tell of what it is, nor hath it any other bewty but only the -antiquity and truth of being a peece of that ruined and famous building, -I will not presume to send it you. [Sidenote: Sir T. Roe to Lord -Arundel, 27 Jan., 1621 [O. S.]; _Negotiations_, p. 16.] Yet I have -delivered it to the same messenger, that your Lordship may see it and -throw it away.’ - -Two years afterwards the ambassador has to tell Lord ARUNDEL a mingled -story of failure and success: ‘The command you required for the Greeke -to be sent into Morea I have sollicitted [of] two viziers, one after the -other, butt they both rejected mee and gave answere, that it was no tyme -to graunt such priviledges. Neare to the port they have not so great -doubt and therefore I have prevailed with another, and [have] sent Mr. -MARKHAM, assisted with a letter from the Caplen Bassa, whose -jurisdiction extends to all the islands and sea-ports.... On Asia side, -about Troy, Zizicum, and all the way to Aleppo, are innumerable pillars, -statues, and tombstones of marble, with inscriptions in Greeke. -[Sidenote: _Ibid._, 10 May, 1623, _Negotiations_, p. 154.] These may be -fetcht at charge, and secrettly; butt yf wee ask leave it cannot be -obteyned; therefore Mr. MARKHAM will use discretion rather then power, -and so the Turks will bring them for their proffitt.’ - -ROE’S report encouraged Lord ARUNDEL to send an agent, named PETTY, on a -special exploring mission into various parts of the Ottoman Empire. The -agent thus selected was eminently fitted for his task, and showed -himself to be a man of untiring industry. Very soon after PETTY’S -arrival at Constantinople, Sir Thomas ROE wrote to the Duke of -BUCKINGHAM an account of his successful researches, and he prefaced it -with an acknowledgement that ‘by conference with Mr. PETTY, sent hither -by my Lord of ARUNDELL, I have somewhat bettered my sckill in such -figures. We have searched all this cyttye,’ he proceeds to say, ‘and -found nothing but upon one gate, called anciently _Porta Aurea_, built -by CONSTANTINE, bewtifyed with two mighty pillars, and upon the sides -and over it, twelve tables of fine marble cutt into historyes,—some of a -very great relevo, sett into the wall with small pillars as supporters. -Most of the figures are equall; some above the life some less. -[Sidenote: Roe to the Duke of Buckingham, 11 May, 1625, _Negotiations_, -pp. 386–7.] They are—in my eye—extremely decayed, but Mr. PETTY doth so -prayse them, as that he hath not seene much better in the great and -costly collections of Italye.... The fower to which I have most -affection ... are both brave and sweete.... The relevo so high that they -are almost statues, and doe but seeme to sticke to the ground.’ - -In October of the same year Sir THOMAS sent an elaborate account to the -Earl of ARUNDEL of the progress made by PETTY, and of his own exertions -to provide him with every possible facility. [Sidenote: THE PROPOSED -PARTITION OF ANCIENT MARBLES BETWEEN ARUNDEL AND BUCKINGHAM.] He told -the Earl of the difficulty of his own position towards the Duke of -BUCKINGHAM, and besought him to admit of an arrangement by which the -product of the joint exertions of ambassador and agent should be divided -between the competitors. PETTY, he reports, ‘hath visited Pergamo, -Samos, Ephesus, and some other places, where he hath made your Lordship -great provisions.... I have given him forceable commands, and letters of -recommendation from the Patriarch. I have bene free and open to him in -whatsoever I knewe, and so I will continue for your Lordship’s command. -But your Lordship knowing that I have received the like from the Duke of -BUCKINGHAM, and engaged my word to doe him service hee might judge it -want of witt, or will, or creditt, if Mr. PETTY, who could doe nothing -but by mee, should take all things before or from mee. Therefore to -avoid all emulation, and that I might stand clear before two so great -and honourable patrons, I thought I had made agreement with him for all -our advantages. Therefore we resolved to take down those sixe mentioned -relevos on _Porta Aurea_, and I proceeded so far as I offered 600 -dollars for four of them, to bee divided between his Grace and your -Lordship by lotts. And if your Lordship liked not the price, Mr. PETTY -had his choice to forsake them. But now, I perceave, he hath entitled -your Lordship to them all by some right that, if I could gett them, it -were an injury to divide them.... But I am sorry wee strive for the -shadowe. Your Lordship may beleeve an honest man, and your servant, I -have tried the bassa,—the capteyne of the Castle,—the overseer of the -Grand Signor’s works,—the soldiours that make that watch,—and none of -them dare meddle. They [the sculptures] stand between two mighty pillars -of marble, on other tables of marble supported with less pillars, uppon -the cheife port of the Citty, the entrance by the Castle called “The -Seaven Towres,” which was never opened since the Greeke Emperour lost -it, but a counterscarfe and another wall built before it.... There is -butt one way left in the world, which I will practice.... [Sidenote: Roe -to Arundel, 30 Oct, 1625; _Negotiations_, pp. 444–446.] If I gett them -not, I will pronounce [that] no man, no ambassadour, shall ever bee able -to doe it;—except, also, the Grand Signor, for want, will sell the -Castle.’ - -Just before the date of this letter PETTY had suffered shipwreck on the -coast of Asia, when returning from Samos. Together with his papers and -personal baggage, he lost the fruits of long and successful researches. -But his inexhaustible energies enabled him to recover what, to the men -about him, seemed to have hopelessly perished. He found means to raise -the buried marbles from the wreck. [Sidenote: _Ibid._, 7 April, 1626, p. -495.] ‘There was never man,’ wrote Sir Thomas ROE, with the frank -admiration of a congenial spirit, ‘so fitted to an employment; that -encounters all accidents with so unwearied patience; eates with Greekes -on their worst dayes; lyes with fishermen on plancks, at the best; is -all thinges to all men, that he may obteyne his ends, which are your -Lordship’s service.’ - -To Dr. GOADE, one of the chaplains of Archbishop ABBOT, Sir Thomas ROE -continued the narrative of PETTY’S zealous researches, and of the -success which attended them. ‘By my means,’ he wrote, ‘Mr. PETTY had -admittance into the best library known of Greece, where are loades of -old manuscripts, and hee used so fine arte, with the helpe of some of my -servants, that hee conveyed away twenty two. I thought I should have had -my share, but hee was for himselfe. Hee is a good chooser; saw all, or -most, and tooke, I thincke, those that were and wilbe of greate esteeme. -Hee speaketh sparingly of such a bootye, but could not conteyne sometyme -to discover with joy his treasure.... I meant to have a review of that -librarye, but hee gave it such a blow under my trust that, since, it -hath been locked up under two keys, whereof one kept by the townsmen -that have interest or oversight of the monastery, so that I could do no -good.... [Sidenote: _Ib._, p. 500.] My hope is to deale with the -Patriarch, and not to trust to myselfe, and to chances.’ - -In November, 1626, Sir Thomas further informed the Duke of BUCKINGHAM -that ‘Mr. PETTY hath raked together two hundred peices [of sculpture], -all broken, or few [of them] entyre.... Hee had this advantage, that hee -went himselfe into all the islands, and tooke all he saw, and is now gon -to Athens.’ [Sidenote: _Ib._, p. 570; comp. pp. 619; 647; 692, and 764.] -In subsequent letters and despatches the diplomatist returns often to -this unofficial branch of his duties, and makes it very apparent that -PETTY’S zeal had, for a time, spoiled the market of the agents who -followed in his track. - -[Sidenote: LORD ARUNDEL’S RESEARCHES IN ITALY.] - -Lord ARUNDEL was not less ably served by the factors and representatives -whom he employed in Italy, in Germany, and in the Netherlands. But the -story is far too long to be told in detail. [Sidenote: MSS. at Norfolk -House; printed, in Tierney’s _Arundel_, p. 489.] Their success in -collecting choice pictures and other works of art was so conspicuous -that when one of them had an interview with RUBENS at Antwerp, to give a -commission from Lord ARUNDEL, the great painter—himself, it will be -remembered, an eminent collector also—said to him: ‘I regard the Earl in -the light of an evangelist to the world of art, and as the great -supporter of our profession.’ In these artistic commissions and -researches William TRUMBULL, Edward NORGATE, Sir John BOROUGH, and Sir -Isaac WAKE, especially distinguished themselves. Their correspondence -with Lord ARUNDEL is spread over a long series of years, and it abounds -with curious illustrations of ‘the world of art,’ as it lived and moved -in the earlier part of the seventeenth century. - -Among those entire collections which the Earl purchased in bulk, two are -more particularly notable—the museum, namely, of Daniel NICE, and the -library of the family of PIRCKHEIMER of Nuremberg. - -NICE’S Museum was especially rich in medals and gems. [Sidenote: Evelyn -to Pepys; _Diary and Corresp._, vol. iii, p. 300.] If EVELYN’S -information about the circumstances of that acquisition was accurate, it -cost the Earl the sum—enormous, at that date—of ten thousand pounds. I -cannot, however, but suspect that into that statement some error of -figures has crept. - -The acquisition of the PIRCKHEIMER Library was made by the Earl himself, -during his diplomatic mission into Germany on the affairs of the -Palatinate. In this collection some of the choicest of the Arundelian -MSS. which now enrich the British Museum were comprised. Its foundation -had been laid more than a hundred and thirty years before the date of -the Earl’s purchase. But part of the library of the first founder had -passed into the possession of the City of Nuremberg. The collection -which Lord ARUNDEL acquired was rich both in classical manuscripts and -in the materials of mediæval history. - -The liberality with which these varied treasures, as they successively -arrived in London, were made accessible to scholars was in harmony with -the open-handedness by means of which they had been amassed. For a few -years Arundel House was itself an anticipatory ‘British Museum.’ Then -came the civil war. But the injury which the ARUNDEL collections -sustained from the insecurity and commotions of a turbulent time is very -insignificant, in comparison with that sustained, after the Restoration, -through the ignorance and the indolence of an unworthy inheritor. - -[Sidenote: THE SUCCESSORS OF LORD ARUNDEL.] - -The immediate heir and successor of Earl Thomas survived his father less -than six years. He died at Arundel House in April, 1652, leaving several -sons, of whom the two eldest, Thomas and Henry, became successively -Earls of Arundel and Dukes of Norfolk. The first of these was restored -to the dukedom in 1660. But the whole of his life, after attaining -manhood, was passed in Italy and under the heavy affliction of impaired -mental faculties, following upon an attack of brain-fever which had -seized him at Padua, in 1645. He never recovered, but died in the city -in which the disease had stricken him, lingering until the year 1677. It -was in consequence of this calamity that the inheritance of a large -portion of the Arundelian collections, and also the possession of -Arundel House in London, passed from Earl Henry-Frederick to his second -son, Henry. - - -We learn from many passages both in the Diary and in the Letters of John -EVELYN that, under the new owner, Arundel House and its contents were so -neglected as, at times, to lie at the mercy of a crowd of rapacious -parasites. In one place he speaks of the mansion as being infested by -‘painters, panders, and misses.’ In another he describes the library as -suffering by repeated depredations. He remonstrated with the owner, and -at length obtained from him a gift of the library for the newly-founded -Royal Society, and a gift of part of the marbles for the University of -Oxford. In his Diary he thus narrates the circumstances under which -these benefactions were made:— - -[Sidenote: GIFT OF THE ARUNDEL LIBRARY TO THE ROYAL SOCIETY;] - -Having mentioned that on the destruction of the meeting-place of the -Royal Society, its members ‘were invited by Mr. HOWARD to sit at Arundel -House in the Strand,’ he proceeds to say that Mr. HOWARD, ‘at my -instigation, likewise bestowed on the Society that noble library which -his grandfather especially, and his ancestors, had collected. This -gentleman had so little inclination to books that it was the -preservation of them from embezzlement.’ [Sidenote: Evelyn, _Diary, -&c._, vol. ii, p. 20.] Elsewhere he says that not a few books had -actually been lost before, by his interference, the bulk of the -collection was thus saved. The gift to the Royal Society was made at the -close of the year 1666. - -[Sidenote: AND THAT OF THE MARBLES TO THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD.] - -In September of the following year this entry occurs in the same -Diary:—‘[I went] to London, on the 19th, with Mr. Henry HOWARD of -Norfolk, of whom I obtained the gift of his Arundelian Marbles,—those -celebrated and famous inscriptions, Greek and Latin, gathered with so -much cost and industry from Greece by his illustrious grandfather the -magnificent Earl of ARUNDEL.... When I saw these precious monuments -miserably neglected, and scattered up and down about the garden and -other parts of Arundel House, and how exceedingly the corrosive air of -London impaired them, I procured him to bestow them on the University of -Oxford. This he was pleased to grant me, and now gave me the key of the -gallery, with leave to mark all those stones, urns, altars, &c., and -whatever I found had inscriptions on them, that were not statues. This I -did, and getting them removed and piled together, with those which were -encrusted in the garden-walls, I sent immediately letters to the -Vice-Chancellor of what I had procured.’ [Sidenote: _Ib._, p. 29. (edit. -1850.)] On the 8th of October he records a visit from the President of -Trinity, ‘to thank me, in the name of the Vice-Chancellor and the whole -University, and to receive my directions what was to be done to show -their gratitude to Mr. HOWARD.’ - -Ten months later, EVELYN records that he was called to London to wait -upon the Duke of NORFOLK. The Duke, he says, ‘having, at my sole -request, bestowed the Arundelian Library on the Royal Society, sent to -me to take charge of the books and remove them.... Many of these books -had been presented by Popes, Cardinals, and great persons, to the Earls -of ARUNDEL and Dukes of NORFOLK; and the late magnificent Earl of -ARUNDEL bought a noble library in Germany which is in this collection. -[Sidenote: _Ib._, pp. 122, 123.] I should not, for the honour I bear the -family, have persuaded the Duke to part with these, had I not seen how -negligent he was of them; suffering the priests and everybody to carry -away and dispose of what they pleased, so that abundance of rare things -are irrecoverably gone.’ - -A curious narrative communicated, almost a century afterwards, to the -Society of Antiquaries, by James THEOBALD, proves that in this respect -the gallery of antiquities—notwithstanding the noble benefaction to -Oxford—was even more unfortunate than the library of books. At the time -when these gifts were obtained for Oxford and for the Royal Society, -another extensive portion of the original collections had already passed -into the possession of William HOWARD, Viscount Stafford, and had been -removed to Stafford House. Lord STAFFORD was a younger son of the -collector, and appears to have received the choice artistic treasures -which long adorned his town residence by the gift of his mother. -[Sidenote: DISPERSION OF PART OF THE ARUNDEL MARBLES.] According to -EVELYN, Lady ARUNDEL also ‘scattered and squandered away innumerable -other rarities, ... whilst my Lord was in Italy.’ But in this instance -he appears to speak by hearsay, rather than from personal knowledge. -TIERNEY, the able and painstaking historian of the family, asserts that -its records contain no proof whatever of the justice of the charge. -[Sidenote: _History of Arundel_, p. 509.] And he traces the origin of -EVELYN’S statement to a passage in one of the letters of Francis JUNIUS, -in which it is said of Lady ARUNDEL that she ‘carried over a vast -treasure of rarities, and convaighed them away out of England.’ Even to -JUNIUS, notwithstanding his connection with the family, the charge may -have come but as a rumour. - -Be that as it may, the subsequent dispersion of many treasures of art -which the Earl had collected with such unwearied pains and lavish -expenditure is unquestionable. - -Lord Henry HOWARD, it has been shown, excepted the ‘statues’ from his -gift to the University. They remained at Arundel House, but so little -care was bestowed upon their preservation that when the same owner -afterwards obtained an Act of Parliament empowering him to build streets -on part of the site of Arundel House and Gardens, many of these statues -were broken by the throwing upon or near them of heaps of rubbish from -the excavations made, in the years 1678 and 1679, for the new buildings. -These broken statues and fragments retained beauty enough to attract -from time to time the admiration of educated eyes when such eyes chanced -to fall upon them. Those which long adorned the seat of the Earls of -POMFRET, at Easton Neston, in Oxfordshire, were purchased by Sir William -FERMOR, and were given to the University of Oxford by one of his -descendants. Others which are, or were, at Fawley Court, near Henley, -were purchased by Mr. FREEMAN. Others, again, were bought by Edmund -WALLER, the poet, for the decoration of Beaconsfield. - -Still more strange was the fate which befell certain other marbles which -Lord Henry (by that time Duke of NORFOLK) caused to be removed from -Arundel House to a piece of waste ground belonging to the manor of -Kennington. These the owner seems to have regarded as little better than -lumber. It is therefore the less surprising that his servants took so -little care of them as to suffer them to be buried, in their turn, -beneath rubbish which had been brought to Kennington from St. Paul’s, -during the rebuilding of that cathedral. By-and-bye, precious marbles, -excavated amidst so many difficulties arising from Turkish barbarism in -Asia Minor, had to be re-excavated in England. Many years after their -second burial, some rumour of the circumstance came to the knowledge of -the Earl of BURLINGTON, and by his efforts and care something was -recovered. But the researches then made were, in some way, interrupted. -They were afterwards resumed by Lord PETRE. [Sidenote: Narrative by -Theobald; printed in ANECDOTES OF HOWARD FAMILY, pp. 101–120.] ‘After -six days’ of excavation and search, says an eye-witness, ‘just as the -workmen were going to give over, they fell upon something which gave -them hopes. Upon further opening the ground they discovered six -statues, ... some of a colossal size, the drapery of which was thought -to be exceeding fine.’ These went eventually to Worksop. - -Some Arundelian marbles were, it is said, converted into rollers for -bowling-greens. The fragments of others lie in or beneath the -foundations of the houses in Norfolk Street and the streets adjacent. - -The Stafford-House portion of the collections—which included pictures, -drawings, vases, medals, and many miscellaneous antiquities of great -curiosity—was sold by auction in 1720. At the prices of that day the -sale produced no less a sum than £8852. - -The Arundelian cabinet of cameos and intaglios, now so famous under the -name of ‘The Marlborough Gems,’ was offered to the Trustees of the -British Museum for sale, at an early period in the history of the -institution. The price asked by the then possessor, the Duchess Dowager -of NORFOLK, was £10,000. But at that time the funds of the nascent -institution were inadequate to the purchase. - - -It affords conspicuous proof of the marvellous success which had -attended Lord ARUNDEL’S researches to find that the remnants, so to -speak, of his collections retain an almost inestimable value, after so -many losses and loppings. They are virtually priceless, even if we leave -out of view all that is now private property. - -When the Arundelian MSS. were transferred, in the years 1831 and 1832, -to the British Museum, their money value—for the purposes of the -exchange as between the Royal Society and the Museum Trustees—was -estimated (according to the historian of the Royal Society) at the sum -of £3559. [Sidenote: Weld, _History of the Royal Society_, vol. ii, pp. -448, 449.] This sum was given by the Trustees, partly in money, and -partly in printed books of which the Museum possessed two or more than -two copies. The whole of the money received by the Royal Society was -expended by its Council in the purchase of other printed books. So that -both Libraries were benefited by the exchange. - -It may deserve remark that a somewhat similar transfer had been -contemplated and discussed during the lifetime of the original donor. -The project, at that period, was to make an exchange between the Royal -Society and the University of Oxford. The University induced EVELYN to -recommend Lord Henry HOWARD to sanction an exchange of such MSS. ‘as -concern the civil law, theology, and other scholastic learning, for -mathematical, philosophical, and such other books as may prove most -useful to the design and institution of the Society.’ [Sidenote: Evelyn -to Howard; 14 March, 1669.] But at that time, after much conference, it -was otherwise determined. - -The heraldical and genealogical books belonging to the original ARUNDEL -Library were given, at the date of the first transfer of the bulk of the -collection to the Royal Society, to the Heralds’ College. They still -form an important part of the College Library, and they include valuable -materials for the history of the family of HOWARD. - - - - - CHAPTER V. - THE COLLECTOR OF THE HARLEIAN MSS. - - ‘A soul supreme, in each hard instance tried, - Above all pain, all passion, and all pride, - The rage of power, the blast of public breath, - The lust of lucre, and the dread of death.— - POPE, _Epistle to Robert, Earl of Oxford, in the Tower_. - - ‘Whether this man ever had any determined view besides that of - raising his family is, I believe, a problematical question in the - world. My opinion is that he never had any other.... Oxford fled - from Court covered with shame, the object of the derision of the - Whigs and of the indignation of the Tories.’—BOLINGBROKE, _Letter to - Sir W. Wyndham_. - - _The_ HARLEY _Family.—Parliamentary and Official Career of Robert_ - HARLEY, _Earl of Oxford.—The Party Conflicts under Queen_ - ANNE.—_Robert_ HARLEY _and Jonathan_ SWIFT.—HARLEY _and the Court - of the Stuarts.—Did_ HARLEY _conspire to restore the - Pretender?—History of the Harleian Library.—The Life and - Correspondence of Humphrey_ WANLEY. - - -[Sidenote: BOOK I, Chap. V. THE COLLECTOR OF THE HARLEIAN MSS.] - -Robert HARLEY was the eldest son of Sir Edward HARLEY, of Brampton -Bryan, in Herefordshire, by his second wife, Abigail, daughter of -Nathaniel STEPHENS, of Essington, in Gloucestershire. He was born at his -father’s town-house in Bow Street, Covent Garden, in the year 1661. - -[Sidenote: THE HARLEY FAMILY.] - -The HARLEYS had been a family of considerable note in Herefordshire -during several centuries. Many generations of them had sat in the House -of Commons, sometimes for boroughs, but not infrequently for their -county. Sir Edward sided with the Parliamentarians during the Civil -Wars. He was, however, one of those moderate statesmen who, in the words -of a once-celebrated clerical adherent and martyr of their party, -Christopher LOVE, judged it ‘an ill way to cure the body politic, by -cutting off the political head.’ In due time he also became one of those -‘secluded members’ of the Long Parliament who published the -‘Remonstrance’ of 1656, and who were then as strenuous—though far less -successful—in opposing what they deemed to be the tyranny of the -Protector, as they had formerly been in opposing the tyranny of the -King. Sir Edward HARLEY promoted the restoration of CHARLES THE SECOND, -and sat in all the Parliaments of that reign. He distinguished himself -as a defender of liberty of conscience in unpropitious times; and he -won, in a high degree, the respect of men who sat beside him in the -House of Commons, but were rarely counted with him upon a division. - -The first public act of Robert HARLEY of which a record has been kept is -his appearance with his father, in 1688, at the head of an armed band of -tenantry and retainers, assembled in Herefordshire to support the cause -of the Prince of ORANGE, when the news had come of the Prince’s arrival -in Torbay. - -[Sidenote: HARLEY’S PARLIAMENTARY CAREER.] - -In the first Parliament of WILLIAM and MARY Robert HARLEY sat for -Tregony. To the second he was returned by the burgesses of New Radnor. -The first reported words of his which appear in the debates were spoken -in the course of a discussion upon the heads of a ‘Bill of Indemnity.’ -‘I think,’ said he on this occasion, ‘that the King in his message has -led us. He shews us how to proceed for satisfaction of justice. There is -a crime [of which] God says, He will not pardon it. [Sidenote: Grey’s -_Debates_, vol. ix, p. 247.] ’Tis the shedding of innocent blood. A -gentleman said that the West was “a shambles.” What made that shambles? -It began in law. It was a common discourse among the Ministers that “the -King cannot have justice.”’ The debate on the Bill of Indemnity of 1690 -may be looked upon as, in some sort, the foreshadowing of a long spell -of political conflict, in which Robert HARLEY was to take a conspicuous -share. Twenty seven years afterwards the strife of parties was to enter -on a new stage. Some of the men who acted as the political Mentors of -the new member of 1689–90 were to live long enough to clamour for his -execution as a traitor, and, on their failure to produce any adequate -proof that he was guilty, were to console themselves by insisting on his -exclusion from the ‘Act of Grace’ of 1717. - - -HARLEY won his earliest distinctions in political life by assiduous, -patient, and even drudging labour on questions of finance. [Sidenote: -MS. Harl. 7524, f. 139, seqq.] During six years, at least, he worked -zealously as one of the ‘Commissioners for stating the Public Accounts -of the Kingdom.’ In parliamentary debates on the public establishments -and expenditure he took a considerable share. As a speaker he had no -brilliancy. His usual tone and manner, we are told, were somewhat -listless and drawling. But occasionally he would speak with a certain -pith and incisiveness. [Sidenote: Grey’s _Debates_, vol. x, p. 268.] -Thus, in November, 1692, in a discussion on naval affairs, he said—‘We -have had a glorious victory at sea. But although we have had the honour, -the enemy has had the profit. They take our merchant ships.’ Again, in -the following year, when supporting the Bill for more frequent -Parliaments, he spoke thus:—‘A standing Parliament can never be a true -representative. Men are much altered after they have been here some -time. They are no longer the same men that were sent up to us.’ - -Of the truth of that saying, in one of its senses, HARLEY became himself -a salient instance. Bred a Whig, and during his early years acting -commonly with the Whigs, his party ties were gradually relaxed. By -temper and mental constitution he was always inclined to moderate -measures. As the party waxed fiercer and fiercer, and as its policy came -to be more and more obviously the weapon of its hatreds, HARLEY soon lay -open to the reproach of being a trimmer. The growing breach became -evident enough in the course of the debates on the treason of Sir John -FENWICK, in November, 1696. [Sidenote: HIS SPEECH ON THE ATTAINDER OF -FENWICK.] He then argued, with force and earnestness, that atrocity in a -crime is no justification or excuse for violence and unscrupulousness in -a prosecutor. Some of his applications of that sound doctrine are very -questionable. But it is to his honour that he preached moderation with -consistency. He did not bend it to the exigencies of the party he was -approaching, any more than to those of the party from which he was -gradually withdrawing himself. - -Meanwhile he had signalised his powers in another way. By long study he -had acquired a considerable knowledge of parliamentary law and -precedent. He had taken his full share in the work of committees. In -February, 1701, he was proposed for the Speakership, in opposition to -Sir Thomas LITTLETON. He had a large body of supporters, nor were they -found exclusively in the Tory ranks. The King sent for LITTLETON, and -told him that he thought it would be for the public service that he -should give way to the choice of Mr. HARLEY in his stead. But the -election was carried by a majority of only four votes. ‘It is a great -encouragement to his party,’ wrote TOWNSHEND to WALPOLE, who was then in -the country, ‘and no small mortification to the Whigs.’ HARLEY retained -the Speakership until the third session of the first Parliament of Queen -ANNE. - -Whatever may have been the ‘mortification of the Whigs’ at his -elevation, it is certain that at this time HARLEY laboured zealously for -the establishment of the Protestant succession to the throne. [Sidenote: -HARLEY AND THE ACT OF SUCCESSION.] [Sidenote: 1701. March.] In the -preparation, facilitating, and passing of that measure he took so -influential a part that, afterwards, he was able to say, in the face of -his opponents, when they were most numerous and most embittered, ‘I had -the largest hand in settling the succession of the House of Hanover.’ -The assertion met with no denial. - -It is evident, too, that the qualities for which he was already reviled -by extreme partisans on both sides were—in their measure—real -qualifications, both for the office of Speaker and for the special task -of that day. The party leaders who were then most eagerly followed were -men bent on crushing their adversaries as well as conquering them. It -was inevitable that by such men HARLEY’S moderation towards opponents -should be regarded as more cajolery. And of that unhappy quality he was -destined, at a later day, to acquire but too much. - - -[Sidenote: THE SECRETARYSHIP OF STATE, 1704.] - -On the 27th of April, 1704, Mr. Speaker HARLEY was sworn of the Privy -Council. On the 18th of May he received the seals as one of the -Principal Secretaries of State. [Sidenote: _Privy Council Register_, -Anne, vol. ii, p. 102.] He had scarcely entered on the duties of his -office before he was busied with precautionary measures in Scotland -against an anticipated Jacobite insurrection, as well as with a large -share of the foreign correspondence. But just at that busy time he found -means to begin—though he could not then complete—an act of charity which -is memorable both on the recipient’s account and on the score of some -well-known political consequences which eventually grew thereout. - -At the time when HARLEY became a member of the GODOLPHIN administration -Daniel DE FOE lay in Newgate, under a conviction for seditious libel, -committed in the publication of his famous tract, _The Shortest Way with -the Dissenters_. [Sidenote: HARLEY’S PROTECTION OF DE FOE, 1704.] The -new Secretary sent a confidential person to the prison with instructions -to visit DE FOE, and to ask him, in the Minister’s name, ‘What can I do -for you?’ DE FOE’S characteristic reply must be given in his own -words:—‘In return for this kind and generous message I immediately took -pen and ink, and writ the story of the blind man in the Gospel, ... to -whom our blessed Lord put the question, “What wilt thou that I should do -unto thee?” who—as if he had made it strange that such a question should -be asked, or as if he had said, “Lord, dost thou see that I am blind, -and yet ask me what thou shalt do for me?”—my answer is plain in my -misery, “Lord that I may receive my sight.” I needed not to make the -application.’ - -[Sidenote: De Foe, _Appeal to Honour and Justice_, p. 11.] - -DE FOE then adds:—‘From this time, as I learned afterwards, this noble -person made it his business to have my case represented to Her Majesty, -and methods taken for my deliverance.’ But the bigots who had caused a -malicious prosecution succeeded in delaying the successful issue of the -Secretary’s efforts during four months. With HARLEY the sufferer had had -no previous acquaintance. The one designation under which he ever -afterwards spoke of him was ‘my first benefactor.’ And the gratitude was -lifelong. - -In part, HARLEY owed his new office to the personal credit which he had -won with the Queen during his Speakership; and in part, also, to the -friendship of MARLBOROUGH. On receiving the news of his appointment the -Duke wrote to him, from the Camp:—‘I am sensible of the advantage I -shall reap by it, in having so good a friend near Her Majesty’s person -to present in the truest light my faithful endeavours for her service.’ -[Sidenote: Marlborough to Harley; 13 June, 1704.] But their intercourse, -if it ever attained to true cordiality at all, was cordial for a very -short time. Brief confidence was followed by long distrust. HARLEY -strove to strengthen himself by the use of channels of Court influence -which were utterly inimical to the MARLBOROUGH connection. His efforts -to make himself independent of that connection did not, however, lessen -the prodigality of his assurances of friendship and fidelity. - -His political position thus became that of a man who was exposed to the -attacks of many bitter enemies among the statesmen with whom he had -begun his career, without being able to rely upon any hearty support -from those with whom he now shared the conduct of affairs. He might -count, indeed, on assailants from the ranks both of the extreme Whigs -and the extreme Tories, whilst from most of his own colleagues of the -intermediate party he would have to meet the greater danger of a -lukewarm defence. In such a position the attack was not likely to be -long waited for. - -Easiness of nature, and a tendency to alternate fits of close -application with fits of indolence, always characterised him. And those -qualities had an incidental consequence which opened to his opponents a -tempting opportunity. HARLEY was habitually less careful of official -papers than it behoved a Secretary of State to be.[34] He was also at -all times prone to place a premature and undue confidence in his -dependants. In 1707, William GREGG, one of the clerks in his office, -abused his confidence by secretly copying some letters of the highest -importance and by selling the copies to the Court of France. - -[Sidenote: THE CRIME OF WILLIAM GREGG, AND THE USE MADE OF IT BY - HARLEY’S ENEMIES.] - -The treachery was discovered by the Secretary himself, and such steps -were taken to lessen the mischief as the case admitted. Much excitement -naturally followed upon the publicity of the crime. The least scrupulous -of HARLEY’S enemies conceived a hope that the traitor who had served the -public enemy for a bribe might also be tempted to ruin his master for -another and greater bribe. Means were found to convey to GREGG strong -assurances of a certain escape, and of a wealthy exile, if he would but -declare that he had copied the despatches, and forwarded the -transcripts, by the Secretary’s direction. Pending the attempt, they -circulated throughout the country a report that such a declaration had -actually been made, and that the Secretary was to be impeached. But the -clerk, instead of betraying his master, exposed his temptors. [Sidenote: -Appendix to Gregg’s Trial, &c., in _State Trials_, vol. xii, pp. 694 -seqq.] His first emphatic declaration of HARLEY’S innocence was repeated -immediately before his death in these words:—‘As I shall answer it -before the judgment seat of Christ, the gentleman aforesaid [_i. e._ -HARLEY] was not privy to my writing to France, neither directly nor -indirectly.’ - -HARLEY himself, and also his nearest friends, were wont to speak of this -affair as one that had brought his life into real peril. It is certain -that the incident and its consequences helped materially to make his -continuance in office impossible. But he struggled hard. - -Meanwhile, the dissensions in the Ministry were daily increasing. -[Sidenote: DISMISSED FROM OFFICE. Feb., 1708.] They became so bitter as -to lead to personal altercations at the Council Board, even when the -Queen herself was present. On one such occasion (February, 1708) -GODOLPHIN and MARLBOROUGH went together to the Queen a little before the -hour at which a Cabinet Council had been summoned. They told her they -must quit her service, since they saw that she was resolved not to part -with HARLEY. ‘She seemed,’ says Bishop BURNET, ‘not much concerned at -the Lord GODOLPHIN’S offering to lay down; and it was believed to be a -part of HARLEY’S new scheme to remove him. But she was much touched with -the Duke of MARLBOROUGH’S offering to quit, and studied, with some soft -expressions, to divert him from that resolution; but he was firm; and -she did not yield to them.’ [Sidenote: Burnet, _History of his own -Time_, vol. v, pp. 343, 344 (edit. 1823).] So they both went away, -without attending the Council, ‘to the wonder of the whole Court.’ - -When the Council met, it became part of HARLEY’S duty as Secretary to -deliver to the Queen a memorial relating to the conduct of the war. The -Duke of SOMERSET rose, as the Secretary was about to read it, and with -the words ‘If Your Majesty suffers that fellow’ (pointing to HARLEY) ‘to -treat affairs of the war without the General’s advice, I cannot serve -you,’ abruptly left the Council. [Sidenote: Swift to Archbishop King, 12 -Feb. 1708. Comp. Burnet, as above.] ‘The rest,’ according to BURNET, -‘looked so cold and sullen that the Cabinet Council was soon at an end.’ - -Whilst a result which—for the time—had thus become so plainly -inevitable, remained still doubtful, HARLEY had imposed on himself the -humiliating task of assuring the Duke of MARLBOROUGH of the honesty of -his former professions of attachment. [Sidenote: HARLEY’S DISMISSAL FROM -THE SECRETARYSHIP. Feb., 1708.] ‘I have never writ anything to you,’ -said he, ‘but what I really thought and intended.’ And then he went on -to say:—‘I have for near two years seen the storm coming upon me, and -now I find I am to be sacrificed to sly insinuations and groundless -jealousies.’ These words were written in September, 1707. On the 10th of -February in the following year, MARLBOROUGH had, at length, the -satisfaction of writing from St. James’ to a foreign correspondent:—‘Mr. -Secretary HARLEY has this afternoon given up the seals of office to the -Queen. Between ourselves he richly deserves what has befallen him.’[35] -[Sidenote: Marlborough to Count Wratislaw, 10 Feb., 1708.] Among the two -or three friends who went out with HARLEY was Henry ST. JOHN. - -For the next two years and a half, HARLEY’S principal occupation was to -prepare the way for a return, in kind, of the defeat thus inflicted upon -him. [Sidenote: THE INTRIGUE AGAINST THE GODOLPHIN MINISTRY. 1708–1710.] -Some of the steps by which he achieved his end are among the most -familiar portions of our political history. But from the necessities of -the case it has been, and probably it must continue to be, one of those -portions in which the basis of truth can scarcely, by any researches -that are now possible, be separated from the large admixture of -falsehood built thereon by party animosities. - -His own correspondence shows that strong hopes of success in the effort -were entertained within eight months of his dismissal. It shows also -that the channel employed, unsuccessfully, in 1708, was that which -became an effectual one in 1710. - -Early in October, HARLEY received from the Court an unsigned letter in -which these passages occur:—‘The Queen stands her ground and refuses to -enter into any capitulation with the [Whig Lords]. She has not hitherto -consented to offer or hear of any terms. The Lord T[reasure]r desired -she might allow him to treat with ’em, and the Duke of S[OMERSE]T was -employed to persuade her, but she was inflexible. The Lord Treasurer -offered to resign the Staff, but she would neither take the Staff nor -advice from him, and he went to Newmarket without getting any powers or -leave to treat.... [Sidenote: Harley Corresp. in MS. Harl. 7526, f. -237.] Your friend cannot answer for the event.... I will add no more but -that your friend thinks your being here is very necessary, and that Her -Majesty ... would be the better of assistance and good advice.’ - -It was not, however, until the 8th of August, 1710, that the GODOLPHIN -Ministry was dismissed. Two days afterwards, HARLEY was made Chancellor -of the Exchequer; the Treasury being put into commission. - -[Sidenote: THE CHANCELLORSHIP OF THE EXCHEQUER. 1710, August.] - -He entered upon that office amidst enormous obstacles. His enemies were -unable to deny that his exertions to overcome the difficulties in his -path were marked by financial ability, and by a large measure of -temporary success. But as little can it be denied that the immediate -triumph laid the groundwork of public troubles to come. - -His own account of the situation of affairs, and of the methods taken to -improve it, must, of course, be read with the due allowance. The pith of -it lies in these sentences:—‘The army was in the field. There was no -money in the Treasury. None of the remitters would contract again. The -Bank had recently refused to lend the Lord Treasurer GODOLPHIN a hundred -thousand pounds. The Army and Navy Services were in debt nearly eleven -millions. The Civil List owed £600,000. The annual deficit was, at -least, a hundred and twenty-four thousand pounds. The new Commissioners -of the Treasury, nevertheless, made provision, within a few days of -their appointment, for paying the Army by the greatest remittance that -was ever known. [Sidenote: _Letter to the Queen_, June 9, 1714. (_Parl. -Hist._, vol. vii, App.)] When Parliament met, on the 27th of November, -funds had been prepared for the service of the year, and a plan was -submitted for easing the nation of nine millions of debt.’ - -HARLEY was scarcely warm in his new office before he made the -acquaintance of SWIFT, then full of ambitious though vague schemes for -the future, and very angry with the leaders of the Whig party for the -coolness with which his proffers, both of counsel and of service, had -lately been received. - -[Sidenote: EARLY INTERCOURSE WITH SWIFT. 1710–1711.] - -At the time of his introduction to HARLEY, SWIFT’S immediate business in -London consisted in soliciting from the Government a remission of -first-fruits to the clergy of Ireland. His nominal colleagues in that -trust were the Bishops of Ossory and Killaloe, but the whole weight of -the negotiations rested upon SWIFT’S shoulders. His treatment of it soon -displayed his parts. The Minister saw that he was both able and willing -to render efficient political service. To the intercourse so begun we -owe a life-like portraiture of HARLEY, under all his aspects, and in -every mood of mind. Nor is the depicter himself anywhere seen under -stronger light than in those passages of his journal which narrate, from -day to day, the rise and fall of the Government founded on the unstable -alliance between HARLEY and ST. JOHN. - -Of their first interview SWIFT notes:—‘I was brought privately to Mr. -HARLEY, who received me with the greatest respect and kindness -imaginable.’ Of the second:—‘We were two hours alone.... He read a -memorial I had drawn up, and put it into his pocket to show the Queen; -told me the measures he would take, ... told me he must bring Mr. ST. -JOHN and me acquainted; and spoke so many things of personal kindness -and esteem for me, that I am inclined half to believe what some friends -have told me, that he would do everything to bring me over.’ [Sidenote: -_Journal to Stella_; in Works, 2nd Edit., vol. ii, pp. 33; 37; 80.] When -the promised interview with Secretary ST. JOHN comes to be diarized in -its turn:—‘He told me,’ says SWIFT, ‘among other things, that Mr. HARLEY -complained he could keep nothing from me, I had the way so much of -getting into him.’ I knew that was a refinement.... It is hard to see -these great men using me like one who was their betters, and the puppies -with you in Ireland hardly regarding me.’ Not many weeks had passed -before SWIFT’S pen was at work in defence of the measures of the -Government with an energy, a practical and versatile ability, of which, -up to that date, there had been scarcely an example, brilliant as was -the roll of contemporary writers who had taken sides in the political -strife. SWIFT’S defects, as well as his merits, armed him for his task. - -Nor had he been long engaged upon it before he marked, very distinctly, -the character both of the rewards to which he aspired, and of the -personal independence which he was determined to maintain, in his own -fashion. - -One day, as he took his leave of HARLEY, after dining with him, the -Minister placed in his hand a fifty pound note. He returned it angrily. -And he met HARLEY’S next invitation by a refusal. Then comes this entry -in his diary:—‘I was this morning early with Mr. LEWIS, of the -Secretary’s office, and saw a letter Mr. HARLEY had sent to him desiring -to be reconciled; but I was deaf to all entreaties, and have desired -LEWIS to go to him and let him know I expect further satisfaction. If we -let these great Ministers pretend too much there will be no governing -them. He promises to make me easy if I will but come and see him. But I -will not, and he shall do it by message, or I will cast him off.’ -[Sidenote: _Journal to Stella_, p. 169.] The desired concession was -made, and in a day or two we find our journalist recording, -characteristically enough, that he ‘sent Mr. HARLEY into the House to -call the Secretary [ST. JOHN], to let him know I would not dine with him -if he dined late.’ And then:—‘I have taken Mr. HARLEY into favour -again.... I will cease to visit him after dinner, for he dines too late -for my head.... [Sidenote: _Ib._, pp. 178; 182.] They call me nothing -but “Jonathan,” and I said I believed they would leave me Jonathan as -they found me, and that I never knew a Ministry do anything for those -whom they make companions of their pleasures.’ - -SWIFT was one of the first bystanders who took note of the seeds of -dissension which were already growing up between HARLEY and ST. JOHN, -and who foresaw the coming parallel between the fate of the new -Government and that of its predecessor. On the 4th of March, 1711, he -wrote:—‘We must have a Peace, let it be a bad or a good one; though -nobody dares talk of it. The nearer I look upon things the worse I like -them. I believe the Confederacy will soon break to pieces, and our -factions at home increase. The Ministry is upon a very narrow bottom, -and stands like an isthmus between the Whigs on one side, and the -violent Tories on the other. They are able seamen, but the tempest is -too great, the ship too rotten, and the crew all against them.... -[Sidenote: _Ib._, p. 196.] Your Duchess of SOMERSET, who now has the -key, is a most insinuating woman, and I believe they [the Whigs] will -endeavour to play the same game that has been played against them.’ - -The game was suddenly interrupted, though only for a while. An attempt -to assassinate HARLEY gave him a renewed hold upon power and popularity. -But its unexpected consequences embittered the jealousies which already -menaced his administration with ruin. - -[Sidenote: GUISCARD’S ATTEMPT ON THE LIFE OF HARLEY. 1711, March.] - -Antoine de GUISCARD was a French adventurer, whose private life had been -marked by great profligacy. He had taken an obscure part in the -insurrection of the Cevennes—rather as a recruiting agent than as a -combatant. In that character he had met with encouragement to raise a -refugee regiment in England. Hopes had also been held out to him that a -British auxiliary contingent would be landed on the southern coast of -France. In the course, however, of some preliminary inquiries into the -position of the insurrectionists, it was found that such an invasion -would have little chance of any useful result, and the project was -abandoned. Meanwhile, a pension of £400 a year had been bestowed on the -emissary. - -But ere long it was discovered that GUISCARD had profited by -opportunities, afforded him in the course of the discussions about the -proposed expedition, to make himself conversant with many particulars of -military and naval affairs, and that it was his habit to send advices -into France. Some of his letters were seized. Their writer was arrested -on the 8th of March, 1711, and was taken, immediately, before a -Committee of the Privy Council. - -When examined as to his illicit intercourse with France he persisted in -mere denials. At length, one of his letters was shown to him by HARLEY, -and he was closely pressed as to his motives in writing it. He then -addressed himself to Secretary ST. JOHN, and begged permission to speak -with him apart. The Secretary answered, ‘You are here before the Council -as a criminal. Whatever you may have to say must be said to all of us.’ -The man persisted in refusing to reply to any further questions, unless -his request was granted. Seeing that nothing more could then be obtained -from him, the Lord President rose to ring the bell for a messenger, that -the prisoner might be removed in custody. - -At that moment the prisoner pulled a penknife from his pocket, turned -towards HARLEY, near to whom he stood, and stabbed him in the breast. He -repeated the stroke, and then rushed towards ST. JOHN. But between the -prisoner and the Secretary there stood a small table, over which he -stumbled. ST. JOHN drew his sword, and, with the words ‘The villain has -killed Mr. HARLEY,’ struck at him, as did also the Duke of ORMOND and -the Duke of NEWCASTLE. Lord POWLETT cried out ‘Do not kill him.’ -Presently the assassin was in the hands of several messengers, with -whom, notwithstanding his wounds, he struggled so desperately that more -than one of them received severe injuries. When at length overpowered, -he said to ORMOND, ‘My Lord, why do you not despatch me?’ ‘That,’ -replied the Duke, ‘is not the work of gentlemen. ’Tis another man’s -business.’ - -HARLEY’S wound was so severe that for several days there was a belief -that it would prove mortal. It entailed a lingering illness.[36] Before -his recovery, his assailant died in prison. The coroner’s inquest -ascribed GUISCARD’S death to bruises received from one of the messengers -who strove to bind him, but SWIFT tells us that he died of the -sword-wounds. - -[Sidenote: _Journal to Stella_, pp. 202–214.] - -That keen observer had seen, long before this attempted assassination, -the latent personal jealousies between HARLEY and ST. JOHN. [Sidenote: -HARLEY BECOMES LORD HIGH TREASURER.] He had recognised in those -jealousies the gravest peril of HARLEY’S government. GUISCARD’S crime -had now made HARLEY the most popular man in the country, and it had -doubled his favour with the Queen. On his recovery, he received the -congratulations of the House of Commons, expressed with more than usual -emphasis. [Sidenote: _Journals of H. of Commons_, 1711. 27 April.] By -the Queen he was raised to the peerage (24 May, 1711) as Earl of OXFORD -and Earl MORTIMER. Five days afterwards (29 May) he was made Lord High -Treasurer. [Sidenote: _Council Register_, Anne, vol. v, p. 249.] His -elevation intensified the jealousy of ST. JOHN into something which -already closely resembled hatred, although years were to elapse before -the mask could be quite thrown aside. It is amusing to read the -philosophical reflection with which the Secretary sent the news to Lord -OSSORY:—‘Our friend Mr. HARLEY is now Earl of OXFORD and High Treasurer. -This great advancement is what the labour he has gone through, the -danger he has run, and the services he has performed, seem to deserve. -[Sidenote: St. John to Lord Ossory; 1711, 12 June (_Corresp._ i, 148).] -But he stands on slippery ground, and envy is always near the great to -fling up their heels on the least trip which they make.’ - -The Earl of OXFORD had not long obtained the Treasurer’s staff before he -received some characteristic exhortations from the Jacobite section of -his Tory supporters of the use which he ought to make of it. ATTERBURY -came to him, on the part of some of the Treasurer’s ‘particular -friends,’ to acquaint him how uneasy they were that he had neither -dissolved the Parliament, nor removed from office nearly so many Whigs -as those particular friends wished to see removed. ‘I know very well,’ -replied the Earl, ‘the men from whom that message comes, and I am also -very sensible of the difficulties I have to struggle with. If, in -addition, I must communicate all my measures, it will be necessary for -me to assure Her Majesty that I can no longer do her any service.’ - -[Sidenote: OXFORD AND THE OCTOBER CLUB.] - -These hot-headed politicians had already formed their famous ‘October -Club.’ They were about a hundred and fifty in number, and for a few -months their proceedings made a great noise. The Treasurer found means -to deal with them in a more effectual fashion than that in which they -had endeavoured to deal with the administration. ‘By silent, quiet -steps, in a little time,’ says a writer who watched the process and -aided it, ‘he so effectually separated these gentlemen, that in less -than six months the name of “October Club” was forgotten in the -world.... [Sidenote: De Foe, _Secret History of the White Staff_.] With -so much address was this attempt overthrown, that he lost not the men, -though he put them by their design.’ - -Those brief sentences indicate, I think, the fatality of the position in -which OXFORD now placed himself. He had ardently desired to gain the -control of affairs, at a period of exceptional difficulty. And, at the -best, his capacity and energies would have been barely equal to the task -in times of exceptional ease. Some of the very qualities, both of mind -and heart, which made him beloved by those who lived with him, weakened -him as a statesman. He was surrounded by adepts in political intrigue, -some of whom combined with an experience not less than his own, far -greater powers of mind, an unbending will, and an utter unscrupulousness -as to the use of means. He vainly flattered himself that he could beat -these men at their own weapons. His temporary success laid a foundation -for his eventual ruin. - -[Sidenote: OXFORD AND THE COURT OF THE STUARTS.] - -To gain the aid of the Jacobite Tories in Parliament he held out hopes -which it was never his intention to realise. He carried on an indirect -correspondence with the Stuart Court in a way sufficiently adroit to -induce that Court to instruct its adherents to support the negotiations -for the Peace with France. He would commit himself to nothing until -Peace was made. The conclusion of a Peace was the one measure on which -he was firmly bent. He had contended that the true interests of Britain -demanded the ending of an exhausting war many years before. And whatever -the demerits and shortcomings of the Treaty of Utrecht, it had at least -the merit of making the quiet succession of the House of Hanover -possible. - -In March, 1713, the French agent in England, the Abbé GAUTIER, wrote to -the Marquis de TORCY an account of an interview he had obtained with the -Lord Treasurer:—‘M. Vanderberg’ [_i. e._ Lord OXFORD], he says, ‘sent -for me, seven or eight days ago, to tell me something of importance. -Indeed, he opened his mind to me, making me acquainted with his feelings -towards Montgourlin [_i. e._ the Pretender], and the desire he had to do -him service, as soon as the Peace shall be concluded.... It will not be -difficult, because the Queen is of his opinion. But, in the mean time, -it is essential that Montgourlin should make up his mind; that he should -declare that it is not his intention to continue to reside where he now -is. He must say, publicly, and especially before his family, that when -the Peace is made he means to travel in Italy, in Switzerland, in -Bavaria, even in Spain. [Sidenote: Gautier to De Torcy; 1713, March. -[Printed in _Edin. Review_, from notes of Mackintosh.]] This is to be -done, that it may be believed in England that his choice of a residence -is not dictated by a mere desire to be near his relatives, and to be -close at hand should measures have to be taken on an emergency.’ - -After the communication of this statement to the Pretender he made -repeated attempts to enter into correspondence with Queen ANNE. By -OXFORD these attempts were uniformly and effectually foiled. - -To the insincerity of OXFORD’S advances—such as they were—to the -Jacobite emissaries, there can be no witness more competent, none more -unexceptionable, than the Duke of BERWICK. His testimony runs thus:—‘We -wrote,’ he says, ‘to all the Jacobites to support the government; a step -which had no small share in giving to the Court party so large a -majority in the House of Commons that it carried everything its own -way.... After the Peace, the Treasurer spoke with not a whit more of -clearness or precision than before it.... [Sidenote: _Mémoires du -Maréchal Duc de Berwick_ (in Petitot’s _Collection_, tom. lxvi, pp. 219 -seqq.)] He was merely keeping us in play; and it was very difficult to -find a remedy. To have broken with him would have spoiled all; for he -had the reins in his hand. He governed the Queen at his will.’ -[Sidenote: _Ib._, pp. 224, 225.] In all his advances, adds the Duke, in -another passage, ‘OXFORD’S only motive had been to win over Jacobites to -side with the Tories, and to get a sanction for the Peace.’ - -Whilst these intrigues were still in action, one, at least, of the -Jacobite agents was clear-sighted enough to detect the secret of the -Treasurer’s scheme. [Sidenote: Original in Nairne MSS., vol. 4. -(Macpherson, _Original Pagers_, vol. ii, p. 269.)] A confidential agent -of the Earl of MIDDLETON, Secretary to the Pretender, wrote in February, -1712—‘[The Earl of OXFORD] is entirely a friend to [the Elector of -HANOVER], notwithstanding the disobliging measures that spark has -taken.... [OXFORD’S] head is set on shewing that he is above resentment, -and that he [the Elector] has been put into a wrong way.’ - -In matters of Church policy at home the Earl followed like indirect -courses, and with the like result—a momentary success which prepared the -way for final defeat. - -[Sidenote: HARLEY’S CONDUCT ON THE CONFORMITY BILL.] - -No measure could possibly be more repugnant to OXFORD’S declared -convictions than the famous ‘Bill against Occasional Conformity,’ -brought into the House of Lords by the Earl of NOTTINGHAM, at the close -of the year 1711. It was part of a policy to which his very nature was -antagonistic. But he was in vain entreated, by men who had been his -life-long adherents, to oppose it. The passage of that Bill was the -price, and, as it seems, the only price for which NOTTINGHAM and his -band of followers would give their support to the foreign policy of the -Government. - -The growth of the internal dissensions in the administration kept pace -with the growth of its external perils. Personal objects of the pettiest -kind were made occasions of quarrel. In the summer of 1712, ST. JOHN, -who had set his heart on the restoration in himself of that family -Earldom of BOLINGBROKE which in the previous year had become extinct on -the death of a distant relative, was made a Viscount. On the -announcement of his creation he burst into open menaces of vengeance -against the Treasurer, and renewed them with greater violence towards -the close of the year, when he found himself excluded from another -coveted dignity. An election of Knights of the Garter made, to use Lord -OXFORD’S own words about it, ‘a new disturbance which is too well -remembered.’ Just as the breach with BOLINGBROKE had become plainly -irreconcilable, the Treasurer found a new and equally bitter enemy in -another old friend. He defeated a rapacious attempt made by Lady MASHAM -on the Treasury. The first offence in that kind would never have been -forgiven. But ere long it was repeated. - -In both Houses of Parliament, OXFORD’S veiled and vacillating policy was -fast alienating men who had long supported him, and who to the last -retained more confidence in him than in his brilliant rival. The crisis, -however, was brought about, not by the increased strength of -Parliamentary opposition, but by bed-chamber intrigues, such as those -which he had himself stooped to employ six years before against -GODOLPHIN and MARLBOROUGH. - -Meanwhile the Minister played into the hands of his opponents by -exhibiting great irresolution. He dallied and procrastinated with urgent -business. He relaxed in his attention to the Queen. At an unwary moment -he even gave her personal offence, the results of which were none the -less bitter for the absence of design. He showed more concern about -comparatively distant perils than about those which were close at hand. - -At the beginning of 1714 the best informed of the Jacobites had become -fully convinced that OXFORD was their enemy. They saw, to repeat the -words of the Duke of BERWICK, that he had been only keeping them in -play. [Sidenote: OXFORD’S CORRESPONDENCE WITH THE COURT OF HANOVER.] But -at the Court of Hanover he was far from being regarded as an assured -friend. Over-subtlety had been rewarded with almost universal distrust. - -[Sidenote: 1714, April.] - -When in April of that year he sent to Hanover renewed protestations of -fidelity, expressed in terms of unusual energy, they were looked upon by -some of the Elector’s advisers as mere professions.[37] If now read side -by side with contemporary documents, drawn up by secret emissaries of -the Pretender, they acquire a stamp of sincerity which it is hard to -doubt. - -To Baron WASSENAER DUYVENWORDE Lord OXFORD wrote thus:—‘I do in the most -solemn manner assure you that, next to the Queen, I am entirely and -unalterably devoted to the interests of His Electoral Highness of -Hanover.... I am ready to give him all the proofs of my attachment to -his interest, and to set in a true light the state of this country; for -it will be very unfortunate for so great a Prince to be only Prince over -a party, which can never last long in England.’ He then goes on to add -that the one thing which would, under existing circumstances, imperil -the Hanover succession is the sending into England of any member of that -family without the Queen’s consent. Such an act would, in his judgment, -‘change the dispute to the Crown and the Successor, whereas now it is -between the House of Hanover and the Popish Pretender.’ - -[Sidenote: Oxford to Wassenaer; MS. Sloane, 4107. (B. M.)] - -He repeated the advice in another and not less urgent letter, after the -occurrence of the visit made to the Lord Chancellor HARCOURT by the -Hanoverian Resident, to ask for a writ of summons for the Duke of -CAMBRIDGE. But he also advised Queen ANNE to consent to the issue of -such a writ. He was opposed by a majority of his colleagues, under the -leadership of BOLINGBROKE, as well as by the persistent unwillingness of -the Queen herself. - -It is instructive to read the comments on the political situation in -England at this moment, of a German diplomatist resident in London (as -Minister from the Elector Palatine) who was devotedly attached to the -Hanoverian succession. - -‘Some people,’ wrote Baron von STEINGHENGS to Count von der SCHULENBERG, -on the 12th of May, ‘have been at work for a whole year to deprive the -Lord Treasurer of the conduct of public affairs. I have been aware, -almost from the beginning, of the different channels which have been -made use of to carry this point. But I should never have expected that -they would fire the mine before the end of this session, and I am much -mistaken if the authors have not reason one day to regret their -over-haste. For I do not know my man, if he does not cut out a good deal -of work for them, particularly if a certain intrigue which is on the -tapis succeeds. As for the rest, you may rely upon his sentiments; and -he never succeeded in persuading those who doubted them more than by his -declaration made in a full House on the 16th of last month on the -question of danger to the Protestant succession, having in it given much -greater hold upon himself than there was any need for, if he was not -acting in good faith.... The party of the Hanoverian Tories has visibly -been strengthened by it.’ [Sidenote: Von Steinghengs to Count von der -Schulenberg, May 1⁄12 1714 (in Kemble’s _State Papers_, p. 493).] And to -this the writer adds, in a postscript, ‘It is of extreme importance both -for the Whigs and for the House of Hanover to take steps to keep him -there, and to engage him by some sort of political confidence to be -assured of his fortunes under that House.’ In another letter to the same -correspondent, Baron von STEINGHENGS notes a fact which by many of our -historians has been too much neglected. [Sidenote: Same to same, June 14 -(Kemble, p. 507).] ‘To make the English Ministry,’ he wrote, ‘alone -responsible ... for the exorbitant power which the Peace of Utrecht has -given to France is ... to ignore entirely the incredible obstacles which -the enemies of that Ministry threw, both at home and abroad, in the way -of making the Peace such as it might have been.’ - -But although ‘the mine was fired’ before the end of May, July had nearly -ended before the effectual explosion came. [Sidenote: OXFORD’S DISMISSAL -AND THE QUEEN’S DEATH. 1714, July 27, August 1.] BOLINGBROKE’S triumph -lasted exactly four days. ‘The Earl of OXFORD was removed on Tuesday. -The Queen died on Sunday. What a world is this! And how does Fortune -banter us!... I have lost all by the death of the Queen, but my spirit.’ -Such were the words in which BOLINGBROKE announced to SWIFT his -victory,—and its futility. In a few more days the spirit vanished, like -the triumph. The victor was a fugitive. - -BOLINGBROKE’S hatred to OXFORD lasted to the close of his life. He -survived his old comrade twenty-seven years. The final year of that long -period brought no relenting thought, no spark of charitable feeling. - - -[Sidenote: DID OXFORD CONSPIRE TO BRING BACK THE PRETENDER?] - -To the question ‘Did Lord OXFORD, during his tenure of office, conspire -to enthrone the Pretender?’ it ought always to have been a sufficient -answer that there was, as yet, not a tittle of _evidence_ of any such -conspiracy on his part. That accusation had never any support beyond -surmise and conjecture. Men who were in possession of every imaginable -resource and appliance to back their search failed to adduce even a -shadow of evidence in proof of the charge they would fain have fastened -upon him. And in 1869 the matter still stands, in the main, where it -stood in 1717. - -After many examinations of the most secret correspondence of the Stuarts -and their adherents, and after the publishing of extensive selections -from it—made at intervals which spread over eighty years,—not a scrap of -direct and valid testimony has been found to sustain the charge. Every -passage, save one, which bears at all on OXFORD’S intercourse with -Jacobite emissaries, up to the year 1715, tends to show that what they -asserted about his intentions on the Pretender’s behalf was built on -wishes, hopes, and guesses—on anything rather than knowledge. Every -passage, save one, tends to show that he was using the Jacobites for his -own purposes, without the least idea of aiding theirs. Every passage, -save one, is in entire harmony with the terms of that incompatible -charge by means of which BOLINGBROKE justified to himself his life-long -hostility, when writing the _Letter to Sir William Wyndham_. The -significance of that charge, coming from such a source, can scarcely be -exaggerated. ‘OXFORD would not,’ wrote BOLINGBROKE, ‘or he could not, -act with us, and he resolved that we should not act without him, as long -as he could hinder it.... At the Queen’s death, he hoped ... to deliver -us up, bound as it were, hand and foot, to our adversaries. On the -foundation of this merit he flattered himself that he had gained some of -the Whigs, and softened, at least, the rest of the party to him. -[Sidenote: Bolingbroke, _Letter to Sir W. Wyndham_.] By his secret -negotiations at Hanover, he took it for granted that he was not only -reconciled to that Court, but that he should, under his present -Majesty’s reign, have as much credit as he had enjoyed under that of the -Queen.’ - -[Sidenote: Gautier to De Torcy; 14 December, 1713. [Printed in _Edinb. - Review_, from the Notes of Sir James Mackintosh, in vol. - lxii, pp. 18, seqq.]] - -The solitary passage in the correspondence of the Jacobite agents which -goes directly to the issue is the assertion made by GAUTIER, in a letter -to DE TORCY, that OXFORD said to him, in December, 1713, ‘As long as I -live, England shall not be governed by a German.’ In that notable -statement lies the pith of a mass of letters which report the hopes, -beliefs, conjectures, and imaginings, of their respective writers, as to -what Lord OXFORD would do for the Pretender,—whenever that prince could -be brought to change, or, at least, to disguise his religion. - - -OXFORD was present, as a Privy Councillor, at the proclamation of King -GEORGE THE FIRST. [Sidenote: OXFORD’S RECEPTION BY GEORGE I.] It was -noted by some of the bystanders that his demeanour was buoyant and -joyous. When the King reached Greenwich, the Earl went thither with more -than usual pomp and retinue. He was received with marked coldness, if -not with open contempt. - -There is little need, in a sketch of this kind, to tell, at length, the -story of an impeachment which was stretched over two years, and had no -result save that of breaking down, by two years of imprisonment, the -health of the defeated statesman. Few and brief words on that head will -suffice. - -[Sidenote: HIS IMPEACHMENT. 1715–1717.] - -Out of twenty-two articles of impeachment, fourteen accuse the Earl of -OXFORD of betrayal of duty, either in the conduct of the negotiations -for Peace, or in instructions given for handling the British -Army—pending those negotiations—in such a way as to injure the common -cause of the Allies, by promoting the conclusion of a treaty ‘on terms -fatal to the interests of the Kingdom.’ [Sidenote: 1715. June 24.] The -fifteenth article charges him with inserting false statements in the -Queen’s Speeches and Messages to Parliament; the sixteenth with -improperly advising the Queen to make a creation of Peers. [Sidenote: -_State Trials_, vol. xv, Coll. 1052, seqq.] Other articles allege -misconduct in the management of an expedition to Canada; the -appropriation of sums of ‘Secret Service Money’ to corrupt purposes; and -treasonable intercourse with ‘Irish Papists.’ - - -Whilst these charges were still in preparation the Venetian Resident in -London wrote a despatch to his Senate in which we have an interesting -glimpse, behind the curtain, at the process:—‘The Whigs,’ he says, ‘seek -to annihilate the Tories utterly, and to place them under the yoke. They -want to impeach even the Duke of SHREWSBURY.’... After enlarging on -nascent dissensions amongst the Whigs themselves, as to the lengths to -which they might safely carry their party resentments, he proceeds to -assert that the more cautious men among them ‘have now, when it is well -nigh too late, become aware that the Tory party, recently dominant, was -a mixed party. [Sidenote: _Correspondence of Joseph Querini_; from -extracts by T. D. Hardy, in _Report on Archives of Venice_, pp. 98, 99.] -Some were in favour of the Pretender; some for the House of Hanover. Had -His Majesty made this distinction on his accession to the Crown he would -have excluded the former, but not the latter. By favouring the Whigs -alone, he lost all the others at once.’ In brief, GEORGE THE FIRST had -made himself exactly what OXFORD had warned him against becoming, the -‘King of a party.’ - -When the Earl at length appeared before his peers to answer to his -impeachment, he began by denying ‘that at any time or place in the -course of those negotiations,’ now incriminated, ‘he conferred -unlawfully or without due authority with any emissaries of France.’ He -affirmed that he neither promoted nor advised any private, separate, or -unjustifiable negotiation, and that he himself had no knowledge ‘that -any negotiation relating to Peace was carried on without communication -to the Allies.’ - -On the specific charge that he had traitorously given up Tournay to -France, his defence is twofold:—‘I used my best offices,’ he asserts, -‘to preserve that town and fortress to the States General. I believe -that at this time they are continued to the States General as part of -their barrier.’ And then he adds:—‘But I deny that for a Privy -Councillor and Minister of State to advise the yielding of any town, -fort, or territory, upon the conclusion of a Peace, is, or can be, High -Treason by any law of this realm.’ - -On the whole matter of the Peace, he asserts that ‘its terms and -preliminaries were communicated to Parliament. They were agreed on with -the concurrence of Parliament. The Definitive Treaty was afterwards -approved of by both Houses. Solemn thanks were rendered to God for it in -all our churches and also in the churches of the United Provinces. Her -Majesty received upon its conclusion the hearty and unfeigned thanks of -her people from all parts of her dominions.’ - -[Sidenote: _State Trials_, vol. xv, c. 1137 seqq.] - -[Sidenote: _Commons’ Journals_, 9 June, 1715.] - -It might well have been thought that even in those evil days it would be -difficult to induce a Committee of partisans to report to the House of -Commons that ‘large sums issued for the service of the war were received -by the Earl of OXFORD, and applied to his Lordship’s private use,’ -without the possession of some plausible show of proof. There was not so -much as a decent presumption, or colourable inference, to back the -assertion. When the matter came to be probed, it appeared that a royal -gift of £13,000 had been received by the Earl in what were known as ‘tin -tallies,’ and that the sum had been a charge upon the revenues of the -Duchy of Cornwall. - - -Probably few politicians have owed quite so large a debt of gratitude to -their enemies as that incurred by the Earl of OXFORD. His ministry at -home had been marked by weaknesses which went perilously near the edge -of public calamity. The Peace which was its characteristic achievement -abroad had brought with it many real blessings, but they were won at the -cost of a large sacrifice of national pride, if not also by some -sacrifice of national honour. The wild excesses of his adversaries now -gave back to the obnoxious Minister the strength of his best days. -[Sidenote: OXFORD’S BEHAVIOUR UNDER TRIAL.] When POPE wrote of him, ‘The -utmost weight of ministerial power and popular hatred were almost worth -bearing for the glory of so dauntless a conduct as he has shown under -it,’ the praise came from a pen which is known to have been employed, -now and again, to flatter the great. But it was no flatterer who wrote -to OXFORD himself—‘Your intrepid behaviour under this prosecution -astonishes every one but me, who know you so well, and how little it is -in the power of human actions or events to discompose you. I have seen -your Lordship labouring under great difficulties and exposed to great -dangers, and overcoming both, by the providence of God, and your own -wisdom and courage.’ Those words came from one of the shrewdest and most -acute observers of human character that have ever lived. They were -written after a close and daily intimacy of four eventful years. OXFORD, -in his day of power, had disappointed SWIFT of some cherished hopes, -which now could never be renewed. The praise of SWIFT must have been -sincere. [Sidenote: Swift’s _Correspondence_, in Works, by Scott, vol. -xvi, pp. 232, 233.] When such a writer, at such a time, goes on to -add—‘You suffer for having preserved your country, and for having been -the great instrument, under God, of his present Majesty’s peaceable -accession to the throne;—this I know, and this your enemies know’—the -most prepossessed reader cannot but feel that the absence from the two -and twenty articles of impeachment of any charge of plotting against the -Hanover succession is alike intelligible and significant. - - -[Sidenote: THE TRIAL. 1717, July.] - -When Oxford’s imprisonment could be no longer protracted without a -trial, the two Houses of Parliament were unable to agree as to the mode -of proceeding. It was obvious on all sides that the charge of ‘treason’ -would fail. The Lords declared that on the articles imputing treason -judgment must be given, before the articles imputing ‘other high crimes -and misdemeanours’ could be entered upon. They declared that the attempt -of the Commons to mix up the two was ‘a new and unjustifiable -proceeding.’ [Sidenote: _Lords’ Journals_, vol. xx, p. 515, seqq. -_Commons’ Journals_, vol. xviii.] The Commons refused to adduce evidence -on the charge of treason, and to take the issue upon that. - -[Sidenote: _State Trials_, vol. xv, 1164, seqq.] - -On the first of July, 1717, the Earl was brought to the bar to hear from -the Lord High Steward a declaration that ‘Robert, Earl of OXFORD, is, by -the unanimous vote of all the Lords present, acquitted of the articles -of impeachment exhibited against him, by the House of Commons, for High -Treason and other high crimes and misdemeanours, and that the said -impeachment shall be and is hereby dismissed.’ Then the Steward said, -‘Lieutenant of the Tower, You are now to discharge your prisoner.’ - -[Sidenote: OXFORD’S RETURN TO THE HOUSE OF LORDS. 1717, July.] - -On the third of July, the Earl resumed his seat as a peer of Parliament. -On the fourth, the Commons resolved to address the King, beseeching him -‘to except Robert, Earl of OXFORD, out of the Act of Grace which Your -Majesty has been graciously pleased to promise from the throne, to the -end the Commons may be at liberty to proceed against the said Earl in a -parliamentary way.’ [Sidenote: _Journals_, vol. xviii, p. 617.] No such -proceeding, of course, was taken or intended. - - -For several years to come Lord OXFORD took part, from time to time, in -the business of Parliament. He served often on Committees in these final -years of his public life, just as he had done during his early years of -apprenticeship in the Lower House. In the Lords, as in the Commons, he -was listened to with especial deference on points of parliamentary law -and privilege. - -From time to time, also, the Jacobite agitators, both at home and -abroad, made repeated appeals to him, direct or indirect, for -countenance and help in their schemes. They had, it seems, a confident -hope that the sufferings and the humiliation inflicted on him in the -years 1715–1717 must have so entirely alienated him from the reigning -House, as now, at all events, to have prepared him to be really their -fellow-conspirator, on the first occurrence of a promising opportunity. -[Sidenote: ALLEGED RENEWAL OF CORRESPONDENCE WITH THE STUART AGENTS.] -How far the Earl listened to such suggestions and persuasions is still, -it will be seen, matter of great and curious uncertainty.[38] - - -[Sidenote: DOMESTIC LIFE OF LORD OXFORD.] - -Lord OXFORD’S private life was not less chequered by rapid alternations -of sunshine and of gloom than was his political career. In August, 1713, -he gratified a cherished desire by the marriage of his son Edward, Lord -HARLEY, with the Lady Henrietta CAVENDISH HOLLES, daughter and heiress -of John, Duke of NEWCASTLE (who died in 1711). With what Lord HARLEY had -already derived under the Duke’s will, this marriage brought him an -estate then worth sixteen thousand pounds a year, and destined to -increase enormously in value. Three months afterwards the Earl lost a -dearly loved daughter, the Marchioness of CAERMARTHEN, who died at the -age of twenty-eight. It was of her that SWIFT wrote to him—‘I have sat -down to think of every amiable quality that could enter into the -composition of a lady, and could not single out one which she did not -possess in as high a perfection as human nature is capable of. But as to -your Lordship’s own particular, as it is an unconceivable misfortune to -have lost such a daughter, so it is a possession which few can boast of -to have had such a daughter. I have often said to your Lordship that “I -never knew any one by many degrees so happy in their domestics as you;” -and I affirm that you are so still, though not by so many degrees.... -[Sidenote: Swift to Oxford; 21 Nov., 1713. (_Works_, vol. xvi, pp. -78–80.)] You began to be too happy for a mortal; much more happy than is -usual with the dispensations of Providence long to continue.’ - -Under the sorrows both of public and of private life it was his wont to -find a part of his habitual consolations in the use, as well as in the -increase, of his splendid library. [Sidenote: HISTORY OF THE HARLEIAN -LIBRARY.] He began the work of collection in youth, and to add to his -treasures was one of the matters which, at intervals, occupied his -latest thoughts. - -Among the famous Englishmen whose manuscripts passed, either wholly or -partially, into the Harleian Library are to be counted Sir Thomas SMITH; -John FOX, the martyrologist; John STOWE, the historian; Edward, Lord -HERBERT of Cherbury; and Archbishop SANCROFT. Among famous foreigners, -Augustus LOMENIE DE BRIENNE; Peter SÉGUIER, Chancellor of France; and -Gerard John VOSSIUS. Perhaps the most extensive of the prior collections -which it had absorbed, in mass, was the assemblage of manuscripts that -had been gathered by Sir Symonds D’EWES, whose acquisitions included a -rich series of the materials of English history. - -The inquiries which led to the purchase of the D’EWES’ Collection were -the occasion of making fully known to Robert HARLEY a model librarian in -the person of Humphrey WANLEY. [Sidenote: HUMPHREY WANLEY; HIS LIFE, -LETTERS, AND JOURNAL.] The latter portion of WANLEY’S life was wholly -devoted to the service of the Harleian Library, and his employment there -was a felicity, both for him and for it. His journal of the incidents -which occurred during the growth of the collection given to his care is -the most curious document in its kind which is known to exist. That -journal illustrates the literary history and the manners of the time, -not less amusingly than it exhibits the personal character of its -writer, and the fidelity with which he worked at his task in life. - -WANLEY was the son of a country parson, little known to fame, but -possessing some tincture of learning, and was born at Coventry, on the -21st of March, 1673. In his youth he attracted the favourable notice of -his father’s diocesan, William LLOYD, Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry -(and afterwards of Worcester), by whom he was sent to Edmund Hall at -Oxford. That hall he soon exchanged for University College, on the -persuasion of Dr. Arthur CHARLETT, by whose influence he was afterwards -made an Underkeeper of the Bodleian Library. He took no degree, but won -some distinction, whilst at Oxford, by the services which he rendered to -Dr. MILL in collating the text of the New Testament. - -On leaving the University, WANLEY went to London, where he became -Secretary to the Society for the Propagation of Christian Knowledge. He -translated OSTERVALD’S _Grounds and Principles of the Christian -Religion_; and compiled a valuable Catalogue of the Anglo-Saxon -Manuscripts preserved in the chief libraries of Great Britain. The -last-named labour gave proof of much ability. It was a sample of the -work for which its writer was best fitted. - -As Speaker of the House of Commons, HARLEY took a considerable part in -organizing the Cottonian Library, when it became a public institution -under the Act of Parliament. WANLEY proffered to the Speaker, on this -occasion, some advice about the necessary arrangements; became well -acquainted with HARLEY’S bookishness, and saw how eagerly he would -welcome opportunities for the improvement of his own library, as well as -of that newly acquired by the Public. - -[Sidenote: THE D’EWES COLLECTIONS AND THEIR HISTORY.] - -The Sir Symonds D’EWES of that generation was the grandson of the -diligent antiquary and politician who has been heretofore mentioned in -this volume as the close friend of Sir Robert COTTON, and to whose -labours, in a twofold capacity, students of our history owe a far better -acquaintance with parliamentary debates, in the times both of ELIZABETH -and of CROMWELL, than, but for him, would have been possible. The -grandson of the first Sir Symonds had inherited from his ancestor a -valuable library; but its possession had no great charm for him. He was -willing to part with it, for due consideration, yet aware that he was -under an obligation, moral if not legal, not so to part with his books -as to lead to their dispersion. - -On that head, the original collector had thus expressed himself in his -last Will:—‘I bequeath to Adrian D’EWES, my young son yet lying in the -cradle, or to any other of my sons, hereafter to be born, who shall -prove my heir (if God shall vouchsafe unto me a masculine heir by whom -my surname and male line may be continued in the ages to come), my -precious library, in which I have stored up, for divers years past, with -great care, cost, and industry, divers originals and autographs, ... and -such [books] as are unprinted; and it is my inviolable injunction and -behest that he keep it entire, and not sell, divide, or dissipate it. -Neither would I have it locked up from furthering the public good, the -advancing of which I have always endeavoured; but that all lovers of -learning, of known virtue and integrity, might have access to it at -reasonable times, so that they did give sufficient security to restore -safely any original or autograph ... borrowed out of the same, ... -without blotting, erasing, or defraying it. But if God hath decreed now -at last to add an end to my family in the male line, His most holy and -just will be done!’ In that case, the testator proceeds to declare, it -is his desire that the library should pass to his daughter and her -heirs, on like conditions as to its perpetual preservation, so ‘that not -only all lovers of learning ... may have access to it at seasonable -times, but also that all collections which concern mine own family, or -my wife’s, may freely be lent ... to members thereof,’ &c. [Sidenote: -D’Ewes, _Autobiography_, in MS. Harl. (B. M.)] Then the testator adds—in -relation to the last-named clause—an averment that he had ‘only sought -after the very truth, as well in these things as in all other my -elucubrations, whilst I searched amongst the King’s records or public -offices.’ - -[Sidenote: WANLEY’S ACCOUNT OF THE ACQUISITION OF THE D’EWES LIBRARY.] - -It having come to WANLEY’S knowledge or belief, in the year 1703, that -possibly arrangements might be made to obtain this library, for the -Public, from the then possessor, he wrote to HARLEY in these terms:—‘Sir -Symonds D’EWES being pleased to honour me with a peculiar kindness of -esteem, I have taken the liberty of inquiring of him whether he will -part with his library, and I find that he is not unwilling to do so. And -that at a much easier rate than I could think for. I dare say that it -would be a noble addition to the Cotton Library; perhaps the best that -could be had anywhere at present.... If your Honour should judge it -impracticable to persuade Her Majesty to buy them for the Cotton -Library—in whose coffers such a sum as will buy them is scarcely -conceivable—then, Sir, if you shall have a mind of them yourself I will -take care that you shall have them cheaper than any other person -whatsoever. I know that many have their eyes upon this collection.’ -[Sidenote: Wanley to Harley; MS. Lansd. 841, fol. 63. (B. M.)] ‘I am -desirous,’ he goes on to say, ‘to have this collection in town for the -public good, and rather in a public place than in private hands; but, of -all private gentlemen’s studies, first in yours. I have not spoken to -anybody as yet, nor will not till I have your answer, that you may not -be forestalled.’ - -HARLEY welcomed the overture thus made to him, and WANLEY, on his -behalf, entered upon a negotiation which ended in the eventual -acquisition of the whole of the D’EWES Manuscripts for the Harleian -Collection. Soon afterwards, WANLEY became its librarian. - -In the course of this employment he watched diligently for other -opportunities of a like sort; established an active correspondence with -booksellers, both at home and abroad; and induced Lord OXFORD to send -agents to the Continent to search for manuscripts. [Sidenote: HISTORY OF -THE HARLEIAN LIBRARY, CONTINUED.] But the Earl had soon to meet an eager -rival in the book-market, in the person of Lord SUNDERLAND, who in -former years had been, by turns, his colleague and his opponent in the -keener strife of politics. In their new rivalry, Lord SUNDERLAND had one -considerable advantage. He cared little about money. If he succeeded in -obtaining what he sought for, he rarely scrutinised the more or less of -its cost. WANLEY was by nature a bargainer. He felt uneasy under the -least suspicion that any bookseller or vendor was getting the better -hand of him in a transaction. And he seems, in time, to have inoculated -Lord OXFORD with a good deal of the same feeling. Some of the entries in -his diary put this love of striking a good bargain in an amusing light. - -Thus, for example, in telling of the acquisition of a valuable monastic -chartulary which had belonged to the ‘Bedford Library’ at Cranfield, he -writes thus:—‘The said Chartulary is to be my Lord’s, and he is to -present to that library _St. Chrysostom’s Works_, in Greek and Latin, -printed at Paris, for which my Lord shall be registered a benefactor to -the said library. Moreover, Mr. FRANK will send up a list of his -out-of-course books, out of which my Lord may pick and choose any twenty -of them gratis.... I am also to advise that he is heartily willing and -ready to serve his Lordship in any library matters; ... particularly -with [Sir John] OSBORNE of Chicksand Abbey, where most part of the old -monastical library is said yet to remain.’ [Sidenote: Wanley’s _Diary_, -vol. i, pp. 13, 21. 1720, February.] And again, on another occasion:—‘My -Lord was pleased to tell me that Mr. GIBSON’S last parcel of printed -books were all his own as being gained into [the bargain with] the two -last parcels of manuscripts bought of him.’ [Sidenote: _Ib._, vol. ii, -f. 24.] GIBSON’S protest that he was entitled to an additional thirty -pounds was quite in vain. - -Of the innumerable skirmishes between librarian and bookseller which -WANLEY’S pages record with loving detail, two passages may serve as -sufficient samples:—‘VAN HOECK, a Dutchman’ he writes in 1722, ‘brought -to my Lord a small parcel of modern manuscripts, and their lowest -prices,—which proved so abominably wicked that he was sent away with -them immediately.’ And, in February, 1723:—‘BOWYER, the bookseller, came -intreating me to instruct him touching the prices of old editions, and -of other rare and valuable books, pretending that thereby he should be -the better able to bid for them; but, as I rather suppose, to be better -able to exact of gentlemen. I pleaded utter inexperience in the matter, -and, without a quarrel, in my mind rejected this ridiculous attempt with -the scorn it deserved. [Sidenote: Wanley’s _Diary_, vol. i, f. 73, -verso. MS. Lansd., 771. (B. M.)] This may be a fresh instance of the -truth of TULLIE’S paradox, “that all fools are mad.”’ - -In the year 1720, large additions were made, more especially to the -historical treasures of the Harleian Library, by the purchase of -manuscripts from the several collections of John WARBURTON (Somerset -Herald), of Archdeacon BATTELY, and of Peter SÉGUIER (Chancellor of -France). Another important accession came, in the same year, by the -bequest of Hugh THOMAS. [Sidenote: _Ibid._, pp. 35, 42, 48.] In 1721 -purchases were made from the several libraries of Thomas GREY, second -Earl of STAMFORD; of Robert PAYNELL, of Belaugh, in Norfolk; and of John -ROBARTES, first Earl of RADNOR. - - -Lord OXFORD died on the 21st May, 1724, at the age of sixty-three. -[Sidenote: DEATH OF LORD OXFORD.] WANLEY records the event in these -words: ‘It pleased God to call to His mercy Robert, Earl of OXFORD, the -founder of this Library, who long had been to me a munificent patron.’ - -[Sidenote: Corresp., in _Works_, vol. xvi, p. 438.] - -When condoling with the new Earl upon his father’s death, SWIFT wrote to -him:—‘You no longer wanted his care and tenderness, ... but his -friendship and conversation you will ever want, because they are -qualities so rare in the world, and in which he so much excelled all -others. It has pleased me, in the midst of my grief, to hear that he -preserved the greatness, the calmness, and intrepidity, of his mind to -his last minutes; for it was fit that such a life should terminate with -equal lustre to the whole progress of it.’ It is honourable alike to the -man who was thus generously spoken of, and to the friend who mourned his -loss, that the testimony so borne was a consistent testimony. The -failings of HARLEY were well known to SWIFT. In the days of prosperity -they had been freely blamed; and face to face. When those days were -gone, the good qualities only came to be dwelt upon. To the unforgiving -enemy, as to the bereaved son, SWIFT wrote about the merits of the -friend he had lost. ‘I pass over that paragraph of your letter,’ said -BOLINGBROKE, in reply, ‘which is a kind of an elegy on a departed -minister.’ - - -When the Harleian Library was inherited by the second Earl of OXFORD (of -this family) it included more than six thousand volumes of Manuscripts, -in addition to about fourteen thousand five hundred charters and rolls. -By him it was largely augmented in every department. [Sidenote: INCREASE -OF THE HARLEIAN LIBRARY BY EDWARD, EARL OF OXFORD. 1724–1741.] -[Sidenote: See MS. ADDIT., 5338. (B. M.)] He made his library most -liberally accessible to scholars; and when, by a purchase made in -Holland, he had acquired some leaves of one of the most precious -biblical manuscripts in the world—leaves which had long before been -stolen from the Royal Library at Paris—he sent them back to their proper -repository in a manner so obliging as made it apparent that his sense of -the duties of collectorship was as keen as was his sense of its -delights. At his death, on the 16th of June, 1741, the volumes of -manuscripts had increased to nearly eight thousand. The printed books -were estimated at about fifty thousand volumes, exclusive of an -unexampled series of pamphlets, amounting to nearly 400,000, and -comprising, like the manuscripts, materials for our national history of -inestimable value. - -The only daughter and heiress of the second Earl, Margaret, by her -marriage with William, Duke of PORTLAND, carried her share in a remnant -of the fortunes of the several families of CAVENDISH, HOLLES, and -HARLEY, into the family of BENTINCK. The magnificent printed library -which formed part of her inheritance was sold and dispersed. [Sidenote: -Johnson, _Account of the Harleian Library_; _Works_, vol. v, p. 181.] It -was of that collection that JOHNSON said, ‘It excels any library that -was ever yet offered to sale in the value as well as in the number of -the volumes which it contains.’ - -The Manuscripts were eventually purchased by Parliament for the sum of -ten thousand pounds. [Sidenote: THE PURCHASE OF THE HARLEIAN MSS. FOR -THE NATION.] With reference to this purchase the Duchess of PORTLAND -wrote as follows, in April, 1753, to the Speaker of the House of -Commons:—‘As soon as I was acquainted with the proposal you had made in -the House of Commons, in relation to my Father’s Collection of -Manuscripts I informed my Mother [the then Dowager Countess of OXFORD] -of it, who has given the Duke of PORTLAND and me full power to do -therein as we shall think fit. - -‘Though I am told the expense of collecting them was immense, and that, -if they were to be dispersed, they would probably sell for a great deal -of money, yet, as a sum has been named, and as I know it was my Father’s -and is my Mother’s intention that they should be kept together, I will -not bargain with the Publick. I give you this trouble therefore to -acquaint you that I am ready to accept of your proposal upon condition -that this great and valuable Collection shall be kept together in a -proper repository, as an addition to the Cotton Library, and be called -by the name of the Harleian Collection of Manuscripts. - -‘I hope you do me the justice to believe that I do not consider this as -a sale for an adequate price. [Sidenote: Duchess of Portland to Arthur -Onslow; MS. ADDIT., 17521, f. 30. (B. M.)] But your idea is so right, -and so agreeable to what I know was my Father’s intention, that I have a -particular satisfaction in contributing all I can to facilitate the -success of it.’ - - -If it were possible to give, in few words, any adequate view of the -obligations which English literature, and more especially English -historical literature, owes to the Collectors of the Harleian -Manuscripts, there could be no fitter conclusion to a biographical -notice of Robert HARLEY. Here, however, no such estimate is practicable. -Nor, in truth, can it be needed in order to convince the reader that -‘some tribute of veneration’—to use the apposite words which JOHNSON -prefixed to the Harleian Catalogue—is due to the ardour of the two -HARLEYS for literature; and ‘to that generous and exalted curiosity -which they gratified with incessant searches and immense expense; and to -which they dedicated that time and that superfluity of fortune which -many others, of their rank, employ in the pursuit of contemptible -amusements or the gratification of guilty passions.’ - - - NOTE TO CHAPTER V. - - _EXTRACTS FROM THE STUART PAPERS, REFERRING TO INTERCOURSE OF ROBERT - HARLEY, EARL OF OXFORD, WITH THE JACOBITES, AFTER THE ACCESSION OF - GEORGE I._ - - -1. [1717?] A document which, could it be recovered, would go far towards -clearing up some of the uncertainties which exist as to Lord Oxford’s -intercourse with the Pretender and his agents, subsequently to the death -of Queen Anne, was seen by Sir James Mackintosh among the Stuart Papers -acquired by George the Fourth. It was afterwards vainly searched for by -Lord Mahon, when engaged upon his _History of England, from the Peace of -Utrecht_. [Sidenote: _Edin. Rev._, vol. lxii, pp. 18, 19.] It is still -known only from the cursory notes made by Mackintosh, and referred to by -a writer in the _Edinburgh Review_ in these words: ‘During Oxford’s -confinement in the Tower there is a communication from him to the -Pretender, preserved among the Stuart Papers, offering his services and -advice; recommending the Bishop of Rochester as the fittest person to -manage the Jacobite affairs,—the writer himself being in custody; and -adding that he should never have thought it safe ‘_to engage again_ with -His Majesty if Bolingbroke himself had been still about him.’ - -2. 1717. September 29. Bishop ATTERBURY to Lord MAR:— - -‘Your accounts of what has been said here concerning some imaginary -differences abroad have not so much foundation as you may suppose. At -least, if they have, I am a stranger to it.... The result of any -discourse I shall have with [the Earl of Oxford?] will be sure to reach -you by his means. [Sidenote: _Stuart Papers_, 1717.] You will, I -suppose, have a full account of affairs here from his and other hands.’ - -3. [1717?] The same to the same. - -[Sidenote: _Ibid._] - -‘Distances and other accidents have, for some years, interrupted my -correspondence with [the Earl of Oxford?] but I am willing to renew it, -and to enter into it upon a better foot than it has ever yet stood, -being convinced that my so doing may be of no small consequence to the -service. I have already taken the first step towards it that is proper -in our situation, and will pursue that by others as fast as I can have -opportunity; hoping that the secret will be as inviolably kept on your -side as it shall be on this, so far as the nature of such a transaction -between two persons who must see one another sometimes can pass -unobserved.’ - -[Sidenote: _Edin. Rev._, as before.] - -4. 1721. ‘Among the same papers,’ says the Reviewer quoted on the -previous page, ‘there is a letter from Mrs. Oglethorpe to the Pretender -(Jan. 17, 1721), containing assurances from Lord Oxford of his eternal -respect and good wishes, which from accidental circumstances he had been -unable to convey in the usual manner.’ - -5. 1722. April 14. THE PRETENDER [to Lord OXFORD?] - -‘If you have not heard sooner or oftener from me, it hath not, I can -assure you, been my fault. Neither do I attribute to yours the long -silence you have kept on your side, but to a chain of disappointments -and difficulties which hath been also the only reason of my not finding -all this while a method of conveying my thoughts to you, and receiving -your advice, which I shall ever value as I ought, because I look upon -you not only as an able lawyer but a sincere friend. [Sidenote: _Stuart -Papers_, 1722.] This will, I hope, come soon to your hands, and the -worthy friend by whose canal I send it will accompany it, by my -directions, with all the lights and information he or I can give, and -which it is therefore useless to repeat here.’ - -6. 1722. April 16. THE PRETENDER to ATTERBURY. - -‘I am sensible of the importance of secrecy in such an affair, yet I do -not see how it will be possible to raise a sufficient sum, or to make a -reasonable concert in England, without letting some more persons into -the project. [Sidenote: _Ibid._] You on the place are best judge how -these points are to be compassed, but I cannot but think that [the Earl -of Oxford?] might be of great use on this occasion. [Lord Lansdowne?] is -to write to him on the subject, and I am confident that if you two were -to compare notes together you would be able to contrive and settle -matters on a more sure and solid foundation than they have hitherto -been.’ - -7. 1722. In a report made to the Earl of Mar by George Kelly, one of his -emissaries employed in England, it is stated that on the delivery, by -Kelly, of Mar’s letter to Atterbury, the prelate asked the messenger if -he had anything to say, in addition to the contents of the letter, and -that he replied (in the jargon of his calling): ‘It is a proposal for -joining stocks with the Earl of Oxford, and taking the management of the -Company’s business into their hands.’ Atterbury, according to this -story, required a day’s deliberation, and then told Kelly that he was -‘resolved to join both heart and hand with the Earl; and not only so, -but in the management and course of the business he would shew him all -the deference and respect that was due to a person who had so justly -filled the stations which he had been in.’ The Bishop, says Kelly, also -added that he was ‘resolved to dedicate the remainder of his days to the -King’s service, and proposed, by this reunion, to repay some part of the -personal debt which he owed to the Earl of Oxford, to whom he would -immediately write upon this subject.’ [Sidenote: _Ibid._] The messenger -goes on to assure Lord Mar that Atterbury ‘is entirely of your opinion -that there is not much good to be expected from the present managers, -and thinks it no great vanity to say that the Earl of Oxford and himself -are the fittest persons for this purpose; but the chief success of their -partnership will depend upon the secrecy of it.’ - - -Of the genuineness of the several letters,—of the credit due to the -emissaries and their reports,—even of the accurate identification, in -some instances, of the ‘Mr. Hackets,’ ‘Houghtons,’ and numerous other -pseudonyms, under which ‘Lord Oxford’ is assumed to be veiled, there -are, as yet, no adequate means of judging. - - - - - CHAPTER VI. - THE FOUNDERS OF THE SLOANE MUSEUM. - - ... ‘He pry’d through Nature’s store, - Whate’er she in th’ ethereal round contains, - Whate’er she hides beneath her verdant floor, - The vegetable and the mineral reigns. - At times, he scann’d the globe,—those small domains - Where restless mortals such a turmoil keep,— - Its seas, its floods, its mountains, and its plains.’— - THOMSON. - - _Flemish Exiles in England._—_The Adventures, Mercantile and Colonial - Enterprises, and Vicissitudes of the_ COURTENS.—_William_ COURTEN - _and his Collections.—The Life and Travels of Sir Hans_ - SLOANE—_His acquisition of_ COURTEN’S _Museum_.