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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..66dcb0c --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #67390 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67390) diff --git a/old/67390-0.txt b/old/67390-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index ca6e8ec..0000000 --- a/old/67390-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,14145 +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 II of II - -Author: Edward Edwards - -Release Date: February 17, 2022 [eBook #67390] - -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 II. - - - LONDON: - TRÜBNER AND CO., 60, PATERNOSTER ROW. - 1870. - (_All rights reserved._) - - - - - PRINTED BY J. E. ADLARD, BARTHOLOMEW CLOSE. - - - - - CHAPTER III. - A GROUP OF BOOK-LOVERS AND PUBLIC BENEFACTORS. - - ‘If we were to take away from the Museum Collection [of Books] the - King’s Library, and the collection which George the Third gave before - that, and then the magnificent collection of Mr. Cracherode, as well - as those of Sir William Musgrave, Sir Joseph Banks, Sir Richard Colt - Hoare, and many others,—and also all the books received under the - Copyright Act,—if we were to take away all the books so given, I am - satisfied not one half of the books [in 1836], nor one third of the - _value_ of the Library, has been procured with money voted by the - Nation. The Nation has done almost nothing for the Library.... - - ‘Considering the British Museum to be a National Library for research, - its utility increases in proportion with the very rare and costly - books, in preference to modern books.... I think that scholars have a - right to look, for these expensive works, to the Government of the - Country.... - - ‘I want a poor student to have the same means of indulging his learned - curiosity,—of following his rational pursuits,—of consulting the same - authorities,—of fathoming the most intricate inquiry,—as the richest - man in the kingdom, as far as books go. And I contend that Government - is bound to give him the most liberal and unlimited assistance in this - respect. I want the Library of the British Museum to have books of - both descriptions.... - - ‘When you have given a hundred thousand pounds,—in ten or twelve - years,—you will begin to have a library worthy of the British - Nation.’— - - ANTONIO PANIZZI—_Evidence before Select Committee on British Museum_, - 7th June, 1836. (Q. 4785–4795.) - - _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_. - - -The Reader has now seen that, within some twelve or fifteen years, a -Collection of Antiquities, comparatively small and insignificant, was so -enriched as to gain the aspect of a National Museum of which all -English-speaking men might be proud, and mere fragments of which -enlightened Foreign Sovereigns were under sore temptation to covet. He -has seen, also, that the praise of so striking a change was due, in the -main, to the public spirit and the liberal endeavours of a small group -of antiquarians and scholars. They were, most of them, men of high -birth, and of generous education. They were, in fact, precisely such men -as, in the jargon of our present day, it is too much the mode to speak -of as the antitheses of ‘the People,’ although in earlier days men of -that strain were thought to be part of the very core and kernel of a -nation. - -But if it be undeniably true that the chief and primary merit of so good -a piece of public service was due to the HAMILTONS, TOWNELEYS, ELGINS, -and KNIGHTS of the last generation, it is also true that the Public, -through their representatives, did, at length, join fairly in the work -by bearing their part of the cost, though they could share neither the -enterprise, the self-denial, nor the wearing toils, which the work had -exacted. - -Now that the story turns to another department of the National Museum, -we find that the same primary and salient characteristic—private -liberality of individuals, as distinguished from public support by the -Kingdom—still holds good. But we have to wait a very long time indeed, -before we perceive public effort at length falling into rank with -private, in the shape of parliamentary grants for the purchase of books, -calculated even upon a rough approximation towards equality. - -As COTTON, SLOANE, HARLEY, and Arthur EDWARDS, were the first founders -of the Library, so BIRCH, MUSGRAVE, TYRWHITT, CRACHERODE, BANKS, and -HOARE, were its chief augmentors, until almost ninety years had elapsed -since the Act of Organization. Of the Collections of those ten -benefactors, eight came by absolute gift. For the other two, much less -than one half of their value was returned to the representatives of the -founders. And that, it has been shown, was provided, not by a -parliamentary grant, but out of the profits of a lottery. - - -The first important addition to the Library, subsequent to those gifts -which have been mentioned in a preceding chapter as nearly -contemporaneous with the creation of the Museum, was made by the Will of -Dr. Thomas BIRCH, [Sidenote: BEQUEST OF DR. THOMAS BIRCH, January, -1766.] one of the original Trustees. It comprised a valuable series of -manuscripts, rich in collections on the history, and especially the -biographical history, of the realm, and a considerable number of printed -books of a like character. - -Dr. BIRCH was born in 1705, and died on the ninth of January, 1766. He -was one of the many friends of Sir Hans SLOANE, in the later years of -Sir Hans’ life. When the Museum was in course of organization, BIRCH -acted not only as a zealous Trustee, but he occasionally supplied the -place of Dr. MORTON as Secretary. His literary productions have real and -enduring value, though their value would probably have been greater had -their number been less. His activity is sufficiently evidenced by the -works which he printed, but can only be measured when the large -manuscript collections which he bequeathed are taken into the account. -Very few scholars will now be inclined to echo Horace WALPOLE’S -inquiry—made when he saw the Catalogue of the Birch MSS.—‘Who cares for -the correspondence of Dr. BIRCH?’ - -[Sidenote: BEQUEST OF DAVID GARRICK, January, 1779.] - -Soon after the receipt of the BIRCH Collection, a choice assemblage of -English plays was bequeathed to the Museum by David GARRICK. Its -formation had been one of the favourite relaxations of the great actor. -And the study of the plays gathered by GARRICK had a large share in -moulding the tastes and the literary career of Charles LAMB. Thence he -drew the materials of the volume of _Specimens_ which has made the rich -stores of the early drama known to thousands of readers who but for it, -and for the Collection which enabled him to compile it, could have -formed no fair or adequate idea of an important epoch in our literature. - -[Sidenote: BENEFACTIONS OF SIR W. MUSGRAVE.] - -Sir William MUSGRAVE was another early Trustee whose gifts to the Public -illustrated the wisdom of SLOANE’S plan for the government of his Museum -and of its parliamentary adoption. MUSGRAVE shared the predilection of -Dr. BIRCH for the study of British biography and archæology, and he had -larger means for amassing its materials. He was descended from a branch -of the Musgraves of Edenhall, and was the second son of Sir Richard -MUSGRAVE of Hayton Castle, to whom he eventually succeeded. He made -large and very curious manuscript collections for the history of -portrait-painting in England (now _Additional MSS._ 6391–6393), and also -on many points of the administrative and political history of the -country. He was a zealous Trustee of the British Museum, and in his -lifetime made several additions to its stores. On his death, in 1799, -all his manuscripts were bequeathed to the Museum, together with a -Library of printed British Biography—more complete than anything of its -kind theretofore collected. - -This last-named Collection extended (if we include a partial and -previous gift made in 1790) to nearly two thousand volumes, and it -probably embraced much more than twice that number of separate works. -For it was rich in those biographical ephemera which are so precious to -the historical inquirer, and often so difficult of obtainment, when -needed. Nearly at the same period (1786) a valuable Collection of -classical authors, in about nine hundred volumes, was bequeathed by -another worthy Trustee, Mr. Thomas TYRWHITT, distinguished both as a -scholar and as the Editor of CHAUCER. - -But all the early gifts to the Museum, made after its parliamentary -organization, were eclipsed, at the close of the century, by the bequest -of the Cracherode Collections. [Sidenote: THE BEQUEST OF THE CRACHERODE -COLLECTION.] That bequest comprised a very choice library of printed -books; a cabinet of coins, medals, and gems; and a series of original -drawings by the great masters, chosen, like the books and the coins, -with exquisite taste, and, as the auctioneers say, quite regardless of -expense. [Sidenote: 1799.] It also included a small but precious cabinet -of minerals. - -The collector of these rarities was wont to speak of them with great -modesty. They are, he would say, mere ‘specimen collections.’ But to -amass them had been the chief pursuit of a quiet and blameless life. - -[Sidenote: LIFE AND CHARACTER OF MR. MORDAUNT CRACHERODE.] - -Clayton Mordaunt CRACHERODE was born in London about the year 1730. And -he was ‘a Londoner’ in a sense and degree to which, in this railway -generation, it would be hard to find a parallel. Among the rich -possessions which he inherited from Colonel CRACHERODE, his father—whose -fortune had been gathered, or increased, during an active career in -remote parts of the world—was an estate in Hertfordshire, on which there -grew a certain famous chestnut-tree, the cynosure of all the -country-side for its size and antiquity. This tree was never seen by its -new owner, save as he saw the poplars of Lombardy, or the cedars of -Lebanon—in an etching. In the course of a long life he never reached a -greater distance from the metropolis than Oxford. He never mounted a -horse. The ordinary extent of his travels, during the prime years of a -long life, was from Queen Square, in Westminster, to Clapham. For almost -forty years it was his daily practice to walk from his house to the shop -of ELMSLY, a bookseller in the Strand, and thence to the still more -noted shop of Tom PAYNE, by ‘the Mews-Gate.’ Once a week, he varied the -daily walk by calling on MUDGE, a chronometer-maker, to get his watch -regulated. His excursions had, indeed, one other and not infrequent -variety—dictated by the calls of Christian benevolence—but of these he -took care to have no note taken. - -Early in life, and probably to meet his father’s wish, he received holy -orders, but he never accepted any preferment in the Church. He took the -restraints of the clerical profession, without any of its emoluments. -His classical attainments were considerable, but the sole publication of -a long life of leisure was a university prize poem, printed in the -_Carmina Quadragesimalia_ of 1748. The only early tribulation of a life -of idyllic peacefulness was a dread that he might possibly be called -upon, at a coronation, to appear in public as the King’s cupbearer—his -manor of Great Wymondley being held by a tenure of grand-serjeantry in -that onerous employment. Its one later tinge of bitterness lay in the -dread of a French invasion. These may seem small sorrows, to men who -have had a full share in the stress and anguish of the battle of life. -But the weight of a burden is no measure of the pain it may inflict. Mr. -CRACHERODE looked to his possible cupbearership, with apprehension just -as acute as that with which COWPER contemplated the awful task of -reading in public the Journals of the House of Lords. And the sleepless -nights which long afterwards were brought to CRACHERODE by the horrors -of the French revolutionary war were caused less by personal fears than -by the dread of public calamities, more terrible than death. During one -year of the devastations on the other side of the Channel, chronicled by -our daily papers, Mr. CRACHERODE was thought by his friends to have -‘aged’ full ten years in his aspect. - -The one active and incessant pursuit of this noiseless career was the -gathering together of the most choice books, the finest coins and gems, -the most exquisite drawings and prints, which money could buy, without -the toils of travel. Our Collector’s liberality of purse enabled him to -profit, at his ease, by the truth expressed in one of the wise maxims of -John SELDEN:—‘The giving a dealer his price hath this advantage;—he that -will do so shall have the refusal of whatsoever comes to the dealer’s -hand, and so by that means get many things which otherwise he never -should have seen.’ The enjoyment—almost a century ago—of six hundred -pounds a year in land, and of nearly one hundred thousand pounds -invested in the ‘sweet simplicity’ of the three per cents., enabled Mr. -CRACHERODE to outbid a good many competitors. His natural wish that what -he had so eagerly gathered should not be scattered to the four winds on -the instant he was carried to his grave, and also the public spirit -which dictated the choice of a national repository as the permanent -abode of his Collections, has already made that long course of daily -visits to the London dealers in books, coins, and drawings, fruitful of -good to hundreds of poorer students and toilers, during more than two -generations. From stores such as Mr. CRACHERODE’S—when so preserved—many -a useful labourer gets part of his best equipment for the tasks of his -life. He, too, would enjoy a visit to the ‘PAYNES’ and the ‘ELMSLYS’ of -the day as keenly as any book-lover that ever lived, but is too often, -perhaps, obliged to content himself with an outside glance at the -windows. Public libraries put him practically on a level with the -wealthiest connoisseur. When, as in this case—and in a hundred more—such -libraries derive much of their best possessions from private liberality, -a life like Mordaunt CRACHERODE’S has its ample vindication, and the -sting is taken out of all such sarcasms as that which was levelled—in -the shape of the query, ‘In all that big library is there a single book -written by the Collector himself?’—by some snarling epistolary critic, -when commenting on a notice that appeared in _The Times_ on the occasion -of Mr. CRACHERODE’S death. - -On another point our Collector was exposed to the shafts of sarcastic -comment. He loved a good book to be printed on the very choicest -material, and clothed in the richest fashion. The treasure within would -not incline him to tolerate blemishes without.— - - ‘Nusquam blatta, vel inquinata charta, - Sed margo calami notæque purus, - Margo latior, albus integerque, - Nec non copia larga pergainenæ.— - Adsint Virgilius, paterque Homerus, - Mundi pumice, purpuraque culti; - Et quicquid magica quasi arte freti - Faustusque Upilioque præstiterunt. - - · · · · · - - Hic sit qui nitet arte Montacuti, - Aut Paini, Deromique junioris; - Illic cui decus arma sunt Thuani, - Aut regis breve lilium caduci.’ - -In CRACHERODE’S eyes, external charms such as these were scarcely less -essential than the intrinsic worth of the author. ‘Large paper’ and -broad pure margins are fancies which it needs not much culture or much -wit to banter. But now and then, they are ridiculed by those who have -just as little capacity to judge the pith and substance of books, as of -taste to appreciate beauty in their outward form.[1] - -The solidity of those three per cents., and the plodding perseverance of -their owner, were in time rewarded by the collection (1) of a library -containing only four thousand five hundred volumes, but of which -probably every volume—on an average of the whole—was worth, in -mercantile eyes, some three pounds; (2) of seven portfolios of drawings, -still more choice; (3) of a hundred portfolios of prints, many of which -were almost priceless; and (4) of coins and gems—such as the cameo of a -lion on sardonyx, and the intaglio of the _Discobolos_—worthy of an -imperial cabinet. - -The ruling passion kept its strength to the last. An agent was buying -prints, for addition to the store, when the Collector was dying. About -four days before his death, Mr. CRACHERODE mustered strength to pay a -farewell visit to the old shop at the Mews-Gate. He put a finely printed -_Terence_ (from the press of FOULIS) into one pocket, and a large paper -_Cebes_ into another; and then,—with a longing look at a certain choice -_Homer_, in the course of which he mentally, and somewhat doubtingly, -balanced its charms with those of its twin brother in Queen -Square,—parted finally from the daily haunt of forty peripatetic and -studious years. - -Clayton Mordaunt CRACHERODE died towards the close of 1799. He -bequeathed the whole of his collections to the Nation, with the -exception of two volumes of books. A polyglot _Bible_ was given to Shute -BARRINGTON, Bishop of Durham; a princeps _Homer_ to Cyril JACKSON, Dean -of Christ Church. Those justly venerated men were his two dearest -friends. - - -The next conspicuous donor to the Library of the British Museum was a -contemporary of the learned recluse of Queen Square, but one whose life -was passed in the thick of that worldly turmoil and conflict of which -Mr. CRACHERODE had so mortal a dread. [Sidenote: THE COLLECTOR OF THE -LANSDOWNE MANUSCRIPTS.] To the Collector of the ‘Lansdowne Manuscripts,’ -political excitement was the congenial air in which it was indeed life -to live. But he, also, was a man beloved by all who had the privilege of -his intimate friendship. - -William PETTY-FITZMAURICE, third Earl of Shelburne, and first Marquess -of Lansdowne, was born in Dublin, in May, 1737. He was the son of John, -Earl of Shelburne in the peerage of Ireland, and afterwards Baron -Wycombe in the peerage of Great Britain. The Marquess’s father united -the possessions of the family founded by Sir William PETTY with those -which the Irish wars had left to the ancient line of Fitzmaurice. - -William, Earl of SHELBURNE, was educated by private tutors, and then -sent to Christ Church, Oxford. He left the University early, to take (in -or about the year 1756) a commission in the Guards. He was present in -the battles of Campen and of Minden. At Minden, in particular, he -evinced distinguished bravery. In May, 1760, and again in April, 1761, -he was elected by the burgesses of High Wycombe to represent them in the -House of Commons. But the death of Earl John, in the middle of 1761, -called his son to take his seat in the House of Lords. He soon evinced -the possession of powers eminently fitted to shine in Parliament. The -impetuosity he had shown on the field of Minden did not desert him in -the strife of politics. Those who had listened to the early speeches of -PITT might well think that the army had again sent them a ‘terrible -cornet of horse.’ So good a judge of political oratory as was Lord -CAMDEN thought SHELBURNE to be second only to CHATHAM himself. - -[Sidenote: BEGINNING OF LORD SHELBURNE’S CAREER IN PARLIAMENT.] - -Lord SHELBURNE’S first speech in Parliament—the first, at least, that -attracted general notice—was made in support of the Court and the -Ministry (November 3, 1762). Within less than six months after its -delivery he was called to the Privy Council, and placed at the head of -the Board of Trade and Plantations. This appointment was made on the -23rd of April, 1763. Just before it he had taken part in that delicate -negotiation between Lord BUTE and Henry FOX (afterwards Lord HOLLAND) -which has been kept well in memory by a jest of the man who thought -himself the loser in it. This early incident is in some sort a key to -many later incidents in Lord SHELBURNE’S life. - -[Sidenote: SHELBURNE AND HENRY FOX.] - -For, in all the acts and offices of a political career, save only one, -Lord SHELBURNE was characteristically a lover of soft words. In debate, -he could speak scathingly. In conversation, he was always under -temptation to flatter his interlocutor. In this conversation of 1763 -with FOX, SHELBURNE’S innate love of smoothing asperities co-operated -with his belief that it was really for the common interest that BUTE and -FOX should come to an agreement, to make him put the premier’s offer -into the most pleasing light. When FOX found he was to get less than he -thought to have, he fiercely assailed the negotiator. Lord SHELBURNE’S -friends dwelt on his love of peace and good fellowship. At worst, said -they, it was but a ‘pious fraud.’ ‘I can see the fraud plainly enough,’ -rejoined FOX, ‘but where is the piety?’ - -The office accepted in April was resigned in September, when the -coalition with ‘the BEDFORD party’ was made. Lord SHELBURNE’S loss was -felt in the House of Lords. But it was in the Commons that the Ministry -were now feeblest. ‘I don’t see how they can meet Parliament,’ said -CHESTERFIELD. ‘In the Commons they have not a man with ability and words -enough to call a coach.’ - -In February, 1765, SHELBURNE married Lady Sophia CARTERET, one of the -daughters of the Earl of GRANVILLE. The marriage was a very happy one. -Not long after it, he began to form his library. [Sidenote: FORMATION OF -LORD SHELBURNE’S LIBRARY.] Political manuscripts, state papers of every -kind, and all such documents as tend to throw light on the arcana of -history, were, more especially, the objects which he sought. And the -quest, as will be seen presently, was very successful. For during his -early researches he had but few competitors. - -[Sidenote: THE SECRETARYSHIP OF STATE.] - -On the organization of the Duke of GRAFTON’S Ministry in 1766 (July 30) -Lord SHELBURNE was made Secretary of State for the Southern Department, -to which at that time the Colonial business was attached. [Sidenote: -1766–1768.] His colleague, in the Northern, was CONWAY, who now led the -House of Commons. As Secretary, Lord SHELBURNE’S most conspicuous and -influential act was his approval of that rejection of certain members of -the Council of Massachusetts by Governor BERNARD, which had so important -a bearing on colonial events to come. - -SHELBURNE, however, was one of a class of statesmen of whom, very -happily, this country has had many. He was able to render more efficient -service in opposition than in office. Of the Board of Trade he had had -the headship but a few months. As Secretary of State, under the GRAFTON -Administration, he served little more than two years. His opponents were -wont to call him an ‘impracticable’ man. But if he shared some of -CHATHAM’S weaknesses, he also shared much of his greatness. And on the -capital question of the American dispute, they were at one. They both -thought that the Colonies had been atrociously misgoverned. They were -willing to make large concessions to regain the loyalty of the -Colonists. They were utterly averse to admit of a severance. - -[Sidenote: LORD SHELBURNE IN OPPOSITION.] - -Under circumstances familiar to all readers, and by the personal urgency -of the King, Lord SHELBURNE was dismissed from his first Secretaryship -in October, 1768. His dismissal led to CHATHAM’S resignation. SHELBURNE -became a prominent and powerful leader of the Opposition, an object of -special dislike to a large force of political adversaries, and of warm -attachment to a small number of political friends. His personal friends -were, at all times, many. - -The nickname under which his opponents were wont to satirize him has -been kept in memory by one of the many infelicities of speech which did -such cruel injustice to the fine parts and the generous heart of -GOLDSMITH. The story has been many times told, but will bear to be told -once again. The author of the _Vicar of Wakefield_ was an occasional -supporter of the Opposition in the newspapers. One day, in the autumn of -1773, he wrote an article in praise of Lord SHELBURNE’S ardent friend in -the City, the Lord Mayor TOWNSHEND. Sitting, in company with Topham -BEAUCLERC, at Drury Lane Theatre, just after the appearance of the -article, GOLDSMITH found himself close beside Lord SHELBURNE. His -companion told the statesman that his City friend’s eulogy came from -GOLDSMITH’S pen. [Sidenote: 1773. November.] ‘I hope,’ said his -Lordship—addressing the poet—‘you put nothing in it about Malagrida?’ -[Sidenote: Hardy, _Life of Lord Charlemont_, vol. i, p. 177.] ‘Do you -know,’ rejoined poor GOLDSMITH, ‘I could never conceive the reason why -they call you “Malagrida,”—_for_ Malagrida was a very good sort of man.’ -This small misplacement of an emphasis was of course quoted in the clubs -against the unlucky speaker. ‘Ah!’ said Horace WALPOLE, with his wonted -charity, ‘that’s a picture of the man’s whole life.’ - -[Sidenote: GROWTH OF LORD SHELBURNE’S LIBRARY.] - -Lord SHELBURNE’S library profited by his long releasement from the cares -of office. He bestowed much of his leisure upon its enrichment, and -especially upon the acquisition of manuscript political literature. In -1770, he was fortunate enough to obtain a considerable portion of the -large and curious Collection of State Papers which Sir Julius CÆSAR had -begun to amass almost two centuries before. Two years later, he acquired -no inconsiderable portion of that far more important series which had -been gathered by BURGHLEY. - -[Sidenote: THE CÆSAR PAPERS.] - -Whilst Lord SHELBURNE was serving with the army in Germany, the ‘Cæsar -Papers’ had been dispersed by auction. There were then—1757—a hundred -and eighty-seven of them. About sixty volumes were purchased by Philip -Cartaret WEBB, a lawyer and juridical writer, as well as antiquary, of -some distinction. On Mr. WEBB’S death, in 1770, these were purchased by -SHELBURNE from his executors. On examining his acquisition, the new -possessor found that about twenty volumes related to various matters of -British history and antiquities; thirty-one volumes to the business of -the British Admiralty and its Courts; ten volumes to that of the -Treasury, Star Chamber, and other public departments; two volumes -contained treaties; and one volume, papers on the affairs of Ireland. - -[Sidenote: THE CECIL OR BURGHLEY PAPERS.] - -The ‘Burghley papers,’ acquired in 1772, had passed from Sir Michael -HICKES, one of that statesman’s secretaries, to a descendant, Sir -William HICKES, by whom they were sold to CHISWELL, a bookseller, and by -him to STRYPE, the historian. These (as has been mentioned in a former -chapter) were looked upon with somewhat covetous eyes by Humphrey -WANLEY, who hoped to have seen them become part of the treasures of the -Harleian Library. On STRYPE’S death they passed into the hands of James -WEST, and from his executors into the Library at Shelburne House. They -comprised a hundred and twenty-one volumes of the collections and -correspondence of Lord BURGHLEY, together with his private note-book and -journal. - -Another valuable acquisition, made after Lord SHELBURNE’S retirement in -1768 from political office, consisted of the vast historical Collections -of Bishop White KENNETT, extending to a hundred and seven volumes, of -which a large proportion are in the Bishop’s own untiring hand. -Twenty-two of these volumes contain important materials for English -Church History. Eleven volumes contain biographical collections, ranging -between the years 1500 and 1717. All that have been enumerated are now -national property. - -Other choice manuscript collections were added from time to time. Among -them may be cited the papers of Sir Paul RYCAUT—which include -information both on Irish and on Continental affairs towards the close -of the seventeenth century; the correspondence of Dr. John PELL, and -that of the Jacobite Earl of MELFORT. - -These varied accessions—with many others of minor importance—raised the -Shelburne Library into the first rank among private repositories of -historical lore. To amass and to study them was to prove to its owner -the solace of deep personal affliction, as well as the relief of public -toils. At the close of 1770, he lost a beloved wife, after a union of -less than six years. He remained a widower until 1779. - -Another source of solace was found in labours that have an inexhaustible -charm, for those who are so happy as to have means as well as taste for -them. [Sidenote: LORD SHELBURNE AS A LANDSCAPE GARDENER.] Lord SHELBURNE -lived much at Loakes—now called Wycombe Abbey—a delightful seat, just -above the little town of High Wycombe. Its striking framework of -beech-woods, its fine plane-trees and ash-trees, and its broad piece of -water, make up a lovely picture, much of the attraction of which is due -to the skill and judgment with which its then owner elicited and -heightened the natural beauties of the place.[2] But those of Bowood -exceeded them in Lord SHELBURNE’S eyes. There, too, he did very much to -enhance what nature had already done, and he had the able assistance of -Mr. HAMILTON of Pains-Hill. In consequence of their joint labours, -almost every species of oak may be seen at Bowood, with great variety of -exotic trees of all sorts. Both wood and water combine to make, from -some points of view, a resemblance between Wycombe and Bowood. And both -differ from many much bepraised country seats in the wise preference of -natural beauty—selected and heightened—to artificial beauty. Lord -SHELBURNE himself was wont to say: ‘Mere workmanship should never be -introduced where the beauty and variety of the scenery are, in -themselves, sufficient to excite admiration.’ - -But, in their true place, few men better loved the productions of -artistic genius. He collected pictures and sculpture, as well as trees -and books. He was the first of his name who made Lansdowne House in -London, as well as Loakes and Bowood in the country, centres of the best -society in the intellectual as well as in the fashionable world. - -Years passed on. The course of public events—and especially the death of -Lord CHATHAM and the issues of the American war—together with many -conspicuous proofs of his powers in debate, tended more and more to -bring Lord SHELBURNE to the front. Between him and Lord ROCKINGHAM, as -far as regards real personal ability—whether parliamentary or -administrative—there could, in truth, be little ground for comparison. -But in party connection and following, the claims of the inferior man -were incontestible. Lord SHELBURNE, towards the close of 1779, signified -his readiness to waive his pretensions to take the lead—in the event of -the overthrow of the existing Government—and his willingness to serve -under Lord ROCKINGHAM; so little truth was there in the assertion, -[Sidenote: H. Walpole to Mann; 1780. March 21.] made by Horace WALPOLE -to his correspondent at Florence, that SHELBURNE ‘will stick at nothing -to gratify his ambition.’ - -But that very charge is, in fact, a tribute. WALPOLE’S indignation had -been excited just at that moment by the zealous assistance which -SHELBURNE had given, in the House of Lords, to the efforts of BURKE in -the lower House in favour of economical reforms. He had brought forward -a motion on that subject on the same night on which BURKE had given -notice for the introduction of his famous Bill (December, 1779). He -continued his efforts, and presently had to encounter a more active and -pertinacious opponent of retrenchment than Horace WALPOLE. - -In the course of a vigorous speech on reform in the administration of -the army, Lord SHELBURNE had censured a transaction in which Mr. -FULLERTON, a Member of the House of Commons, was intimately concerned. -[Sidenote: LORD SHELBURNE’S DUEL WITH FULLERTON.] FULLERTON made a -violent attack, in his place in the House, upon his censor. But his -speech was so disorderly that he was forced to break off. In his anger -he sent Lord SHELBURNE a minute, not only of what he had actually -spoken, but of what he had intended to say, in addition, had the rules -of Parliament permitted. And he had the effrontery to wind up his -obliging communication with these words:—‘You correspond, as I have -heard abroad, with the enemies of your country.’ His letter was -presented to Lord SHELBURNE by a messenger. - -The receiver, when he had read it, said to the bearer: ‘The best answer -I can give Mr. FULLERTON is to desire him to meet me in Hyde Park, at -five, to-morrow morning.’ They fought, and SHELBURNE was wounded. On -being asked how he felt himself, he looked at the wound, and said: ‘I do -not think that Lady SHELBURNE will be the worse for this.’ But it was -severe enough to interrupt, for a while, his political labours. - -[Sidenote: HIS SECRETARYSHIP IN THE ROCKINGHAM ADMINISTRATION.] - -On the formation in March, 1782, of the Rockingham Administration, he -accepted the Secretaryship of State, and took with him four of his -adherents into the Cabinet. But the most curious feature in the -transaction was that Lord SHELBURNE carried on, personally, all the -intercourse in the royal closet that necessarily preceded the formation -of the Ministry, although he was not to be its head. GEORGE THE THIRD -would not admit Lord ROCKINGHAM to an audience until his Cabinet was -completely formed. The man whose exclusion from the Grafton Ministry the -King had so warmly urged a few years before, was now not less warmly -urged by him to throw over his party, and to head a cabinet of his own. -He resisted all blandishment, and virtually told the King that the -triumph of the Opposition must be its triumph as an unbroken whole; -though he doubtless felt, within himself, that the cohesion was of -singularly frail tenacity. - -On the 24th of March, SHELBURNE had the satisfaction of conveying to -Lord ROCKINGHAM the royal concession of his constitutional -demands—obtained after a wearisome negotiation, and only by the piling -up of argument on argument in successive conversations at the ‘Queen’s -House,’ lasting sometimes for three mortal hours. [Sidenote: DEATH OF -LORD ROCKINGHAM, 1782, 1 July.] Three months afterwards, the new Premier -was dead. And with him departed the cohesion of the Whigs. - - -[Sidenote: FORMATION OF LORD SHELBURNE’S MINISTRY.] - -As Secretary of State, Lord SHELBURNE’S chief task had been the control -of that double and most unwelcome negotiation which was carried on at -Paris with France and with America.[3] For it had fallen to the lot of -the utterer of the ‘sunset-speech,’[4]—‘if we let America go, the sun of -Great Britain is set’—to arrange the terms of American pacification. And -the obstructions in that path which were created at home were even more -serious stumbling-blocks than were the difficulties abroad. The cardinal -points of Lord SHELBURNE’S policy, at this time, were to retain, by hook -or crook, some amount or other of hold upon America, and at the worst to -keep the Court of France from enjoying the prestige, or setting up the -pretence, of having dictated the terms of peace. - -That the split in the Whig party was really and altogether inevitable, -now that ROCKINGHAM’S death had placed SHELBURNE above reasonable -competition for the premiership, was made known to him when at Court, in -the most abrupt manner. On the 7th of July (six days after the death of -the Marquess), Fox took him by the sleeve, with the blunt question: ‘Are -you to be First Lord of the Treasury?’ [Sidenote: Walpole to Mann (from -an eye witness), 1782, July 7.] When SHELBURNE said ‘Yes,’ the instant -rejoinder was, ‘Then, my Lord, I shall resign.’ Fox had brought the -seals in his pocket, and proceeded immediately to return them to the -King. - -In his first speech as Premier, Lord SHELBURNE spoke thus:—‘It has been -said that I have changed my opinion about the independence of -America.... My opinion is still the same. When that independence shall -have been established, the sun of England may be said to have set. I -have used every effort, public and private—in England, and out of it—to -avert so dreadful a disaster.... [Sidenote: _Parliamentary Debates_, -vol. xxiii, col. 194.] But though this country should have received a -fatal blow, there is still a duty incumbent upon its Ministers to use -their most vigorous exertions to prevent the Court of France from being -in a situation to dictate the terms of Peace. The sun of England may -have set. But we will improve the twilight. We will prepare for the -rising of that sun again. And I hope England may yet see many, many -happy days.’ - -The best achievements of the brief government of Lord SHELBURNE were -(first) the resolute defence, in its diplomacy at Paris and Versailles, -of our territories in Canada, and (secondly) its consistent assertion of -the principle that underlay a sentence contained in a former speech of -the [Sidenote: MERITS OF THE SHELBURNE MINISTRY.] Premier—a sentence -which, at one time, was much upon men’s lips:—‘I will never consent,’ he -had said, ‘that the King of England shall be a King of the Mahrattas.’ -The merits, I venture to think, of that short Ministry, have had scant -acknowledgment in our current histories. And the reason is, perhaps, not -far to seek. - -The popular history of GEORGE THE THIRD’S reign has been, in a large -degree, imbued with Whiggism. The historians most in vogue have had a -sort of small apostolical succession amongst themselves, which has had -the result of giving a strong party tinge to those versions of the -course of political events in that reign which have most readily gained -the public ear. When the full story shall come to be told, in a later -day and from a higher stand-point, Lord SHELBURNE, not improbably, will -be one among several statesmen whose reputation with posterity (in -common—in some measure—with that of their royal master himself, it may -even be) will be found to have been elevated, rather than lowered, by -the process. - -[Sidenote: _Debates_, vol. xix, col. 850.] - -But, be that as it may, party intrigue, rather than ministerial -incapacity, had to do, confessedly, with the rapid overthrow of the -Government of July, 1782. - -Personally, Lord SHELBURNE was in a position which, in several points of -view, bears a resemblance to that in which another able statesman, who -had to fight against a powerful coterie, was to find himself forty years -later. But in SHELBURNE’S case, the struggle of the politician did not, -as in CANNING’S, break down the bodily vigour of the man. Lord SHELBURNE -had twenty-two years of retirement yet before him, when he resigned the -premiership in 1783. And they were years of much happiness. - -[Sidenote: THE CLOSING YEARS OF LORD LANSDOWNE’S LIFE.] - -Part of that happiness was the result of the domestic union just -adverted to. Another part of it accrued from the rich Library which the -research and attention of many years had gradually built up, and from -the increased leisure that had now been secured, both for study and for -the enjoyment of the choice society which gathered habitually at -Lansdowne House and at Bowood. - -Lord SHELBURNE’S retirement had been followed, in 1784, by his creation -as Earl Wycombe and Marquess of Lansdowne. In the following year, he -sold the Wycombe mansion and its charming park to Lord CARRINGTON. -Thenceforward, Bowood had the benefit, exclusively, of his taste and -skill in landscape-gardening. Unfortunately, his next successor, far -from continuing his father’s work, did much to injure and spoil it. But -the third Marquess, in whom so many of his father’s best qualities were -combined with some that were especially his own, made ample amends. - -The exciting debates which grew out of the French Revolution and the -ensuing events on the Continent, called Lord LANSDOWNE, now and then, -into the old arena. But the domestic employments which have been -mentioned, together with that which was entailed by a large and varied -correspondence, both at home and abroad, were the things which chiefly -filled up his later years. The Marquess died in London on the seventh of -May, 1805. He was but sixty-eight years of age, yet he was then the -oldest general officer on the army list, having been gazetted as a -major-general just forty years before. - - -[Sidenote: THE PURCHASE OF THE LANSDOWNE MANUSCRIPTS.] - -In order to acquire for the nation that precious portion of Lord -LANSDOWNE’S Library which was in manuscript, the national purse-strings -were now, for the first time, opened on behalf of the literary stores of -the British Museum. Fifty-three years had passed since its complete -foundation as a national institution, and exactly twice that number of -years since the first public establishment of the Cottonian Library, yet -no grant had been hitherto made by Parliament for the improvement of the -national collections of books. - -Four thousand nine hundred and twenty-five pounds was the sum given to -Lord LANSDOWNE’S executors for his manuscripts. Besides the successive -accumulations of State Papers heretofore mentioned, the LANSDOWNE -Collection included other historical documents, extending in date from -the reign of HENRY THE SIXTH to that of GEORGE THE THIRD; the varied -Collections of William _Petyt_ on parliamentary and juridical lore; -those of WARBURTON on the topography and family history of Yorkshire, -and of HOLLES, containing matter of a like character for the local -concerns of the county of Lincoln; the Heraldic and Genealogical -Collections of SEGAR, SAINT GEORGE, DUGDALE, and LE NEVE; and a most -curious series of early treatises upon music, which had been collected -by John WYLDE, who was for many years precentor of Waltham Abbey, in the -time of the second of the Tudor monarchs. - - -[Sidenote: THE ACQUISITION OF THE HARGRAVE AND BURNEY LIBRARIES.] - -The Lansdowne Collection did not contain very much of a classical -character. Its strength, it has been seen already, lay in the sections -of Modern History and Politics. The next important addition to the -Library of the Museum—that of the manuscripts and printed books of -Francis HARGRAVE—was likewise chiefly composed of political and -juridical literature. But the third parliamentary acquisition brought to -the Museum a store of classical wealth, both in manuscripts and in -printed books. HARGRAVE’S Legal Library was bought in 1813. Charles -BURNEY’S Classical Library was bought in 1818. In the biographical point -of view neither of these men ran a career which offers much of narrative -interest. The one career was that of a busy lawyer; the other, that of a -laborious scholar. But to BURNEY’S life a few sentences may be briefly -and fitly given. - -The second Charles BURNEY was a younger son of the well-known historian -of Music, who for more than fifty years was a prominent figure in the -literary circles—and especially in the Johnsonian circle—of London; and -in whose well-filled life a very moderate share of literary ability was -made to go a long way, and to elicit a very resonant echo. That ‘clever -dog BURNEY,’ as he was wont to be called by the autocrat of the -dinner-table, had the good fortune to be the father of several children -even more clever than himself. Their reputation enhanced his own. - -[Sidenote: THE LIFE AND LITERARY WORKS OF DR. CHAS. BURNEY.] - -Charles BURNEY, junior, was born at Lynn, in Norfolk, on the 10th of -December, 1757. He was educated at the Charter House in London, at Caius -College, Cambridge, and at King’s College, Aberdeen. At Aberdeen, BURNEY -formed a friendship with Dr. DUNBAR, a Scottish professor of some -distinction, and an incident which grew, in after-years, out of that -connection, determined the scene and character of the principal -employments of BURNEY’S life. He devoted himself to scholastic labours, -in both senses of the term; their union proved mutually advantageous, -and as tuition gave leisure for literary labour, so the successful -issues of that labour spread far and wide his fame as a schoolmaster. He -was one of the not very large group of men who in that employment have -won wealth as well as honour. It was finely said, many years ago—in one -of the State Papers written by GUIZOT, when he was Minister of Public -Instruction in France—‘the good schoolmaster must work for man, and be -content to await his reward from God.’ In BURNEY’S case, the combined -assiduity of an energetic man at the author’s writing-table, at the -master’s desk, and also (it must in truthful candour be added) at his -flogging block,[5] brought him a large fortune as well as a wide-spread -reputation. This fortune enabled him to collect what, for a -schoolmaster, I imagine to have been a Classical Library hardly ever -rivalled in beauty and value. It was the gathering of a deeply read -critic, as well as of an open-handed purchaser. - -The bias of Dr. BURNEY’S learning and tastes in literature led him to a -preference of the Greek classics far above the Latin. Naturally, his -Library bore this character in counterpart. He aimed at collecting Greek -authors—and especially the dramatists—in such a way that the collocation -of his copies gave a sort of chronological view of the literary history -of the books and of their successive recensions. - -For the tragedians, more particularly, his researches were brilliantly -successful. Of _Æschylus_ he had amassed forty-seven editions; of -_Sophocles_, one hundred and two; of _Euripides_, one hundred and -sixty-six. - -His first publication was a sharp criticism (in the _Monthly Review_) on -Mr. (afterwards Bishop) HUNTINGFORD’S Collection of Greek poems entitled -_Monostrophica_. This was followed, in 1789, by the issue of an Appendix -to SCAPULA’S Lexicon; and in 1807 by a collection of the correspondence -of BENTLEY and other scholars. Two years later, he gave to students of -Greek his _Tentamen de Metris ab Æschylo in choricis cantibus -adhibitis_, and to the youthful theologians his meritorious abridgment -of Bishop PEARSON’S _Exposition of the Creed_. In 1812, he published the -Lexicon of PHILEMON. - -The only Church preferments enjoyed by Dr. BURNEY were the rectory of -St. Paul, Deptford, near London, and that of Cliffe, also in Kent. His -only theological publication—other than the abridgment of PEARSON—was a -sermon which he had preached in St. Paul’s Cathedral in 1812. Late in -life he was made a Prebendary of Lincoln. - -Like his father, and others of his family, Charles BURNEY was a very -sociable man. He lived much with PARR and with PORSON, and, like those -eminent scholars, he had the good and catholic taste which embraced in -its appreciations, and with like geniality, old wine, as well as old -books. He was less wise in nourishing a great dislike to cool breezes. -‘Shut the door,’ was usually his first greeting to any visitant who had -to introduce himself to the Doctor’s notice; and it was a joke against -him, in his later days, that the same words were his parting salutation -to a couple of highwaymen who had taken his purse as he was journeying -homewards in his carriage, and who were adding cruelty to robbery by -exposing him to the fresh air when they made off. - -[Sidenote: CHOICE BOOKS IN BURNEY’S LIBRARY.] - -Some of Dr. BURNEY’S choicest books were obtained when the Pinelli -Library was brought to England from Italy. The prime ornament of his -manuscript Collection, a thirteenth century copy of the _Iliad_, of -great beauty and rich in scholia, was bought at the sale of the fine -Library of Charles TOWNELEY, Collector of the Marbles. - -Although classical literature was the strength of the BURNEY Collection, -it was also rich in some other departments. Of English newspapers, for -example, he had brought together nearly seven hundred volumes of the -seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, reaching from the reign of JAMES -THE FIRST to the reign of GEORGE THE THIRD. No such assemblage had been -theretofore formed, I think, by any Collector. He had also amassed -nearly four hundred volumes containing materials for a history of the -British Stage, which materials have subsequently been largely used by -Mr. GENEST, in his work on that subject. For BURNEY’S life-long study of -the Greek drama had gradually inspired him with a desire to trace what, -in a sense, may be termed its modern revival, in the grand sequel given -to it by SHAKESPEARE and his contemporaries. He had also collected about -five thousand engraved theatrical portraits, and two thousand portraits -of literary personages. - -A large number of his printed books contained marginal manuscript notes -by BENTLEY, CASAUBON, BURMANN, and other noted scholars. And in a series -of one hundred and seventy volumes BURNEY had himself collected all the -extant remains and fragments of Greek dramatic writers—about three -hundred in number. These remains he had arranged under the collective -title of _Fragmenta Scenica Græca_. - -A splendid vellum manuscript of the Greek orators, in scription of the -fourteenth century, had been obtained from Dr. CLARKE, by whom it had -been acquired during Lord ELGIN’S Ottoman Embassy, and brought into -England. It supplied lacunæ which are found wanting in all other known -manuscripts. It completed an imperfect oration of _Lycurgus_, and -another of _Dinarchus_. Another MS. of the Greek orators, of the -fifteenth century, is only next in value to that derived from CLARKE’S -researches in the East, of 1800. There is also a very fine manuscript of -the Geography of PTOLEMY, with maps compiled in the fifteenth century, -and two very choice copies of the Greek _Gospels_, one of which is of -the tenth, and the other of the twelfth centuries. - -In Latin classics, the BURNEY Manuscripts include a fourteenth century -_Plautus_, containing no fewer than twenty plays—whereas a manuscript -containing even twelve plays has long been regarded as a rarity. A -fifteenth century copy of the mathematical tracts collected by PAPPUS -ALEXANDRINUS, a _Callimachus_ of the same date, and a curious Manuscript -of the _Asinus Aureus_ of APULEIUS, are also notable. The whole number -of Classical Manuscripts which this Collector had brought together was -stated, at the time of his death, to be three hundred and eighty-five. - - -Dr. BURNEY died on the twenty-eighth of December, 1817, having just -entered upon his sixty-first year. He was buried at Deptford, amidst the -lamentations of his parishioners at his loss. - -[Sidenote: DOCTOR BURNEY’S CHARACTER.] - -For in BURNEY, too, the scholar and the Collector had not been suffered -to dwarf or to engross the whole man. His parishioners assembled, soon -after his death, to evince publicly their sense of what Death had robbed -them of. The testimony then borne to his character was far better, -because more pertinent, laudation, than is usually met with in the -literature of tombstones. Those who had known the man intimately then -said of him: ‘His attainments in learning were united with equal -generosity and kindness of heart. His impressive discourses from the -pulpit became doubly beneficial from the influence of his own example.’ -The parishioners agreed to erect a monument to his memory, ‘as a record -of their affection for their revered pastor, monitor, and friend; of -their gratitude for his services, and of their unspeakable regret for -his loss.’ - -Another meeting was called shortly afterwards, with a like object, but -of another sort. Despite his reverence for Busbeian traditions, Dr. -BURNEY had known how to win the love of his pupils. [Sidenote: _Annual -Biography and Obituary_, vol. iii, p. 225.] A large body of them met, -under the chairmanship of the excellent John KAYE, then Regius Professor -of Divinity at Cambridge, and afterwards Bishop of Lincoln, and they -subscribed for the placing of a monument to their old master in -Westminster Abbey. - -[Sidenote: THE APPLICATION OF THE TRUSTEES OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM TO - PARLIAMENT FOR THE PURCHASE OF BURNEY’S LIBRARY.] - -On the twenty-third of February, 1818, the Trustees of the British -Museum presented to the House of Commons a petition, praying that Dr. -BURNEY’S Library should be acquired for the Public. The prayer of the -petition was supported by Mr. BANKES and by Mr. VANSITTART, and a Select -Committee was appointed to inquire and report upon the application. - -In order to an accurate estimate of the value of the Library, a -comparison was instituted, in certain particulars, between its contents -and those of the Collection already in the national Museum. In comparing -the works of a series of twenty-four Greek authors, it was found that of -those authors, taken collectively, the Museum possessed only two hundred -and thirty-nine several editions, whereas Dr. Charles BURNEY had -collected no fewer than seven hundred and twenty-five editions.[6] -[Sidenote: ACQUISITION OF THE BURNEY LIBRARY BY THE NATION.] His -Collection of the Greek dramatists was not only, as I have said, -extensive, but it was arrayed after a peculiar and interesting manner. -By making a considerable sacrifice of duplicate copies, he had brought -his series of editions into an order which exhibited, at one view, all -the diversities of text, recension, and commentary. His Greek -grammarians were arrayed in like manner. And his collection of -lexicographers generally, and of philologists, was both large and well -selected. - -[Sidenote: _Report of Select Committee_, 1818; passim.] - -The total number of printed books was nearly thirteen thousand five -hundred volumes, that of manuscripts was five hundred and twenty; and -the total sum given for the whole was thirteen thousand five hundred -pounds. - -It was estimated that the Collection had cost Dr. BURNEY a much larger -sum, and that, possibly, if sold by public auction, it might have -produced to his representatives more than twenty thousand pounds. - - -In the same year with the acquisition of the Burney Library, the -national Collections were augmented by the purchase of the printed books -of a distinguished Italian scholar long resident in France, and eminent -for his contributions to French literature. [Sidenote: COLLECTION OF P. -L. GINGUENÉ. (Died 11 Nov., 1816.)] Pier Luigi GINGUENÉ—author of the -_Histoire Littéraire d’Italie_ and a conspicuous contributor to the -early volumes of the _Biographie Universelle_—had brought together a -good Collection of Italian, French, and Classical literature. It -comprised, amongst the rest, the materials which had been gathered for -the book by which the Collector is now chiefly remembered, and extended, -in the whole, to more than four thousand three hundred separate works, -of which number nearly one thousand seven hundred related to Italian -literature, or to its history. This valuable Collection was obtained by -the Trustees—owing to the then depressed state of the Continental -book-market—for one thousand pounds. And, in point of literary value, it -may be described as the first—in point of price, as the cheapest—of a -series of purchases which now began to be made on the Continent. - -A more numerous printed Library had been purchased together with a -cabinet of coins and a valuable herbarium, at Munich, three years -earlier, at the sale of the Collections of Baron VON MOLL. His Library -exceeded fourteen thousand volumes, nearly eight thousand of which -related to the physical sciences and to cognate subjects. [Sidenote: -COLLECTION OF BARON VON MOLL. (1815.)] The cost of this purchase, with -the attendant expenses, was four thousand seven hundred and seventy -pounds. The whole sum was defrayed out of the fund bequeathed by Major -Arthur EDWARDS.[7] - -These successive purchases, together with the Hargrave -Collection—acquired in 1813—increased the theretofore much neglected -Library by an aggregate addition of nearly thirty-five thousand volumes. -And for four successive years (1812–15) Parliament made a special annual -grant of one thousand pounds[8] for the purchase of printed books -relating to British History. - -[Sidenote: FRANCIS HARGRAVE AND HIS COLLECTIONS IN LAW LITERATURE.] - -The peculiar importance of the Hargrave Collection consisted in its -manuscripts and its annotated printed books. The former were about five -hundred in number, and were works of great juridical weight and -authority, not merely the curiosities of black-letter law. Their -Collector was the most eminent parliamentary lawyer of his day, but his -devotion to the science of law had, to some degree, impeded his -enjoyment of its sweets. During some of the best years of his life he -had been more intent on increasing his legal lore than on swelling his -legal profits. And thus the same legislative act which enriched the -Museum Library, in both of its departments, helped to smooth the -declining years of a man who had won an uncommon distinction in his -special pursuit. Francis HARGRAVE died on the sixteenth of August, 1821, -at the age of eighty. - - -[Sidenote: THE EGERTON BEQUEST.] - -Leaving now this not very long list of acquisitions made by the National -Library, in the way of purchase, either at the public cost or from -endowments, we have again to turn to a new and conspicuous instance of -private liberality. Like CRACHERODE, and like BURNEY, Francis Henry -EGERTON belonged to a profession which at nearly all periods of our -history—though in a very different degree in different ages—has done -eminent honour and rendered large services to the nation, and that in an -unusual variety of paths. - -Each of these three clergymen is now chiefly remembered as a -‘Collector.’ Each of them would seem to have been placed quite out of -his true element and sphere of labour, when assuming the -responsibilities of a priest in the Church of England. CRACHERODE was -scarcely more fitted for the work, at all events, of a preacher—save by -the tacit lessons of a most meek and charitable life—than he was fitted -to head a cavalry charge on the field of battle. BURNEY was manifestly -cut out by nature for the work of a schoolmaster; although, as we have -seen, he was able—late, comparatively, in life—so to discharge (for a -very few years) the duties of a parish priest as to win the love of his -flock. EGERTON was unsuited to clerical work of almost any and every -kind. Yet he, too, with all his eccentricities and his indefensible -absenteeism, became a public benefactor. The last act of his life was to -make a provision which has been fruitful in good, having a bearing—very -real though indirect—upon the special duties of the priestly function, -for which he was himself so little adapted. The bequests of Francis -EGERTON had, among their many useful results, the enabling of Thomas -CHALMERS to add one more to his fruitful labours for the Christian -Church and for the world. - -It may not, I trust, be out of place to notice in this connection, and -as one among innumerable debts which our country owes specifically to -its Church Establishment, the impressive and varied way in which the -English Church has, at every period, inculcated the lesson (by no means, -nowadays, a favourite lesson of ‘the age’) that men owe duties to -posterity, as well as duties to their contemporaries. The fact bears -directly on the subject of this book. Into every path of life many men -must needs enter, from time to time, without possessing any peculiar and -real fitness for it. In a path which (in the course of successive ages) -has been trodden by some millions of men, there must needs have been a -crowd of incomers who had been better on the outside. They were like the -square men who get to be thrust violently into round holes. But, even of -these misplaced men, not a few have learnt, under the teaching of the -Church, that if they could not with efficiency do pulpit work or parish -work, there was other work which they could do, and do perpetually. Men, -for example, who loved literature could, for all time to come, secure -for the poorest student ample access to the best books, and to the -inexhaustible treasures they contain. CRACHERODE did this. BURNEY helped -to do it. EGERTON not only did the like, in his degree, in several parts -of England, but he enabled other and abler men to write new books of a -sort which are conspicuously adapted to add to the equipment of divines -for their special duty and work in the world. Neglecting to learn many -lessons which the Church teaches, to her clergy as well as to laymen, he -had at least learnt one lesson of practical and permanent value. - -Hence it is that, in addition to the matchless roll of English worthies -which, in her best days, the Church has furnished—in that long line of -men, from her ranks, who have done honour to her, and to England, under -_every_ point of view—she can show a subsidiary list, comprising men -whose benefactions are more influential than were, or could have been, -the labours of their lives; men of the sort who, being dead, can yet -speak, and to much better purpose than ever they could speak when alive. -Among such is the Churchman whose testamentary gifts have now very -briefly to be mentioned. - - -[Sidenote: LIFE OF FRANCIS HENRY EGERTON, EARL OF BRIDGEWATER, AND - FOUNDER OF THE ‘BRIDGEWATER TREATISES.’] - -Francis Henry EGERTON was a younger son of John EGERTON, Bishop of -Durham, by the Lady Anna Sophia GREY, daughter and coheir of Henry GREY, -Duke of Kent. He was born on the eleventh of November, 1756. The Bishop -of Durham was fifth in descent from the famous Chancellor of England, -Thomas EGERTON, Viscount Brachley, to whom, as he lay upon his -death-bed, BACON came with the news of King JAMES’S promise to make him -an Earl. Before the patent could be sealed, the exchancellor, it will be -remembered, was dead, and JAMES, to show his gratitude to the departed -statesman, sold for a large sum the Earldom of Bridgewater to the -Chancellor’s son. Eventually, of that earldom Francis Henry EGERTON was, -in his old age, the eighth and last inheritor. - -Mr. EGERTON was educated at Eton and at All Souls. He took his M.A. in -1780, and in the following year was presented, by his relative, Francis, -Duke of BRIDGEWATER—the father of inland navigation in Britain—to the -Rectory of Middle, in Shropshire, a living which he held for eight and -forty years. - -He was a toward and good scholar. From his youth he was a great reader -and a lover of antiquities, as well as a respectable philologist. His -foible was an overweening although a pardonable pride in his ancestry. -That ancestry embraced what was noblest in the merely antiquarian point -of view, along with the grand historical distinctions of state service -rendered to Queen ELIZABETH, and of a new element introduced into the -mercantile greatness of England under GEORGE THE THIRD. A man may be -forgiven for being proud of a family which included the servant of -ELIZABETH and friend of BACON, as well as the friend of BRINDLEY. But -the pride, as years increased, became somewhat wearisome to -acquaintances; though it proved to be a source of no small profit to -printers and engravers, both at home and abroad. Mr. EGERTON’S writings -in biography and genealogy are very numerous. They date from 1793 to -1826. Some of them are in French. All of them relate, more or less -directly, to the family of EGERTON. - - -In the year 1796, he appeared as an author in another department, and -with much credit. His edition of the _Hippolytus_ of EURIPIDES is also -noticeable for its modest and candid acknowledgment of the assistance he -had derived from other scholars. He afterwards collected and edited some -fragments of the odes of SAPPHO. The later years of his life were -chiefly passed in Paris. His mind had been soured by some unhappy family -troubles and discords, and as years increased a lamentable spirit of -eccentricity increased with them. It had grown with his growth, but did -not weaken with his loss of bodily and mental vigour. - -One of the most noted manifestations of this eccentricity was but the -distortion of a good quality. He had a fondness for dumb animals. He -could not bear to see them suffer by any infliction,—other than that -necessitated by a love of field sports, which, to an Englishman, is as -natural and as necessary as mother’s milk. At length, the Parisians were -scandalised by the frequent sight of a carriage, full of dogs, attended -with as much state and solemnity as if it contained ‘milord’ in person. -To his servants he was a most liberal master. He provided largely for -the parochial service and parochial charities of his two parishes of -Middle and Whitchurch (both in Shropshire). He was, occasionally, a -liberal benefactor to men of recondite learning, such as meet commonly -with small reward in this world.[9] But much of his life was stamped -with the ineffaceable discredit of sacred functions voluntarily assumed, -yet habitually discharged by proxy. - -On the death, in 1823, of his elder brother—who had become seventh Earl -of BRIDGEWATER, under the creation of 1617, on the decease of Francis -third Duke and sixth (Egerton) Earl—Francis Henry EGERTON became eighth -Earl of BRIDGEWATER. But he continued to live chiefly in Paris, where he -died, in April, 1829, at the age of seventy-two years. With the peerage -he had inherited a very large estate, although the vast ducal property -in canals had passed, as is well known, in 1803, to the LEVESON-GOWERS. - -Part of Lord BRIDGEWATER’S leisure at Paris was given to the composition -of a largely-planned treatise on Natural Theology. But the task was far -above the powers of the undertaker. He had made considerable progress, -after his fashion, and part of what he had written was put superbly into -type, from the press of DIDOT. Very wisely, he resolved to enable abler -men to do the work more efficiently. And this was a main object of his -remarkable Will. - -That portion of the document which eventually gave to the world the -well-known ‘Bridgewater Treatises’ of CHALMERS, BUCKLAND, WHEWELL, -PROUT, ROGET, and their fellows in the task, reads thus:— - -[Sidenote: LORD BRIDGEWATER’S BEQUESTS FOR THE PREPARATION OF TREATISES - ON NATURAL THEOLOGY.] - -‘I give and bequeath to the President of the Royal Society the sum of -eight thousand pounds, to be applied according to the order and -direction of the said President of the Royal Society, in full and -without any diminution or abatement whatsoever, in such proportions and -at such times, according to his discretion and judgment, and without -being subject to any control or responsibility whatsoever, to such -person or persons as the said President for the time being of the -aforesaid Royal Society shall or may nominate or appoint and employ. And -it is my will and particular request that some person or persons be -nominated and appointed by him to write, print, publish, and expose to -public sale, one thousand copies of a work “_On Power, Wisdom, and -Goodness of God, as manifested in the Creation_,” illustrating such work -by all reasonable arguments; as, for instance, the variety and formation -of God’s creatures, in the animal, vegetable, and mineral kingdoms; the -effect of digestion, and thereby of conversion; the construction of the -hand of man, and an infinite variety of arrangements; as also by -discoveries, ancient and modern, in arts, sciences, and in the whole -extent of literature. And I desire that the profits arising from and out -of the circulation and sale of the aforesaid work shall be paid by the -said President of the said Royal Society, as of right, as a further -remuneration and reward to such persons as the said President shall or -may so nominate, appoint, and employ as aforesaid. And I hereby fully -authorise and empower the said President, in his own discretion, to -direct and cause to be paid and advanced to such person or persons -during the printing and preparing of the said work the sum of three -hundred pounds, and also the sum of five hundred pounds sterling to the -same person or persons during the printing and preparing of the said -work for the press, out of, and in part of, the same eight thousand -pounds sterling. And I will and direct that the remainder of the said -sum of eight thousand pounds sterling, or of the stocks or funds wherein -the same shall have been invested, together with all interest, dividend, -or dividends accrued thereon, be transferred, assigned, and paid over to -such person or persons, their or his executors, administrators, or -assigns, as shall have been so nominated, appointed, and employed by the -said President of the said Royal Society, at the instance and request of -the same President, as and when he shall deem the object of this bequest -to have been fully complied with by such person or persons so nominated, -appointed, and employed by him as aforesaid.’ - -[Sidenote: BEQUESTS OF LORD BRIDGEWATER TO THE BRITISH MUSEUM.] - -What was done by the Trustees under this part of Lord BRIDGEWATER’S -Will, and with what result, is known to all readers. That other -portion of the Will which relates to his bequest to the British Museum -reads thus:—‘I give and bequeath to the Trustees for the time being of -the _British Museum_ at Montagu House, in London, to be there -deposited ... for the use of the said Museum, in conformity with the -rules, orders, and regulations of the said establishment, absolutely -and for ever, all and every my Collection of Manuscripts as -hereinafter particularly described. That is to say, the several -volumes of Manuscripts, and all papers, parchments (written or -printed), and all letters, despatches, registers, rolls, documents, -evidences, authorities and signatures, and all impressions of seals -and marks, of every description and sort, and of what nature or kind, -severally and generally belonging to my Collection of Manuscripts, or -in my possession, stamped with my arms or otherwise (except such -letters, notes, papers, &c.), as are hereinafter directed to be burned -and destroyed [‘_two words cancelled_, BRIDGEWATER’], in the -discretion of my Trustees and Executors hereinafter appointed; and -also save and except all such letters, papers, and writings as are -attached to and accompanying the printed books specifically bequeathed -by me to the Library at _Ashridge_, and which said last-mentioned -letters, papers, and writings are also, if I mistake not, stamped with -my arms. And I also will and require that all and every the aforesaid -manuscripts, papers, parchments (written or printed), letters, -despatches, registers, rolls, documents, evidences, authorities, -signatures, impressions of seals and marks of every description and -sort, and every other Manuscript or Manuscripts appertaining to my -said Collection whatsoever and wheresoever, or which shall or may -hereafter, during my life, be added thereto (but not private letters, -notes, or memorandums of any sort or kind, which I direct to be burned -or destroyed), shall, within the space of two years from the day of my -decease, be collected and removed to the _British Museum_ as -aforesaid, under the particular care, superintendence, and direction -of Eugene Auguste BARBIER, one of my Trustees and Executors -hereinafter appointed; for which particular service I give and -bequeath to him, the said Eugene Auguste BARBIER, the sum of two -thousand pounds sterling. I also give, bequeath, and demise unto the -said Trustees of the _British Museum_ all my estate, lands, parcels of -land, ground, hereditaments and appurtenances, situate in the parish -of _Whitchurch-cum-Marbury_, or in any other parish or place in the -Counties of Salop or Chester, or in either or both of the said -Counties, and also all the trees growing thereon, and all seats, -sittings, and pews in the Parish Church of Whitchurch-cum-Marbury -aforesaid, all or any of which I shall or may have bought or -purchased, and which now belong to me by right of purchase, descent, -or otherwise, to have and to hold the same estate, lands, parcels of -land, ground, hereditaments and appurtenances, to them the said -Trustees of the said _British Museum_ for the time being for ever, -upon the trusts nevertheless, and to and for the ends, intents, and -purposes hereinafter particularly mentioned, expressed, and declared; -that is to say, that the trees growing on the aforesaid estate, lands, -parcels of lands, ground, hereditaments, and appurtenances, shall not -be cut or brought down or destroyed, but shall and may be suffered to -grow during their natural life, and that the smaller trees only may be -thinned here and there, with care and judgment, so as to promote the -growth of the larger trees; and that the same estate, lands, parcels -of land, ground, hereditaments and appurtenances, seats, sittings or -pews, or any part thereof, shall not be susceptible of being let, -underlet or rented, by or to any person or persons who shall hold, -have, take, or rent any estate, farm, lands, or property of or from -the family of EGERTON, or of or from any person or persons having that -name, or of or from the Rector of _Whitchurch-cum-Marbury_ aforesaid -for the time being; and upon further trust that they the said Trustees -of the British Museum for the time being do and shall lay out and -apply the rents, issues, and profits which shall from time to time -arise from and out of the said estate, lands, parcels of land, ground, -hereditaments and appurtenances, in the purchase of manuscripts for -the continual augmentation of the aforesaid Collection of Manuscripts. -I further will and direct that my said Trustees hereinafter appointed, -within the space of eighteen calendar months after my decease, do lay -out and invest in the Three per cent. Consolidated stocks or funds of -England, in the names of the Trustees of the _British Museum_ for the -time being, or in such names and for such account as the said Trustees -shall direct, the sum of seven thousand pounds sterling, the interest -and dividends whereof, as the same shall from time to time become due -and payable, I desire and direct shall and may be paid over by the -said Trustees to such person or persons as shall from time to time be -charged with the care and superintendence of the said Collection of -Manuscripts. I also give, grant, bequeath, and devise unto my Trustees -hereinafter appointed all and singular my house, land, tenements, -hereditaments, and appurtenances at or near _Little Gaddesden_, in the -County of Herts, upon trust that they my said Trustees do and shall, -during their joint lives and the life of the survivor of them, let and -demise the same for such term or time as they shall think fit, for the -best rent that can be had and gotten for the same; but the same -premises, under no circumstances, to be let, underlet, or rented by or -to any person or persons who shall have, hold, take, or rent any -estate, farm, or property of or from the family of EGERTON, or any -person or persons bearing that name, and do and shall pay over the -rents, issues, and profits thereof, as and when received, to the -Trustees for the time being of the _British Museum_ aforesaid, to be -laid out and applied by such last-mentioned Trustees in the service -and for the continued augmentation of the said Collection of -Manuscripts; and from and after the decease of the survivor of them my -said Trustees hereinafter appointed, I give and devise the said house, -land, tenements, hereditaments and appurtenances, unto and for the use -of the proprietor or proprietors of the Manor and Estate of -_Ashridge_, his heirs and assigns for ever. And as to all the rest, -residue and remainder of my real and personal estate and effects, of -every nature and kind soever and wheresoever situate, not hereinbefore -disposed of, or availably so, for the purposes intended, I give, -devise, and bequeath the same to my said Trustees, upon trust that -they my said Trustees do pay over and transfer the same to the said -Trustees of the _British Museum_, and do otherwise render the same -available for the service of and towards maintaining, preserving, -keeping up, improving, augmenting, and extending, as opportunities may -offer, [Sidenote: _Will of Francis Henry, Earl of Bridgewater._ -(Official copy.)] my said Collection of Manuscripts so deposited in -the _British Museum_ as aforesaid, in the most advantageous manner, -according to their judgment and discretion.’ - -The eccentricity of which I have spoken showed itself in the successive -changes of detail and other modifications which these bequests underwent -before the testator’s death. What with the Will and its many codicils, -the documents, collectively, came to be of a kind which might task the -acumen of a FEARNE or a St. LEONARDS. But the drift of the Will was -undisturbed. The restrictions as to the underletting of the Whitchurch -estate, and the like, were now limited by codicils to a prescribed term -of years after the testator’s death; power was given to the Museum -Trustees to sell, also after a certain interval, the landed estate -bequeathed for the purchase of manuscripts, should it be deemed -conducive to the interest of the Library so to do; and an additional sum -of five thousand pounds was given to the Trustees for the further -increase of the Collection of Manuscripts, and for the reward of its -keeper, in lieu of the residuary interest in the testator’s personal -estate. - -[Sidenote: _Minutes of Trustees_; (printed in Parliamentary Paper of - 1835–6).] - -On the 10th of March, 1832, the Trustees resolved that the yearly -proceeds of the last-named bequest should be paid to the Librarians in -charge of the MSS., but that their ordinary salaries, on the -establishment, should be diminished by a like amount. - -[Sidenote: CHARACTER OF THE EGERTON MSS.;] - -The Manuscripts bequeathed by Lord BRIDGEWATER comprise a considerable -collection of the original letters of the Kings, Queens, Statesmen, -Marshals, and Diplomatists, of France; another valuable series of -original letters and papers of the authors and scientific men of France -and of Italy; many papers of Italian Statesmen; and a portion of the -donor’s own private correspondence. The latter series of papers -includes, amongst others, letters by Andres, D’Ansse de Villoisin, the -Prince of Aremberg, Auger, Barbier, the Duke of Blacas, Bodoni, -Boissonade, Bonpland, Canova, Cuvier, Ginguené, Humboldt, Valckenaer, -and Visconti. Some of these are merely letters of compliment. -Others—and, in an especial degree, those of D’Ansse de Villoisin, of -Boissonade, of Ginguené, of Humboldt, and of Visconti—contain much -interesting matter on questions of archæology, art, and history. - -[Sidenote: AND OF THE ADDITIONS MADE TO IT FROM 1832 TO 1870.] - -The earliest additions to the Egerton Collection were made by the -Trustees in May, 1832. In the selection of MSS. for purchase the -Trustees, with great propriety, have given a preference—on the whole; -not exclusively—to that class of documents of which the donor’s own -Collection was mainly composed—the materials, namely, of Continental -history. Amongst the earliest purchases of 1832 was a curious Venetian -_Portolano_ of the fifteenth century. [Sidenote: THE HARDIMAN MSS. ON -IRISH ARCHÆOLOGY AND ENGLISH HISTORY.] In the same year a large series -of Irish Manuscripts, collected by the late John HARDIMAN, was acquired. -This extends from the Egerton number ‘74’ to ‘214’; and from the same -Collector was obtained the valuable _Minutes of Debates in the House of -Commons_, taken by Colonel CAVENDISH, between the years—so memorable in -our history—from 1768 to 1774.[10] In the year 1835, a large collection -of manuscripts illustrative of Spanish history was purchased from Mr. -RICH, a literary agent in London, and another large series of -miscellaneous manuscripts—historical, political, and literary—from the -late bookseller, Thomas RODD. From the same source another like -collection was obtained in 1840. An extensive series of French State -Papers was acquired (by the agency of Messrs. BARTHES and LOWELL) in -1843; and also, in that year, a collection of Persian MSS. In the -following year a curious series of drawings, illustrating the -antiquities, manners, and customs of China, was obtained; and, in 1845, -another valuable series of French historical manuscripts. - -Meanwhile, the example set by Lord BRIDGEWATER had incited one of those -many liberal-minded Trustees of the British Museum who have become its -benefactors by augmentation, as well as by faithful guardianship, to -follow it in exactly the same track. [Sidenote: AUGMENTATION OF LORD -BRIDGEWATER’S GIFT BY THAT OF LORD FARNBOROUGH, 1838.] Charles LONG, -Lord Farnborough, bequeathed (in 1838) the sum of two thousand eight -hundred and seventy-two pounds in Three per cent. Consols, specifically -as an augmentation of the Bridgewater fund. Lord FARNBOROUGH’S bequest -now produces eighty-six pounds a year; Lord BRIDGEWATER’S, about four -hundred and ninety pounds a year. Together, therefore, they yield five -hundred and seventy pounds, annually, for the improvement of the -National Collection of Manuscripts. - -In 1850 and 1852, an extensive series of German _Albums_—many of them -belonging to celebrated scholars—was acquired. These are now ‘Egerton -MSS. 1179’ to ‘1499,’ inclusive, and ‘1540’ to ‘1607.’ A curious -collection of papers relating to the Spanish Inquisition was also -obtained in 1850. [Sidenote: _Egerton MSS._ 1704–1756.] [Sidenote: _Ib._ -1758–1772.] In 1857, the important historical collection, known as ‘the -Bentinck Papers,’ was purchased from Tycho MOMMSEN, of Oldenburgh. In -the following year, another series of Spanish State Papers, and also the -Irish Manuscripts of Henry MONCK MASON;—in 1860, a further series of -‘Bentinck Papers,’—and in 1861, an extensive collection of the -Correspondence of POPE and of Bishop WARBURTON, were successively -acquired. - -To these large accumulations of the materials of history were added, in -the succeeding years, other important collections of English -correspondence, and of autograph MSS. of famous authors; and also a -choice collection of Spanish and Portuguese Manuscripts brought together -by Count DA PONTE, and abounding with historical information. [Sidenote: -_Egerton MSS._ 2047–2064.] To this an addition was made last year (1869) -of other like papers, amongst which are notable some Venetian -_Relazioni_; papers of Cardinals Carlo CARAFFA and Flavio ORSINI; and -some letters of Antonio PEREZ. [Sidenote: _Ib._ 2077–2084.] In 1869, -there was also obtained, by means of the conjoined Egerton and -Farnborough funds, [Sidenote: _Ib._ 2087–2099.] a curious parcel of -papers relating to the early affairs of the Corporation and trade of -Dover, from the year 1387 to 1678; [Sidenote: _Ib._ 2086; 2100.] -together with some other papers illustrative of the cradle-years of our -Indian empire. - -Amongst the latest accessions obtained from the Bridgewater fund are -some MSS. from the hand of a famous English poet of the last generation. -These have now an additional, and special, interest in English eyes, -from a recent lamentable occurrence. [Sidenote: THE ‘BYRON MSS.’ IN THE -EGERTON COLLECTION (1867).] The pen of a slanderer has aimed at gaining -a sort of celebrity, more enduring than anything of its own proper -production could hope to secure, by attempting to affix on BYRON and on -Augusta LEIGH—after both the great poet and the affectionate sister have -lain many years in their several graves, and can no longer rebut the -slander—the stain of an enormous guilt. Some, however, are yet alive, by -whom the calumny _can_, and will, be conclusively exposed. Meanwhile, -the slanderer’s poor aim will, probably, have been reached—but in an -unexpected and unenviable way. - - ‘The link - _Thou_ formest in his fortunes, bids us think - Of thy poor malice, naming thee with scorn.’ - -Very happily, the calumniating pen was not held in any English hand. - - -Much more might, and not unfitly, be said in illustration of the -historical and literary value of those manuscript accessions to the -National Library which, in these later years, have accrued out of the -proceeds of Lord BRIDGEWATER’S gift. Enough, however, has been stated, -to serve by way of sample. - -[Sidenote: OTHER BENEFACTIONS OF LORD BRIDGEWATER.] - -Nor were these the only literary bequests and foundations of the last -Earl of BRIDGEWATER. He bequeathed, as heir-looms, two considerable -Libraries, rich both in theology and in history—to the respective -rectors, for ever, of the parishes of Middle and of Whitchurch. These, I -learn—from MS. correspondence now before me—are of great value, and are -gladly made available, by their owners for the time being, to the use of -persons able and willing to profit by them. He also founded a Library, -likewise by way of heirloom, at Ashridge. - - -Whilst the National Library was thus being gradually improved, both by -increased liberality on the part of Parliament and, far more largely, by -the munificent gifts of individuals, other departments of the Museum had -not been neglected. - -[Sidenote: THE ACQUISITION OF THE GREVILLE MINERALS;] - -Charles GREVILLE, the nephew of Sir William HAMILTON, had collected, in -his residence at Paddington Green, a noble cabinet of minerals. It was -the finest assemblage of its kind which had yet been seen in England. -For the purchase of this Collection Parliament made a grant, in the year -1810, of thirteen thousand seven hundred and twenty-seven pounds. - -[Sidenote: OF THE MONTAGU MUSEUM; [See, hereafter, Book III, c. I.]] - -In 1816, a valuable accession came to the zoological department, by the -purchase, for the sum of eleven hundred pounds, of a Collection of -British Zoology, which had been formed at Knowle, in Devonshire, by -Colonel George MONTAGU. The Montagu Collection was especially rich in -birds. - -[Sidenote: AND OF THE COLLECTIONS OF SIR R. C. HOARE.] - -Nine years later, the Library was further benefited, in the way of gift, -by a choice Italian Collection, gathered and given by Sir Richard Colt -HOARE, of Stourhead; and, in the way of Parliamentary grant, by the -acquisition of the collection of manuscripts, coins, and other -antiquities, which had been made in the East, during his years of -Consulship at Baghdad, by Claudius James RICH. - -Sir Richard HOARE was not less distinguished for the taste and judgment -with which he had collected the historical literature of Italy, than for -the zeal and ability with which he cultivated, both as author and as -patron, the—in Britain—too much neglected department of provincial -topography. He had spent nearly five years in Italy—partly during the -reign of NAPOLEON—and amassed a very fine collection of books -illustrative of all departments of Italian history. In 1825, Sir Richard -presented this Collection to the Trustees of the British Museum in these -words:—‘Anxious to follow the liberal example of our gracious monarch -GEORGE THE FOURTH, of Sir George BEAUMONT, and of Richard Payne KNIGHT -(though in a very humble degree), I do give unto the British Museum my -Collection of Topography, made during a residence of five years abroad; -and hoping that the more modern publications may be added to it -hereafter.’ The Library so given included about seventeen hundred and -thirty separate works. Sir Richard did something, himself, to secure the -fulfilment of the annexed wish, by adding to his first gift, made in -1825, in subsequent years. - -[Sidenote: COLLECTIONS OF CLAUDIUS RICH. [See, hereafter, Book III, c. - 3.]] - -The researches of Claudius RICH merit some special notice. He may be -regarded as the first explorer of Assyria. Had it not been for his early -death, it is very probable that he might have anticipated some of the -brilliant discoveries of Mr. LAYARD. But his quickly intercepted -researches will be best described, in connection with the later -explorations in the same field. Here it may suffice to say that from Mr. -RICH’S representatives a Collection of Manuscripts, extending to eight -hundred and two volumes—Syriac, Arabic, Persian, and Turkish—was -obtained, by purchase, in 1825, together with a small Collection of -Coins and miscellaneous antiquities. - -To the Oriental Manuscripts of RICH, an important addition was made in -the course of the same year by the bequest of [Sidenote: HULL’S ORIENTAL -MSS.] Mr. John Fowler HULL—another distinguished Orientalist who passed -from amongst us at an early age—who also bequeathed a Collection of -Oriental and Chinese printed books. Mr. HULL’S legacy was the small -beginning of that Chinese Library which has now become so large. - -[Sidenote: THE PERSEPOLITAN MARBLES.] - -It was also in the year 1825 that Sir Gore OUSELEY presented a -Collection of Marbles obtained from Persepolis. These will be mentioned -hereafter in connection with the antiquarian explorations of Claudius -RICH and his successors. The donor of the Persepolitan Marbles died on -the eighteenth of November, 1844. - - -[Sidenote: HISTORY OF ‘THE PORTLAND VASE.’] - -In addition to these many liberal benefactions made during the earlier -years of the present century, a smaller gift (virtually a gift, though -in name a ‘deposit’) of the same period claims brief notice, on account -both of its artistic value and of its curious history. I refer to that -exquisite monument of ancient art known, for many years, as the -‘Barberini Vase,’ but now more commonly as the ‘Portland Vase,’ from the -name of its last individual possessor. - -This vase is one of the innumerable acquisitions which the country owes -to the intelligent research and cultivated taste of Sir William -HAMILTON. It had been found more than a century before his time -(probably in the year 1640), beneath the Monte del Grano, about three -miles from Rome, on the road to Tusculum. The place of the discovery was -a sepulchral chamber, within which was found a sarcophagus containing -the vase, and bearing an inscription to the memory of the Emperor -ALEXANDER SEVERUS (_A.D._ 222–235) and to his mother. About this -sarcophagus and its inscription there have been dissertations and -rejoinders, essays and commentaries, illustrative and obscurative, in -sufficient number to immortalise half a dozen Jonathan OLDBUCKS and -‘Antigonus’ MAC-CRIBBS. And the controversy is still undetermined. - -After having been long a conspicuous ornament of the Barberini Palace, -the ‘Barberini Vase’ was bought by HAMILTON. When, in December, 1784, he -paid one of his visits to England, the vase came with him. Its fame had -previously excited the desires of many virtuosi. By the Duchess of -PORTLAND it was so strongly coveted, that she employed a niece of Sir -William to conduct a negotiation with much more solemnity and mystery -than the ambassador would have thought needful in conducting a critical -Treaty of Peace. [Sidenote: _Correspondence of Mrs. Delany_, vol. ii (in -many places).] The Duchess’s precautions foiled the curiosity of not a -few of her fellow-collectors in virtû. ‘I have heard,’ wrote Horace -WALPOLE, ‘that Sir W. HAMILTON’S renowned vase, which had disappeared -with so much mystery, is again recovered; not in the tomb, but the -treasury, of the Duchess of PORTLAND, in which, I fancy, it had made -ample room for itself. Sir William told me it would never go out of -England. I do not see how he could warrant _that_. The Duchess and Lord -Edward have both shown how little stability there is in the riches of -that family.’ [Sidenote: H. Walpole to Lady Upper-Ossory, 10 August, -1785. (Cunn. Edit., vol. ix, p. 3.)] As yet, the reader will remember, -that ‘Portland Estate,’ which was so profitably to turn farms into -streets, was but in expectancy. - -And then WALPOLE adds: ‘_My_ family has felt how insecure is the -permanency of heir-looms,’—the thought of that grand ‘Houghton Gallery,’ -and its transportation to Russia, coming across his memory, whilst -telling Lady UPPER-OSSORY the story of the coveted vase, just imported -from the Barberini Palace at Rome. - -The Duchess of PORTLAND enjoyed the sight of her beautiful purchase only -during a few weeks. It was bought in by the family (at the nominal price -of £1029[11]) at the sale of her famous museum of curiosities—a sale -extending to more than four thousand lots—and twenty-four years -afterwards, it was lent, for exhibition (1810), by the third Duke of -PORTLAND, to the Trustees of the British Museum, where it has since -remained. - -When WEDGWOOD set about imitating the Portland Vase in his manufactory -at Etruria—for which purpose the then Duke liberally lent it to him—he -discovered that the vase had been broken and skilfully put together -again. After it had been publicly exhibited during almost thirty-five -years in London, the frenzy of a maniac led—as it seemed at the -moment—to its utter destruction. But, mainly by the singular skill and -patience of the late John DOUBLEDAY (a craftsman attached to the -Department of Antiquities for many years), it was soon restored to its -pristine beauty. That one act of violence in 1845 is the only instance -of very serious injury arising from open exhibition to all comers which -the annals of the Museum record. - - - - - CHAPTER IV. - THE KING’S OR ‘GEORGIAN’ LIBRARY;—ITS COLLECTOR, AND ITS DONOR. - - ‘A crown, - Golden in show, is but a wreath of thorns; - Brings dangers, troubles, cares, and sleepless nights, - To him who wears the regal diadem.’ - - · · · · · - - ‘O polish’d perturbation! golden care! - That keep’st the ports of slumber open wide - To many a watchful night!’— - _Henry IV_, Part 2, iv, 4. - - _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. - - -The strong antagonisms in mind, in disposition, and in tastes, which -existed between GEORGE THE THIRD and GEORGE THE FOURTH, may be seen in -the small and incidental acts of their respective lives, almost as -distinctly, and as sharply defined, as they are seen in their private -lives, or in their characteristic modes of transacting the public -business. [Sidenote: THE CONTRASTS BETWEEN GEORGE III AND GEORGE IV.] -GEORGE THE THIRD regretted the giving away of the old ‘Royal Library’ of -the Kings his ancestors, not because he grudged a liberal use of royal -books by private scholars, but because he thought a fine Library was the -necessary appendage of a palace. He occasionally stinted himself of some -of his personal enjoyments in life, in order to have the more means to -amass books. He formed, during his own lifetime, a Library which is -probably both larger and finer than any like Collection ever made by any -one man, even under the advantageous conditions of royalty. When he had -collected his books, he made them liberally accessible. To himself, as -we all know, Nature had not given any very conspicuous faculty for -turning either books or men to good account; nor had education done much -to improve the parts he possessed. - -GEORGE THE FOURTH, as it seems, regretted the formation of the new Royal -Library by the King his father, because, when he inherited it, he found -that its decent maintenance and upkeeping would demand every year a sum -of money which he could spend in ways far more to his taste. He had been -far better educated than his father had been. And to him Nature had -given good abilities; but study was about the last and least likely use -to which, at any time, he was inclined to apply them. If he saw any good -at all in having, on his accession, the ownership of a large Library, it -lay, not in the power it afforded him of benefiting literature, and the -labourers in literature, but in the possibility he saw that so fine a -collection of books might be made to produce a round sum of money. One -of his first thoughts about the matter was, that it would be a good -thing to offer his father’s beloved Library for sale—to the Emperor of -Russia. By what influences that shrewd scheme of turning a penny was -diverted will be seen in the sequel. - - -If GEORGE THE THIRD was, in respect to his parts, only slenderly -endowed, he had in another respect large gifts. Both his industry and -his power of sustained application were uncommon. And his conscientious -sense of responsibility for the use of such abilities as he had was no -less remarkable. Whatever may have been his mistakes in government, no -man ever sat on the British throne who was more thoroughly honest in his -intentions, or more deeply anxious to show, in the discharge of his -duties, his consciousness of being - - ‘Ever in his great taskmaster’s eye.’ - -That his public acts did not more adequately correspond with his good -desires was due, in large measure, to an infelicitous parentage and a -narrow education. - -As the father of lies sometimes speaks truth, so a mere party manifesto -may sometimes give sound advice, though clothed in a discreditable garb. -[Sidenote: THE EDUCATION OF GEORGE III, AFTER THE DEATH OF FREDERICK, -PRINCE OF WALES.] When public attention came first to be attracted to -the character of the peculiar influences which began to mould the -training of the young Prince of WALES soon after his father’s death, a -Court Chamberlain received, one morning, by the post, an unsigned -document, which he thought it his duty to place in the hands of the -Prime Minister, and he, when he had read it, thought the paper important -enough to be laid before the King. This anonymous memorial denounced, as -early as in the winter of 1752 (when the Prince was but fourteen years -old), the sort of education which GEORGE THE THIRD was receiving as -being likely to initiate an unfortunate reign. - -The paper (which I have now before me) is headed: ‘_A Memorial of -several Noblemen and Gentlemen of the first rank_,’ and in the course of -it there is an assertion—as being already matter of public -notoriety—‘that books inculcating the worst maxims of government, and -defending the most avowed tyrannies, have been put into the hands of the -Prince of Wales,’ and such a fact, it is said, ‘cannot but affect the -memorialists with the most melancholy apprehensions when they find that -the men who had the honesty and resolution to complain of such -astonishing methods of instruction are driven away from Court, and the -men who have dared to teach such doctrines are continued in trust and -favour.’[12] - -[Sidenote: _A Memorial_, &c.; MS. ADDIT. 