—_Its growth under - the new Possessor._—_History of the Sloane Museum and Library, and - of their purchase by Parliament._ - - -[Sidenote: BOOK I, Chap. VI. THE FOUNDERS OF THE SLOANE MUSEUM.] - -The history of the rise and growth of our English trade is, in a -conspicuous degree, a history of the immigration hither of foreign -refugees, and of what was achieved by their energy and industry, when -put forth to the utmost under the stimulus and the stern discipline of -adversity. Other countries, no doubt, have derived much profit from a -similar cause, but none, in Europe, to a like extent. By turns almost -all the chief countries of the Continent have sent us bands of exiles, -who brought with them either special skill in manual arts and -manufactures, or special capabilities for expanding our foreign -commerce. To Flemish refugees, and more particularly to those of them -who were driven hither by Spanish persecution in the sixteenth century, -England owes a large debt in both respects. [Sidenote: FLEMISH EXILES IN -ENGLAND.] Our historians have given more prominence of late years to -this chapter in the national annals than was ever given to it before, -but there is no presumption in saying that not a little of what was -achieved by exiles towards the industrial greatness of the nation has -yet to be told. - -Nor is it less evident that, over and above the political and public -interest of the things done, or initiated, by the new comers in their -adopted country, the personal and family annals of the exiles possess, -in not a few instances, a remarkable though subsidiary interest of their -own. In certain cases, to trace the fortunes of a refugee family, is at -once to throw some gleams of light on obscure portions of our commercial -history, and to tell a romantic story of real life. - -One such instance presents itself in the varied fortunes of the -COURTENS. [Sidenote: THE COURTENS; THEIR ADVENTURES AND ENTERPRISES.] -That family attained an unusual degree of commercial prosperity, and -attained it with unusual rapidity. In the second generation it -seemed—for a while—to have struck a deep root in our English soil. It -owned lands in half-a-dozen English counties, and its alliance was -sought by some of the greatest families in the kingdom. In the next -generation its fortunes sank more rapidly than they had risen. In the -fourth, the last of the COURTENS was for almost half his life a -wanderer, living under a feigned name, and he continued so to live when -at length enabled to return to his country. The true name had been -preserved only in the records of interminable litigation—in England, -Holland, India, and America—about the scattered wreck of a magnificent -property. But the enterprise of the family, in its palmy days, had -planted for England a prosperous colony. It had opened new paths to -commerce in the East Indies, as well as in the West. And its last -survivor found a solace for many ruined hopes in the collection of -treasures of science, art and literature, which came to be important -enough to form no small contribution towards the eventual foundation of -the British Museum. - - -[Sidenote: THE FOUNDER OF THE FAMILY.] - -In 1567 William COURTEN, a thriving dealer in linens and silks, living -at Menin in Flanders, was together with his wife, Margaret CASIER, -accused of heresy. COURTEN was thrown into the prison of the -Inquisition, but contrived both to make his escape into England, and to -enable his wife soon to join him. He established himself in London, in -the same business which had thriven with him at home. [Sidenote: Family -Records of the Courtens; in MS. Sloane, 3515, _passim_. (B. M.)] His -wife shared in its toils, and by skilfully adapting her exertions to -those tastes for finery in the families of rich citizens which were now -striving with some success against the rigour of the old sumptuary laws -made the business more prosperous than before. It expanded until the -poor haberdasher of 1567 had become a notability on the London Exchange. - -In 1571 a son was born to the exiles. This second William COURTEN was -bred as a merchant rather than as a tradesman. He had good parts, and -seems to have started into life with a passion for bold enterprise. His -early training in London was continued at Haerlem, and there he laid a -foundation for commercial success by marrying the daughter of Peter -CROMMELINCK, a wealthy merchant. First and last, his wife brought him a -dowry of £40,000, of which sum it was stipulated by the father’s will -that not less than one half should be laid out in the purchase of lands -in England, to be settled on the eldest son that should be born of the -marriage. - -[Sidenote: SIR WILLIAM COURTEN AND HIS MERCANTILE PURSUITS.] - -By the time of his attaining the age of five and thirty William COURTEN -had already become—for that period—a great capitalist. He then, in 1606, -established in London a commercial house which added to the ordinary -business of merchants on the largest scale, that of marine insurers, and -also that of adventurers in the whale fishery. His partners in the firm -were his younger brother, Peter COURTEN, and John MOUNCEY. One half of -the joint stock belonged to the founder; the other half was divided -between the junior partners. - -For nearly a quarter of a century this mercantile partnership prospered -marvellously. Its annual returns are said to have averaged £200,000. It -built more than twenty large ships, and kept in constant employment more -than four hundred seamen and fishermen. The head of the firm gradually -acquired a large landed property which included estates in the several -counties of Worcester, Gloucester, Leicester, Nottingham, Essex, and -Kent. - -This great prosperity had, of course, its drawbacks. Amongst the -earliest checks which are recorded to have befallen it was a Crown -prosecution of COURTEN (in company with several other foreign merchants -of note, among whom occur the names of BURLAMACHI, VANLORE, and DE -QUESTER) on the frequent charge—so obnoxious to the political economy of -that age—of ‘the unlawful exportation of gold.’ [Sidenote: _Domestic -Corresp._, James I, vol. cix, § 90; 96; vol. cx, § 86; vol. cxi, § 66. -_Signs Manual_, vol. xii, § 26. (R. H.)] COURTEN was brought into the -Star Chamber and was fined £20,000; a sum so enormous as to excite a -suspicion of the accuracy of the record, but for its repeated entry. The -prosecution was instituted in June, 1619; the defendant’s discharge -bears date July, 1620. But it may fairly be assumed that only a portion -of the nominal fine was really exacted. - -Another and much more serious check to the prosperity of the -enterprising merchant came from his embarking in the grand but hazardous -work of planting colonies. - -[Sidenote: 1626. COLONIAL ENTERPRISES OF SIR WM. COURTEN.] - -In 1626, William COURTEN—then Sir William, having received the honour of -knighthood at Greenwich, on the 31st of May, 1622—petitioned the King -for ‘licence to make discoveries and plant colonies in that southern -part of the world called _Terra Australis incognita_, with which the -King’s subjects have as yet no trade,’ and his petition was granted. -[Sidenote: _Domestic Corresp._, Charles I, vol. xiv, § 33.] What ensued -thereupon is thus told in an authoritative manuscript account preserved -in the Sloane collection:— - -‘Sir William COURTEN being informed, by his correspondents in Zealand, -that some Dutch men-of-war sent out upon private commission against the -Spaniards had put into the island of Barbados, and found it uninhabited, -and very fit for a plantation, did thereupon, at his own charge, set -forth two ships provided with men, ammunition, and arms, and all kinds -of necessaries for planting and fortifying the country, who landed and -entered into possession of the same in the month of February, 1626 -[1627, N.S.]... Afterwards, in the same year, he sent Captain POWELL -thither, with a further supply of servants and provisions, who, in 1627, -fetched several Indians from the mainland, with divers sorts of seeds -and roots, and agreed with them to instruct the English in planting -cotton, tobacco, indigo, &c. Sir William COURTEN having, by his partners -and servants, maintained the actual possession for the space of two -years, and peopled the island with English, Indians, and others, to the -number of eighteen hundred and fifty men, women, and children, thought -fit to make use of the Earl of PEMBROKE’S name in obtaining a patent -particularly for Barbadoes, although he had before a general grant from -the king to possess any land within a certain latitude, wherein this -island was comprehended. His Majesty having thus granted, by his Letters -Patent, dated 25 February, 1627 [1628, N.S.] the government of this -island unto the Earl of PEMBROKE, in trust for Sir William COURTEN, with -power to settle a colony according to the laws of England, Captain -POWELL had a commission to continue there as Governor, in their behalf. -The Earl of CARLISLE,’ continues the MS. narrative, ‘having, before this -Patent to the Earl of PEMBROKE, procured a grant, dated 2nd July 1627, -of all those islands lying within 10 and 20 degrees of latitude by the -name of Carliola, or Carlisle Province, with all royalties, and -jurisdictions, as amply as they were enjoyed by any Bishop of Durham, -within his bishopric or county palatine, and having also got another -patent, for the greater security of his title, dated 7th April 1628, -sent one Henry HAWLEY with two ships, who, arriving there in 1629, -invited the Governor on board, kept him prisoner, seized the forts, and -carried away the factors and servants of Sir William COURTEN and the -Earl of PEMBROKE. [Sidenote: _Ibid._ Comp. Despatches in _Colonial -Correspondence_, vol. v, §§ 1, 9, 13, 101, seqq.] The authority of the -Earl of CARLISLE being thus established was maintained.’ - -But it was only maintained after a long contest at the Council Board at -home, which contest seems to have been largely influenced by the -fluctuations of Court favour from time to time. A despatch in February, -written in behalf of CARLISLE, is followed in April by another despatch -written in behalf of PEMBROKE and COURTEN. The one fact that becomes -consistently evident throughout the proceedings is that grants of this -kind were made in the loosest fashion, and often in entire ignorance -even of the geographical positions of the countries given by them.[39] -Indeed, the common course of procedure under the STUARTS, when a -courtier had the happy thought of begging a territory in America, -reminds one of those earlier days of the TUDORS, when a favoured -suppliant sometimes obtained the grant of a monastery, or the lease of a -broad episcopal estate, with hardly more trouble than it cost him to win -a royal smile. - -To COURTEN and his colonists the issue of this quarrel about Barbadoes -was very disastrous. To some of the latter it brought ruin. But to the -founder himself a check to enterprise in one direction seems to have -brought increased stimulus to new enterprise in another direction. He -now embarked largely in adventures to the East Indies and to China. As -usual, they were planned on a magnificent scale; excited great jealousy -in the breasts of competitors; and were attended, in the long run, with -very mixed results of good and ill. - -Meanwhile, Sir William’s growing wealth—greatly exaggerated by popular -renown—and the conspicuous position into which his varied pursuits had -brought him, led to plans of enterprise by others, and of quite another -kind, at home. He had lost his first wife, and also his eldest son. He -had married a second wife,—Hester TRYON, daughter of Peter TRYON. Only -one son survived, but Sir William had three daughters, whose prospective -charms attracted many suitors. In September, 1624, King JAMES wrote a -characteristic letter in which he assured COURTEN that the son of Sir -Robert FLEETWOOD, Lord of the Scottish barony of Newton, would make a -fit match for one of the three daughters, and that the conclusion of -such a match would be very acceptable to the King himself. [Sidenote: -ALLIANCES BETWEEN THE CITY AND THE COURT.] [Sidenote: James I to Sir -Willm. Courten; _Dom. Corr._, vol. clxxii, § 71.] The pretendant would -gladly, and impartially, wed any one of the three ladies, but the King -himself, continues the royal letter, ‘will regard, as a favour, any -increase of portion given to the daughter whom FLEETWOOD may marry, over -and above the portion given to, or intended for, the other daughters.’ - -But despite so powerful a recommendation the young Baron of NEWTON -failed in his suit. Among the aspirants with whom he stood in -competition were men much higher in social position. Eventually, the -eldest daughter married Sir Edward LYTTELTON of Staffordshire. The -second daughter married Henry GREY, eighth Earl of Kent, of that family. -And the third married Sir Richard KNIGHTLEY of Fawsley. - -Royal commendations of suitors were sure, in that age, not to be the -only sample of royal letters—direct and indirect—with which a man in Sir -William COURTEN’S position became familiar. He was favoured with not a -few solicitations for advances of money on privy-seals, and in other -forms of ‘loan.’ Sometimes he complies. Sometimes he remonstrates by -specifying the large sums he contributes to the revenue in the way of -custom’s duties, and the entire incapability thence arising of the -desired response to privy-seals and the like documents. His loans, -however, to JAMES, and to CHARLES, amounted to no less a sum than -£27,000. - -[Sidenote: COMMERCIAL COMPLICATIONS IN HOLLAND.] - -The death in 1625 of his brother, Sir Peter COURTEN, deprived the firm -of its efficient representative in Holland, and laid a foundation for -great misfortunes by putting in his place an unworthy successor. The -partner resident at Middleburgh had the trust both of a large portion of -the capital of the Company, and of the chief share of its account -keeping. - -Peter BOUDAEN was a nephew of the COURTENS, and had been to some extent -admitted as a partner. His uncle Peter made him also his executor. He -thus acquired a great control over the continental affairs of the house, -just at the time when its transactions were expanding in all directions. -[Sidenote: 1631.] He proved unfaithful to his trust, applied his large -local influence to his personal advantage and to the prejudice of his -partners; and at length failed altogether to render due accounts to the -two partners in England. MOUNCEY, the junior of these, went to Holland -in order to enforce an adjustment. He had hardly entered on his task -when he died, after a very brief illness, in BOUDAEN’S house at -Middleburgh. BOUDAEN made a Will for him; asserted that the testator had -executed it, in due form of law, immediately before his death; and found -means to get the document sanctioned by the Dutch Courts, in the face of -strong opposition and of strong presumptive evidence of fraud. - -[Sidenote: ESTABLISHMENT BY SIR W. COURTEN OF THE BRITISH FISHERY - ASSOCIATION.] - -[Sidenote: _Domest. Corresp._, Charles I, vol. cclxxxvii, § 57; vol. - ccciii, § 75; cccxiii, § 16; cccxvii, § 75.] - -Sir William COURTEN, meanwhile, prosecuted with his characteristic -vigour his vast enterprises already established; made new and large -ventures in the reclaiming of waste lands in England; and established -the ‘Fishery Association of Great Britain and Ireland,’ with a view to -the rescue from the Dutch of that productive herring fishery on our own -coasts, which the growing supineness of English governments during at -least two generations had permitted to become almost a monopoly in their -hands. Of this Association COURTEN, during the closing years of his -life, was the mainspring. - -The Dutch, as was natural, strove vigorously to retain the advantage -they had acquired, and were little scrupulous about the means of -opposition. English herring busses were occasionally captured. And the -captors had the great incidental advantage in the strife of dealing with -a Government already weak at home, and yearly losing ground. - -[Sidenote: THE TRADE WITH INDIA.] - -The East Indian adventures were, at length, attended by circumstances -still more complex than those pertaining to the fishery business at -home, or to the trading in Holland. [Sidenote: _Domestic Corresp._, -Charles I, vol. cccxxiii, p. 58; vol. cccxliii, § 19.] For, in the -former, English rivalry had to be encountered, as well as Dutch rivalry. -And the rivalry took such a shape as to make the carrying on of trade -extremely like the carrying on of war. But, as if the care of these -varied interests, in addition to all the toils and anxieties of ordinary -commerce on an extraordinary scale, were all too little to occupy the -mind of a man who had now reached his sixty-sixth year, we find Sir -William COURTEN taking, just at the close of life, a new and leading -part in the business of redeeming captives who had been taken by the -pirates of Morocco and Algiers. [Sidenote: _Domestic Corresp._, Charles -I, vol. cccxv, § 16; vol. ccclxviii, § 82.] Nor was this merely an -affair of the provision of money and the conduct of correspondence. It -involved an intimate acquaintance with the circumstances and the needs -of the Barbary States, being carried on, in part, on the principle of -barter. - - -But all these far-spread activities were now fast approaching their -natural close. COURTEN’S career had been, as a whole, wonderfully -prosperous, until very near its close. Already it contained, indeed, the -germ of a series of reverses, hardly less remarkable; but the growth of -that germ was to depend on the as yet unseen course of public events. -His ambition to ‘found a family’ had also been gratified by the marriage -of his only surviving son[40]—William COURTEN, third of his name—with -the Lady Katherine EGERTON, daughter of John EGERTON, Earl of -Bridgewater. [Sidenote: _Courten Papers_, in MS. Sloane, 3515.] On that -son and his heirs, Sir William COURTEN settled landed estates amounting -to nearly seven thousand pounds a year. - -Sir William COURTEN died in June, 1636. The commercial enterprises of -all kinds which were in full activity at the time of his death were -continued by his son, who inherited large claims, large -responsibilities, and large perils. And it was of the perils that—after -his succession—he had earliest experience. - -[Sidenote: THE THIRD WILLIAM COURTEN.] - -Just before the father’s death, a complaint had been made to the Privy -Council that certain ships which he had sent to Surat and other places -had committed acts of ‘piracy near the mouth of the Red Sea.’ [Sidenote: -_Domestic Corresp._, Charles I, vol. cccxliii, § 19.] It appeared -afterwards that the ships which had given cause, or pretext, of -complaint were not COURTEN’S ships, but the accusation entailed trouble, -and was, to the heir, the beginning of troubles to come. The opposition -of the East India Company to the Indian trading of ‘interlopers’ (as -they were called already) was unremitting and bitter. [Sidenote: -_Courten Papers_, in MS. Sloane, 3515, p. 38.] In June, 1637, William -COURTEN, with a view to arm himself for the encounter, obtained from the -Crown letters patent which empowered himself and his associates to trade -with all parts of the East, ‘wheresoever the East India Company had not -settled factories or trade before the twelfth day of December, 1635.’ -One of his chief associates under the new grant was Endymion PORTER, and -it appears that it was partly by PORTER’S influence at Court that the -grant had been procured. - -Renewed activity was now shown in prosecuting the Eastern trade; new and -large ventures were made in it. On some occasions as many as seven -well-appointed ships were sent out by COURTEN and his associates at one -time. Instructions are still extant which were given to the chief -agents, supercargoes, and factors, for the settlement of English -factories at many important places where none had heretofore existed. -They are marked by great sagacity and breadth of view, and, in several -points, contrast advantageously with contemporary documents of a like -kind. - -[Sidenote: SEIZURE BY THE DUTCH OF THE BONA ESPERANZA AND HENRY - BONADVENTURE IN THE INDIAN SEAS.] - -The enterprise was pursued, as it seems, with satisfactory results until -the year 1643, when, in the Straits of Malacca, two richly-laden vessels -of the COURTEN fleet were seized by the Dutch. Subsequent proceedings -show that the value of the ships and their cargoes, with the contingent -losses, exceeded £150,000. Along with this severe blow came the -interruptions and injuries to trade at home, which were the inevitable -accompaniment of the Civil War. Soon after it, there came indications -that the loss to Sir William COURTEN’S representatives by the misconduct -of Peter BOUDAEN at Middleburgh would but too probably prove to be a -loss without present remedy. It appears to have been established by the -evidence adduced in the course of the almost interminable litigation -which ensued that there was due from BOUDAEN to his partners a sum of -£122,000; none of which, it may be added, seems ever to have been -recovered. And the debt which had been contracted by JAMES THE FIRST and -his successor, though less grievous in amount, was at this time even -more hopeless. - -Under the pressure of such a combination of misfortunes, William COURTEN -found himself practically and suddenly insolvent. He met some of the -most pressing claims upon him by the sale of available portions of his -landed property. He assigned other portions of his estates to trustees, -and became himself an exile. He survived the ruin of the brilliant hopes -and expectations to which he had been born about ten years; dying at -Florence in the year 1655. He left, by his marriage with Lady Katherine -EGERTON, one son and one daughter. - - -[Sidenote: WILLIAM COURTEN, FOUNDER OF THE SLOANE MUSEUM.] - -The fourth William COURTEN was born in London on the 28th March, 1642. -He was baptized at St. Gabriel Fenchurch, on the 31st of that month. The -downfall of his family was therefore very nearly contemporaneous with -his own birth, and makes it explicable that no record can now be found -of the places of his education, or of the course of his early years. But -the first trace which does occur of him is in exact harmony with the one -fact which makes his existence memorable to his countrymen. [Sidenote: -_Museum Tradescantianum_, (1656).] He appears, at the age of fourteen, -in the list of benefactors to the Tradescant Museum, at Lambeth, a -collection which afterwards became the basis of the Ashendean Museum at -Oxford. - -The Tradescants—father and son—hold a conspicuous place in the history -of Botanical Science in England, and they are especially notable as the -founders of the first ‘Museum’ worthy of the name, which was established -in this country. The next collection of note, after theirs, was that -formed by Robert HUBERT, in his house near St. Paul’s Cathedral. Other -collectors—as for example, John CONYERS and Dr. John WOODWARD—soon -followed the example. But in this path all of them were far outstripped -by COURTEN, who had marked his early bias, and also his characteristic -liberality, by his gift to the TRADESCANTS in 1656. - -Part of COURTEN’S youth was passed at Montpelier, where he formed the -acquaintance of several men then, or afterwards, famous for their -scientific acquirements. Amongst them, and with the local advantages for -the study of the natural sciences, in particular, for the possession of -which Montpelier was already noted, his tastes for observation and study -were developed, and his character took the ply which soon became -indelible. - -If he ever possessed any share at all of the qualities and -predispositions for mercantile adventure, which had marked so many -generations of his ancestors on the father’s side, that share was far -too weak an element in his composition to resist the discouragements of -adverse circumstances. But as he attained manhood, he found himself -immersed—unwittingly in part—in a sea of litigation which boded ill to -his prospective enjoyment of leisure for scientific studies, whatever -might prove to be its ultimate results upon his worldly fortunes. - -[Sidenote: THE SUITS AND CLAIMS INSTITUTED BY GEORGE CAREW, ON BEHALF OF - COURTEN AND OF THE CREDITORS.] - -Some of the later enterprises of Sir William COURTEN had been carried on -in conjunction with another famous merchant, Sir Paul PINDAR, who like -himself was a large creditor of the Crown. The administration of -PINDAR’S estate had fallen into the hands of a certain George CAREW, who -seems to have imagined that the restoration of royal authority in -England would bring with it opportunities, to an energetic man, of -winning a new fortune out of the remnants of the old fortunes which the -fall of royalty had helped to ruin. [Sidenote: _Courten Papers_, in MSS. -Sloane, 3515; 3961; and 3962.] Just before CHARLES THE SECOND came back, -this man busied himself in buying up claims against COURTEN’S estate as -well as claims against PINDAR’S. He had a stock of energy. He had also -the prospect of acquiring a good standpoint at Court, in addition to his -present possession of a good training in the mysteries of English law. -He was ready to devote all his energies to the business, and to -encounter at once with the Dutch East India Company, the Dutch Republic, -the Government of Barbadoes, and a host of adversaries at home. - -There had, however, been no Commission of Bankruptcy. It was necessary -that the battle should be fought as well in the name of the heir and -representative of the family, as in the name of the collective body of -creditors. CAREW used COURTEN’S name and used it, as it appears, for -some years without authority from the legal guardian. COURTEN himself -did not become of age until 1663. - -The Restoration was hardly effected before CAREW besieged the King and -the Courts with Petitions, Memorials, Claims, and Bills of Plaint. He -would lose nothing for lack of asking. And he was undeterred by -difficulties or rebuffs. - -[Sidenote: THE BARBADOES CLAIM.] - -The case of Barbadoes was thus put before the Committee of the Privy -Council for America:— - -‘COURTEN claims the whole island of Barbadoes; and, more particularly, -the Corn Plantation, the Indian Bridge Plantation, the Fort Plantation, -the Indian Plantation eastwards, and Powell’s plantation. Sir William -COURTEN’S ships discovered the island in the year 1626, and left fifty -people there. Captain Henry POWELL landed there in February, 1627, built -[houses] for COURTEN’S colony, and left more than forty inhabitants -there. John POWELL erected Plantation Fort, and remained until he was -surprised in 1628 by a force under Charles WOLVERTON, by which the fort -was captured. [Sidenote: _Colonial Correspondence_, vol. xiv, §§ 37, 39, -42.] In 1629, Sir William COURTEN sent eighty men with arms, in the -‘Peter and John,’ and they retook the fort in the name of the Earl of -PEMBROKE, Trustee for COURTEN, according to the royal grant.’ And then -the Petition recites the recapture, under the conflicting Patent of the -Earl of Carlisle, as I have described it already. - -There is, of course, no foundation for the statement that Barbadoes was -‘discovered’ by the ships of COURTEN. In other respects, the details -here set forth appear to be sustained by the evidence. - -[Sidenote: _Domestic Corresp._, Charles II, vol. xx, § 77; and xlviii, § - 48.] - -In order to the recovery of the debt from the Crown, CAREW suggested, in -another petition, and quite in the fashion of the day, that the -Petitioners should have ‘leave to raise the money’ due to the COURTEN -Estate from the estates of John LISLE, Thomas SCOTT, Thomas ANDREWS, and -others, concerned in the murder of the late King. In a third petition, -he prayed that ‘a blank warrant for the dignity of a baronet’ might be -granted, in order to sell it to the best bidder, and to apply the -proceeds in partial satisfaction of the debt. - -[Sidenote: THE CASE OF THE EAST INDIA SHIPS.] - -But it was to the prosecution of the claim upon the Dutch Republic for -the unwarranted seizure, in 1643, of the rich ships of the East India -Fleet that CAREW devoted his best energies. The damages were put at -£163,400. The main facts of the case were fully substantiated. And a -royal letter was addressed to the States General on the 21st of March, -1662, claiming full satisfaction. - -A Memorial was delivered at the Hague in the April following, by the -English Ambassador, Sir George DOWNING, in which, after a general -statement of the case at issue, he went on to say: ‘Whereas it may seem -strange that this matter may be set on foot at this time, whereas in the -year 1654 Commissioners were sent to England who did end several matters -relating to the East Indies, and whereas in the year 1659 several -matters of a fresher date were also ended, and thereby a period put to -all other matters of difference which had happened about the same time, -and were known in Europe before the 20th of January in the same year, it -is to be considered that the persons interested in these ships were such -as, for their singular and extraordinary activity to His Majesty, ... -father to the King my master, were rendered incapable of obtaining or -pursuing their just rights, at home or abroad. [Sidenote: _Memorial -delivered to the States General_, at the Hague, 19 April, 1662.] And -upon that account it is that the business of the two ships remains yet -in dispute, though several matters of a much fresher date have been -ended.’ - -When these proceedings were initiated by Sir George DOWNING at the -Hague, COURTEN himself was still in his minority. But it is probable -that he had already returned to England. - -COURTEN’S first personal appearance upon the scene was also made in the -way of presenting a petition to the King. [Sidenote: MS. Sloane 3515.] -In July 1663, he thus alleged that the steps which had been taken were -without his concurrence or knowledge, ‘and, as is feared, with intention -to deprive him of his claims.’ The King referred the petition to Sir -Geoffrey PALMER, who pronounced in COURTEN’S favour. - - -His position was one of great embarrassment. [Sidenote: THE AGREEMENT -BETWEEN COURTEN AND CAREW.] Some of his family connexions had already -suffered much annoyance from litigation about the COURTEN Estates at -home, and were little inclined to incur further risk or trouble on -behalf of a relative whose inheritance was certain to yield abundance of -immediate vexation and anxiety, and very uncertain in respect to its -prospects of any better harvest in the end. [Sidenote: 1663.] He was -advised to sell the remnant of his entailed estates, to put the product -of the sale out of danger from any adverse issue of pending claims, and -to come to terms with CAREW for the prosecution of the latter—or of some -of them—on a joint account. In accordance with this advice, an agreement -was made, in the course of 1663, by which CAREW was empowered to pursue -the claims against the Netherlands, as well on COURTEN’S behalf as on -his own and that of other creditors. The remaining landed estates in -Worcestershire and other counties—or nearly all that remained of -them—were sold, and a life income was secured. - -For the next half dozen years COURTEN’S life was almost that of a -recluse, save that such activities as it admitted of were devoted almost -exclusively to the study of antiquities and of the natural sciences. A -great part of those years was passed at Fawsley with his aunt, Lady -KNIGHTLEY, one of the few relatives whose affection stood the proof of -adversity. - - -There are several reasons for thinking that the rudimentary foundation -of COURTEN’S Museum had been laid as early as in the time of his -grandfather, Sir William, whose mercantile and colonial enterprises -presented so many opportunities for bringing into England the more -curious productions of remote countries, as well as their merchandise. -Be that as it may, the collection of a museum which should eclipse -everything of its kind theretofore known in England became, from his -attainment of manhood, the leading aim and object of William COURTEN’S -career. It was to him both an ambition and a solace. - -The other of the two men who thus came into brief contact in 1663 lived -a life as different from COURTEN’S as can well be conceived. CAREW seems -to have been a glutton in his appetite for contention. [Sidenote: -_Pretentien tegens d’Oost-Indische Compagnie_, &c. (B. M.)] And the -Dutchmen, as far as they were concerned, put no stint upon its -indulgence. There was also ample time for it. Treaty followed by war, -and war leading to renewed treaty, kept the affair of the _Bona -Esperanza_ and the _Henry Bon-Adventure_ both in active historical -memory, and in full legal vigour. Towards the close of 1662 it had been -covenanted by the English government, as a necessary condition of a good -understanding between the two Powers, that there should be a prompt -satisfaction of damages. The Treaty of Commerce of that year was tossed -to and fro on that one point of the COURTEN ships with more obstinate -pertinacity than on any other. To the intrinsic merits of the claim, in -the main, there was really no answer. To the legal technicalities by -which its settlement, if left to Dutch courts of judicature, could be -indefinitely protracted, there was no end. [Sidenote: THE CLAIMS IN -HOLLAND.] When letters of dismissal had been already drawn at Whitehall -for the Dutch envoys of 1662, because they insisted on a clause -extinguishing all outstanding claims on both sides; they skilfully -contrived to substitute leave to litigate[41] for a proviso to satisfy. -And the event justified their forecast. - -[Sidenote: _Domestic Corresp._, Charles II, vol. cxiii, § 143.] - -During the year 1665, Letters of Marque and Reprisal were granted to -CAREW and his associates, and a special clause of continuance until the -full recovery of debt and damages,[42] notwithstanding the conclusion of -any subsequent Treaty of Peace was inserted. This was done after an -elaborate argument before the Lord Chancellor CLARENDON. Several ships -were taken by CAREW’S cruisers, but they were nearly all claimed by -Hamburghers, Swedes, and others. And at length the cost of the reprisals -exceeded their yield. - -In this case, and throughout it, as in so many other and graver cases, -the policy of CHARLES THE SECOND’S ministers was a policy of the passing -exigence. Principle had always to vail to expediency. The Dutch were -permitted, after all, to insert their favorite extinction clause in the -Treaty of Breda (21 July, 1667). Five years later, the Privy Council -advised the King that ‘it is just and reasonable for your Majesty to -insist upon reparation for the debt and damages’ sustained by the -seizure, in 1643, of the _Bona Esperanza_ and her consort. New Letters -of Marque led to the capture of more vessels, duly provided with a -diversity of flag; and to the imprisonment, in England, of the captors, -before trial or inquiry. Meanwhile, CAREW himself was seized abroad, and -put into a Dutch prison. [Sidenote: _Courten Papers_, in MS. Sloane, -3515.] And, at length, in 1676, the States of Holland sent express -orders to their courts of judicature, directing that ‘no further -progress shall be made in the pending suits,’ grounding the order upon -the proviso in the treaty of 1667, as extinctive of all claims and -pretensions, whatsoever, advanced by Englishmen against Dutch citizens, -be the foundation and history of such claims what they might. This -decree, therefore, operated in bar, as well of the claims of the -representatives of Sir William COURTEN, for the debt of Peter BOUDAEN, -as of those arising out of the seizure of the ships of the East India -Fleet. It was estimated that the COURTEN claims then pending in the -Courts of Holland amounted, in the aggregate, to £380,000 sterling.[43] - -In May, 1683, a petition was presented to the English government, in -which humble prayer was made that that government would be graciously -pleased ‘to perpetuate the memory of Sir William COURTEN and of Sir Paul -PINDAR, by setting up their statues in marble under the piazzas of the -Royal Exchange—Sir William COURTEN’S at the end of the “Barbadoes walk” -at the one side, and Sir Paul PINDAR’S at the end of the “Turkey walk” -of the other side—for encouragement to all merchants, in future ages, -[Sidenote: _Vox Veritatis_, 1683. (B. M.)] to take examples by them for -loyalty and fidelity to their King and country.’ - - -[Sidenote: COURTEN’S SECOND VISIT TO FRANCE, AND HIS TRAVELS.] - -COURTEN did his best to avoid any personal share in those unceasing -turmoils, and to keep in the quiet paths of a studious retirement. But -he presently found that, in order to secure his end, he must needs do as -his father had done before him. He must leave England, either for Italy -or for France. When his mind was made up to exile, it was also made up -to the relinquishment of his name. William COURTEN became, even to his -nearest relatives, ‘William CHARLETON.’ - -The friendships he had already formed at Montpelier, in his youth, and -the local charms of that city for a studious man, incited him to revisit -his old retreat. But he made no permanent abode there. He took long -tours, in France, in Germany, and in Italy; adding everywhere both to -the stores of his knowledge and to the presses and cabinets of his -library and museum. It was during his second stay at Montpelier that he -formed his life-long friendships with a famous Frenchman, Joseph PITTON -DE TOURNEFORT, and with a more famous Englishman, John LOCKE. Here also -began his acquaintance with Dr. (afterwards Sir) Hans SLOANE. - - -It was at SLOANE’S instance that he made his solitary appearance as an -author, in the shape of a communication to the Royal Society, which was -laid before them in 1679, and afterwards printed in the _Philosophical -Transactions_, [Sidenote: _Philosoph. Transact._, vol. xxvii, pp. 485, -seqq.] under the title: _Experiments and Observations of the Effects of -several sorts of Poisons upon Animals, made at Montpelier_. - - -Thirteen or fourteen years were thus passed. And then, to the natural -yearning of an exile, there came the strong reinforcement of the call of -large collections for a settled abode. There are few claims to fixity of -tenure better grounded than are those of a Museum or a Library. - -[Sidenote: RETURN TO ENGLAND.] - -The return was not easy, but the difficulties were faced. It is probable -that he came back to England in the summer of 1684. He did not then own -one acre of that land of which his father had inherited so respectable a -breadth in half a dozen counties. He had not long arrived before one of -his nearest friends wrote him a letter, which seemed to bode ill for his -prospects of a peaceable life. ‘The number of creditors,’ wrote Richard -SALWEY to him, on the 18th August, 1684, ‘is incredible, for the debts -are standing, and multiplied to children and grandchildren, who, so long -as the parchment and the wax can be preserved, will not forego their -hopes nor attempts. And I fear your late so public station[44] will -daily expose you, and that you will at every backstairs and turning be -pulled by the sleeve and provoked. [Sidenote: Salwey to ‘Charlton;’ MS. -Sloane, 3962, f. 191.] Nor yet do I know of any danger consequent in any -suit that can be commenced, except putting you to great trouble and like -expenses;—and I fear you have not a superfluous bank to defray the -charge.’ - -COURTEN, however, was not seriously molested. He established himself in -London as the occupant of a large suite of chambers in Essex Court, -Middle Temple. Here his collections were conveniently arranged, and they -had space to expand. [Sidenote: ESTABLISHMENT OF THE COURTEN MUSEUM.] -Ere long we find mention of his Museum as filling ten rooms. - -Of the cost at which it had been gathered, there are now no adequate and -authenticated materials for forming an estimate. But in those days the -man who himself travelled on such a quest had a vast advantage over the -man—howsoever better provided with what in the sixteenth century was -called purse-ability—who sent other men to travel in his stead. In -COURTEN’S days no dealers explored the Continent as an ordinary incident -of their calling. The wreck, too, of such a fortune as that of the -COURTENS was not contemptible. [Sidenote: _Courten Papers_, in MS. -Sloane, 3962; 303.] When living in France (1677–79) our collector -appears to have had an income of about fifteen hundred pounds a year, -accruing from money invested in mortgages and in annuities. - -Although his chief collections were of his own gathering, he had many -helpers. Among them was the future inheritor of his Museum, Hans SLOANE. -In the year 1687, when about to set out on his voyage to the West -Indies, SLOANE wrote to him: ‘I design to send you what is curious from -the several islands we land at,—which will be most of our plantations.’ -[Sidenote: Sloane to ‘Charlton;’ _Ib._, 308.] The writer was then a -young man. Probably his acquaintance with COURTEN was at that time of -not greater standing than eight or nine years, but he writes of the -obligations COURTEN had then already conferred upon him: ‘I am extremely -obliged to you, beyond any in the world.’[Sidenote: _Ibid._] - -The use this Collector made of his treasures was as liberal as the zeal -with which he had amassed them was indefatigable. The friend whose -correspondence has just been quoted said, after COURTEN’S death, that he -was wont to show his Museum very freely, and to make his stores -contribute, in various ways, ‘to the advancement of the glory of God, -the honour and renown of the country, and the no small promotion of -knowledge and the useful arts.’ - -Many notices are extant—scattered here and there in the _Diaries_ and -among the correspondence of the day—of visits made to COURTEN’S Museum -by men who were able to judge of what they saw. Those notices confirm -the general statement made by SLOANE, and show the comprehensiveness of -the collector’s tastes as well as the geniality of his character. Two -such notices have an especial interest, which is not lessened by the -fact that both of them are to be found in diaries that are well known. -They record the visits to Essex Court of John EVELYN, and of John -THORESBY. - -[Sidenote: EVELYN’S VISIT TO COURTEN’S MUSEUM.] - -EVELYN paid his first visit in charming company. It was made in -December, 1686. He thus tells of it in his journal: ‘I carried the -Countess of SUNDERLAND to see the rarities of one Mr. CHARLTON, in the -Middle Temple, who showed us such a collection as I had never seen in -all my travels abroad—either of private gentlemen, or of princes. It -consisted of miniatures, drawings, shells, insects, medals, ... -minerals; all being very perfect and rare of their kind; especially his -books of birds, fishes, flowers, and shells, drawn and miniatured to the -life. He told us that one book stood him in three hundred pounds. -[Sidenote: _Diary_, &c., vol. ii, p. 260. (Edit. of 1854.)] It was -painted by that excellent workman whom the late GASTON, Duke of Orleans, -employed.[45] This gentleman’s whole collection, gathered by himself -[while] travelling over most parts of Europe, is estimated at eight -thousand pounds. He appeared to be a modest and obliging person.’ - -EVELYN records two other visits, which he made at subsequent times. It -is obvious that during almost the whole period which elapsed between -COURTEN’S return to England and his death, his museum was a place of -frequent and fashionable resort; notwithstanding the warning which its -owner had received as to the perils of a ‘public station,’ under his -peculiar circumstances. To the celebrated diarist himself, his visits -seem to have suggested a very natural thought of the public value of -such an institution, to be maintained by and for the country at large. -And he was very far from keeping the idea to himself. EVELYN lived to a -more than ordinary term of years, but not long enough to see his idea -carried into act. He had, however, helped to prepare the way. - -His incidental statement about the estimated money value of the COURTEN -Museum does not invalidate a foregoing remark in this chapter. The -estimate can hardly have been founded upon better ground than mere -conjecture. But it is curious to note the near approach of the guess of -1686 to another guess, on the same small point, made nine years later. - -THORESBY’S visit occurred in May, 1695. He records it thus: ‘Walked to -Mr. CHARLTON’S chambers at the Temple, who very courteously showed me -his Museum, which is perhaps the most noble collection of natural and -artificial curiosities, of ancient and modern coins and medals, that any -private person in the world enjoys. It is said to have cost him seven or -eight thousand pounds sterling.... [Sidenote: Thoresby, _Diary_, 1695, -May 24, vol. i, p. 299.] I spent the greatest part of my time amongst -the coins; for though the British and Saxon be not very extraordinary, -yet his [collection of] the silver coins of the Emperors and Consuls is -very noble. He has also a costly collection of medals of eminent persons -in Church and State, and of domestic and foreign Reformers. But, before -I was half satisfied, an unfortunate visit from the Countess of PEMBROKE -and other ladies from Court prevented further queries.’ - -The visits of the ‘ladies from Court’ may not have seemed quite so -unfortunate to the host who had to entertain them, as to the zealous -antiquary whose recondite questions they broke off. At all events, such -visits must have been to COURTEN like renewed glimpses of the gayer life -of which he had known something in his early days. - -In learned leisure, and in quiet pleasures such as these, his life -passed gently to its end. He kept up his correspondence as well with -some of the surviving friends of his youth, as with two or three of the -eminent scholars and naturalists with whom he had made acquaintance -during the travel-years of middle life. Failing to raise his fortunes to -the height of his early hopes, he yet won contentment by bringing down -his desires to the level of his means. He ceased to trouble himself with -claims on the Dutch Republic, or with pretensions to a proprietorship in -the Island of Barbadoes, or even about his interest in debts contracted -by the Crown of England. He had been able, in spite of all losses, to -open to his contemporaries means of culture and of mental recreation -which, on any like scale, had been before unknown to them. Only in the -most famous cities of Italy had the like then been seen. And he had the -final satisfaction of making the secured continuance of his Museum the -means of further securing, at the same time, the comfort and prosperity -of some humble friends and dependants whose faithful attention had -helped to solace his own closing years. Nor had he neglected those -consolations which are supreme. - -William COURTEN’S Will was made on his death-bed, in March, 1702. Having -bequeathed certain pecuniary legacies—increased two days afterwards by -codicil—and having provided for the payment of his debts, he made Dr. -Hans SLOANE his residuary legatee and sole executor. He forbade all -display at his funeral. He died, at Kensington, on the 26th of March, -1702, wanting two days of the completion of his sixtieth year.[46] He -was buried in Kensington churchyard, near the south-east door of the -church. By his friend and executor an altar-tomb, carved by Grinling -GIBBONS, was placed above his remains, with this inscription:— - - Juxtà hic sub marmoreo tumulo - jacet GULIELMUS COURTEN, cui Gulielmus pater, Gulielmus avus, - mater, Catharina, Joannis Comitis de Bridgwater filia, - Paternum vel ad Indos præclarum Nomen; - qui tantis haudquaquam degener parentibus, - Summâ cum laude vitæ decurrit tramitem; - Gazarum per Europam indagator sedulus, - quas hinc illinc sibi partas negavit nemini, - sed cupientibus exposuit humanissimè, - Non avaræ mentis pabulum, sed ingenii - si quid naturæ, si quid artis nobile - Opus, id quovis pretio suum esse voluit - ut musis lucidum conderet sacrarium; - ast mortis hæc non sunt curæ! - Hic Musarum cultor tam eximius, - Hic tam insignis viator, - Obiit, Quievit, 7 Cal. Apr. A.D. 1702. - Vixit annos 62, menses xi, dies 28. - Pompa, quam vivus fugit, ne mortuo fieret, testamento cavit, - sed hoc qualecumque monumentum, - et quam potuit immortalitatem, - bene merenti mœrens dedit - HANS SLOANE, M.D. - - -Sir Hans SLOANE was the seventh and youngest son of Alexander SLOANE, a -Scotchman who had married one of the daughters of Dr. George HICKES, -Prebendary of Winchester, and who had settled in Ireland on receiving -the appointment of receiver-general of the estates of the Lord CLANEBOY, -afterwards Earl of CLANRICARDE. [Sidenote: LIFE OF SIR HANS SLOANE.] He -was born at Killileagh, in the county Down, on the 16th of April, 1660. - -We learn that almost from earliest youth, Hans SLOANE evinced his -possession of quick parts and of keen powers of observation. And he gave -early indications of that happy constitution of mind and will which now -and then permits the union of intellectual ambition and aspiration, with -not a little of prudential shrewdness. A special bias towards the study -of the natural sciences was—as it has often been in like cases—one of -the things that were soonest taken note of by those about him. Faculties -such as these naturally pointed to medicine as a fitting profession for -their early possessor. His home studies, however, were checked by a -severe illness which threatened his life, and from some of the effects -of which he never quite recovered. But that illness helped to qualify -him for his future profession. If it took away, for life, the likelihood -that the bright promises of the dawn would be altogether realized in his -maturity, it seems to have strengthened, in an unusual degree, both the -prudential element which already marked his character, and his -predisposition to rely mainly, for the success of his plans, upon -plodding industry. From youth to old age an unweariable power of taking -pains was his leading characteristic. - -In his eighteenth year he came to London with the immediate object of -studying chemistry and botany, before he entered on other studies more -distinctively medical. [Sidenote: EARLY STUDIES IN LONDON;] [Sidenote: -1677–1682.] He learned chemistry under STAPHORST,[47] and of botany he -acquired a good deal of knowledge by frequenting, with much assiduity, -the recently founded Botanical Garden at Chelsea. In the latter pursuit -he met with assistance from the intelligent keeper of the garden, Mr. -WATTS. [Sidenote: _MS. Corresp._] And ere long he acquired the -friendship of John RAY, and of Robert BOYLE. - -After six years of steady educational labours, both scientific and -medical, he went to Paris, which possessed in 1683—and long -afterwards—facilities for medical education far superior to any that -could then be found in London. [Sidenote: AND IN FRANCE.] [Sidenote: -1683–4.] His companions in the journey were Dr. Tancred ROBINSON and Dr. -WAKELEY. - -SLOANE had scarcely got farther into France than the town of Dieppe, -before it was his good fortune to make the acquaintance of Nicholas -LEMERY, and to find himself able to communicate to that eminent chemist -the results of some novel experiments. [Sidenote: _Eloge_, in _Mém. de -l’Acad. des Sciences_ (1753); and _MS. Correspondence_. (B. M.)] They -journeyed together from Dieppe to Paris, and the acquaintance thus -casually formed was productive of good to both of them. The studies -begun in Ireland, and assiduously continued in London, were now matured -in Paris under men of European fame. And the young botanist who -heretofore could profit only by the infant garden established by the -London apothecaries at Chelsea, and by an occasional botanizing ramble -into the country, could now expatiate at will in the magnificent _Jardin -des Plantes_ of the King of FRANCE. In that botanical university SLOANE, -too, had TOURNEFORT—four years his senior—for his frequent companion and -fellow-student. - -In July, 1683, he took his degree as Doctor of Medicine in the -University of Orange. Thence he went to Montpelier, where he resided -until nearly the end of May, 1684. After visiting Bordeaux, and some -other parts of France, he returned to Paris. There were few towns, in -which he made any stay, that had not given him some friend or other, in -addition to a valuable accession of knowledge. And the friendships he -had once formed were but rarely lost. - -Towards the close of 1684 Dr. SLOANE returned to England, whither the -reputation of his increased acquirements had preceded him. In January, -1685, he was chosen a Fellow of the Royal Society, and exactly one year -afterwards he was proposed for election as Assistant-Secretary. Among -the other candidates were Denis PAPIN and Edmund HALLEY. On the first -scrutiny, SLOANE had ten votes; HALLEY sixteen. The majority was not -enough, but on a second ballot HALLEY was chosen. Early in 1687 he -became a Fellow of the College of Physicians. He had thus early laid -some foundation for a London practice that would lead him to social -eminence, as well as to fortune. And for the good gifts of fortune he -had a very keen relish. - -Loving wealth well, he loved science still better. But he had already -good reason to hope that both might be won, in company. He had become -known to Christopher MONK, second Duke of ALBEMARLE, and when that -nobleman received, in 1687, the office of Governor-General of the West -India Colonies, SLOANE received an invitation to sail with him, as the -Duke’s physician and as Chief Physician to the fleet; and he was desired -to name his own conditions, if disposed to accept the appointment. - -He did not take any long time to think over the offer. If it presented -no very brilliant prospect of monetary profit, it opened a large field -for scientific research. [Sidenote: THE VOYAGE TO JAMAICA.] And, in the -main, the field was new. [Sidenote: 1687.] No Englishman had ever yet -been tempted to take so long a journey in the interests of science. He -knew that he had excellent personal qualifications for turning to good -account the large opportunities of discovery that such a voyage was sure -to bring. Nor was it less certain that it would bring innumerable -occasions for enlarging his strictly professional knowledge. And he had -on his side the vigour of youth, as well as its curiosity and its -enthusiasm. - -In annexing to his reply the conditions of his acceptance he wrote thus: -‘If it be thought fit that Dr. SLOANE go physician to the West Indian -Fleet, the surgeons of all the ships must be ordered to observe his -directions.... He proposes that six hundred pounds, _per annum_, shall -be paid to him quarterly, with a previous payment of three hundred -pounds, in order to his preparation for this service; and also that if -the Fleet shall be called home he shall have leave to stay in the West -Indies if he pleases.’ The proposed terms were approved. [Sidenote: -_Corresp._ in MS. Sloane, 4069, ff. 86, 87.] The Doctor embarked at -Portsmouth, in the Duke’s frigate _Assistance_, on the 12th of -September. - -His work as a scientific collector began at Madeira. [Sidenote: _Ibid._, -MS. Sloane, 3962, f. 310.] To botanize in that pleasant island was an -enjoyment all the more welcome after an unusual share of suffering from -seasickness, in the midst of professional toil. For it was honourably -characteristic of SLOANE that, under all circumstances and forms of -temptation, medical duties had the first place with him. What he -achieved for science, throughout his life, was achieved in the intervals -of more immediate duty. - -He reached Barbadoes in November. Thence he wrote to COURTEN: ‘This is -indeed a new world in all things. You may be sure the task I have is -already delightful to me.’ [Sidenote: Sloane to Courten; _Ib._, 1687, -Nov. 28.] Then he continues: ‘I am heartily sorry that I, being new -landed here, cannot now send [what I have collected for you] with this -letter. What I had at Madeira cannot be come at. What is here I have -not, as yet, gathered. But you may assure yourself that what these parts -of the West Indies afford is all your own, the best way I can send -them.’ - -The collections begun thus favourably were continued at the beginning of -December in the islands of Nevis, St. Christopher, and Hispaniola. The -fleet reached Port Royal on the 19th of that month. Jamaica was explored -with ardent enthusiasm and with minutest care. Its animals and minerals, -as well as its plants; its history, as well as its meteorology, were -thoroughly studied. [Sidenote: Medical Cases appended to _Voyage to -Jamaica_; vol. i (1708).] And the medical skill of the new-comer was put -as heartily at the service of the toil-worn negro as at that of the -wealthiest planter, or of the highest officer of the Crown. - -But presently SLOANE himself needed the care and skill he so willingly -bestowed. ‘I had a great fever,’ he says, ‘though those about me called -it a little seasoning.’ He had scarcely recovered before his knowledge -of the natural history of Jamaica was suddenly and unpleasantly -increased. - -‘Ever since the beginning of February,’ I find him writing to the Lord -Chief Justice HERBERT (who seems to have been one of the earliest of the -many patients who became also friends): ‘I dread earthquakes more than -heat. For then we had a very great one. Finding the house to dance and -the cabinets to reel, I looked out of window to see whether people -removed the house (a wooden structure) or no. Casting my eyes towards an -aviary, I saw the birds in as great concern as myself. Then, another -terrible shake coming, I apprehended what it was, and betook me to my -heels to get clear of the house; but before I got down stairs it was -over. If it had come the day after, it had frighted us ten times more. -[Sidenote: Sloane to Lord Chief Justice Herbert; MS. Sloane, 4069, ff. -277, 278.] For the day it happened there arrived a Spanish sloop from -Porto Bello, giving an account of the destruction of great part of the -kingdom of Peru.’ - -Long before this letter was written the exploring studies and expedition -had been resumed with all the activity of renewed health, and they were -carried on—at every available interval, as I have said, of pressing -medical duty—throughout the year 1688. That eventful year, during which -the thoughts and anxieties of the mass of his countrymen were so -differently engrossed, was to SLOANE the especial seedtime of his study -of Nature. All that he was enabled to effect in that attractive path may -now seem very small and dim, when viewed in the light of subsequent -achievements. But it was great for that day, when, in England, the path -was so newly opened that the possession of a taste for collecting -insects was thought, by able men of the world, to be a strong -presumption of lunacy. And it soon fired the ambition of a multitude of -inquirers who rapidly carried the good work of investigation onward, in -all directions. - -Towards the close of the year, the Duke of ALBEMARLE suddenly died. The -contingency for which SLOANE had had the foresight to make provision had -arisen, but in a quite unexpected way; so that his forecast failed to -secure him that time for continued research which he had coveted and -contracted for. The Duchess of ALBEMARLE had accompanied her husband in -his voyage, and, after the first shock of his death had been borne, was -naturally desirous to leave the colony. SLOANE could not allow her to -take the return voyage without his attendance. He hastened to gather up -his collections and prepared to come home. The fleet set sail from Port -Royal on the 16th of March, 1689. - -[Sidenote: THE RETURN VOYAGE OF 1689.] - -The voyage was full of anxiety. Such news from England as had yet -reached the West Indies was very fragmentary. And the lack of authentic -intelligence about the outbreak of the Revolution and its results, had -been eked-out by all sorts of wild rumours. The voyagers looked daily -with intense eagerness for outward-bound ships that might bring them -news, and were especially anxious to know if war had broken out between -England and France. When they caught sight of a sail so wistfully -watched for, they commonly observed in the other vessel as great a -desire to avoid a meeting, as there was amongst themselves to ensure -one. - -The Duchess of ALBEMARLE had with her a large amount of wealth in plate -and jewels, as well as a large retinue. Her anxieties were not lessened -when the captain of the frigate said to her Grace, two or three weeks -after the departure from Port Royal: ‘I cannot fight any ship having -King JAMES’ commission, from whom I received mine.’ On hearing this -assurance—which seemed to open to her the prospect, or at least the -possible contingency, of being carried into France—the Duchess resolved -to change her ship. With SLOANE and with her suite she left the -_Assistance_, and re-embarked, first in the late Duke’s yacht, and then -in one of the larger ships of the fleet. - -After this separation, ‘our Admiral’ says SLOANE, ‘pretended he wanted -water and must make the best of his way for England, without staying to -convoy us home, which accordingly he did.’ The voyage, nevertheless, was -made in safety. - -[Sidenote: _Voyage to Jamaica_, &c., vol. ii, p. 344.] - -They learned very little of what had happened at home, until they had -arrived within a few leagues of Plymouth. Then SLOANE himself went out, -in an armed boat, with the intention of picking up such news as could be -gathered from any fishermen who might be met with near the coast. The -first fishing vessel they hailed did her best to run away, but was -caught in the pursuit. [Sidenote: _Ibid._, p. 347.] To the question, -‘How is the King?’ the master’s reply was, ‘What King do you mean? King -WILLIAM is well at Whitehall. King JAMES is in France.’ - -[Sidenote: EARLY YEARS IN ENGLAND.] - -SLOANE landed at Plymouth on the 29th of May, with large collections in -all branches of natural history, and with improved prospects of fortune. -The Duchess of ALBEMARLE behaved to him with great liberality, and for -some years to come he continued to be her domestic physician, and lived, -for the most part, in one or other of her houses as his usual place of -residence. In 1690 much of his correspondence bears date from the -Duchess’ seat at New Hall, in Essex. In 1692 we find him frequently at -Albemarle House, in Clerkenwell. He had also made, whilst in the West -Indies, a lucky investment in the shape of a large purchase of Peruvian -Bark. [Sidenote: _Sloane Corresp._, in MSS. Sloane.] It was already a -lucrative article of commerce, and the provident importer had excellent -professional opportunities of adding to its commercial value by making -its intrinsic merits more widely known in England. - -The botanists, more especially, were delighted with the large accessions -to previous knowledge which SLOANE had brought back with him. ‘When I -first saw,’ said John RAY, ‘his stock of dried plants collected in -Jamaica, and in some of the Caribbee Islands, I was much astonished at -the number of the capillary kind, not thinking there had been so many to -be found in both the Indies.’ - -The collector, himself, had presently his surprise in the matter, but it -was of a less agreeable kind. ‘My collection,’ he says, ‘of dried -samples of some very strange plants excited the curiosity of people who -loved things of that nature to see them, and who were welcome, until I -observed some so very curious as to desire to carry part of them -privately home, and injure what they left. This made me upon my guard.’ - -[Sidenote: 1693.] - -On the 30th of November, 1693, SLOANE was elected to the Secretaryship -of the Royal Society. A year afterwards he was made Physician to Christ -Hospital. It is eminently to his honour that from his first entrance -into this office—which he held for thirty-six years—he applied the whole -of its emoluments for the advantage and advancement of deserving boys -who were receiving their education there. For that particular -appointment he was himself none the richer, save in contentment and good -works. - -[Sidenote: THE CATALOGUE OF WEST INDIAN PLANTS, AND THE CONTROVERSY WITH - PLUKENET.] - -In 1696 he made his first appearance as an author by the publication of -his _Catalogus Plantarum quæ in insula Jamaica sponte proveniunt, vel -vulgo coluntur cum earundem synonimis et locis natalibus: Adjectis aliis -quibusdam quæ in insulis Madeira, Barbadoes, Nevis, et Sancti -Christophori nascuntur_. [Sidenote: 1696.] He had already seen far too -much of the world to marvel that his book soon brought him censure as -well as praise. By Leonard PLUKENET, a botanist of great acquirements -and ability, many portions of the Jamaica Catalogue were attacked, -sometimes on well-grounded objections; more often upon exceptions rather -captious than just, and with that bitterness of expression which is the -unfailing finger-post of envy. PLUKENET’S strictures were published in -his _Almagesti Botanici Mantissa_.[48] SLOANE made no rash haste to -answer his critic. Where the censure bore correction of real error or -oversight, he carefully profited by it. Where it was the mere cloak of -malice, he awaited without complaint the appropriate time for dealing, -both with censure and censor, which would be sure to come when he should -give to the world the ripened results of the voyage of 1687. - -A passage in Dr. SLOANE’S correspondence with Dr. CHARLETT, of -Cambridge, written in the same year with the publication of the Jamaica -Catalogue, shows that even whilst he was still almost at the threshold -of his London life, he was able steadily to enlarge his museum. -[Sidenote: Charlett to Sloane, in MS. Corresp., 4043, f. 193.] At that -early date, CHARLETT, who had seen it during a visit to London, calls it -already ‘a noble collection of all natural curiosities.’[49] The -collector, when he landed its first fruits at Plymouth, had yet before -him—such was to be his unusual length of days—almost sixty-four years of -life. Not one of them, probably, passed without some valuable accession -to his museum. And those sixty-four years were the adolescent and -formative years of the study of the Physical Sciences in Britain. They -were years, too, in the course of which there was to be a great -development of British energy, both in foreign travel and in colonial -enterprise. Very many were to run to and fro in the earth, so that -knowledge might be largely increased. As a traveller, SLOANE had already -done his spell of work. But just as that was achieved, he was placed, by -his election to the secretaryship to the Royal Society, precisely in the -position where he could most extensively profit by a wide correspondence -with men of like scientific pursuits all over the world, and could -exercise a watchful observation over the doings and the opportunities of -explorers. - -[Sidenote: RESUMPTION OF THE ‘PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS.’] - -But the most immediate result of his secretaryship was the resumption of -the suspended _Philosophical Transactions_. The interruption of a work -which had already rendered yeoman service to Science, abroad as well as -at home, had been caused by a combination of unfavourable circumstances. -The death of its first and energetic editor, Henry OLDENBURG; some -diminution in the Society’s income; and some personal disagreements at -its Council board, seem all, in their measure, to have concurred to -impede a publication, the continuance of which the best men in the Royal -Society knew to be inseparable from the achievement of its true -purposes. SLOANE bestirred himself with the steady vigour which had been -born with him; impressed his friends into the service; profited by the -foreign connections he had formed ten years earlier at Paris, Bordeaux, -and Montpelier, and so found new channels by which to enrich the pages -of the _Transactions_, as well as to extend their circulation. - -He did it, of course, in his own way, and under the necessary influence -of his habits and predispositions. One natural result of his labours, as -secretary and as editor, was a frequent prominence of medical subjects, -both at the meetings and in the subsequent selections for permanent -record. If such a prominence might now and then give, or seem to give, -fair ground of complaint to men whose thoughts were absorbed in the -calculus of fluxions, or whose eyes were wont to search the heavens that -they might learn the courses of the stars, it had at least the excuse -that it tended to the elevation—in all senses of the word—of a -profession in the thorough education and the dignified status of which -all the world have a deep interest. - -If SLOANE, in his day, occasionally made scientific men somewhat more -familiar with medical themes than they cared to be, he did very much to -make medical men aware of the peculiar duty under which their profession -laid them of becoming also men of true science. And in this way he -exerted an influence upon medical knowledge, which was none the less -pregnant with good and enduring results because it was in great measure -an indirect influence. It was one of the minor, but memorable, results -of the establishment of the Royal Society that it tended powerfully to -lift medical practice out of the slough of quackery. - -This frequent reading of medical papers during the Doctor’s -secretaryship could not fail to give an opening, now and again, for the -wit of the scorner. A physician, in his daily practice, is constantly -seeing the power of small things. He may well, at times, over estimate -trifles. In the year 1700, Dr. SLOANE was made the subject of a -satirical pamphlet which appeared under the title of ‘_The -Transactioneer, with some of his Philosophical Fancies_.’ The author of -the satire was Dr. William KING, but, for a considerable time, the -authorship was unknown. There was great anxiety to discover it, not only -on SLOANE’S part individually, but on the part of the Council at large. -The whole affair was trivial, and would be unworthy of memory but that -it led to some dissensions within the Society itself, which for a long -time left marks of their influence. - -[Sidenote: SLOANE AND WOODWARD.] - -SLOANE conceived that _The Transactioneer_ was the production of Dr. -John WOODWARD—the author of _Natural History of the Earth_—who was -himself a member of the Royal Society’s Council. WOODWARD, in denying -the imputation, endorsed the satire. ‘Whether there was not some -occasion given,’ he said to the Council, ‘may be worth your -consideration. This I am sure of: The world has been now, for some time -past, very loud upon that subject. [Sidenote: _Newton Correspondence and -Papers_; cited by Brewster, in _Memoirs_, &c. (2nd Edit.), vol. ii, ff. -185, 186.] And there were those who laid the charges so much wrong, that -I have but too often had occasion to vindicate the Society itself, and -that in public company.’ The ill feeling thus excited lasted a long -time. It seemed at length, that the Society must lose either the -services of its laborious Secretary or those of his active-tongued -opponent. - -The petty dissension came to a height when SLOANE chanced to make some -passing medical comment on the words ‘the bezoar is a gall-stone,’ -occurring in a paper which he was reading to the Society, from the -Memoirs of the Parisian Academy of Sciences. SLOANE’S casual remark drew -from WOODWARD the offensive words, ‘No man who understands anatomy would -make such an assertion.’ On another occasion he interrupted some -observation or other made by SLOANE, by exclaiming—‘Speak sense, or -English, and we shall understand you.’ A friend or two of WOODWARD tried -hard to back him by enlisting the illustrious President on their side. -They reminded NEWTON that he had been often himself impatient under the -medical dissertations, and they praised Dr. WOODWARD’S acquirements in -philosophy. ‘For a seat in the Council,’ replied Sir Isaac, ‘a man -should be a moral philosopher, as well as a natural one.’ [Sidenote: -Records of the Royal Society.] Eventually, it was resolved: ‘That Dr. -WOODWARD be removed from the Council, for creating a disturbance by the -said reflecting words upon Dr. SLOANE.’ The latter was of a very -forgiving temper, and he soon sought to be reconciled with his -adversary. - -His professional course, meanwhile, was steadily upward. A friendship -which he had contracted in 1705 with Dr. SYDENHAM greatly aided his -progress. SYDENHAM was retiring from practice, and gave to SLOANE his -cordial recommendations. In 1712[50] he was made Physician Extraordinary -to the Queen, whom he attended, two years afterwards, on her death bed. -He filled the office of Physician-in-Chief to GEORGE THE FIRST, by whom, -on the 3rd April, 1716, he was created a Baronet. He was, I believe, the -first physician who received that dignity. In 1719 he became President -of the College of Physicians. In 1727 he received the crowning honour of -a life which, to an unusual degree, had already been replete with -honourable distinctions of almost every kind. He was placed in the chair -of the Royal Society, as the next successor of NEWTON. - -Eighteen years before, he had been welcomed into the illustrious Academy -of Sciences, the establishment of which at Paris had followed so quickly -upon the foundation of the Royal Society. Both academies had worked with -conspicuous success. Both had been adorned by a long line of eminent -members. They had frequently, and in many ways, interchanged friendly -communion. To SLOANE himself, the reception at Paris had been the -prelude of many like invitations from other learned societies in various -parts of Europe. No man of his time had a worthier estimate of the -dignity involved in the freemasonry of science, nor had any a more -conscientious sense of the duties and responsibilities which it entails. - -As President of the Royal Society, one of his earliest proposals to the -Council was that, for the future, no pecuniary contribution should be -received from foreign members whose fellowship it invited as an honour. -He urged this step, notwithstanding that the Society was at the time in -debt from an unusual arrear of subscriptions,—an arrear so great that he -felt it to be right that the Council should be recommended to sue their -offending brethren in the law courts. His third proposal, like both the -others, had for its object the incontestible advantage and honour of the -Society. He checked some nascent abuses in elections by making it -necessary that there should be an express approval of every new -candidate by the Council, on the recommendation of not less than three -fellows, before proceeding to a ballot in the Society at large. - - -[Sidenote: THE NATURAL HISTORY OF JAMAICA.] - -The work by which SLOANE holds his chief place in the literature of -science, the _Natural History of Jamaica_, was the work of no less than -thirty-eight years. Its materials, as we have seen, were collected in -the years 1687 and 1688. The first volume was not published until 1708. -Seventeen additional years elapsed before the completion of the second. -The fact indicates how crowded with avocations its author’s life was, as -well as the marked conscientiousness and thoroughness which from youth -to age characterized his doings. - -The Jamaica book cannot be opened without some appreciation, even at -first sight, of this faculty of thoroughness. For it is shown not more -by the elaboration and beauty of the illustrations, than by the copious -citation of authorities, on all points in relation to which authority is -valuable. That all previous labourers in his field should have their -full meed of acknowledgment is with SLOANE a prime anxiety. - -[Sidenote: SLOANE’S SERVICES TO ARBORICULTURE.] - -The West Indian Voyage of 1687–89 had had, it may here be remarked, -other results besides that of exciting new emulation—at home and -abroad—in the study of natural history, and in the amassing in cabinets -and presses of the dried and preserved objects of that study. It gave a -marked impulse to arboriculture, both in England and in Ireland. What -SLOANE had to show, and to tell of, led to the sending oversea of -vessels expressly prepared for the transport of living trees; and -several noble ornaments of our parks and pleasure grounds date their -introduction to English and Irish soil from the expeditions so set on -foot. - - -The _Natural History of Jamaica_ excited considerable interest abroad, -as well as at home. [Sidenote: Corresp. of Sloane and Briasson; in MS. -Sloane, 4039, ff. 136–140.] Bernard de JUSSIEU offered to undertake the -editorship of a French translation, and BRIASSON, a Parisian bookseller -of some eminence, wrote to SLOANE that he was willing to incur the -charges and risk of publication, on condition that the author would send -the copper plates of the original work to Paris, for use in the new -edition. Sir Hans, however, objected to incur the risk of this -transmission across the channel, but was willing to have the needful -impression worked off in London; an arrangement to which the Parisian, -in his turn, was disinclined to assent, being of opinion—perhaps not -unjustly—that, in 1743, the art of copperplate printing was better -understood in Paris than in London. On these grounds the negotiation was -broken off. - -[Sidenote: GROWTH OF THE SLOANE MUSEUM.] - -Amidst these varied avocations, the growth of the library and museum -went on unceasingly. Friends and foes contributed, in turn, to its -enrichment. The year 1702 saw the incorporation with the original -gatherings of the West India voyage of the splendid collections of -COURTEN, the friend of SLOANE’S youth. In 1710, Sir Hans acquired the -valuable herbaria of his old assailant, Leonard PLUKENET. In 1718 he -purchased the extensive collections, in all departments of natural -history, of another friend of early years, James PETIVER. The herbarium -of Adam BUDDLE, a botanist little remembered now but of note in his -generation, came to SLOANE, as a token of friendship, from the death-bed -of its collector. [Sidenote: MS. Sloane, 4069, _passim_.] The scientific -possessions of Dr. Christopher MERRET were purchased from his son, and -from time to time, when valuable collections were known to be on sale -upon the Continent, agents went across to buy. - - -Of these numerous sources of augmentation the museum of PETIVER was next -in importance to that of COURTEN—but with a considerable interval. It is -said (in the contemporary correspondence, as I think) that its cost to -SLOANE was four thousand pounds. But remembering what four thousand -pounds was a hundred and fifty years ago, there is reason to suspect -some exaggeration in the statement. - -[Sidenote: THE NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS OF PETIVER.] - -James PETIVER, when Sir Hans first became acquainted with him, was -serving, as an apprentice, the then apothecary of St. Bartholomew’s -Hospital. He afterwards became apothecary to the Charter House. He had, -in one way or other, made for himself a singularly extensive -acquaintance amongst seafaring men; and by their help had established an -almost world-wide correspondence with people interested in natural -history, or possessed of special opportunities for gathering its -rarities. Of such rarities, SLOANE somewhere says, ‘He had procured, I -believe, a greater quantity than any man before him.’ But in course of -time his collections overpowered his means, or his industry, for the -work of preservation and arrangement. When, at the collector’s death, -they passed into the possession of his friend, choice specimens were -found, not in order, but in heaps. The due classification and ordering -occupied many hands during many months. - - -[Sidenote: SLOANE’S CORRESPONDENCE, AND HIS CHARITIES.] - -The charities of human life were not, in the breast of Sir Hans SLOANE, -choked either by the various allurements and preoccupations of science, -or by the ceaseless toils of a busy and anxious profession. He was a -very liberal giver, and also a discriminating and conscientious giver. I -have rarely seen a correspondence which mirrors more strikingly than -does that of SLOANE, a just and equable attention to multifarious and -often conflicting claims. - -The multiplicity of the claims was, indeed, as notable as was the -patience with which they were listened to. Not to dwell upon the -innumerable gropings after money of which, in one form or other, every -man who attains any sort of eminence is sure to have his share (but of -which Sir Hans SLOANE seems to have had a Benjamin’s portion) or upon -interminable requests for the use of influence, at Court, at the -Treasury, at the London Hospitals, at the Council Boards of the Royal -Society or of the College of Physicians, and elsewhere; his fame brought -upon him a mass of appeals and solicitations from utter strangers, -busied with less worldly aims and pursuits. Enthusiastic students of the -deep things of theology sought his opinion on abstruse and mystical -doctrines. Advocates of perpetual peace, and of the transformation, at a -breath, of the Europe of the eighteenth century into a new Garden of -Eden, implored him to endorse their theories, or to interpret their -dreams. - -His replies are sometimes both characteristic and amusing; none the less -so for the fact that his power of writing was, at all times, far beneath -his other mental powers and attainments. Now and then, though rarely, a -touch of humour lights up the homeliness of phrase. - -To one of the enthusiasts in mystic divinity, who had sent for his -perusal an enormous manuscript, he replied: ‘I am very much obliged for -the esteem you have of my knowledge, which, I am very sure, comes far -short of your opinion. [Sidenote: Sloane to Gabriel Nisbett, May, 1737, -MS. Sloane, 4069, f. 38.] As to the particular controversies on foot in -relation to Natural and Revealed Religion, and to Predestination, I am -no ways further concerned than to act as my own conscience directs me in -those matters; and am no judge for other people.... I have not time to -peruse the book you sent.’ - -To the worthy and once famous Abbé DE SAINT PIERRE, who would fain have -established with SLOANE a steady correspondence on the universal -amelioration of mankind, by means of a vast series of measures, -juridical, political, and politico-economical, which started from the -total abolition of vice and of war, and descended to the improvement of -road-making by some happy anticipation—a hundred years in advance—of our -own MACADAM, he wrote thus: ‘I should be very glad to see a general -Peace established, for ever. [Sidenote: Sloane to St. Pierre, MS. -Sloane, 4069, f. 44.] Rumours of war are often, indeed, found to be -baseless, and the fears of it, even when well grounded, are often -dissipated by an unlooked-for Providence. But poor mortals are often so -weak as to suffer, in their health, from the fear of danger, where there -is none!’ - -Letters on high themes like these had their frequent variety, in the -shape of proffers of contributions, to be made upon terms, for the -enlargement of the Museum, the fame of which had now spread into very -humble ranks of society. A single specimen in this kind will suffice: ‘I -understand,’ wrote a correspondent of a speculative turn, ‘you are a -great virtuoso, and gives a valuable consideration for novelties of -antiquity,’—on getting thus far in the perusal, one can imagine Sir Hans -murmuring ‘not willingly, I assure you,’—‘a pin has been many hundred -years in our family, and was, I am told, the pin of the first Saxon king -of the West Angles,’ and so on. - - -[Sidenote: ACQUISITION OF THE MANOR OF CHELSEA.] - -Until the year 1741, a few months after his resignation of the chair of -the Royal Society on the score of old age, Sir Hans SLOANE continued to -live chiefly in London; though often removing, for part of the summer -months, to his Manor House in the then charming suburb of Chelsea. He -had purchased that valuable manor, from the family of Cheyne, in 1714. -The fine old House abounded in historical recollections and amongst -them, as most readers will remember, in associations connected with the -memory of Sir Thomas MORE. It had the additional attraction of a large -and beautiful garden, close to that other garden in which the now Lord -of the Manor had pursued, with all the energies of youth, the study of -botany. One of his earliest acts of lordship had been a graceful gift to -the Company of Apothecaries, of the freehold in the land of which till -then they had been tenants. In 1741 he transferred his Museum and -Library from Bloomsbury to Chelsea. His former house—situated in Great -Russell Street, near the corner of what is now Bloomsbury Square—had -been capacious, but the new one admitted of a greatly improved -arrangement and display of the collections. - - -[Sidenote: A ROYAL VISIT TO THE SLOANE MUSEUM AT CHELSEA.] - -The state and character of the Sloane Museum, in the fullness to which -the collector had brought it during these latest years of his life, can -scarcely be exemplified better than in a contemporary account of a visit -which was paid to the Manor House at Chelsea by the Prince and Princess -of Wales, in the year 1748. I quote it, almost verbally, from the -_Gentleman’s Magazine_ of that year, but with some unimportant -omissions. - -[Sidenote: G. M., vol. xviii, pp. 301, 302. (July, 1748.)] - -At that date, the Manor House formed a square of above a hundred feet on -each side, enclosing a court. Three of the principal rooms were, on the -occasion of this royal visit, filled successively—as the visitors passed -from one room into another—with the finest portions of the collections -in its most portable departments. The minerals were first shown. The -tables were spread with drawers filled with all sorts of precious stones -in their natural beds, as they are found in the earth, except the first -table, which contained stones found in animals, such as pearls, bezoars, -and the like. Emeralds, topazes, amethysts, sapphires, garnets, rubies, -diamonds, ... with magnificent vessels of cornelian, onyx, sardonyx and -jasper, delighted the eye, says the attendant describer, and raised the -mind to praise the great Creator of all things. - -When their Royal Highnesses, continues our narrator, had viewed one -room, and went into another, the scene was shifted. When they returned, -the same tables were covered, for a second course, with all sorts of -jewels, polished and set after the modern fashion, and with gems carved -and engraved. For the third course, the tables were spread with gold and -silver ores, and with the most precious and remarkable ores used in the -dresses of men from Siberia to the Cape of Good Hope, from Japan to -Peru; and with both ancient and modern coins in gold and silver. - -The gallery, a hundred and ten feet in length, presented a ‘surprising -prospect.’ The most beautiful corals, crystals, and figured stones; the -most brilliant insects; shells, painted with as great variety as the -precious stones; and birds vying with the gems; diversified with remains -of the antediluvian world. - -Then a noble vista presented itself through several rooms filled with -books; among these were many hundred volumes of dried plants; a room, -full of choice and valuable manuscripts; and the rich present sent by -the French King to Sir Hans of the engravings of his collections of -paintings, medals, and statues, and of his Palaces, in twenty-five large -atlas volumes. - -Below stairs, some rooms were then shown, filled with the antiquities of -Egypt, Greece, Etruria, Rome, Britain, and even America; other rooms and -the Great Saloon were filled with preserved animals. The halls were -decorated with the horns of divers creatures. [Sidenote: G. M., vol. -xviii, pp. 301, 302. (July, 1748.)] ‘Fifty volumes in folio,’ concludes -the enthusiastic bystander who chronicled, for Mr. Sylvanus URBAN, the -royal visit of 1748, ‘would scarce suffice to contain a detail of this -immense Museum, consisting of above 200,000 articles.’ - -The Prince of WALES, on taking leave of his host, gave expression to a -wish which he did not live long enough to see realised. ‘It is a great -pleasure to me,’ he said, ‘to see so magnificent a collection in -England. It is an ornament to the Nation. Great honour would redound -from the establishing of it for public use, to the latest posterity.’ - -Plans, more or less definite, of perpetuating those collections for -public use had occasionally engaged their owner’s thoughts almost from -the date of his acquisition of the Museum of William COURTEN, in 1702. -[Sidenote: THE WILL AND CODICILS OF 1749–51.] In 1707, he had watched -with interest a scheme that had been set on foot for the formation of a -Public Library in London by combining the old Royal Collection with the -collections of Sir Robert COTTON and of the Royal Society.[51] But that -scheme failed of execution, until, almost half a century later, it was, -in the main, revived and carried out as the indirect but very natural -consequence of his own testamentary dispositions. - -His Will, in its first form, was made at Chelsea in 1748, but was -replaced on the 10th July, 1749, by the following codicil:— - -[Sidenote: THE TESTAMENTARY DISPOSAL OF THE COURTEN AND SLOANE MUSEUM.] - -‘Whereas I have in and by my said Will given some directions about the -sale and disposition of my Museum, or collection of rarities herein more -particularly mentioned, now I do hereby revoke my said Will, as far as -relates thereto, and I do direct and appoint concerning the same in the -following manner: Having had from my youth a strong inclination to the -study of plants and all other productions of nature, and having through -the course of many years, with great labour and expense, gathered -together whatever could be procured either in our own or foreign -countries that was rare and curious; and being fully convinced that -nothing tends more to raise our ideas of the power, wisdom, goodness, -providence, and other perfections of the Deity, or more to the comfort -and well being of his creatures, than the enlargement of our knowledge -of the works of nature, I do will and desire that for the promoting of -these noble ends, the glory of God, and the good of man, my collection -in all its branches may be, if possible, kept and preserved together -whole and entire, in my Manor House in the Parish of Chelsea, situate -near the Physic Garden given by me to the Company of Apothecaries for -the same purposes; and having great reliance that the right honourable, -honourable, and other persons hereafter named, will be influenced by the -same principles and [will] faithfully and conscientiously discharge the -trust hereby reposed in them, I do give, devise, and bequeath, unto the -Rt. Hon. Charles Sloane CADOGAN ... [_and to forty-nine other persons -whose names follow_,] all that my Collection or Museum at, in, or about, -my Manor House at Chelsea aforesaid, which consists of too great a -variety to be particularly described, but ... which are more -particularly described, mentioned, and numbered, with short histories or -accounts of them, with proper references, in certain catalogues by me -made, containing thirty-eight volumes in folio, and eight volumes in -quarto,—except such framed pictures as are not marked with the word -“_Collection_”—to have and to hold to them and their successors and -assigns for ever, ... upon the trusts, and for the uses and -purposes, ... hereafter particularly specified concerning the same. - -‘And for rendering this my intention more effectual that the said -Collection may be preserved and continued entire in its utmost -perfection and regularity, and being assured that nothing will conduce -more to this than placing the same under the direction and care of -learned, experienced, and judicious persons who are above all low and -mean views, I do earnestly desire that the King, H.R.H. the Prince of -WALES, H.R.H. William, Duke of CUMBERLAND, the Archbishop of CANTERBURY -for the time being ... [Sidenote: _Authentic Copies_, &c. (B. M.) 17, p. -12.] [_and twenty-eight others, being chiefly great Officers of State_] -will condescend so far as to act and be Visitors of my said Museum and -Collection; and I do hereby, with their leave, nominate and appoint them -Visitors thereof, with full power and authority for any five or more of -them to enter my said Collection or Museum, at any time or times, to -peruse, supervise, and examine, the same, and the management thereof, -and to visit, correct, and reform, from time to time, as there may be -occasion, either jointly with the said Trustees or separately—upon -application to them for that purpose, or otherwise—all abuses, defects, -neglects or mismanagements, that may happen to arise therein, or -touching and concerning the person or persons, officer or officers, that -are or shall be appointed to attend the same. - -‘And my will is and I do hereby request and desire that the said -Trustees, or any seven or more of them, do make their humble application -to His Majesty, or to Parliament at the next session after my -decease,—as shall be thought most proper,—in order to pay the full and -clear sum of twenty thousand pounds unto my executors or to the -survivors of them, in consideration of the said Collection or Museum; it -not being, as I apprehend or believe, a fourth of their real and -intrinsic value; and also to obtain such effectual powers and -authorities for vesting in the said Trustees all and every part of my -said Collection, ... and also my said capital Manor-House, with such -gardens and outhouses as shall thereunto belong and be used by me at the -time of my decease, in which it is my desire that the same shall be kept -and preserved; and also the water of or belonging to my Manor of Chelsea -coming from Kensington, or right of patronage of the Church of Chelsea; -to the end the same premises may be absolutely vested in the said -Trustees for the preserving and continuing my said Museum in such manner -as they shall think most likely to answer the public benefit by me -intended, and also obtain, as aforesaid, a sufficient fund and provision -for maintaining and supporting my said Manor House, ... to be vested in -the said Trustees for ever.... [Sidenote: _Authentic Copies_, &c. (B. -M.) 17, p. 12.] And it is also my will and desire that all such other -powers ... may be added or vested as well in the said intended Trustees -as in the Visitors hereby appointed, as shall by the Legislature be -thought most proper and convenient for the better management, order, and -care, of my said Collection and premises.’ - -Provision is then made, in subsequent clauses of this codicil, for the -replacement, by the Trustees surviving, from time to time, of vacancies -occasioned by death in the ranks of the Trustees first appointed; and by -surviving Visitors of vacancies so occasioned in those of the original -Visitors. - -[Sidenote: LATER CODICILS.] - -In September, 1750, another codicil added to the list of Visitors—in -order to supply vacancies which death had already wrought—the Earls of -MACCLESFIELD and SHELBURNE, and the then Master of the Rolls, Sir John -STRANGE, with proviso of succession for the Master of the Rolls of the -time being. Sir John BERNARD, Sir William CALVERT, and Mr. Slingsby -BETHEL were, in like manner, added to the roll of Trustees. The same -codicil excepted the advowson of the Rectory of Chelsea from the bequest -of 1749, and annexed it to the lordship of the Manor. - -By his marriage with the daughter and heiress of Mr. LANGLEY, an -Alderman of London, Sir Hans SLOANE had issue two daughters, but no son. -The elder of the daughters, Sarah SLOANE, married George STANLEY, of -Poultons, in Hampshire; the younger, Elizabeth, married Lord CADOGAN. By -the representatives of those co-heiresses the large inheritance was -eventually enjoyed. - -A subsequent codicil of 1751, added nine other Trustees, five of whom -were distinguished foreigners. Among the four English names are those of -John HAMPDEN (‘twenty-fourth hereditary lord of Great Hampden,’ and last -lineal male descendant of that famous stock) and William SOTHEBY. - - -[Sidenote: THE CLOSING YEARS.] - -The declining years of a man to whom had been given, not only unusual -length of days, but an unusual span both of bodily and of mental vigour, -so that he remained in the rank of busy men until he had passed his -eightieth year, were necessarily days of seclusion. He had enjoyed not -only the honours[52] and the comforts, but the troop of friends which -should accompany old age. Yet a man who reaches the age of ninety-two -must needs lose the friends of his maturity, as well as the friends of -his youth. Sir Hans SLOANE, in the old Manor House of Chelsea, had -something of the experience which made a famous statesman of our own -day, who was loth to leave the stir of London life, say—with a sigh—‘I -see all the world passing my windows, but few come in.’ - -His chief recreations, in those latest years, lay in the continued -examination of the stores of nature and of art which never palled upon -his capacity of enjoyment, and in the regular weekly visit of a much -younger man, who was very conversant in the busy world without; who -could talk, and talk well, alike upon public events, upon the novelties -of science, and upon the gossip of the coffee-houses and the clubs. This -friend of old age was George EDWARDS, a naturalist of considerable -acquirements, and the author of some _Essays on Natural History_ which -are still worth reading. - -SLOANE’S mental vigour long outlived his power of bodily locomotion. For -years he could move from room to room, or on very bright days from room -to garden, only by the aid of an invalid chair. In other respects, his -health gave a weighty sanction to the counsel which he had been wont to -give, not infrequently, in lieu of an invited but superfluous -prescription. ‘I advise you’ he would say, ‘to what I practice myself. I -never take physic when I am well. When I am ill, I take little, and only -such as has been very well tried.’ - -The end of a bright, abundant, and most useful life, came at the -beginning of the year 1753. On the tenth of January, George EDWARDS -found him rapidly sinking, and suffering greatly. On the eleventh he -found him at the point of death. ‘I continued with him,’ he wrote, -‘later than any one of his relatives. But I was obliged to retire—his -last agonies being beyond what I could bear; although, under his pain -and weakness of body, he seemed to retain a great firmness of mind and -resignation to the will of God.’ He was buried at Chelsea, in the same -vault in which, twenty-eight years before, he had buried his wife. - - -[Sidenote: SYNOPTICAL TABLES OF THE SLOANE MUSEUM.] - -This indefatigable collector had continued to enrich his Museum with new -accessions as long as he lived. We have the means of estimating its -growth—as regards mere numbers, of course—by comparing a synoptical -table drawn up in 1725—for the purpose of showing to certain grumblers -what had been the nature and aim of those avocations which had delayed -the completion of the _Natural History of Jamaica_—with another table -drawn up by his Trustees immediately after his death. - -The comparison of numbers shows that the twenty thousand two hundred and -twenty-eight coins and medals of 1725 had grown, in 1752, to thirty-two -thousand. Other antiquities had increased from eight hundred and -twenty-four to two thousand six hundred and thirty-five. The minerals -and fossils had increased from about three thousand to five thousand -eight hundred and twenty-two specimens. The botanical collection which, -in 1725, had numbered eight thousand two hundred and twenty-six -specimens, together with a _Hortus Siccus_ of two hundred volumes, had -become in 1752 twelve thousand five hundred specimens, with a _Hortus -Siccus_ of three hundred and thirty-four volumes. The other natural -history collections had increased on the average by more than one half. -The details are as follows:— - - ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ - │ Volumes in Volumes in │ - │ =1725=. =1753=. │ - │ │ - │ 2,686 1. MANUSCRIPTS 3,516│ - │ 136 2. DRAWINGS 347│ - │ 3. PRINTED BOOKS about 40,000│ - │ 200 4. HORTUS SICCUS 334│ - │ │ - │ Specimens in Specimens in │ - │ =1725=. =1753=. │ - │ │ - │ 20,228 5. MEDALS and COINS 32,000│ - │ 302 6. ANTIQUITIES 1,125│ - │ 81* 7. SEALS, &c. 268│ - │ 441* 8. CAMEOS and INTAGLIOS about 700│ - │ 1,394 9. PRECIOUS STONES 2,256│ - │ │ - │ [*See under No. 10. VESSELS OF AGATE, JASPER, &c. │ - │ 8.] 542│ - │ 1,025 11. CRYSTALS, SPARS, &c. 1,864│ - │ 730 12. FOSSILS, &c. 1,275│ - │ 1,394 13. METALS and MINERAL ORES 2,725│ - │ 536 14. EARTHS, SANDS, SALTS, &c. 1,035│ - │ 249 15. BITUMENS, SULPHURS, &c. 399│ - │ 169 16. TALCS, MICÆ, &c. 388│ - │ 3,753 17. SHELLS 5,843│ - │ 804 18. CORALS, SPONGES, &c. 1,421│ - │ 486 19. ECHINI, ECHINITES, &c. 659│ - │ 183 20. ASTERIÆ, TROCHI, &c. 241│ - │ 263 21. CRUSTACEA 363│ - │ 22. STELLÆ MARINÆ 173│ - │ 1,007 23. FISHES, and their parts 1,555│ - │ 753 24. BIRDS, and their parts 1,172│ - │ 345 25. VIPERS, &c. 521│ - │ 1,194 26. QUADRUPEDS 1,886│ - │ 3,824 27. INSECTS 5,439│ - │ 507 28. ANATOMICAL PREPARATIONS, &c. 756│ - │ 8,226 29. VEGETABLES 12,506│ - │ 1,169 30. MISCELLANEOUS THINGS 2,098│ - │ 319 31. PICTURES and DRAWINGS, framed 310│ - │ 54 32. MATHEMATICAL INSTRUMENTS 55│ - └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ - -On the 27th January—sixteen days after Sir Hans’ death—about forty of -the Trustees named in the Will met at Chelsea, to confer with the -Executors. Lord CADOGAN produced the Will and its Codicils. By these, -should the bequest and its additions be accepted, the manor house and -land, together with the collection in its existing state and -arrangement, would be given to the Public. This, said Lord CADOGAN, will -save the hazard and expense of removal. Mr. William SLOANE then informed -the Trustees that the Executors had thought it prudent temporarily to -remove the medals of gold and silver, the precious stones, gems, and -vases, to the Bank of England, in order to ensure their present safety. - -The Earl of MACCLESFIELD was then placed in the chair. A synopsis of the -contents of the Museum was read by Mr. James EMPSON, who had acted as -its curator for many years. Mr. EMPSON was appointed to act as Secretary -to the Trustees, and a form of Memorial to be addressed to the King, in -order to the carrying out of the trusts of the Will, was agreed upon. - -The Memorial had—eventually—the desired effect. [Sidenote: THE ACT FOR -ESTABLISHING THE BRITISH MUSEUM.] It led, in the course of the year -1753, to the passing of an Act of Parliament—26 GEORGE II, chapter -22—which is entitled _An Act for the purchase of the_ Museum or -Collection of Sir Hans SLOANE, _and of the_ Harleian Collection of -Manuscripts, _and for providing one General Repository for the better -reception and more convenient use of the said Collections, and of the_ -Cottonian Library, _and of the additions thereto_. - -The Act recites the tenour of the testamentary dispositions made by Sir -Hans SLOANE. It also recites that a provisional assent had been given by -his Trustees to the removal of his Museum from the Manor House of -Chelsea ‘to any proper place within the Cities of London and -Westminster, or the suburbs thereof, if such removal shall be judged -most advantageous to the Public.’ - -The Act then proceeds to declare that, ‘Whereas, all arts and sciences -have a connexion with each other, and discoveries in natural philosophy -and other branches of speculative knowledge,’ for the advancement -whereof the Museum was intended, may, in many instances, give help to -useful experiments and inventions, ‘therefore, to the end that the said -Museum may be preserved and maintained, not only for the inspection and -entertainment of the learned and the curious, but for the general use -and benefit of the Public,’ it is enacted by Parliament that the sum of -twenty thousand pounds shall be paid to the Executors of Sir Hans -SLOANE, in full satisfaction for his said Museum. - -In this Statute, also, the preceding original Act for the public -establishment of the Cottonian Library (12th and 13th of WILLIAM III, c. -7), together with the subsequent Act on that subject (5th ANNE, c. 30), -are severally recited, and it is declared as follows:— - -[Sidenote: FURTHER PROVISIONS OF THE ACT OF INCORPORATION.] - -First, ‘Although the public faith hath been thus engaged to provide for -the better reception and more convenient use of the Cottonian Library, a -proper repository for that purpose hath not yet been prepared, for the -want of which the said Library did ... suffer by a fire;’ - -And secondly, ‘Arthur EDWARDS, late of Saint George’s, Hanover Square, -in the county of Middlesex, Esquire, being desirous to preserve for the -public use the said Cottonian Library, and to prevent the like accident -for the future, bequeathed the sum of seven thousand pounds’—after the -occurrence of a certain contingent event—for the purpose either of -erecting, ‘in a proper situation, such a house as might be most likely -to preserve that Library from all accidents, or—in the event of the -performance by the Public, before the falling out of the contingency -above mentioned, of that duty to which it already stood pledged by Act -of Parliament, then—for the purpose of purchasing such manuscripts, -books of antiquities, ancient coins, medals, and other curiosities, as -might be worthy to increase the Cottonian Library aforesaid;’ to which -end the same public benefactor further bequeathed his own library. - -In order therefore to give due effect, at length, both to the primary -donation of Sir John COTTON, and to the additional benefaction made -thereto by Major Arthur EDWARDS, Parliament now enacted that a general -repository should be provided for the several collections of COTTON, -EDWARDS, and SLOANE, and that Major EDWARDS’ legacy of money should be -paid to the Trustees created by the new Act, in accordance with the -provisions heretofore recited in Sir Hans SLOANE’S codicil of 1749. - -[Sidenote: THE SERVICES OF MR. SPEAKER ONSLOW IN THE FORMATION OF THE - BRITISH MUSEUM.] - -It is to the exertions, at this time, of Arthur ONSLOW, the then Speaker -of the House of Commons, that historical students owe their debt of -gratitude for the preservation of the Harleian Manuscripts from that -dispersion,—abroad as well as at home,—which befel the Harleian printed -books. - -When the Memorial of SLOANE’S Trustees was first presented to GEORGE THE -SECOND, he received it with the stolid indifference to all matters -bearing upon science and mental culture, which was as saliently -characteristic of that king as were his grosser vices. ‘I don’t think -there are twenty thousand pounds in the Treasury,’ was the remark with -which he dismissed the proposal. Money could be found, indeed, for very -foolish purposes, and for very base ones. And the bareness of the -Treasury was, very often, the natural result of the profligacy of the -Court. But, in 1753, it was a fact. - -Save for Speaker ONSLOW’S exertions, the Memorial would have fared -little better in Parliament than at Court. The then Premier, Henry -PELHAM, was not unfriendly to the scheme, nor was he, like his royal -master, a man of sordid nature; but a Minister who was every now and -then obliged to write to his ambassadors abroad, even in the crisis of -important negotiations, ‘I have ordered you a part of your last year’s -appointments, but we are so poor that I can do no more,’ could hardly be -eager to provide forty or fifty thousand pounds for the purchase of a -new Museum and the safety of an old Library. - -[Sidenote: 1753. _Commons’ Journals_, March 19, seqq.] - -ONSLOW proposed—eventually—as a means of overcoming these difficulties, -that a sum of money should be raised by a public lottery, and that it -should be large enough to effect not only the immediate objects -contemplated by the Will of Sir Hans SLOANE, and by the prior public -establishment of Sir Robert COTTON’S Library, but to purchase for a like -purpose the noble series of Manuscripts which had passed (just eleven -years before SLOANE’S death) to the executors of the last Earl of -OXFORD, in trust for his widow, the Dowager Countess, and for his -daughter, the Duchess of PORTLAND. - -Edward, Earl of OXFORD, had stood at one period of his life, in the rank -of the wealthiest of Englishmen. He was the owner of estates worth some -four or five hundred thousand pounds. He was, too, a man of highly -intellectual and studious tastes; but, in his case, a magnificent style -of living, great generosity, and excessive trust in dependants, did what -is more usually the work of huge folly or of gross sins; they brought -him into circumstances which, for his position in life, might almost be -called those of poverty. But for this comparative impoverishment, his -own act—it is more than probable—would have secured to posterity the -enjoyment, in its entirety, of the splendid library he had inherited and -increased. - -To the proposal of a lottery there was much solid objection. What were -then called ‘parliamentary lotteries’ had been introduced expressly to -put down those private lotteries, common in the sixteenth and -seventeenth centuries, which had been fraught with mischief. It was -hoped, or pretended, that a ‘regulated’ evil would be reduced within -tolerable limits, whilst bringing grist to the national mill. But the -forty years that had passed since the first parliamentary lottery of -1709 had shown that the system was essentially and incurably -mischievous. PELHAM was averse to its continuance. As First Lord of the -Treasury, it was his poverty, not his will, that consented to the -adoption of so questionable an expedient for the purchase of the SLOANE -Collections. He had not, individually, any such love of learning as -might have induced an appeal to Parliament to set, for once, an example -of liberal and far-sighted legislation. He merely stipulated that some -stringent provisos should be put into the Act, directed against the -nefarious practices of the lottery-jobbers. - -[Sidenote: THE LOTTERY OF 1753 FOR THE PURCHASE OF THE SLOANE AND - HARLEIAN COLLECTIONS.] - -Eventually, it was enacted that there should be a hundred thousand -shares, at three pounds a share; that two hundred thousand pounds should -be allotted as prizes, and that the remaining hundred thousand—less the -expenses of the lottery itself—should be applied to the threefold -purposes of the Act, namely, the purchase of the SLOANE and HARLEIAN -Collections; the providing of a Repository; and the creation of an -annual income for future maintenance. - - -By the precautionary clauses of the Bill, provision was made for the -prolonged sale of shares; for the prevention of the purchase by any one -adventurer of more than twenty shares, or ‘tickets,’ and for other -impediments, as it was thought, to a fraudulent traffic in the combined -covetousness and ignorance of the unwary. - -All these precautions proved to be vain. Mr. PELHAM’S opposition was -abundantly justified by the result. Fraud proved to be, in that age, -just as inseparable an element in a Lottery scheme, however good its -purpose, as fraud has proved to be, in this age, an inseparable element -(at one stage or other of the business) in a Railway scheme,—however -useful the line proposed to be made. - -It thus came to pass that the foundation of the BRITISH MUSEUM gave rise -to a great public scandal. When evidence was produced that many families -had been brought to misery, as the first incident in the annals of a -beneficent and noble foundation, a somewhat dull Session of Parliament -was suddenly enlivened by an animated and angry debate. - -[Sidenote: THE PROSECUTION OF LEHEUP FOR HIS DEALINGS WITH THE MUSEUM - LOTTERY.] - -The provident clauses in the Lottery Act of 1753 were made of no effect, -mainly by entrusting the chief share in working the Act to an -accomplished jobber. One Peter LEHEUP was made a Commissioner of the -Lottery. This man had held some employment or other at Hanover, from -which he had been recalled with circumstances of disgrace. [Sidenote: -1753. December.] It is to be inferred, from the way in which his name -points an epigrammatic phrase in one of the letters of BOLINGBROKE,[53] -and in more than one of those of Horace WALPOLE, that it had come, long -before this appointment took place, to have a sort of proverbial -currency, like the names of ‘CURLL’ or of ‘CHARTRES.’ But, be that as it -may, Mr. Commissioner LEHEUP set on foot as thriving and as flagitious a -traffic in SLOANE lottery tickets, as was ever set on foot in railway -shares by a clever promoter of our own day. He wrote circular letters -instructing his correspondents how most effectually to evade the Act. He -sold nearly three hundred tickets to a single dealer by furnishing him -with a list of ‘Roes’ and ‘Does,’ ‘Gileses’ and ‘Stileses’ at -discretion. He supplied himself, with equal liberality; and contrived to -close the subscription, after an actual publicity of exactly six -hours—for the issue of one hundred thousand tickets. In a few days, of -course, tickets in abundance were to be had, at sixteen shillings -premium upon each, and in what looked to be a still rising market. The -trap proved to be brilliantly ‘successful.’ - -The subsequent explosion of parliamentary anger was rather increased -than lessened by an attempt of Henry FOX (afterwards the first Lord -Holland) to extenuate LEHEUP’S offence by some arguments of the ‘_Tu -quoque_’ sort. By a great majority, the House of Commons sent up an -address praying the King to direct his Attorney General to prosecute the -chief offender, who was accordingly convicted and fined a thousand -pounds. It is not uninstructive to note that Horace WALPOLE—himself one -of the SLOANE Trustees—treats the matter in one of his letters exactly -in the offhand man-of-the-world style in which Henry FOX had treated it -in the House of Commons.[54] - -By this unfortunate episode, the name of one of the best of Englishmen -was brought into a sort of momentary connection with the name of one of -the worst. But the chief discredit of the story does not really rest -upon LEHEUP. A private citizen, of moderate means, had been willing to -expend seventy or eighty thousand pounds—besides an inestimable amount -of labour and research—upon an object essentially and largely public. -Yet a British Parliament could not summon up enough of public spirit to -tax its own members, in common with their tax-paying fellow subjects -throughout the realm, to the extent of a hundred thousand pounds, in -order to meet an obvious public want, to redeem an actual parliamentary -pledge, and to secure a conspicuous national honour for all time to -come. That want of public spirit did not exhaust its results with the -ruin of the poor families, scattered here and there, whose scanty means -had been hazarded and lost by gambling, under a parliamentary -temptation. It impressed itself, so to speak, on the subsequent history -of the institution for more than forty years. The Museum had been -founded grudgingly. It was kept up parsimoniously. - -Had that fact been otherwise, the story of the knavery of Peter LEHEUP -would have little merited recital a century after it, and he, had passed -into oblivion. - -The value of so small an incident in the crowded story of our National -Museum lies simply in the fact that it forms a just and salient -illustration of the narrowness of spirit with which the then -representatives of the people received the liberal gift of public -benefactors. It serves to show why it was that, from the year 1753 down -to some years after 1800, the History of the British Museum casts very -little honour on Britain as a nation, whereas the precedent history of -its integral parts, as separate and infant collections, casts, and will -long continue to cast, great honour on the memory of the COTTONS, the -HARLEYS, and the SLOANES, by whom they were painfully gathered and most -liberally dispensed. - - -Happily, as the course of this narrative—whatever its -shortcomings—cannot fail to show, the literary and scientific treasures -which men of that stamp had collected, came, in a subsequent generation -(and, in a chief measure, by dint of the exertions of the Trustees and -Officers to whom they had been, in course of time, confided) to be more -adequately estimated by Ministers and by Parliament in their public -capacity, as well as by the more cultivated portion of the people -generally. For more than a half-century past the History of the British -Museum has been one that any Briton may take delight and pride in -telling. And such it promises to be, preeminently, in the time yet to -come. In a conspicuous sense, the men by whom it was first founded, and -the men by whom, for what is now a long time past, it has been -administered and governed, have alike been true workers for Posterity. - - - - - BOOK THE SECOND. - - _THE ORGANIZERS, AND EARLY AUGMENTORS._ - - - - - _CONTENTS OF BOOK II_:— - - - CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTORY.—EARLY HISTORY OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM. - - II. A GROUP OF ARCHÆOLOGISTS AND CLASSICAL EXPLORERS. - - III. THE COLLECTORS OF THE CRACHERODE, LANSDOWNE, BURNEY, AND - EGERTON LIBRARIES, AND OF THE APPENDANT COLLECTIONS. - - IV. THE KING’S LIBRARY—ITS COLLECTOR AND ITS DONOR. - - V. THE FOUNDER OF THE BANKSIAN MUSEUM AND LIBRARY. - -“The King made this Ordinance:—That there should be a mission of three -of the brethren of Solomon’s House, whose errand was only to give us -knowledge of the affairs and state of those countries to which they were -designed, and especially of the Sciences ... and Inventions of all the -World; and withal to bring us books, instruments, and patterns in every -kind.... - -“We have also precious stones, of all kinds; many of them of great -beauty.... Also, store of fossils.... But we do hate all impostures and -lies, insomuch as we have severally forbidden it to all our fellows, -under pain of ignominy or fines, that they do not show any natural work -or thing adorned or swelling, but only pure as it is, without -affectation of showing marvels.... - -“We have also those who take care to consider of the former labours and -Collections, and out of them to direct new explorations ... more -penetrating into Nature than the former.... Upon every invention of -value we erect a statue to the inventor, and give him a liberal and -honourable reward. - -“We have hymns and services, which we say daily, of laud and thanks to -GOD for His marvellous works, and forms of prayer imploring His blessing -for the illumination of our labours.”—BACON, ‘_New Atlantis, a Work -unfinished_.’ - - - - - CHAPTER I. - INTRODUCTORY. - - ‘A Museum of Nature does not aim, like one of Art, merely to charm - the eye and gratify the sense of beauty and of grace. - - ‘As the purpose of a Museum of Natural History is to ... impart and - diffuse that knowledge which begets the right spirit in which all - Nature should be viewed, there ought to be no partiality for any - particular class, merely on account of the quality which catches and - pleases the passing gaze. Such a Museum should subserve the - instruction of a People; and should also afford objects of study and - comparison to professed Naturalists, so as to serve as an instrument - in the progress of Science.’— - - RICHARD OWEN, _On a National Museum of Natural History_, pp. 10; 11; - 115. - - _Househunting.—The Removal of the Sloane Museum from - Chelsea.—Montagu House, and its History.—The Early Trustees - and Officers.—The Museum Regulations.—Early Helpers in the - Foundation and Increase of the British Museum.—Epochs in the - Growth of the Natural History Collections.—Experiences of - Inquiring Visitors in the years 1765–1784._ - - -[Sidenote: BOOK II, Chap. 1 EARLY HISTORY OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM.] - -The practical good sense which had always been a marked characteristic -in the life of Sir Hans SLOANE is seen just as plainly in those -clauses of his Will by which he leaves much latitude, in respect of -means and agencies, to the discretion of his Executors and Trustees. -It is seen, for example, when, after reciting some views of his own as -to the methods by which his Museum should be maintained for public -use, he adds the proviso—‘in such manner as they (the Trustees) shall -think most likely to answer the public benefit by me intended.’ He had -a love for the old Manor House at Chelsea, and contemplated, as it -seems, with some special complacency, the maintenance there of the -Collections which had added so largely to the pleasures of his own -fruitful life. But he was careful not to tie down his Trustees to the -continuance of the Museum at Chelsea, as a condition of his bounty. -They were at liberty to assent to its removal, should the balance of -public advantage seem to them to point towards removal. - -Chelsea was in that day a quiet suburban village, distant from the -heart of London. As the site of a Museum it had many advantages, but -it was, comparatively and to the mass of visitors and students, a long -way off. The Trustees assented to a generally expressed opinion that -whilst the new institution ought not to be placed in any of the -highways of traffic, it ought to be nearer to them than it would be, -if continued in its then abode. - -[Sidenote: Edmund, Duke of Buckingham, to Duke of Shrewsbury.] - -One of the first places offered for their choice was the old -Buckingham House (now the royal palace). It was already a large and -handsome structure. The charm of its position, at that time, was not -unduly boasted of in the golden letters of the inscription conspicuous -upon its entablature— - - ‘_Sic siti lætantur lares._’ - -Its prospects, as described not very long before by the late ducal -owner, ‘presented to view at once a vast town, a palace, and a -cathedral, on one side; and, on the other sides, two parks, and a -great part of Surrey.’ Its fine gardens ended in ‘a little wilderness, -full of blackbirds and nightingales.’ Yet it was close to the Court -end of the town. But the price was thirty thousand pounds. - -Another offer was that of Montagu House at Bloomsbury. Less charmingly -placed, and architecturally less striking in appearance than was its -rival, both its situation and its plan were better fitted for the -purposes of a public Museum. [Sidenote: MONTAGU HOUSE AND ITS -HISTORY.] It stood, it is true, on the extreme verge of the London of -that day. Northward, there was nothing between it and the distant -village of Highgate, save an expanse of fields and hedgerows. And for -a long distance, both to the east and the west, no part of London had -yet spread beyond it, except an outlying hospital or two. But there -were already indications that the town would extend in that northerly -direction, more quickly than in almost any other. The house had seven -and-a-half acres of garden and shrubberies; and its price was but ten -thousand, two hundred and fifty pounds. - -Montagu House had been built about sixty years before for Ralph -MONTAGU, first Duke of Montagu. A spacious court separated the house -from Great Russell Street, towards which it presented to view only a -screen of pannelled brickwork, having a massive gateway and cupola in -the centre, and turreted wings, masking the domestic offices, at -either end. The house itself was rather stately than beautiful, but -its chief rooms and its grand staircase were elaborately painted by -the best French artists of the day. And the appendant offices were -more than usually extensive. - -It stood on the site of a structure of much greater architectural -pretensions, erected for the same owner, only twelve years before, -from the designs of Robert HOOKE. That first Montagu House had been -burned to the ground. - -The offer of Montagu House was accepted by the Trustees and approved -by the Government. It was found needful to make considerable -alterations in order to adapt the building to its new uses. This -outlay increased the eventual cost of the mansion, and of its -appliances and fittings, to somewhat more than twenty-three thousand -pounds. The adaptation, with the removal and re-arrangement of the -Collections, occupied nearly five years. It was not until the -beginning of the year 1759 that the Museum was opened for public -inspection. When removed to Bloomsbury, it was but brought back to -within a few hundred yards of its first abode. - - -[Sidenote: CONSTITUTION OF THE MUSEUM TRUST.] - -We have seen that according to the plan for the government of the -institution which SLOANE had sketched in his Codicil of July, 1749, -there would have been a Board of Visitors as well as a Board of -Trustees. But, by the foundation Statute, enacted in 1753, both of -these Boards were incorporated into one. Forty-one Trustees were -constituted, with full powers of management and control. Six of these -were representatives of the several families of COTTON, HARLEY, and -SLOANE, the head, or nearest in lineal succession, of each family -having the nomination, from time to time, of such representatives or -‘Family Trustees,’ when, by death or otherwise, vacancies should -occur. Twenty were ‘Official’ Trustees, in accordance, so far, with -SLOANE’S scheme for the constitution of his Board of Visitors; and by -these two classes, conjointly, the other fifteen Trustees were to be -elected. - -The Official Trustees were to be the holders for the time being of the -following offices:—(1) The Archbishop of Canterbury, (2) the Lord -Chancellor, (3) the Speaker of the House of Commons, (4) the Lord -President of the Council, (5) the First Lord of the Treasury, (6) the -Lord Privy Seal, (7) the First Lord of the Admiralty, (8 and 9) the -Secretaries of State, (10) the Lord Steward, (11) the Lord -Chamberlain, (12) the Bishop of London, (13) the Chancellor of the -Exchequer, (14) the Lord Chief Justice of England, (15) the Master of -the Rolls, (16) the Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, (17) the -Attorney-General, (18) the Solicitor-General, (19) the President of -the Royal Society, (20) the President of the College of Physicians. - -[Sidenote: Act of 26 Geo. II, c. 22, Clauses 4–8.] - -To the first three of these Official Trustees Parliament entrusted the -appointment, from time to time, of all the Officers of the Museum, -except the Principal Librarian, who is to be appointed by the Crown, -on the nomination of the ‘Principal Trustees,’ as the first three -Trustees—the Archbishop, Chancellor, and Speaker—have always been -called. - - -The following fifteen persons were the first _elected_ Trustees, under -the Act of 1753:—The Duke of Argyle, the Earl of Northumberland, Lord -Willoughby of Parham, Lord Charles Cavendish, the Honourable Philip -Yorke, Sir George Lyttelton, Sir John Evelyn, James West, Nicholas -Hardinge, William Sloane, William Sotheby, Charles Grey, the Reverend -Dr. Thomas Birch, James Ward, and William Watson. [Sidenote: Records -of British Museum, in MS. ADDIT., 6179.] The first meeting of the -Trustees under the Act was held at the Cockpit, Whitehall, on the 17th -of December, 1753. - -The first ‘Principal Librarian’[55] was Dr. Gowin KNIGHT, a member of -the College of Physicians, and eminent, in his day, as a cultivator of -experimental science. Some magnetic apparatus of his construction and -gift was placed in the Museum soon after its opening, and attracted, -in its day, much attention. He received the appointment after a keen -competition with the more widely-known physician and botanist, Sir -John HILL. The first three ‘Keepers of Departments’ were Dr. Matthew -MATY, Dr. Charles MORTON, and Mr. James EMPSON. Dr. KNIGHT retained -his post until 1772. - -MATY and MORTON succeeded in turn to the office of Principal -Librarian, and their respective services will have a claim to notice -hereafter. EMPSON had been the valued servant and friend of Sir Hans -SLOANE. He is the only officer whose name appears in SLOANE’S Will. He -had served him as Keeper of the Museum at Chelsea for many years. - - -There is, in one of the letters of Horace WALPOLE to Sir Horace MANN, -an amusing account of an initiatory meeting of the original Trustees, -held prior to their formal constitution by Parliament. It is marked by -the writer’s usual superciliousness towards all hobbies, except the -dilettante hobby which he himself was wont to ride so hard. ‘I employ -my time chiefly, at present,’ he wrote to MANN, in February, 1753, ‘in -the guardianship of embryos and cockle shells. Sir Hans SLOANE valued -his Museum at eighty thousand pounds, and so would anybody who loves -hippopotamuses, sharks with one ear, and spiders as big as geese.... -We are a charming wise set—all Philosophers, Botanists, Antiquarians, -and Mathematicians—and adjourned our first meeting because Lord -MACCLESFIELD, our Chairman, was engaged in a party for finding out the -Longitude.’ - -‘One of our number,’ continues WALPOLE, ‘is a Moravian, who signs -himself “Henry XXVIII, Count de REUSS.” The Moravians have settled a -colony at Chelsea, in Sir Hans’ neighbourhood, and I believe he -intended to beg Count Henry the Twenty-Eighth’s skeleton for his -Museum.’ This distinguished foreigner does not appear in the -parliamentary list. - -The Chairman of the preliminary meeting so airily described by -WALPOLE, continued, under the definitive constitution of the Trust, to -take a leading part in its administration. It appears to have been by -Lord MACCLESFIELD that the original ‘Statutes and Bye-laws’ of the -Museum, or many of them, were drafted.’ - -[Sidenote: THE REGULATIONS FOR ADMISSION AND STUDY.] - -In the form in which they were first issued, in 1759, these statutes -directed that the Museum should ‘be kept open every day in the week, -except Saturday and Sunday.’ [Sidenote: 1759–1803.] For the greater -part of the year the public hours were from nine o’clock in the -morning until three o’clock in the afternoon. On certain days, in the -summer months, the open hours were from four o’clock in the afternoon -until eight—so as to meet the requirements of persons actively engaged -in business during the early part of the day. But the publicity was -hampered by a system of admission-tickets which had to be applied for -on a day precedent to that of every intended visit. The application -had first to be made, then registered; a second application had to -follow, in order to receive the ticket; and the ticket could rarely be -used at the time of receiving it. [Sidenote: MS. ADDIT., 6179, ff. 36, -seqq.] So that, in practice, each visit to the Museum had commonly to -be preceded by two visits to the ‘Porter’s Lodge.’ - -The visitors were admitted in parties, at the prescribed hours, and -were conducted through the Museum by its officers according to a -routine which, practically and usually, allowed to each group of -visitors only one hour for the inspection of the whole. Special -arrangements, however, were made for those who resorted to the Museum -for purposes of study. [Sidenote: _Statutes and Regulations_, part ii, -§ 3.] To such, say the statutes, ‘a particular room is allotted, in -which they may read or write without interruption during the time the -Museum is kept open.’ - -[Sidenote: MS. ADDIT., 6179, as above.] - -The aggregate number of persons admitted as visitors—exclusive of -students—was, for some years, restricted to sixty persons, as a -maximum, in any one day. - - -In order to give the reader a definite and clear idea of what was -seen, in 1759, by the earliest visitors to the British Museum, in its -rudimentary state, some sort of ground plan is essential, but the -merest outline will suffice for the purpose. - -There were at Montagu House two floors or stories of state apartments. -The upper floor was that which was first shown, after the formation of -the Museum. - -The visitor, having ascended the superb staircase painted by LA FOSSE, -passed through a vestibule and grand saloon (_A_ _B_) furnished with -various antiquities, into the ‘Cottonian Library’ (_C_), and thence -into the ‘Harleian Library,’ which occupied three rooms (_D_, _E_, and -_F_). He then entered the ‘Medal Room’—containing the coins and medals -of the SLOANE and COTTON collections (_G_); the ‘SLOANE Manuscript -Room’ (_H_); and the room containing the chief part of the antiquities -(_I_)— - -[Illustration: - - _Rough Diagram, showing Principal Floor of the original British - Museum of 1759._ -] - -Then the visitor, passing again through the vestibule (_A_) and great -saloon (_B_), entered the rooms _K_, _L_, and _M_. _K_ contained the -minerals and fossils of Sir Hans SLOANE’S collection; _L_, the shells; -_M_, the plants and insects. Thence he passed into _N_, which was -devoted to the bulk of the SLOANE Zoological Collection, and into _O_, -containing artificial and miscellaneous curiosities. - -Descending to the floor beneath, by the secondary staircase between -_N_ and _O_, the visitor then entered the small room _P_, which -contained the magnetic apparatus given by Dr. Gowin KNIGHT, and the -rooms, _Q_ and _R_ devoted to the reception of the greater part of the -Royal Library, restored by HENRY, Prince of Wales, and augmented—but -with extreme parsimony—by several of the Stuart monarchs, whose -additions to the shelves were, indeed, much oftener made of books -given, than of books bought. He then passed into SLOANE’S Printed -Library, which occupied the whole of the spacious and handsome suite -of rooms _S_, _T_, _V_, _W_, _X_, and _Y_, and (passing through the -Trustees’ Room _Z_,) entered the room _A A_, containing the EDWARDS -Library; ending his tour of inspection in the room _B B_, in which was -arranged the remainder of the old Royal Library, the main portion -whereof had been seen already in _Q_ and _R_. - -[Illustration: - - _Rough Diagram, showing Ground Plan of the original British Museum - of 1759._ -] - -When the combined Museum and Libraries, thus arranged, were first -opened to the inspection of the curious Public in 1759, the -collections enumerated in the Foundation Act of 1753 had, it is seen, -already received some notable increase by gifts. [Sidenote: EARLY -HELPERS IN THE FOUNDATION AND GROWTH OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM.] The first -donor was the House of Lords, by whose order the historical -collections of Thomas RYMER, royal historiographer, and editor of the -_Fœdera_, were given to the Trustees, immediately after their -incorporation. [Sidenote: 1755–57.] Then followed, in 1757, the gift -of the Royal Library and that of the Lethieullier Antiquities from -Egypt. [See Chapter II.] - -The next donor, in order of time, was a Jewish merchant, and -stock-broker, of humble origin, but of princely disposition. -[Sidenote: 1759. DA COSTA’S HEBREW COLLECTION.—HISTORY OF THE -COLLECTOR.] Solomon DA COSTA was one of the many men who have done -honour to commerce not merely by its successful prosecution, but by -the conspicuous union of mercantile astuteness with noble tastes and -true beneficence. [Sidenote: _Correspondence of Thomas Hollis._] His -talents for business enabled him to make a hundred thousand -pounds—which in his day was more, perhaps, than the equivalent of four -hundred thousand in ours. He had made it, says a keen observer, who -knew the man well, ‘without scandal or meanness.’ When wealth made him -independent, he spent his new leisure, not in luxury but in hard -labour for the poor. - -DA COSTA had come, from Amsterdam, into England, in the year 1704. His -struggling Hebrew compatriots were among the earliest sharers in his -bounty. But his heart was too large to suffer that bounty to be -limited by considerations either of race or of local neighbourhood. To -him, as to the Samaritan of old, distress made kinship. He was wont to -journey, from time to time, through thirty or forty parishes of Surrey -and of Kent, with the punctual diligence of a commercial traveller, -simply to succour the distressed by that best of all succour, the -provision of means through which, in time, self-help would be -developed and ensured. Provident loans, clothing-funds, the education -and apprenticeship of necessitous children, were the forms in which DA -COSTA’S benevolence delighted to invest not only his money, but his -personal exertion and his cordial sympathy. He devoted more than a -thousand pounds a year to the benefit of Christian Englishmen, besides -all that he gave to the poor of his own faith and race. And to both he -gave, without noise or ostentation. - -He had, too, the breadth of view which enabled him to put, on their -true foot of equality, the claims of the necessitous mind, as well as -those of the necessitous body. Unlike many other men of genuine -beneficence, popular estimates of giving did not mislead him into -one-sidedness of aim. - -Within a few years of DA COSTA’S arrival in England, probably about -the year 1720, and when, with youthful ardour, he was seeking to -acquire knowledge as well as to make money, he met, at a bookseller’s, -with a remarkable collection of Hebrew books, of choice editions and -in rich and uniform bindings. The collection had that sumptuousness of -aspect which invited inquiry into its origin. All that he could learn -on that score was the probability that some statesman or other of the -Commonwealth period, had collected them for a public but unfulfilled -purpose, and that they had fallen—with so much other spoil—into the -hands of CHARLES THE SECOND. By that King’s order they had received, -if not their rich binding, at least his crown and cypher as marks of -the royal appropriation, and then (in a truly Carolinian fashion) were -left in the hands of the King’s stationer for lack of payment of the -charge of what—whether binding or mere decoration—had been done to the -books by the royal command. DA COSTA prized them as among his chief -treasures, but directly he heard of the foundation of a great -repository of learning, the emotions of the Jewish broker were such as -might have been felt by ‘broad-browed VERULAM,’ could he have lived to -see that day; save only that BACON would first have scanned the -evidence about the origin of the institution, and would have -discriminated the praise. - -DA COSTA wrote a letter to the Trustees. The generous heart is facile -in ascribing generosity. ‘A most stately monument’ said DA COSTA, -‘hath been lately erected and endowed, by the wisdom and munificence -of the British Legislature,’ and he accompanied his eulogy with a -prayer that the Almighty would ‘render unto them a recompense, -according to the work of their hands.’ [Sidenote: Da Costa to the -Trustees of the Brit. Museum, ‘5th of Sivan, 5519’ [1759]]. He brought -his mite of contribution, he added, not only as proof of sympathy with -the work in progress, ‘but as a thanksgiving offering, in part, for -the generous protection and numberless blessings which I have enjoyed -under the British Government.’ - -The gift embraced several Biblical Manuscripts of value, and a still -choicer series of early printed books, one hundred and eighty in -number. The giver has a merited place in the roll of our public -benefactors; and his devout prayer for the new Museum, ‘May it -increase and multiply ... to the benefit of the people of these -nations and of the whole earth,’ has had a more conspicuous fulfilment -than could, in 1759, have been imagined by the most sanguine of -bystanders. - - -[Sidenote: GIFT OF THE THOMASON COLLECTION OF ENGLISH BOOKS OF - 1641–1662, BY GEORGE III.] - -Three years afterwards, and soon after his accession to the throne, -King GEORGE THE THIRD gave to the Nation that most curious assemblage -of nearly the whole English literature of two and twenty eventful -years of Civil War,—open or furtive,—which is known to the Public as -the ‘Thomason Collection,’ though its technical name within the Museum -walls continues, as of old, to be ‘the King’s Tracts.’ - -That name is the less appropriate from its tendency to give an -inaccurate idea of the contents of the King’s gift, as well as from -its disregard of the origin of the Collection. The ‘tracts’ include -the most ponderous theological quartos that ever came from an English -press as well as the tiniest handbill, or the fugitive circular which -called together a ‘Committee of Sequestrators’ at Wallingford House. - -[Sidenote: GEORGE THOMASON AND HIS LABOURS.] - -George THOMASON, its collector, was an eminent London bookseller, of -royalist sympathies, who watched intensely the progress of the great -struggle between King and Parliament, Cavalier and Roundhead, and who -had noted with professional keenness how strikingly the printing press -was made to mirror, almost from day to day, the strife of senators in -council, as well as that of soldiers in the field. He had seized, in -1641, the idea of helping posterity the better to realize every phase -of the great conflict, the oncoming of which many men had long -foreseen, by gathering everything which came out in print—as far as -vigilant industry could do so—whether belonging to literature, and to -the obvious materials of history, or merely subserving the most -trivial need of the passing moment. He failed, of course, to secure -everything; but his endeavour was wonderfully successful, on the -whole. He also gathered many manuscripts which no printer in England -dared to put into type. And he obtained a large number of political -and historical pieces, bearing on English affairs, which had issued -from foreign presses; their authors being sometimes foreign observers -of the struggle, but more frequently British refugees. - -CHARLES THE FIRST congratulated THOMASON on the utility of his idea. -More than once the King was able to gratify his curiosity by borrowing -some tract or other which only our collector was known to possess. The -Parliament, meanwhile, was far from exhibiting any literary sympathies -in the undertaking. Some of its leaders loved freedom of the press -when it was seen to be a channel for urging forward their peculiar -doctrines and aims, but had the gravest doubts about its policy when -it manifestly helped their opponents and gave back blow for blow. The -‘Thomason Collection’ came to be viewed, at length, much in the light -in which soldiers view an enemy’s battery. If it could be captured and -carried off, some of the pieces might be turned against the enemy. If -the attempt at complete capture should miscarry, a sudden sally might -at least enable the assailants to destroy what they had failed to -secure. - -Hence it was that the poor Collector came to be in such alarm about -the possible fate of his treasures that he had them repeatedly packed -into cases, and, as the successes of the war veered to and fro, sent -them, at one time, far to the south of London; at another time, as far -to the east; now, smuggled them, concealed between the real and false -tops of tables, into a city warehouse; and anon made a colourable sale -of them to the University of Oxford. - -When the King enjoyed his own again, the Collection was offered, as -fit to be made a royal one. It contained more than thirty-three -thousand separate publications—bound in about 2,200 volumes—issued -between 1640 and 1662 inclusive. But CHARLES THE SECOND was busied -with pursuits having little to do with any kind of learning, and was -ill inclined, as we have seen already, to burden his Treasury for the -enrichment of his Library. Sir Thomas BODLEY’S Trustees at Oxford -refused the offer, in their turn, under a very different but scarcely -less obstructive pressure. Their excellent founder had formed peculiar -and stringent views about the literature worthy of a great University. -He had warned them against stuffing his library with ‘mere baggage -books.’ And so future Bodleian curators had, in another age, to buy -with large bank notes many things which their predecessors could have -bought with small silver coins;—just as in the ancient story. - -The unfortunate Collection went a-begging. The books passed from hand -to hand, somewhat, it would seem, by way of pledge or mortgage. They -had cost a large sum of money, and a larger amount of toil. When his -expectations were at their best the first owner, it is said, refused -several thousands of pounds for them. [Sidenote: THE ACQUIREMENT OF -THE THOMASON COLLECTION BY GEORGE III.] His ultimate successors in the -possession were glad, in 1762, to accept, at the hands of King GEORGE -THE THIRD, three hundred pounds. The purchase was recommended to him -by Thomas HOLLIS, and also by Lord BUTE, as a serviceable addition to -the newly founded Museum. [Sidenote: 1762.] As all readers now know, -it has largely subserved our history already. It is not less certain -that the ‘Thomason Collection’ embodies a store of information yet -unused. - - -[Sidenote: THE BRANDER FOSSILS.] - -[Sidenote: 1766.] - -The next augmentor of the Museum was one of its Trustees, Gustavus -BRANDER, distinguished as a promoter of natural science, and more -especially of mineralogy and palæontology in the early stages of their -study in England. A remarkable collection of fossils found in -Hampshire, in the London Clay, was given by Mr. BRANDER to the Public, -after having been, at his cost, carefully examined and described by -Dr. SOLANDER. It was the first notable contribution to the grand -series of specimens in palæontology which, in their combination, have -made the British Museum the most important of all repositories in that -department of science. - -To the Zoological Collections, the additions made, whether by gift or -by purchase—save as the result, more or less direct, of ‘Voyages of -Discovery,’ which will be noticed presently—were for many years very -unimportant. The first purchase worthy of record was a collection of -stuffed birds, formed in Holland, and acquired, in 1769, for four -hundred and sixty pounds. This purchase was made by the Trust. - - -The reign of GEORGE THE THIRD is marked by very few characteristics -which are more honourable, both to King and people, than is its long -series of expeditions to remote countries made expressly, or mainly, -for purposes of geographical and scientific discovery, and extending -over almost the whole of the reign. - -[Sidenote: ACCESSIONS ACCRUING FROM VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. 1760–1820.] - -Scarcely one voyage of the long series failed to bring, directly or -indirectly, some valuable accession or other to the Collection of -Natural History. Sometimes such accessions came to the Museum as the -gifts of the navigators and explorers themselves. In this class of -donors the name of Captain James COOK,[56] and that of Archibald -MENZIES, occur both early and frequently. Sometimes they came as the -gifts of the Board of Admiralty. Sometimes, again,—and not -infrequently—as those of the King, who, in his best days, took a keen -interest in enterprise of this kind, and delighted in talking with the -captains of the discovery ships about their adventures, and about the -marvels of the far-off lands they had been among the first to see. Nor -did the King stand alone in his active encouragement of remote -explorations. Many of the great and wealthy nobles gave generous -furtherance to them, and were equally ready to make available for -scientific study the new specimens which the ships brought home. In -this way, for example, the Marquess of ROCKINGHAM gave to the Museum a -curious collection of reptiles gathered in Surinam. - -In the same manner was furnished that minor, but very popular and -instructive, collection illustrating the rude arts and modes of life -of the newly explored countries, which some yet among us can remember -as occupying the ‘South Sea Room’ of the old house. In the course of -years it came to be eclipsed by much better collections of the same -kind elsewhere, and so to wear a meagre and somewhat obsolete aspect. -But it had rendered good service in its day, and was the germ of what -will become, it may be hoped, in due time, an ethnological collection -worthy of a seafaring people. - -[Sidenote: EPOCHS IN THE GROWTH OF THE NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS.] - -As regards the Natural History Collections, the growth of the Museum -may be said to have been mainly dependent on the Voyages of Discovery -for more than forty years. That source of improvement seems to mark, -distinctively, the first epoch in the history of those collections. -Then came a second epoch, marked by some approach to systematic -improvement, in all branches, by means of the purchase of entire -private collections as opportunity offered. A third period may be -dated from the acquisition of the botanical and other gatherings of -Sir Joseph BANKS in 1827. Sir Joseph’s splendid gift was soon followed -by so many other gifts—sometimes as donations, more frequently as -bequests—that for many years the liberality of benefactors quite -eclipsed the liberality of Parliament. Only of late years can it be -said that the public support of the Natural History Collections has -been worthy, either of the Nation or of their own intrinsic importance -to it. By degrees, statesmen have become convinced that such -collections are much more than the implements of a knot of professed -naturalists, and the toys of the public at large. Slowly, but surely, -the economic and commercial value of a great museum of natural -history, as well as its educational value, have come saliently into -view. And a wise enlargement of the contributions from national funds -has had the excellent result of stimulating, instead of checking, the -benefactions of individuals. - -Some of the particular steps by which so conspicuous an improvement -has been gradually brought about will claim our notice hereafter, in -their due order. - - -If, for a long series of years, the degree of liberality with which -these varied collections were shown to the Public at large scarcely -accorded, either with their origin, or with the purpose for which they -had been avowedly combined, it should be borne in mind that ‘the -Public’ of 1759 was a very different body from the Public of a century -later. It is only by degrees that indiscriminate admission to museums -has come to be either very useful or quite feasible. There was a good -deal of warrant in 1759 for the opinion recorded by one of the -Trustees when the Rules were first under discussion. [Sidenote: MS. -ADDIT., 6179, f. 61.] ‘A general liberty,’ said Dr. John WARD, the -eminent Gresham Professor, ‘to ordinary people of all ranks and -denominations, is not to be kept within bounds. Many irregularities -will be committed that cannot be prevented by a few librarians who -will soon be insulted by such people [as commit abuses], if they offer -to control or contradict them.’ But, after all, the inadequate -strength of the staff was the main cause of such of the restrictions -as were chiefly complained of. - -The original regulations, with but small change, remained in force for -about forty-five years. How they worked will be best and most briefly -shown by citing the experiences of two or three notable visitors, at -various periods, during the last century. - -[Sidenote: GROSLEY’S ACCOUNT OF THE MUSEUM IN 1765.] - -In 1765, Peter John GROSLEY, an accomplished and keen-eyed -Frenchman, familiar with the Museums of Italy as well as with those -of his own country, visited the new Museum, and recorded his -impressions of it. With the building he was charmed. He had already -seen many parts of England, but nowhere any house that he thought -worthy to be compared with Montagu House. He calls it ‘the largest, -the most stately, the best arranged, and most richly decorated’ -structure of its kind in all England. He made repeated visits. What -chiefly arrested his attention in the Natural History rooms were the -beauty of the papillonacea—comprising, he thought, ‘all that either -the old world or the new can supply in this kind’—and the -strangeness of some mineral specimens brought from the Giant’s -Causeway in Ireland. The Printed Books he thought to be ‘the weakest -part of this vast collection.’ In one of the principal rooms, ‘I -saw,’ he continues, ‘not without astonishment, a very fine bust of -Oliver CROMWELL, occupying a distinguished place!’ He praises the -courtesy with which Drs. MATY and MORTON discharged, by turns, the -duty of exhibition. ‘They show,’ he says, ‘the most obliging -readiness to explain things to the visitor, but,’ he adds, with -obvious truth, ‘their very courtesy is wont to make a stranger -content himself with hasty and unsatisfactory glances, that he may -not trespass on their politeness.’ And then he makes a wise -practical suggestion, which was carried into effect, almost half a -century afterwards. - -‘In order really to carry out the intentions of Parliament,’ writes -GROSLEY, in 1765, ‘it is to be wished that the Public should be -admitted more liberally, and more easily, by placing a warder in every -room, to be continually present during the public hours.’ - -Ten years afterwards, the difficulty on this score had so increased -that a notification to the following effect was circulated: ‘British -Museum, 9th August, 1776. The Applicants of the middle of April are -not yet satisfied. [Sidenote: MS. ADDIT., 10,555, fol. 14.] Persons -applying are requested to send weekly to the porter to know how near -they are upon the List.’ - -[Sidenote: VISIT OF C. P. MORITZ IN 1782.] - -In 1782, the plan had so far improved that instead of waiting from -April until August, a visitor could usually get admission within a -fortnight or so after applying for a ticket. We have an intelligent -and amusing account of a visit then made. This time the narrator is a -German,—Charles MORITZ, of Berlin. ‘In general,’ writes MORITZ, ‘you -must give in your name a fortnight before you can be admitted. But, by -the kindness of Mr. WOIDE’—a countryman of the traveller, and, at that -time, an Assistant-Librarian in the Museum,—‘I got admission -earlier.... Yet, after all, I am sorry to say that it was the room, -the glass-cases, the shelves, ... which I saw; not the Museum itself, -so rapidly were we hurried on through the departments. The company who -saw it when I did, and in like manner, was variously composed. They -were of all sorts, and some, as I believe, of the very lowest classes -of the people of both sexes, for, as it is, the property of the -Nation, every one has the same ‘right’—I use the term of the -country—to see it that another has. [Sidenote: WENDEBORN’S ACCOUNT OF -THE MUSEUM. 1780–90.] I had Mr. WENDEBORN’S book in my pocket, and it, -at least, enabled me to take more particular notice of some of the -principal things.’ - -The book thus referred to by MORITZ is the German original of that -account of English society and institutions which WENDEBORN himself -translated, a few years afterwards, into English, and published at -London, under the title of _A View of England_. - -Its author had settled in London as the Minister of a German -Congregation. He was himself a studious frequenter of the Museum, and -says of it: ‘The whole is costly, worth seeing, and honourable to the -Nation; when taken altogether it has not its equal. When considered in -its separate branches, almost each of them singly may be surpassed by -some other collection even in England itself.’ But the only collection -which he specifies as, in this sense, superior, are the Hunterian -Museum, and that which had been formed by Sir Ashton LEVER, and which, -when the _View of England_ was written, belonged to Mr. PARKINSON. -[Sidenote: Wendeborn, _A View of England_, vol. i, 323–325.] Of the -Museum Library, WENDEBORN says, ‘though a numerous and valuable -collection, it is yet, in many respects, very deficient, and as to its -use, much circumscribed.’ - -When the German visitor of 1782 pulled Mr. WENDEBORN’S book from his -pocket, as he was hurried through the Museum, the action attracted the -attention of the other visitors. The more intelligent of them pressed -round him to see if the book could be made to yield any information -for their behoof also. And the stranger gratified their curiosity by -translating a passage or two in explanation of the objects they were -passing. Then came an exquisite bit of sub-officialism. - -‘The gentleman who conducted us’ observes MORITZ, ‘took little pains -to conceal the contempt which he felt for my communications when he -found it was only a German description of the British Museum which I -had.’ ‘So rapid a passage,’ he continues, ‘through a vast suite of -rooms, in little more than one hour of time, with opportunity to cast -but one poor longing look of astonishment on all the vast treasures of -nature, antiquity, and literature, in the examination of which one -might profitably spend years, confuses, stuns, and overpowers the -visitor.’ - -Two years later, we have a similar account of the experiences of an -inquisitive Englishman, and of one who is much more outspoken in his -complaint. [Sidenote: WILLIAM HUTTON’S VISIT IN 1784.] William HUTTON, -the historian of Birmingham, came to London in December, 1784. ‘I was -unwilling to quit it,’ he writes, ‘without seeing what I had, many -years, wished to see. But how to accomplish it was the question. I had -not one relative in that vast metropolis to direct me.... By good -fortune, I stumbled upon a person possessing a ticket for the next -day, which he valued less than two shillings. We struck a bargain in a -moment and were both pleased.... I was not likely to forget Tuesday, -December 7th, at eleven.’ HUTTON, shrewd as he was, did not suspect -the real nature of his ‘bargain.’ He had met with a professional -dealer in Museum tickets; one of several who, on a humbler scale, -followed in the steps of Peter LEHEUP, but were lucky enough not to -excite the anger of the House of Commons. - -He was taken through the rooms in company with about ten other -persons, at a very rapid rate. He asked their conductor for some -information about the curiosities. The reply, he says, so humbled him -that he could not utter another word. ‘The company seemed influenced. -They made haste and were silent. No voice was heard but in whispers. -If a man spends two minutes in a room, in which a thousand things -demand his attention, he cannot bestow on them a glance apiece.... It -grieved me to think how much I lost for want of a little information. -In about thirty minutes we finished our silent journey through the -princely mansion, which would well have taken thirty days.... I had -laid more stress on the British Museum, than on anything else which I -should see in London. It was the only sight which disgusted me.... -[Sidenote: Hutton, _A Journey to London_, pp. 187–196.] Government -purchased this rare collection at a vast expense, and exhibits it as a -national honour.... How far it answers the end proposed this account -will testify.’ - -Better days were at hand. But it was not until 1805 that the rules of -admission were even so far effectively revised as to abolish the -traffic in tickets. Nor was any ‘Synopsis’ of the contents of the -Museum provided until 1808. In that year admission tickets were -abolished wholly. - - -Straitened means of maintenance have, at all times, had far more to do -with any inadequate provision for public usefulness of which (in days -long past) there may have been well-grounded cause of complaint, than -had neglect or oversight on the part of any officer. - -The officers, too, were, for a very long period after the -establishment of the Museum, engaged, and remunerated, only for an -attendance, in rotation, for two hours daily, on alternate days. A -largely increased provision by Parliament was the essential condition -of any large increase in the accessibility of the institution. - -As early as in 1776 the necessary expenditure in salaries and wages -alone (at a very low scale of payment), exceeded the annual income -(£900) accruing from the original endowment fund. After Parliament had -made an additional provision—first introduced in a clause of what was -then called a ‘hotch-potch Act’—averaging £1000 yearly, the total -annual income was still but £2448, including the yearly three hundred -pounds accruing from the ‘EDWARDS Fund,’ and the £248, paid, under the -grant of GEORGE THE SECOND, as the net yearly salary of the ‘King’s -Librarian.’ For a considerable period, the sums expended in -purchases—for all the departments collectively—had not amounted, in -any one year, to one hundred pounds. - - -[Sidenote: THE CAREER OF DR. MATTHEW MATY.] - -On the decease of the first Principal Librarian, Dr. Gowin KNIGHT, in -1772, Dr. Matthew MATY was appointed to that office. He was born at, -or in the neighbourhood of Utrecht, in 1718, and was educated in the -University of Leyden, where he took his degrees in 1740, the subject -of his inaugural dissertation, for that of M.A. and Doctor of -Philosophy, being ‘custom,’ and its wide results and influence social -and political. His essay was published (under the title _Dissertatio -philosophica inauguralis de Usu_,) in 1740. For the degree of Doctor -in Medicine, he treated of the effects of habit and custom upon the -human frame (_De Consuetudinis efficacia in corpus humanum_). This -medical dissertation was also published at Leyden, in the usual form, -in the same year. Both essays showed much ability, along with many -faults and crudities. Some of these became matters of conversation and -correspondence between the author and his friends. The subject was -less hacknied than that of the majority of academical essays, and MATY -was induced to reconsider it. He republished the result of his -thoughts, in a greatly improved form, in the following year at -Utrecht, and, to gain a wider audience, wrote in French. The _Essai -sur l’Usage_ attracted much attention, and served to pave the way for -the establishment by its author, eight years afterwards, of the -periodical entitled, _Journal Britannique_, as editor of which he is -now best remembered. He came to England in 1741, practised as a -physician, attained considerable reputation, and distinguished himself -more especially by following in the path of Sir Hans SLOANE, and -others, as an earnest supporter of the practice of inoculation. In -this field he was able to render good service, both by his -professional influence and by his pen. In the sharp controversies -which soon, and for a time, impeded the new practice, he took a large -share, and his publications on the subject are distinguished from many -others by their union of moderation of tone with vigour of advocacy. - -MATY’S predilections, however, pointed to a literary rather than to a -medical career. He had early taken that ply, and it was not easily -effaced. Within six years (1750–1756) he published eighteen volumes of -the _Journal Britannique_—edited in London but printed at the Hague—in -the toils of which he was, according to GIBBON, almost unaided. -GIBBON, too, bears testimony to the amiability of the man, as well as -to the industry of the writer. His own first and youthful achievement -in literature had MATY’S encouragement and active aid. [Sidenote: -_Memoirs of Gibbon_, p. 107.] When the _Essai sur l’Etude de la -Littérature_ was, after much filing and polishing, given to the -Public, a preliminary letter from MATY’S pen accompanied it, and by -him the essay was carried through the press. - -When he succeeded Dr. Gowin KNIGHT, as Principal Librarian in 1772, -his health was already failing. He occupied the post during less than -four years. To the last, his pen was busily employed. He was a -contributor to several foreign journals, as well as to the -_Philosophical Transactions_, some volumes of which he edited, or -assisted to edit, in his capacity as one of the Secretaries of the -Royal Society, to which office he had been appointed in 1765. Among -his minor literary publications are a life of BOERHAAVE, in French, -and one of Dr. Richard MEAD, in English. At the time of his death he -was working on the _Life of Lord Chesterfield_, afterwards prefixed to -the collective edition of the Earl’s _Miscellaneous Works_. Dr. MATY -died in 1776, and was succeeded in his Librarianship by his colleague, -Dr. Charles MORTON, who had had, from the beginning, the charge of the -department of Manuscripts, and had also acted as Secretary to the -Trustees. - -[Sidenote: NOTICE OF DR. CHARLES MORTON, THIRD PRINCIPAL LIBRARIAN.] - -Dr. MORTON was a native of Westmoreland, and was born in 1716. Until -the year 1750 he had practised as a physician at Kendal. In 1751 he -became a Licentiate of the College of Physicians, and in the following -year a Fellow of the Royal Society. His service in the British Museum -lasted from 1756 to 1799. There are several testimonies to the -courtesy with which he treated such visitors and students as came -under his personal notice, but his long term of superior office was -certainly not marked by any striking improvement in the public economy -of the Museum. And how much room for improvement existed there the -reader has seen. Dr. MORTON, like his predecessor, was one of the -Secretaries of the Royal Society. He filled that office from the year -1760 to 1774. He contributed several papers to the _Philosophical -Transactions_, as well on antiquarian subjects as on topics of -physical science, and he was the first editor of Bulstrode -WHITELOCKE’S remarkable narrative of his embassy to Sweden during the -Protectorate. MORTON’S writings are not remarkable either for vigour -or for originality, but, on more topics than one, they had the useful -result of setting abler men awork. He was three times married: (1) to -Mary BERKELEY, the niece of SWIFT’S frequent correspondent Lady -Elizabeth GERMAINE; (2) to Lady SAVILE; (3) to Mrs. Elizabeth PRATT. -He died on the 10th February, 1799. - -Of his successors in the office of Principal Librarian some account -will be found in the Introductory Chapter of Book III. - - - - - CHAPTER II. - A GROUP OF CLASSICAL ARCHÆOLOGISTS AND EXPLORERS. - - ‘The Archæologist cannot, like the Scholar, carry on his researches - in his own Library, independent of outward circumstances. For _his_ - work of reference and collation he must travel, excavate, collect, - arrange, delineate, transcribe, before he can place his whole - subject before his mind.... - - ‘A Museum of Antiquities is to the Archæologist what a Botanic - Garden is to the Botanist. It presents his subject compendiously, - synoptically, suggestively, not in the desultory and accidental - order in which he would otherwise be brought into contact with its - details.’— - - C. T. NEWTON, _On the Study of Archæology_, p. 26. - - _Sir William_ HAMILTON _and his Pursuits and Employments in - Italy.—The Acquisitions of the French Institute of Egypt, and - the capture of part of them at Alexandria.—Charles_ TOWNELEY - _and his Collection of Antiquities.—The Researches of the Earl - of_ ELGIN _in Greece.—The Collections and Writings of Richard_ - PAYNE KNIGHT. - - -[Sidenote: BOOK II, Chap. II. CLASSICAL ARCHÆOLOGISTS AND EXPLORERS.] - -To the comparatively small assemblage of antiquities which originally -formed part of the Museum of COURTEN and of SLOANE, several additions -had been made—besides the coins, medals, and bronzes of Sir Robert -COTTON—prior to the opening of the British Museum to the Public in -1759. Some of those additions were the gift, severally, of three -members of the LETHIEULLIER family. Others were the gift of Thomas -HOLLIS, who became a constant benefactor to the Museum almost from the -day of Sir Hans SLOANE’S death to that of his own. - -The LETHIEULLIER antiquities had been chiefly gathered in Egypt. -[Sidenote: THE EGYPTIAN ANTIQUITIES OF THE LETHIEULLIERS.] The first -gift was made by the Will of Colonel William LETHIEULLIER, dated 23rd -July, 1755. [Sidenote: MS. ADDIT., 6179, f. 29.] And the first -catalogue of any kind which was prepared for the British Museum, after -its acquisition by Parliament, was a list of these antiquities drawn -up by Dr. John WARD, one of the Trustees. And here it may deserve -remark that for many years after the foundation not a few of the -Trustees took a large share in the actual work of preparing the Museum -for public use, as well as in the ordinary duties of control and -administration. - -To the gift of Colonel William LETHIEULLIER, his cousin, Smart -LETHIEULLIER, and his nephew, Pitt LETHIEULLIER, made several -additions between the years 1756 and 1770. The last-named of these -gentlemen, when receiving, as executor of his uncle, the personal -thanks of a Committee of the Trustees (February, 1756), for the -bequest so made, took the opportunity of augmenting it by the gift of -some antiquities which he had himself collected during his residence -at Grand Cairo. - -But the first large and comprehensive addition in the archæological -department was that made in 1772 by the purchase, by means of a -Parliamentary grant, of the Museum of Antiquities, which had been -formed during seven years’ researches in Italy by Sir William -HAMILTON, our Ambassador at Naples. - - -[Sidenote: SIR WILLIAM HAMILTON AND HIS CAREER AT NAPLES.] - -Sir William HAMILTON was among the earliest of British diplomatists -who, by a voluntary choice, turned to good account, in the interests -of learning and of the public, the opportunities which diplomatic life -so frequently offers for amassing treasures of literature and science, -and (in many cases) for saving them from peril of destruction. In that -path Frenchmen had showed the way many generations earlier. - -As far, indeed, as regards a public and national care for matters of -the intellect, France is far better entitled to claim a priority in -the proud distinction of ‘teaching the nations how to live,’ than is -any other country in the world. It is to her immortal honour that from -a very early period, and even in times of sore trouble, her sovereigns -and her statesmen have known how to turn public resources to the -promotion of public culture, as well as of national power. A man may -read in French diplomatic letters of instruction of the sixteenth -century orders to collect manuscripts and antiquities, as implements -of public education, such as he would look for in vain in parallel -British documents of any century at all,—inclusive of the -present;—although it is certain that the omission has by no means -arisen from the engrossment of our diplomatists in weightier concerns. - -In Sir William HAMILTON’S case the liberal tastes and the mental -energy of the individual supplied the defect of his instructions. He -set an example which not a few of our ambassadors have voluntarily -followed with like public spirit, and with results not less -conspicuous. - - -William HAMILTON was the fourth son of Lord Archibald HAMILTON, -youngest son of James, third Duke of HAMILTON, K.G. His mother, Lady -Jane HAMILTON, was of that illustrious family by birth, as well as by -marriage, being the daughter of James, sixth Earl of ABERCORN. He was -born in the year 1730. - -Towards the close of his career, Sir William would sometimes say to -his intimates, when conversation turned upon the battle of life: ‘I -had to begin the world with a great name, and one thousand pounds for -all my fortune.’ But the world never used him very roughly. Whilst -still a young man (1755) he married Miss BARLOW, the wealthy heiress -of Hugh BARLOW, of Laurenny Hall, in Pembrokeshire. She brought him an -estate, in the neighbourhood of Swansea, worth nearly five thousand -pounds a year; but it was his happy lot to have married a true wife, -not a bag of money. DUCLOS, who saw much of the HAMILTONS in their -family circle at Naples in after years, was wont to say, ‘They are the -happiest couple I ever saw.’ - -[Sidenote: 1764–1800.] - -Mr. HAMILTON was sent to the Court of Naples in 1764. The post, in -that day, was not overburdened with business. And for some years to -come the new Ambassador found the Neapolitan society little to his -taste. He was intellectual, and, in the truest sense, an English -gentleman. The tone of society at that time in Naples was both -frivolous and dissolute. He had to form, by slow degrees, a circle in -which a man of cultivated tastes might enjoy social life. The public -duties of the embassy could employ but a small portion of his time, -and the temper of the man made employment to him a necessary of life. -He threw his energies into hard study. And he possessed that happiest -of mental characteristics, an equal love of the natural sciences, and -of the world of art and of books. He could pore, with like enjoyment, -on the deep things of Nature, and on the secrets of ‘the antiquary -times.’ And in both paths, he knew how to make his personal enjoyments -teem with public good. - -His first labours were given to the exhaustive research of volcanic -phenomena. He amazed the fine gentlemen of Naples by setting to work -as though he had to win his bread by the sweat of his brow. He -laboured harder on the slopes of Vesuvius than an exceptionally -diligent craftsman would labour in a factory—had Naples possessed any. -Within four years he ascended the famous mountain twenty-two times. -More than one of these ascents was made at the risk of his life. He -made, and caused to be made, innumerable drawings of all the phenomena -that he observed, showing the volcanic eruption in all its stages, and -under every kind of meteorological condition. He formed too a complete -collection of volcanic products, and of the earths and minerals of the -volcanic district. When he had studied Vesuvius under every possible -aspect, he went to Etna. - -The results of these elaborate investigations were sent, from time to -time, to the Royal Society (of which Mr. HAMILTON was made a Fellow, -after the reading of the first of his papers in 1766), and they were -published in the _Philosophical Transactions_, between the years 1766 -and 1780. They were afterwards collected, and improved, in the two -beautiful volumes entitled _Campi Phlegræi_, and were lavishly -illustrated from the drawings of F. A. FABRIS, who had been trained by -HAMILTON to the work.[57] The collection of volcanic geology and -products was given to the British Museum in 1767. - -[Sidenote: THE HAMILTON MUSEUM OF ANTIQUITIES.] - -These geological labours had been diversified, at intervals, by the -collection of a rich archæological museum, and by the establishment of -a systematic correspondence on antiquarian subjects with men of -learning in various parts of the kingdom of the Two Sicilies. This -correspondence had for its object, not merely the enrichment of his -own Museum, but the awakening of local attention throughout the -country to its antiquities and history; matters which had theretofore -been but too much neglected—in the Neapolitan fashion. - -One of the earliest and choicest acquisitions made by HAMILTON in the -early years of his residence at Naples was a collection of vases -belonging to the senatorial family of PORCINARI, many of which had -been gathered from sepulchres and excavations in Magna Græcia. This -purchase, made in 1766 and afterwards largely increased, may be -regarded as the substantial beginning of the noble series of vases now -so prominent a part of our National Museum. - -Thus had been formed, by degrees, at Naples, a museum which, at the -beginning of the year 1772, included seven hundred and thirty fictile -vases; a hundred and seventy-five terra-cottas; about three hundred -specimens of ancient glass (including three of the most perfect -cinerary urns known, at that time, to have been discovered); six -hundred and twenty-seven bronzes, of which nearly one-half illustrated -the arms and armour of the ancients; more than two hundred specimens -of sacrificial, domestic, and architectonic, instruments and -implements; fourteen bassi-relievi, busts, masques, and inscribed -tablets; about a hundred and fifty miscellaneous pieces of ancient -ivory, including a curious series of tessaræ; a hundred and forty-nine -gems, chiefly scarabæi; a hundred and forty-three personal ornaments, -of various kinds, in gold; a hundred and fifty-two fibulæ in various -materials; and more than six thousand coins and medals, comprising a -considerable series from the towns of Magna Græcia. - -The first fruits of this noble collection was the publication, -commenced in the year 1766, of the work entitled _Antiquités -Etrusques_, &c., with admirable illustrations, and with a descriptive -text, written in French by D’HANCARVILLE. [Sidenote: PUBLICATION OF -THE ‘ANTIQUITÉS ETRUSQUES.’] The first edition of this costly book was -issued at Naples. It naturally attracted great attention. No such -collection of fictile vases—in their combination of number and -beauty—had been theretofore known. - -The two volumes published at Sir William’s cost in 1766, were followed -by two other volumes in 1767. All of them were executed with great -care and with lavish expenditure. But the later edition, printed at -Florence—long afterwards—is in many points superior.[58] - -Whilst the volumes were still incomplete, Mr. HAMILTON circulated -proof plates of the work with great liberality. Some of these proofs -were lent to our famous English potter, Josiah WEDGWOOD, and gave a -strong impulse to his taste and artistic zeal. [Sidenote: Meteyard, -_Life of Josiah Wedgwood_, vol. ii, p. 72.] But they excited an eager -longing for access to the vases themselves, as the only satisfactory -models. - -[Sidenote: Wedgwood to Bentley, 10 May, 1770.] - -When WEDGWOOD wrote to his friend and partner, BENTLEY;—‘Mr. -HAMBLETON, you know, has flattered the old pot-painters very much,’ -one feels that for the moment that excellent man’s prepossessions had -been rubbed a little, against the grain. But he shows directly that -there is no real intent to impeach the Editor’s honesty in the matter. -‘He has, no doubt,’ adds WEDGWOOD, ‘taken his designs from the very -best vases extant,’ which was precisely what it was his duty to do, -since selection was the task in hand, not the publication of seven -hundred specimens. - -This Collection—far more remarkable than any, of its kind, which had -yet come to England—was brought over in 1772, and offered to the -Trustees of the British Museum. An appeal was made to Parliament, and -the first grant of public money, worthy of mention, was now made in -order to its acquisition. The sum given to Mr. HAMILTON was eight -thousand four hundred pounds. - -How soon one of the incidental results of the acquisition returned to -the Public much more than its cost—leaving out of account altogether -the best returns which accrue from such Collections—is among the -familiar annals of our commerce. Josiah WEDGWOOD told a Committee of -the House of Commons that, within two years, he had himself brought -into England, by his imitations of the Hamilton vases in his -manufactory at Etruria, about three times the sum which the Collection -had cost to the country. - -[Sidenote: THE EXPLORATIONS AT POMPEII AND HERCULANEUM.] - -At the beginning of the year 1772 Mr. HAMILTON was made a Knight of -the Bath. He returned to Naples soon after the transfer of his -antiquities to the Museum, and ere long he was busily engaged in new -explorations at Pompeii and at Herculaneum. He sent to the Society of -Antiquaries, in 1777, an interesting account of the discoveries at -Pompeii, which is printed in the fourth volume of the _Archæologia_. -At Herculaneum he employed, during many years, Father Antonio PIAGGI -to superintend excavations and make drawings, and gave him an annual -salary equal to a hundred pounds sterling, after vainly -endeavouring—at that time—to urge on the Neapolitan Government its own -duty to carry on the task in an adequate manner for the honour of the -nation, and to publish the results of the explorations for the general -benefit of learning. - -Sir William’s services as an ambassador were rendered with zeal and -with credit, as opportunity offered. But the opportunity, in his -earlier period, was comparatively rare. It was, perhaps, despite the -proverb, not altogether a happy thing for Naples that its annals were -tiresome. The rust of inactivity showed itself there, as so often -elsewhere, to be much more fatal than the exhaustion of strife. -Certainly, to the ambassador, it was a personal misfortune that, when -the affairs of Naples became really momentous to Englishmen, the -vigour and the will of earlier days were then departing from the man -whose energies were at length to be put to the test in the proper -sphere of his profession. Meanwhile, and in his prime, he had but—from -time to time—to make routine memorials as to matters of individual -wrong; to heal breaches between one Bourbon and another; and to secure -the neutrality of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies during the war which -grew out of the struggle in America. Such matters made no great inroad -upon the pursuits of the naturalist and the antiquarian. - -Labour on the mountains, in the excavations, and in the study, had -been, now for many years, relieved by congenial friendships. There had -been an improvement in the tone of Neapolitan Society since HAMILTON’S -first appearance. And all that was best in Naples had gathered round -him. To English travellers his hospitalities were splendid and -unremitting. But in 1782 the circle lost its mistress. Seven years -before, Sir William and Lady HAMILTON had been bereaved of a -daughter—their only child. In 1783 occurred the dreadful earthquake in -Calabria, the greatest calamity of the century save that at Lisbon. - -Among the scientific correspondents in England with whom Sir William -HAMILTON kept up an intercourse was Sir Joseph BANKS, then the -President of the Royal Society. To him was sent the fullest account -that was attainable of the sad event of 1783. - -It had chanced that just before the news reached Naples, Sir Joseph -had written to HAMILTON about some experiments and discoveries on the -composition and transmutation of water. He had said, jestingly: ‘In -future we philosophers shall rejoice when an eruption, which may -swallow up a few towns, affords subsistence for as many nations of -animals and vegetables.’ This letter HAMILTON was about to answer when -he received the intelligence from Calabria. - -‘We have had here,’ he writes, ‘some shocks of an earthquake which, in -Calabria Ultra, has swallowed up or destroyed almost every town, -together with some towns in Sicily.... Every hour brings in accounts -of fresh disasters. [Sidenote: 1783. Feb. 18.] Some thousands of -people will perish with hunger before the provisions sent from hence -can reach them. This, I believe, will prove to have been the greatest -calamity that has happened in this century. An end is put to the -Carnival. [Sidenote: Hamilton to Banks, MS. ADDIT., 8967, ff. 34, -seqq.] The theatres are shut. I suppose Saint Januarius will be -brought out.’ There had been no exaggeration in these first reports. -It was found that at Terranova, not only were all the buildings -destroyed, but the very ground on which they stood sunk to such a -depth as to form a sort of gulf. In that district alone 3043 people -lost their lives. At Seminara 1328 persons were buried beneath the -ruins. In other and adjacent districts more than 3300 persons -perished. - -In 1784 the ambassador visited England. His stay was brief. But an -incident which occurred during this visit gave its colour to the rest -of his life. - -In 1791 Sir William HAMILTON was made a Privy Councillor, and in the -same year (nine years after the death of his first wife) he married -Emma HARTE, whom he had first met in the house of his nephew, Colonel -GREVILLE, in 1784. In September, 1793, his eventful acquaintance with -NELSON was formed. - -[Sidenote: HAMILTON’S FIRST ACQUAINTANCE WITH NELSON.] - -In that month, NELSON had been sent to Naples with despatches from -Admiral Lord HOOD, in which Sir William HAMILTON was pressed to -procure the sending of some Neapolitan troops to Toulon. After his -first interview with Lord HOOD’S messenger, he is said to have -remarked to his wife: ‘I have a little man to introduce to you who -will become one of the greatest men England has ever had.’ The -favourable impression was reciprocal, it seems. The ambassador gave -such good furtherance to the object of NELSON’S mission, that the -messenger, we are told, said to him, ‘You are a man after my heart. -[Sidenote: Clarke and McArthur, _Life, &c., of Nelson_, vol. i, p. -133; and Nicolas, vol. i, p. 326.] I’m only a captain, but, if I live, -I shall get to the top of the tree;’ while, of the too-fascinating -lady into whose social circle he was presently brought, NELSON wrote -to his wife, ‘She is a young woman of amiable manners, who does honour -to the station to which she is raised.’ Several years, however, were -yet to intervene before the events of the naval war and the political -circumstances of Naples itself brought about a close connexion in -public transactions between the great seaman and the British -ambassador, whose long diplomatic career was drawing to its close. - - -HAMILTON, after the manner of Collectors, had scarcely parted with the -fine Museum, which he had sold to the Public in 1772, before he began -to form another. The explorations of the buried cities gave some -favourable opportunities near home, and his researches were spread far -and wide. In amassing vases he was especially fortunate. And, in that -particular, his second Collection came to surpass the first. He became -anxious to ensure its preservation in integrity. With that view he -offered it to the King of Prussia. - -[Sidenote: THE SECOND HAMILTON COLLECTION OF VASES.] - -‘I think,’ he wrote to the Countess of LICHTENAU, in May, 1796, ‘my -object will be attained by placing my Collection, with my name -attached to it, at Berlin. And I am persuaded that, in a very few -years, the profit which the arts will derive from such models will -greatly exceed the price of the Collection. The King’s [porcelain] -manufactory would do well to profit by it.... For a long time past I -have had an unlimited commission from the Grand Duke of Russia -[afterwards PAUL THE FIRST], but, between ourselves, I should think my -Collection lost in Russia; whilst, at Berlin, it would be in the midst -of men of learning and of literary academies. - -‘There are more,’ he continues, ‘than a thousand vases, and one half -of them figured. If the King listens to your proposal, he may be -assured of having the whole Collection, and I would further undertake -to go, at the end of the war, to Berlin to arrange them. [Sidenote: -Sir W. Hamilton to the Countess of Lichtenau, 3 May, 1796.] On -reckoning up my accounts,—I must speak frankly (_il faut que je dise -la vérité_),—I find that I shall needs be a loser, unless I receive -seven thousand pounds sterling for this Collection. That is exactly -the sum I received from the English Parliament for my first -Collection....[59] As respects Vases, the second is far more beautiful -and complete than the series in London, but the latter included also -bronzes, gems, and medals.’ But the negotiation thus opened led to no -result. And some of the choicest contents of this second Museum were -eventually lost by shipwreck. - -When the correspondence with Berlin occurred, the Collector’s health -was rapidly failing him. The political horizon was getting darker and -darker. Victorious France was putting its pressure upon the Neapolitan -Government to accept terms of peace which should exact the exclusion -of British ships from the Neapolitan ports. The ambassador needed now -all the energies for which, but a few years before, there had been no -worthy political employment. They were fast vanishing; but, to the -last, Sir William exerted himself to the best of his ability. It was -his misfortune that he had now to work, too often, by deputy. - -[Sidenote: THE LATER EVENTS AT NAPLES, 1796–1799.] - -Lady HAMILTON’S ambitious nature, and her appetite for political -intrigue, when combined with some real ability and a good deal of -reckless unscrupulousness as to the path by which the object in view -might be reached, were dangerous qualities in such a Court as that of -Naples. If, more than once, they contributed to the attainment of ends -which were eagerly sought by the Government at home, and were of -advantage to the movements of the British fleet, they cost—as is but -too well known—an excessive price at last. The blame fairly attachable -to Sir William HAMILTON is that of suffering himself to be kept at a -post for which the infirmities of age were rapidly unfitting him. But -there he was to remain during yet four eventful years; quitting his -embassy only when, to all appearance, he was at the door of death. - -Between the September of 1793 and that of 1798 NELSON and Sir William -HAMILTON met more than once; but their chief communication was, of -course, by letter. When, in October, 1796, after two victories in -quick succession, NELSON lost his hard-won prizes, and narrowly -escaped being taken into a Spanish port, it was to HAMILTON that he -wrote for a certificate of his conduct. And one of the ambassador’s -latest diplomatic achievements was his procuring access for British -ships to Neapolitan ports before the Battle of the Nile was won. - -On the very night of that famous first of August, 1798, Sir -William—whilst the distant battle was yet raging—told NELSON of the -disappointment which had followed the rumours, current during many -days at Naples, of a defeat given to the French fleet in the Bay of -Alexandretta, and assured him of his own confidence that the rumours, -though then unfounded, would come true at last. Five weeks afterwards, -he had the satisfaction of sending to London the first official -account of the great victory which he had seen before with the eye of -faith. - -At Naples the authentic news was received with a joy which worked like -frenzy. When the ambassador first saw the Queen, after its arrival, -she was rushing up and down the room of audience, and embracing every -person who entered it—man, woman, or child. [Sidenote: Sir W. Hamilton -to Nelson; Nicolas, vol. iii, p. 72.] He sent to NELSON an account of -the universal joy. ‘You have now, indeed, made yourself immortal,’ was -his own greeting. On the 22nd they again met, on board the _Vanguard_, -in the Bay. On the 21st of the following December Sir William HAMILTON -accompanied the King and Court of Naples in their flight to Palermo. - -The events of 1799 belong rather to history than to biography. Sir -William HAMILTON’S chief share in them lay in his exertions to obtain -for NELSON the large powers which the King of NAPLES vested in the -English Admiral—with results so mingled. On the 21st of June he -embarked with NELSON on board the _Foudroyant_, and sailed with the -squadron to Naples. In the stormy interview between NELSON and -Cardinal RUFFO, Sir William acted as interpreter. In all that -followed, he seems to have been rather a spectator than an actor. At -the close of the year he joined with NELSON in the vain endeavour to -induce the King to return to Naples, while that course was yet open to -him. - -[Sidenote: DEPARTURE FROM NAPLES.] - -On the 10th of June, 1800, Sir William took his final leave of Naples, -which had been his home for thirty-six years, and where he had mingled -in a departed world. In company with the Queen and three princesses, -the HAMILTONS sailed in the _Foudroyant_ for Leghorn, on their way to -Vienna. A few days after the embarkation, a fellow-passenger writes -thus: ‘Sir William HAMILTON appears broken, distressed, and harassed. -[Sidenote: Miss Knight to Lady Berry, July 2, 1800.] He says that he -shall die by the way, and he looks so ill that I should not be -surprised if he did.’ When the Admiral struck his flag (13th July) at -Leghorn, the party set out for Vienna. Between Leghorn and Florence, -Sir William’s carriage met with an overturn, which increased his -malady. At Trieste the physicians were inclined to despair of his -life. But he rallied sufficiently to reach England at last, and the -change from turmoil to rest prolonged his life for two years to come. - -[Sidenote: SIR WILLIAM HAMILTON’S LAST DAYS.] - -During the long interval between the acquisition of the first Hamilton -Museum and the return of its Collector to his country, he had marked -his interest in the national Collection by repeated and valuable -gifts. To make yet one gift more—trivial, but possessing an historical -interest—was one of his last acts. On the 12th of February, 1803, he -sent to the British Museum a Commission given by the famous fisherman -of Amalfi to one of his insurrectionary captains. On the 6th of April -Sir William HAMILTON died, in London. He was buried at Milford Haven. - - -The kindly heart had left many memorials of its quality at Naples. The -ambassador had lost a part of his fortune. But many poor dependants, -in his old home, enjoyed pensions from his liberality. - -NELSON, when writing to the Queen of the Two Sicilies upon the death -of their common friend, made this remark on his testamentary -arrangements:—‘The good Sir William did not leave Lady HAMILTON in -such comfortable circumstances as his fortune would have allowed. He -has given it amongst his relations. [Sidenote: Nelson to the Queen of -Naples (Nicolas, vol. iv, p. 84).] But she will do honour to his -memory, although every one else of his friends calls loudly against -him on that account.’ This comment, however, expresses rather a -temporary feeling than a wise judgment. Sir William had settled a -jointure of seven hundred pounds a year upon his widow. - -During the few months of life that yet remained to the great seaman -himself, the highest encomium known to his vocabulary was to say, -‘So-and-so was a great friend of Sir William HAMILTON.’ - - -[Sidenote: THE ‘INSTITUTE OF EGYPT;’ AND ITS RESEARCHES AND - ACQUISITIONS.] - -As the British Museum owes one choice portion of its archæological -treasures to the man who was NELSON’S type of friendship, so also it -owes—indirectly—another portion of them to the man who was NELSON’S -favourite aversion, and whose very name, in the Admiral’s mind, served -to sum up all that was most detestable. The Battle of the Nile, and -the military operations which followed it in the after years, would -have counted no antiquarian riches amongst their trophies, but for -that ardent love of science in NAPOLEON which prompted him to plan the -‘Institute of Egypt’ as an essential part of the Campaign of Egypt. - -The intention with which the Institute of Egypt was founded embraced -every kind of study and research. The scholars of whom it was composed -included within their number men of the most varied powers. What they -effected was fragmentary, and yet their researches, directly or -indirectly, bore much fruit. - -In the end, the harvest was to France herself none the less abundant -from the fact that NELSON’S achievement, and what grew thereout, set -Englishmen and Germans to work with increased vigour in the same -field, and divided some of the tools. - -Scarcely had General BONAPARTE established the military power of the -French Republic in Egypt, before he was employed in organizing the -Institute at Cairo. [Sidenote: 1798–1801.] Its declared object was -twofold: (1) the increase and diffusion of learning in Egypt itself; -(2) the examination, study, and publication, of the monuments of its -history and of its natural phenomena, together with the elucidation -and improvement of the natural and industrial capabilities of the -country. [Sidenote: _Mémoires sur l’Egypt_, passim.] The Institute was -composed of thirty-six members, and was divided into four sections. -The section with which alone we are here concerned—that of Literature, -Arts, and History—was headed by DENON, and amongst its other members -were DUTERTRE, PARSEVAL, and RIPAULT. Its labours began in 1798, and -were continued, with almost unparalleled activity, until the summer of -1801, when the defeat of BELLIARD near Cairo, and the capitulation of -MENOU at Alexandria, placed that part of the collections of the -Institute which had not been already sent to France at the disposal of -Lord HUTCHINSON. - -DENON, on his return from Upper Egypt to Cairo, said, with French -vivacity, that if the active movements of the Mamelukes now and then -forced an antiquary to become, in self-defence, a soldier, the -antiquary was enabled, by way of balance and through the good nature -and docility of the French troops, to turn a good many soldiers into -antiquaries. Had it not been for this general sympathy and readiness, -one can hardly conceive that so much could have been accomplished, -even under the eye of NAPOLEON, amidst perils so incessant. The -_Description de l’Egypte_ is for France at large, no less than for -NAPOLEON and the men whom he set to work, a monument which might well -obliterate the momentary mortification attendant on the transfer to -London of a part of the treasures of the Institute. History, ancient -or modern, scarcely offers a parallel instance in which war was made -to contribute results so splendid, both for the progress of science -and for the eventual improvement of the invaded country. To the -labours initiated by NAPOLEON, and partially carried out by the -‘Institute of Egypt,’ the ablest of the recent rulers of that land owe -some of their best and latest inspirations. Nor is it a whit less true -that the most successful of our English Egyptologists have followed -the track in which Frenchmen led the way. Such results, indeed, can -never suffice to justify an unprovoked invasion. But they illustrate, -in a marvellous way, how temporary evil is wrought into enduring good. - -By the sixteenth article of the Capitulation of Alexandria, it was -provided that the Members of the Institute of Egypt might carry back -with them all instruments of science and art which they had brought -from France, but that all collections of marbles, manuscripts, and -other antiquities, together with the specimens of natural history and -the drawings, then in the possession of the French, should be regarded -as public property, and become subject to the disposal of the generals -of the allied army. - -[Sidenote: THE CONVENTION OF ALEXANDRIA.] - -The Convention was made between General MENOU and General HOPE, on the -31st of August, 1801. [Sidenote: 1801, August.] Against this sixteenth -article MENOU made the strongest remonstrances, but General HOPE -declined to modify it, otherwise than by agreeing to make a reference, -as to the precise extent to which it should be carried into actual -effect, to Lord HUTCHINSON, as Commander-in-Chief. - -Between MENOU and HUTCHINSON there was a long correspondence. The -French General declared that the Collections, both scientific and -archæological, were private, not public property. The since famous -‘Rosetta stone,’ for example, belonged, he said, to himself. Various -members of the Institute claimed other precious objects; some alleged, -with obvious force of argument, that the care bestowed on specimens of -natural history made them the property of the collectors and -preservers; others threatened to prefer the destruction or defacement -of their collections, by their own hands, to the giving of them up to -the English army. - -[Sidenote: THE NEGOTIATIONS AND SERVICES OF COLONEL TURNER.] - -The correspondence was followed by several personal conferences -between MENOU and Colonel (afterwards General) TURNER, in order to a -compromise. TURNER, who was himself a man of distinguished knowledge -and accomplishments, advised Lord HUTCHINSON to insist on the transfer -of the Marbles and Manuscripts, and to yield the natural history -specimens, with some minor objects, to the possessors. The astute -Capitan Pasha had contrived to place himself in ‘possession’ of one of -the most precious of the marbles—the famous sarcophagus which Dr. -CLARKE so strenuously contended to be nothing less than the tomb of -ALEXANDER—by seizing the ship on board of which the French had placed -it, and he gave Colonel TURNER almost as much trouble as MENOU himself -had given. - -The French soldiers were, as was natural, deeply mortified when they -heard that the captors of Alexandria were to have the antiquities. -Every man of them who had had to do with their excavation or transport -had vindicated DENON’S eulogy by his pains to protect the sculptures -from harm. Now, their excessive zeal and their national pride led to -an unworthy result. The Rosetta stone was stripped of the soft cotton -cloth and the thick matting in which it had been sedulously wrapped, -and was thrown upon its face. Other choice antiquities were deprived -of their wooden cases. [Sidenote: CAPTURE OF THE ROSETTA STONE;] When -TURNER, with a detachment of artillerymen and a strong tumbril, went -to the French head-quarters to receive the Rosetta stone, he had to -pass through a lane of angry Frenchmen who crowded the narrow streets -of Alexandria, and were not sparing in their epithets and sarcasms. -Those artillerymen, too, were the first English soldiers who entered -the city. When Colonel TURNER had gotten safely into his hands the -stone destined to mark an era in philology, he returned good for evil. -He permitted some members of the Institute of Egypt to take a cast of -it, which they sent to Paris in lieu of the original. - -The Rosetta inscription had been found, by the French explorers, among -the ruins of a fortification near the mouth of the Rosetta branch of -the Nile. When they discovered it the stone was already broken, both -at the top and at the right side. Of its triple inscription, -commemorative of the beginning of the actual and personal reign of -PTOLEMY EPIPHANES—and therefore cut nearly two hundred years before -the Christian era—that in the hieroglyphic or sacred character had -suffered most. The second or enchorial inscription was also mutilated -in its upper portion. The Greek version was almost entire. - -The scarcely less famous Alexandrian sarcophagus was found by the -French in the court-yard of a mosque called the ‘Mosque of St. -Athanasius.’ [Sidenote: AND OF THE SARCOPHAGUS SOMETIMES CALLED ‘TOMB -OF ALEXANDER.’] Of its discovery and state when found, the following -account is given in the _Description de l’Egypte_:—A small octagonal -building, covered with a cupola, had been constructed by the Moslems -for their ablutions, and in this they had placed the sarcophagus to be -used as a bath; piercing it for that purpose with large holes, but not -otherwise injuring it. The sarcophagus is a monolith of dark-coloured -breccia—such as the Italians call _breccia verde d’Egitto_—and is -completely covered with hieroglyphics. [Sidenote: _Description de -l’Egypte_, vol. v, pp. 373, seqq.; Plates and Append. (8vo edit.), -1829.] Their number, according to the French artist by whom -impressions in sulphur were taken of the whole, exceeds 21,700. Dr. -CLARKE’S identification of this monument as the tomb of Alexander has -not been supported by later Egyptologists. - -This sarcophagus, with most of the other antiquities, was sent on -board the flagship _Madras_. [Sidenote: LIST OF THE EGYPTIAN -ANTIQUITIES EMBARKED AT ALEXANDRIA.] The Rosetta inscription, Colonel -TURNER embarked, with himself, in the frigate _Egyptienne_. His own -list of the antiquities thus brought, in safety, to England runs -thus:—(1) An Egyptian sarcophagus, of green breccia; (2) another, of -black granite, from Cairo; (3) another, of basalt, from Menouf; (4) -the hand of a colossal statue—supposed to be Vulcan—found in the ruins -of Memphis; (5) five fragments of lion-headed statues, of black -granite, from Thebes; (6) a mutilated kneeling statue, of black -granite; (7) two statues, of white marble, from Alexandria—Septimus -Severus and Marcus Aurelius; (8) the Rosetta stone; (9) a lion-headed -statue, from Upper Egypt; (10) two fragments of lions’ heads, of black -granite; (11) a small kneeling figure, of black granite; (12) five -fragments of lion-headed statues, of black granite; (13) a fragment of -a sarcophagus, of black granite, from Upper Egypt; (14) two small -obelisks, of basalt, with hieroglyphics; (15) a colossal ram’s head. -Nos. 10 to 15 inclusive were all brought from Upper Egypt. (16) A -statue of a woman, sitting, with a model of the capital of a column of -the Temple of Isis at Dendera, between her feet; (17) a fragment of a -lion-headed statue, of black granite, from Upper Egypt; (18) a chest -of Oriental Manuscripts—sixty-two in number—in Coptic, Arabic, and -Turkish. - - -I have given the more careful detail to this notice of the -archæological results of the capitulation of Alexandria, inasmuch as a -very inaccurate statement of the matter has found its way into an able -and deservedly accredited book. [Sidenote: See the _History of -Europe_, vol. v, p. 596 (last edition).] Sir Archibald ALISON, in his -_History of Europe_ (probably from some misconception of the -compromise effected between General TURNER and the French -Commander-in-Chief), writes thus:—‘General HUTCHINSON, with a generous -regard for the interests of science and the feelings of these -distinguished persons [the Members of the Institute of Egypt], agreed -to depart from the stipulation and allow these treasures of art to be -forwarded to France. The sarcophagus of ALEXANDER, now in the British -Museum, was, however, retained by the British, and formed the glorious -trophy of their memorable triumph.’ - -General TURNER’S conspicuous service on this occasion did not end with -the transport into England of the Alexandrian Collections. Before the -Rosetta inscription was, by the King’s command, placed, together with -its companions, in the British Museum, as their permanent abode, -General TURNER obtained Lord BUCKINGHAMSHIRE’S assent to the temporary -deposit of the stone from Rosetta in the custody of the Society of -Antiquaries, by whose care copies of the inscriptions were sent to the -chief scholars and academies of the Continent, in order that combined -study might be brought to bear, immediately, upon the contents. This -circumstance makes it all the more honourable to our countryman, Dr. -Thomas YOUNG, that by his labours upon the stone a strong impulse was -first given to the progress of hieroglyphical discovery. - -The accessions from Alexandria served, also, to initiate another -improvement. When, in 1802, they reached the Museum, its contents had -so increased that the old house afforded no adequate space for their -reception. They had, like some famous sculptures of much later -acquisition, to be placed in sheds which scarcely preserved them from -bad weather, and were even less adapted to facilitate their study. -[Sidenote: 1804, July 2.] [Sidenote: _Parliamentary Debates_, vol. ii, -col. 901, seqq.] The Trustees made their first application to -Parliament for the enlargement of the Museum Building, ‘in order to -provide suitable room for the preservation of invaluable monuments of -antiquity which had been acquired by the valour, intrepidity, and -skill of our troops in an expedition seldom equalled in the annals of -the country.’ And before presenting their petition they determined -that increased facilities should be given for the admission of the -Public, as soon as they should be enabled to make an adequate increase -in the staff of the establishment. - -When the extension of the British Museum came first to be discussed in -the House of Commons (somewhat grudgingly and captiously it must, in -truth, be acknowledged), upon the application of the Trustees, some of -their number were already aware that an accession was likely soon to -accrue through the munificence of a fellow-trustee, which would make a -new and extensive building indispensable. Charles TOWNELEY had already -made a Will in virtue of which—as it stood in 1804—the Towneley -Marbles were devised in trust for the British Museum, on condition -that the Trustees thereof should, ‘within two years from the time of -the testator’s decease, set apart a room or rooms sufficiently -spacious and elegant to exhibit these antiquities most advantageously -to the Public,—such rooms to be exclusively set apart for the -reception and future exhibition of the antiquities aforesaid.’ -Circumstances not foreseen in 1802, when Colonel TOWNELEY’S Will had -been first made, led afterwards to a change in the mode in which his -noble Collection was to be received by the Public. But its -preservation and public accessibility, in one way or other, had long -been resolved upon. - - -The TOWNELEYS, of Towneley, rank among the most ancient and -distinguished commoners of Lancashire. They can trace an honourable -descent to a period antecedent to the Conquest. They have been seated -at Towneley from the twelfth century. Several of them have given good -service to England, in various ways, in spite of the obstacles and -discouragements which, for many generations, clave to almost every man -whose convictions obliged him to adhere to the Roman Catholic Church, -and so to incur the pains and disabilities of recusancy. Of these they -had their full share. One TOWNELEY had been mulcted in fines amounting -to more than five thousand pounds, simply for remaining true to his -belief, and had been, for that cause, sent (with an ingenuity of -torment one is almost tempted to call diabolic) from prison to prison -across the breadth of England, and back again.[60] Another TOWNELEY -was driven into an exile which lasted so long that when he returned -into Lancashire everybody had forgotten his features and his voice, -except his dog. But neither fine, imprisonment, nor banishment, had -converted them to Protestantism. Hence it was that Charles TOWNELEY, -the Collector of the Marbles, received his education at Douay, and -contracted all the strong formative impressions of early life and -habit on the Continent. - -He was born, in the old seat of the family at Towneley Hall, on the -1st of October, 1737. [Sidenote: LIFE OF CHARLES TOWNELEY.] His -father, William TOWNELEY, had married Cecilia, sole daughter and heir -of Richard STANDISH, by his wife Lady Philippa HOWARD, daughter of -Henry, Duke of NORFOLK. The hall—which has not yet lost all its -venerable aspect—was built in part by a Sir John TOWNELEY in the reign -of HENRY VIII, and its older portions (turrets, gateway, chapel, and -library) suit well the fine position of the building, and the noble -woods which back it. Of the founder two things still remain in local -tradition and memory. He took the changes made under the rule of -HENRY—or rather of Thomas CROMWELL—so much in dudgeon, that when -Lancaster Herald came to Towneley, upon his Visitation, he refused to -admit him, saying, ‘Do not trouble thyself. There are no more -gentlemen left in Lancashire now than my Lord of DERBY, and my Lord -MONTEAGLE.’ The other tradition of this same Sir John is, that he -enclosed a common pasture called Horelaw, and so made the peasantry as -angry with his innovations as he was with CROMWELL’S. Some of their -descendants may yet chance to assure the inquisitive stranger, that -his ghost still haunts the park, crying aloud in the dead of night— - - ‘Lay out! lay out![61] - Horelaw and Hollingley Clough!’ - -At Douay Charles TOWNELEY received a careful education, moulded, of -course, under the conditions and the memories of that celebrated -College. When he left its good priests he was already the owner of the -family estates—his father having died prematurely in 1742—and he was -plunged, at once, into the gaieties and temptations of Paris. All the -Mentorship he had was that of a great uncle who had become -sufficiently naturalised to win the friendship of VOLTAIRE, and to be -able to turn _Hudibras_ into excellent French. The dissipations of the -Capital overpowered, for a time, the real love of classical studies -which had been excited in the provincial college. But the seed had -been sown in a good soil. The study of art and of classical -archæology, in particular, presently reasserted its claims and renewed -its attractions. It was a fortunate circumstance, too, that family -affairs required the presence of Mr. TOWNELEY in England on the -attainment of his majority. - -He had left Towneley very young. He came back to it with more of the -foreigner than of the Englishman in his ways of life and manners. But -he was able to win the genuine regard of his neighbours, and to take -his fair share in their pursuits and sports, although he could -never—at least in his own estimation—succeed in expressing his -thoughts with as much ease and readiness in English as in French. Late -in life, he would speak of this conscious inability with regret. -Whether needfully or not, the feeling, no doubt, prevented Mr. -TOWNELEY from turning to literary account his large acquirements. - -What he had seen of the Continent had given him a desire to see more -of it, and the bias of his youthful studies pointed in the same -direction. In 1765, after a short stay in France, he went into Italy, -and there he passed almost eight years. They were passed in a very -different way from that in which he had passed the interval between -Douay and Towneley. That long residence abroad enabled him to become a -very conspicuous benefactor to his country. - -He visited Naples, Florence, and Rome, and from time to time made many -excursions into various parts of Magna Græcia and of Sicily. At Naples -he formed the acquaintance of Sir William HAMILTON and of -D’HANCARVILLE. [Sidenote: TOWNELEY’S ARTISTIC RESEARCHES IN ITALY.] -[Sidenote: 1765–1778.] At Rome he became acquainted with three -Englishmen, James BYRES, Gavin HAMILTON, and Thomas JENKINS, all of -whom had first gone thither as artists, and step by step had come to -be almost exclusively engrossed in the search after works of ancient -art. The success and fame of Sir William HAMILTON’S researches in the -Kingdom of the Two Sicilies and of those, still earlier, of Thomas -COKE of Holkham (afterwards Earl of Leicester), had given a strong -impulse to like researches in other parts of Italy. TOWNELEY caught -the contagion, and was backed by large resources to aid him in the -pursuit. - -His first important purchase was made in 1768. It was that of a work -already famous, and which for more than a century had been one of the -ornaments of the Barberini Palace at Rome. This statue of a boy -playing at the game of tali, or ‘osselets’ (figured in _Ancient -Marbles in the British Museum_, part ii, plate 31), was found among -the ruins of the Baths of Titus, during the Pontificate of URBAN THE -EIGHTH. During the same year, 1768, Mr. TOWNELEY acquired, from the -Collection of Victor AMADEI, at Rome, the circular urn with figures in -high relief—which is figured in the first volume of Piranesi’s -_Raccolta di Vasi Antichi_—and also the statue of a _Nymph of Diana_, -seated on the ground. This statue was found in 1766 at the Villa -Verospi in Rome. - -[Sidenote: FORMATION OF THE TOWNELEY GALLERY.] - -Two years afterwards, several important acquisitions were made of -marbles which were discovered in the course of the excavations -undertaken by BYRES, Gavin HAMILTON, and JENKINS, amidst the ruins of -Hadrian’s Villa near Tivoli. The joint-stock system, by means of which -the diggings were effected, no less than the conditions which -accompanied the papal concessions that authorised them, necessitated a -wide diffusion of the spoil. But whenever the making of a desirable -acquisition rested merely upon liberality of purse or a just -discrimination of merit, Mr. TOWNELEY was not easily outstripped in -the quest. Amongst these additions of 1769–71 were the noble Head of -_Hercules_, the Head said, conjecturally, to be that of _Menelaus_, -and the ‘_Castor_’ in low relief (all of which are figured in the -second part of _Ancient Marbles_). - -Two terminal heads of the bearded _Bacchus_—both of them of remarkable -beauty—were obtained in 1771 from the site of Baiæ. These were found -by labourers who were digging a deep trench for the renewal of a -vineyard, and were seen by Mr. ADAIR, who was then making an excursion -from Naples. In the same year the statue of _Ceres_ and that of a -_Faun_ (_A. M._, ii, 24) were purchased from the Collection in the -Macarani Palace at Rome. In 1772 the _Diana Venatrix_ and the _Bacchus -and Ampelus_ were found near La Storta. It was by no fault of -TOWNELEY’S that the _Diana_ was in part ‘restored,’ and that -blunderingly. He thought restoration to be, in some cases, -permissible; but never deceptively; never when doubt existed about the -missing part. In art, as in life, he clave to his heraldic motto -‘_Tenez le vrai_.’ - -In 1771, also, the famous ‘_Clytie_’—doubtfully so called—was -purchased from the Laurenzano Collection at Naples. - -The curious scenic figure on a plinth (_A. M._, part x) together with -many minor pieces of sculpture, were found in the Fonseca Villa on the -Cælian Hill in 1773. In the same year many purchases were made from -the Mattei Collection at Rome. Amongst these are the heads of _Marcus -Aurelius_ and of _Lucius Verus_. And it was at this period that Gavin -HAMILTON began his productive researches amidst the ruins of the villa -of Antoninus Pius at Monte Cagnolo, near the ancient Lanuvium. This is -a spot both memorable and beautiful. The hill lies on the road between -Genzano and Civita Lavinia. It commands a wide view over Velletri and -the sea. To HAMILTON and his associates it proved one of the richest -mines of ancient art which they had the good fortune to light upon. -Mr. TOWNELEY’S share in the spoil of Monte Cagnolo comprised the group -of _Victory sacrificing a Bull_; the _Actæon_; a _Faun_; a -Bacchanalian vase illustrative of the _Dionysia_; and several other -works of great beauty. The undraped _Venus_ was found—also by Gavin -HAMILTON—at Ostia, in 1775. - -[Sidenote: THE ACQUISITION OF THE ‘TOWNELEY VENUS.’] - -In the next year, 1776, Mr. TOWNELEY acquired one of the chiefest -glories of his gallery, the _Venus_ with drapery. This also was found -at Ostia, in the ruins of the Baths of Claudius. But that superb -statue would not have left Rome had not its happy purchaser made, for -once, a venial deflection from the honourable motto just adverted to. -The figure was found in two severed portions, and care was taken to -show them, quite separately, to the authorities concerned in granting -facilities for their removal. The same excavation yielded to the -Towneley Collection the statue of _Thalia_. From the Villa Casali on -the Esquiline were obtained the terminal head of _Epicurus_, and the -bust thought to be that of _Domitia_. The bust of _Sophocles_ was -found near Genzano; that of _Trajan_, in the Campagna; that of -_Septimius Severus_, on the Palatine, and that of _Caracalla_ on the -Esquiline. A curious cylindrical fountain (figured in _A. M._, i, § -10) was found between Tivoli and Præneste, and the fine representation -in low relief of a _Bacchanalian procession_ (_Ib._, part ii) at -Civita Vecchia. All these accessions to the Towneley Gallery accrued -in 1775 or 1776. - -Of the date of the Collector’s first return to England with his -treasures I have found no record. [Sidenote: THE TOWNELEY GALLERY IN -ENGLAND.] But it would seem that nearly all the marbles hitherto -enumerated were brought to England in or before the year 1777. The -house, in London, in which they were first placed was found to be -inadequate to their proper arrangement. Mr. TOWNELEY either built or -adapted another house, in Park street, Westminster, expressly for -their reception. Here they were seen under favourable circumstances as -to light and due ordering. They were made accessible to students with -genuine liberality. And few things gave their owner more pleasure than -to put his store of knowledge, as well as his store of antiquities, at -the service of those who wished to profit by them. He did so genially, -unostentatiously, and with the discriminating tact which marked the -high-bred gentleman, as well as the enthusiastic Collector. - -A contemporary critic, very competent to give an opinion on such a -matter, said of Mr. TOWNELEY: ‘His learning and sagacity in explaining -works of ancient art was equal to his taste and judgment in selecting -them.’[62] If, in any point, that eulogy is now open to some -modification, the exception arises from the circumstance that early in -life, or, at least, early in his collectorship, he had imbibed from -his intercourse with D’HANCARVILLE somewhat of that writer’s love for -mystical and supersubtle expositions of the symbolism of the Grecian -and Egyptian artists. To D’HANCARVILLE, the least obvious of any two -possible expositions of a subject was always the preferable one. Now -and then TOWNELEY would fall into the same vein of recondite -elaboration; as, for example, when he described his figure of an -Egyptian ‘tumbler’ raising himself, upon his arms, from the back of a -tame crocodile, as the ‘Genius of Production.’ - -During the riots of 1780, the Towneley Gallery (like the National -Museum of which it was afterwards to become a part) was, for some -time, in imminent peril. The Collector himself could have no enemies -but those who were infuriated against his religious faith. Fanaticism -and ignorance are meet allies, little likely to discriminate between a -Towneley Venus and the tawdriest of Madonnas. Threats to destroy the -house in Park Street were heard and reported. Mr. TOWNELEY put his -gems and medals in a place of safety, together with a few other -portable works of art. Then, taking ‘Clytie’ in his arms—with the -words ‘I must take care of my wife’—he left his house, casting one -last, longing, look at the marbles which, as he feared, would never -charm his eyes again. But, happily, both the Towneley house and the -British Museum escaped injury, amid the destruction of buildings, and -of works of art and literature, in the close neighbourhood of both of -them. - - -[Sidenote: THE SCULPTURES ACQUIRED FROM THE VILLA MONTALTO AT ROME;] - -Liberal commissions and constant correspondence with Italy continued -to enrich the Towneley Gallery, from time to time, after the Collector -had made England his own usual place of abode. In 1786, Mr. -JENKINS—who had long established himself as the banker of the English -in Rome, and who continued to make considerable investments in works -of ancient art, with no small amount of mercantile profit—purchased -all the marbles of the Villa Montalto. From this source Mr. TOWNELEY -obtained his _Bacchus visiting Icarus_ (engraved by BARTOLI almost a -century before); his _Bacchus and Silenus_; the bust of _Hadrian_; the -sarcophagus decorated with a _Bacchanalian procession_ (_A. M._, part -x), and also that with a representation of the _Nine Muses_. -[Sidenote: AND FROM NEW EXCAVATIONS.] By means of the same keen agent -and explorer he heard, in or about the year 1790, that leave had been -given to make a new excavation under circumstances of peculiar -promise. - -Our Collector was at Towneley when the letter of Mr. JENKINS came to -hand. He knew his correspondent, and the tenour of the letter induced -him to resolve upon an immediate journey to Rome. The grass did not -grow under his feet. He travelled as rapidly as though he had been -still a youngster, escaping from Douay, with all the allurements of -Paris in his view. - -[Sidenote: THE JOURNEY TO ROME OF 1790?] - -When he reached Rome, he learnt that the promising excavation was but -just begun upon. Without any preliminary visits, or announcement, he -quietly presented himself beside the diggers, and ere long had the -satisfaction of seeing a fine statue of Hercules displayed. Other fine -works afterwards came to light. But on visiting Mr. JENKINS, in order -to enjoy a more deliberate examination of ‘the find,’ and to settle -the preliminaries of purchase, his enjoyment was much diminished by -the absence of Hercules. JENKINS did not know that his friend had seen -it exhumed, and he carefully concealed it from his view. Eager -remonstrance, however, compelled him to produce the hidden treasure. -TOWNELEY, at length, left the banker’s house with the conviction that -the statue was his own, but it never charmed his sight again until he -saw it in the Collection of Lord LANSDOWNE. He had, however, really -secured the _Discobolus_ or Quoit-thrower,—perhaps, notwithstanding -its restored head, the finest of the known repetitions of MYRO’S -famous statue,—as well as some minor pieces of sculpture. - -Other and very valuable acquisitions were made, occasionally, at the -dispersion of the Collections of several lovers of ancient art, some -of these Collections having been formed before his time, and others -contemporaneously with his own. [Sidenote: ACQUISITIONS MADE IN -ENGLAND AND IN FRANCE.] In this way he acquired whilst in England (1) -the bronze statue of _Hercules_ found, early in the eighteenth -century, at Jebel or Gebail (the ancient Byblos), carried by an -Armenian merchant to Constantinople, there sold to Dr. SWINNEY, a -chaplain to the English factory; by him brought into England, and -purchased by Mr. James MATTHEWS; (2) the Head of _Arminius_, also from -the Matthews Collection; (3) the _Libera_ found by Gavin HAMILTON, on -the road to Frascati, in 1776, and then purchased by Mr. GREVILLE; (4) -Heads of a _Muse_, an _Amazon_, and some other works, from the -Collection of Mr. Lyde BROWNE, of Wimbledon; (5) the _Monument of -Xanthippus_, from the Askew Collection; (6) the bust of a female -unknown (called by TOWNELEY ‘Athys’) found near Genzano, in the -grounds of the family of CESARINI, and obtained from the Collection of -the Duke of ST. ALBANS; (7) many urns, vases, and other antiquities, -partly from the Collection of that Duke and partly from Sir Charles -FREDERICK’S Collection at Esher. The bronze _Apollo_ was bought in -Paris, at the sale, in 1774, of the Museum formed by M. L’ALLEMAND DE -CHOISEUL. - - -Some other accessions came to Mr. TOWNELEY by gift. The _Tumbler and -Crocodile_, and the small statue of _Pan_ (_A. M._, pt. x, § 24), were -the gift of Lord CAWDOR. The _Oracle of Apollo_ was a present from the -Duke of BEDFORD. This accession—in 1804—was the last work which Mr. -TOWNELEY had the pleasure of seeing placed in his gallery. He died in -London, on the 3rd of January, 1805. - -He had been made, in 1791, a Trustee of the British Museum, in the -progress of which he took a great interest. Family circumstances, as -it seems, occurred which at last dictated a change in the original -disposition which he had made of his Collection. [Sidenote: MR. -TOWNELEY’S WILL.] [Sidenote: Codicil of 22 Dec., 1804.] By a Codicil, -executed only twelve days before his death, he bequeathed the -Collection to his only brother Edward TOWNELEY-STANDISH, on condition -that a sum of at least four thousand five hundred pounds should be -expended for the erection of a suitable repository in which the -Collection should be arranged and exhibited. Failing such expenditure -by the brother, the Collection was to go to John TOWNELEY, uncle of -the Testator. Should he decline to fulfil the conditions, then the -Collection should go, according to the Testator’s first intent, to the -British Museum. - -Eventually, it appeared, on an application from the Museum Trustees, -that the heirs were willing to transfer the Collection to the Public, -but that Mr. TOWNELEY had left his estate subject to a mortgage debt -of £36,500. [Sidenote: _Act of 45 Geo. III._] The Trustees, therefore, -resolved to apply to Parliament for a grant, and this noble Collection -was acquired for the Nation on the payment of the sum of £20,000, very -inadequate, it need scarcely be added, to its intrinsic worth. - -Charles TOWNELEY possessed considerable skill, both as a draughtsman -and as an engraver. In authorship, his only public appearance was as -the writer of a dissertation on a relic of antiquity (the ‘Ribchester -Helmet’), printed in the _Vetusta Monumenta_. - -He was a learned, genial, and benevolent man. His intense love of -ancient art did not blind his eyes to things beyond art, and above it. -The impulses of the collector did not obstruct the duties of the -citizen. He was a good landlord; a generous friend. It may be said of -him, with literal truth, that he restricted his personal indulgences -in order that he might the more abundantly minister to the wants of -others. - -Charles TOWNELEY was buried at Burnley. The following inscription was -placed upon his monument: - - M. S. - CAROLI TOWNELEII, - viri ornati, modesti, - nobilitate stirpis, amænitate ingenii, suavitate morum, - insignis; - qui omnium bonarum artium, præsertim Græcarum, - spectator elegantissimus, æstimator acerrimus, judex peritissimus, - earum reliquias, ex urbium veterum ruderibus effossas, - summo studio conquisivit, suâ pecuniâ redemit, in usum patriæ - reposuit, - eâ liberalitate animi, quâ, juvenis adhuc, - hæreditatem alteram, vix patrimonio minorem, - fratri spontè cesserat, dono dederat. - Vixit annos lxvii. menses iii. dies iii. - Mortem obiit Jan. iii. A.S. 1805. - -Whilst the Trustees of the British Museum were preparing—in a way that -will be hereafter noticed—for the reception of this noble addition to -the public wealth of the Nation, another liberal-minded scholar and -patriot was considering in what way his collections in the wide field -of classical archæology might be made most contributive to the -progress of learning, of art, and of public education. - - -[Sidenote: LORD ELGIN AND HIS PURSUITS IN GREECE.] - -Thomas BRUCE, eleventh Earl of Kincardine, and seventh Earl of Elgin, -was born on the 20th of July, 1766. He was a younger son, but -succeeded to his earldoms on the death, without issue, in 1771, of his -elder brother, William Robert, sixth Earl of Elgin, and tenth of -Kincardine. He was educated at Harrow, at St. Andrew’s, and at Paris; -entered the army in 1785; and in 1790 began his diplomatic career by a -mission to the Emperor Leopold. In subsequent years he was sent as -Commissioner to the armies of Prussia and Austria, successively, and -was present during active military operations, both in Germany and in -Flanders. In 1795 he went as envoy to Berlin. - - -Lord ELGIN was appointed to the embassy to the Ottoman Porte, with -which his name is now inseparably connected, in July, 1799. One of his -earliest reflections after receiving his appointment was that the -mission to Constantinople might possibly afford opportunities of -promoting the study and thorough examination of the remains of Grecian -art in the Turkish dominions. He consulted an early friend, Mr. -HARRISON—distinguished as an architect, who had spent many years of -study on the Continent with much profit—as to the methods by which any -such opportunities might be turned to fullest account. HARRISON’S -advice to his lordship was that he should seek permission to employ -artists to make casts, as well as drawings and careful admeasurements, -of the best remaining examples of Greek architecture and sculpture, -and more especially of those at Athens. - -Before leaving England, Lord ELGIN brought this subject before the -Government. He suggested the public value of the object sought for, -and how worthy of the Nation it would be to give encouragement from -public sources for the employment of a staff of skilful and eminent -artists. But the suggestion was received with no favour or welcome. He -was still unwilling to relinquish his hopes, and endeavoured to -engage, at his own cost, some competent draughtsmen and modellers. But -the terms of remuneration proposed to him were beyond his available -means. He feared that he must give up his plans. - -On reaching Palermo, however, Lord ELGIN opened the subject to Sir -William HAMILTON, who strongly recommended him to persevere, and told -him that if he could not afford to meet the terms of English artists, -he would find less difficulty in coming to an agreement with Italians, -whose time commonly bore a smaller commercial value. [Sidenote: -CONFERS WITH SIR WILLIAM HAMILTON.] With Sir William’s assistance he -engaged, in Sicily, a distinguished painter and archæologist, John -Baptist LUSIERI (better known at Naples as ‘Don Tita’), and he -obtained several skilful modellers and draughtsmen from Rome. The -removal of the marbles themselves formed no part of Lord ELGIN’S -original design. That step was induced by causes which at this time -were unforeseen. - -On his arrival at Constantinople Lord ELGIN applied to the Turkish -Ministers for leave to establish six artists at Athens to make -drawings and casts. He met with many difficulties and delays, but at -length succeeded. [Sidenote: SENDS ARTISTS TO ATHENS;] Mr. HAMILTON, -his Secretary, accompanied the Italians into Greece, to superintend -the commencement of their labours. - -The difficulties at Constantinople proved to be almost trivial in -comparison with those which ensued at Athens. Every step was met, both -by the official persons and the people generally, with jealousy and -obstruction. If a scaffold was put up, the Turks were sure that it was -with a view to look into the harem of some neighbouring house. If a -fragment of sculpture was examined with any visible delight or -eagerness, they were equally sure that it must contain hidden gold. -When the artist left the specimen he had been drawing, or modelling, -he would find, not infrequently, that some Turk or other had laid -hands upon it and broken it to pieces. But the artists persevered, and -habit in some degree reconciled, at length, the people to their -presence. - -When Lord ELGIN went himself to Athens the state in which he found -some of the temples suggested to him the desirableness of excavations -in the adjacent mounds. He purchased some houses, expressly to pull -them down and to dig beneath and around them. Sometimes the -exploration brought to light valuable sculpture. [Sidenote: AND MAKES -EXPLORATIONS BY DIGGING.] Sometimes, in situations of greatest -promise, nothing was found. - -On one occasion, when the indication of buried sculpture seemed -conclusive, and yet the search for it fruitless, Lord ELGIN was -induced to ask the former owner of the ground if he remembered to have -seen any figures there. ‘If you had asked me that before,’ replied the -man, ‘I could have saved you all your trouble. I found the figures, -and pounded them to make mortar with, because they were of excellent -marble. A great part of the Citadel has been built with mortar made in -the same way. That marble makes capital lime.’ - -The conversation was not lost upon Lord ELGIN. And the assertion made -in it was amply corroborated by facts which presently came under his -own eyes. He became convinced that when fine sculpture was found it -would be a duty to remove it, if possible, rather than expose it to -certain destruction—a little sooner or a little later—from Turkish -barbarity. - -[Sidenote: THE EXPLORATIONS EXTENDED TO OTHER PARTS OF GREECE.] - -At intervals the artists, whose head-quarters were at Athens, made -exploring trips to other parts of Greece. They visited Delphi, -Corinth, Epidaurus, Argos, Mycene, Cape Sigæum, Olympia, Æginæ, -Salamis, and Marathon. - -But it was only by means of renewed efforts at Constantinople, and -after a long delay, that the artists and their assistant labourers -were enabled to act with freedom and to make thorough explorations. So -long as the French remained masters of Egypt Lord ELGIN had to win -every little concession piecemeal, and obtained it grudgingly. As soon -as it became apparent that the British Expedition would be finally -successful, the tone of the Turkish government was entirely altered. -They were now eager to satisfy the Ambassador, and to lay him under -obligation. [Sidenote: INFLUENCE OF THE BRITISH VICTORIES IN EGYPT.] -Firmauns were given, which empowered him, not only to make models, but -‘to take away any pieces of stone from the temples of the idols with -old inscriptions or figures thereon,’ at his pleasure. Instructions -were sent to Athens which had the effect of making the Acropolis -itself a scene of busy and well-rewarded labour. Theretofore a heavy -admission fee had been exacted at each visit of the draughtsmen or -modellers. Before the close of 1802, more than three hundred labourers -were at work under the direction of LUSIERI—with results which are -familiar to the world. - -It is less widely known that, had NAPOLEON’S plans in Egypt been -carried to a prosperous issue, the ‘Elgin Marbles’ would, beyond all -doubt, have become French marbles. When Lord ELGIN’S operations began, -French agents were actually resident in Athens, awaiting the turn of -events and prepared to profit by it, in the way of resuming the -operations which M. DE CHOISEUL GOUFFIER had long previously -begun.[63] - -[Sidenote: INSTANCES OF TURKISH DEVASTATION.] - -[Sidenote: 1674.] - -The efforts of the British Ambassador became the more timely and -imperative from the fact that no amount of experience or warning was -sufficient to deter the Turks from their favourite practice of -converting the finest of the Greek Temples into powder magazines. -Twenty of the metopes of the northern side of the Parthenon had been, -in consequence of this practice, destroyed by an explosion during the -Venetian siege of Athens in the seventeenth century. [Sidenote: 1800.] -The Temple of Neptune was found by Lord ELGIN devoted to the same use, -at the beginning of the nineteenth. - -No methods of extending his researches, so as to make them as nearly -exhaustive as the circumstances would admit, were overlooked by the -ambassador. Through the friendship of the Capitan Pasha, Lord ELGIN -had already, whilst yet at the Dardanelles, obtained the famous -Boustrophedon inscription from Cape Sigæum. Through the friendship of -the Archbishop of Athens, he now procured leave to search the churches -and convents of Attica, and the search led to his possession of many -of the minor but very interesting works of sculpture and architecture -which came eventually to England along with the marbles of the -Parthenon. - -Of the curious range and variety of the dangers to which the remains -of ancient art were exposed under Turkish rule, the Boustrophedon -inscription just mentioned affords an instance worth noting. -[Sidenote: _Memoranda on the Earl of Elgin’s Pursuits in Greece, &c._, -p. 35.] Lord ELGIN found it in use as a seat, or couch, at the door of -a Greek chapel, to which persons afflicted with ague or rheumatism -were in the habit of resorting, in order to recline on this marble, -which, in their eyes, possessed a mysterious and curative virtue. The -seat was so placed as to lift the patient into a much purer air than -that which he had been wont to breathe below, and it commanded a most -cheerful sea-view; but it was the ill fate of the inscription to have -a magical fame, instead of the atmosphere. Constant rubbing had -already half obliterated its contents. But for Lord ELGIN, the whole -would soon have disappeared. At Athens itself, the loftier of the -sculptures in the Acropolis enjoyed equal favour in the eyes of -Turkish marksmen, as affording excellent targets. - -In the course of various excavations made, not only at Athens, but at -Æginæ, Argos, and Corinth, a large collection of vases was also -formed. It was the first collection which sufficed, incontestibly, to -vindicate the claim of the Greeks to the invention of that beautiful -ware, to which the name of ‘Etruscan’ was so long and so inaccurately -given. - -[Sidenote: _Ibid._, 31.] - -One of the most interesting of the many minor discoveries made in the -course of Lord ELGIN’S researches comprised a large marble vase, five -feet in circumference, which enclosed a bronze vase of thirteen inches -diameter. In this were found a lachrymatory of alabaster and a deposit -of burnt bones, with a myrtle-wreath finely wrought in gold. This -discovery was made in a tumulus on the road leading from Port Piræus -to the Salaminian Ferry and Eleusis. - - -Early in 1803, all the sculptured marbles from the Parthenon which it -was found practicable to remove were prepared for embarkation. Both of -those so prepared and of the few that were left, casts had been made, -together with a complete series of drawings to scale. That great -monument of art had been exhaustively studied, with the aid of all the -information that could be gathered from the drawings made by the -French artist, CARREY, in 1674, and those of the English architect, -STUART, in 1752. A general monumental survey of Athens and Attica was -also compiled and illustrated. - -The original frieze, in low relief, of the _cella_ of the -Parthenon—representing the chief festive solemnity of Athens, the -Panathenaic procession—had extended, in the whole, to about five -hundred and twenty feet in length. That portion which eventually -reached England amounted to two hundred and fifty feet. And of this a -considerable part was obtained by excavations. Of a small portion of -the remainder casts were brought. But the bulk of it had been long -before destroyed. Of the statues which adorned the pediments a large -portion had also perished, yet enough survived to indicate the design -and character of the whole. Of statues and fragments of statues, -seventeen were brought to England. Of metopes in high relief, from the -frieze of the entablature, fourteen were brought. - -[Sidenote: THE DIFFICULTIES OF TRANSPORT AND THE SHIPWRECK AT CERIGO.] - -Thus far, an almost incredible amount of effort and toil had been -rewarded by a result large enough to dwarf all previous researches of -a like kind. But the difficulties and dangers of the task were very -far from being ended. The ponderous marbles had to be carried from -Athens to the Piræus. There was neither machinery for lifting, nor -appliances for haulage. There were no roads. The energy, however, -which had wrestled with so many previous obstacles triumphed over -these. But only to encounter new peril in the shape of a fierce storm -at sea. - -Part of the Elgin Marbles had been at length embarked in the ship, -purchased at Lord ELGIN’S own cost, in which Mr. HAMILTON sailed for -England, carrying with him also his drawings and journals. The vessel -was wrecked near Cerigo. Seven cases of sculpture sunk with the ship. -Only four, out of the eleven embarked in the _Mentor_, were saved, -along with the papers and drawings. Meanwhile, Lord ELGIN himself, on -his homeward journey, was, upon the rupture of the Peace of Amiens, -arrested and ‘detained’ in France. - -If the reader will now recall to mind, for an instant, the -mortifications and discouragements, as well as the incessant toils, -which had attended this attempt to give to the whole body of English -artists, archæologists, and students, advantages which theretofore -only a very small and exceptionally fortunate knot of them could -enjoy, or hope to enjoy, he will, perhaps, incline to think that -enough had been done for honour. The casts and drawings had been -saved. The removal of marbles had formed no part of Lord ELGIN’S first -design. It was only when proof had come—plain as the noonday sun—that -to remove was to preserve, and to preserve, not for England alone, but -for the civilised world, that leave to carry away was sought from the -Turkish authorities, and removal resolved upon. - -Entreaty to the British Government that the thorough exploration of -the Peloponnesus, by the draughtsman and the modeller, should be made -a national object, had been but so much breath spent in vain. Private -resources had then been lavished, beyond the bounds of prudence, to -confer a public boon. Personal hardships and popular animosities had -been alike met by steady courage and quiet endurance. All kinds of -local obstacle had been conquered. And now some of the most precious -results of so much toil and outlay lay at the bottom of the sea. The -chief toiler was a prisoner in France. - -But Lord ELGIN was not yet beaten. He came of a tough race. He was— - - ‘One of the few, the letter’d and the brave, - Bound to no clime, and victors o’er the grave.’ - -[Sidenote: LORD ELGIN BRANDED, IN ENGLAND, AS A ROBBER.] The buried -marbles were raised, at the cost of two more years of labour, and -after an expenditure, in the long effort, of nearly five thousand -pounds, in addition to the original loss of the ship. Then a storm of -another sort had to be faced in its turn. A burst of anger, classical -and poetical, declared the ambassador to be, not a benefactor, but a -thief. The gale blew upon him from many points. The author of the -_Classical Tour through Italy_ declared that Lord ELGIN’S ‘rapacity is -a crime against all ages and all generations; depriving the Past of -the trophies of their genius and the title-deeds of their fame, the -Present of the strongest inducements to exertion.’ [Sidenote: Eustace, -_Classical Tour_, p. 269.] The author of _Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage_ -declared that, for all time, the spoiler’s name (the glorious name of -BRUCE)— - -[Sidenote: Byron, _Curse of Minerva_, § 7.] - - ‘Link’d with the fool’s who fired th’ Ephesian dome— - Vengeance shall follow far beyond the tomb. - EROSTRATUS and ELGIN e’er shall shine - In many a branding page and burning line! - Alike condemn’d for aye to stand accurs’d— - Perchance the second viler than the first. - So let him stand, through ages yet unborn, - Fix’d statue on the pedestal of scorn!’ - -That the abuse might have variety, as well as vigour, a very learned -Theban broke in with the remark that there was no need, after all, to -make such a stir about the matter. The much-bruited marbles were of -little value, whether in England or in Greece. If Lord ELGIN was, -indeed, a spoiler, he was also an ignoramus. His bepraised sculptures, -instead of belonging to the age of PERICLES, belonged, at earliest, to -that of HADRIAN; far from bearing traces of the hand of PHIDIAS, they -were, at best, mere ‘architectonic sculptures, the work of many -different persons, some of whom would not have been entitled to the -rank of artists, even in a much less cultivated and fastidious age.... -PHIDIAS did not work in marble at all.’ These oracular sentences, and -many more of a like cast, were given to the world under the sanction -of the ‘Society of Dilettanti.’ - -The equanimity which had stood so many severer tests did not desert -its possessor under a tempest of angry words. When set at liberty, -after a long detention in France, he resumed his journey. On his -eventual arrival in England, in 1806, he brought with him a valuable -collection of gems and medals, gathered at Constantinople. He also -brought some valuable counsels as to the mode in which he might best -make the Athenian Marbles useful to the progress of art, obtained in -Rome. - -[Sidenote: LORD ELGIN’S CONFERENCE WITH CANOVA.] - -For, at Rome, he had been enabled to show a sample of his acquisitions -to a man who was something more than a dilettante. ‘These,’ said -CANOVA, ‘are the works of the ablest artists the world has seen.’ - -When consulted on the point whether restoration should, in any -instance, be attempted, the reply of the great Italian sculptor was in -these words: ‘The Parthenon Marbles have never been retouched. It -would be sacrilege in me—sacrilege in any man—to put a chisel on -them.’ - -Lord ELGIN came to England with the intention of offering his whole -Collection to the British Government, unconditionally. He was ready to -forget the short-sightedness with which his proposal of 1799 had been -met. He was prepared to trust to the liberality of Parliament, and to -the force of public opinion, for the reimbursement of his outlay, and -the fair reward of his toil. The ambassador was not in a position to -sacrifice the large sums of money he had spent. He could not afford -the proud joy of giving to Britain, entirely at his own cost, a boon -such as no man, before him, had had the power of giving. There were -conflicting duties lying upon him, such as are not to be put aside. -That British artists—in one way or another—should profit by the grand -exemplars of art which he had saved from Turkish musquetry and the -Turkish lime-kilns, was the one thing towards which his face was set. - -When first imprisoned in France, Lord ELGIN did actually send a -direction to England that his Collection should be made over, -unconditionally, to the British Government. This order was sent, to -guard against the possible effect of any casualty that might happen -during his detention, the duration of which was then very -problematical. He reached England, however, before the instruction had -been carried into effect. In the mean time, the controversy about the -real value of the Marbles, as well as that which impugned the -Collector’s right to remove them from Athens, had arisen, and had -excited public attention. It became important to elicit an enlightened -opinion on those points, before raising the question how the sculpture -should be finally disposed of. - -The ignorance of essential facts—which alone made such reproaches[64] -as those I have just quoted possible from a man devoid of malice, and -gifted with genius—was a far less stubborn obstacle in Lord ELGIN’S -intended path than was the one-sided learning (one-sided as far as -true art and its appreciation are concerned) which dictated the -sneering utterances of some among the ‘Dilettanti.’ A BYRON, by his -nature, is open to conviction, sooner or later, in his own despite. A -connoisseur, when narrow and scornful, is above reason. And he is -eminently reproductive. - - -[Sidenote: THE ACTION OF THE TRUSTEES OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM ON THE - TOWNELEY BEQUEST. 1805–1806.] - -But for this stumbling-block in the path, the time of Lord ELGIN’S -return to England would have been eminently favourable for realising -his plans in their fulness. - -The two important accessions of antiquities to the British Museum -which had just accrued from the success of our arms in Egypt, and from -the almost life-long researches of Mr. TOWNELEY and his associates in -Italy, had led the way to an important enlargement of the Museum -building, and also to a great improvement in its internal -organization. The true importance, to the Public, of a series of the -best works of ancient art as a national possession was beginning to be -felt. - -In June, 1805, the Trustees obtained from Parliament the purchase of -the Towneley Marbles. They had already (in the previous year) obtained -power to begin an additional building, the plan and design of which -were now enlarged, and made specially appropriate to the reception and -display of the Towneley Collection. - -[Sidenote: ORGANIZATION OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ANTIQUITIES.] - -Hitherto, the Antiquities in the Museum had been regarded as a mere -appendix of the Natural History Collections. They were now made a -separate department, in accordance with their intrinsic value. Mr. -Taylor COMBE, who had entered the service of the Trustees, in 1803, as -an assistant librarian, was made first Keeper of the new department. -He filled that office, with much efficiency, until his death in 1826. - -The new building or ‘Towneley Gallery’ was opened by a royal visit on -the third of June, 1808. The Queen, the Prince of Wales, the Dukes of -Cumberland and Cambridge, came to the Museum with a considerable -retinue, and were received, with much ceremony, by a Committee of the -Trustees. The Queen had not visited the Museum for twenty years past. - -The Towneley Gallery was erected from the designs of Mr. SAUNDERS, and -was admirably adapted to its purpose. Some of the sculptures have not -been seen to quite equal advantage since its replacement by the -existing building. The addition has now disappeared as entirely as has -old Montagu House itself, but the reader may see its form and style by -glancing at the small vignette on the title-page of this volume. - - -[Sidenote: OPENING OF THE ELGIN MARBLES AT BURLINGTON HOUSE.] - -So favourable an opportunity, however, was for the present lost. The -self-conceit of the cognoscenti strengthened the too obvious parsimony -of Parliament. Lord ELGIN made no direct overture to the Government, -but appealed to the great body of artists, of students, and of art -lovers, for their verdict on his labours in Greece and their product. -He arranged his marbles first in his own house in Park Lane, and -afterwards—for the sake of better exhibition—at Burlington House, in -Piccadilly, and threw them open to public view. The voice of the -artists was as the voice of one man. Some, who were at the top of the -tree, acknowledged a wish that it were possible to begin their studies -over again. Others, who had but begun to climb, felt their ardour -redoubled and their ambition directed to nobler aims in art than had -before been thought of. Not a few careers, arduous and honourable, -took their life-long colour from what was then seen at Burlington -House. Some of the men most strongly influenced were not what the -world calls successful, but not one of them ended his career without -making England the richer by his work. - -The eagerness of foreign artists to study the Elgin Marbles was equal -to that of Englishmen. CANOVA, when on his visit to London in 1815, -wrote: ‘I think that I can never see them often enough. Although my -stay must be extremely short, I dedicate every moment I can spare to -their contemplation. I admire in them the truth of nature, united to -the choice of the finest forms.... I should feel perfectly satisfied, -if I had come to London only to see them.’ - -The most accomplished of foreign archæologists were not less decisive -in their testimony. VISCONTI, after seeing and studying repeatedly a -small portion only of the Parthenon frieze, said of it: ‘This has -always seemed to me to be the most perfect production of the -sculptor’s art in its kind.’ When he saw the whole, his delight was -unbounded. - -The Collector was not able to carry out his plan of exhibition, in any -part of it, to the full extent which he had contemplated. - -He was anxious that casts of the whole of the extant sculptures of the -Parthenon should be exhibited, in the same relative situation to the -eye of the viewer which they had originally occupied in the Temple at -Athens. He was also desirous that a public competition of sculptors -should be provided for, in order to a series of comparative -restorations of the perfect work, based upon other casts of its -surviving portions, and wrought in presence of the remains of the -authentic sculpture itself. - - -[Sidenote: CONTINUANCE OF THE LABOURS OF LUSIERI AT ATHENS, UNTIL - 1816.] - -Meanwhile, the chief of the artists employed in the work of drawing -and modelling continued his labours at Athens, and in its vicinity, -for more than twelve years after Lord ELGIN’S departure from -Constantinople. Between the years 1811 and 1816, inclusive, eighty -cases containing sculpture, casts, drawings, and other works of art, -were added to the Elgin Collection in London. - -In the year last named, when the question of artistic value had -already been very effectively determined by the cumulative force of -enlightened opinion, a Select Committee of the House of Commons was at -length appointed, to inquire whether it were expedient that Lord -ELGIN’S Collection ‘should be purchased on behalf of the Public, and, -if so, what price it may be reasonable to allow for the same.’ - -[Sidenote: _Report on Earl of Elgin’s Collection_ (1816), p. 8.] - -By this Committee it was reported to the House that ‘several of the -most eminent artists in this kingdom rate these marbles in the very -first class of ancient art; ... speak of them with admiration and -enthusiasm; and, notwithstanding their manifold injuries, ... and -mutilations, ... consider them as among the finest models and most -exquisite monuments of antiquity.’ It was also reported that their -removal to England had been explicitly authorised by the Turkish -Government. [Sidenote: _Ib._, p. 16.] The Committee further -recommended their purchase for the Public at the sum of thirty-five -thousand pounds; and that the Earl of ELGIN and his heirs (being Earls -of Elgin) should be perpetual Trustees of the British Museum. -[Sidenote: _Ib._, p. 27.] And the Committee expressed, in conclusion, -its hope that the Elgin Marbles might long serve as models and -examples to those who, by knowing how to revere and appreciate them, -may first learn to imitate, and ultimately to rival them. On the 1st -of July, 1816, the Act for effecting the purchase was passed by the -Legislature. I do not know that any one member of the Society of -Dilettanti really regretted the fact. But it is certain that by a very -eminent connoisseur on the Continent it was much regretted. The King -of Bavaria had already lodged a sum of thirty thousand pounds in an -English banking house, by way of securing a pre-emption, should the -controversy amongst the connoisseurs on this side of the Channel, of -which so much had been heard, lead the British Parliament eventually -to decline the purchase. - -The nearest estimate that could be formed in 1816 of Lord ELGIN’S -outlay, from first to last, amounted to upwards of fifty thousand -pounds. And the interest on that outlay, at subsisting rates, amounted -to about twenty-four thousand pounds. Upon merely commercial -principles, therefore, the mark of honour affixed by Parliament to the -Earldom of Elgin was abundantly earned. By every other estimate, Lord -ELGIN had done more than enough to keep his name, for ever, in the -roll of British worthies. And, as all men know, he had a worthy -successor in that honoured title. The name of ELGIN, instead of -ranking, according to BYRON’S prophecy, with that of EROSTRATUS, has -already become a name not less revered in the Indies, and in America, -than in Britain itself. - - -For nearly half a century, Lord ELGIN was one of the Representative -Peers of Scotland. After his great achievement was completed, he took -but little part in public life. The most curious incident of his later -years was his election as a Member of the Society of Dilettanti, -twenty-five years after his return from the Levant. The election was -made without his knowledge. When the fact was intimated to him, he -wrote to the Secretary to decline the honour. After a brief and -dignified allusion to his efforts in Greece, he went on to say:—‘Had -it been thought—twenty-five years ago, or at any reasonable time -afterwards—that the same energy would be considered useful to the -Dilettanti Society, most happy should I have been to contribute every -aid in my power; but such expectation has long since past. I do not -apprehend that I shall be thought fastidious, if I decline the honour -now proposed to me at this my eleventh hour.’ - -The Collector of the Elgin Marbles died in England on the fourteenth -of October, 1841. - - -[Sidenote: THE MARBLES OF PHIGALEIA.] - -During the long period which had thus intervened between the first -exhibition to the Public of the sculptures from the Temple of Minerva -and their final acquisition for the national Museum, an inferior but -valuable series of Greek marbles was obtained from Phigaleia, in -Arcadia. They were the fruit of the joint researches, in 1812, of the -late eminent architect, Mr. Charles Robert COCKERELL, Mr. John FOSTER, -Mr. LEE, Mr. Charles HALLER VON HALLERSTEIN, and Mr. James LINKH, who, -in that year, had become fellow-travellers in Greece, and partners in -the work of exploration for antiquities. - -The temple to which these marbles had belonged, and beneath the ruins -of which they were found, stands on a ridge clothed with oak trees on -one of the slopes of Mount Cotylium. The scenery which surrounds it is -of great beauty. The temple itself has long been a ruin. It was the -work of ICTINUS, the builder of the Parthenon. One portion of the -frieze of its _cella_ represents the battles of the Centaurs and the -Lapithæ—the subject of the metopes of the Parthenon entablature. The -remaining portion illustrates another series of mythic contests—that -of the Athenians and the Amazons. - -The extent of this frieze, in its integrity, was about a hundred and -eight feet in length, by two feet one and a quarter inches in height. -About ninety-six lineal feet were found, broken into innumerable -fragments, but susceptible, as it proved—by dint of skill and of -marvellous patience—of almost entire reunion, so that no restoration -was needed to bring the subject of the sculpture into perfect -intelligibility. - -[Sidenote: THE EXCAVATIONS ON MOUNT COTYLIUM.] - -Mr. COCKERELL, one of the most active of the explorers of 1812, had to -proceed to Sicily whilst his fellows in the enterprise carried on the -toils of digging and removal. But it is from his pen that we have a -charming little notice of the progress of the work, and of the -amusements which enlivened it. ‘I regret’ wrote Mr. COCKERELL, ‘that I -was not of that delightful party at Phigaleia, which amounted to above -fifteen persons. They established themselves, for three months, on the -top of Mount Cotylium—where there is a grand prospect over nearly all -Arcadia—building, round the Temple, huts covered with boughs of trees, -until they had almost formed a village, which they called Francopolis. -They had frequently fifty or eighty men at work in the Temple, and a -band of Arcadian music was constantly playing to entertain this -numerous assemblage. When evening put an end to work, dances and songs -commenced; lambs were roasted whole on a long wooden spit; and the -whole scene in such a situation, at such an interesting time, when, -every day, some new and beautiful sculpture was brought to light, is -hardly to be imagined. Apollo must have wondered at the carousals -which disturbed his long repose, and have thought that his glorious -days of old were returned.’ - -[Sidenote: Cockerell to ...; printed by Hughes, _Travels in Greece_, - vol. i, p. 194.] - -‘The success of our enterprise,’ continues Mr. COCKERELL, ‘astonished -every one, and in all circumstances connected with it good fortune -attended us.’ One of these circumstances, however—that of the mixed -nationality of the discoverers—put, it must be added, some difficulty -in the way towards accomplishing an earnest wish, on the part of the -English sharers in the adventure, that England should be made the -final home of the Phigaleian sculptures. Two Germans, as we have seen, -were active partners in the exploration. A third, Mr. GROPIUS, had -likewise some interest in it. And there was also a more formidable -sleeping partner in the rich digging. VELY Pasha had stipulated that -he was to have one half of the marbles discovered, as the price of his -licence to explore. But, very fortunately, one of the ordinary changes -in Turkish policy at Constantinople removed VELY from his government, -just at the critical moment; and so made him anxious to sell his -share, and to facilitate the removal of the spoil. The new Pasha had -heard of the discoveries, and was hastening to lay hands upon the -whole. But he was too late. - -The marbles were removed to Zante. The German proprietors insisted on -a public sale by auction. There was not time to bring the matter -before Parliament. [Sidenote: THE TRANSFER OF THE MARBLES OF PHIGALEIA -TO ZANTE;] But the Prince Regent took an active interest in it. With -his sanction, and mainly by the exertions of Mr. W. R. HAMILTON -(afterwards a zealous Trustee of the British Museum), some members of -the Government authorised the despatch of Mr. Taylor COMBE to Zante. -By him the marbles were purchased, at the price of sixty thousand -dollars; but that sum was enhanced by an unfavourable exchange, so -that the actual payment amounted to nineteen thousand pounds. -[Sidenote: AND TO ENGLAND.] It was paid out of the Droits of the -Admiralty,—a fund of questionable origin, and one which had been many -times grossly abused, but which, on this occasion, subserved a great -national advantage. - -The marbles thus obtained are confessedly inferior to those of the -Parthenon; but they possess great beauty, as well as great -archæological value. Both acquisitions, in their place, have -contributed to increase historic knowledge, not less conspicuously -than to develop artistic power, or to enlighten critical judgment, -both in art and in literature. It would not be an easy task to -estimate to what degree a mastery of the learning which is to be -acquired only from the marbles of Attica and of Arcadia, and their -like, has tended to make the study of Greek books a living and -life-giving study. - -To the sculptures brought from Phigaleia into England in 1815, several -missing fragments have been added subsequently. A peasant living near -Paulizza had carried off a piece of the frieze to decorate, or to -hallow, his hut. This fragment was procured by Mr. Spencer STANHOPE in -1816. The Chevalier BRÖNDSTED added other fragments in 1824. Only one -entire slab of the original sculpture is wanting. - - -[Sidenote: PURCHASE OF THE SECOND TOWNELEY COLLECTION, 1814.] - -Almost contemporaneously with the accessions which came to the Museum -as the result of the explorations in 1814 of Mr. COCKERELL and his -fellow-travellers in Arcadia, a considerable addition was made to the -Towneley Gallery by the purchase of a large series of bronzes, gems, -and drawings, and of a cabinet of coins and medals, both Greek and -Roman, all of which had been formed by the Collector of the Marbles. -These were purchased from Mr. TOWNELEY’S representatives for the sum -of eight thousand two hundred pounds. Among other conspicuous -additions, made from time to time, a few claim special mention. Among -these are the _Cupid_, acquired from the representatives of Edmund -BURKE; the _Jupiter_ and _Leda_, in low relief, bought of Colonel de -BOSSET; and the _Apollo_, bought in Paris, at the sale of the Choiseul -Collection. - - -[Sidenote: MINOR ANTIQUITIES OF THE ELGIN COLLECTION.] - -Among the minor Greek antiquities which came to the British Museum in -1816, along with the sculptures of the Parthenon, are the fine -Caryatid figure, and the very beautiful Ionic capitals, bases, and -fragments of shafts, from the double temple of the Erectheium and -Pandrosos at Athens,—part of which, like the Temple of Neptune, was -used by the Turks, in Lord ELGIN’S time, as a powder-magazine. -Acquisitions still more valuable than these were the grand fragment of -the colossal _Bacchus_ in feminine attire, which Lord ELGIN brought -from the Choragic monument of Thrasyllus; the statue of _Icarus_ -(identified by comparison with a well-known low-relief in rosso antico -formerly preserved in the Albani Collection); and the noble series of -casts from the frieze of the Theseium and from that of the Choragic -monument of Lysicrates. The Collection also included many statues’ -heads and fragments of great archæological interest, but of which the -original localities are for the most part unknown, and a considerable -series of sepulchral urns. - -After the Elgin Marbles, the next important acquisition in the -Department of Antiquities was that made by the purchase, in 1819, of -the famous ‘_Apotheosis of Homer_.’ This marble had been found, almost -two centuries before, at Frattocchi (the ancient ‘Bovillæ’), about ten -miles from Rome on the Appian road, and had long been counted among -the choicest ornaments of the Colonna Palace. It cost the Trustees one -thousand pounds. Then, in 1825, came the noble bequest of Mr. Richard -Payne KNIGHT. - -When the treasures of Mr. Payne KNIGHT came to be added to the several -Collections made, during the preceding fifty years, by HAMILTON, -TOWNELEY, and ELGIN, as well as to those which the British army had -won in Egypt, or which were due, in the main, to the research and -energy of our travelling fellow-countrymen, the national storehouse -may fairly be said to have passed from its nonage into maturity. The -Elgin Collection had, of itself, sufficed to lift the British Museum -into the first rank among its peers. But the antiquarian treasures of -the Museum showed many gaps. Some important additions, indeed, had -been made, from time to time, to the class of Egyptian antiquities. -And a small foundation had been laid of what is now the superb -Assyrian Gallery. Rich in certain classes of archæology, it remained, -nevertheless, poor in certain others. In 1825, it came to the front in -all. - -[Sidenote: THE LIFE, WRITINGS, AND COLLECTIONS, OF R. PAYNE KNIGHT.] - -Richard Payne KNIGHT is one of the many men who, in all probability, -would have attained more eminent and enduring distinction had he been -less impetuous and more concentrated in its pursuit. He went in for -all the honours. He aimed to be conspicuous, at once, as archæologist -and philosopher, critic and poet, politician and dictator-general in -matters of art and of taste. He was ready to give judgment, at any -moment, and without appeal, whether the question at issue concerned -the decoration of a landscape, the summing-up of the achievement of a -HOMER, or a PHIDIAS, or the system of the universe. - -Mr. KNIGHT was born in 1749, and was the son of a landed man, of good -property, whose estates were chiefly in Wiltshire, and who possessed a -borough ‘interest’ in Ludlow. His constitution was so weakly, and his -chance of attaining manhood seemed so doubtful, that his father would -not allow him to go to any school, or to be put to much study at home. -It was only after his father’s death, and when he had entered his -fourteenth year, that his education can be said to have begun. Within -three years of his first appearance in any sort of school, he went -into Italy; substituting for the university the grand tour. Only when -he was approaching eighteen years of age did he fairly set to work to -learn Greek. But he studied it with a will, and to good purpose. - -After remaining on the Continent about six or seven years, Mr. Payne -KNIGHT removed to England, and went to live at Downton Castle. He took -delight in the management of his land, proved himself to be a kind -landlord as well as a skilful one, and convinced his neighbours that a -man might love Greek and yet ride well to hounds. When returned to -Parliament for the neighbouring borough, he attached himself to the -Whigs, and more particularly to that section of them who supported -BURKE in his demands for economical reform. When in London, he gave -constant attention to his parliamentary duty, and when in the country, -foxhunting, hospitality, and the improvement of his estate, had their -fair share of his time. But, at all periods of life, his love of -reading was insatiable. When there was no hunting and no urgent -business, he could read for ten hours at a stretch. - -He had reached his thirty-sixth year before he made the first -beginning of his museum of antiquities. The primitive acquisition was -a head, unknown—probably of _Diomede_—which was discovered at Rome in -1785. It is in brass, of early Greek work, and was bought of JENKINS. -Despite the doubt which exists as to the personage, there are many -known copies of this fine head upon ancient pastes and gems. In the -following year, Mr. KNIGHT made his first appearance as an author. - -[Sidenote: EARLY WRITINGS OF MR. PAYNE KNIGHT.] - -The _Inquiry into the remains of the Worship of Priapus, as existing -at Isernia, in the Kingdom of Naples_, treated of a subject which -scarcely any one will now think to have been well chosen, as the first -fruits or earnest of a scholarly career. When a French critic said of -it ‘a maiden-work, but little virgin-like (_peu virginal_)’ he -expressed, pithily, the usual opinion of the very small circle of -readers at home to whom the book became known. The author eventually -called in the impression, so far as lay in his power, and the book is -now one of the many ‘rarities’ which might well be still more rare -than they are. - -In 1791, he gave to the world another work on a classical subject -which possessed real value, and, amongst scholars, attracted much -attention. The _Analytical Essay on the Greek Alphabet_ is a treatise -which, in its day, rendered good service to grammatical learning, and -led to more. It was followed, in 1794, by _The Landscape, a Poem_. - -‘The Landscape’ is an elaborate protest against the then fashionable -modes of gardening, which sought to ‘improve’ nature, almost as much -by replacement as by selection. On many points the poem is marked by -good sense and just thought, as well as by vigour of expression, but -its reasoning is far superior to its poetry. What is said of the -choice and growth of trees shows thorough knowledge of the subject and -true taste. But it needs no poet to convict ‘Capability BROWN’ of -ignorance in his own pursuit when he insisted on ‘the careful removal -of every token of decay’ as a cardinal maxim in landscape-gardening. -Such topics may well be left to plain prose. - -The one notable feature in the poem which has still an interest is its -curious indication of that peculiarity in Mr. KNIGHT’S creed which -asserted—in relation both to the works of nature and to those of -art—that beauty is absolutely inconsistent with vastness. The -excessive love of the minute and delicate led Mr. KNIGHT into the -greatest practical error of his public life, as will be seen -presently. At this time it merely led him to the bold assertion that -no mountain ought to dare to lift its head so high as to— - - ‘Shame the high-spreading oak, or lofty tower.’ - -The lines which follow are, it will be seen, curiously prophetic of -that controversy about the Marbles of the Parthenon in which Mr. Payne -KNIGHT took so large a share:— - - ‘But as vain painters, destitute of skill, - Large sheets of canvas with large figures fill, - And think with shapes gigantic to supply - Grandeur of form, and grace of symmetry, - So the rude gazer ever thinks to find - The view sublime, when vast and undefined. - - - ’Tis form, not magnitude, adorns the scene. - A hillock may be grand, and the vast Andes mean. - - - Oft have I heard the silly traveller boast - The grandeur of Ontario’s endless coast; - Where, far as he could dart his wandering eye, - He nought but boundless water could descry. - With equal reason, Keswick’s favoured pool - Is made the theme of every wondering fool.’ - -Within a few months, this poem—little as it is now remembered—went -through two editions. It was soon followed by a more ambitious flight. -In 1796, its author published ‘_The Progress of Civil Society; a -didactic poem_.’ - -The impression which had been made, in that day of feeble verse (as -far as the southern part of the realm is concerned), by _The -Landscape_, gained for _The Progress of Civil Society_ an amount of -attention of which it was intrinsically unworthy. The work deals with -social progress, and it treats the convictions dearest to Christian -men as being simply the conjectures of ‘presumptuous ignorance.’ It is -the work of a man who writes after nine generations of his ancestors -and countrymen have had a free and open Bible in their hands, and who -none the less puts the worship of Nature, and of her copyists, in the -place of the worship of Nature’s God. This ‘didactic poem’ is written -in the land of BACON, MILTON, and SHAKESPEARE, and it bases itself on -the ‘fifth book of LUCRETIUS.’ - -Not the least curious thing about the matter is the effect which was -wrought by Mr. KNIGHT’S poetic flight upon the mind of a brother -antiquarian. The work absolutely inspired Horace WALPOLE with a -serious and deep regret that he was consciously too near the grave to -undertake the defence of Christian philosophy against its new -assailant. Such a labour, from such a pen, would indeed have been a -curiosity of literature. - -[Sidenote: HORACE WALPOLE ON THE ‘PROGRESS OF CIVIL SOCIETY,’ 1796.] - -Feeling that for a man who was almost an octogenarian the tasks of -controversy would be too much, WALPOLE writes to MASON. He entreats -him to expose the daring poetaster. His earnestness in the matter -approaches passion. ‘I could not, without using too many words,’ he -says, ‘express to you how much I am offended and disgusted by Mr. -KNIGHT’S new, insolent, and self-conceited poem. Considering to what -height he dares to carry his insolent attack, it might be sufficient -to lump [together] all the rest of his impertinent sallies ... as -trifling peccadillos.... The vanity of supposing that his -authority—the authority of a trumpery prosaic poetaster—was sufficient -to re-establish the superannuated atheism of LUCRETIUS!... I cannot -engage in an open war with him.... Weak and broken as I am, tottering -to the grave at some months past seventy-eight, I have not spirits or -courage enough to tap a paper war.’ - -WALPOLE then adverts to a foregone thought, on MASON’S part, to have -taken up the foils on the appearance of _The Landscape_. ‘I ardently -wish,’ he says, ‘you had overturned and expelled out of gardens this -new Priapus, who is only fit to be erected in the Palais de -l’Egalité.’ [Sidenote: Horace Walpole to William Mason, March 22, 1796 -(_Letters_; Coll. Edit., vol. ix, p. 462).] And he urges his -correspondent not to let the present occasion slip. Irony and -ridicule, he thinks, would be weapons quite sufficient to overthrow -this ‘Knight of the Brazen Milk-Pot.’ - -The last thrust was unkind indeed. It was hard that our Collector, -whatever his other demerits, should be reproached for his passion to -gather small bronzes, by the builder and furnisher of Strawberry-Hill. - -For, amidst all his devotion to poetry and pantheism, Mr. KNIGHT -carried on the pursuits of connoisseurship with insatiable ardour. -[Sidenote: _Spec. of Ancient Sculp._, pl. 55 and 56.] Among the -choicer acquisitions which speedily followed the _Diomede_[?] -purchased in 1785, were the mystical _Bacchus_—a bronze of the -Macedonian period—found near Aquila in 1775; a colossal head of -_Minerva_, found near Rome by Gavin HAMILTON; and a figure of -_Mercury_ of great beauty. The last-named bronze had been found, in -1732, at Pierre-Luisit, in the Pays de Bugey and diocese of Lyons. -[Sidenote: _Ib._, 33, 34.] A dry rock had sheltered the little figure -from injury, so that it retained the perfection of its form, as if it -had but just left the sculptor’s hand. It passed through the hands of -three French owners in succession before it was sold to Mr. KNIGHT, by -the last of them, at the beginning of the Reign of Terror. - -The year 1792, in which he acquired this much-prized ‘Mercury,’ is -also the date of a remarkable discovery of no less than nineteen -choice bronzes in one hoard, at Paramythia, in Epirus. They had, in -all probability, been buried during nearly two thousand years. The -story of the find is, in itself, curious. [Sidenote: THE HOARD OF -BRONZES FOUND AT PARAMYTHIA, IN EPIRUS.] It shows too, in relief, the -energy and perseverance which Mr. KNIGHT brought to his work of -collectorship, and in which he was so much better employed—both for -himself and for his country—than in philosophising upon human -progress, from the standpoint of LUCRETIUS. - -Some incident or other of the weather had disclosed appearances which -led, fortuitously, to a search of the ground into which these bronzes -had been cast—perhaps during the invasion of Epirus, _B.C._ 167—and, -by the finder, they were looked upon as so much saleable metal. -Bought, as old brass, by a coppersmith of Joannina, they presently -caught the eye of a Greek merchant, who called to mind that he had -seen similar figures shown as treasures in a museum at Moscow. He made -the purchase, and sent part of it, on speculation, to St. Petersburgh. -The receiver brought them to the knowledge of the Empress CATHERINE, -who intimated that she would buy, but died before the acquisition was -paid for. They were then shared, it seems, between a Polish -connoisseur and a Russian dealer. One bronze was brought to London by -a Greek dragoman and shown to Mr. KNIGHT, who eagerly secured it, -heard the story of the discovery, and sent an agent into Russia, who -succeeded in obtaining nine or ten of the sculptures found at -Paramythia. Two others were given to Mr. KNIGHT by Lord ABERDEEN, who -had met with them in his travels. They were all of early Greek work. -Amongst them are figures of _Serapis_, of _Apollo Didymæus_, of -_Jupiter_, and of one of the _Sons of Leda_. All these have been -engraved among the _Specimens of Ancient Sculpture_, published by the -Society of Dilettanti. - -Few sources of acquisition within the limits which he had laid down -for himself escaped Mr. Payne KNIGHT’S research. He kept up an active -correspondence with explorers and dealers. He watched Continental -sales, and explored the shops of London brokers, with like assiduity. -Coins, medals, and gems, shared with bronzes, and with the original -drawings of the great masters of painting, in his affectionate -pursuit. - -In his search for bronzes he welcomed choice and characteristic works -from Egypt and from Etruria, as well as the consummate works of Greek -genius. His numismatic cabinet was also comprehensive, but its Greek -coins were pre-eminent. For works in marble he had so little relish -that he actually persuaded himself, by degrees, that the greatest -artists of antiquity rarely ‘condescended’ to touch marble. But he -collected a small number of busts in that material. - -For one volume of drawings by CLAUDE, Mr. KNIGHT gave the sum of -sixteen hundred pounds. - -Among his later acquisitions of sculpture in brass was the very -beautiful _Mars_ in Homeric armour. This figure was brought to England -by Major BLAGRAVE in 1813. The _Bacchic Mask_ (No. 35, in the second -volume of the _Specimens_) was found, in the year 1674, near Nimeguen, -in a stone coffin. It was preserved by the Jesuits of Lyons, in their -Collegiate Museum, until their dissolution. From them it passed into -the possession of Mr. Roger WILBRAHAM, from whom Mr. KNIGHT obtained -it. - - -[Sidenote: THE INQUIRY INTO THE SYMBOLISM OF GREEK ART AND MYTHOLOGY.] - -On the thorough study of the fine Collection which had been gathered -from so many sources—here indicated by but a scanty sample—and on that -of other choice Collections both at home and abroad, Mr. KNIGHT based -the most elaborate—perhaps the most valuable—work of his life, next to -his Museum itself. The _Inquiry into the Symbolism of Greek Art and -Mythology_ bears, indeed, too many traces of the narrowness of the -author’s range of thought, whenever he leaves the purely artistic -criticism of which he was, despite his limitations, a master, in order -to dissertate on the interdependence or on the ‘priestcraft’ of the -religions of the world. But his genuine lore cannot be concealed by -his flimsy philosophy. The student will gain from the _Inquiry_ real -knowledge about ancient art. He will find, indeed, not a few -statements which the author himself would be the first to modify in -the light of the new information of the last fifty years. But he will -also find much which, in its time, proved to be suggestive and -fruitful to other minds, and which prepared the way for wider and -deeper studies. It may do so yet. The book is one which the student of -archæology cannot afford to overlook. Whilst he may well afford a -passing smile at the philosophic insight which prompted our author’s -eulogies (1) upon the ‘liberal and humane spirit which still prevails -among those nations whose religion is founded upon the principle of -emanations;’ (2) upon the wisdom of the ‘Siamese, who shun disputes, -and believe that almost all religions are good;’ [Sidenote: _Inquiry_, -&c., p. 19.] (3) on the supreme fitness of the idolatries of India ‘to -call forth the ideal perfections of art, by expanding and exalting the -imagination of the artist;’ or (4) upon the exceptional and -pre-eminent capacity of the Hindoos to become ‘the most virtuous and -happy of the human race,’ but for that one solitary misfortune which -cursed them with a priesthood.[65] - -[Sidenote: THE DISSERTATION ON ANCIENT SCULPTURE.] - -The _Inquiry into Symbolism_ was, at first, printed only for private -circulation, in 1818. It was afterwards reprinted in the _Classical -Journal_, with some corrections by the author. It was again reprinted, -after his death, as an appendix to the second volume of the _Specimens -of Ancient Sculpture_. - -To the first volume of that work Mr. Payne KNIGHT had already prefixed -his _Preliminary Dissertation on the Progress of Ancient Sculpture_. -After showing that of Phœnician art we have no real knowledge other -than that which is to be derived from the study of coins, and that -thence it may be learnt that the Phœnicians had artisans, but not -artists, he goes on to survey Greek art in its successive phases. That -art, at its best, finds, he thinks, a typical expression, or summary, -in the saying ascribed to LYSIPPUS: ‘It is for the sculptor to -represent men as they seem to be, not as they really are.’ He dates -the culmination of Greek sculpture as ranging between the years _B.C._ -450 and 400, and as due to the national pride and energy which were -excited by the defeat of XERXES and the events which followed. He -thinks that what was gained, by the artists of the next half-century, -in ideal grace, and in the fluent refinements of workmanship, was -obtained only by a loss of energy, of characteristic expression, and -of originality—the εθος of art. In the works of LYSIPPUS and his -school (_B.C._ 350–300), he sees a brief resuscitation of the vigour -of the former period, combined with much more than the grace of the -latter, to be followed only too swiftly by those desolating wars ‘in -which the temples were destroyed, their treasures of art pillaged, and -artists, for the first time, saw their works perish before -themselves.’ - -In the ‘_Dissertation_,’ as in the ‘_Inquiry_,’ there are many -statements and many reasonings to which subsequent discoveries have -brought a tacit correction. [Sidenote: MR. PAYNE KNIGHT AND THE ELGIN -MARBLES.] The passage in the former about the Elgin Marbles had to be -corrected by the evidence of the author’s own eyesight. His -examination before the Commons’ Committee of 1816 was an amusing -scene. The key-note was struck by the witness’s first words. To the -question ‘Have you seen the marbles brought to England by Lord ELGIN?’ -he replied, ‘Yes. I have looked them over.’ But on this point, enough -has been said already in a previous page. - -Both to the _Edinburgh Review_ and to the _Classical Journal_ Mr. -KNIGHT was a frequent and valuable contributor. It was in the latter -periodical that his Prolegomena to HOMER were first given to the -world, although he had printed a small edition (limited to fifty -copies) for private circulation, as early as in the year 1808.[66] His -latest poetical work, the Romance of _Alfred_, I have never had the -opportunity of reading. - -Richard Payne KNIGHT died on the twenty-fourth of April, 1824, in the -75th year of his age. He bequeathed his whole Collections to the -British Museum, of which he had long been a zealous and faithful -Trustee. He made no conditions, other than that his gift should be -commemorated by the addition to the Trust of a perpetual KNIGHT -‘Family Trustee.’ - -For this purpose a Bill was introduced into Parliament by Lord -COLCHESTER on the eighth of June. It received the royal assent on the -seventeenth. - -The addition of Mr. KNIGHT’S Greek Coins made the British Museum -superior, in that department, to the Royal Museum of Paris; the -addition of his bronzes raised it above the famous Museum of Naples. -By the most competent judges it has been estimated that, if the -Collection had been sold by public auction, Mr. KNIGHT’S -representatives would probably have obtained for it the sum of sixty -thousand pounds. - ------ - -Footnote 1: - - Sir Robert’s father was the fourth ‘Thomas Cotton of Conington,’ and - fifth Lord of that manor of the Cotton family. The marriage of - William Cotton with the eventual heiress of the Huntingdonshire - Bruces was contracted about the year 1450. - -Footnote 2: - - ‘By this woman the Earldom of Huntingdon and the Lordship of - Conington came to the Crown of Scotland.’-_MS. Note by Sir R. - Cotton_, in ‘Harl. 807.’ - -Footnote 3: - - From the COTTON ROLL XIV, 6 [by SEGAR, CAMDEN, and ST. GEORGE]; - compared with MS. Harl. 807, fol. 95, and with MS. LANSD., 863, - containing the Heraldic Collections of R. ST. GEORGE, Norroy, Vol. - III, fol. 82 verso. - -Footnote 4: - - Here, if we accepted Cotton’s authorship of the _Twenty-four - Arguments, whether it be more expedient to suppress Popish - Practices, &c._, published in the _Cottoni Posthuma_, by James - Howell, we should have to add that ‘he travelled on the Continent - and passed many months in Italy.’ But that tract is _not_ - Cotton’s—though ascribed to him by so able and careful an historian - as Mr. S. R. Gardiner (_Archæologia_, vol. xli. Comp. _Prince - Charles and the Spanish Marriage, &c._, vol. i, p. 32). That its - real author was in Italy is plain, from his own statement ‘I - remember that in Italy it was often told me,’ &c.; and, again: ‘In - Rome itself I have heard the English fugitive taxed,’ &c., - _Posthuma_, pp. 126, seqq. Dr. Thomas Smith put a question as to - this implied visit of Sir Robert to Italy to his grandson, Sir John - Cotton, who assured him that no such visit was known to any of the - family; by all of whom it was believed that their eminent antiquary - never set foot out of Britain. Smith’s words are these:— - - ... ‘D. Joannes Cottonus hac de re a me literis consultus, se de - isthoc avi sui itinere Italico ne verbum quidem a Patre suo edoctum - fuisse respondit.... Cottonum usum et cognitionem linguæ Italicæ a - Joanne Florio ... anno 1610 addidicisse ex ejusdem literis ad - Cottonum scriptis, mihi certo constat.’ _Vita_, p. xvii. - -Footnote 5: - - The story which, has been told—on the authority of one of John - Chamberlain’s letters to Carleton (April, 1612) that ‘Sir Robert - Cotton was sent out of the way’ at a time when certain claims of the - Baronets were to be definitively heard at the Council Board, ‘in - order that he might not produce records in their favour,’ rests on - mere rumour. Charles, Lancaster Herald, wrote to Cotton immediately - before the hearing in these terms: ‘On Saturday next the final - determination is expected, if some troublesome spirit do not hinder; - which end I wish were well made, and am glad that you are not seen - in it at this time.’—Cotton MS., Julius, C. iii, f. 86. - -Footnote 6: - - ‘Tambien me dijo que el Conde de Somerset havia puesto todo su resto - en este negocio, y ganado el Duque de Lenox, ... aventurandose el - Conde ... a ganarse y asegurarse si se hazia, o a perderse si no se - hacia; concluyendo esta platica el Coton con decirme que el estava - loco de contento de ver esto en este estado, porque no pretendia ni - desseava otra cosa mas que vivir y morir publicamente Catolico, como - sus padres y abuelos lo havian sido.’—_Gardiner Transcripts of MSS. - at Simancas_, vol. i, p. 102 (MS.). - -Footnote 7: - - Mr. S. R. Gardiner. His account is contained in the able paper - entitled _On Certain Letters of the Count of Gondomar giving an - Account of the Affair of the Earl of Somerset_, read to the Society - of Antiquaries in 1867. Comp. the same historian’s _Prince Charles - and the Spanish Marriage_ (Vol. I, c. 1, and especially the passage - beginning ‘Sarmiento was _surprised by a visit from Sir Robert - Cotton_,’ and so on). In these pages I use Sarmiento’s subsequent - title of ‘Gondomar,’ simply because English readers are more - familiar with it than with the Spaniard’s family name. Mr. Gardiner - needlessly deepens the stain on Cotton’s memory, arising—all - allowance duly made—out of this intercourse with Gondomar, by the - remark that ‘twenty months before’ the interview occurred, Sir - Robert had ‘argued his case’ [_i. e._ a tract on the question of the - right treatment, by the State, of Romanist priests and recusants] - ‘from a decidedly Protestant point of view, and had taken care to - put himself forward as a thorough, if not an extreme, Protestant.’ - But, unfortunately for Mr. Gardiner’s trenchant conclusion on that - point, the pamphlet he refers to—by whomsoever written—was certainly - _not_ written by Sir Robert Cotton. - -Footnote 8: - - ‘[Then the Duke] came to the Relation of Sir Robert Cotton [of the - intercourse] that he had with the Spanish Ambassador in 1614 [O.S.]. - The Spanish Ambassador came to his house pretending [a desire] to - see his rarities. On the 10th of February he acquainted His Majesty - with it. Somerset [had] warrant then to sound the life of the - intention. [Gondomar] told him he doubted he had no warrant to set - any such thing on foot. [On the] 16th of March the Spanish - Ambassador dealt with him and endeavoured to make Somerset Spanish, - and to further this match. [He] answered him that there were divers - rubs and difficulties in it. [On the] 9th of April he gave - [Gondomar] a pill in a paper—viz. three reasons: If the King of - Spain would not urge unreasonable things in Religion, then,’ &c. [as - in Gondomar’s letter, which I have already quoted]. ‘Afterwards Sir - Robert Cotton was questioned [for shewing] to the Ambassador of - Spain a packet [received] from Spain.... [In the year] 1616, His - Majesty told Sir Robert Cotton that Gondomar had counterfeited those - letters, and that he was a “juggling jack.”’ Here Sir Edward Coke - interposed. He was one of the Managers of the Conference for the - Commons. He spoke thus: ‘This matter has a little relation to me. I - committed Sir Robert Cotton, when I was Chief Justice. For I - understood he had intelligence with the Spanish Ambassador, and - questioned him for it. _For no subject ought to converse with - Ambassadors without the King’s leave._ For the offence [for which] I - committed him [Sir Robert had] afterwards his general pardon from - the King.’ _Journals of the House of Commons_, 4 March, 1624. Vol. - I, pp. 727, 728. - -Footnote 9: - - ‘... Por diferentes vias le confirmado que contra el Conde - [Somerset] no se averigua cosa de sustancia en lo de la muerte del - Ovarberi; y de la del Principe [Henry, Prince of Wales,] no ha - permetido el Rey que se hable en ella; y todo lo demas probado hasta - agora viene a parar en que dio un decreto antes que le prendiesen, - para recojer unos papeles, diziendo que era orden del Rey, sin - haverla tenido para ello. Fue lo que causo su prision, y el aver - entregado despues todos los papeles que tenia de importancia, con - algunas joyas, a un amigo suyo [Sir Robert Cotton], para que lo - guardase que se coxieron. _Y el Rey ha sentido infinito que se ayan - visto algunos papeles que havia suyos para el Conde, ... y assi - carga agora toda la yra sobre el Conde_,’ &c. Gondomar to Philip - III,—Simancas MS. 2595, f. 23; and in _Archæologia_ (by Gardiner), - vol. xli, p. 29. - -Footnote 10: - - On this point, it is my wish to leave the reader to form his own - estimate of probabilities. _Probabilities_, only, are attainable; - and I have no side to take, in any attempt to weigh them. But it may - be well to ask the reader’s attention to a passage in the Diary of a - contemporary of Sir R. Cotton, a man of high character, and one who - sat by Cotton’s side in Parliament, fighting with him for the - liberties of England, during many years; one who is also remarkable - for speaking about the faults of his friends with abundant candour. - ‘Sir Robert Cotton, being highly esteemed by the Earl of - Somerset, ... _was acquainted with this murder [of Overbury] by him, - a little before it now came to light_, and had advised him what he - took to be the best course for his safety.’ This passage occurs in - the private diary of Sir Symonds D’Ewes—‘a man,’ says a great - writer, ‘of somewhat Grandisonian ways,’ a man of ‘scrupulous - Puritan integrity, of high flown conscientiousness, ... ambitious to - be the pink of Christian country gentlemen,’ (Carlyle’s _Essays_, - iv, 297.) This ‘scrupulous Puritan’ knew all that was current about - the terrible ‘Great Oyer of Poisoning,’ as Sir Edward Coke called - it. He lived in familiar intercourse with Cotton, and regarded their - long acquaintance as an honour to himself; whilst speaking freely - about certain social habits and limitations—neither Grandisonian or - Puritanic—on Cotton’s part, as precluding their intercourse from - ripening into that close friendship which such a man as D’Ewes could - form only with men likeminded with himself on the highest interests - of humanity. Is it not easy to infer—and is not the inference also - inevitable—that by the fact of Somerset ‘acquainting Cotton with the - murder of Overbury a little before’ it became public, and advising - him as to ‘the course for his safety,’ D’Ewes understood such a - communication and such advice as are entirely compatible with - Somerset’s innocence of his wife’s crime? - -Footnote 11: - - Such is the title in _Cottoni Posthuma_. In MS. Harl. 180—apparently - given by Cotton himself to Sir S. D’Ewes—the title is ‘_A - Declaration against the Matche_,’ &c. In that copy, this note occurs - at the end, in Sir Symonds’ hand:—‘Thus far only, as Sir Robert - Cotton himself told me, he proceeded; leaving the rest to be - added ... according to the relation ... declared before the greater - part of both Houses by ... the Duke of Buckingham.’—_MS. Harl._ 180, - fol. 169. - -Footnote 12: - - There is another MS. of this speech, _in Sir John Eliot’s hand_, in - the library at Port Eliot. See Forster’s _Life of Eliot_, Vol. I, p. - 413. - -Footnote 13: - - It has been printed by Howell in the _Cottoni Posthuma_ of 1651, pp. - 283–294; and is followed by _The Answer of the Committees appointed - by Your Lordships to the Propositions delivered by some Officers of - the Mint for inhauncing His Majesties monies of gold and silver_. - The ‘_Answer_’ as well as the speech, appears to be from Sir - Robert’s pen. - -Footnote 14: - - _Registers of the Privy Council_, James I, vol. v, pp. 484, 485, - 489; Nov. 3–5, 1629. (C. O.) _Domestic Correspondence_, James I, - vol. cli, § 24, § 69, _seqq._, and vol. clii, § 78, _seqq._ In this - last-named document the following passage occurs. The writer is - Richard James, who for very many years was Librarian to Sir Robert - Cotton, and he is writing to Secretary Lord Dorchester.—‘About July - last, I was willed by Sir Robert Cotton to carry him [Mr. Oliver - Saint John] into the Upper Study and there let him make search among - some bundles of papers for business of the Sewers.... If he (St. - John) did make any mention of a projecting pamphlet there pretended - to be found, so God save me as I entered into no further - conversation of it. Neither can I believe that any such as this now - questioned was ever in keeping with us, or ever seen by Sir R. - Cotton until, of late, he received it from my Lord of Clare. For - myself, let not God be merciful unto me if, before that time, I ever - saw, heard, or thought of it’ (R. James to Dorchester, vol. 152, § - 78). (R. H.) There is also some further information on the subject - in MS. Harl. 7000, ff. 267, _seqq._ (B. M.) A considerable number of - the letters of Richard James to Sir Robert Cotton, his friend and - benefactor, are preserved in MS. Harl. 7002. But these throw no - satisfactory light on the incident of 1629. I believe, however, that - to an observant reader they will be likely to suggest the idea that - Richard James knew more than he was willing that Sir Robert should - know. The letters are without dates, after the fashion of the times, - and this adds to their obscurity. But one thing is plain. The writer - ran away from London, either when he knew that the first inquiry was - imminent or thought it probable that a renewed inquiry would be set - on foot. In one of these letters, after many professions of - attachment, he writes thus: ‘From you, at this time, I should not - have parted, _if the exigence and penurie of my life had not forc’d - a silent retreat into myself, and my owne home at Corpus Christi - College_;’ and then, a fit of poesy—such as it was—coming over him, - he ends his letter metrically, as thus: - - ‘The poore young Russian youth, that slave - Was to the Prince, and trustie knave - To my deere Harrie Wilde, when wee - Forsooke that Northern Barbarie, - Loe bending at my feete did saye - Thancks for my love, and kindely praye, - His evills that I would not beare - In minde,—the which none, truely, were. - This youth I well remember, and - In neere, loe, manner kisse your hand; - Hoping, of gentle courtesie, - You will no worse remember me.’ - —MS. Harl. 7002, f. 118. - -Footnote 15: - - And as, it must be remembered, Cotton himself believed. - -Footnote 16: - - Curiously enough, part of these documents, so carefully brought - together by Sir Robert Cotton, remained with the Cottonian MSS., and - part of them were severed from that collection for more than two - centuries. Their recovery is one of the smallest of the innumerable - obligations which the Department of MSS. owes to the care and - far-spread researches of the late Keeper, Sir Frederick Madden. - -Footnote 17: - - It is COTTONIAN MS., Vitellius, c. 17, ff. 380, _seqq._ - -Footnote 18: - - Verses entitled _Sir Philip Sydney lying on his Deathbed_; in MS. - Chetham 8012 (Chetham Library, Manchester). - -Footnote 19: - - I had noted some of these as worthy, by way of sample, to be - printed. But the reduced limits of my book (as compared with its - plan) have compelled the omission of much illustrative matter which - had been carefully prepared for insertion, and which, as I hope, - would have been found to merit the attention of the reader. I will - find room, however, to mention one little fact connected with the - famous Evangeliary marked ‘Nero D. vi.’ The reader probably - remembers Sir Robert COTTON’S fruitless perambulation of the aisle - of Westminster Abbey, with that splendid MS. in his hands, on the - day of the Coronation of Charles the First. It seems likely that the - anecdote was told to Charles the Second when, at length, a like - ceremony was to take place for him. Be that as it may, he - sent—before he had been many days in England—a confidential servant - to borrow the book from Sir Thomas. And the fact of the loan stands - recorded on a fly-leaf, by the King’s intermediary, in honour ‘of - the most noble Sir Thomas COTTON, the starre of learning and - honestie.’ The MS., I may add, is one of those which came to Sir - Robert from Dethick (Garter). It bears Dethick’s autograph with the - date ‘1603’ and Cotton’s, ‘1608.’ Besides the Four Gospels it - contains _Processus factus ad Coronationem Regis Ricardi Secundi_, - and _Modus tenendi Parliamentum_. For some momentary fancy or other - Sir Robert took out of another superb MS. of his—the _Psalter_ of - King Henry the Sixth—a small but beautiful miniature, and made of it - a vignette for this Ethelstan volume. So it continued to remain for - two hundred and forty years, when Sir Frederick Madden restored the - miniature to its more legitimate place (Domitian A. xvii, fol. 96*.) - Had this Nero volume chanced to have been scrutinized at the moment - when it was Sir Robert’s fate to be stigmatized as ‘an embezzler of - records,’ it is very possible that it might have been called to bear - witness for the charge. For it is undeniable that the ‘RO. COTTON - BRUCEUS’ is written _over an erasure_. (The signature occurs on the - beautiful dedicatory page—‘_Beatissimo Papæ Damaso Hieronymus_.’) - But, fortunately, the descent of the book can be traced clearly. - -Footnote 20: - - Take, for example, these few lines: ‘Sweete Sainte whome I soley - addore,—at whooes srine I offer myself; I reseived your loving - lines.... Without them, I could not live at all;—being deprived of - your blessed sight, ... I live yet, but most miserably. Use means, - if it be possible, that we may come to the speech of one another; - and the Heavens of Hope may be yet auspitious unto us.... Those - deviles have again been writing letters unto my mother.’ In 1679, it - would seem, the two ardent lovers were kept in a sort of honourable - imprisonment. On COTTON’S coming to Cotton House, in the spring of - that year, an upper servant of the family writes thus to a - correspondent: ‘I advised him to call for money; take a coach and go - about to take the air, and to visit his friends that are in or about - the town; and not to be mewed up in a room, without money or - company.’—John SQUIRES, to a person unnamed; in _Appendix to Cotton - MSS._ ‘16, 1.’ (B. M.) - -Footnote 21: - - By this William HANBURY, son-in-law of John COTTON (great grandson - of the Founder), many COTTON MSS. were alienated—partly by sale and - partly by gift—to Robert, Earl of OXFORD. _See_ hereafter, Chapter - V. - -Footnote 22: - - Stukeley’s _Itinerary of Great Britain_ (2nd edit. 1776). - -Footnote 23: - - Some of the burnt MSS., regarded, until Mr. Forshall’s time, as - hopelessly illegible, have been found very helpful to the - preparation of the volume now in the reader’s hands. - -Footnote 24: - - I have dwelt, somewhat protractedly, on this one interesting point - in Cotton’s history,—pressing as are the limits prescribed to this - volume,—under the belief that many readers will bear in mind that - Sir Robert’s misfortune beneath the recent disinterment of - ambassadorial despatches, written to foreign courts, is _not_ an - exceptional misfortune. Sir Walter Ralegh has fared still worse, in - Mr. Gardiner’s able hands, by being held up to public scorn as a - knavish liar, upon the uncorroborated testimony of certain avowed - and bitter enemies of England. See _Prince Charles and the Spanish - Marriage_ (1869), vol. i, Chaps. 1 and 2, _passim_. Readers of the - admirable _History of England_ by Mr. Froude—and who has not read - that history?—will easily call to mind several not dissimilar - instances. Nor is it at all surprising that it should be so. The - most warily judicial of intellects can never be quite independent of - that factitious charm which there will always be—over and above the - legitimate charm—in telling an old story from an entirely new point - of view. If, besides the attraction of mere novelty, there should - chance to have been a keen burst of search over a difficult country, - before the eager searcher could succeed in running down his quarry, - he would be more than human if, in the moment of victory, he could - weigh and balance with exact precision the real value of the - hard-won spoil. At present, historians are too keenly chasing after - new evidence to be able to estimate quite fairly its relative - importance or net result. The most part both of writers and of - readers are far too busy over newly-discovered materials to adjust - with any approach to impartial fairness the vital question of - comparative credibility. But the time for doing _that_ must needs - come, by and bye. Meanwhile, the fame of not a few of our old and - true worthies will—in all probability—suffer some degree of - momentary eclipse; just as that of Ralegh and Cotton has suffered. - -Footnote 25: - - The word ‘hope’ or some like expression, seems here to have been - intended, but omitted. The repetition of the word ‘shortlie’ will - sufficiently indicate to the reader the haste with which this - effusion was written,—just as the King was about to mount for the - long looked-for journey southwards. The letter has been printed by - Birch, but with amendments. - -Footnote 26: - - It was not strictly a ‘launch.’ The vessel had been built expressly - for the Prince, at Chatham, and was brought thence to London to be - named with the usual ceremonies. - -Footnote 27: - - He was removed to the Fleet Prison ten days afterwards. - -Footnote 28: - - In dealing with royal letters it is, of course, necessary to keep in - mind how largely the vicarious element is apt to enter into their - composition. Those, however, that are quoted in the text seem to - have a plain stamp of individuality upon them. - -Footnote 29: - - That Llanthony, in Monmouthshire, the purchase of which in the - present century gave rise to so singular a chapter in the history of - Landor, and whose charms, in retrospect, prompted the lines— - - ‘Llanthony! an ungenial clime, - And the broad wing of restless Time, - Have rudely swept thy massy walls, - And rockt thy Abbots in their palls. - I loved thee, by thy streams of yore; - By distant streams, I love thee more.’ - -Footnote 30: - - Part of Lord Northampton’s large estates came eventually to Lord - Arundel by bequest. He also inherited Northampton’s house at - Greenwich, and occasionally resided there, until its destruction by - fire in January, 1616. Chamberlain’s account of the incident, given - to Sir Dudley Carleton, is worth quotation for the comment with - which it ends: ‘There fell a great mischance to the Earl of Arundel - by the burning of his house ... at Greenwich, where he lost a great - deal of household stuff and rich furniture; the fury of the fire - being such that nothing could be saved. No doubt the Papists will - ascribe and publish it as a punishment for his deserting or falling - from them.’ Ten days before the fire, Arundel had testified, - publicly, his conformity with the Church of England. But he had - shewn long before that his religious views and convictions differed - widely from those in which he had been brought up. - -Footnote 31: - - The question was complicated by opposition offered by the Lord - Keeper Williams to the terms in which Lord Arundel’s patent was - originally drawn. The relations between Arundel and Buckingham were - never cordial, and the Lord Keeper seems to have profited by that - circumstance to make his opposition to the pension effectual. It is - probable that he had good grounds for so much of his objection as - related to certain powers proposed to be vested in the Earl - Marshal’s court. But on that point Arundel’s views eventually - prevailed—until the time of the Long Parliament. The Lord Keeper’s - letter is printed in _Cabala_, p. 285. - -Footnote 32: - - ‘In my deare lorde I long since placed my true affection and - love.... Had I manie lives I would have adventured them all.’ _Lady - Maltravers to the Earl of Arundel_, 6 Feb., 1626 (MS. Harl., 1581, - f. 390). - -Footnote 33: - - It has been estimated, on competent evidence, that for every one - thousand pounds which the Earl’s estates in England contributed - towards his personal and household expenditure, in exile, - twenty-seven thousand pounds were so contributed towards the - maintenance, in one form or other, of the royalist cause. Such an - estimate can, of course, only be approximative. But it has obvious - significance and value. - -Footnote 34: - - See the details in Lords’ Report on Gregg’s case; reprinted in - _State Trials_, vol. xiv, cols. 1378 seqq. - -Footnote 35: - - In the interval between June, 1707 (after the Union with Scotland), - and February, 1708, the following entries occur in the Council - Books:— - - ‘1 July, 1707. The Rt. Hon. Robert Harley, one of Her Majesty’s - principal Secretaries of State, delivered up the old signet of - office—which was thereupon broken before Her Majesty—and received a - new one by the Queen’s command.’ The entry is followed by the - note:—‘This order was thus drawn by Mr. Harley’s particular - direction.’ (_Register of Privy Council_, Anne, vol. iii, p. 395.) - - ‘8 January, 170⅞. The Rt. Hon. R. Harley, ... having this day - presented to Her Majesty in her Privy Council a new signet with - supporters, Her Majesty was pleased to deliver it back to him, - whereupon he returned to Her Majesty the old signet, which was - immediately defaced,’ &c. (Ib., p. 485.) - -Footnote 36: - - Swift’s account of their first interview after Harley’s partial - recovery merits quotation:—‘I went in the evening,’ he notes on the - 5th of April, ‘to see Mr. Harley. Mr. Secretary was just going out - of the door, but I made him come back; and there was the old - Saturday club, Lord Keeper [Harcourt], Lord Rivers, Mr. Secretary, - Mr. Harley, and I; the first time since his stabbing. Mr. Secretary - went away, but I stayed till nine, and made Mr. Harley show me his - breast and tell all his story.... I measured and found that the - penknife would have killed him, if it had gone but half the breadth - of my thumb-nail lower; so near was he to death. I was so curious as - to ask him what were his thoughts while they were carrying him home - in the chair. He said he concluded himself a dead man.’—_Journal to - Stella_, as before, pp. 255, 256. - -Footnote 37: - - The original letters of the Elector to Harley are in Lansdowne MS. - 1236, ff. 272–294. They range, in date, from 15 December, 1710, to - 15 June, 1714. There also are several letters (in autograph) of the - Electress Sophia. The earliest of these bears date 26 May, 1707. The - latest is undated, but was written in May, 1714, very few days - before the writer’s death. - -Footnote 38: - - The chief passages in the Stuart Correspondence upon which a - confident assertion has been based of his ultimate complicity in the - Jacobite conspiracies are given, textually, in a note at the end of - this chapter. - -Footnote 39: - - Thus, for example, at one stage of the proceedings before the Privy - Council about Barbadoes, we find the Lord Keeper Coventry reporting - to the Board upon an order of reference: ‘I am of opinion that - Barbadoes is not one of the Caribbee Islands.... But ... I am also - of opinion that the proof on Lord Carlisle’s part that Barbadoes was - intended to be passed in his Patent is very strong.’—_Colonial - Papers_, April 18, 1629, vol. v, § 11. See also The King to - Wolverton, _Ib._, § 13. - -Footnote 40: - - His eldest son, Peter Courten, had married a daughter of Lord - Stanhope of Harrington, and died without issue. Sir William Courten - bought the widow’s jointure of £1200 a year by the present payment - of £10,000, according to a statement in MS. Sloane, 3515. - -Footnote 41: - - ‘Hoc excepto quod scilicet qui se jacturam passos dicunt in duabus - navibus ... poterunt litem inceptam prosequi.’—_Treaty of Commerce_ - of 1662. - -Footnote 42: - - After elaborate inquiries in the Admiralty Court the losses were - certified as amounting to £151,612; and that assessment was adopted - in a subsequent Commission under the Great Seal. - -Footnote 43: - - This, of course, is the statement, _ex parte_, of the claimants. - -Footnote 44: - - This allusion I am unable to explain. It is quite an exceptional - phrase in the Courten correspondence. But, possibly, ‘station’ may - be understood as meaning merely place of residence. - -Footnote 45: - - This volume undoubtedly passed into the Sloane Collection, but is - not so described as to be identified quite satisfactorily. - -Footnote 46: - - The fact is unquestionably so, although upon his tomb it is said - that his age was sixty-two years, eleven months, and twenty-eight - days. The same inaccurate statement occurs also—and more than - once—in papers written by Sir Hans Sloane. Courten was born on the - 28th March, 1642. There is an entry of his baptism in the Register - of St. Gabriel, Fenchurch, on the 31st of the same month; and a copy - of it in MS. Sloane, 3515, fol. 53. - -Footnote 47: - - Staphorst was, by birth, a German. He is known in English literature - as the translator of Rauwolf’s _Travels in Asia_. This task he - undertook upon Sloane’s recommendation. - -Footnote 48: - - As, for example, under the words ‘_Lapathum_;’ _Poonnacai - Malabarorum_; ‘_Ricinus_;’ ‘_Salix_;’ and several others. See - _Almagesti Botanici Mantissa_, pp. 113; 143; 161; 165, &c. - -Footnote 49: - - Dr. Arthur Charlett’s long and intimate correspondence with Sir Hans - Sloane began in this year (1696), and continued without interruption - until 1720. It has much interest, and fills MS. Sloane 4040, from f. - 193 to f. 285. That with John Chamberlayne was of nearly equal - duration, and is preserved in the same volume (ff. 100–167). The - correspondence with James Bobart contains much valuable material for - the history of botanical study in England, and is preserved in MS. - Sloane, 4037 (ff. 158–185). It began in 1685, and was continued - until Bobart’s death, in 1716. Still more curious is the - correspondence with John Burnet (1722–1738), who was originally a - surgeon in the service of the East India Company, and afterwards - Surgeon to the King of Spain. Burnet’s letters to Sloane, written - from Madrid, contain valuable illustrations of Spanish society and - manners as they were in the first half of the Eighteenth Century. - This correspondence is in MS. Sloane, 4039. - -Footnote 50: - - _History of Europe_ [the precursor of the _Annual Register_], for - 1712. - -Footnote 51: - - ‘Here are great designs on foot for uniting the Queen’s Library, the - Cotton, and the Royal Society’s, together. How soon they may be put - in practice time must discover.’—_Sloane to Dr. Charlett, Master of - University College_, April, 1707. - -Footnote 52: - - Besides those distinctions which I have noted already, he had been - requested, in 1730, by the University of Oxford, to allow his - portrait to be placed in the University Gallery. In 1733 his statue, - by Rysbraeck, was placed in the Botanic Garden at Chelsea. - -Footnote 53: - - ‘Walpole is your tyrant to-day; and any man His Majesty pleases to - name—Horace or Leheup—may be so to-morrow.’—_Bolingbroke to - Marchmont_, 22 July, 1739. - -Footnote 54: - - ‘Our House of Commons—mere poachers—are piddling with the torture of - Leheup, who extracted so much money out of the Lottery.’—_Horace - Walpole to Richard Bentley_, 19 December, 1753. - -Footnote 55: - - The term ‘Librarian,’ as used at the British Museum, has never - implied any _special_ connection with the Books, printed or - manuscript. All the Keepers of Departments were, originally, called - ‘Under Librarian.’ The General Superintendent or Warden has always - been called ‘Principal Librarian.’ - -Footnote 56: - - One of Cook’s many individual gifts was the first Kangaroo ever - brought into Europe. - -Footnote 57: - - In a copy of this work now before me, the original drawings are - bound up with the engravings, and later drawings are added. They - serve to show that Sir William’s scientific interest in the subject - lasted as long as his life. - -Footnote 58: - - That superiority, however, is only partial. The original Naples - edition, along with many errors, contains much valuable matter - omitted in the reprint. - -Footnote 59: - - I find that in this statement—made twenty-four years after the date - of the transaction referred to—Sir William’s memory misled him. The - amount of the Parliamentary vote was (as I have stated it, on a - previous page) eight thousand four hundred pounds. - -Footnote 60: - - This John Towneley was sent first to Chester Castle, then to the - Marshalsea in Southwark, then to York Castle, and to a block-house - in Hull. From Yorkshire he was sent to the Gatehouse at Westminster, - and thence to a jail in Manchester. From his Lancashire prison he - was presently hustled into Oxfordshire, and sent thence to another - prison at Ely. The gallant old recusant survived it all, to die at - Towneley at last. - -Footnote 61: - - Lancastrian for ‘throw open.’ - -Footnote 62: - - _Specimens of Ancient Sculpture._ Published by the Society of - Dilettanti, Preface, § 61. - -Footnote 63: - - One of the metopes from the south side of the Parthenon, removed by - the Count de Choiseul, during his embassy at the eve of the - Revolution, was captured by an English ship when on its way to - France, and had been purchased by Lord Elgin at a Custom House sale - in London. By him it was returned to Choiseul, with a liberality too - rare in such matters. When this metope came, after Choiseul’s death, - to be sold at Paris, by auction, the Trustees of the British Museum - sent a commission for its purchase. The commissioner went so far as - to offer a thousand pounds, but was overbidden by the French - Government. - -Footnote 64: - - _Curse of Minerva_, passim. - -Footnote 65: - - That my needful abridgment, in the text, of Mr. Payne Knight’s words - may not misrepresent his meaning, I subjoin the whole of the - passage:—‘Had this powerful engine of influence’ [namely, loss of - caste] ‘been employed in favour of pure morality and efficient - virtue, the Hindoos might have been the most virtuous and happy of - the human race. But the ambition of a hierarchy has, as usual, - employed it to serve its own particular interests instead of those - of the community in general.... Should the pious labours of our - missionaries succeed in diffusing among them a more pure and more - moral, but less uniform and less energetic system of religion, they - may improve and exalt the character of individual men, but they will - for ever destroy the repose and tranquillity of the mass.... The - prevalence of European religion will be the fall of European - domination.... The incarnations which form the principal subject of - sculpture in all the temples of India, Tibet, Tartary, and China, - are, above all others, calculated to call forth the ideal - perfections of the art, by expanding and exalting the imagination of - the artist, and exciting his ambition to surpass the simple - imitation of ordinary forms, in order to produce a model of - excellence, worthy to be the corporeal habitation of the Deity. But - this no nation of the East, nor indeed of the Earth, except the - Greeks and those who copied them, ever attempted.’—_Analytical - Inquiry_, &c., p. 80.] - -Footnote 66: - - _Carmina Homerica Ilias et Odyssea a rapsidorum interpolationibus - repurgata, et in pristinam formam ... redacta; cum notis ac - prolegomenis, ... opera et studio_ Richardi Payne Knight. 1808, 8vo. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES - - - 1. Silently corrected typographical errors and variations in - spelling. - 2. Archaic, non-standard, and uncertain spellings retained as - printed. - 3. Enclosed italics font in _underscores_. - 4. Enclosed bold font in =equals=. - 5. Superscripts are denoted by a caret before a single superscript - character or a series of superscripted characters enclosed in - curly braces, e. g. M^r. or M^{ister}. - 6. 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