6271, fol. 3.] - -Making all allowance for partisan feeling and for that tinge of Whig -oligarchism which peeps out, as well in the very title, as in the -contents of this ‘Memorial,’ there was obvious truth in the -denunciation, and a modicum of true prophecy in the inference. But such -a remonstrance had just as little effect, in the way of checking undue -influences, as it had of wisdom in the form given to it, or in the mode -of its presentation at Court. - -[Sidenote: NARROW RANGE OF GEORGE THE THIRD’S TASTES FOR BOOKS.] - -The Prince’s education was not merely imbued with ideas and maxims -little likely to conduce towards a prosperous reign. It was -intellectually narrow and mean. He grew up, for example, in utter -ignorance of many of the great lights of English literature. In respect -to all books, save one (that, happily, the greatest of all), he became -one of those who, through life, draw from the small cisterns, instead of -going to the deep wells. He seems to have been trained to think that the -literary glories of his country began with the age of Queen ANNE. - -In after-years, GEORGE THE THIRD attained to some dim consciousness of -his own narrowness of culture. The ply, however, had been too early -taken to be got rid of. No training, probably, could have made him a -scholar. But his powers of application under wise direction would have -opened to him stores of knowledge, from which unwise influences shut him -out for life. His faculty of perseverance in study, it must be -remembered, was backed by thorough honesty of nature, and by an ability -to withstand temptations. When he was entering his nineteenth year, a -sub-preceptor, who had watched him sedulously, said of him: ‘He is a lad -of good principle. He has no heroic strain, and no turn for -extravagance. He loves peace, and, as yet, has shown very virtuous -principles. He has the greatest temptation to gallant with ladies, who -lay themselves out in the most shameless manner to draw him on, but to -no purpose.’ Certainly this last characteristic was neither an inherited -virtue nor an ancestral tradition. And it stands in curious contrast -with the tendencies of all his brothers and of almost all his sons. - -From youth upwards the Prince read much, though he did not read wisely. -No sooner was he King than he began to set about the collection of his -noble Library. In the choice of a librarian he was not infelicitous, -though the selection was in part dictated by a feeling of brotherly -kindness. For he chose a very near relative—Mr. afterwards Sir Frederick -Augusta BARNARD. Mr. BARNARD had many qualities which fitted him for his -task. - -[Sidenote: FOUNDATION OF THE NEW ROYAL LIBRARY.] - -The foundation of the Library was laid by a very fortunate purchase on -the Continent. Its increase was largely promoted by a political -revolution which ensued shortly afterwards; and, in order to turn his -large opportunities to most account, the King’s Librarian modestly -sought and instantly obtained the best advice which that generation -could afford him—the advice of Samuel JOHNSON. - -In 1762, the fine Library of Joseph SMITH, who had been British Consul -at Venice during many years, was bought for the King. It cost about ten -thousand pounds. SMITH had ransacked Italy for choice books, much as his -contemporary, Sir William HAMILTON, had ransacked that country for -choice vases. And he had been not less successful in his quest. In -amassing early and choice editions of the classics, and also the -curiosities and rarities of fifteenth century printing, he had been -especially lucky. From the same source, but at a later date, GEORGE THE -THIRD also obtained a fine gallery of pictures and a collection of coins -and gems. For these he gave twenty thousand pounds. [Sidenote: -_Dactyliotheca Smithiana_; 1767; Lady M. W. Montagu, _Letters_, vol. -iii, p. 89.] For seven or eight years the shops and warehouses of -English booksellers were also sedulously examined, and large purchases -were made from them. In this labour JOHNSON often assisted, actively, as -well as by advice. - -When the suppression of the Jesuits in many parts of Europe made the -literary treasures which that busy Society had collected—often upon a -princely scale and with admirable taste, so far as their limitations -permitted—both the King and his librarian were struck with the idea that -another fine opportunity opened itself for book-buying on the Continent. -It was resolved that Mr. BARNARD should travel for the purpose of -profiting by it. Before he set out on his journey, he betook himself to -JOHNSON for counsel as to the best way of setting about the task. - -JOHNSON’S counsel may be thus abridged: The literature of every country -may be best gathered on its native soil. And the studies of the learned -are everywhere influenced by peculiarities of government and of -religion. In Italy you may, therefore, expect to meet with abundance of -the works of the Canonists and the Schoolmen; in Germany with store of -writers on the Feudal Laws; in Holland you will find the booksellers’ -shops swarming with the works of the Civilians. [Sidenote: SUBSTANCE OF -JOHNSON’S ADVICE ON THE COLLECTION OF THE KING’S LIBRARY.] Of Canonists -a few of the most eminent will suffice. Of the Schoolmen a liberal -supply will be a valuable addition to the King’s Library. The -departments of Feudal and Civil Law you can hardly render too complete. -In the Feudal Constitutions we see the origin of our property laws. Of -the Civil Law it is not too much to say that it is a regal study. - -In respect to standard books generally, continued JOHNSON, a Royal -Library ought to have the earliest or most curious edition, the most -sumptuous edition, and also the most useful one, which will commonly be -one of the latest impressions of the book. As to the purchase of entire -libraries in bulk, the Doctor inclined to think—even a century ago—that -the inconvenience would commonly almost overbalance the advantage, on -the score of the excessive accumulation of duplicate copies. - -And then he added a remark which (long years afterwards) Sir Richard -Colt HOARE profited by, and made a source of profit to our National -Museum. ‘I am told,’ said JOHNSON, ‘that scarcely a village of Italy -wants its historian. And it will be of great use to collect, in every -place, maps of the adjacent country, and plans of towns, buildings, and -gardens. By this care you will form a more valuable body of geography -than could otherwise be had.’ - -On that point—as, indeed, on all the points about which he gave -advice—JOHNSON’S counsel bore excellent fruit. The ‘body of geography’ -contained in the Georgian Library has never, I think, been surpassed in -any one Collection (made by a single Collector) in the world. It laid, -substantially, the foundation of the noble assemblage of charts and maps -which now forms a separate Department of the Museum, under the able -superintendence of Mr. Richard Henry MAJOR, who has done much for the -advancement of geographical knowledge in many paths, but in none more -efficiently than in his Museum labours. - -Like good counsel was given to BARNARD by the great lexicographer, in -relation to the gathering of illustrated books. He told the King’s -Librarian that he ought to seek diligently for old books adorned with -woodcuts, because the designs were often those of great masters. - -[Sidenote: JOHNSON’S REMARK ON MODERN ILLUSTRATED BOOKS.] - -When to this remark the Doctor added the words: ‘Those old prints are -such as cannot be made by any artist now living,’ he asserted what was -undoubtedly true, if he limited that high praise to the best class of -the works of which he was speaking. But his words carry in them also an -indirect testimony of honour to GEORGE THE THIRD. If, in the century -which has passed since Samuel JOHNSON discussed with Frederick BARNARD -the wisest means of forming a Royal Library, a great stride has been -made by the arts of design in Britain, a share of the merit belongs to -the patriotic old King. He was amongst the earliest in his dominions to -encourage British art with an open hand. He was not only the founder of -the Royal Academy, but a most liberal patron to artists; and he did not -limit his patronage to those men alone who belonged to his own Academy. -If for a series of years the Royal Academy did less for Art, and did its -work in a more narrow spirit of coterie than it ought to have done, the -fault was not in the founder. And, of late years, the Academy itself -has, in many ways, nobly vindicated its foundation and the aid it has -received from the Public. Towards the foundation of the Academy, GEORGE -THE THIRD gave, from his privy purse, more than five thousand pounds. To -many of its members he was a genial friend, as well as a liberal patron. - -Many other institutions of public education shared his liberality. Some -generous benefactions which he gave to the British Museum itself, in the -earlier years of his reign, have been mentioned already. But there were -a crowd of other gifts, both in the earlier and in the later years, of -which the limits of this volume at present forbid me to make detailed -mention. - - -The Continental tour of Mr. BARNARD was very successful as to its main -object. He obtained such rich accessions for the Library as raised -it—especially in the various departments of Continental history and -literature—much above all other Libraries in Britain. - -[Sidenote: _Bibliotheca Askeviana_ (1775). _Literary Anecdotes of - Eighteenth Century_, vol. iv, p. 513 (183–).] - -Within a few years of his return to England the very choice Collection -which had been formed by Dr. Anthony ASKEW came into the market. For -this Library, in bulk, the King offered ASKEW’S representatives five -thousand pounds. They thought they could make more of the Collection by -an auction, but, in the event, obtained less than four thousand pounds. -The Askew Library extended only to three thousand five hundred and -seventy separate printed works, but it contained a large proportion of -rare and choice books. The chief buyers at the sale were the Duke of LA -VALLIÈRE and (through the agency of DE BURE) LEWIS THE SIXTEENTH. The -King of England bought comparatively little, although on this occasion -Mr. BARNARD could scarcely have withholden his hand on the score of the -special injunctions which the King had formerly laid down for his -guidance in such public competitions. - -For it deserves to be remembered that GEORGE THE THIRD’S conscientious -thoughtfulness for other people led him, early in his career as a -Collector, to give to his librarian a general instruction such as the -servants of wealthy Collectors rarely receive. ‘I do not wish you,’ he -said, ‘to bid either against a literary man who wants books for study, -or against a known Collector of small means.’ He was very free to bid, -on the other hand, against a Duke of ROXBURGHE or an Earl SPENCER. - -The King’s kindness of nature was also shown in the free access which he -at all times afforded to scholars and students in his own Library. To -this circumstance we owe some of the most interesting notices we have of -his opinions of authors and of books. - -[Sidenote: THE OLD LOCALITIES OF THE GEORGIAN LIBRARY.] - -In the earliest years of the Royal Collectorship part of the Library was -kept in the old palace at Kew, which has long since disappeared, the -site of it being now a gorgeous flower-bed. Afterwards, and on the -acquisition for the Queen, of Buckingham House,[13] the chief part of -the Collection was removed to Pimlico, and arranged in the handsome -rooms of which a view appears, by way of vignette, on the title-pages of -the sumptuously printed catalogue prepared by BARNARD. It was at -Buckingham House that JOHNSON’S well-known conversation with the King -took place, in February, 1767. - -When JOHNSON first began to use the Royal Collection it was still in its -infancy. He was surprised both at its extent and at the number of rare -and choice books which it already included. He had seen BARNARD’S -assiduity, and had helped him occasionally in his book-researches, long -prior to the tour of 1768. But it astonished him to see that the King, -within six or seven years, had gathered so fine a Library as that which -he saw in 1767. He became a frequent visitor. The King, hearing of the -circumstance, desired his librarian to let him know when the literary -autocrat came again. - -[Sidenote: THE INTERVIEW AT BUCKINGHAM HOUSE BETWEEN GEORGE III AND DR. - JOHNSON.] - -The King’s first questions were about the doings at Oxford, whence, he -had been told, Johnson had recently returned. The Doctor expressed his -inability to bestow much commendation on the diligence then exhibited -by the resident scholars of the University in the way of any -conspicuous additions to literature. [Sidenote: 1767, February.] -Presently, the King put to him the question, ‘And what are you about -yourself?’ ‘I think,’ was the answer—given in a tone more modest than -the strict sense of the words may import—‘that I have already done my -part as a writer.’ To which the King rejoined, ‘I should think so too, -had you not written so well.’ After this happy retort, the King turned -the conversation on some recent theological controversies. About that -between WARBURTON and LOWTH he made another neat though obvious -remark—‘When it comes to calling names, argument, truly, is pretty -well at an end.’ They then passed in review many of the periodical -publications of the day, in the course of which His Majesty displayed -considerable knowledge of the chief books of that class, both English -and French. [Sidenote: Croker’s _Boswell_, pp. 184–186.] He showed his -characteristic and kingly attention to minutiæ by an observation which -he made when JOHNSON had praised an improved arrangement of the -contents of the _Philosophical Transactions_—oblivious, at the moment, -that he had himself suggested the change. ‘They have to thank Dr. -JOHNSON for that,’ said the King. - -Another remark made by GEORGE THE THIRD during this conversation -deserves to be remembered. ‘I wish,’ said he, ‘that we could have a -really well-executed body of British Biography.’ This was a desideratum -in the seventh year of the old King, and it is a desideratum still in -the thirty-fourth year of his granddaughter. The reign of Queen VICTORIA -was comparatively young when the late Mr. MURRAY first announced, not -without some flourish of trumpets, a forthcoming attempt at such a -labour, but the little that was said as to the precise plan and scope of -the work then contemplated, gave small promise of an adequate -performance; and hitherto there has been no performance at all. - -[Sidenote: THE KING’S CONVERSATION WITH DR. BEATTIE;] - -Six years after the interview with JOHNSON, another literary -conversation, of which we have a record, was held in the Royal Library. -But on this occasion the scene was Kew. Dr. BEATTIE’S fame is now a -thing of the past. There is still, however, some living interest in the -account of the talk between the author of _The Minstrel_ and his -sovereign, held in 1773, [Sidenote: 1773. August.] about liturgies, -[Sidenote: Forbes, _Life of Beattie_, vol. i, pp. 347–354.] about -prayers occasional and prayers _ex tempore_, and about the methods of -education adopted in the Scottish universities. - -The King’s least favourable—but not least characteristic—appearance, as -a talker on literary subjects, is made in that conversation with Miss -BURNEY, [Sidenote: AND WITH MISS BURNEY.] in which he uttered his -often-quoted remark on SHAKESPEARE:—‘Was there ever such stuff as great -part of _Shakespeare_—only one must not say so?’ [Sidenote: 1785. -December.] The sense of the humorous seems in GEORGE III to have been -wholly lacking. And some part of the sadness of his life has probably a -vital connexion with that deficiency. - -In the last-mentioned conversation, the King evinced considerable -acquaintance with French literature. He shared, to some extent, the then -very general admiration for ROUSSEAU, on whom he had bestowed more than -one act of kindness during the brief English exile of the author of -_Emile_. [Sidenote: D’Arblay, _Diary_, vol. ii, pp. 395–398.] He shared, -also, the common impression as to the absence of gratitude in the -brilliant Frenchman’s character. When Miss BURNEY told him that his own -portrait had been seen to occupy the most conspicuous place in -ROUSSEAU’S living-room after his return to France, the King was both -surprised and touched. - - -Next after the large and choice acquisitions made for the King’s Library -on the Continent, some of its most conspicuous and valuable literary -treasures were acquired at the several sales, in London, of the -Libraries of James WEST (1773), of John RATCLIFFE (1776), and of Richard -FARMER (1798). It was at the first of these sales that GEORGE THE THIRD -laid the foundation of his unequalled series of the productions of the -father of English printing. - -[Sidenote: GEORGE THE THIRD’S SERIES OF BOOKS FROM CAXTON’S PRESS.] - -The _Caxtons_ bought for the King at West’s sale included the dearly -prized _Recuyell of the Histories of Troye_ (1472–1474?), the _Booke of -the Chesse_ (1476?), the _Canterbury Tales_ of CHAUCER (1478?), the -_Dictes and Sayinges of the Philosophers_ (1480), the _Mirrour of the -World_ (1481), the _Godfrey of Boloyne_ (1482), the _Confessio Amantis_ -(1483), the _Paris and Vienne_ (1485), and the _Royal Booke_ (1487?). Of -these, the lowest in price was the _Confessio_ of 1483, which the King -acquired for nine guineas, and the highest in price was the _Chaucer_ of -1478, which cost him forty-seven pounds fifteen shillings. - -At the same sale, he also acquired another Caxton, which has a peculiar -interest. The King’s copy of the _Troylus and Creside_ (probably printed -in the year 1484) formerly belonged - - ‘To Her, most gentle, most unfortunate, - Crowned but to die—who in her chamber sate - Musing with Plato, though the horn was blown, - And every ear and every heart was won, - And all, in green array, were chasing down the sun;’ - -and it bears her autograph. - -Three years after the dispersion of WEST’S Library came that of the -extraordinary Collection which had been made by a Bermondsey -ship-chandler, John RATCLIFFE by name. This worthy and fortunate -Collector has been said, commonly, to have amassed his black-letter -curiosities by buying them, at so much a pound, over his counter.[14] -But of such windfalls no man has ever been so lucky as to have more than -a few. [Sidenote: JOHN RATCLIFFE OF BERMONDSEY AND HIS CURIOUS LIBRARY.] -John RATCLIFFE was, like his King, a large buyer at WEST’S sale, and at -many other sales, upon the ordinary terms. - -By pains and perseverance he had collected of books printed by CAXTON -the extraordinary number of forty-eight. No Collector ever surpassed, or -even reached, that number, except Robert HARLEY, in whose days books -that are now worth three hundred pounds could, not infrequently, be -bought for much less than the half of three hundred pence. - -RATCLIFFE’S forty-eight _Caxtons_ produced at his sale two hundred and -thirty-six pounds. The King bought twenty of them at an aggregate cost -of about eighty-five pounds. Amongst them were the _Boethius_, of 1478; -the _Reynarde the Foxe_, of 1481; the _Golden Legende_, and the -_Curial_, both of 1484; and the _Speculum Vitæ Christi_, probably -printed in 1488. The _Boethius_ is a fine copy, and was obtained for -four pounds six shillings. A few years ago an imperfect copy of the same -book brought more than sixteen times that sum. - -[Sidenote: GIFTS TO THE KING’S LIBRARY.] - -Two others of the King’s _Caxtons_ were the gift of Jacob BRYANT. One of -these is Ralph LEFEVRE’S _Recueil des histoires de Troye_, printed, -probably, in 1476. The other is the _Doctrinal of Sapience_, printed in -1489. This last-named volume is on vellum, and is the only copy so -printed which is known to exist. A third Caxton volume was bequeathed to -GEORGE THE THIRD by Mr. HEWETT, of Ipswich. This is the _Æsop_ of 1484, -and is the only extant copy. [Sidenote: GEORGE III AND THE BIBLIOMANIA.] -It was delivered to the King by Sir John HEWETT and Mr. Philip BROKE, -the legator’s executors. GEORGE THE THIRD was very sensitive to the -special triumphs of collectorship, and would be sure to prize the _Æsop_ -all the more for its attribute of uniqueness. - -A story in illustration of this specific tinge of the bibliomania in our -royal Collector was wont to be told by Sir Walter SCOTT, and is -mentioned in his interesting obituary notice of the King, printed in the -_Edinburgh Weekly Journal_[15] immediately after the King’s death. -According to SCOTT, GEORGE THE THIRD was fond of crowing a little over -his brother-collector, the Duke of ROXBURGHE, on the score that the -royal copy of the famous _Recuyell of the Histories of Troye_ had a -pre-eminence over the Roxburghe copy. The pre-eminence was of a sort, -indeed, to which no one but a thorough-paced Collector would be -sensible. For it consisted in the ‘locking,’ or wrong imposing, of -certain pages, afterwards corrected at press. The fault, therefore, -indicated priority of working off. But I do not find in the King’s -_Recuyell_—which now lies before me—the peculiarity spoken of in the -poet’s story. Such a fault does exist in the Roxburghe copy, which now -belongs to the Duke of DEVONSHIRE. Other and authenticated anecdotes, -however, are abundant, which suffice to show the close knowledge of, and -the keen interest in, his books, by which GEORGE THE THIRD was -characterised. It was a still better trait in him that he found real -pleasure in knowing that the treasures and rarities of his Library -subserved the inquiries and studies of scholars. Nor did he make narrow -limitations. Men like JOHNSON and Bishop HORSLEY profited by the -Collection. So, too, did men like GIBBON and PRIESTLEY. - -The total number of Caxton prints amassed by GEORGE III was thirty-nine. -Of these three are in the Royal Library at Windsor—namely, the _Recueil_ -(1476?), the _Æsop_ (1484), and the _Doctrinal_ (1489). - - -[Sidenote: GEORGE THE THIRD’S APPEARANCE AS AN AUTHOR.] - -To a keen enjoyment of the pleasures of collectorship, the King added, -in 1787, a passing taste of those of authorship. As a Collector, the -bibliomania did not engross him. He had a delight in amassing fine -plants as well as fine books. The _Hortus Kewensis_ (in both -applications of the term) was largely indebted to his liberality of -expenditure and to his far-spread research. He sent botanic missionaries -to the remotest parts of Asia, as well as to Africa. He took the most -cordial interest in those varied voyages of discovery which—as I have -observed in a former chapter—cast so distinctive a lustre on his reign, -and in consequence of which such large additions were made to our -natural history collections, public and private. And he did much to -promote scientific agriculture, both by precept and by example. It was -as a practical agriculturist that the King (under a slight veil of -pseudonymity[16]) made his bow to the reading public by the publication -of seven articles in Arthur YOUNG’S useful and then well-known -periodical, the _Annals of Agriculture_. - -Those articles have a threefold aim. They inculcate the wisdom, for -certain soils, of an intermediate system of treatment and of cropping, -midway between the old routine and the drill-husbandry, then of recent -introduction; they describe several new implements, introduced by DUCKET -of Esher and of Petersham; and they advocate an almost entire rejection -of fallows. They further describe a method, also introduced by Farmer -DUCKET, and then peculiar, of destroying that farmer’s pest, couch-grass -(_triticum repens_), by trench-ploughing it deep into the ground, and -contain many other practical suggestions, some of which seem to have -been empirical, and others so good that they have become trite. - -But the best service rendered by GEORGE THE THIRD to the agricultural -pursuits, of which he was so fond, was his introduction of the Merino -flocks, which became conspicuous ornaments to the great and little parks -at Windsor. Part of the success which, for a time, attended the -importation of those choice Merino breeds was due to the zealous -co-operation of Lord SOMERVILLE and of Sir Joseph BANKS [see the next -chapter], but the King himself took a real initiative in the matter; -acquired real knowledge about it; and deserved, by his personal efforts, -the cognomen given him (by some of those worthy farmers who used to -attend the annual sales at Windsor) of ‘the Royal Shepherd.’ - -[Sidenote: ILLNESS OF GEORGE III;] - -The recreative pursuits, alike of the book-collector and of the -agriculturist, as well as the labours of the conscientious monarch, were -at length to be arrested by that great calamity which, after clouding -over some months of the years of vigour, was destined to veil in thick -gloom all the [Sidenote: 1810.] years of decline—the years when great -public triumphs and crushing family afflictions passed equally unnoted -by the recluse of Windsor. - - ‘Thy lov’d ones fell around thee. - ... Thou, meanwhile, - Didst walk unconscious through thy royal towers, - The one that wept _not_, in the tearful isle! - - · · · · · - - But who can tell what visions might be thine? - The stream of thought, though broken, still was pure. - Still on that wave the stars of Heaven might shine - Where earthly image would no more endure. - Nor might the phantoms to thy spirit known, - Be dark or wild,—creations of Remorse,— - Unstain’d by thee, the blameless Past had thrown - No fearful shadows o’er the Future’s course.’ - -[Sidenote: AND HIS DEATH.] - -When GEORGE THE THIRD died at Windsor Castle, on the 29th of January, -1820, the public mourning was sincere. [Sidenote: 1820. January.] During -its ten years of rule, the Regency had done very much to heighten and -intensify regret for the calamity of 1810. The errors of the old monarch -came, naturally, to be dwarfed to the view, when his private virtues -acquired all the sharp saliency of contrast. - -Since his death, political writers have usually been somewhat harsh to -his memory. But the verdict of history has not yet been given in. When -the time for its delivery shall at length come, there will be a long -roll of good deeds to set off against many mistakes in policy. Nor will -the genuine piety, and the earnest conscientiousness of the individual -man—up to the measure of the light vouchsafed to him—be forgotten in the -preliminary summing up. What GEORGE THE THIRD did for Britain simply in -conferring upon it the social blessings of a pure Court, and of a bright -personal example, is best to be estimated by contemplating what, in that -respect, existed before it, and also what came immediately after it. -Comparisons of such a sort will serve, eventually, to better purpose -than that of feathering the witty shafts of reckless satirists, whether -in prose or in verse. Meanwhile, it is enough to say that no honester, -no more God-fearing man, than was GEORGE THE THIRD, ever sat upon the -throne of England. - - -During all the time of his long illness, the King’s Library had -continued, more or less, to grow. When he died, it contained sixty-five -thousand two hundred and fifty volumes, besides more than nineteen -thousand unbound tracts. [Sidenote: STATE OF THE KING’S LIBRARY IN -JANUARY, 1820.] These have since been bound severally. The total number -of volumes, therefore, which the Collection comprised was about -eighty-four thousand. At the time of the King’s decease, the annual cost -of books in progress, and of periodical works, somewhat exceeded one -thousand pounds. The annual salaries of the staff—four officers and two -servants—amounted to eleven hundred and seventy-one pounds. The Library -occupied a fine and extensive suite of rooms in Buckingham Palace. One -of them was large enough to make a noble billiard-room. - -The Royal Library, therefore, embarrassed King GEORGE THE FOURTH in two -ways. It cost two thousand two hundred pounds a year, even without -making any new additions to its contents. It occupied much space in the -royal residence which could be devoted to more agreeable purposes. Then -came the welcome thought that, instead of being a charge, it might be -made a source of income. The Emperor of Russia was known to covet, as a -truly imperial luxury, what to the new King of Great Britain was but a -costly burden. He broached the idea—but met, instead of encouragement, -with strong remonstrance. - -The news of the royal suggestion soon spread abroad. Amongst those who -heard of it with disgust were Lord FARNBOROUGH (who is said to have -learnt the design in talking, one day, with Princess LIEVEN) and Richard -HEBER. Both men bestirred themselves to prevent the King from publicly -disgracing the country in that way. Lord FARNBOROUGH betook himself to a -conference with the Premier, Lord LIVERPOOL. Mr. HEBER discussed the -matter with Lord SIDMOUTH. By the ministers, public opinion upon the -suggested sale was pretty strongly and emphatically conveyed to His -Majesty, whatever may have been the courtliness of tone employed about -it. - -[Sidenote: CONFERENCE BETWEEN GEORGE IV AND HIS MINISTERS ON DISPOSAL OF - THE LIBRARY.] - -GEORGE THE FOURTH, however, was not less strongly impressed by the -charms of the prospective rubles from Russia. He felt that he could find -pleasant uses for a windfall of a hundred and eighty thousand pounds, or -so. And he fought hard to secure his expected prize—or some indubitably -solid equivalent. [Sidenote: R. Ford, in the _Quarterly Review_ (Dec., -1850), vol. lxxxviii, p. 143;] ‘If I can’t have the rubles,’ said the -King, ‘you must find me their value in pounds sterling.’ The Ministers -were much in earnest to save the Library, and, in the emergency, laid -their hands upon a certain surplus which had accrued from a fund -furnished some years before by France, to meet British claims for losses -sustained at the date of the first French Revolution. [Sidenote: Comp. -_Minutes of Evidence taken by the Commissioners on Brit. Mus._ (also in -1850), pp. 117, 118.] But the expedient became the subject of an -unpleasant hint in the House of Commons. And the Government, it is said, -then resorted to that useful fund, the ‘Droits of Admiralty.’ By hook or -crook, GEORGE THE FOURTH received his ‘equivalent.’ He then sat down to -his writing-table (at Brighton), to assure Lord LIVERPOOL—in his -official capacity—of the satisfaction he felt in having ‘this means of -advancing the Literature of my Country.’ Then he proceeded to add:—‘I -also feel that I am paying a just tribute to the memory of a Parent, -whose life was adorned with every public and private virtue.’ - - -The Executors or Trustees of King GEORGE THE THIRD knew well what the -monarch’s feelings about his Library would, in all reasonable -probability, have been, had he possessed mental vigour when preparing -for his last change. They exacted from the Trustees of the Museum a -pledge that the Royal Library should be preserved apart, and entire. - -[Sidenote: THE NEW BUILDING ERECTED FOR THE GEORGIAN LIBRARY.] - -Parliament, on its side, made a liberal provision for the erection of a -building worthy to receive the Georgian Library. The fine edifice raised -in pursuance of a parliamentary vote cost a hundred and forty thousand -pounds. [Sidenote: 1821–28.] It provided one of the handsomest rooms in -Europe for the main purpose, and it also made much-needed arrangements -for the reception and exhibition of natural-history Collections, above -the books. - -The removal of the Royal Library from Buckingham House was not completed -until August, 1828. All who saw the Collection whilst the building was -in its first purity of colour—and who were old enough to form an opinion -on such a point—pronounced the receptacle to be eminently worthy of its -rich contents. The floor-cases and the heavy tables—very needful, no -doubt—have since detracted not a little from the architectural effect -and elegance of the room itself. - -Along with the printed books, and the extensive geographical -Collections, came a number of manuscripts—on historical, literary, and -geographical subjects.[17] By some transient forgetfulness of the pledge -given to Lord FARNBOROUGH, the manuscripts, or part of them, were, in -March, 1841, sent to the ‘Manuscript Department’ of the Museum. -[Sidenote: _Minutes of Evidence_ (1850), as above.] But Mr. PANIZZI, -then the Keeper of the Printed Books, successfully reclaimed them for -their due place of deposit, according to the arrangement of 1823. Nor -was such a claim a mere official punctilio. - -In every point of view, close regard to the wishes of donors, or of -those who virtually represent them, is not more a matter of simple -justice than it is a matter of wise and foreseeing policy in the -Trustees of Public Museums. The integrity of their Collections is often, -and naturally, an anxious desire of those who have formed them. In a -subsequent chapter (C. ii of Book III) it will be seen that the wish -expressed by the representatives of King GEORGE THE THIRD was also the -wish of a munificent contemporary and old minister of his, who, many -years afterwards, gave to the Nation a Library only second in splendour -to that which had been gathered by GEORGE THE THIRD. - -Not the least curious little fact connected with the Georgian Library -and its gift to the Public, is that the gift was _predicted_ thirty-one -years before GEORGE THE FOURTH wrote his letter addressed to Lord -LIVERPOOL from the Pavilion at Brighton, and twenty-eight years before -the death of GEORGE THE THIRD. - -In 1791, Frederick WENDEBORN wrote thus:—‘The King’s private Library ... -can boast very valuable and magnificent books, which, as it is said, -will be one time or another joined to those of the British Museum.’ -WENDEBORN[18] was a German preacher, resident in London for many years. -He was known to Queen CHARLOTTE, and had occasional intercourse with the -Court. May it not be inferred that on some occasion or other the King -had intimated, if not an intention, at least a thought on the matter, -which some courtier or other had repeated in the hearing of Dr. -WENDEBORN? - - - - - CHAPTER V. - THE FOUNDER OF THE BANKSIAN MUSEUM AND LIBRARY. - - ‘It may be averred for truth that they be not the highest instances - that give the best and surest information.... It often comes to pass - [in the study of Nature] that small and mean things conduce more to - the discovery of great matters, than great things to the discovery of - small matters.’—BACON. - - ‘Not every man is fit to travel. Travel makes a wise man better, but a - fool worse.’—OWEN FELLTHAM. - - _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._ - - -[Sidenote: BOOK II, Chap. V. THE FOUNDER OF THE BANKSIAN MUSEUM AND - LIBRARY.] - -We have now to glance at the career—personal and scientific—of an -estimable public benefactor, with whom King GEORGE THE THIRD had much -pleasant intercourse, both of a public and a private kind. Sir Joseph -BANKS was almost five years younger than his royal friend and -correspondent, but he survived the King by little more than three -months, so that the Georgian and the Banksian Libraries were very nearly -contemporaneous accessions. The former, as we have seen, was given in -1823, and fully received in 1828; the latter was bequeathed -(conditionally) in 1820, and received in 1827. These two accessions, -taken conjointly, raised the Museum collection of books (for the first -time in its history) to a respectable rank amongst the National -Libraries of the day. The Banksian bequest made also an important -addition to the natural-history collections, especially to the herbaria. -It is as a cultivator and promoter of the natural sciences, and -pre-eminently of botany, that Sir Joseph won for himself enduring fame. -But he was also conspicuous for those personal and social qualities -which are not less necessary to the man, than are learning and -liberality to the philosopher. For the lack of such personal qualities -some undoubted public benefactors have been, nevertheless, bad citizens. -In this public benefactor both sets of faculties were harmoniously -combined. They shone in his form and countenance. They yet dwell in the -memory of a survivor or two, here and there, who were the contemporaries -of his closing years. - -Joseph BANKS was born at Reresby Abbey, in Lincolnshire, on the -thirteenth of December, 1743. He was the only son of William -BANKS-HODGKENSON, of Reresby ABBEY, by his wife Sophia BATE. - -[Sidenote: THE BANKESES OF RERESBY ABBEY.] - -Mr. BANKS-HODGKENSON was the descendant of a Yorkshire family, which was -wont, of old, to write itself ‘Banke,’ and was long settled at -Banke-Newton, in the wapentake of Staincliffe. The second son of a -certain Henry BANKE, of Banke-Newton, acquired, by marriage, Beck Hall, -in Giggleswick; and by his great-grandson, the first Joseph BANKES, -Reresby Abbey was purchased towards the close of the seventeenth -century. His son (also Joseph) sat in Parliament for Peterborough, and -served as Sheriff of Lincolnshire in 1736. The second (and eldest -surviving) son of the Member for Peterborough took the name of -HODGKENSON, as heir to his mother’s ancestral estate of Overton, in -Derbyshire, but on the death of his elder brother (and his consequent -heirship) resumed the paternal name, and resigned the Overton estate to -his next brother, who became Robert HODGKENSON, of Overton. Mr. -BANKS-HODGKENSON died in 1761, leaving to his son, afterwards Sir Joseph -BANKS, a plentiful estate. - -The youngster was then little more than beginning his career at Oxford, -whither he had recently come from Eton, though his schooling had been -begun at Harrow. [Sidenote: EARLY YEARS OF SIR JOSEPH BANKS.] He was -‘lord of himself,’ and of a fine fortune, at the critical age of -eighteen. To many, such an inheritance, under like circumstances, has -brought misery. To Joseph BANKS, it brought noble means for the -prosecution of a noble aim. It was the ambition of this young -Etonian—not to eclipse jockies, or to dazzle the eyes of fools, but—to -tread in the footsteps of LINNÆUS. Rich, hardy, and handsome in person, -sanguine in temperament, and full of talent, he resolved that, for some -years to come, after leaving the University, the life that might so -easily be brimmed with enjoyments should incur many privations and face -many hardships, in order to win both knowledge and the power of -benefiting the Public by its communication. That object of early -ambition, it will be seen, was abundantly realised in the after-years. - -There is no reason to think that a resolution, not often formed at such -an age as eighteen, was come to in the absence of temptation to a -different course. BANKS was no ascetic. Nor was it his fortune, at any -time, to live much with ascetics. One of his earliest friends was that -Lord SANDWICH[19] whose memory now chiefly connects itself with the -unsavoury traditions of Medmenham Abbey, and with the peculiar pursuits -in literature of John WILKES. With SANDWICH he spent many of the bright -days of youth in fishing on Whittlesea Mere. BANKS had the good -fortune—and the skill—to make his early acquaintanceship with the future -First Lord of the Admiralty conducive to the interests of science. The -connexion with the Navy of another friend of his youth, Henry PHIPPS, -afterwards Earl of MULGRAVE, was also turned, eventually, to good -account in the same way. - -Part of young BANKS’ vacations were passed at Reresby and in frequent -companionship with Lord SANDWICH; part at his mother’s jointure-house at -Chelsea, very near to the fine botanic garden which, a few years before, -had been so much enriched by the liberality of Sir Hans SLOANE. In that -Chelsea garden, and in other gardens at Hammersmith, BANKS studied -botany with youthful ardour. And he made frequent botanic excursions in -the then secluded neighbourhood. In the course of one of these rambles -he fell under suspicion of felony. - -[Sidenote: BANKS’ YOUTHFUL ADVENTURE NEAR HAMMERSMITH.] - -He was botanizing in a ditch, and his person happened to be partially -concealed by a thick growth of briars and nettles, at a moment when two -or three constables, who were in chase of a burglar, chanced to approach -the spot. The botanist’s clothes were in a miry condition, and his -suspicious posture excited in the minds of the local Dogberries the idea -that here they had their man. They were deaf to all expostulations. The -future President of the Royal Society was dragged, by ignominious hands, -before the nearest justice. The magistrate agreed with the constables -that the case looked black, but, before committing either the prisoner -or himself, he directed that the culprit’s pockets should be searched. -They contained little money, and no watches; but an extraordinary -abundance of plants and wild flowers. The explanations which before had -been refused were now accepted, and very courteous apologies were -tendered to the victim of an excess of official zeal. But the -awkwardness of the adventure failed to deter the sufferer from his eager -pursuit, in season and out of it, of his darling science. A botanist he -was to be. - -He left Oxford in 1763, and almost instantly set out on a scientific -voyage to Newfoundland and Labrador. [Sidenote: THE FIRST VOYAGE OF -EXPLORATION TO NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR.] Here he laid the first -substantial groundwork of his future collections in natural history. He -sailed with PHIPPS, who was already a captain in the Navy, and had been -charged with the duty of protecting the Newfoundland fisheries. -[Sidenote: 1763.] The voyage proved to be one of some hardship, but its -privations rather sharpened than dulled the youthful naturalist’s -appetite for scientific explorations. He had learned thus early to -endure hardness, for a worthy object. - -[Sidenote: THE SECOND VOYAGE;—TO THE SOUTH SEAS.] - -His second voyage was to the South Seas, and it was made in company with -the most famous of the large band of eighteenth century maritime -discoverers—James COOK, [Sidenote: 1768.] and also with a favourite -pupil of LINNÆUS (the idol of BANKS’ youthful fancy), Daniel Charles -SOLANDER, who, though he was little above thirty years of age, had -already won some distinction in England, and had been made an -Assistant-Librarian in the British Museum.[20] - -To make the voyage of _The Endeavour_ as largely conducive as was -possible to the interests of the natural sciences, Mr. BANKS incurred -considerable personal expense, and he induced the Admiralty to make -large efforts, on its part, to promote and secure the various objects of -the new expedition. One of those objects was the observation at Otaheite -of a coming transit of Venus over the Sun; another was the further -progress of geographical discovery in a quarter of the world to which -public interest was at that time specially and strongly turned. BANKS, -individually, was also bent on collecting specimens in all departments -of natural history, and on promoting geographical knowledge by the -completest possible collection of drawings, maps, and charts of all that -was met with. He engaged Dr. SOLANDER as his companion, and gave him a -salary of four hundred pounds a year. With them sailed two draughtsmen -and a secretary, besides four servants. - -[Sidenote: THE BOTANICAL EXPLORATIONS AT TERRA-DEL-FUEGO.] - -_The Endeavour_ set sail from Plymouth on the twenty-sixth of August, -1768, and from Rio-de-Janeiro on the eighth of December. [Sidenote: -1769. January.] On the fourteenth of January, 1769, the naturalists -landed at Terra-del-Fuego, and they gathered more than a hundred plants -theretofore unknown to European botanists. Proud of their success, they -resolved that, after a brief rest, they would explore the higher -regions, in hope to reap a rich harvest of Alpine plants. SOLANDER, as a -Swede and as a traveller in Norway, knew something of the dangers they -would have to face. BANKS himself was not without experience. But both -were enterprising and resolute men. They set out on their long march in -the night of the fifteenth of January, in order to gain as much of -daylight as possible for the work of botanizing. They hoped to return to -the ship within ten hours. As they ascended, SOLANDER warned his -companions against the temptation that he knew awaited them of giving -way to sleep when overcome by the toil of walking. ‘Whoever sits down,’ -said he, ‘will be sure to sleep, and whoever sleeps will wake no more.’ -But the fatigue proved to be excessive. The foreseeing adviser was borne -down by it, and was the first to throw himself upon the snow. BANKS was -the younger man by six or seven years, and had a strong constitution. He -fought resolutely against temptation, and, with the help of the -draughtsmen, exerted himself with all his might to keep SOLANDER awake. -They succeeded in getting him to walk on for a few miles more. Then he -lay down again, with the words, ‘Sleep I must, for a few minutes.’ In -those few minutes the fierce cold almost paralysed his limbs. Two -servants (a seaman and a negro) imitated the Swede’s example, and were -really paralysed. With much grief, it was found that the servants must, -inevitably, be left to their fate. The party had wandered so far that -when they set about to return they were—if the return should be by the -way they had come—a long day’s journey from the ship. And their route -had lain through pathless woods. Their only food was a vulture. A third -man seemed in peril—momentarily—of death by exhaustion. Happily, a -shorter cut was found. Their journey had not been quite fruitless. But -they all felt that they had bought their botanical specimens at too dear -a rate. Two men were already dead. One of the draughtsmen seems to have -suffered so severely that he never recovered from the effects of the -journey. Mr. BUCHAN died, three months afterwards, in Otaheite, just -four days after they had landed in the celebrated island, to visit which -was among the especial objects of their mission. - -[Sidenote: THE STAY IN OTAHEITE.] - -The transit of Venus over the Sun’s disc was satisfactorily observed on -the third of June, [Sidenote: 1769.] but the observation had been nearly -foiled by the roguery of a native, who had carried off the quadrant. The -thief was found amongst several hundred of his fellows, and, but for a -characteristic combination in BANKS of frank good humour and of firm -hardihood, the spoil would not have been recovered. On this, as upon -many other occasions, both his fine personal qualities and his genial -manners marked him as a natural leader of men. On occasions, however, of -a more delicate kind they brought him into a peculiar peril. Queen -OBEREA fell in love with him. She was not herself without attractions. -And they were clad in all the graces of unadorned simplicity. The -poetical satirists of his day used Sir Joseph—after his return—with -cruel injustice if he was really quite so successful, in resisting -feminine charms in Otaheite, as he had formerly been at home. - -[Sidenote: THE VOYAGE TO NEW HOLLAND.] - -But however that may have been, his researches, as a naturalist, at -Otaheite were abundantly successful. And to the island, in return, he -was a friend and benefactor. [Sidenote: 1769–1770.] After a stay of -three months the explorers left Otaheite for New Holland on the 15th of -August, 1769. In Australia their collections were again very numerous -and valuable. But their long stay in explorations exposed them to two -great dangers, each of which was very nearly fatal to Mr. BANKS and to -most of his companions. They struck upon a rock, while coasting New -South Wales. Their escape was wonderful. The accident entailed an amount -of injury to the ship which brought them presently within a peril more -imminent still. Whilst making repairs in the noxious climate of Batavia, -a pestilence seized upon nearly all the Europeans. Seven, including the -ship’s surgeon, died in Batavia. Twenty-three, including the second -draughtsman, Mr. PARKINSON, died on shipboard afterwards. BANKS and -SOLANDER were so near death that their recovery seemed, to their -companions, almost miraculous. - -[Sidenote: THE RETURN HOME.] - -After leaving New South Wales and Batavia they had a prosperous passage -[Sidenote: 1771. June.] to the Cape—prosperous, save for the loss of -those whom the pestilence had previously stricken—and made some -additions to their scientific stores. _The Endeavour_ anchored in the -Downs on the 12th of June, 1771, after an absence of nearly three years. -Beyond the immediate and obvious scientific results of the voyage, it -was the means, eventually, of conferring an eminent benefaction on our -West Indian Colonies. It gave them the Bread-Fruit tree (_Artocarpus -incisa_). The transplantation of GOD’S bounties from clime to clime was -a favourite pursuit—and a life-long one—with Sir Joseph BANKS, and its -agencies cost him much time and thought, as well as no small expenditure -of fortune. - - -The hardships and sufferings of Terra-del-Fuego and of Batavia had not -yet taken off the edge of his appetite for remote voyages. [Sidenote: -THE EXPEDITION TO ICELAND.] He expended some thousands of pounds in -buying instruments and making preparations for a new expedition with -COOK, [Sidenote: 1772. July.] but the foolish and obstructive conduct of -our Navy Board inspired him with a temporary disgust. He then turned his -attention to Northern Europe. He resolved that after visiting the -western isles of Scotland he would explore Iceland. SOLANDER was again -his companion, together with two other northern naturalists, Drs. LIND -and VON TROIL. BANKS chartered a vessel at his own cost (amounting, for -the ship alone, to about six hundred pounds). - -Before starting for the cold north, they refreshed their eyes with the -soft beauties of the Isle of Wight. There, said one of the delighted -party, ‘Nature has spared none of her favours;’ and a good many of us -have unconsciously repeated his remark, long afterwards. They reached -the Western Isles of Scotland before the end of July, and, after a long -visit, explored Staffa, the wonders of which were then almost unknown. -Scientific attention, indeed, was first called to them by BANKS, when he -communicated to Thomas PENNANT, of Downing, his minute survey, and his -drawings of the basaltic columns. - -He thought that the mind can scarcely conceive of anything more -splendid, in its kind, than the now famous cave. [Sidenote: THE VISIT TO -STAFFA.] When he asked the local name of it, his guide gave him an -answer which, to Mr. BANKS, seemed to need explanation, [Sidenote: 1772. -August 12.] though the name has nowadays become but too familiar to our -ears. ‘The Cave of FIUHN,’ said the islander. ‘Who or what is “Fiuhn”?’ -rejoined BANKS. The stone, he says, of which the pillars are formed, is -a coarse kind of basalt, much resembling the ‘Giants’ Causeway’ in -Ireland, ‘though none of them so neat as the specimens of the latter -which I have seen at the British Museum.... [Sidenote: Banks to Pennant; -Aug., 1772.] Here, it is dirty brown; in the Irish, a fine black.’ But -he carried away with him the fullest impression of the amazing grandeur -of the whole scene. - -[Sidenote: THE TOUR IN ICELAND.] - -The tourists reached Iceland on the twenty-eighth of August. They -explored the country, and saw everything notable which it contained. On -the twenty-first of September they visited the most conspicuous of the -_geysers_, or hot-springs, and spent thirteen hours in examining them. -On the twenty-fourth, they explored Mount Hecla. - -The most famous geyser described by VON TROIL (who acted usually as -penman for the party) was situate near a farm called Harkaudal, about -two days’ journey from Hecla. You see, he tells us, a large expanse of -fields shut in, upon one side, by lofty snow-covered mountains, far -away, with their heads commonly shrouded in clouds, that occasionally -sink (under the force of a prevalent wind) so as to conceal the slopes, -while displaying the peaks. The peaks, at such moments, seem to spring -out of the clouds themselves. On another hand, Hecla is seen, with its -three ice-capped summits, and its volcanic vapours; and then, again, a -ridge of stupendous rocks, at the foot of which the boiling springs gush -forth, with deafening roar, and are backed by a broad marsh containing -forty or fifty other springs, or ‘geysers,’ from which arise immense -columns of vapour, subject of course to all the influences and -lightings-up of wind and sky. Our tourists carefully watched the -‘spoutings’ of the springs—which are always fitful—and, according to -their joint observations, some of these rose to the height of sixty -feet. [Sidenote: Von Troil to Bergmann; 7 Sept., 1773. (Abridged.)] -Occasionally—it has since been observed by later explorers—they reach to -an elevation of more than three times that number of feet. - -Nor did Mr. BANKS neglect the literature of Iceland, which abounds with -interest. He bought the Library of Halfdan EINARSSON, the literary -historian of Iceland, and made other large and choice collections. And -he presented the whole to the British Museum—after bestowing, I believe, -some personal study on their contents—upon his return to England at the -close of the year. - - -[Sidenote: SOCIAL POSITION AND INFLUENCE OF SIR JOSEPH BANKS.] - -For many generations, it has been very conducive to the possession of -social prestige in this country that a man should have acquired the -reputation of an adventurous traveller. Even if the traveller shall have -seen no anthropophagi, no men ‘whose heads do grow beneath their -shoulders,’ he is likely to attain to some degree of social eminence, -merely as one who has explored those - - ‘Antres vast and desarts idle,’ - -of which home-keeping people have no knowledge, save from the tales of -voyagers. To prestige of this kind, Mr. BANKS added respectable -scientific attainments, a large fortune, and a liberal mind. He was also -the favoured possessor of graceful manners and of no mean powers of -conversation. It was, therefore, quite in the ordinary course of things -that his house in London should become one of the social centres of the -metropolis. It became much more than that. From the days of his youth -BANKS had seen much of foreigners; he had mixed with men of European -distinction. An extensive correspondence with the Continent became to -him both a pursuit and an enjoyment, and one of its results, in course -of time, was that at his house in Soho Square every eminent foreigner -who came to England was sure to be seen. To another class of persons -that house became scarcely less distinguished as the abode, not only of -the rich Collections in natural history which their owner had gone so -far to seek, and had gathered with so much toil and hardship, but of a -noble Library, for the increase of which the book-shops of every great -town in Europe had been explored. - -[Sidenote: THE ROYAL SOCIETY, AND ITS HISTORY UNDER THE RULE OF SIR - JOSEPH BANKS.] - -The possessor of such manifold distinctions and of such habits of mind -seemed, to most men, marked out as the natural head of a great -scientific institution. Such a man would be sure to reflect honour on -the Society, as well as to derive honour from his headship. But at this -particular epoch the Royal Society (then the one conspicuous scientific -association in the kingdom) was much embroiled. Mr. BANKS was, in many -respects, just the man to assuage dissensions. But these particular -dissensions were of a kind which his special devotion to natural history -tended rather to aggravate than to soften. - -Mathematicians, as all men know, have been illustrious benefactors to -the world, but—be the cause what it may—they have never been famous for -a large-minded estimate of the pursuits and hobbies of other men, whom -Nature had not made mathematical. At the time when Joseph BANKS -leaped—as one may say—into eminence, both scientific and social, in -London, Sir John PRINGLE was President of the Royal Society, and his -position there somewhat resembled the position in which we have seen Sir -Hans SLOANE to have been placed. [Sidenote: See before, Book I, c. 6.] -Like Sir Hans, PRINGLE was an eminent physician, and a keen student of -physics. He did not give umbrage to his scientific team, exactly in the -way in which SLOANE had given it—by an overweening love of reading long -medical papers. But natural, not mathematical, philosophy, was his -forte; and the mathematicians were somewhat uneasy in the traces whilst -Sir John held the reins. If PRINGLE should be succeeded by BANKS, there -would be a change indeed on the box, but the style of coachmanship was -likely to be little altered. It is not surprising that there should have -been a good deal of jibbing, just as the change was at hand, and also -for some time after it had been made. - -[Sidenote: THE ELECTION TO THE PRESIDENCY.] - -Mr. BANKS was elected to the chair of the Royal Society on the 30th of -November, 1777. He found it to be a very difficult post. [Sidenote: -1777. 30 Nov.] But, in the end, the true geniality of the man, the -integrity of his nature, and the suavity of his manners, won over most, -if not quite all, of his opponents. The least that can be said of his -rule in that chair is that he made the Royal Society more famous -throughout Europe, than it had ever been since the day when it was -presided over by NEWTON. - -For it was not the least eminent quality of BANKS’ character that, to -him, a touch of _science_ ‘made the whole world kin.’ He was a good -subject, as well as a good man. He knew the blessings of an aristocratic -and time-honoured monarchy. He had that true insight which enables a man -to discriminate sharply between the populace and the People. But, when -the interests of science came into play, he could say—with literal and -exactest truth,— - - ‘Tros Tyriusve mihi nullo discrimine agetur.’ - -He took a keen and genial delight both in watching and in promoting the -progress of science on the other side of the Channel, whether France -itself lay under the loose rule of the republican and dissolute -Directory, or under the curbing hand of the First Consul, who was -already rapidly aspiring towards empire. - -On ten several occasions, BANKS was the means of inducing our Government -to restore scientific collections, which had been captured by British -cruisers, to that magnificent Botanic Garden (the _Jardin des Plantes_, -at Paris) for which they had been originally destined. [Sidenote: -Cuvier, _Éloge de M. Banks_, passim.] Such conduct could not but win for -him the affectionate reverence of Frenchmen. On one eminent occasion his -good services went much further. - -[Sidenote: BANKS’ INTERVENTION WITH RESPECT TO SOME OF THE FRUITS OF THE - EXPEDITION OF LA PÉROUSE.] - -Men yet remember the European interest excited by the adventurous -expedition and the sad fate of the gallant seaman, John Francis DE LA -PÉROUSE. When the long search for LA PÉROUSE, which had been headed by -the French Admiral BRUNI D’EUTRECASTEAUX, came by discords to an -untimely end, the collection of specimens of natural history which had -been made, in the course of it, by DE LA BILLARDIÈRE, was brought into -an English port. The commander, it seems, felt much as SLOANE’S -captain[21] had felt at the time of our own Revolution of 1688. From -LEWIS THE SIXTEENTH he had received his commission. He was unprepared to -yield an account of its performance to anybody else. He brought his -cargo to England, and placed it at the absolute disposal of the French -emigrant Princes. - -By the eldest Prince, afterwards LEWIS THE EIGHTEENTH, directions were -given that an offer should be made to Queen CHARLOTTE to place at Her -Majesty’s disposal whatever she might be pleased to select from the -Collections of LA BILLARDIÈRE, and that all the remainder of them should -be given to the British Museum. - -To the interests of that Museum no man of sense will think that Sir -Joseph BANKS was, at any time, indifferent. At this particular time, he -had been, repeatedly, an eminent benefactor to it. By the French Prince -the Collections were put at his orders for the advantage of the Museum, -of which he was now a Trustee, as well as a benefactor. But his first -thought was for the national honour of Britain, not for the mere -aggrandizement of its Museum. ‘I have never heard,’ said BANKS, ‘of any -declaration of war between the philosophers of England and the -philosophers of France. These French Collections must go to the French -Museum, not to the British.’ And to France he sent them, without a -moment’s hesitation. Such an act, I take it, is worthy of the name of -‘cosmopolitanism.’ The bastard imitation, sometimes current under that -much abused term—that which knows of no love of country, except upon a -clear balance of mercantile profit—might be more fitly called by a -plainer word. - -[Sidenote: INSTANCES OF BANKS’ LIBERALITY TO HUMBOLDT.] - -Nor were Frenchmen the only persons to benefit by the largeness of view -which belonged to the new President of the Royal Society. At a later -period, he heard that Collections which had been made by William VON -HUMBOLDT, and subsequently seized by pirates, had been carried to the -Cape, and there detained. BANKS sent to the Cape a commission for their -release, and restoration to the Collector. He defrayed the expenses, and -refused to accept of any reimbursement. Such actions might well reflect -honour on the Royal Society, as well as on the man whom the wisest among -its fellows had placed at their head. - -The Royal Society had but a share of its President’s attention, though -the share was naturally a Benjamin’s portion. He worked assiduously on -the Board of Agriculture. He helped to found the Horticultural Society -and the Royal Institution of London. He became, also, in 1788, a -co-founder of that ‘African Institution’ which contributed so largely, -in the earlier years of this century, to promote geographical discovery -in Africa, and to spread—of dire necessity, at but a snail’s pace—some -of the blessings of Christian civilization to those dark places of the -earth which are full of cruelty. - -BANKS’ close intercourse with the Continent enabled him to do yeoman’s -service to the African Institution. Many ardent and aspiring young men -in all parts of Europe were fired, from time to time, with an ambition -to do some stroke or other of good work in an enterprise which was, at -once, scientific and, in its ultimate issues, evangelical. Some of the -aspirants were, of course, but very partially fitted or equipped for -such labours. But among those who entered on it with fairest promise the -protégés of BANKS were conspicuous. Some brief notice of the services he -was enabled to render in this direction belongs, however, more fitly, to -a somewhat later date than that at which we have, as yet, arrived. - - -[Sidenote: BANKS’ FAVOURABLE RECEPTION AT THE COURT OF GEORGE III.] - -Among the Fellows of the Royal Society there had been much division of -opinion as to the eligibility of Joseph BANKS for their Presidency. At -Court, there was none. GEORGE THE THIRD, with all his genuine good -nature, had been unable to restrain a lurking dislike of Sir John -PRINGLE’S friendly intercourse with Benjamin FRANKLIN. He was pleased to -see PRINGLE retire to his native Scotland, and to receive BANKS at -Court, in Sir John’s place. He did not then anticipate that the new -President would, one day, offend (for a moment) his irrepressible -prejudices in a somewhat like manner. - -Sometimes, Sir Joseph’s attendance at Court brought him into company -which had become to him, in some degree, unwonted. We have seen him -making a very favourable impression in the feminine circles at Otaheite. -But the ladies in attendance on Queen CHARLOTTE were less charmed with -him. In March, 1788, I find Fanny BURNEY diarizing (at Windsor Castle) -thus:—‘Sir Joseph BANKS was so exceedingly shy that we made no -acquaintance at all. If, instead of going round the world, he had only -fallen from the moon, he could not appear less versed in the usual modes -of a tea-drinking party. [Sidenote: D’Arblay, _Diary_, vol. iv, p. 128.] -But what, you will say, has a tea-party to do with a botanist, a man of -science, and a President of the Royal Society?’ - -In March, 1779, Mr. BANKS made a happy marriage with Dorothea HUGESSEN, -daughter and coheir of William Weston HUGESSEN, of Provender, in Kent. -Two years afterwards, the King made him a Knight Grand Cross of the -Order of the Bath, and cultivated his familiar and frequent acquaintance -both in town and at Windsor. Ere long, he was still further honoured -with the rank of a Privy Councillor. Both men were deeply interested in -agriculture and in the improvement of stock. Sir Joseph shared his -sovereign’s liking for the Merino breeds; took an active part in -managing those in Windsor Park, and for many years presided, very -successfully, over the annual sales. The King had been willing to give -away his surplus stock, for the mere sake of promoting improvement, but -he was made to see that more good was likely to accrue from sales than -from gifts. When in Lincolnshire Sir Joseph BANKS laboured hard for the -more complete drainage of the fens, and in many ways furthered the -introduction of sound agricultural methods. He was a good neighbour; -though not a very keen sportsman. And most of his time was now -necessarily passed either in London or in its neighbourhood. But, among -other acts of good fellowship, he rarely visited Reresby Abbey without -patronising a picnic ball at Horncastle, for the benefit of the public -dispensary of that town. And it was noted by Lincolnshire people that -when, in the after-years, Sir Joseph’s severe sufferings from gout kept -him much away from Reresby, the dispensary suffered also—from -depletion—until Mr. DYMOKE, of Scrivelsby, had revived, after BANKS’ -example, the good old annual custom of the town. - -[Sidenote: THE AFRICAN INSTITUTION.] - -It was in the year 1797, and again in 1806, that Sir Joseph was enabled -to render special service to that African enterprise which lay near his -heart, by enlisting in its toils a zealous German and a not less zealous -Swiss—Frederick HORNEMANN and John Lewis BURCKHARDT. It was the fate of -both of those enterprising men to pay the usual penalty of African -exploration. HORNEMANN succumbed, after six years’ service. BURCKHARDT -was spared to work for ten years. Some among the minor scientific -results of his well-known travels are preserved in the Public Library at -Cambridge (to which he bequeathed his manuscripts). Others of them are -in the British Museum. The latter would deserve record in these pages, -were it now practicable. BURCKHARDT died at Cairo on the seventeenth of -October, 1817, just eleven years after his arrival in London, from -Göttingen, with that letter to Sir Joseph BANKS in his pocket which, -under Divine Providence, determined his work in life. Another great -public service of a like kind, rendered by Sir Joseph BANKS to his -country and to mankind, was his zealous encouragement of explorations in -Australia. - - -Meanwhile, a new outburst of discord in the Royal Society arose out of a -well-merited honour conferred on its President by the Institute of -France, in 1802. It was inevitable that a body so eminent and -illustrious as the French Institute should not only feel gratitude to -Sir Joseph BANKS for that liberality of spirit which had dictated, in -the midst of war, his many gracious and generous acts of service to -Frenchmen, but should long since have reached the conviction that they -would be honouring themselves, not less than honouring him, by his -reception in their midst. [Sidenote: HIS ELECTION INTO THE INSTITUTE OF -FRANCE.] During the momentary lull afforded by the Peace of Amiens—when -the Institute was reorganized by the hand of the great man who was proud -of its badge of fellowship, even when clad in the dalmatica—they placed -BANKS at the head of their eight Foreign Members. BANKS’ estimate of the -honour of membership was much like NAPOLEON’S. ‘I consider this mark of -your esteem,’ said BANKS, in his reply, ‘the highest and most enviable -literary distinction which I could possibly attain. To be the first -elected as an Associate of the first Literary Society in the world -surpasses my most ambitious hopes.’ - -Several Fellows of the Royal Society resented these warm -acknowledgments. [Sidenote: _Letter of Misogallus_, 1802 (privately -printed).] They thought them both unpatriotic, and uncomplimentary to -themselves. The mathematical malcontents, with Bishop HORSLEY at their -head, eagerly profited by so favourable an opportunity of renewing the -expression of their old and still lurking dissatisfaction with the -choice of their President. HORSLEY addressed to Sir Joseph a letter of -indignant and angry remonstrance. Somewhat discreditably, the Bishop -chose a pseudonymous signature instead of manfully affixing his own. -‘_Misogallus_’[22] was the mask under which he made an appeal to those -anti-Gallican prejudices which so many of us imbibe almost with our -mother’s milk, and have in after-years to get rid of. He aimed a -poisoned dart at his old antagonist, when pointing one of his many -passionate sentences in a way which he knew would arrest the special -attention of the King. The shaft hit the mark. But the King was -presently appeased. He knew BANKS, and he knew the Bishop of St. Asaph. - - -[Sidenote: SIR JOSEPH BANKS AS AN AUTHOR.] - -From time to time Sir Joseph BANKS contributed many interesting articles -to the _Philosophical Transactions_, and to the _Annals of Agriculture_. -His able paper on the Blight in Wheat did service in its day, and was -separately published. But it is not as an author that this illustrious -man will be remembered. He knew how to fructify the thoughts and to -disseminate the wisdom of minds more largely gifted than his own. -Necessarily, space and prominence in the public eye is—more especially -after a man’s death—a good deal determined by authorship. Hence, in our -_Biographical Dictionaries_, a crowd of small writers occupy a -disproportionate place, and some true and illustrious public benefactors -remain almost unnoticed. Undeniably, the fame of one such benefactor as -a Joseph BANKS ought to outweigh, and must, intrinsically, outweigh, -that of many scores of minor penmen. His benefactions were world-wide. -And by them he, being dead, yet speaks, and will long continue to speak, -to very good and lofty purpose. He died in London on the ninth of May, -1820, at the venerable age of eighty-one years completed. - -He died without issue, and was succeeded in his chief Lincolnshire -estates by the Honourable James Hamilton STANHOPE (afterwards Mr. -STANHOPE BANKS), and by Sir Henry HAWLEY. [Sidenote: DEATH.] [Sidenote: -BEQUESTS.] His Kentish estates were bequeathed to Sir Edward KNATCHBULL. - -[Sidenote: _Will and Codicils_, Jan. 7 and 21; and March 7, 1820.] - -His Library, Herbarium, Manuscripts, Drawings, Engravings, and all his -other subsisting Collections, he bequeathed to the Trustees of the -British Museum, for public use for ever, subject to a life-use and a -life-interest in them which, together with an annuity, he specifically -bequeathed to the eminent botanist, Robert BROWN, who was, for many -years, both his friend and his librarian. He also gave an annuity of -three hundred pounds a year to Mr. BAUER, an eminent botanical -draughtsman; and he added, largely, to the innumerable benefactions he -had made in his lifetime to the Botanical Gardens at Kew. To Mr. BROWN -he also left the use, for life, of his town house in Soho Square, -subject to the life-interest, or the voluntary concession, of the -testator’s widow. - -In his first Codicil, Sir Joseph BANKS made a proviso that, if it should -be the desire of the Trustees of the British Museum—and if that desire -should also receive the approval of Mr. BROWN—the life-possessor should -be at full liberty to cause the Collections to be transferred to the -Museum during his lifetime. That, in fact, was the course which, by -mutual consent, was eventually taken, to the manifest advantage of the -British Public and the promotion of Science. - - -Part of Sir Joseph’s personal Manuscripts were bequeathed to the Royal -Society; another portion to the British Museum; and a third portion -(connected with the Coinage of the Realm) to the Royal Mint. A minor -part of his Collections in Natural History had been given to the British -Museum in his own lifetime, [Sidenote: OTHER BEQUESTS.] and he had -personally superintended their selection and arrangement. He had also -been a benefactor to the Hunterian Museum at Glasgow, to the Museum of -the London College of Surgeons, and to that, also in London, formerly -known as ‘Bullock’s Museum.’ He was, throughout life, as eager to give, -as he was diligent to get. - -[Sidenote: THE TRANSFER OF THE BANKSIAN COLLECTIONS TO THE MUSEUM.] - -About the year 1825, negotiations were opened by the Trustees of the -British Museum with Mr. Robert BROWN, with the view of obtaining for the -Public the immediate use of the Banksian Library and the other -Collections, and, along with them, the public services of the eminent -botanist under whose charge they then were. The then President of the -Royal Society, Sir Humphrey DAVY, acted for the Public in that -negotiation; but some delays intervened, so that it was not brought to a -close until nearly the end of the year 1827. - -At that date, the transfer was effected. Mr. BROWN became the head of -the Botanical Department of the Museum, and his accession to the Staff -added honour to the institution—in the eyes of all scientific Europe—as -well as eminent advantage to the public service. Mr. BROWN acted as -Keeper until nearly the time of his decease. He died in the year 1858, -full of years and of botanical fame. - -The Library of Sir Joseph BANKS comprised the finest collection of books -on natural history which had ever been gathered into one whole in -England. It was also pre-eminently rich in the transactions, generally, -of learned societies in all parts of the world; and there is a masterly -Catalogue of the Collection, by Jonas DRYANDER, which was printed, at -Sir Joseph’s cost, in the years 1798–1800. [Sidenote: THE BANKSIAN -LIBRARY.] That Catalogue, I venture to hope, will, some day, become—with -due modification—the precedent for a printed Catalogue of the whole -Museum Library—vast as it already is, and vaster as it must needs become -before that day shall have arrived. - -[Sidenote: THE BANKSIAN HERBARIA.] - -The Banksian Herbaria comprise BANKS’ own botanical collections in his -travels, and those of CLIFFORT, HERMANN, CLAYTON, AUBLET, MILLER, -JACQUIER, and LOUREIRO, together with part of those made by TOURNEFORT, -the friend and fellow-botanizer of SLOANE, and the author of the -_Corollarium_. They also include many valuable plants gathered during -those many English Voyages of Discovery which, from time to time, BANKS’ -example and his liberal encouragement so largely fostered. From the -Collections now seen in the Botanical Room of the British Museum not a -few of the great works of LINNÆUS, GRONOVIUS, and other famous -botanists, derived some of their best materials. These Collections are -at present under the zealous and faithful care of Mr. John Joseph -BENNETT, long the assistant and the friend of BROWN. - - -[Sidenote: BRIEF NOTICE OF SOME OTHER NEARLY CONTEMPORANEOUS - ACCESSIONS.] - -Among nearly contemporaneous accessions which would well merit some -detailed notice, were the space for it available, are a valuable -assemblage of Marbles from Persepolis, which had been collected by Sir -Gore OUSELEY, and were given to the Museum by the Collector, and a small -but choice Collection of Minerals from the Hartz Mountains, given to the -Public by King GEORGE THE FOURTH. The Persepolitan sculptures were -received in the year 1825; the Minerals from the Hartzgebirge, in the -year 1829. - - - - - BOOK THE THIRD. - _LATER AUGMENTORS AND BENEFACTORS._ - 1829–1870. - - - - - _CONTENTS OF BOOK III_:— - - - CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION:—SUMMARY VIEW OF THE HISTORY OF THE BRITISH - MUSEUM DURING THE PRINCIPAL-LIBRARIANSHIP OF JOSEPH - PLANTA. - - II. INTRODUCTION (CONTINUED):—SUMMARY VIEW OF THE HISTORY OF THE - BRITISH MUSEUM DURING THE PRINCIPAL-LIBRARIANSHIP OF SIR - HENRY ELLIS. - - III. INTRODUCTION (CONTINUED):—SUMMARY VIEW OF THE HISTORY OF THE - BRITISH MUSEUM DURING THE PRINCIPAL-LIBRARIANSHIP OF SIR - ANTONIO PANIZZI. - - IV. ANOTHER GROUP OF ARCHÆOLOGISTS AND CLASSICAL EXPLORERS. - - V. THE FOUNDER OF THE GRENVILLE LIBRARY. - - VI. BENEFACTORS OF RECENT DAYS. - - VII. RECONSTRUCTORS AND PROJECTORS. - -‘The comprehensive character of the British Museum—the origin of which -may be traced to the heterogeneous nature of Sir Hans SLOANE’S -bequest—doubtless makes it difficult to provide for the expansion of its -various branches, according to their relative demands upon the space and -light which can be applied to their accommodation. Any attempt, however, -now to diminish that difficulty by segregating any portion, or by -scattering in various localities the components of the vast aggregate, -would involve a sacrifice of great scientific advantages which are not -the less inherent in their union because that union was, in its origin, -fortuitous.... - -‘Some passages of our evidence ... illustrate the difficulty of -drawing a line of separation, for purposes of management and -superintendence, between certain Collections.... Its occurrence [_i. -e._ the occurrence of such a difficulty] indicates strongly the value -to Science, of the accidents which have placed in near juxtaposition -the Collections of mineralogy [and] of forms of existing and extinct -animal and vegetable life. The immediate connexion of all alike with -the Library of the Museum is too important to allow us to contemplate -its dissolution.’—_Report of the Commissioners appointed to inquire -into the Constitution and Management of the British Museum_ (1850), p. -36. - - - - - CHAPTER I. - GENERAL VIEW OF THE HISTORY OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM, UNDER THE - ADMINISTRATION, AS PRINCIPAL-LIBRARIAN, OF JOSEPH PLANTA. - - ... Perséverance keeps honour bright. - To have done, is to hang - Quite out of fashion, like a rusty mail - In monumental mockery. - _Troilus and Cressida._ - - ‘Signor, mirate, come ’l tempo vola, - E siccome la vita - Fugge, e la Morte nè sovra le spalle, - Voi siete or qui: pensate alla partita - Che l’ alma ignuda e sola - Conven ch’ arrive a quel dubbioso calle.’. - PETRARCH (_Italia mia_, &c.). - - _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. - - -Hitherto these pages have chiefly had to do with the history of the -integral parts of the British Museum, and with that of the men by whom -these integral parts, taken severally, were first founded or first -gathered. We have now to glance at the organic history of the whole, -after the primary Collections and the early additions to them came, by -aggregation, to be combined into the existing national establishment. It -may, at best, be only by glances that so wide a subject can (within the -limits of this one volume) be looked over, in retrospect. That necessity -of being brief suggests a connection of the successive epochs in the -story of the Museum, for seventy years, with the lives of the three -eminent men who have successively presided over the institution since -the beginning of the present century. Those three official lives, I -think, will be found to afford succinct divisions or breakings of the -subject, as well as to possess a distinctive personal interest of their -own. Our introductory chapters will therefore—in relation to the -chapters which follow them—be, in part, retrospective, and, in part, -prospective. - - -When Dr. Charles MORTON died (10 February, 1799), Joseph PLANTA was, by -the three principal Trustees, appointed to be his successor. The choice -soon commended itself to the Public by the introduction of some -important improvements into the internal economy of the institution. It -is the first librarianship which is distinctively marked as a reforming -one. In more than one of his personal qualities Mr. PLANTA was well -fitted for such a post as that of Principal Officer of the British -Museum. He had been for many years in the service of the Trustees. He -had won the respect of Englishmen by his literary attainments. He was -qualified, both by his knowledge of foreign languages and by his eminent -courtesy of manners, for that salient part of the duties of -librarianship which consists in the adequate reception and the genial -treatment of strangers. - -Joseph PLANTA was of Swiss parentage. He was of a race and family which -had given to Switzerland several worthies who have left a mark in its -national history. He was born, on the twenty-first of February, 1744, at -Castasegna, where his father was the pastor of a reformed church. The -boy left Switzerland before he had completed the second year of his age. -[Sidenote: LIFE OF JOSEPH PLANTA, THIRD PRINCIPAL-LIBRARIAN.] He began -his education at Utrecht, and continued it, first at the University of -Göttingen, and afterwards by foreign travel—whilst yet open to the -formative influences of youthful experience upon character—both in -France and in Italy. It was thus his fortune to combine what there is of -good in the characteristics of the cosmopolite with what is better in -those of a patriotic son of the soil. It was Joseph PLANTA’S fortune -never to live in Switzerland, as a resident, after the days of early -infancy, but, for all that, he remained a true Swiss. And one of the -acts of his closing years in England was to make a most creditable -contribution to Helvetic history. - -Andrew PLANTA, father of Joseph, came to London in 1752. He was a man of -good parts and of pleasing address. He established himself as pastor of -a German congregation, and was also made an Assistant-Librarian in the -British Museum. Afterwards, he was chosen to be a Fellow of the Royal -Society and a ‘reader’ to Queen CHARLOTTE. That appointment brought with -it, in course of time, a measure of Court influence by which young -PLANTA profited. His youthful ‘_Wanderjahre_’ had inspired the growing -man with a keen desire to see more of foreign countries. When the -father’s favour at Court put him in a position to represent at -head-quarters the youth’s fancy to see life abroad, and to state (as he -truthfully could) that neither talent nor industry were lacking in his -character, the statement obtained for Joseph PLANTA the secretaryship of -legation at Brussels. There, he felt himself to be in an element which -suited him; but his filial affection brought him back to England in -1773, in order that he might solace the last days, on earth, of his -father. In that year the elder PLANTA died. - -It was also in 1773 that Joseph PLANTA became an Assistant-Librarian. In -the next year he was appointed to succeed Dr. MATY in both of his then -offices. At the Royal Society he succeeded him as Secretary; at the -Museum, he succeeded him as an Under-Librarian—when the Doctor was made -head of the establishment. His new post at the Museum brought to PLANTA -the special charge of the Department of MSS. - -Joseph PLANTA had already made—immediately after his first appointment -as Assistant-Librarian—his outset in authorship by the publication of -his _Account of the Romansch Language_. [Sidenote: _Phil. Trans._, vol. -lxvi, pp. 129–160.] It is a scholarly production, though (it need hardly -be said) not what would be expected, on such a subject, after the -immense stride made in linguistical studies during the ninety-five years -which have elapsed since it was given to literature, in pages in which -nowadays such a treatise would hardly be looked for. Its first -appearance was in the _Philosophical Transactions_. In 1776 it was -translated into German and printed at Chamouni. - -The subsequent years were devoted, almost exclusively, to the proper -duties of his Museum office—on the days of service—and to those of the -Paymastership of Exchequer Bills, a function to which Mr. PLANTA was -appointed in 1788, and the duties of which he discharged, with -efficiency and honour, for twenty-three years. Authorship had but little -of his time until a much later period of life. - -A little before his appointment in the administrative service of the -country, PLANTA had married Miss Elizabeth ATWOOD. For him, marriage did -just the opposite of what it has, now and then, been said to do for some -other men. It took off the edge of his liking for foreign travel. For it -gave him a very happy home. Their union endured for twenty-four years. -PLANTA was not a man of the gushing sort. [Sidenote: Falkenstein, -_Zeitgenossen_, &c., Dritte Reihe, Bd. ii, pp. 3, seqq.] But, to -intimates, he would say—in the lonely years; there were to be but few of -them—‘She was an angel in spirit and in heart.’ Mrs. PLANTA died in -1821. - -On the death of Charles MORTON, Mr. PLANTA, as we have seen already, was -made Principal-Librarian. He found the Museum still in its infancy, -although no less than forty-six years had passed since the bequest of -Sir Hans SLOANE was made to the British Public, and more than forty -years since that Public had entered upon its inheritance. The -collections had kept pace with the growth of science only in one or two -departments. In others the arrear was enormous. The accessibility was -hampered with restrictions. The building was in pressing need of -enlargement, gradual as had been the growth of some sections, and -glaring as was the deficiency of other sections. - -PLANTA put his shoulders to the wheel, and met with support and -encouragement from several of the Trustees. But the feeling still ran -strongly against any approach to indiscriminate publicity in any -department of the Museum. Men did not carry that restrictive view quite -so far in 1800, as it had been expressed by Dr. John WARD—an able and -good man—in 1760, and earlier; but they still looked with apprehension -upon the combined ideas of a crowd of visitors, and irreplaceable -treasures of learning and of art. A good many of the men of 1800 -possessed, it must in candour be remembered, living recollections of the -sights and the deeds of 1780. Residents in Bloomsbury were likely, on -that score, to have particularly good memories. They had seen with their -eyes precious manuscripts, which treasured up the life-long lore of a -MANSFIELD, given by the populace to the flames. - -Under the influence of such memories as these, Mr. PLANTA had to propose -abolition of restrictions, with a gentle and very gradual hand. He began -by improving the practice, without at first greatly altering the rules. -By and by he brought, from time to time, before the Trust, suggestions -for relaxations in the rules themselves. - -[Sidenote: IMPROVEMENTS INTRODUCED, OR RECOMMENDED, BY JOSEPH PLANTA, IN - THE INTERNAL ECONOMY OF THE MUSEUM.] - -From the outset he administered the Reading-Room itself with much -liberality. When he became Principal-Librarian the yearly admissions -were much under two hundred. In 1816, they had increased to two hundred -and ninety-two. In 1820, to five hundred and fifteen. As respects the -Department of Antiquities, the students admitted to draw were in 1809 -less than twenty; in 1818 two hundred and twenty-three were admitted. In -1814 he recommended the Trustees to make provision for the exhibition -every Thursday, ‘to persons applying to see them,’ the Engravings and -Prints;—the persons admitted not exceeding six at any one time, and -others being admitted in due succession. He also recommended a somewhat -similar system of exhibition for adoption in the Department of Coins and -Medals. And the Trustees gave effect to both recommendations. Eventually -Mr. PLANTA proposed, for the _general_ show Collections of the Museum, a -system of entirely free admission at the instant of application, -abolishing all the hamper of preliminary forms. - -[Sidenote: HIS RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE ENLARGEMENT OF THE VARIOUS - COLLECTIONS.] - -It was also, I believe, at Mr. PLANTA’S instance, or partly so, that the -Trustees applied to Parliament, in 1812, for special grants to enable -them to improve the Collection of Printed Books, with reference more -particularly to the endeavour to perfect the National Library in the -National History—to that very limited extent to which the monuments and -memorials of our history are to be found in print. Virtually, the grants -on behalf of the Manuscript Department, not those on behalf of the -Printed Book Department, were, in 1812, as they still are in 1870, the -grants which mainly tend to make the British Museum what, most -obviously, it ought to become, the main storehouse of British History -and Archæology, both in literature and in art. - -The magnificent additions made by private donors to every section of the -British Museum during the administration of PLANTA, have been -sufficiently passed under review in the closing chapters of Book II. -Several of them, it has been seen, were the fruits of the public spirit -of individual Trustees. Such gifts amply vindicated the wisdom both of -Sir Hans SLOANE and of Parliament, when both Founder and Legislature -gave to men of exalted position a preference as peculiarly fit, in the -judgment of each, for the general guardianship of the Museum. - -[Sidenote: HIS CATHOLICITY OF TASTES AND SYMPATHIES.] - -But private gifts—munificent as they were—left large gaps in the -National Collections. It is one of Mr. PLANTA’S distinctive merits that -his tastes and sympathies embraced the Natural History Department, as -well as those literary departments with which, as a man of letters, he -had a more direct personal connection. He supported, with his influence, -the wise recommendation to Parliament—made in 1810—for the purchase of -the GREVILLE Collection of Minerals. He recommended, in 1822, the -purchase, from the representatives of the naturalist MONTICELLI, of a -like, though minor Collection, which had been formed at Naples. The -Cavaliero MONTICELLI’S Collection was, in the main, one that had been -undertaken in imitation of an earlier assemblage of volcanic products -which had been also gathered at Naples by Sir William HAMILTON, and by -the Collector given (as I have already recorded) to the Trustees. In a -similar spirit he promoted the acquisitions which were made from time to -time, by the instrumentality of Claudius RICH, of Henry SALT, and of -several other workers in the fruitful field of Classical, Assyrian, and -Egyptian archæological exploration. Both in the literary and scientific -departments of the Museum he also gave some special attention to the due -continuance and completion of the various collections bestowed on the -Public by the munificence of Sir Joseph BANKS. - -Another conspicuous merit belongs to Joseph PLANTA. He supported the -Trustees in that wise and large-minded policy which induced them to -regard _publication_, as well as accumulation, to be one of the chief -duties of their Trust for the Nation. He thought it not enough, for -example, to show to groups of Londoners, from time to time, and to -occasional foreign visitants, in almost solitary state, the wealth of -Nature and of Art in the Museum Collections. He saw it to be no less the -duty of the faithful trustees of such treasures to show them to the -world at large by the combined labours of the painter, the draughtsman, -the engraver, and the printer. [Sidenote: PLANTA’S LABOURS ON THE -MUSEUM’S PUBLICATIONS;] It will ever be an honourable distinction—in the -briefest record of his Museum labours—that he promoted the publication -of the beautiful volumes entitled _Description of the Ancient Marbles in -the British Museum_; of the _Catalogue of the Anglo-Gallic Coins_; of -the _Mausoleum and Cinerary Urns_; of the _Description of Terra Cottas_; -and other like works. The first-named work in particular is an especial -honour to the Trustees of the Museum, and to all who were concerned in -its production. Beautifully engraved, and ably edited, it made the -archæological treasures of the Nation widely known even to such -foreigners, interested in the study of antiquity, as circumstances -precluded from ever seeing the marbles themselves. When watching—in the -bygone years—the late Henry CORBOULD busy at the work into which he -threw so much of his love, as well as of his skill in drawing, I have -been tempted, now and then, to envy the craft which, in its results, -made our national possessions familiarly known, in the far parts of the -world, to students who could never hope to see the wonderful handicraft -of the old Greek sculptors, otherwise than as it is reflected and -transmitted by the handicraft of the skilled modern draughtsman. -CORBOULD had the eye to see artistic beauty and the soul to enjoy it. He -was not one of the artists who are artisans, in everything but the name. -In the ‘_Ancient Marbles in the British Museum_,’ published under the -active encouragement of the Trustees and of their Principal-Librarians, -during a long series of years, CORBOULD, as draughtsman, had just the -work for which Nature had pre-eminently fitted him. - -[Sidenote: AND, PARTICULARLY, ON THE CATALOGUES.] - -Joseph PLANTA also took his share in the compilation of the Catalogues -both of Printed Books and of Manuscripts. In this department, as in the -archæological one, he extended the benefits of his zealous labour to the -scholar abroad as well as to the scholar at home. What was carefully -prepared was liberally _printed_ and liberally circulated. PLANTA wrote -with his own hand part of the published _Catalogue of the Printed -Books_, and much of the _Catalogue of the Cottonian Manuscripts_. To the -latter he prefixed a brief life of the Founder, by which I have gladly -and thankfully profited in my own more extended labour at the beginning -of this volume. - -One incidental employment which Mr. PLANTA’S office entailed upon him—as -Principal-Librarian—was of a less grateful kind. It merits notice on -more than one account, very trivial as is the incident of Museum history -that occasioned it, when looked at intrinsically. - -In 1821, the then Duke of BEDFORD (John, ninth Duke) filed in Chancery -an injunction against the Trustees to restrain them from building on the -garden-ground of the Museum. [Sidenote: THE GARDENS OF THE BRITISH -MUSEUM AND THE DUKE OF BEDFORD.] To build was—at that time—an undoubted -injury to the Bloomsburians, and, consequently, a not less undoubted -depreciation of the Duke’s estate. It is hard, nowadays, to realise to -one’s fancy what the former Museum gardens were in the olden time. They -not only adorned every house that looked over them, but were—in -practice, and by the indulgence of the Trustees and officers—a sort of -small public park for the refreshment of the vicinity at large. Their -neighbourhood made houses more valuable in the market. - -Almost seventy years before the filing of the Chancery injunctions of -1820–21, a predecessor of the Duke (John, seventh Duke) had compelled -Parliament—and with great reason—to enact that the ‘New Road’ should -be made a broad road; not a narrow lane. He had carried a proviso for -the construction of gardens in front of all the houses along the road. -Were public property, and public enjoyments, protected by English law -with one tenth part of the efficiency with which private property and -private enjoyments are protected, that clause in the ‘New Road Act’ of -1750 would have proved, in our own present day, a measure advantageous -to public health. But public easements are unknown, or nearly unknown, -to English law. And the Duke’s clause has come, in course of time, to -teem with public nuisance, instead of public benefit. Englishmen build -at the national cost magnificent cathedrals, and then permit -railway-jobbers to defile them, at pleasure, with railway -‘architecture.’ They construct, by dint of large taxation, magnificent -river-embankments, and permit every sort of smoke-belching chimney and -eye-killing corrugated-iron-monstrosity to spoil the view. What the -old Duke of BEDFORD intended to make a metropolitan improvement, as -well as a defence to his own property, has come to be a cause of -public detriment,—simply because our legislation, in the year of Grace -1870, affords protection to no kind of public property that is -insusceptible, by its nature, of direct valuation in pounds and pence. - -The action of the ninth Duke of BEDFORD was in contrast with that of his -predecessor. It was not altogether selfish, since there was an actual -abatement of public enjoyment in that step which he was opposing. The -Trustees of the British Museum were really compelled to take something -from the Public with one hand;—but, with the other, they gave a tenfold -equivalent. Their contention, of course, prevailed against the Duke’s -opposition. - -It may not be intrusive here to mention that it is known that by the -present Duke of BEDFORD very generous and liberal furtherance would be -given to new schemes of extension for the Museum, were Parliament, on -full consideration, to think enlargement at Bloomsbury the right course -to be taken in pending matters. But this subject will demand a few words -hereafter. - - -PLANTA’S energies seem for several years to have been given, almost -exclusively, to his Museum duties, in combination (as was perfectly -practicable and befitting, under the then circumstances) with his -Exchequer Paymastership. But in the closing years of his -Under-Librarianship many months were (not less fitly) given to a worthy -literary undertaking. He wrote his _History of the Helvetic Confederacy_ -towards the end of the last century, and published it soon after his -appointment to the Principal-Librarianship. In the next year he -published a supplement to it, under the title of _A View of the -Restoration of the Helvetic Confederacy_. The _History_ reached its -second edition in 1807. - -Based primarily on the great work of Johannes VON MÜLLER, PLANTA’S -_History of the Helvetic Confederacy_ is both a very able production and -one that is animated by a spirit of patriotism which is wise as well as -strong. It was an enduring contribution to the literature of the -author’s fatherland. After its appearance, his official duties mainly -engrossed his attention. He died, full of years and honours, in the year -1827, leaving a son, who, like his father and his grandfather, -distinguished himself in the civil service of their adopted country. - -Joseph PLANTA, in his fifty-three years of service, had seen the British -Museum pass from its infancy into the early stages of its maturity. But -it still, at the time of his death, was too much regarded, both by the -general Public and by Parliament, as, in the main, a place of popular -amusement. His next successor saw the beginning of further improvements, -such as lifted the Museum upon a level with the best of its -fellow-institutions in all Europe. His second successor saw it lifted -far above them, in several points of view. And what he witnessed of -augmented improvement—when leaving office three or four years ago—was, -in a very large measure, the result of his own zealous labours and of -his eminent ability. - - - - - CHAPTER II. - INTRODUCTION TO BOOK III (_Continued_):—GROWTH, PROGRESS, AND INTERNAL - ECONOMY, OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM, DURING THE PRINCIPAL-LIBRARIANSHIP OF - SIR HENRY ELLIS. - - ‘It is expedient that the Trustees should revise the salaries of the - Establishment, with the view of ascertaining what increase may be - required for the purpose of ... obtaining the whole time and services - of the ablest men, independently of any remuneration from other - sources; and that, when such scale of salary shall have been fixed, it - shall not be competent to any Officer of the Museum, paid thereunder, - to hold any other situation conferring emolument or entailing duties.’ - - REPORT FROM SELECT COMMITTEE ON BRITISH - MUSEUM, 14 July, 1836. - - _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 successful 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_. - - -[Sidenote: BOOK III, CHAP. II. HISTORY OF THE MUSEUM UNDER SIR H. - ELLIS.] - -When Sir Henry ELLIS was appointed to be the successor of Mr. PLANTA -(20th December, 1827), the British Museum was still composed of but four -departments, in conformity with the organization of 1809. It was -publicly open on three days in each week, but only during forty weeks of -every year. This was a great improvement of the previous arrangements, -as we have seen, under MATY and MORTON. [Sidenote: CONDITIONS OF MUSEUM -ACCESSIBILITY AT COMMENCEMENT OF MR. ELLIS’S RULE.] But Mr. PLANTA’S -most conspicuous improvements lay in the (admittedly more important) -direction of access to the Medal, Print, and Reading-Rooms. To his -administration, students in all these departments were much indebted. -Sir Henry ELLIS was to witness and to carry out, very efficiently as -Principal-Librarian, some more extensive modifications of the old system -of things; but he, in his turn, was to be quite eclipsed (so to speak) -in the character of Museum improver, by his successor in office. And it -was, in fact, to the latter that such among the conspicuous improvements -of the last twenty years of Sir Henry’s official administration as -related to the Department of Printed Books—and in no department were the -improvements more striking—were pre-eminently due. - - -Sir Henry ELLIS (who has but so recently departed from amongst us) -entered the service of the Trustees, as a temporary assistant in the -Library, in the year 1800, having had already three years’ experience in -Bodley’s Library at Oxford. When coming occasionally to London during -his employment at Oxford he would see Dr. Charles MORTON, who had helped -to organize the Museum almost fifty years before. The _public_ life of -those two acquaintances spread, conjointly, over a period of a hundred -and twenty years.[23] - -Had it never fallen to the lot of Henry ELLIS to render to the Public -any service at all, in the way of administering and improving the -National Museum, he would still have earned an honourable niche in our -literary history. His contributions to literature are, indeed, very -unequal in their character. [Sidenote: THE LABOURS IN LITERATURE OF SIR -H. ELLIS.] Some of them are fragmentary; some might be thought trivial. -But very many of them have sterling value. And his archæological -labours, in particular, were zealous and unremitting. He began them in -1798. He had not entirely ceased to add to them in 1868. In the closing -year of the eighteenth century he was giving furtherance to the labours -on British history of Richard GOUGH. In the sixty-eighth year of the -nineteenth century he was still taking an intelligent and critical -interest in the large undertakings of Lord ROMILLY and of Mr. DUFFUS -HARDY, for affording to future historians the means of basing the -reconstruction of our national history upon the one firm foundation of -an exhaustive search of our national records. - -The fourth Principal-Librarian of the British Museum was born at -Shoreditch, in London, on the 29th of November, 1777. He was of a -Yorkshire family long settled (and still flourishing) at Dewsbury. Henry -ELLIS was educated at Merchant Taylors’ School, and at St. John’s -College, Oxford, where he graduated B.C.L. in 1802. His first book (but -not, perhaps, his first publication) was the _History of the Parish of -St. Leonard, Shoreditch_, printed in 1798. He became F.S.A. in 1800; one -of its Secretaries in 1813; and its Director in 1854. To the -_Archæologia_ he was a contributor for more than fifty years. In 1800, -he sent to the first Record Commission a Report on the Historical -Manuscripts at St. John’s. For the same Commission he wrote, in the year -1813, and the three following years, an _Introduction to Domesday Book_. -Of this he would speak very modestly in after-days, saying: ‘I have -worked on _Domesday_ for years; but only in making an opening into the -mine. Other men will have yet to bring out the metal.’ For the second -Record Commission he re-edited his _Introduction_ and considerably -improved it. This was done in 1832; and, to say the least, it brought -some very good ore to the surface. When both these Commissions had given -way to the better organization recently framed by Lord ROMILLY, he -edited, for the series of _Chronicles and Memorials of Great Britain_, -the Latin Chronicle of John of Oxenedes, from a MS. belonging to Sir -Robert COTTON’S Library. When _Oxenedes_ was published, just sixty years -had passed from the publication of Sir Henry’s first Record labour, -undertaken at the instance of Lord COLCHESTER. - -In the interval, he had had a great opportunity, the first glimpse of -which needs must have dilated the heart of so genuine a lover of -antiquity. The publication of an improved edition of the _Monasticon -Anglicanum_ of DODSWORTH and DUGDALE ought to have made a new epoch in -British archæology. But the opportunity was lost. In those days, there -was no encouragement for such labours at the Treasury; no enlightened -promoter of them at the Rolls House. The control of the new _Monasticon_ -passed into the hands of mere tradesmen. Neither of Mr. ELLIS’S -co-editors ever buckled to the work. ELLIS himself became simply the -servant of the associated publishers, who had no aim whatever beyond -turning a golden penny out of the traditional prestige of Sir William -DUGDALE’S name, and out of the standing advertisement that the -_Monasticon_ was indubitably one of those books ‘which no gentleman’s -library ought to be without.’ Heaps of crude, untranslated, and -unelucidated information were thrust into the book, against the editor’s -own clear conviction of his duty, and in spite of his remonstrance. ‘We -must retrench,’ was the one answer to all editorial recommendations of -real improvement. And meanwhile the publishers were actually netting -fair profits from a long list of confiding subscribers. What might well -have been a ‘broadstone of honour’ to English literature became its -glaring disgrace.[24] No one would more gladly have striven for a better -result—had the power lain with him—than would Sir Henry ELLIS. As to his -nominal co-editors, they did almost nothing, from first to last. - -To far better result did ELLIS labour upon his successive editions of -_Hall_, _Hardyng_, _Fabyan_, and _Polydore Vergil_, among our -chroniclers, and of BRAND’S _Observations on Popular Antiquities_, of -DUGDALE’S _History of Saint Paul’s Cathedral_, and of NORDEN’S _Essex_, -among the standard illustrations of our archæology and topography. But -his most enduring contribution to historical literature is, beyond -doubt, his _Original Letters, illustrative of English History_, the -publication of which began in 1824, and was completed in 1846. That work -alone would suffice to keep his name in honourable memory for a long -time to come. - -At the British Museum he had a considerable advantage over his -predecessor in the Principal-Librarianship. He enjoyed the assistance, -almost from the first, of an abler staff, in more than one of the -departments, than Mr. PLANTA had commanded during the earlier years of -his administration. [Sidenote: LABOURS OF SIR H. ELLIS AT THE BRITISH -MUSEUM.] And an improved order of service had been established before -Mr. ELLIS’S rule began. In this way appliances lay already under his -hand which facilitated the work of progress, when—more especially—a -strong demand for improvement came from without, as well as from the -action of the Trustees themselves within. - -[Sidenote: STATE OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM STAFF AT THE TIME OF THE DEATH OF - MR. PLANTA.] - -At that date the Department of Printed Books was under the charge of the -Rev. Henry Hervey BABER (the eminent editor of the ‘Alexandrian MS.’ of -the Septuagint). He was assisted by Mr. Henry Francis CARY, the -translator of DANTE, and also by Mr. WALTER, who had been one of the -Librarians of King GEORGE THE THIRD, and who, in 1831, was succeeded by -Mr. Antonio PANIZZI. In the Department of MSS. Mr. ELLIS’S -Assistant-Keeper, the Rev. Josiah FORSHALL, had succeeded to the charge, -and the new Keeper had the able assistance of Sir Frederick MADDEN, -whose labours for the improvement of his department are well known to -scholars. The Antiquities were confided to Mr. Edward HAWKINS; the -various Natural History Collections to Messrs. KÖNIG and CHILDREN. The -Botanical Department was, as I have shown at the close of the preceding -Book, just about to be reorganized (almost to be created) by the -transfer of the Collections of Sir Joseph BANKS, and with them of the -services of their distinguished Keeper. Taken altogether, such a staff -as this was of threefold efficiency to that with which Mr. PLANTA had -started at the beginning of the century. - -Mr. ELLIS enjoyed an additional advantage from the great familiarity -with the whole service of the Museum which he had acquired during his -labours as Secretary from the year 1814. The secretarial duty had been -combined with the functions of keepership during thirteen years. Great -punctuality, a conspicuous faculty for method and memory, and very -courteous manners, were qualifications which are not always, or -necessarily, found in union with conspicuous industry. In him they were -combined. Nevertheless, he narrowly escaped losing the merited reward of -long and assiduous labours. For he had a formidable competitor. - -[Sidenote: THE CANDIDATURE OF MR. H. FYNES CLINTON.] - -At this time, a most accomplished scholar, who deservedly possessed -large influence, both social and political, had obtained the virtual -promise of almost the highest personage in the realm that whenever Mr. -PLANTA died he should receive the offer of successorship. Mr. Henry -FYNES CLINTON, in those quiet ante-reform days, had been able, for -twenty years, to unite the functions of a Member of Parliament with the -assiduous pursuits of scholarship in one of its highest forms. Learning -had higher charms for him than Politics, and he had no turn for debate, -but he had steadily attended the House of Commons while giving to the -world his _Fasti Hellenici_ and _Fasti Romani_. Six months before Mr. -PLANTA’S decease, the Archbishop of CANTERBURY had, in effect, promised -Mr. FYNES CLINTON that he would nominate him to be Principal-Librarian, -and the Archbishop well knew that, as far as learning went, such an -appointment would be applauded throughout Europe. The Archbishop (Dr. -Charles MANNERS SUTTON), did not forget his promise, and his vote -carried that of the then Speaker of the House of Commons, who was the -Archbishop’s son. Their joint communication with the Lord Chancellor -procured his assent also. ‘We have made,’ the Archbishop told Mr. FYNES -CLINTON, ‘your recommendation to the King as strong as possible.’ The -practice, as the reader will perhaps remember, was that the then -Principal Trustees should in all such cases recommend to the Sovereign -_two_ names, with such observations upon them as to those Trustees might -seem appropriate. - -[Sidenote: _Letters and Journ. of_ H. Fynes Clinton, in the _Literary - Remains_ (1854), pass.] - -As Mr. ELLIS was now the senior officer; had had the care successively -of two several departments (MSS. and Printed Books); had also served as -Secretary, and, in all these employments, had acquitted himself with -diligence and credit, there could, of course, be no difficulty as to the -name which should be submitted to GEORGE THE FOURTH in company with that -of Mr. FYNES CLINTON. Other Trustees interested themselves in -supporting, indirectly but efficiently, the claims of one who had served -the Board so long. And the King was pleased to prefer the second name -which had been placed before him by the Principal Trustees rather than -the first. [Sidenote: Lord Lansdowne to Archbishop of Canterbury; 20 -December, 1827.] Lord LANSDOWNE received His Majesty’s commands to -signify to the Archbishop that it was upon the ground of ‘long service -in the Museum’ that the King had made his choice. - -[Sidenote: SERVICES AND CHARACTER OF SIR H. ELLIS.] - -Those who had (like the writer) opportunity to watch, during most of the -succeeding thirty years, the continuance of that service, know that the -King’s selection was justified. Sir Henry ELLIS was not gifted with any -of those salient abilities which dazzle the eyes of men; but he had -great power of labour, the strictest integrity of purpose, and a very -kind heart. He was ever, to the Trustees, a faithful servant, up to the -full measure of his ability. To those who worked under him he was always -courteous, considerate, and very often he was generous. He would -sometimes expose himself to misconstruction, in order to appease -discords. He would at times rather seem wanting in firmness of will -than, by pressing his authority, wound the feelings of well-intentioned -but irritable subordinates. No one could receive from him a merited -reproof—I speak from personal experience—without perceiving that the -duty of giving it was felt to be a painful duty. The Commissioners of -1850 had ample warrant for hinting, in their Report to the Crown—when -alluding to certain internal disputes—that the qualities least abounding -in Sir Henry ELLIS’S composition were those which equip a man [Sidenote: -_Report_ (1850) p. 32.] ‘for such harsher duties of his office, as -cannot be accomplished by the aid of conciliatory manners, the index of -a benevolent disposition.’ - -A man of that temper will now and then, in his own despite, get forced -into a somewhat bitter controversy. One sharp attack on Sir Henry’s -administration of his Principal-Librarianship had a close connection -with discords of an anterior date which had broken out in the Society of -Antiquaries. [Sidenote: THE STORY OF THE MSS. AT POMARD.] The late Sir -Harris NICOLAS would scarcely have criticised, with so much vehemence, -what he thought to have been a careless indifference on ELLIS’S part to -the acquisition for the British Museum of an important body of -historical manuscripts, preserved in a chateau in a distant corner of -France (and offered to the Trustees in 1829), but for the circumstance -that Sir Henry’s kindly unwillingness, evinced a little while before, to -desert a very weak colleague at Somerset House had stood in the way of -some much-needed reforms in that quarter. Without in the least intending -beforehand to represent things unfairly, Sir H. NICOLAS acted under the -influence of an unconscious bias or pre-judgment. The Joursanvault story -is still worth telling, although it has now become an old story, and one -portion of the historical treasures it relates to are now past wishing -for, as an English possession. - -In the course of the revolutionary convulsions in France, a great body -of historical documents had been abstracted from the famous old Castle -of Blois. Eventually, as years passed on, they found their way into the -country-seat, at Pomard, of the Baron de JOURSANVAULT, and with them -were amalgamated an extensive collection of old family papers, many -books on genealogy, and some choice illuminated missals. - -An English gentleman long resident in France had formed the acquaintance -of the Baron de JOURSANVAULT, and in the course of conversation came to -hear of the existence of these historical treasures. He also perceived -that their owner had little taste for them, or ability to profit by -their contents. Sir Thomas Elmsley CROFT probed his French friend on the -subject of parting with them. The Baron lent a willing ear, and, to whet -his interlocutor’s appetite, told him that a great many of the -manuscripts related to the history of the English rule in France. Sir -Thomas then apprised an English friend, famous for his love of old MSS., -of the existence of the hoards, and of the certainty that the Baron who -owned them would greatly prefer a few rouleaux of English gold to a -whole castle-full of the most precious parchments that ever charmed the -longing eyes of a Jonathan OLDBUCK—or a Harris NICOLAS. - -Sir Harris, directly he received this piece of news from Paris, passed -it on to his friend the late Lord CANTERBURY, then Speaker, who, in -turn, communicated the information to Sir H. ELLIS, for the use of the -Trustees. ELLIS was sent to France—whither indeed he had, just at that -moment, arranged to go, in order to spend part of his holidays in Paris, -according to his frequent custom. - -He reached Pomard (two hundred and fifty miles from Paris) in September, -1829, and found a vast body of charters which had formed the archives of -the mediæval Earls of Blois, together with many heraldic and -genealogical manuscripts chiefly relating to French families. But he -found hardly any manuscripts which bore, directly, upon English history -or affairs—the immediate object, it must be remembered, of the mission -given him by the Trustees. - -[Sidenote: SIR HENRY ELLIS’S REPORT ON THE HISTORICAL MSS. AT POMARD.] - -Immediately on his return to Paris, Sir Henry wrote thus to the -Archbishop of CANTERBURY:—‘The Collection is indeed a most extraordinary -one of its kind, and would be a treasure in the stores of the British -Museum, or of any other public Collection, though, perhaps, for a reason -which will presently appear, some of the Trustees may think a public -library of France would be its most appropriate repository. [Sidenote: -1829, September.] It is placed in two attics of the Chateau, of -considerable area—and I should say sixteen feet in height—in cartons (or -paste-board boxes), each two feet in length by one in depth and width. -Each carton contains some hundreds of charters, at least whenever I -examined them, and I made here and there my comparison with the -catalogue of from twenty to thirty cartons, all answering to the -catalogue and to the successive dates upon the outside of the boxes.... -In one room there were above a hundred boxes piled up to the ceiling, -the lower ones of which, where I could get at them, were full of -instruments arranged as I have described. I counted also, in the same -room, near a hundred and fifty bundles, all of single articles, partly -piled up for want of room, and placed upon the floors. In the second -room I counted a hundred and forty-nine cartons piled up like the -former, and no ladder in the house to get at them. I did what I could -upon a pair of steps made of two thin boards fastened to two other -upright boards, but I had not even a safe pair of steps. Many of the -cartons in the second room contained collections of a comparatively -recent date, apparently the manuscripts of the Baron’s father. Some of -these were terriers of lands, others were marked “_Pays Étrangers_,” -“_Monumens Généalogiques_;” “_Pièces Historiques_;” “_Parlement_;” -“_Histoire de l’Église_.”’ - -‘Of the great collection of charters (and it appeared to me to be larger -than all the collection of charters at present in the British Museum put -together), I am bound to say that I believe them to have formed almost -the entire muniments of the Earls of BLOIS, containing whatever related -to their concern in the wars of Europe in the middle ages, to their -prædial possessions, their granting out of property and privileges, -sales, feudal or public acts, quittances of money for military services, -letters patents, expenses of household, and every act, material or -immaterial, likely to be found in the archives of one of the greatest -houses of England. - -[Sidenote: PAUCITY OF ENGLISH DOCUMENTS IN THE ARCHIVES AT POMARD.] - -‘I looked in vain, however, for anything illustrative of English -history, except in a single bundle, tied in paper, which seemed -unconnected with the cartons, and was not, as far as I could find, in -any of the MS. catalogues. This bundle was entitled, in a modern hand, -“Documens relatifs à l’occupation de la France par les Anglais, 1400.” -It consists of about one hundred vellum instruments, one or two, or -perhaps more, so far in the form of letters that they were official -announcements; such as the Duke of ORLEANS in England in 1437, that he -had obtained safe conducts for his Chancellor and Premier Écuyer -d’écurie. Amongst these are various orders of payment and acquittances -for money, and several relate to Charles, Duke of ORLEANS, whilst -prisoner in England after the fight of Agincourt. There is a payment to -the Earl of SUFFOLK; another to persons fighting against the English; a -payment for the deliverance of the Duc d’ANGOULEME whilst a prisoner in -England in 1412; various orders of John, Duke of BEDFORD, the Bastard of -Salisbury, the Duke of EXETER, &c., to persons in the care of military -posts under them; the Duke of BEDFORD concerning musters; HENRY THE -FIFTH’S acquittance to the parishioners of certain villages for payments -on account of the war; various grants of the same King for services in -the wars; a grant to Sir William BOURCHIER of the estates of the Earl of -EU, dated at Mantes in his seventh year; and an order for a confirmation -to be made out of the different grants of the Kings of England and Dukes -of Normandy to the House of Lepers at Dieppe.’ - -When Sir Henry ELLIS had completed at Pomard that rough examination of -the Collection which he thus described on his return to Paris, his first -inquiry of the owner was, of course, about price. M. de JOURSANVAULT was -embarrassed. To Sir Thomas CROFT he had already said that he hoped to -get sixty thousand francs. ELLIS had noticed, as the Baron drove him -from Beaune into the court-yard of the old chateau, that its appearance -denoted wealth in past rather than in present days, but he could hardly -have been prepared for the effect of altered circumstances in turning a -gentleman into a chapman. In the evening the anticipated sixty thousand -francs had grown into a hundred and ten thousand. Nor was this the only -demand. The Duke of WELLINGTON must use his credit at Paris to transform -the Baron into a Count (without any stipulation for an entailed estate -by way of ‘majorat’); and if the task should be beyond the powers even -of the conqueror of NAPOLEON, then M. de JOURSANVAULT was to receive, -from the English Government, authority to import into England five -hundred pipes of Beaune wine, grown upon his own estate, free of all -customs duties, and for his own profit. - -Sir Henry (who with great good sense had already taken precaution that -his position at the British Museum should not be known to his host at -Pomard, in the hope of precluding any exaggeration of terms) -remonstrated against the burden of such a demand, but all entreaty was -vain. The Baron was bent on having—in addition to his £4400—either a -step in nobility, or, at the least, a handsome remission of customs -duty. The Trustees, in the end, declined to treat. - - -When it came to Sir Harris NICOLAS’S knowledge that ELLIS’S journey to -Pomard was apparently to have no result in the way of bringing -historical manuscripts into England, he felt angry as well as -disappointed. It was his earnest belief—whether right or wrong—that a -valuable occasion had been somewhat trifled with. He told the story,[25] -and treasured up the memory, and both the story and the narrator’s -personal reminiscences of the transaction had their share in bringing -about the parliamentary enquiry into the affairs of the British Museum. - -[Sidenote: THE PARLIAMENTARY INQUIRY INTO MUSEUM AFFAIRS OF 1835 AND - 1836.] - -Originally, and immediately, that inquiry was proposed to the House of -Commons by Mr. Benjamin HAWES, then M.P. for Lambeth, at the instance of -a Mr. John MILLARD, who had been employed, for some years, on an Index -of MSS., and whose employment (upon very good grounds) had been -discontinued. Sir Harris NICOLAS also brought his influence to bear. Mr. -HAWES, personally, had a very earnest intention to benefit the Public by -the inquiry. But his own pursuits in life were not such as to have given -him the literary qualifications necessary for conducting it. With not -less wisdom than modesty, when he had carried his motion for a Select -Committee, he waived his claim to its chairmanship. The Committee chose -for that office Mr. SOTHERON ESTCOURT. The burden of examination, on -behalf of the Trustees, was borne—it need not be said how ably—by men of -no less mark than Sir Robert Harry INGLIS and the late Earl of DERBY, -then Lord Stanley. - -One of the best results of the appointment of that Committee of 1835–36 -was the opportunity it gave to Mr. BABER and to Mr. PANIZZI of -advocating the claims of the National Library to largely increased -liberality on the part of Parliament. The latter, in particular, did it -with an earnestness, and with a vivacity and felicity of argument and of -illustration, which I believe won for him the respect of every person -who enjoyed (as I did) the pleasure of listening to his examination. I -do not think that anybody in that Committee Room of 1836 thought his -arguments a whit the weaker for being expressed by ‘a foreigner.’ But it -chances to be within my knowledge that pressure was put upon Mr. HAWES, -as a conspicuous member of the Committee, to induce him to put questions -to a certain witness with the view of enabling that witness to attack -the Trustees for appointing a foreigner to an important office in the -Museum. The ludicrous absurdity of an objection on that score—in -relation to a great establishment of Literature and Science—was not, it -seems, felt in those days as it would assuredly be felt in the present -day. The absurdity did not strike the mind of Mr. HAWES, but, to his -great credit, he steadfastly refused to admit of any impeachment in the -Committee of a choice which he believed had been most fitly made in all -other respects.[26] - -It is more than probable that the ability which Mr. PANIZZI had -displayed in the Committee Room of the House of Commons, as well as the -zeal for our national honour which he had shown himself to possess, had -something to do in preparing the way for the promotion which awaited him -within a few months after Mr. HAWES’ Committee made its final report to -the House. But his labours in the Museum itself had certainly given -substantial and ample warrant for that promotion—under all the -circumstances of the case—as will be seen presently. - -[Sidenote: MR. PANIZZI’S APPOINTMENT TO THE KEEPERSHIP OF PRINTED - BOOKS.] - -Amongst the duties entrusted to Mr. PANIZZI after his entrance (in 1831) -into the service of the Trustees as an extra Assistant-Librarian, was -the cataloguing of an extraordinary Collection of Tracts illustrative of -the History of the French Revolution. He had laboured on a difficult -task with great diligence and with uncommon ability. In 1835, a -Committee of Trustees reported, in the highest terms, on the performance -of his duties, and concluded their report with a recommendation which, -although the general body of Trustees did not act upon it, became the -occasion of a very eulogistic minute. Two years afterwards, the office -of Keeper of Printed Books became vacant by the resignation of the -Reverend Henry Hervey BABER, who had filled it, with great credit, from -the year 1802. - -The office of Senior Assistant-Librarian in that Department was then -filled by another man of eminent literary distinction, the Reverend -Henry Francis CARY, who, as one of the best among the many English -translators of DANTE, is not likely to be soon forgotten amongst us. Not -a few Englishmen of the generation that is now passing away learnt in -his version to love DANTE, before they were able to read him in his -proper garb, and learnt too to love Italy, as CARY loved it, for DANTE’S -sake. - -Mr. CARY was the grandson of Mordecai CARY, Bishop of Killaloe, and the -son of a Captain in the British Army, who at the time of Henry CARY’S -birth was quartered at Gibraltar, where the boy was born on the sixth of -December, 1772. [Sidenote: LIFE AND LITERARY LABOURS OF HENRY FRANCIS -CARY.] He was educated at Birmingham and at Christ Church, Oxford. It -was in his undergraduate days at Christ Church that he began to -translate the _Inferno_, although he did not publish his first volume -until he had entered his thirty-third year, and had established himself -in ‘the great wen’ as Reader at Berkeley Chapel (1805). CARY’S ‘_Dante_’ -soon won its way to fame. Among other blessings it brought about his -life-long friendship with COLERIDGE and with the Coleridgian circle. He -now became an extensive contributor to the literary periodicals. In -1816, he was made Preacher at the Savoy. In 1825, he offered himself to -the Trustees of the British Museum as a candidate for the Keepership of -the Department of Antiquities in succession to Taylor COMBE. That office -was given, with great propriety, to Mr. Edward HAWKINS, who had assisted -Mr. COMBE, and had, in fact, replaced him during his illness. But Mr. -CARY had met with encouragement—especially from the Archbishop of -CANTERBURY—and kept a bright look-out for new vacancies. In May or June, -1826, he wrote to his father that he had learnt that the office of -Assistant-Librarian in the Department of Printed Books was vacant. It -had been, he added, held by a most respectable old clergyman of the name -of BEAN, and Mr. BEAN was just dead. Within a week or two, Mr. CARY was -appointed to be his successor. By a large circle of friends the -appointment was hailed as a fitting tribute to a most deserving man of -letters. - -The homely rooms in the Court-yard of the Museum allotted to the -Assistant-Keeper of the Printed Book Department were soon the habitual -resort of a cluster of poets. The faces of COLERIDGE, ROGERS, Charles -LAMB,[27] and (during their occasional visits to London) those of -SOUTHEY and of WORDSWORTH, became, in those days, very familiar at the -gate of old Montagu House. COLERIDGE had always loved CARY, and when the -charms of long monologues, delivered at the Grove to devout listeners, -withheld him from visits, the correspondence between Highgate and -Bloomsbury became so frequent and so voluminous, that he is said to have -endeavoured to persuade Sir Francis FREELING that all correspondence to -or from the British Museum ought to be officially regarded as ‘On His -Majesty’s Service,’ and to be franked, to any weight, accordingly. But -those love-enlivened rooms were, in a very few years, to be darkly -clouded. CARY lost his wife on the twenty-second of November, 1832, and -almost immediately afterwards—so dreadful was the blow to him—‘a look of -mere childishness, approaching to a suspension of vitality, marked the -countenance which had but now beamed with intellect.’ [Sidenote: _Life -of H. F. Cary_, by his Son, vol. ii, p. 198.] Such are the words of his -fellow-mourner. - -Part of Mr. CARY’S duties at the Museum now necessarily fell, for a few -months, to be discharged by Mr. PANIZZI, who, in the preceding year, had -been appointed next in office to CARY. The circumstances of that -appointment have been thus stated by the eminent Prelate who made it:— - -[Sidenote: CIRCUMSTANCES OF MR. PANIZZI’S FIRST APPOINTMENT IN 1831.] - -‘Mr. PANIZZI was entirely unknown to me, except by reputation. I -understood that he was a civilian who had come from Italy, and that he -was a man of great acquirements and talents, peculiarly well suited for -the British Museum. That was represented to me by several persons who -were not connected with the Museum, and it was strongly pressed by -several of the Trustees, who were of opinion that Mr. PANIZZI’S -appointment would be very advantageous for the institution. [Sidenote: -_Minutes of Evidence taken before the Select Committee on the British -Museum_, 28 June, 1836, p. 433.]Considering the qualifications of that -gentleman, his knowledge of foreign languages, his eminent ability and -extensive attainments, I could not doubt the propriety of acceding to -their wishes.’ - -When that appointment was made, Mr. PANIZZI had already passed almost -ten years in England. [Sidenote: MR. PANIZZI’S EARLY CAREER AND HIS -LABOURS IN ENGLAND.] The greater part of them had been spent at -Liverpool, as a tutor in the language and literature of Italy. Born at -Brescello, in the Duchy of Modena, Mr. PANIZZI had been educated at -Reggio and at Parma; in the last-named University he had graduated as -LL.D. in 1818; and he had practised with distinction as an advocate. -Part of his leisure hours had been given to the study of bibliography, -and to the acquisition of a library. But he was an ardent aspirant for -the liberty of Italy, and, in 1820, narrowly escaped becoming one of its -many martyrs. After the unsuccessful rising of that year in Piedmont, he -was arrested at Cremona, but escaped from his prison. After his escape -he was sentenced to death. He sought a refuge first at Lugano, and -afterwards at Geneva. But his ability had made him a marked man. -Austrian spies dogged his steps, and appealed, by turns, to the -suspicions and to the fears of the local authorities. Presently it -seemed clear that England, alone, would afford, to the dreaded -‘conspirator’ for Italy, a secure abode. At Liverpool he acquired the -friendship successively of Ugo FOSCOLO, of ROSCOE, and of BROUGHAM. In -1828, he received and accepted the offer of the Professorship of Italian -Literature in the then London University, now ‘University College.’ In -1830, he began the publication of his admirable edition of the poems of -BOJARDO and ARIOSTO, which was completed in 1834. - -[Sidenote: _Minutes of Evidence on the Constitution and Management of - the British Museum_, 26 May, 1848, § 2764 (Report of 1850, p. - 114).] - -When Mr. BABER announced, in March, 1837, his intention to resign his -Keepership, Mr. PANIZZI made no application for the office, but he wrote -to the Principal Trustees an expression of his hope that if, in the -event, ‘any appointment was to take place on account of Mr. BABER’S -resignation,’ his services would be borne in mind. - -One of Mr. CARY’S earliest steps in the matter was to apply to his -friend and fellow-poet, Mr. Samuel ROGERS. ROGERS—to use his own -words—was one who had known CARY ‘in all weathers.’ His earnest -friendship induced him to write a letter of recommendation to the three -Principal Trustees. After he had sent in his recommendation, a genuine -conscientiousness—not the less truly characteristic of the man for all -that outward semblance of cynicism which frequently veiled it—prompted -him to think the matter over again. It occurred to him to doubt whether -he was really serving his old friend CARY by helping to put him in a -post for which failing vigour was but too obviously, though gradually, -unfitting him. His misgiving increased the more he turned the affair -over in his mind. He then wrote three letters (to the Archbishop, -Chancellor, and Speaker), recalling his recommendation, and stating his -reason. With the Speaker, ROGERS also conversed on the subject. Mr. -ABERCROMBY asked the poet: ‘What do you know about a Mr. PANIZZI, who -stands next to CARY?’ ‘PANIZZI,’ said ROGERS, ‘would serve you very -well.’ ‘To tell you the truth,’ rejoined the Speaker, ‘we think that, if -Mr. CARY is not appointed, PANIZZI will be the right man.’ At that time, -Mr. PANIZZI was not personally known either to the Speaker or to the -Chancellor. - -I give these details, first, because they became, in after-days, a very -vital and influential part of the History of the British Museum. No -appointment was ever made during the whole of the hundred and fifteen -years which have elapsed betwixt the first organization of the -establishment in 1755 and the year in which I write (1870) that has had -such large influence upon its growth and its improvement; and, secondly, -because in a published life of the excellent man whose temporary -disappointment led to a great public benefit a passage appears which -(doubtless very unintentionally, but not the less seriously) -misrepresents the matter, and hints, mysteriously, at underhanded -influence, as though something had been done in the way of treachery to -CARY. ‘The Lord Chancellor and the Speaker,’ writes CARY’S biographer, -‘acting under information, _the source of which was probably known only -to them and their informant_, [Sidenote: _Life of Henry Francis Cary_, -vol. ii, p. 200.] resolved on passing him over, and appointing his -subordinate, Mr. PANIZZI, to the vacant place.’ - -These letters and conversations passed in the interval between the -announcement that there would be a vacancy in the Museum staff and its -actual occurrence. The Keepership became vacant on the twenty-fourth of -June. On that day Mr. CARY made his personal application to the -Archbishop. The Archbishop told him that objections were made to his -appointment. CARY, immediately after his return, told his -brother-officers BABER and PANIZZI what the Archbishop had communicated -to him. ‘Then,’ said Mr. PANIZZI, ‘the thing concerns me.’ ‘Yes,’ -rejoined CARY, ‘certainly it does.’ They all knew that applications for -the vacant office from outsiders were talked of. Among these were the -late Reverend Ernest HAWKINS and the late Reverend Richard GARNETT (who -afterwards succeeded to the Assistant-Librarianship). And Mr. PANIZZI -then proceeded to say to Mr. CARY: ‘You will not, now, object to my -asking for the place myself, as there are these objections to you.’ CARY -replied, ‘Not at all.’ Instantly, and in CARY’S presence, Mr. PANIZZI -wrote thus to the Archbishop:—‘I hope your Grace will not deem it -presumptuous in me to beg respectfully of your Grace and the other -Principal Trustees to take my case into consideration, should they think -it necessary to depart from the usual system of regular promotion, on -appointing Mr. BABER’S successor. [Sidenote: Panizzi to the Archbishop -of Canterbury, 26 June, 1837 (_Minutes of Evidence of 1850_).] I venture -to say thus much, having been informed by Mr. CARY of the conversation -he has had the honour to have with your Grace.’ The writer gave his -letter into Mr. CARY’S hand, received his brother-officer’s immediate -approval, and had that approval, at a later hour of the day and after a -re-perusal of the letter, confirmed. - -Within the walls of the Museum, the general feeling was so strongly in -favour of Mr. CARY’S appointment, despite all objection (and nothing can -be more natural than that it should be so—‘A fellow-feeling makes us -wondrous kind’), that the _public_ interest, in having an officer who -would use the appointment rather as a working-tool than as a reclining -staff, was, for the moment, lost sight of. Sir Henry ELLIS himself, when -asked to give a formal testimonial of Mr. PANIZZI’S qualifications to be -head of the Printed Book Department, answered: ‘If you told me that the -Bodleian Librarianship was vacant—or any other outside Librarianship -worth your having—you should have my heartiest recommendation. At -present, you must excuse me;’ or in words to that effect. Edward -HAWKINS, then Keeper of the Department of Antiquities, expressed himself -(in the hearing of the present writer) to like purpose, when asked what -his opinion was on a point which, at the moment, attracted not a little -attention in literary circles.[28] - -CARY afterwards—and when it was too late to recall it—regretted his -assent to Mr. PANIZZI’S application. He applied again to the Archbishop, -and obtained something like a promise of support. He wrote several -letters to the Lord Chancellor. In one of these he (unconsciously, as it -seems) adduced a conclusive argument against his own appointment to the -office he sought. He wrote that, as he was informed, the objections of -his Lordship and of the Speaker were twofold: the one resting on his -age, and the other on the state of his health. He answered the -objections in these words:—‘My age, it is plain, might rather ask for me -that _alleviation of labour_ which, _in this as in other public offices, -is gained by promotion_ to a superior place, than call for a continuance -of the same laborious employment.’ [Sidenote: Cary to the Lord -Chancellor, 18 July, 1837 (_The Times_).] What must have been a Lord -Chancellor’s ruminations upon the ‘alleviation of labour’ which ‘a -superior place’ brings to a public servant, is a somewhat amusing -subject of conjecture. - -It was with perfect honesty and integrity of purpose that Mr. CARY -adduced medical testimony of his fitness for continued but diminished -labours. He would have exerted himself to the best of his ability. But -it was a blemish in an excellent man that (under momentary irritation) -he twice permitted himself to reproach his competitor and colleague with -being ‘a foreigner.’ - -One would fain have hoped that our famous countryman Daniel DEFOE had, a -hundred years before, put all reproach and contumely on the score of a -man’s _not_ being a ‘true-born Englishman’ quite out of Court, in all -contentions concerning capabilities of public service. But, of all -places in the world, a MUSEUM is the queerest place in which to raise -petty questions of nationality. If it be at all worthy of its name, its -contents must have come from the four quarters of the globe. Men of -every race under Heaven must have worked hard to furnish it. It brings -together the plants of Australia; the minerals of Peru; the shells of -the far Pacific; the manuscripts which had been painfully compiled or -transcribed by twenty generations of labourers in every corner of -Europe, as well as in the monasteries of Africa and of the Eastern -Desert; and the sculptures and the printed books of every civilised -country in the world. And then it is proposed—when arrangements are to -be made for turning dead collections into living fountains of -knowledge—that the question asked shall be: _not_ ‘What is your capacity -to administer?’ but ‘Where were you born?’ I hope, and I believe, that -in later years Mr. CARY regretted that he had permitted a name so -deservedly honoured to endorse so poor a sophism. - -Mr. Antonio PANIZZI received his appointment on the fifteenth of July, -1837. If he had worked hard to gain promotion, he worked double tides to -vindicate it. In the following month, Mr. CARY resigned his -Assistant-Librarianship. [Sidenote: PANIZZI’S APPOINTMENT AS KEEPER OF -THE PRINTED BOOKS, July, 1837.] He left the Museum with the hearty -respect and with the brotherly regrets of all his colleagues, without -any exception. Of him, it may very truly be said, he was a man much -beloved. - -Nor was it otherwise with Mr. BABER. His public services began in old -Bodley towards the end of the year 1796, and they were so efficient as -to open to him, at the beginning of the present century, a subordinate -post in the British Museum, his claims to which he waived the instant -that he knew they would stand in the way of ELLIS, his early friend of -undergraduate days. He became Assistant-Librarian in 1807; Keeper of -Printed Books in 1812. He, too, was a man with no enemies. In literature -he won (before he was fifty) an enduring place by his edition of the -_Vetus Testamentum Græcum e Codice MS. Alexandrino ... descriptum_. - -Of the amiability of character which distinguished Mr. BABER, not less -than did his scholarship, the present writer had more than common -experience. It was my fortune to make my first intimate acquaintance -(1835) with the affairs of the British Museum in the capacity of a -critic on that part of Mr. BABER’S discharge of his manifold functions -as Keeper which related to the increase of the Library, both by purchase -and by the operation of the Copyright Act. I criticised some of his -doings, and some of his omissions to do, with youthful presumption, and -with that self-confident half-knowledge which often leads a man more -astray, practically, than does sheer ignorance. So far from resenting -strictures, a few of which may have had some small validity and value, -while a good many were certainly plausible but shallow, he turned the -former to profit, and, so far from resenting the latter, repeatedly -evinced towards their author acts of courtesy and kindness. It was in -his company that I first explored—as we strode from beam to beam of the -unfinished flooring—the new Library rooms in which, long afterwards, I -was to perform my humble spell of work on the _Catalogue of the Printed -Books_; as he had performed his hard-by almost thirty years earlier. - -Mr. BABER survived his retirement from his Keepership (in 1837) no less -than thirty-two years. He died, on the twenty-eighth of March, 1869, at -his rectory-house at Stretham, in the Isle of Ely, and in his 94th year. -He had then been F.R.S. for fifty-three years, and had survived his old -friend Sir Henry ELLIS by a few weeks. He served his parishioners in -Cambridgeshire, as he had served his country in London, with unremitting -zeal and punctual assiduity. - - -One of Mr. PANIZZI’S earliest employments in his new office of 1837 was -to make arrangements for the formidable task of transferring the whole -mass of the old Library from Montagu House to the new Building, but he -also did something immediately towards preparing the way for that -systematic enlargement of the Collection of Printed Books which he had -formerly and so earnestly pressed on the attention, not merely of the -Select Committee of the House of Commons in 1835–36, but of every -Statesman and Parliament-man whose ear he could gain, whether (in his -interlocutor’s opinion) in season or out of season. To use the -expression of the man who, at a later date, mainly helped him in that -task, Mr. PANIZZI’S leading thought, in regard to Public Libraries, was -that Paris must be surpassed. In common with others of us who, like -himself, had been examined before Mr. HAWES’ Committee on that subject, -he had brought into salient relief some points of superiority which -foreign countries possessed over Britain, but the ruling motive of the -unsavoury comparison was British improvement, not, most assuredly, -British discredit. - -In the formidable business of the transfer of the bulk of the National -Library, Mr. PANIZZI received his best help from a man now just lost to -us, but whose memory will surely survive. Exactly six months after his -own appointment to the headship of his Department, he introduced into -the permanent service of the Trustees Mr. Thomas WATTS. [Sidenote: THE -LITERARY CAREER AND THE PUBLIC SERVICES OF THOMAS WATTS.] The readers of -such a volume as this will not, I imagine, think it to be a digression -if I here make some humble attempt to record what was achieved by my old -acquaintance—an acquaintance of almost one and thirty years’ -standing—both in his varied literary labours and in his long and -fruitful service at the Museum. - -Thomas WATTS was born in London in the year 1811. He was educated at a -private school in London, where he was very early noted for the -possession of three several qualities, one or other of which is found, -in a marked degree, in thousands of men and in tens of thousands of -precocious boys, but the union of all of which, whether in child or in -man, is rare indeed. Young WATTS evinced both an astonishing capacity -for acquiring languages—the most far remote from his native speech—and -an unusual readiness at English composition. He had also a knack for -turning off very neat little speeches and recitations. Before he was -fifteen, he could give good entertainment at a breaking up or a -‘speech-day.’ Before he was twenty, he had gained his footing as a -contributor to periodical literature.[29] - -In the autumn of the year 1835, Mr. WATTS’ attention was attracted to -the publication of the _Minutes of Evidence taken before the Select -Committee on the British Museum_, the first portion of which had been -ordered to be printed, by the House of Commons, in the preceding August. -[Sidenote: WATTS’ EARLY INTEREST IN THE IMPROVEMENT OF THE BRITISH -MUSEUM.] He read the evidence with great interest, and ere long he wrote -(in 1836 and 1837) some valuable comments upon it, which embodied -several suggestions for the improvement of the Museum service, and for -making it increasedly accessible to the Public. More than two or three -of the suggestions so offered, he lived to carry out—long afterwards, by -his own exertions, and with the cordial approval of his superior -officer, Mr. PANIZZI—into practice, after he had himself entered into -the service of the Trustees as an Assistant in the Printed Book -Department. - -But he chose a very unfortunate medium for his useful communications of -1836 and 1837. He printed them in the columns of the ‘_Mechanics’ -Magazine_,’ where, for practical purposes, they were almost buried. Of -this fact I am able to give a small illustrative and personal instance. -Possibly, it may be thought to have some little biographical value, as a -trait of his character. - -In both of the years above named Mr. WATTS did the present writer the -honour to make some remarks on his humble labours for the improvement of -the Museum in 1835 and 1836. Mr. WATTS’ remarks were very complimentary -and kind in their expression. But I never saw or heard of them, until -this year, 1870, after their writer had passed from the knowledge of the -many acquaintances and friends who, in common with myself, much esteemed -him, and who will ever honour his memory. - -One of the communications which my late friend published in that -‘_Mechanics’ Magazine_’ contained two suggestions—made contingently, and -by way of alternative plans—for the enlargement of the Museum buildings. -Nearly eleven years afterwards (August, 1847), I unconsciously repeated -those very suggestions, amongst many others, in a pamphlet, entitled -_Public Libraries in London and Paris_. I was in complete ignorance that -my suggestions of 1847 were otherwise than entirely original. I thought -them wholly my own. Of the print which accompanied my pamphlet I give -the reader an exact fac-simile, errors included, on the opposite plate. -The print embodied very nearly the same thoughts, on the enlargement of -the library, which had been expressed, so long before, in the pages of -the ‘_Mechanics’ Magazine_.’ The first presented copy of that pamphlet -and print was given to my friend WATTS. I was then absent, far from -London, and I had presently the pleasure of receiving from him a long -letter, containing some criticisms and remarks on my publication. But -such was his modest reticence about his own prior performance, that the -letter contained no word or hint concerning the anticipation of my -alternative suggestions for the enlargement of the Library in his prior -publication. And, in the long interval between 1837 and 1847, I suppose -we had conversed about the improvement of the Museum, and about its -buildings, actual and prospective, some thirty or forty times, but (as I -have said) those valuable and thoughtful articles of his, printed in -1836–7—and making complimentary mention of my own labours, and of my -evidence given before Mr. HAWES’ Committee—never came within my -knowledge. No part of their contents was even mentioned to me. I saw -them, for the first time, in January, 1870. Very few men—within my range -of acquaintance—had so much dislike to talk of their performances, as -was manifested by Thomas WATTS. To this day, very much of what he did -for the Public is scarcely known even by those who (at one time or -other) enjoyed the pleasure, and the honour, of his friendship. He was -one of the men who ‘did good by stealth,’ and would have almost blushed -to find it fame. - -[Illustration: - - _Plate Nº 2_ - - - SUGGESTIONS, MADE IN 1847. - FOR THE ENLARGEMENT OF THE LIBRARY OF THE - BRITISH MUSEUM. - - BEING THE FAC-SIMILE OF A PLAN INSERTED IN A PAMPHLET (WRITTEN IN - 1846.) - - ENTITLED - - PUBLIC LIBRARIES IN LONDON AND PARIS. -] - - -[Sidenote: WATTS’ LABOURS FOR THE AUGMENTATION OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM - LIBRARY.] - -When Thomas WATTS entered the Museum, the immediate task entrusted to -him, onerous as it was, did not (for any long time) engross his -attention. In common with Mr. PANIZZI, his desire to increase the -Library, and to make London surpass Paris—‘_Paris must be surpassed_,’ -are the words which close the best of those articles, printed in 1837, -to which I have just now referred—amounted to a positive passion. He did -not talk very much about it; but I fancy it occupied, not only his -waking thoughts, but his very dreams. - -Mr. PANIZZI had not been at the head of his Department many weeks before -he began a Special Report to the Trustees, recommending a systematic -increase of the Collection of Printed Books. - -In the autumn of 1837 he could hardly foresee that one of the attacks to -be made, in the after-years, upon those who had appointed him, or who -had promoted his appointment, for the crime of preferring ‘a foreigner’ -to a high post in our National Museum, would be based upon the -foreigner’s neglect of English Literature. ‘An Italian Librarian,’ said -those profound logicians, ‘must, naturally and necessarily, swamp the -Library with Italian books. He can’t help doing it.’ But, strange as it -may have seemed to objectors of that calibre, this particular Italian -happened to be, not only a scholar—a ripe and good one—but a man of wide -sympathies, and of catholic tastes in literature. He was able himself to -enjoy SHAKESPEARE, not less thoroughly than he was able, by his critical -acumen, to increase other men’s enjoyment of ARIOSTO and of DANTE. - -[Sidenote: SIR A. PANIZZI’S REPORT, IN OCTOBER, 1837, ON THE PROPER - CHARACTERISTICS OF A NATIONAL LIBRARY FOR GREAT BRITAIN.] - -In October, 1837, he wrote thus:—‘With respect to the purchase of books, -Mr. PANIZZI begs to lay before the Trustees the general principles by -which he will be guided, if not otherwise directed, in endeavouring to -answer the expectations and wishes of the Trustees and of the Public in -this respect. First, the attention of the Keeper of this emphatically -British Library ought to be directed, most particularly, to British -works, and to works relating to the British Empire; its religious, -political, and literary, as well as scientific history; its laws, -institutions, description, commerce, arts, &c. The rarer and more -expensive a work of this description is, the more indefatigable[30] -efforts ought to be made to secure it for the Library. Secondly, the old -and rare, as well as the critical, editions of ancient Classics, ought -never to be sought for in vain in this Collection. Nor ought good -comments, as also the best translations into modern languages, to be -wanting. Thirdly, with respect to foreign literature, arts, and -sciences, the Library ought to possess the best editions of standard -works for critical purposes or for use. The Public have, moreover, a -right to find, in their National Library, heavy as well as expensive -foreign works, such as _Literary Journals_; _Transactions of Societies_; -large Collections, historical or otherwise; complete series of -Newspapers; Collections of Laws, and their best interpreters.’ We have, -in this brief passage, the germ of the admirable Report on the National -Library, written on a far more extended scale, which was afterwards laid -before the Government, and, ultimately, before Parliament. - -If this Report failed to lead, immediately (or, indeed, for a long time -to come), to the increased means of acquisition on which its writer’s -mind was so much bent, the fault did not lie in the Trustees. It lay -with the House of Commons, and with the Chancellor of the Exchequer. - -[Sidenote: THE IMPEDIMENTS IN THE WAY OF IMPROVEMENT.] - -It is hard to realise, in 1870, how entirely the effort for an adequate -improvement of the British Museum was an uphill task. Trustees like the -late Lord DERBY and the late Sir R. H. INGLIS were earnestly desirous to -carry out such recommendations as those of Mr. PANIZZI, but the -employment of urging them on the Ministry was an ungrateful one. In -those days of reforming-activity, although, in 1837, the average -radicals in ‘the House’ were not quite such devout believers in the -faith that a general overturn was the only road to a general millenium -as they had been in 1832, they were willing enough to listen to attacks -upon the managers of any public institution (no matter how crude were -the views of the assailants, or how lopsided their information), but -they were not half so ready to open the public purse-strings in order to -enable impugned managers or trustees to improve the institution -entrusted to them upon a worthy scale. - -Three months after writing his Report of 1837, Mr. PANIZZI was enabled -to procure the official assistance of Mr. WATTS. The appointment -strengthened his hands, by giving to a man of extraordinary powers for -organization and government, the services of a man not less -extraordinary for his powers of accumulating and assimilating detail. -What each man characteristically possessed, was just the right -supplement to the special faculties of the other. But even such a happy -union of personal qualities would have failed to carry into effect the -large aspirations for the improvement of the Museum which both men, -severally and independently, had cherished (during many years), but for -one other circumstance. This was a merely incidental—one might say a -fortuitous—circumstance; but it proved very influential upon the -fortunes of the British Museum in the course of the years to come. -[Sidenote: See hereafter, Chap. V.] When Mr. PANIZZI began to be known -in London society—at first, very much by the instrumentality of the late -Mr. Thomas GRENVILLE, who, at an early period, had become warmly -attached to him—his acquaintance was eagerly cultivated. In this way he -obtained opportunities to preach his doctrine of increased public -support for our great national and educational institutions (his -advocacy was not limited within the four walls of the Museum) in the -ears of very valuable and powerful listeners. It was thought, now and -then, that he preached on that topic out of season as well as in season. -But the issue amply vindicated the zeal which prompted him to make the -pleasures of social intercourse subserve the performance of a public -trust. Few men, I imagine—holding the unostentatious post of a -librarianship—ever possessed so many social opportunities of the kind -here referred to, as were possessed by Mr. PANIZZI. And even those -listeners who may have thought him over-pertinacious, sometimes, in -pressing his convictions, must needs have carried away with them the -assurance that one public servant, at all events, did not regard his -duties as ‘irksome.’ They must have seen that this man’s heart was in -his official work. - -So was it also in the instance of Mr. PANIZZI’S righthand man within the -Museum itself. Thomas WATTS was not gifted with powers of persuasive -argument. His address and manners did no sort of justice to the -intrinsic qualities, or to the true heart, of the man himself. To -strangers, they often gave a most inaccurate idea of his faculties and -character. Under the outward guise of a blunt-spoken farmer, there -dwelt, not only high scholarship, but a lofty sense—it would not be too -strong to say a passionate sense—of public duty. He had none of the -persuasive gifts of vivid talk. But he could preach forcibly, by -example. When he had made some way with the first task which was -assigned him, that of superintending the removal of the Library, and its -due ordering—in some of the details of which he was ably assisted, -almost from the outset, by Mr. George BULLEN (who, in January, 1838, was -first specially employed to retranscribe the press-marks or symbols of -the books, as they stood in old Montagu House, into the new equivalents -necessitated by their altered position in the new Library, in which -labour he was, in the April following, assisted by Mr. N. W. SIMONS)—and -had solved, by assiduous effort and self-denying labour, some of the -many difficulties which stood in the way of effecting that removal -without impeding, to any serious degree, the service of the Public -Reading-Room, he turned his attention, at Mr. PANIZZI’S instance, to -the—to him—far more grateful task of preparing lists of foreign books -for addition to the Library. For this task he evinced special qualities -and attainments which, I believe, were never surpassed, by any librarian -in the world; not even by an AUDIFFREDI, a VAN-PRAET, or a MAGLIABECHI. - -[Sidenote: LINGUISTIC ATTAINMENTS OF THOMAS WATTS.] - -Mr. WATTS’ earliest schoolfellows had marvelled at his faculty for -acquiring with great rapidity such a degree of familiarity with foreign -tongues, as gave him an amply sufficient master-key to their several -literatures. When yet very young, he showed a scholarly appreciation of -the right methods of setting to work. He studied languages in -groups—giving his whole mind to one group at a time, and then passing to -another. At an age when many men (far from being blockheads) are -painfully striving after a literary command of their mother-tongue, -young WATTS had showed himself to be master of two several clusters of -the great Indo-European family, and to have a very respectable -acquaintance with a third. When, as a youthful volunteer at the Museum, -he was fulfilling a request made to him by Mr. BABER, that he would -catalogue the Collection of Icelandic books given to the Public, half a -century before, by Sir Joseph BANKS, and also another parcel of Russian -books, which had been bought at his own recommendation, the reading of -Chinese literature was the labour of his hours of private study, and the -reading of Polish literature was the recreation of his hours of leisure. - -What the feelings of an ambitious student of that strain would be when -officially instructed by his superior to take under his sole (or almost -sole) charge the duty of examining the Museum Catalogues, and of -obtaining from all parts of Europe and Asia, and from many parts of -America, other catalogues of every kind, in order to ascertain the -deficiencies of the Library, and to supply them, the reader can fancy. -The new assistant luxuriated in his office. Many of his suggestions were -periodically and earnestly supported with the Trustees by Mr. PANIZZI. -His labours were appreciated and often (to my personal knowledge) warmly -applauded by his superior officer. - -[Sidenote: HIS LISTS OF MUSEUM DESIDERATA.] - -He began with making lists of Russian books that were _desiderata_ in -the Museum Library; then of Hungarian; then of Dutch; then of French, -Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese; then of Chinese; then of Welsh; then -of the rapidly growing, but theretofore (at the Museum) much neglected, -literature of the Americas and the Indies. - -I used, now and then, to watch him at his work, and to think that no man -could possibly be employed more entirely to his liking. Long after I -ceased to enjoy any opportunity of talking with him about his -employment, I used occasionally to hear that similar tasks occupied, not -infrequently, the hours of evening leisure as well as the hours of -official duty. Some who knew him more intimately than—of late years—it -was my privilege to know him, believe that his early death was in part -(humanly speaking) due to his passion for poring over catalogues and -other records of far-off literatures when worn-out nature needed to be -refreshed, and to be recreatively interested in quite other occupations. - -During the last twenty years alone (1850–1869 inclusive) he cannot have -marked and recommended for purchase less than a hundred and fifty -thousand foreign works, and in order to their selection he must needs -have examined almost a million of book-titles, in at least eighteen -different languages. - -When little more than half that last-named term of years had expired he -was able to write—in a Report which he addressed to Mr. PANIZZI in -February, 1861—that the common object of Keeper and Assistant-Keeper had -been, during almost a quarter of a century, to ‘bring together from all -quarters the useful, the elegant, and the curious literature of every -language; to unite with the best English Library in England, or the -world, the best Russian Library out of Russia, the best German out of -Germany, the best Spanish out of Spain, and so with every language from -Italian to Icelandic, from Polish to Portuguese. In five of the -languages in which it now claims this species of supremacy, in Russian, -Polish, Hungarian, Danish, and Swedish, I believe I may say that, with -the exception of perhaps fifty volumes, every book that has been -purchased by the Museum within the last three and twenty years has been -purchased at my suggestion. I have the pleasure of reflecting that every -future student of the less-known literatures of Europe will find riches -where I found poverty; though, of course, [Sidenote: Reports of 1861, -pp. 17, 18.] the collections in all these languages together form but a -small proportion of the vast accumulations that have been added to the -Library during your administration and that of your successor.’[31] - -When the reader comes to add to his estimate of the amount of mental -labour thus briefly and modestly indicated by the man who performed it, -a thought of the further toil involved in the re-arrangement and careful -_classification_ of more than four hundred thousand volumes of books, in -all the literary languages of the world (without any exception), he will -have attained some rough idea of the public service which was crowded -into one man’s life; and that, as we all have now to regret, not a -protracted life. He will have, too, some degree of conception of the -amount of acquired knowledge which was taken from us when Thomas WATTS -was taken. - -To his works of industry and of learning, the man we have lost added the -still better works of a kindly, benevolent heart. Many a struggling -student received at his hands both wise and loving counsel, and active -help. And his good deeds were not advertised. They would not now have -been spoken of, but for his loss—in the very thick of his labours for -the Public. - -In a precious volume, which was first added to the manuscript stores of -the British Museum a little before Mr. WATTS’ death, there occurs the -rough jotting of a thought which is very apposite to our human and -natural reflections upon such an early removal from the scene of labour -as that just referred to. When somebody spoke to BACON of the death, in -the midst of duty and of mental vigour, of some good worker or other in -the vineyard of this world, almost three centuries ago, he made the -following entry in his private note-book:—‘Princes, when in jousts, -triumphs, or games of victory, men deserve crowns for their performance, -do not crown them below, where the deeds are performed, but call them -up. [Sidenote: Lord Bacon’s _Note-Book_ (MS. ADDIT. B. M.).] So doth God -by death.’ - - -[Sidenote: OTHER LITERARY LABOURS OF THOMAS WATTS.] - -But these several branches of public duty, onerous as they were, were -far from exhausting Mr. WATTS’ mental activity, either within the Museum -walls or outside of them. He was a frequent contributor to periodical -literature. To his pen the _Quarterly Review_ was indebted for an -excellent article on the _History of Cyclopædias_; the ATHENÆUM, for a -long series of papers on various topics of literary history and of -current literature, extending over many years; the various Cyclopædias -and Biographical Dictionaries successively edited by Mr. Charles KNIGHT, -for a long series of valuable notices, embracing the Language and -Literature of Hungary; those of Wales; and more than a hundred and -thirty brief biographical memoirs, distinguished alike for careful -research and for clear and vigorous expression. These biographies -relate, for the most part, to foreign men of letters. To the pages of -the _Transactions of the Philological Society_ he was a frequent -contributor. His Memoir on Hungarian Literature, first read to that -Society, procured him the distinction of a corresponding-membership of -the Hungarian Academy, and the distinction was enhanced by his being -elected on the same day with Lord MACAULAY. - -Within the Museum itself two distinct and important departments of -official labour, both of which he filled with intelligence and zeal, -have yet to be indicated. [Sidenote: THE MUSEUM PRINTED BOOK CATALOGUE -OF 1839–1869, AND WATTS’ LABOURS IN RELATION TO IT.] In 1839, he took -part—with others—in framing an extensive code of ‘rules’ for the -re-compilation of the entire body of the Catalogues of Printed Books. In -May, 1857, he took charge of the Public Reading-Room, as Chief -Superintendent of the daily service. - -It need hardly be said that the first-named task—that on the -Catalogues—was a labour of planning and shaping, not one of actual -execution. It was very important, however, in its effects on the public -economy of the Library, and it was the one only labour, as I believe, -performed by Mr. WATTS, whether severally or in conjunction with others, -which failed to give unmixed satisfaction to the general body of -readers. The _Minutes of Evidence_, taken by the Commissioners of -1848–1850, whilst they abound in expressions of public gratitude both to -Mr. PANIZZI and, next after him, to Mr. WATTS, contain a not less -remarkable abundance of criticisms, and of complaints, upon the plan -(not the execution) of the _Catalogue of Printed Books_ begun in 1839. -The subject is a dry one, but will repay some brief attention on the -reader’s part. - -When Mr. PANIZZI became Keeper, he had (it will have been seen) to face -almost instantly, and abreast, three several tasks, each of which -entailed much labour upon himself, personally, as well as upon his -assistants. The third of them—this business of the Catalogue—proved to -be not the least onerous, and it was, assuredly, not the best rewarded -in the shape of its ultimate reception by those concerned more -immediately in its performance. I can speak with some sympathy on this -point, since it was as a temporary assistant in the preparation of this -formidable and keenly-criticised Catalogue, that the present writer -entered the service of the Trustees, in February, 1839. - -[Sidenote: OBJECTIONS TO THE PLAN OF THE MUSEUM PRINTED BOOK CATALOGUE - (1839–1869).] - -That some objections to the plan adopted in 1839 are well-grounded I -entirely believe. But the important point in this matter, for our -present purpose, is, not that the plan preferred was unobjectionable, -but that the utmost effort was used, at the time and under the -circumstances of the time, to prepare such a Catalogue as should meet -the fair requirements both of the Trustees and of the Readers. It is -within my recollection that, to effect this, Mr. PANIZZI laboured, -personally as well as in the way of super-intendance and direction, as -it has not often happened to me, in my time, to see men labour for the -Public. Assuredly to him promotion brought no lessening of toil in any -form. - -In shaping the plan of the General Catalogue of 1839–1870 (for it is, at -this moment of writing, still in active progress), the course taken was -this:—A sort of committee of five persons was formed, each of whom -severally was to prepare, in rough draft, rules for the compilation of -the projected work, illustrated by copious examples. It was to be -entirely new, and to embrace every book contained in the Library up to -the close of the year 1838. The draft rules were then freely discussed -in joint committee, and wherever differences of opinion failed to be -reconciled upon conference, the majority of votes determined the -question. Such was Mr. PANIZZI’S anxiety to prepare the best Catalogue -for the Readers that was practicable, that he never insisted, -authoritatively, on his own view of any point whatever, which might be -in contention amongst us, when he stood in a minority. On all such -points, he voted upon an exact equality with his assistants. The rules -that were most called into question (before the Commissioners of -1848–1850) had been severally discussed and determined in this fair and -simple way. Beyond all doubt, some of the rules might now be largely -amended in the light of subsequent experience. But, when adopted, they -seemed to _all_ of us the best that were practicable under all the then -circumstances. - -The committee thus formed consisted of Mr. PANIZZI himself, of Mr. -Thomas WATTS, of Mr. John Winter JONES (now Principal-Librarian), of Mr. -John Humffreys PARRY (now Mr. Serjeant PARRY), and of the writer of this -volume. The labour was much more arduous than the average run of readers -in a Public Library have any adequate conception of. It occupied several -months. It was pushed with such energy and industry, that many a time, -after we had all five worked together, till the light of the spring days -of 1839 failed us, we adjourned to work on—with the help of a sandwich -and a glass of Burgundy—in Mr. PANIZZI’S private apartment above the old -gate in the Court-yard. If the result of our joint labours had been -printed in the ordinary form of books, it would have made a substantial -octavo volume. The code has, no doubt, many faults and oversights, but, -be they what they may, it was a vast improvement upon former doings in -that direction; [Sidenote: See Mr. Panizzi’s evidence before the -Commissioners of 1848–9.] and not a little of it has been turned to -account, of late years, in the Public Libraries of France, of Germany, -and of America. - -In the labours of this little house-committee my late friend took a very -large share. To Mr. PANIZZI, and to him, all their colleagues in the -task of 1839 will readily admit that the chief merit of what is good, -and the smallest part of the demerit of what may have been injudicious, -in the _Rules for the Compilation of the Catalogue of Printed Books_ -(now before me) is incontestably due. My own experience in such matters, -in the spring of 1839, was small indeed. That of my friend PARRY was -even less. Mr. Winter JONES possessed, already, the advantage of a -thorough familiarity with the Library about to be catalogued, and also -an extensive and thorough general knowledge of books. Of Mr. PANIZZI’S -qualifications and attainments, for such a labour, it would be -supererogatory and idle to say a word more, except that he had -already—and single-handed—made so good a Catalogue of the fine Library -of the Royal Society that the meddling of half a dozen ‘revisers’ failed -to spoil it. But there is no impropriety in saying of Mr. WATTS, that he -so delighted in the labour in hand as to make it seem, to those who -worked with him, that he looked upon it in the light of a pleasant -recreation rather than in the light of a dry task. - - -But whatever the ultimate differences of opinion, amongst those -concerned in such a matter, about the merits of the Museum Catalogue, -begun in 1839, there was no difference at all, either in the House or -out of it, as to the conspicuous merits of his performance of every -subsequent duty. His stores of knowledge were put, with the utmost -readiness, at the service of all sorts of readers; and he was not less -admirable in the discharge of his office of Superintendent of the -Reading-Room than afterwards in the more prominent office of Keeper of -Printed Books—which he held little more than three years. - -When Sir Henry ELLIS retired, in 1856, from the office of -Principal-Librarian, the Collection of Printed Books—which he had found, -on his accession to that office, extending to less than one hundred and -fifty thousand volumes—exceeded five hundred and twenty thousand -volumes. The annual number of Readers admitted had increased from about -seven hundred and fifty to nearly four thousand. - -The one step which did more than aught else to promote this improvement -was the systematic survey of the then existing condition of the Printed -Library, in all the great departments of knowledge, which Mr. PANIZZI -set on foot in 1843, and embodied in a Memoir addressed to the Trustees, -on the first of January, 1845. - -[Sidenote: MR. PANIZZI’S MEMOIR ON THE COLLECTION OF PRINTED BOOKS, - 1845.] - -The principle on which this Memoir was compiled lay in the careful -comparison of the Museum Catalogues with the best special -bibliographies, and with the Catalogues of other Libraries. In -Jurisprudence, for example, the national collection was tested by the -_Bibliotheca Juridica_ of LIPENIUS, SENCKENBERG, and MADAHN; by the list -of law-books inserted in DUPIN’S edition of CAMUS’ _Lettres sur la -profession d’Avocat_, and by the _Bibliothèque diplomatique choisie_ of -MARTENS. In Political Economy, by BLANQUI’S list given in the _Histoire -de l’Economie politique en Europe_. The Mathematical section of the -Library was compared with ROGG’S _Handbuch der mathematischen -Literatur_. In British History, the _Bibliotheca Grenvilliana_, and the -_Catalogue of the Library of the Writers to the Signet_, were examined, -for those sections of the subject to which they were more particularly -applicable, and so on in the other departments. The facts thus elicited -were striking. It was shown that much had been done since 1836 to -augment almost every section of the Library; but that the deficiencies -were still of the most conspicuous sort. In a word, the statement -abundantly established the truth of the proposition that ‘the Collection -of Printed Books in the British Museum is not nearly so complete and -perfect as the National Library of Great Britain ought to be ...’ and it -then proceeded to discuss the further question: ‘By what means can the -collection be brought with all proper despatch to a state of as much -completeness and perfection as is attainable in such matters, and as the -public service may require?’ - -It was shown that no reliance could be placed upon donations, for the -filling up those gaps in the Library which were the special subject of -the Memoir. Rare and precious books might thus come, but not the widely -miscellaneous assemblage still needed. As to special grants for the -acquisition of entire collections, not one of ten such collections, it -was thought, would, under existing circumstances, be suitable for the -Museum. The Copyright-tax has no bearing, however rigidly enforced, save -on current British Literature. There remained, therefore, but one -adequate resource, that of annual Parliamentary grants, unfettered by -restrictions as to their application, and capable of being depended upon -for a considerable number of years to come. Purchases might thus be -organized in all parts of the world with foresight, system, and -continuity. In the letter addressed by the Trustees to the Treasury, it -was stated that, ‘for filling up the chasms which are so much to be -regretted, and some of which are distinctly set forth in the annexed -document, the Trustees think that a sum of not less than ten thousand a -year will be required for the next ten years,’ in addition to the usual -five thousand a year for the ordinary acquisitions of the Library. - -The Lords of the Treasury were not willing to recommend to Parliament a -larger annual grant than ten thousand pounds, ‘for the purchase of books -of all descriptions,’ but so far they were disposed to proceed, -[Sidenote: _Treasury Minutes_, 1845.] ‘for some years to come;’ and they -strongly inculcated upon the Trustees ‘the necessity, during the -continuance of such grants, of postponing additions to the other -collections under their charge, which, however desirable in themselves, -are of subordinate importance to that of completing the Library.’ - - -MANUSCRIPTS ADDED IN THE YEARS 1849, 1850. - -In 1843, an important series of modern Historical MSS., relating more -especially to the South of Europe, was purchased from the RANUZZI family -of Bologna. The papers of the Brothers Laurence HYDE, Earl of Rochester, -and Henry HYDE, Earl of Clarendon, were also secured. Additions, too, of -considerable interest, were made to the theological and classical -sections of the MS. Department, by the purchase of many vellum MSS., -ranging from the eleventh to the fifteenth centuries. In 1849, the most -important acquisitions related to our British History. About three -hundred documents illustrative of the English Wars in France (1418 to -1450), nearly a hundred autograph letters of WILLIAM III, and an -extensive series of transcripts from the archives at the Hague, were -thus gathered for the future historian. In 1850, a curious series of -Stammbücker, three hundred and twenty in number, and in date extending -from 1554 to 1785, was obtained by purchase. These Albums, collectively, -contained more than twenty-seven thousand autographs of persons more or -less eminent in the various departments of human activity. Amongst them -is the signature of MILTON. The acquisitions of 1851 included some -Biblical MSS. of great curiosity; an extensive series of autograph -letters (chiefly from the Donnadieu Collection), and a large number of -papers relating to the affairs of the English Mint. - -In the year last-named Sir Frederick MADDEN thus summed up the -accessions to his Department since the year 1836: - - ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ - │Volumes of Manuscripts 9051│ - │Rolls of Maps, Pedigrees, &c. 668│ - │Manuscripts on Reed, Bark, or other material 136│ - │Charters and Rolls 6750│ - │Papyri 42│ - │Seals 442│ - └─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ - -[Sidenote: TABULAR VIEW OF THE ACCESSIONS TO THE MSS. DEPARTMENT FROM - 1836–1851.] - -And he adds:—‘If money had been forthcoming, the number of manuscripts -acquired during the last fifteen years might have been more than -doubled. The collections that have passed into other hands, namely, Sir -Robert CHAMBERS’ Sanscrit MSS.; Sir William OUSELEY’S Persian; BRUCE’S -Ethiopic and Arabic; MICHAEL’S Hebrew; LIBRI’S Italian, French, Latin, -and Miscellaneous; BARROIS’ French and Latin; as well as the Stowe -Collection of Anglo-Saxon, Irish, and English manuscripts, might all -have been so united. The liberality of the Treasury becomes very small -when compared with the expenditure of individuals. Lord ASHBURNHAM, -during the last ten years, has paid nearly as large a sum for MSS. as -has been expended on the National Collection since the Museum was first -founded.’ - -[Sidenote: GROWTH OF THE PRINTED DEPARTMENT UP TO 1851.] - -The causes which at this period again tended somewhat to slacken the -growth of the Printed Collection have been glanced at already. But -during the fifteen years from 1836 to 1851, it had increased at the rate -of sixteen thousand volumes a year, on the average. When the estimates -of 1852 were under discussion, Mr. PANIZZI stated, ‘that till room is -provided, the deficiency must in a great measure continue, and new -[foreign] books only to a limited extent be purchased.’ The grant for -such purchases was therefore, in that year, limited to four thousand -pounds. In a subsequent report, Mr. PANIZZI added, ‘that he could not -but deeply regret the ill-consequences which must accrue by allowing old -deficiencies to continue, and new ones to accumulate.’ From the same -report may be gathered a precise view of the actual additions, from all -sources, during the quinquennium of 1846–1850. The increase in the -printed books, therefore, although it had not quite kept pace with Mr. -PANIZZI’S hopeful anticipations in 1852, had actually reached a larger -yearly average, during that last quinquennium, than was attained in the -like period from 1846 to 1850. - -The report from which these figures are taken was made in furtherance of -the good and fruitful suggestion that a great Reading-Room should be -built within the inner quadrangle. Judging from the past, argued Mr. -PANIZZI, in June, 1852, ‘and supposing that for the next ten years from -seven thousand to seven thousand five hundred pounds will be spent in -the purchase of printed books, the increase ... would be at the average -of about twenty-seven thousand volumes a year, without taking into -consideration the chance of an extraordinary increase, owing to the -purchase or donation of any large collection. [Sidenote: See hereafter, -Chap. V.] It was owing to the splendid bequest of Mr. GRENVILLE that the -additions to the Collection in 1847 reached the enormous amount of more -than fifty-five thousand volumes. After the steady and regular addition -of about twenty-seven thousand volumes for ten years together, here -reckoned upon, the Collection of Printed Books in the British Museum -might defy comparison, and would approach, as near as seems practicable -in such matters, to a state of completeness. The increase for the ten -years next following might be fairly reduced to two thirds of the above -sum. [Sidenote: GROWTH OF THE PRINTED SECTION OF THE LIBRARY SINCE -1852.] At this rate, the collection of books, which has been more than -doubled during the last fifteen years, would be double of what it now is -in twenty years from the present time [1852].’ At the date of this -report the number of volumes was already upwards of four hundred and -seventy thousand. At the date at which I now write (January, 1870), the -number of volumes, as nearly as it can be calculated, has become one -million and six thousand. On the average, therefore, of the whole -period, the increase has been not less than thirty-one thousand five -hundred volumes in every year. The Collection was somewhat more than -doubled during the first fifteen years of Mr. PANIZZI’S Keepership. -During the next like term of years, when the department was partly under -the administration of Mr. PANIZZI, and partly under that of Mr. Winter -JONES, it was nearly doubled again. It follows that the anticipation -expressed in the _Report_ of 1852 has been much more than fulfilled. -Less than seventeen years of labour have achieved what was then expected -to be the work of twenty years. - - -If the other departments of the British Museum cannot show an equal -ratio of growth during the term now under review, it has not been from -lack of zeal, either in their heads or in the Trustees. Their progress, -too, was very great, although it is not capable of being so strikingly -and compendiously illustrated. It has also to be borne in mind that the -arrears, so to speak, of the Library, were relatively greater than those -of some other divisions of the Museum. - -[Sidenote: PROGRESS OF THE NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS.] - -At the commencement of Sir Henry ELLIS’S term of -Principal-Librarianship, the Natural-History Collections were partly -under the charge of Dr. LEACH, partly under that of Mr. Charles KÖNIG. -Both were officers of considerable scientific attainments. In the -instance of Dr. LEACH, certain peculiar eccentricities and crotchets -were mixed up in close union with undoubted learning and skill. In not a -few eminent naturalists a tendency to undervalue the achievements of -past days, and to exaggerate those of the day that is passing, has often -been noted. LEACH evinced this tendency in more ways than one. But a -favourite way of manifesting it led him many times into difficulties -with his neighbours. He despised the taxidermy of Sir Hans SLOANE’S age, -and made periodical bonfires of Sloanian specimens. These he was wont to -call his ‘cremations.’ In his time, the Gardens of the Museum were still -a favourite resort of the Bloomsburians, but the attraction of the -terraces and the fragrance of the shrubberies were sadly lessened when a -pungent odour of burning snakes was their accompaniment. The stronger -the complaints, however, the more apparent became Dr. LEACH’S attachment -to his favourite cremations. - -[Sidenote: GEORGE MONTAGU; HIS LABOURS IN NATURAL HISTORY AND HIS - ZOOLOGICAL MUSEUM.] - -LEACH was the friend and correspondent of that eminent cultivator of the -classificatory sciences, Colonel George MONTAGU, of Lackham. Both of -them rank among the early members of the Linnæan Society, and it was -under LEACH’S editorship that MONTAGU’S latest contributions to the -Society’s _Transactions_ were published. [Sidenote: 1802–13.] MONTAGU’S -_Synopsis of British Birds_ marks an epoch in the annals of our local -ornithology, as does his treatise entitled _Testacea Britannica_ in -those of conchology. [Sidenote: 1803–9.] His contributions to the -National Collections were very liberal. But he did not care much for any -books save those that treated of natural history. In addition to a good -estate and a fine mansion, he had inherited from his brother a choice -old Library at Lackham, and a large cabinet of coins. These, I believe, -he turned to account as means of barter for books and specimens in his -favourite department of study. His love of the beauties of nature led -him to prefer an unpretending abode in Devon to his fine Wiltshire -house, and it was at Knowle that he died in August, 1815. His -Collections in Zoology were purchased by the Trustees, and were removed -from Knowle soon after his death. Scarcely any other purchase of like -value in the Natural-History Department was made for more than twenty -years afterwards. After the purchase of the Montagu Collection, the -growth of that department depended, as it had mainly depended before it, -on the acquisitions made for the Public by the several naturalists who -took part in the Voyages of Discovery or whose chance collections, made -in the course of ordinary duty, came to be at the disposal of the -British Admiralty. - -Many of those naturalists were men of marked ability. Of necessity, -their explorations were attended with much curious adventure. To detail -their researches and vicissitudes would form—without much credit to the -writer—an interesting chapter, the materials of which are superabundant. -But, at present, it must needs be matter of hope, not of performance. - - -The distinctive progress of the Natural-History Collections, from -comparative and relative poverty, to a creditable place amongst rival -collections, connects itself pre-eminently with the labours of Dr. John -Edward GRAY, who will hereafter be remembered as the ablest keeper and -organizer those collections have hitherto had. Dr. GRAY is now (1870) in -the forty-sixth year of his public service at the British Museum, which -he entered as an Assistant, in 1824. He is widely known by his able -edition of GRIFFITHS’ _Animal Kingdom_, by his _Illustrations of Indian -Zoology_, by his account of the famous Derby Menagerie at Knowsley, and -by his _Manual of British Shells_; but his least ostensible publications -rank among the most conclusive proofs both of his ability and of his -zeal for the public service. Dr. GRAY has always advocated the -publication—to use Mr. CARLYLE’S words when under interrogatory by the -Museum Commissioners of 1848—of ‘all sorts of Catalogues.’ It is to him -that the Public owe the admirable helps to the study of natural history -which have been afforded by the long series of inventories, guides, and -nomenclators, the publication of which began, at his instance, in the -year 1844, and has been unceasingly pursued. A mere list of the various -printed synopses which have grown out of Dr. GRAY’S suggestion of 1844 -would fill many such pages as that which the reader has now before him. -The consequence is, that in no department of the Museum can the student, -as yet, economise his time as he can economise it in the Natural-History -Department. _Printed_, not Manuscript, Catalogues mean time saved; -disappointment avoided; study fructified. No literary labour brings so -little of credit as does the work of the Catalogue-maker. None better -deserves the gratitude of scholars, as well as of the general mass of -visitors. - - -[Sidenote: STATE OF THE NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS OF THE MUSEUM IN - 1836.] - -Dr. GRAY became Keeper of Zoology in 1840. Four years earlier, he had -given to Sir Benjamin HAWES’ Committee a striking account of the -condition of that department, illustrating it by comparisons with the -corresponding Collections in Paris, which may thus (not without -unavoidable injustice) be abridged:—The species of mammalia then in the -Museum were four hundred and five; the species of birds were two -thousand four hundred, illustrated by four thousand six hundred and -fifty-nine individual specimens. At that date, the latest accessible -data assigned to the Paris Collection about five hundred species of -mammals, and about two thousand three hundred species of birds, -illustrated by nearly six thousand specimens. The Museum series of birds -was almost equally rich in the orders, taken generally; but in -gallinaceous birds it was more than proportionately rich, a large number -of splendid examples having been received from India. In the birds of -Africa, of Brazil, and of Northern Europe, also, the Museum was already -exceptionally well-stored. - -The special value of the Ornithological Collection undoubtedly showed -that it had been more elaborately cared for than had been some other -parts of natural history. But the extent and richness of the bird -gallery, even at this period, is not to be ascribed merely to a desire -to delight the eyes of a crowd of visitors. For scientific purposes, a -collection of birds must be more largely-planned and better filled than -a collection of mammals, or one of fish. In birds, the essential -characters of a considerable group of individual specimens may be -identical and their colours entirely different. [Sidenote: See _Minutes -of Evidence_, 1836, p. 238.] Besides the numerous diversities attendant -upon age and sex, the very date at which a bird is killed may produce -variations which have their interest for the scientific student. - -The number of species of reptiles was in 1836 about six hundred, -illustrated by about one thousand three hundred specimens. This number -was much inferior to that of the Museum at Paris, but it exceeded by one -third the number of species in the Vienna Museum, [Sidenote: _Ibid._, p. -242 (Q. 2996–9).] and almost by one half the then number at Berlin. - -The species of fish amounted to nearly a thousand, but this was hardly -the fourth of the great collection at Paris, although it probably -exceeded every other, or almost every other, Continental collection of -the same date. Of shells, the Museum number of species was four thousand -and twenty-five (exclusive of fossils), illustrated by about fifteen -thousand individuals. This number of species was at par with that of -Paris; much superior both to Berlin and to Leyden; but it was far from -representing positive—as distinguished from comparative—wealth. There -were already, in 1836, more than nine thousand known species of shells. - -It was further shown in the evidence that, even under the arrangements -of 1836, the facilities of public access equalled those given at the -most liberal of the Continental Museums, and considerably exceeded those -which obtained at fully four-fifths of their number. - -Among the many services rendered to the Museum by Dr. GRAY, one is of -too important a character to be passed over, even in a notice so brief -as this must needs be. [Sidenote: THE HARDWICKE BEQUEST OF ZOOLOGY.] The -large bequest in Zoology of Major-General HARDWICKE grew out of a -stipulation made by Dr. GRAY, when he undertook, at General HARDWICKE’S -request, the editorship of the _Illustrations of Indian Zoology_. A long -labour brought to the editor no pecuniary return, but it brought an -important collection to the British Public in the first instance, and -eventually a large augmentation of what had been originally given. - - -[Sidenote: GROWTH OF THE NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS OF THE MUSEUM. - 1836–49.] - -In March, 1849, the course of inquiries pursued by Lord ELLESMERE’S -Commission led to a new review of the growth of the Natural-History -Collections, and more especially of the Zoology. It applied in -particular to the twelve or thirteen years which had then elapsed since -the prior inquiries of 1835–1836. The statement possesses much interest, -but it is occasionally deficient in that systematic and necessary -distinction between species and specimens which characterised the -evidence of 1836. In brief, however, it may be said, that in the eight -years extending between June, 1840, and June, 1848, twenty-nine thousand -five hundred and ninety-five _specimens_ of vertebrated animals were -added to the Museum galleries and storehouses. Of these, five thousand -seven hundred and ninety-seven were mammals; thirteen thousand four -hundred and fourteen were birds; four thousand one hundred and twelve -reptiles; and six thousand two hundred and seventy-two were fish. The -number of specimens of annulose animals added during the same period was -seventy-three thousand five hundred and sixty-three: and that of -mollusca and radiata, fifty-seven thousand six hundred and ten. - -These large additions comprised extensive gatherings made by DYSON in -Venezuela, and in various parts of North America; by GARDINER and -CLAUSEN in Brazil; by GOSSE in Jamaica; by GOULD, GILBERT, and -STEPHENSON, in Australia and in New Zealand; by HARTWEG in Mexico; by -GOUDOT in Columbia; by VERREAUX and SMITH in South Africa; by FRAZER in -Tunis; and by BRIDGES in Chili and in some other parts of South America. - -Of the splendid collections made by Mr. HODGSON in India, some more -detailed mention must be made hereafter. - -[Sidenote: CHECK IN THE GROWTH OF NATURAL-HISTORY COLLECTIONS ON THE - CONTINENT, 1845–1855.] - -Meanwhile, on the Continent of Europe, political commotion had seriously -checked the due progress of scientific collections. Britain had been -making unwonted strides in the improvement of its Museum, at the very -time when most of the Continental States had allowed their fine Museums -to remain almost stationary. In mammals, birds, and shells, the British -Museum had placed itself in the first rank. Only in reptiles, fish, and -crustacea, could even Paris now claim superiority. Those classes had -there engaged for a long series of years the unremitting research and -labour of such naturalists as CUVIER, DUMERIL, VALENCIENNES, and -MILNE-EDWARDS; and their relative wealth of specimens it will be hard to -overtake. In insects, the Museum Collection vies with that of Paris in -point of extent, and excels it in point of arrangement. - -Not less conspicuous had been the growth of the several Departments of -Antiquities. And this part of the story of the Museum teems with varied -interest. Within a period of less than thirty years, vast and -widely-distant cities, rich in works of art, have been literally -disinterred. In succession to the superb marbles of Athens, of -Phigaleia, and of Rome, some of the choicest sculptures and most curious -minor antiquities of Nineveh, of Calah, of Erech, of Ur-of-the-Chaldees, -of Babylon, of Xanthus, of Halicarnassus, of Cnidus, and of Carthage, -have come to London. - -The growth of the subordinate Collections of Archæology has been -scarcely less remarkable. The series of ancient vases—to take but one -example—of which the research and liberality of Sir William HAMILTON -laid a good foundation almost a century ago, has come at length to -surpass its wealthiest compeers. Only a few years earlier, it ranked as -but the third, perhaps as but the fourth, among the great vase -collections of Europe. London, in that point of view, was below both -Naples and Paris, if not also below Munich. It now ranks above them all; -possessing two thousand six hundred vases, as against two thousand at -Paris, and two thousand one hundred at Naples.[32] - -Another department, lying in part nearer home—that of British, Mediæval, -and Ethnological Antiquities—has been almost created by the labours of -the last twenty years. The ‘British’ Museum can no longer be said to be -a misnomer, as designating an establishment in which British Archæology -met with no elucidation. - - - - - CHAPTER III. - INTRODUCTION TO BOOK III (_Continued_):—GROWTH, PROGRESS, AND INTERNAL -ECONOMY, OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM DURING THE PRINCIPAL-LIBRARIANSHIP OF SIR - ANTONIO PANIZZI. - - ‘Whatever be the judgment formed on [certain contested] points at - issue, the Minutes of Evidence must be admitted to contain pregnant - proofs of the acquirements and abilities, the manifestation of which - in subordinate office led to Mr. Panizzi’s promotion to that which he - now holds under circumstances which, in our opinion—formed on - documentary evidence—did credit to the Principal Trustees of the - day.’—REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONERS APPOINTED TO INQUIRE INTO THE - MANAGEMENT OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM (1850). - - ‘In consideration of the long and very valuable services of Mr. - Panizzi, including not only his indefatigable labours as - Principal-Librarian, but also the service which he rendered as - architect of the new Reading-Room, the Trustees recommended that he - should be allowed to retire on full salary after a discharge of his - duties for thirty-four years.’ - - HANSARD’S _Parliamentary Debates_ (27 July, 1866). - - _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._ - - -No question connected with the improvement of the British Museum has, -from time to time, more largely engrossed the attention, either of -Parliament or of the Public at large, than has the question of the -Buildings. On none have the divergences of opinion been greater, or the -expressions of dissatisfaction with the plans—or with the want of -plan—louder or more general. - -Yet there is no doubt (amongst those, at least, who have had occasion to -examine the subject closely) that the architects of the new British -Museum—first Sir Robert SMIRKE, and then Mr. Sydney SMIRKE—have been -conspicuous for professional ability. Nor is there any doubt, anywhere, -that the Trustees of the Museum have bestowed diligent attention on the -plans submitted to them. They have been most anxious to discharge that -part of their duty to the Public with the same faithfulness which, on -the whole, has characterised their general fulfilment of the trust -committed to them. Why, it is natural to ask, has their success been so -unequal? - -[Sidenote: CAUSES OF THE UNSATISFACTORINESS OF MANY PARTS OF THE NEW - MUSEUM BUILDINGS.] - -Without presuming upon the possession of competence to answer the -question with fulness, there is no undue confidence in offering a -partial reply. Part of their failure to satisfy the public expectations -has arisen from a laches in Parliament itself. At the critical time when -the character of the new buildings had practically to be decided, -parsimoniousness led, not only to construction piecemeal, but to the -piecemeal preparation of the designs themselves. Temporary makeshifts -took the place of foreseeing plans. And what may have sounded like -economy in 1830 has, in its necessary results, proved to be very much -like waste, long before 1870. - -Had a comprehensive scheme of reconstruction been looked fully in the -face when, forty years ago, the new buildings began to be erected, three -fourths at most of the money which has been actually expended would have -sufficed for the erection of a Museum, far more satisfactory in its -architectural character, and affording at least one fourth more of -accommodation for the National Collections. The British Museum buildings -have afforded a salient instance of the truth of BURKE’S words: ‘Great -expense may be an essential part in true economy. Mere parsimony is -_not_ economy.’ But, in this instance, the fault is plainly in -Parliament, not in the Trustees of the establishment which has suffered. - -The one happy exception to the general unsatisfactoriness of the new -buildings—as regards, not merely architectural beauty, but fitness of -plan, sufficiency of light, and adaptedness to purpose—is seen in the -new Reading-Room. [Sidenote: THE NEW READING-ROOM.] And the new -Reading-Room is, virtually, the production of an amateur architect. The -chief merits of its design belong, indubitably, to Sir Antonio PANIZZI. -The story of that part of the new building is worth the telling. - -That some good result should be eventually derived from the large space -of ground within the inner quadrangle had been many times suggested. The -suggestion offered, in 1837, by Mr. Thomas WATTS was thus expressed in -his letter to the Editor of the _Mechanics Magazine_:— - -[Sidenote: THE SUGGESTIONS FOR BUILDING ADDITIONAL LIBRARIES OF 1837 AND - OF 1847.] - -Mr. WATTS began by criticising, somewhat incisively, the architectural -skill which had constructed a vast quadrangle without providing it even -with the means of a free circulation of air. He pinned Sir Robert SMIRKE -on the horns of a dilemma. If, he argued, the architect looked to a -sanitary result, he had, in fact, provided a well of malaria. If he -contemplated a display of art, he had, by consenting to the abolition of -his northern portico, spoiled and destroyed all architectural effect. -‘The space,’ he proceeded to say, which has thus been wasted, ‘would -have afforded accommodation _for the whole Library_, much superior to -what is now proposed to afford it. A Reading-Room of ample dimensions -might have stood in the centre, and been surrounded, on all four sides, -with galleries for the books.’ Afterwards, when adverting to the great -expense which had been incurred upon the façades of the quadrangle, he -went on to say: ‘It might now seem barbarous to propose the filling up -of the square—as ought originally to have been done. [Sidenote: -_Mechanics’ Magazine_ (1837); vol. xxvi, pp. 295, seqq.] Perhaps the -best plan would be to design another range of building entirely [new?], -enclosing the present building on the eastern and northern sides as the -Elgin and other galleries do on the western. To do this, it would be -necessary to purchase and pull down one side of two streets,—Montagu -Street and Montagu Place.’ [Sidenote: _Ibid._] - -[Sidenote: See Chap. ii of Book III, p. 566, and the accompanying - fac-simile.] - -As I have intimated already, this alternative project was unconsciously -reproduced, by the present writer, ten years later, without any idea -that it had been anticipated. But neither to the mind of the writer of -1837, nor to that of the writer of 1847, did the grand feature of -construction which, within another decade, has given to London a -splendid building as well as a most admirable Reading-Room, present -itself. The substantial merit, both of originally suggesting, and of (in -the main) eventually realising the actual building of 1857, belongs to -Antonio PANIZZI. - -As to the claims on that score advanced by Mr. HOSKING, formerly -Professor of Architecture at King’s College, they apply to a plan wholly -different from the plan which was carried into execution. - -Mr. HOSKING’S scheme was drawn up, for private circulation, in February, -1848 (thirteen months after the writing of my own pamphlet entitled -_Public Libraries in London and in Paris_, and more than six months -after its circulation in print), when it was first submitted to Lord -ELLESMERE’S Commission of Inquiry. It was first published (in _The -Builder_) in June, 1850. His object was to provide a grand central hall -for the Department of Antiquities. - -When Mr. HOSKING called public attention to his design of 1848—in a -pamphlet entitled _Some Remarks upon the recent Addition of a -Reading-Room to the British Museum_—Mr. Sydney SMIRKE wrote to him -thus:—‘I recollect seeing your plans at a meeting of the Trustees, ... -shortly after you sent them [to Lord ELLESMERE]. When, long -subsequently, Mr. PANIZZI showed me his sketch for a plan of a new -Reading-Room, I confess it did not remind me of yours, the purposes of -the two plans and the treatment and construction were so different.’[33] -[Sidenote: Sydney Smirke to William Hosking. (_Remarks_, &c.)] Whilst to -Mr. SMIRKE himself belongs the merit of practical execution, that of -design belongs no less unquestionably to PANIZZI. - -Mr. PANIZZI himself preferred, at first, the plan of extending the -building on the eastern and northern sides. His suggestions had the -approval of the Commissioners of 1850. [Sidenote: THE NEW OR PANIZZI -READING-ROOM.] But the Government was slow to give power to the Trustees -to carry out the plan of their officer and the recommendation of the -Commissioners of Inquiry, by proposing the needful vote in a Committee -of Supply. Plan and Report alike lay dormant from the year 1850 to 1854. -It was then that, as a last resort, and as a measure of economy, by -avoiding all present necessity to buy more ground of the Duke of -BEDFORD, Mr. PANIZZI recommended the Trustees to build within the -quadrangle, and drew a sketch-plan, on which their architect reported -favourably. Sixty-one thousand pounds, by way of a first instalment, was -voted on the third of July, 1854. The present noble structure was -completed within three years from that day, and its total cost—including -the extensive series of book-galleries and rooms of various kinds, -subserving almost innumerable purposes—amounted in round numbers to a -hundred and fifty thousand pounds. It was thus only a little more than -the cost of the King’s Library, which accommodates eighty thousand -volumes of books and a Collection of Birds. The new Reading-Room and its -appendages can be made to accommodate, in addition to its three hundred -and more of readers, some million, or near it, of volumes, without -impediment to their fullest accessibility. - -To describe by words a room which, in 1870, has become more or less -familiar, I suppose, to hundreds of thousands of Britons, and to a good -many thousands of foreigners, would now be superfluous. But it will not -be without advantage, perhaps, to show its character and appearance with -the simple brevity of woodcuts. - -The following illustrative block-plan shows the general arrangement of -the Museum building at large, at the date of the erection of the new -Reading-Room. - -[Sidenote: BLOCK-PLAN OF MUSEUM (1857), DISTINGUISHING THE LIBRARIES - FROM THE GALLERIES OF ANTIQUITIES, &C.] - -[Illustration: - - I. GENERAL BLOCK-PLAN OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM, AS IT WAS IN 1857. -] - -The shaded part of the building itself shows the portions allotted to -the _Library_. The unshaded part is assigned, on the ground floor, to -the Department of _Antiquities_, and (speaking generally) on the floor -above—in common with the upper floors of the Library part—to the -Departments of _Natural History_. The ‘_Print Room_’ is shown on the -ground-plan between the Elgin Gallery and the north-western extremity of -the Department of Printed Books. - -The next illustration shows, in detail, the ground-plan of the new -Reading-Room and of the adjacent book-galleries:— - -[Illustration: - - II. GROUND-PLAN OF THE NEW OR ‘PANIZZI’ READING-ROOM, AND OF THE - ADJACENT GALLERIES, 1857. -] - -The general appearance of the interior of the Reading-Room may be shown -thus:— - -[Illustration: - - III. INTERIOR VIEW OF THE NEW READING-ROOM, 1857. -] - -Of course, the improvements thus effected did but solve a portion of the -difficulty felt, long before 1857, in accommodating the National -Collections upon any adequate scale, which should provide alike for -present claims and for future extension. This more effectual provision -became one of the most pressing questions with which both the Trustees -and their officers had now to deal. During the whole term of Sir A. -PANIZZI’S Principal-Librarianship this building question increased in -gravity and urgency, from year to year. Both the Trustees and the -Principal-Librarian were intent upon its solution. But the latter was -enforced, by failing health, to quit office, leaving the matter still -unsolved. - -[Sidenote: PARLIAMENTARY INQUIRY INTO PROPOSED ENLARGEMENT OF BRITISH - MUSEUM IN 1860.] - -Most of the little information on this part of the subject which, within -my present limits, it will be practicable for me to offer to the reader, -belongs, properly, to a subsequent chapter. But some brief notice must -be given here of the important inquiries, ‘how far, and in what way, it -may be desirable to find increased space for the extension and -arrangement of the various Collections of the British Museum, and the -best means of rendering them available for the promotion of Science and -Art,’ which were made, between the months of May and August of 1860, by -a Select Committee of the House of Commons. - -The first question to be answered by the Committee of 1860 was this: Is -it expedient, or not, that the _Natural-History_ Collections should be -removed from Bloomsbury, to make room for the inevitable growth of the -Collections of _Antiquities_? - -After an elaborate inquiry, spreading over three months, the Committee -reported thus:—‘The witnesses examined have, almost unanimously, -testified to the preference over the other Collections, with which the -Natural-History Collections are viewed by the ordinary and most numerous -frequenters of the Museum. This preference is easily accounted for; the -objects exhibited, especially the birds, from the beauty of their -plumage, are calculated to attract and amuse the spectators. [Sidenote: -THE SELECT COMMITTEE OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS, 1860.] The eye has been -accustomed in many instances to the living specimens in the Zoological -Gardens, and cheap publications and prints have rendered their forms -more or less familiar. It is, indeed, easily intelligible that, while -for the full appreciation of works of archæological interest and -artistic excellence a special education must be necessary, the works of -Nature may be studied with interest and instruction by all persons of -ordinary intelligence. It appears, from evidence, that many of the -middle classes are in the habit of forming collections in various -branches of Natural History, and that many, even the working classes, -employ their holidays in the study of botany or geology, or in the -collection of insects obtained in the neighbourhood of London; that they -refer to the British Museum, in order to ascertain the proper -classification of the specimens thus obtained, and that want of leisure -alone restrains the further increase of this class of visitors. Your -Committee, in order to confirm their view of the peculiar popularity of -the Natural-History Collections, beg to refer to a return from the -Principal-Librarian, which shows the number of visitors in the several -public portions of the Museum, at the same hour of the day, during -fifteen open days, from the fifteenth of June to the eleventh of July, -1860. From this it appears that two thousand five hundred and -fifty-seven persons were in the Galleries of Antiquities at the given -hour, and one thousand and fifty-six in the King’s Library and MSS. -Rooms, while three thousand three hundred and seventy-eight were in the -Natural-History Galleries; showing an excess of two hundred and twenty -per cent. in the Natural-History Department over the King’s Library and -MSS. Rooms, and of thirty-three per cent. over the Galleries of -Antiquities, notwithstanding that the latter are of considerably greater -extent than the Galleries of Natural History. The evidence received by -your Committee induces the belief that the removal of these most popular -collections from their present central position to one less generally -accessible would excite much dissatisfaction, not merely among a large -portion of the inhabitants of the metropolis, but among the numerous -inhabitants of the country, who from time to time visit London by -railway, and to whom the proximity of the British Museum to most of the -railway termini, as compared with the distance of the localities to -which it has been proposed to transport such collections, is of great -practical importance. Similar evidence shows that the proposed removal -of those collections from the British Museum has excited grave and -general disapprobation in the scientific world. Your Committee cannot -here employ more forcible language than that made use of in a memorial -signed by one hundred and fourteen persons, including many eminent -promoters and cultivators of science in England, and presented to the -Chancellor of the Exchequer in 1848. The following are their words:—“We -beg to add the expression of our opinion that the removal of the -Natural-History Collections from the site where they have been -established for upwards of a century, in the centre of London, -particularly if to any situation distant from that centre, would be -viewed by the mass of the inhabitants with extreme disfavour, it being a -well-known fact that by far the greater number of visitors to the Museum -consists of those who frequent the halls containing the Natural-History -Collections, while it is obvious that many of those persons who come -from the densely peopled districts of the eastern, northern, and -southern parts of London, would feel it very inconvenient to resort to -any distant locality.”’ - -[Sidenote: RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE COMMONS’ COMMITTEE OF 1860.] - -After an elaborate examination into the nature and extent of those -enlargements which the present growth and probable increase of the -several Collections of Antiquities and of Natural History render -necessary, the Committee proceed thus:— - -The ground immediately surrounding the Museum, says the reporter, -speaking of the adjacent streets to the east, west, and north, -‘comprises altogether about five and a half acres, valued by Mr. SMIRKE -at about two hundred and forty thousand pounds. As the proprietary -interest in all this ground belongs to a single owner, your Committee -are of opinion that it would be convenient, and possibly even a -profitable arrangement, for the State at once to purchase that interest, -and to receive the rents of the lessees in return for the capital -invested. The State would then have the power, whenever any further -extension of the Museum became necessary, to obtain possession of such -houses as might best suit the purpose in view. - -‘Independently, however, of this larger suggestion, your Committee are -fully convinced, both from the uniform purport of the papers printed at -different times by the House of Commons, and from the statements of the -various witnesses whom they have now examined, that it is indispensable, -not merely to the appropriate exhibition of our unequalled National -Collections, but even to the avoidance of greater ultimate expense, -through alterations and re-arrangements, that sufficient space should be -immediately acquired in connexion with the British Museum, to meet the -requirements of the several departments which have been enumerated under -the last head, and that such space should throughout be adapted, by its -position, extent, and facilities of application, to the arrangement of -the collections on a comprehensive, and, therefore, probably permanent -system. They will now proceed to point out several sites, either on or -adjoining the present ground of the Museum, which seem to them to -present the greatest advantages for the accommodation of the respective -departments.’ - -[Sidenote: NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS.] - -Although, the Committee proceed to say, the amount of space which, on -the foregoing estimate, would be requisite for the Natural-History -Collections is not so great as to involve the necessity of their removal -from the British Museum on that ground alone, your Committee, -nevertheless, attach so much weight to the arguments in favour of -preserving the various departments of the Museum from the risk of -collision with each other, that, should it be determined to provide new -space for Natural History in connexion with the Museum, they would make -it a primary object to isolate its collections, as far as possible, from -all others in the same locality. The chief part of the Natural-History -Collections is now on the upper floor, where they occupy, according to -the return of Mr. SMIRKE, in November, 1857, forty-eight thousand four -hundred and forty-two superficial feet. The remainder of that floor, -containing, exclusively of a small space not reckoned by Mr. SMIRKE, -twenty-one thousand five hundred and thirty-two feet, is occupied by -Antiquities. It appears to your Committee that if, by any adaptation of -ground to be acquired adjoining the Museum, adequate space should be -provided elsewhere for the Antiquities now on the upper floor, the most -expedient arrangement would be to appropriate the whole of that floor to -the Natural-History Collections. If this space proved insufficient for -all such collections, your Committee would then recommend that the newly -acquired portion should be applied exclusively to the Department of -Zoology; and that a sufficient portion of ground should be purchased on -the north side of the Museum as a site for galleries to provide for -Mineralogy, and thus also indirectly for Geology. - -[Sidenote: PRINTS AND DRAWINGS.] - -A convenient site for this department would, in the opinion of the -Committee, be provided by the suggested acquisition of additional ground -on the north side. A building might there be erected in continuation of -the present east wing of the Museum, to contain, on its upper floor, the -Mineralogical Collections, and on the lower the Prints and Drawings, -with adequate space both for their preservation and exhibition. - -[Sidenote: ANTIQUITIES.] - -In determining the site most suitable for the large additional -accommodation required for this department, the Committee thought it -most prudent that the Trustees of the Museum should be guided, partly by -the greater or less cost of purchasing the requisite amount of ground in -different directions, but chiefly by the greater or less fitness of the -different portions of ground for the best system of arrangement. - - -[Sidenote: INTERNAL ECONOMY:—REORGANIZATION AND SUBDIVISION OF - DEPARTMENTS. 1856–66.] - -In the same year in which Mr. PANIZZI became Principal-Librarian (1856), -one of the recommendations of Lord ELLESMERE’S Commission-Report of 1850 -was carried into effect by the creation of the new office of -‘Superintendent of the Natural-History Departments.’ And the former -partial subdivision and reorganization of those departments was, in the -following year, carried further by the formation of a separate -Department of Mineralogy. In subsequent years, the old Department of -Antiquities was, like the Natural History, divided into four -departments, namely, (1) Greek and Roman Antiquities; (2) Oriental -Antiquities; (3) British and Mediæval Antiquities and Ethnography; (4) -Coins and Medals. - -At present (1870), it may here be added, the entire Museum is divided -into twelve departments, comprising three several groups of four -sections to each. The Natural-History group being comprised of (1) -Zoology; (2) Palæontology; (3) Botany; (4) Mineralogy. The Literary -group comprising (1) Printed Books; (2) Manuscripts; (3) Prints and -Drawings; (4) Maps, Charts, Plans, and Topographical Drawings. -Experience has amply vindicated the wisdom of the principle of -subdivision. But it is probable that the principle has now been carried -as far as it can usefully work in practice. - -Increased efficiency and rapidly growing collections brought with them -enlarged grants from Parliament. In the first year of Sir A. PANIZZI’S -Principal-Librarianship, the estimate put before the House of Commons -for the service of the year 1856–7 was sixty thousand pounds, as -compared with a grant for the service of the year immediately preceding -of fifty-six thousand one hundred and eighty pounds. In his last year of -office, the estimate for the service of the year 1866–67 amounted to one -hundred and two thousand seven hundred and forty-four pounds, against a -grant in the year preceding of ninety-eight thousand one hundred and -sixty-four pounds. - -[Sidenote: STATISTICS OF PUBLIC ACCESS.] - -There had also been, in that decade, a marked degree of increase—though -one of much fluctuation—in the number of visits, both to the General -Collections and, much more notably, to the Reading-Rooms and the -Galleries for Study. In 1856, the number of general visitors was three -hundred and sixty-one thousand seven hundred and fourteen; in 1866, it -was four hundred and eight thousand two hundred and seventy-nine. But in -the ‘Exhibition Year’ (1862), it had reached eight hundred and -ninety-five thousand and seventy-seven, which was itself little more -than one third of the exceptionally enormous number of visitors -recorded[34] in the year of the first of the great Industrial -Exhibitions (1851). - -It was during Sir A. PANIZZI’S decade that the largest number of -visitors ever recorded to have entered the Museum within one day was -registered. This exceptional number occurred on the ‘Boxing Day’ of the -Londoners, 26th December, 1858, when more than forty-two thousand -visitors were admitted. Under the old system there had been a dread of -holiday crowds, and the largest number ever admitted on any one day, -prior to 1837, was between five thousand eight hundred and five thousand -nine hundred. That number had been looked upon as a marvel. On the -Easter Monday of 1837, twenty-three thousand nine hundred and -eighty-five were admitted. Neither then nor on the 1858 ‘Boxing Day’ was -any injury or disorderly conduct complained of. - -The highest number of visits for study made to the Reading-Room, prior -to 1857, occurred in 1850, when the number was seventy-eight thousand -five hundred and thirty-three. The number in the year 1865 was one -hundred thousand two hundred and seventy-one, but in the interval it had -risen (1861) to one hundred and thirty thousand four hundred and ten. -For several years, between 1856 and 1866, the average number of visits -for study to the Galleries of Antiquities averaged about one thousand -nine hundred annually; those to the Print Room, about two thousand eight -hundred; those to the Coin and Medal Room, about one thousand nine -hundred. - -The rapid growth of the Collection of Printed Books, more especially -between the years 1845–1865, which had, as we have seen, resulted from -the unremitting labours of Mr. PANIZZI, was well kept up, both under his -immediate successor, Mr. John Winter JONES, and (after Mr. JONES’ -promotion to the Principal-Librarianship, towards the close of 1866) by -the next Keeper, Mr. WATTS. As is well known, the increase of the -Library is still more remarkable for the character of the additions -purchased than for their mere number. But recent years have afforded no -such instance of individual munificence in this department of the Museum -as that which will presently call for detailed notice when we record the -acquisition (in 1846) of the Grenville Library, nor could any such -instance, indeed, be reasonably looked for. - -Sir Frederick MADDEN’S energetic researches and labours for the -improvement of the Collection of MSS. would well merit a fuller account -than it is here practicable to give of them. They have been -perseveringly and worthily continued by his successor, Mr. Edward -Augustus BOND, to whom students also owe the great and distinctive debt -of the commencement of an admirable “INDEX OF MATTERS” to the Collection -generally. No greater boon, in the way of Catalogues, was ever given -within the walls of the Museum, though, as yet, it is necessarily a -beginning only. The special labours of Dr. GRAY in that sphere, for the -Natural-History Collections, comprised the extended advantage of -printing and sale. Not less, I hope, will eventually be done for the -service of manuscript students. There is the desire to do it, and the -means must, sooner or later, follow. - - -The wonderful growth and development of the Collections of Antiquities -in recent years is the special subject of the next chapter. That growth -derives no small part of its permanent scientific interest and value -from the impressive way in which it illustrates the teachings of Holy -Scripture. _Some_ of the collections amassed in the British Museum have, -more than once, by dint of human vanity, been made to subserve a -laudation of the wonderful achievements of Man, rather than of the -power, wisdom, and goodness of God; but for the ebullitions of human -vanity there is extremely little room when a visitor stands beside the -sculptured memorials of that vast empire which ‘the cedars in the garden -of GOD could not hide,’ [Sidenote: Ezek. xxxi, 8 to 13. Comp. Habak. ii, -14.] which was ‘lifted up in the pride of its height,’ only to become a -marvel for desolation, so that upon its ruin ‘the fowls of the heaven -remain.’ When before our own eyes and ears the very stones cry out in -the wall, and the beams out of the timber answer them, the man vainest -of his science or of his philosophy must needs be led to ask himself: -‘What hath GOD wrought?’ - -Some very advanced men of science have become, of late, fond of -‘Sunday-evening Lectures’ _for the instruction of the working classes_. -That would be a tolerably impressive Sunday-evening Lecture which a -competent scholar could give in the Assyrian Gallery of the British -Museum. - -Here, and now, the recent increase of the Department of Antiquities may -be wholly passed over. But to that part of the history of accessions -which bears upon the Natural-History Galleries some attention must needs -be given, by way of continuing our former brief epitome of the -improvements made between the years 1836 and 1850. - - -Of the state of the Department of Zoology, during the earlier part of -the decade now more immediately under review, a good and instructive -account was given in Professor OWEN’S Annual Report of 1861. Its most -material portions run thus:— - -‘The proportion of the stuffed specimens of the class Mammalia, -exhibited in the glazed cases of the Southern Zoological Gallery and -Mammalian Saloon, is in good condition. [Sidenote: THE GROWTH OF THE -NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS. 1850–1861.] The stuffed specimens, which, -from their bulk, or from want of space in the cases, stand on the floor, -have suffered in a certain degree from exposure to the corrosive -smoke-dust of the metropolis, the effects of which cannot be wholly -prevented.’ - -The proportion, continues Mr. OWEN, of the Collection of Mammalia -consisting of skins preserved in boxes, the Osteological specimens, -including the horns and antlers, and the specimens kept in spirit, are -all in a good state of preservation. The unstuffed, Osteological and -bottled specimens are unexhibited and restricted in use, as at present -located, to scientific investigation and comparison; but it is with -difficulty that the special visitor for such purposes can now avail -himself of these materials, owing to their crowded accumulation in the -Basement Rooms in which they are stored. - -‘The exhibited Collection of Birds is in a good state of preservation, -is conveniently arranged for public inspection, and is usefully and -instructively named and labelled. The interest manifested by visitors, -and the satisfaction generally expressed in regard to this gallery, -indicate the amount of public instruction and gratification which would -result from a corresponding serial arrangement and exposition of the -other classes of the animal kingdom. - -‘The stuffed and exhibited selections from the classes of Reptilia and -Fishes, are in a very good state of preservation; they suffer less from -the requisite processes of cleaning than the classes covered by hair, -fur, or feathers. - -‘Of these cold-blooded Vertebrates the proportion preserved in spirits -is much greater than in Mammals and Birds, and, consequently, through -the present allotment of space, the majority of the singular specific -forms of Reptiles and Fishes are excluded from public view. Upwards of -two thousand specimens in spirits of these classes have been added in -the past year to the previously crowded shelves of the basement -store-rooms, where access to any individual specimen is a matter of some -difficulty, if not hazard. Of the above additions, fourteen hundred and -fifty-six have accrued from the donation of the Secretary of State for -India in Council. The interest and novelty of the specimens have -constrained their acceptance, and the same reason has led to the -acquisition of many additions from other sources. - -‘Amongst them deserve to be specified two specimens of that singular -snake, the _Herpeton tentaculatum_, known for a century past only by a -single discoloured example in the Paris Museum; those now in the stores -of the British Museum were acquired from Siam, and have served to enrich -Zoology with a complete knowledge of the species, through the -descriptions and figures by Dr. GÜNTHER. - -‘The following may be also specified, namely, the burrowing Snake from -South Africa, _Uriechis microlepidotus_; a new genus of tree-snake, -_Herpetoreas_; a new genus, _Barycephalus_, of Saurian, from an altitude -in the Himalayas of fifteen thousand feet above the level of the sea; -also two new species of freshwater Tortoise, the _Emys Livingstonii_, -dedicated to its discoverer in Africa, and the _Emys Siamensis_. Among -the additions to the class of Fishes has been acquired a new genus, -_Hypsiptera_, of the Scomberoid family; with several new species, -including one, _Centrolophus Britannicus_, belonging to this country. - -‘The specimens of the Molluscous classes showing the entire animal, -preserved in spirits, and stored in the basement room, are in good -condition. The entire class of _Tunicata_ is so preserved; also the -families or genera devoid of, or with rudimental, shells, in the other -Molluscous classes. A small proportion of such “naked” Mollusca, and the -soft parts of a few of the testaceous kinds, are represented by coloured -wax models in the exhibited series of shells arranged in the Bird -Gallery. - -‘The whole of the exhibited collection is in an excellent state of -preservation. The system or scale on which the genera, species, and -local varieties of shells are exhibited, with their names and -localities, gives to the ordinary visitor a power of comparing his own -specimens, and, in most instances, of determining them, without the -necessity of special application to the keeper or assistant in the -department. The extent to which students and others avail themselves of -this facility of comparison, and the value attached to it, show that the -above principle and scale of exhibition of specimens are proper to be -adopted in a National Museum for public use.’ - -In the year following the presentation of this Report, Professor OWEN -made a more elaborate review, both of the condition and of the needs of -the Zoological Department, from which I gather broadly, and by -abridgement, the following striking results:— - -The number of _species_ of Mammals possessed by the British Museum was a -little over two thousand, exemplified by about three thousand individual -specimens. In the year 1830, the number of _specimens_ had been about -one thousand three hundred and fifty; in 1850, it had risen to nearly -two thousand. It follows that, within thirty-two years, the number of -specimens in the Museum Collection had been somewhat more than doubled. -But still the number of _species_ adequately illustrated was only about -two thousand against three thousand five hundred species of Mammals -which are known, named, and have been more or less adequately described, -by zoologists. - -Of Birds, about two thousand five hundred species were, in 1862, -exhibited in the galleries of the British Museum, and in its store-rooms -there were the skins of about four thousand two hundred species. The -number of species already known and described, in 1862, was not less -than eight thousand three hundred. And, it is hardly necessary to add, -vast explorations have since been undertaken, in the years which have -elapsed, or are now about to be undertaken in Africa, in Madagascar, in -Borneo, in New Guinea, and in many parts of Australia. - -Of Fishes, the Museum contained, in 1862, about four thousand species. -These were then represented, by way of public exhibition, irrespectively -of the unexhibited stores, by about one thousand five hundred stuffed -specimens, illustrating about one thousand species. The total number of -recorded species, already at that date, amounted to more than eight -thousand. - -Of Reptiles, little more than two hundred and fifty species were -publicly shown in the Museum Galleries, but its collections, unexhibited -for want of space, were already much larger. The number of known species -of _Reptilia_, in 1862, exceeded two thousand. - -Coming to the Invertebrata, it appears that, in 1862, about ten thousand -species of molluscs, illustrated by about one hundred thousand specimen -shells, were publicly exhibited. [Sidenote: See, hereinafter, Chap. VI.] -This, it will be remembered, was anterior to the great accession of the -CUMING Collection, which already, in 1862, contained more than sixteen -thousand _species_—and is the finest and most complete series ever -brought together. - -About forty-five thousand specimens of molluscs were, in 1862, stored in -the drawers of the galleries and other rooms, or in the vaults beneath. -These, on a rough computation, may have illustrated about four thousand -five hundred species. - -Within the _two years only_, 1860–1862, the registered number of -specimens of Fossils was increased from one hundred and twenty thousand -to one hundred and fifty-three thousand, but of these it was found -possible to exhibit to the Public little more than fifty thousand -specimens. - - -[Sidenote: GROWTH OF THE MINERALOGICAL COLLECTIONS. 1858–1862.] - -Coming to the Department of Mineralogy, we find that the registered -specimens had increased, within about four years, from fifteen thousand -to twenty-five thousand. This increase was mainly due to the acquisition -of the noble ALLAN-GREG Cabinet formed at Manchester. But large as this -increase is, the national importance of the Mineralogical Collections is -very far from being adequately represented by the existing state of the -Museum series, even after all the subsequent additions made between the -years 1862–1870. [Sidenote: Owen, _Report_, as above (1862).] A Museum -of Mineralogy worthy of England must eventually include five several and -independent collections. There must be (1) a Classificatory Collection, -for general purposes; (2) a Geometrical Collection, to show the -crystalline forms; (3) an Elementary Collection, to show the degrees of -lustre and the varieties of cleavage and of colour; (4) a Technological -Collection, to show the economic application of minerals—the importance -of which, to a commercial, manufacturing, and artistic country, can -hardly be exaggerated. Last of all, there is needed a special collection -of an ancillary kind; that, I mean, which has been called sometimes a -‘teratological’ collection, [Sidenote: (Ibid.)] sometimes a -‘pseudomorphic’ collection. Call it as you will, its object is -important. Such a series serves to show both the defective and the -excessive forms of minerals, and their transitional capacities. These -five several collections are, it will be seen, over and above that other -special Collection of Sky-stones or ‘Meteorites,’ which is already very -nobly represented in our National Museum. - - - - - CHAPTER IV. -ANOTHER GROUP OF ARCHÆOLOGISTS AND EXPLORERS.—THE SPOILS OF XANTHUS, OF - BABYLON, OF NINEVEH, OF HALICARNASSUS, AND OF CARTHAGE. - - ‘She doted upon the Assyrians her neighbours, ... when she saw men - pourtrayed upon the wall,—the images of the Chaldeans pourtrayed with - vermilion, girded with girdles upon their loins, exceeding in dyed - attire upon their heads; all of them princes to look to, after the - manner of the Babylonians of Chaldea.’ - - EZEKIEL xxiii, 12–15. - - ‘I do love these ancient ruins; - We cannot tread upon them, but we set - Our foot upon some reverend history. - - · · · · · - - But all things have their end, - Castles and cities (which have diseases like to men) - Must have like death which we have.’ - WEBSTER, _The Duchess of Malfi_. - - _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._ - - -We have now to turn to that vast field of research and exploration, from -which the national Museum of Antiquities has derived an augmentation -that has sufficed to double, within twenty-five years, its previous -scientific and literary value to the Public. In this chapter we have to -tell of not a little romantic adventure; of remote and perilous -explorations and excavations; sometimes, of sharp conflicts between -English pertinacity and Oriental cunning; often, of great endurance of -hardship and privation in the endeavour at once to promote learning—the -world over—and to add some new and not unworthy entries on the long roll -of British achievement. - -Two distinct groups of explorers have now to be recorded. The labours of -both groups carry us to the Levant. [Sidenote: THE LIBRARIES OF THE -EAST.] What has been done of late years by the searchers after -manuscripts, in their effort to recover some of the lost treasures of -the old Libraries of the East, will be most fairly appreciated by the -reader, if, before telling of the researches and the studies of CURZON, -TATTAM, CURETON, and their fellow-workers in Eastern manuscript -archæology, some brief prefatory notice be given of the earlier labours, -in the same field, of HUNTINGTON, BROWNE, and other travellers in the -seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Mention must also be made of the -explorations of SONNINI and of ANDRÉOSSI. - - -[Sidenote: THE RESEARCHES OF ROBERT HUNTINGTON IN THE NITRIAN - MONASTERIES;] - -About the year 1680, Robert HUNTINGTON, afterwards Bishop of Raphoe, -visited the Monasteries of the Nitrian Desert, and made special and -eager research for the Syriac version of the _Epistles of St. Ignatius_, -of the existence of which there had been wide-spread belief amongst the -learned, since the time of Archbishop USSHER. But his quest was -fruitless, although, as it is now well known, a Syriac version of some -of those epistles did really exist in one of the monasteries which -HUNTINGTON visited. The monks, then as afterwards, were chary of showing -their MSS., very small as was the care they took of them. The only -manuscripts mentioned by HUNTINGTON, in recording his visits to three of -the principal communities—St. Mary Deipara, St. Macarius, and El -Baramous—are an _Old Testament_ in the Estrangelo character; two volumes -of Chrysostom in Coptic and Arabic; a Coptic Lectionary in four volumes; -and a _New Testament_ in Coptic and Arabic. - -Towards the close of the following century, these monasteries received -the successive visits of SONNINI, of William George BROWNE, and of -General Count ANDRÉOSSI. [Sidenote: AND THOSE OF SONNINI, BROWNE, AND -OTHERS.] SONNINI says nothing of books. BROWNE saw but few—among them an -Arabo-Coptic _Lexicon_, the works of St. Gregory, and the _Old_ and _New -Testaments_ in Arabic—although he was told by the superior that they had -nearly eight hundred volumes, with none of which they would part. -[Sidenote: Browne, _Travels in Africa_, &c., p. 43.] General ANDRÉOSSI, -on the other hand, speaks slightingly of the books as merely ‘ascetic -works, ... some in Arabic, and some in Coptic, with an Arabic -translation in the margin;’ [Sidenote: Huntington, _Observations_ (repr. -in Ray’s Coll.).] but adds, ‘We brought away some of the latter class, -which appear to have a date of six centuries.’ This was in 1799. -[Sidenote: Andréossi, _Vallées des Lac de Nation_, pass.] BROWNE died in -1814; SONNINI DE MANONCOURT, in 1812; Count ANDRÉOSSI survived until -1828. - -In the year 1827, the late Duke of NORTHUMBERLAND (then Lord PRUDHOE) -made more elaborate researches. His immediate object was a philological -one, his Lordship desiring to further Mr. TATTAM’S labours on a Coptic -and Arabic Dictionary. [Sidenote: Lord Prudhoe’s _Narrative_, &c., as -abridged in _Quarterly Review_, vol. lxxvii, pp. 45, seq.] Hearing that -‘Libraries were said to be preserved, both at the Baramous and Syrian -convents,’ he proceeded to El Baramous, accompanied by Mr. LINART, and -encamped outside the walls. ‘The monks in this convent,’ says the Duke, -‘about twelve in number, appeared poor and ignorant. They looked on us -with great jealousy, and denied having any books, except those in the -church, which they showed us.’ But having been judiciously mollified by -some little seductive present, on the next day, ‘in a moment of good -humour, they agreed to show us their Library. From it I selected a -certain number of Manuscripts, which, with the _Lexicon_ (_Selim_) -already mentioned, were carried into the monk’s room. A long -deliberation ensued, ... as to my offer to purchase them. Only one could -write, and at last it was agreed that he should copy the _Selim_, which -copy and the MSS. I had collected were to be mine, in exchange for a -fixed sum of dollars, to which I added a present of rice, coffee, -tobacco, and such other articles as I had to offer.’ After narrating the -acquisition of a few other MSS. at the Syrian convent, or Convent of St. -Mary Deipara, his Lordship proceeds:—‘These manuscripts I presented to -Mr. TATTAM, and gave him some account of the small room with its -trap-door, through which I descended, candle in hand, to examine the -manuscripts, where books, and parts of books, and scattered leaves, in -Coptic, Ethiopic, Syriac, and Arabic, were lying in a mass, on which I -stood.... In appearance, it seemed as if, on some sudden emergency, the -whole Library had been thrown down this trap-door, and they had remained -undisturbed, in their dust and neglect, for some centuries.’ - -[Sidenote: THE RESEARCHES IN THE LEVANTINE MONASTERIES OF MR. CURZON.] - -Ten years later, Mr. TATTAM himself continued these researches. But in -the interval they had been taken up by the energetic and accomplished -traveller Mr. Robert CURZON, to whose charming _Visits to the -Monasteries of the Levant_ it is mainly owing that a curious aspect of -monastic life, which theretofore had only interested a few scholars, has -become familiar to thousands of readers of all classes. - -Mr. CURZON’S researches were much more thorough than those of any of his -predecessors. He was felicitous in his endeavours to win the good graces -of the monks, and seems often to have made his visits as pleasant to his -hosts as afterwards to his readers. But, how attractive soever, only one -of them has to be noticed in connexion with our present topic—that, -namely, to the Convent of the Syrians mentioned already. ‘I found,’ says -Mr. CURZON, ‘several Coptic MSS. lying on the floor, but some were -placed in niches in the stone wall. They were all on paper, except three -or four; one of them was a superb MS. of the Gospels, with a commentary -by one of the early fathers. Two others were doing duty as coverings to -large open pots or jars, which had contained preserves, long since -evaporated. On the floor I found a fine Coptic and Arabic Dictionary, -with which they refused to part.’ After a most graphic account of a -conversation with the Father Abbot—the talk being enlivened with many -cups of rosoglio—he proceeds to recount his visit to a ‘small closet, -vaulted with stone, which was filled to the depth of two feet or more -with loose leaves of Syriac MSS., which now form one of the chief -treasures of the British Museum.’ The collection thus ‘preserved’ was -that of the Coptic monks; the same monastery contained another which was -that of the Abyssinian monks. ‘The disposition of the manuscripts in the -Library,’ continues Mr. CURZON, ‘was very original.... The room was -about twenty-six feet long, twenty feet wide, and twelve feet high; the -roof was formed of the trunks of palm-trees. A wooden shelf was carried, -in the Egyptian style, around the walls, at the height of the top of the -door, ... underneath the shelf various long wooden pegs projected from -the wall, ... on which hung the Abyssinian MSS., of which this curious -Library was entirely composed. The books of Abyssinia are bound in the -usual way—sometimes in red leather, and sometimes in wooden boards, ... -they are then enclosed in a case, ... to which is attached a strap, ... -and by these straps the books are hung on the wooden pegs, three or four -on a peg, or more, if the books were small; their usual size was that of -a small, very thick quarto.... Almost all Abyssinian books are written -upon skins.... They have no cursive writing; each letter is therefore -painted, as it were, with the reed-pen.... Some manuscripts are adorned -with the quaintest and grimmest illustrations conceivable, ... and some -are worthy of being compared with the best specimens of caligraphy in -any language.’ Then follows an amusing account of the ‘higgling of the -monks,’ after a truly Abyssinian fashion, ending in the acquisition of -books, of the whole of which the travellers could not, by any packing or -stuffing, make their bags containable. ‘In this dreadful dilemma, ... -seeing that the quarto was the most imperfect, I abandoned it; and I -have now reason to believe, on seeing the manuscripts of the British -Museum, that this was the famous book, with the date of _A.D._ 411, the -most precious acquisition to any Library that has been made in modern -times, with the exception, as I conceive, of some in my own -Collection.... [Sidenote: Curzon, _Visits_, &c., as above.] This book, -which contains some lost works of Eusebius, has ... fallen into better -hands than mine.’ - -In the following year (1838), the Rev. Henry TATTAM (afterwards -Archdeacon of Bedford), in furtherance of the purpose which had -previously enlisted Lord PRUDHOE’S co-operation, set out upon his -expedition into Egypt. He arrived at Cairo in October, and in November -proceeded up the Nile as far as Esneh, visiting many monasteries, and -inspecting their Libraries, in most of which he only met with liturgies -and service-books. Sanobon was an exception, for there he found -eighty-two Coptic MSS., some of them very fine. - -Continuing the narrative, we find that on the 12th of January they -started across the desert for the valley of the Natron Lakes, and -pitched their tent at a short distance from the Monastery of Macarius. -[Sidenote: Miss PLATT’S Journal (unpublished, but abridged in the -_Quarterly Review_, as above).] The monks told them that of these -convents there had once been, on the mountain and in the valley of -Nitria, no less than three hundred and sixty. Of fifty or thereabouts -the ruins, it is said, may still be seen. [Sidenote: RESEARCHES OF -ARCHDEACON TATTAM.] At the Convent of the Syrians, the Archdeacon was -received with much civility, not, however, unaccompanied by a sort of -cautious circumspection. After a look at the church, followed by the -indispensable pipes and coffee, the monks asked the cause to which they -were indebted for the honour of his visit. He told them discreetly that -it was his wish to see their books. ‘They replied that they had no more -than what he had seen in the church; upon which he told them plainly -that he knew they had.’ A conference ensued, and, on the next day, they -conducted him to the tower, and then into a dark vault, where he found a -great quantity of very old and valuable Syriac MSS. He selected six -quarto volumes, and took them to the superior’s room. He was next shown -a room in the tower, where he found a number of Coptic and Arabic MSS., -principally liturgies, with a beautiful copy of the _Gospels_. He then -asked to see the rest. The monks looked surprised to find he knew of -others, and seemed at first disposed to deny that they had any more, but -at length produced the key of the apartment where the other books were -kept, and admitted him. After looking them over, he went to the -superior’s room, where all the priests were assembled, fifteen or -sixteen in number; one of them brought a Coptic and Arabic _Selim_, or -_Lexicon_, which Mr. TATTAM wished to purchase; they informed him they -could not part with it, ... but consented to make him a copy. He paid -for two of the Syriac MSS. he had placed in the superior’s room, for the -priests could not be persuaded to part with more.... The superior would -have sold the Dictionary, but was afraid, because the Patriarch had -written in it a curse upon any one who should take it away.’ [It was the -same volume which had been vainly coveted by Mr. CURZON, as well as by -several preceding travellers, and of which he tells us he ‘put it in one -of the niches of the wall, where it remained about two years, when it -was purchased and brought away for me by a gentleman at Cairo.’] ‘In the -Convent of El Baramous,’ continues Miss PLATT, ‘Mr. TATTAM found about -one hundred and fifty Coptic and Arabic liturgies, and a very large -Dictionary in both languages. In the tower is an apartment, with a -trap-door in the floor, opening into a dark hole, full of loose leaves -of Arabic and Coptic manuscripts.’ At the Monastery of Amba-Bichoi, Mr. -TATTAM saw a lofty vaulted room, so strewn with loose manuscripts as -scarcely to afford a glimpse of the floor on which they lay, ‘in some -places a quarter of a yard deep.’ At Macarius Convent a similar sight -presented itself, but of these Mr. TATTAM was permitted to carry off -about a hundred. - -As the reader may well imagine, the charms of the Syriac MSS. had made -too deep an impression on Mr. TATTAM’S heart to admit of an easy -parting. Many were the longing, lingering looks, mentally directed -towards them. Almost at the moment of setting out on his return to -Cairo, he added four choice books to his previous spoils. In February, -he resolved to revisit the convents, and once more to ply his most -persuasive arguments. He was manfully seconded by his Egyptian servant, -MAHOMMED, whose favourite methods of negotiation much resembled those of -Mr. CURZON. ‘The Archdeacon soon returned,’ says Miss PLATT, ‘followed -by MAHOMMED and one of the Bedouins, bearing a large sack full of -splendid Syriac MSS. on vellum. They were safely deposited in the tent.’ -At Amba-Bischoi a successful bargain was struck for an old _Pentateuch_ -in Coptic and Arabic, and a beautiful Coptic _Evangeliary_. [Sidenote: -Platt’s Journal; abridged, as above.] On the next day, ‘Mahommed brought -from the priests a Soriana, a stupendous volume, beautifully written in -the Syriac characters, with a very old worm-eaten copy of the -_Pentateuch_ from Amba-Bischoi, exceedingly valuable, but not quite -perfect.’ The remainder of the story, or rather the greater part of what -remains, must here be more concisely told than in the words of the -reviewer. - -The manuscripts which Mr. TATTAM has thus obtained, in due time arrived -in England. Such of them as were in the Syriac language were disposed of -to the Trustees of the British Museum.... Forty-nine manuscripts of -extreme antiquity, containing some valuable works long since supposed to -have perished, and versions of others written several centuries earlier -than any copies of the original texts now known to exist, constituted -such an addition as has been rarely, if ever, made at one time to any -Library. The collection of Syriac MSS. procured by Mr. RICH had already -made the Library of the British Museum conspicuous for this class of -literature; but the treasure of manuscripts from Egypt rendered it -superior to any in Europe. - -From the accounts which Lord PRUDHOE, Mr. CURZON, and Mr. TATTAM had -given of their visits to the Monastery of the Syrians, it was evident -that but few of the manuscripts belonging to it had been removed since -the time of ASSEMANI; and probable that no less a number than nearly two -hundred volumes must be still remaining in the hands of the monks. -Moreover, from several notes in the manuscripts ... already brought to -England, it was certain that most of them must be of very considerable -antiquity.... In several of these notices, MOSES of Tecrit states that, -in the year 932, he brought into the convent from Mesopotamia about two -hundred and fifty volumes. As there was no evidence whatever to show -that even so many as one hundred of these MSS. had ever been taken away -(for those which were procured for the Papal Library by the two -ASSEMANI, added to those which Mr. CURZON and Mr. TATTAM had brought to -England, do not amount to that number), there was sufficient ground for -supposing that the Convent of the Syrians still possessed not fewer than -about one hundred and fifty volumes, which, at the latest, must have -been written before the tenth century. Application, accordingly, was -made by the Trustees to the Treasury; a sum was granted to enable them -to send again into Egypt, and Mr. TATTAM readily undertook the -commission. [Sidenote: TREASURY GRANT, IN 1841, FOR FURTHER RESEARCHES.] -The time was most opportune. Had much more delay been interposed, these -manuscripts, which, perhaps, constitute the greatest accession of -valuable literature which has been brought from the East into Europe -since the taking of Constantinople, [Sidenote: _Quart. Review_, as -before.] would, in all probability, have been now the pride of the -Imperial Library at Paris. - -[Sidenote: MR. TATTAM’S EXPEDITION TO NITRIA IN 1842.] - -Mr. TATTAM thought he could work most effectively through the influence -of a neighbouring Sheikh with the superior of the convent. By which -means he obtained, after some delays, a promise that all the Syriac MSS. -should be taken to the Sheikh’s house, and there bargained for. ‘My -servant,’ he says, ‘had taken ten men and eight donkeys from the -village; had conveyed them, and already bargained for them, which -bargain I confirmed. That night we carried our boxes, paper, and string, -and packed them all.... Before ten in the morning they were on their way -to Alexandria.’ But, as will be seen in the sequel, the monks were too -crafty for Mr. TATTAM to cope with. - -[Sidenote: TISCHENDORF’S VISIT IN 1844.] - -In 1844, TISCHENDORF visited the monasteries already explored by CURZON -and TATTAM. His account reproduces the old characteristics:—‘Manuscripts -heaped indiscriminately together, lying on the ground, or thrown into -large baskets, beneath masses of dust.... The excessive suspicion of -these monks renders it extremely difficult to induce them to produce -their MSS., in spite of the extreme penury which surrounds them.... But -much might yet be found to reward the labour of the searcher.’ - -In truth, the monks, poor and simple as they sometimes seemed to be, had -taken very sufficient care to keep enough of literary treasures in their -hands to reward ‘further researches.’ Nearly half of their collection -seems to have been withheld. - -[Sidenote: PACHO’S NEGOTIATION FOR THE RECOVERY OF THE MSS. WITHHELD BY - THE MONKS OF ST. MARY DEIPARA.] - -A certain clever Mr. PACHO now entered on the scene as a negotiator for -the obtainment or recovery of the missing ‘treasures of the tombs.’ They -had been virtually purchased before, but the Lords of the Treasury very -wisely re-opened the public purse, and at length secured for the Nation -an inestimable possession. The new accession completed, or went far -towards completing, many MSS. which before were tantalizingly imperfect. -[Sidenote: See page 622, in this Chapter.] It supplied a second ancient -copy of the famous Ignatian _Epistles_ (_to St. Polycarp_, _to the -Ephesians_, and _to the Romans_); many fragments of palimpsest -manuscripts of great antiquity, and among them the greater part of St. -Luke’s _Gospel_ in Greek; and about four thousand lines of the _Iliad_, -written in a fine square uncial letter, apparently not later than the -sixth century. The total number of volumes thus added to the previous -Nitrian Collections were calculated, roundly, to be from a hundred and -forty to a hundred and fifty. - - -That the rich accession to our sacred literature, thus made amidst many -obstacles, should be turned speedily to public advantage, two conditions -had to be fulfilled. [Sidenote: WILLIAM CURETON AND HIS LABOURS IN -ORIENTAL LITERATURE.] Skilful labour had first to be employed in the -arrangement of a mass of fragments. Scholars competently prepared, by -previous studies in Oriental literature and more especially in Syriac, -must then get to work on their transcription, their gloss, and their -publication. It could scarcely have been expected, beforehand, that any -one man would be able to undertake both tasks, and to keep them, for -some years to come, well abreast. The fact, however, proved to be so. -The right man was already in the right place for the work that was to be -done. - -The late William CURETON had entered the service of the Trustees of the -British Museum in 1837, at the age of twenty-nine, when he had been -already for about eight years in holy orders. He was a native of -Westbury, in Shropshire. His education, begun at Newport School, had -been matured at Christ Church, Oxford. He had been just about to enter -himself at Christ Church in the ordinary way, when his father died, -suddenly, leaving the family fortunes under considerable embarrassment. -CURETON, and a brother of his, showed the metal they were both made of, -by instantly changing their youthful plans. That the whole of the -diminished patrimony might be at their mother’s sole disposal, William -CURETON went to Oxford as a servitor. His brother, instead of waiting -for his expected commission in the Army, enlisted as a private dragoon. -And certainly, in the issue, neither of these young men lost any -‘dignity’—in any sense of that word—on account of the step so -unselfishly taken at their start in life. - -William CURETON began his literary labours as a -Coadjutor-Under-Librarian in old Bodley. Dr. GAISFORD introduced him to -Dr. BANDINEL, in 1834, with the words:—‘I bring you a good son. He will -make a good librarian.’ It was at Oxford that he laid the substantial -foundation of his Oriental studies. After three years, he followed the -fashion already set him by some of the best and ablest officers the -Bodleian has ever had—ELLIS, BABER, and H. O. COXE, for example—by -transferring, for a time, his services from the great Library of Oxford -to that of London. [Sidenote: CURETON’S ENTRANCE INTO THE BRITISH -MUSEUM.] His first (or nearly his first) Museum task was to set to work -on the cataloguing of the Arabic and Persian MSS. In 1842, he began his -earliest Oriental publication (undertaken for the ‘Oriental Text -Society,’ to be mentioned presently), namely, AL SHARASTANI’S ‘_Book of -Religious and of Philosophical Sects_.’ - -At the British Museum, he became quite as notable for the amiability of -his character, and the genial frankness of his manners, as for his -scholarly attainments and his power of authorship. I have a vivid -recollection of my own introduction to him, in the February of 1839, and -of the impression made on me by his kindly and cordial greeting. When I -noted that pleasant face, which beamed with good nature as well as with -intellect, I instantly appreciated the force of the words used by my -introducer: ‘Let me make you known,’ said he, ‘to my father-confessor.’ -I thought the choice to be obviously a felicitous one. Not less vivid is -my memory of the delight Mr. CURETON manifested on receiving, within the -Museum _vaults_, the first importation from the Nitrian Desert. The -sight of such a mass of torn, disorderly, and dirty fragments, would -have appalled many men not commonly afraid of labour, but to William -CURETON the scholarly ardour of discovery made the task, from the first, -a pleasure. When successive fresh arrivals gave new hope that many gaps -in the manuscripts of earliest importation would, in course of time, be -filled up, the laborious pleasure ripened into joy. - -The collection, obtained by the long succession of labours already -narrated, reached the British Museum on the first of May, 1843. When the -cases were opened, very few indeed of the MSS. were perfect. [Sidenote: -FRAGMENTARY CONDITION OF THE SYRIAC MSS. IMPORTED IN 1843.] Nearly two -hundred volumes had been torn into separate leaves, and then mixed up -together, by blind chance and human stupidity. It was a perplexing -sight. But the eyes that looked on it belonged to a seeing head. Even -into a little chaos like this, almost hopeless as at the first glance it -seemed, the learning, assiduity, and patience of Mr. CURETON gradually -brought order. Of necessity, the task took a long time. First came the -separation of the fragments of different works, and then the arrangement -of the leaves into volumes, with no aid to pagination or catchwords. -With translations of extant Greek works, the collection of their -originals gave, of course, great help. But in a multitude of cases every -leaf had to be read and closely studied. - -Within about eighteen months of the reception of the MSS., Mr. CURETON -had ascertained the number of volumes—reckoning books made up of -fragments, as well as complete works—to amount to three hundred and -seventeen, of which two hundred and forty-six were on vellum, and -seventy on paper; all in Syriac or Aramaic, except one volume of Coptic -fragments. With the forty-nine volumes previously acquired, an addition -was thus made to the MS. Department of the National Library of three -hundred and sixty-six volumes. Many of these volumes contain two, three, -or four distinct works, of different dates, bound together, so that -probably, in the whole, there were of manuscripts and parts of -manuscripts, upwards of one thousand, written in all parts of -Mesopotamia, Syria, and Egypt, and at periods which range from the year -411 to the year 1292. Of the specific character and contents of some of -the choicest of these MSS., mention will be made hereafter. - -[Sidenote: DR. CURETON’S PUBLICATIONS IN SYRIAC, AND IN ARABIC - LITERATURE.] - -For several years, the labour on the Syriac fragments did but alternate -with that on the larger body of the Arabic MSS., a classed catalogue of -which Mr. CURETON published in 1846,—only a month or two after he had -contributed to the _Quarterly Review_ a deeply interesting and masterly -article on the Syriac discoveries. This paper was quickly followed by -his first edition of the _Three Epistles of St. Ignatius_ (I, to -Polycarp; II, to the Ephesians; III, to the Romans). In an able preface, -he contended that, of these genuine _Epistles_, all previous recensions -were, to a considerable extent, interpolated, garbled, and spurious; and -also that the other Ignatian _Epistles_, so-called, are entirely -supposititious. In the year 1870 it need hardly be said either that this -publication excited much controversy, or that competent opinion is still -divided on some parts of the subject. But on two points there has never -been any controversy whatever:—As an editor, William CURETON displayed -brilliant ability; as a student of theology, he was no less -distinguished by a single-minded search after truth. He was never one of -those noisy controversialists of whom Walter LANDOR once said, so -incisively,[35] that they were less angry with their opponents for -withstanding the truth, than for doubting their own claims to be the -channels and the champions of Truth. To his dying day, CURETON owned -himself to be a learner—even in Syriac. - -Within three years of the publication of his _Ignatius_, CURETON gave to -the world his precious edition of the fragmentary _Festal Letters_ of -ATHANASIUS, which Richard BURGESS soon translated into English, and -LASSOW into German. [Sidenote: THE FOUNDATION OF THE ORIENTAL TEXT -SOCIETY.] The Syriac version was one of its editor’s earliest -discoveries amongst the spoils of the Nitrian monasteries, and it was -published at the cost of a new society, of which CURETON himself was the -main founder. For the old Oriental publication society[36] limited -itself, as its name imports, to the publication of translations. The new -one—the claims of which to liberal support CURETON was never weary of -vindicating—was expressly founded to print Oriental texts. This new body -had his strongest sympathies, but he co-operated zealously with the -‘Translation Fund’ as well as with the ‘Text Society,’ - -Among his other and early labours, was the publication of a Rabbinical -Comment on the _Book of Lamentations_, and of the Arabic text of EN -NASAFI’S _Pillar of the Creed of the Sunnites_ (‘Umdat Akidat ahl al -Sunnat wa al Tamaat’), both of which books were printed in 1843. After -1845, CURETON’S literary labours were almost exclusively devoted to that -Syriac field in which he was to be so large and so original a -discoverer. The first distinctively public recognition of his services -was his appointment as a Chaplain to the Queen, in 1847. Two years -afterwards, he was made a Canon of Westminster and Rector of St. -Margaret’s. Thenceforward, his energies were divided. The charms of -Syriac discovery were not permitted to obstruct the due performance of -the appropriate work of a parish priest; though it is much to be feared -that they were but too often permitted to interfere, more than a little, -with needful recreation and rest. - -Among those of his parochial labours which demanded not a small amount -of self-sacrifice were the rebuilding and the improved organization of -the schools; [Sidenote: PAROCHIAL LABOURS.] the building of a district -church—St. Andrew’s—in Ashley Place; and the establishment of -Working-Class Lectures, upon a wise and far-seeing plan. - -[Sidenote: FURTHER CONTRIBUTIONS TO LITERATURE.] - -In 1851, he gave to scholars the curious palimpsest fragments of HOMER -from a Nitrian manuscript (now ADDIT. MS., 17,210), and, two years -afterwards, the _Ecclesiastical History_ of JOHN, Bishop of Ephesus. -This was quickly translated into German by SCHÖNFEHLER, and into English -by Dr. R. Payne SMITH. [Sidenote: MS. ADDIT. 14,640. (B. M.)] Then came -the _Spicilegium Syriacum_, containing fragments of BARDESANES, of -MELITO of Sardes, and the inexpressibly precious fragments of an ancient -recension of the Syriac _Gospels_, believed by CURETON to be of the -fifth century, and offering considerable and most interesting -divergences from the Peshito version. - -In a preface to these evangelical fragments of the fifth century, their -editor contends that they constitute a far more faithful representation -of the true Hebrew text than does the Peshito recension, and that the -remark holds good, in a more especial degree, of the _Gospel of St. -Matthew_. This publication appeared in 1858. - -[Sidenote: LABOUR AND ITS REWARDS IN FRESH LABOURS.] - -Enough has been said of these untiring labours to make it quite -intelligible, even to readers the most unfamiliar with Oriental studies, -that their author had become already a celebrity throughout learned -Europe. As early as in 1855, the Institute of France welcomed Dr. -CURETON, as one of their corresponding members, in succession to his old -master, GAISFORD, of Christ Church. In 1859, the Queen conferred on him -a distinction, which was especially appropriate and dear to his -feelings. He became ‘Royal Trustee’ of that Museum which he had so -zealously served as an Assistant-Keeper of the MSS., up to the date of -his appointment to his Westminster parish and canonry. No fitter -nomination was ever made. Unhappily, he was not to be spared very long -to fill a function so congenial. - -Yet one other distinction, and also one other and most honourable -labour, were to be his, before another illustrious victim was to be -added to the long list of public losses inflicted on the country at -large by the gross mismanagement, and more particularly by what is -called—sardonically, I suppose—the ‘economy’ of our British railways. -CURETON’S life too, like some score of other lives dear to literature or -to science, was to be sacrificed under the car of our railway -Juggernaut. - -In 1861, he published, from another Nitrian manuscript, EUSEBIUS’ -_History of the Martyrs in Palestine_. [Sidenote: THE REMOVAL, AND ITS -CIRCUMSTANCES.] Early in 1863, he succeeded the late Beriah BOTFIELD in -the Chair of the Oriental Translation Fund. On the twenty-ninth of May, -of the same year, a railway ‘accident’ inflicted upon him such cruel -injuries as entailed a protracted and painful illness of twelve months, -and ended—to our loss, but to his great gain—in his lamented death, on -the seventeenth of June, 1864. - -He died where he was born, and was buried with his fathers. The writer -of these poor memorial lines upon an admirable man well remembers the -delight he used to express (thirty years ago) whenever it was in his -power to revisit his birthplace, and knows that the delight was shared -with the humblest of its inhabitants. Dr. CURETON was one of those -genuine men who (in the true and best sense of the words) are not -respecters of persons. He had a frank, not a condescending, salutation -for the lowliest acquaintances of youthful days. And those lowliest were -not among the least glad to see his face again at his holiday-visits; -nor were they among the least sorrowful to see it, when it bore the -fatal, but now to most of us quite familiar, traces of victimism to the -mammon-cult of our railway directors. - - -[Sidenote: THE ARCHÆOLOGICAL EXPLORATIONS IN THE LEVANT.] - -Just as we have to go very far back indeed in the history of the -Manuscript Department of the British Museum, in order to find an -accession quite as notable as are—taking them as a whole—the manuscripts -of the Nitrian monasteries, so have we also to do in the history of the -several Departments of Antiquities, in order to find any parallel to the -acquisitions of monuments of art and archæology made during the thirty -years between 1840 and 1870. In point of _variety_ of interest, in -truth, there is no parallel at all to be found. - -In archæology, however—as in scientific discovery, or in mechanical -invention—every great burst of new light will be seen, if we look -closely enough, to have had its remote precursive gleams, howsoever -faint or howsoever little noticed they may have been. - -Austen Henry LAYARD, for example, is a most veritable ‘discoverer.’ -Nevertheless, the researches of LAYARD link themselves with those of -Claudius RICH, and with the still earlier glimpses, and the mere -note-book jottings, of Carsten NIEBUHR, as well as with the explorations -of LAYARD’S contemporary and most able French fellow-investigator, -Monsieur BOTTA. In like manner, Nathan DAVIS is the undoubted -disinterrer of old Carthage, but the previous labours of the Italian -canon and archæologist SPANO, of Cagliari, and those of the French -geographers DE DREUX and DUREAU DE LA MALLE, imperfect as they all were, -helped to put him upon the quest which was destined to receive so rich a -reward. - -It is obvious, therefore, that a tolerably satisfactory account of the -researches of the renowned archæologists mentioned at the head of this -chapter must be prefaced with some notices of much earlier and much less -successful labours than theirs; and a thorough account would need -greatly more than that. But, at present, I cannot hope to give either -the one or the other. Rapid glances at the recent investigations are all -that, for the moment, are permitted me, and for the perfunctory manner -of these I shall have to make not a little demand on the reader’s -indulgence. The subject-matter is rich enough to claim a volume to -itself; nor would the story be found to lack well-sustained and varied -interest, even if retold at large. - -The first inquiries and explorations in _Lycia_ of Sir Charles FELLOWS -began several years earlier than those in _Assyria_ of Mr. Austen -LAYARD, but an intelligible narrative of what LAYARD did, in 1845, must -needs start with a notice, be it ever so brief, of what BOTTA had been -doing in 1842. The Lycian excavations were also effectively begun in -1842. They were, in fact, contemporaneous with the first excavations at -Nineveh. I begin, therefore, with the closely-linked labours of BOTTA -and of LAYARD, prefacing them with a glance at the previous pursuits and -aims in life of our distinguished fellow-countryman. - -[Sidenote: AUSTEN HENRY LAYARD AND HIS EARLY CAREER.] - -Austen Henry LAYARD is an Englishman, notwithstanding his birth in Paris -(5th of March, 1817), and his descent from one of the many Huguenot -families who (in one sense) do honour to France for their sufferings for -conscience sake, and who (in many more senses than one) do honour to -England by the way in which zealous and persevering exertions in the -service of their adopted country have enabled them to pluck the flowers -of fame, or of distinction, from amidst the sharp thorns of adversity. -Austen LAYARD is the grandson of the honoured Dr. LAYARD, Dean of -Bristol, and he began active life, whilst yet very young, in a -solicitor’s office in the City of London. But he had scarcely reached -twenty-two years of age before family circumstances enabled him to -gratify a strong passion for Eastern travel. Archæology had no share, at -first, in the attractions which the Levant presented to his youthful -enterprise. But a fervid nature, a good education, and a wonderful power -of self-adaptation to new social circumstances, made the mind of the -young traveller a fitting seedplot for antiquarian knowledge, whenever -the opportunity of acquiring it should come. - -[Sidenote: THE JOURNEY THROUGH ASIA MINOR AND SYRIA IN 1839–1840.] - -To a man of that stamp it would be impossible that he should tread near -those ancient ruins, every stone of which must needs connect itself with -some ‘reverend history’ or other—when the discerning eye should at -length pore upon it and ponder it—without the ambition stirring within -him to make at least an earnest attempt to explore and to decipher. To -this particular man and his companion in travel, Fortune was propitious, -by dint of her very parsimony. As he says himself: ‘No experienced -dragoman measured our distances or appointed our stations. We were -honoured with no conversations by pashas, nor did we seek any civilities -from governors. We neither drew tears nor curses from the villagers by -seizing their horses, or searching their houses for provisions; -[Sidenote: _Nineveh and its Remains_ (1849), vol. i, p. 2.] their -welcome was sincere; their scanty fare was placed before us; we ate, and -came, and went in peace.’ - -It was almost thirty years ago—about the middle of April, 1840—that Mr. -LAYARD looked upon those vast ruins on the east bank of the Tigris, -opposite Mósul, which include the now famous mounds of Konyunjik and of -Nebbi Yunus. Having gazed on them with an incipient longing—even then—to -explore them thoroughly, he and his companion rode into the desert, and -looked with new wonder at the great mound of Kàlàh Sherghat, the site of -which is by some geographers identified with the Assur of the book -Genesis.[37] After that hasty and tantalising visit, in the spring of -1840, LAYARD did not again see Mósul until the summer of 1842, when he -was again travelling Tatar, and hurrying to Constantinople. In the -interval, he had often thought of his early purpose, and had talked of -it to many travellers. [Sidenote: BOTTA’S FIRST DISCOVERIES.] Now, in -1842, he heard that what he had hitherto been able only to contemplate, -as the wished-for task of the future, Monsieur BOTTA, the new French -Consul at Mósul, had, for some months, been actually working upon; -although, as yet, with very small success. Our countryman encouraged the -French Consul in his undertaking, and presently learned that by him the -first real monument of old Assyria had been uncovered. This primary -discovery was not made at Kouyunjik, but at Khorsabad, near the river -Khauser, many miles away from the place at which the first French -excavations had been made, early in 1842. - -The delighted emotions of Monsieur BOTTA, when he found himself, very -suddenly, standing in a chamber in which—to all probability—no man had -stood since the Fall of Nineveh, and saw that the chamber was lined with -sculptured slabs of ‘gypsum-marble’ or alabaster, full of historic -scenes from the wars and triumphs of Assyria, a reader can better -imagine than a writer can describe. BOTTA himself rather indicates than -depicts them, in the deeply interesting letters which he speedily -addressed to his friend MOHL at Paris (and which by MOHL were not less -promptly published in the _Journal Asiatique_, to be within a month or -two pondered and wondered over by almost every archæologist in Europe). -The delight, and also the surprise, were enhanced when the discoverer -saw that almost every slab had a line of wedge-shaped characters carved -above it, giving hope of history in legible inscriptions, as well as -history in ruins. For, unhappily, nearly all the sculptures _first_ -discovered at Khorsabad were fractured. The durability of the Assyrian -style of building had brought about the defacement of the sculptured -records. The walls were formed of blocks of gypsum, backed and lined, so -to speak, with enormous masses of clay. When the weight of such large -earth-banks pressed down upon the sculptured slabs, these were thrust -from their place. Many that were still in position, when first seen, -fell, or crumbled, as the explorer was looking at them. He had to -shore-up and underpin, as he went on; and to do this by unpractised -hands. Else, the more diligent his excavations, the more destructive -they would have been of the very end he had in view. - -LAYARD was at Constantinople when the news came of M. BOTTA’S increasing -successes. His detention there had been unexpected, as well as -unavoidable. But he wrote to England without delay. He had a foresight -that BOTTA would not lack encouragement in France. He felt no unworthy -jealousy on account of the fact that it was a Frenchman who was now -disinterring historic treasures of a hitherto unexampled kind, and who -was rapidly securing historic fame for himself.[38] Mr. LAYARD knew—few -men just then knew more fully—that in all matters of learning and of -discovery the gains of France are the gains of the world. [Sidenote: -LAYARD’S OVERTURES TO THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT.] For the staunchest of -John Bulls amongst us must acknowledge that in the arts of scientific -dissemination and exposition a Frenchman (other things being equal) has -usually twice the expertness of an Englishman. But he was naturally -desirous that France should not have _all_ the glory of Assyrian -discovery. What, then, was the reception with which his first overtures -were met? ‘With a single exception,’ in the person of his London -correspondent, ‘no one,’ he tells us, ‘in England’ ... [Sidenote: -_Nineveh and its Remains_, vol. i, p. 10.] ‘seemed inclined to assist or -take any interest in such an undertaking.’ - -What, on the other hand, were the encouragements given to the French -explorer by the Government and the Nation of France? They were large; -they were ungrudgingly given; and they were instantaneously sent. In Mr. -LAYARD’S words: ‘The recommendation was attended to with that readiness -and munificence which [has] almost invariably distinguished the French -Government in undertakings of this nature. [Sidenote: LIBERAL AID -EXTENDED TO M. BOTTA BY THE FRENCH GOVERNMENT.] Ample funds to meet the -cost of extensive excavations were at once assigned to M. BOTTA, and an -artist of acknowledged skill was placed under his orders, to draw such -parts of the monuments discovered as could not be preserved or removed.’ -Who will wonder that at first it seemed as though France would carry off -all the stakes, and England have no place at all in the archæological -race? - -[Sidenote: CONTRASTS:—ENGLAND AND FRANCE.] - -Mr. LAYARD, however, was otherwise minded. And he found, presently, a -powerful helper in the person of the British Ambassador at -Constantinople, Sir Stratford CANNING (now Lord Stratford de Redcliffe). -Had it not been for the union, in that ambassador, of a large intellect, -a liberal mind, and a strong will, and also for the _absence_, in him, -of that shrinking from extra-official responsibilities which in so many -able men has often emasculated their ability, Mr. LAYARD’S efforts, -earnest and unremitting as they were, would assuredly have been foiled. - -The reader will perceive that for what was achieved, in 1845 and in the -subsequent years, on the banks of the Tigris, the British public owe a -debt of gratitude to Lord STRATFORD DE REDCLIFFE, the encourager of the -enterprise, as well as to Mr. LAYARD, its originator. - -But neither does this fact, nor does the like of it, five years earlier, -in the help given by Lord PONSONBY to the Lycian researches of Sir -Charles FELLOWS, invalidate or weaken the remark I have ventured to make -(on pages 348; 381, of the present volume, and elsewhere) about the -discreditable and long-continued apathy of our Foreign Office in matters -of art and literature; especially if we compare on that head British -practice with French practice. Perhaps, at first blush, it might be -thought somewhat presumptuous, in a private person, to remark so freely -on what seem to him the shortcomings of statesmen. But it has to be -borne in mind that, in such cases as this, outspoken criticism is rather -the expression of known public opinion, than of mere individual -judgment. The one writer, how humble soever, is very often the -mouthpiece of the thoughts of many minds. Nor is other warrant for such -criticism lacking. - -_Three years_ after beginning his excavations at Nimroud, Mr. LAYARD -himself wrote thus (from Cheltenham):—‘It is to be regretted that proper -steps have not been taken for the transport to England of the sculptures -discovered at Nineveh. Those which have already reached this country, -and (it is to be feared) those which are now on their way, have -consequently suffered _unnecessary_ injury; ... yet, ... [Sidenote: -_Nineveh and its Remains_, vol. i, p. xiii.] they are almost the only -remains of a great city and of a great nation.’ - -Part of the injury now observable in the Assyrian sculptures of the -British Museum was, of course, inseparable from circumstances attending -the discovery. Besides the injury already spoken of—from the pressure of -the earth-banks—all the low-reliefs of one great palace had suffered -from intense heat. From this cause, Mr. LAYARD’S experiences recall, in -one particular, the impressive accounts we have all read of the opening -of ancient tombs in Egypt and in Italy. The fortunate excavator suddenly -beheld a kingly personage, in fashion as he lived. The royal forehead -was still encircled by a regal crown. The fingers were decked with -rings; the hand, mayhap, grasped a sceptre. But whilst the discoverer -was still gazing in the first flush of admiration, the countenance -changed; the ornaments crumbled; the sceptre and the hand that held it -alike became dust. So it was, at times, at Nimroud. Some of the calcined -slabs presented, for a moment, their story in its integrity. Presently, -they fell into fragments. - -[Sidenote: MIXED NATURE OF THE CAUSES OF THE MUTILATIONS OBSERVABLE IN - THE MUSEUM SCULPTURES FROM ASSYRIA.] - -None the less, when the reader goes into the Kouyunjik Gallery; looks at -the sculptures from SENNACHERIB’S palace; observes the innumerable -‘joinings,’ and then glances at his official ‘_Guide_’ (which tells him, -at page 85, ‘many single slabs reached this country in three hundred or -four hundred pieces’), he is bound for truth’s sake to remember that, -whilst some of the breakage is ascribable to the action of fire at the -time of the Fall of Nineveh, another portion of it is ascribable to the -want or absence of action, on the part of some worthy officials in the -public service of Britain, just twenty-five centuries afterwards. - - -With Sir Stratford CANNING’S help, and with the still better help of his -own courage and readiness of resource, Mr. LAYARD surmounted most of the -obstacles which lay in his path. There was a rich variety of them. To -quote but a tithe of his encounters with Candian pashas, Turcoman -navvies, Abou-Salman visitors, and Mósul cadis and muftis, would ensure -the reader’s amusement beyond all doubt; but the temptation must be -overcome. Happily, the original books are well known, though the -anecdotes are more than racy enough to bear quotation and requotation. - -[Sidenote: LAYARD’S FIRST DISCOVERY, 28th Nov., 1845.] - -Two incidents of the first explorations (1845–46) must needs be told. -The earliest discovery was made on the twenty-eighth of November. The -indications of having approached, at length, a chamber lined with -sculpture, rejoiced the Arab labourers not less than it rejoiced their -employer. They kept on digging long after the hour at which they were -accustomed to strike work. The slab first uncovered was a battle-scene. -War chariots drawn by splendidly equipped horses contained three -warriors apiece, in full career. The chief of them (beardless) was -clothed in complete mail, ‘and wore a pointed helmet on his head, from -the sides of which fell lappets covering the ears, the lower part of the -face, and the neck. The left hand (the arm being extended) grasped a bow -at full stretch; whilst the right, drawing the string to the ear, held -an arrow ready to be discharged. A second warrior urged, with reins and -whip, three horses to the utmost of their speed.... A third, without -helmet and with flowing hair and beard, held a shield for the defence of -the principal figure. Under the horses’ feet, and scattered about, were -the conquered, wounded by the arrows of the conquerors. I observed with -surprise the elegance and richness of the ornaments, the faithful and -delicate delineation of the limbs and muscles, both in the men and -horses, and the knowledge of art displayed in the grouping of the -figures and the general composition. [Sidenote: _Nineveh and its -Remains_ (1849), vol. i, p. 41.] In all these respects, as well as in -costume, this sculpture appeared to me, not only to differ from, but to -surpass, the bas-reliefs of Khorsabad.’ - -Thus cheered, the work of digging went on with fresh vigour, and in new -directions. Parts of a building which had suffered from decay, not from -fire, were at length uncovered. Slabs of still greater beauty were -disclosed. ‘I now thought,’ says the explorer, ‘I had discovered the -earliest palace of Nimroud.’ - -On the morning after the discovery of these new and more choice -sculptures—middle of February, 1846—Mr. LAYARD rode away from the mound -to a distant Arab encampment—wisely cultivating, as was his manner, a -good understanding with a ticklish sort of neighbours. Two early Arabs, -from this camp, had already paid a morning visit to the mound. They -hastened back at a racing pace. Before they could well pull up their -horses, or regain their own Oriental composure, the riders shouted at -sight of Layard: ‘Hasten, O Bey, to the diggers. They have found great -NIMROD himself. Wallah! it is wonderful, but it is true! We have seen -him with our eyes.’ - -The ‘Bey’ did not wait for lucid explanations; but urged his horse to -emulate the speed with which the grateful, though mysterious, tidings -had been brought to him. No sooner had he entered the new trench at the -mound, than he saw a splendidly sculptured head, the form of which -assured him at a glance that it must belong to a winged bull or lion -like to those of Persepolis and of Khorsabad. [Sidenote: _Ibid._, p. -65.] Its preservation was perfect, its features sharply cut. [Sidenote: -1846, February.] The Arab workmen stood looking at it with intent and -fear-expressing eyes—but with open palms. The first word that came from -their lips begged a ‘back-sheesh,’ in honour of the auspicious occasion. -The terror of one of them, only, had led him to scamper at full speed to -his tent, that he might hide himself from the frightful monster whose -aspect seemed to threaten vengeance on those rash men who had dared to -disturb his long repose, in the bowels of the earth. - -Scarcely had Mr. LAYARD glanced at ‘NIMROD’ before he found that more -than half the tribe whose encampment he had just left had followed hard -at his heels. They were headed by their Sheikh. It would be difficult to -depict, in few words, the conflict of their feelings. Admiration, -terror, anger, had each a part in the emotion which was evinced, no less -in their gestures than in their words. ‘There is no God but GOD, and -MAHOMED is his prophet! [Sidenote: _Ibid._, p. 66.] This is not the work -of men’s hands, but of those infidel giants whom the Prophet—peace be -with him!—has said, that “they were higher than the tallest date-tree.” -This is one of the idols which NOAH—peace be with him!—cursed before the -Flood.’ Such were the words of Sheikh ABD-UR-RAHMAN himself. He showed -great reluctance, at first, to enter the trench. But when once in, he -examined the image with great and continued earnestness. All his -followers echoed his verdict. - -But the townspeople of Mósul were more difficult to deal with. The Cadi -called a meeting of the Mufti and the Ulema, to discuss the most -effectual protest against such an atrocious violation of the Koran as -that committed by the unbelieving explorer and his mercenary labourers. -Their notions about NIMROD were very vague. Some thought him to have -been an ancient true-believer; others had a strong misgiving that he, -like his unearther, was but an infidel. They were all clear that the -digging must be stopped. [Sidenote: _Nineveh and its Remains_; passim.] -It tasked all Mr. LAYARD’S skill, experience, and force of character, to -surmount these new difficulties. When they had been at length -overcome—with the brilliant results known now to most Englishmen—he had -to face the enormous difficulties of transport. The great human-headed -lions he was obliged to leave in their original position. A multitude of -smaller sculptures (many of them reduced in bulk by sawing) were safely -brought to England. The first arrivals came in 1847.[39] In 1849 and in -1850, the excavations in the mounds first opened were vigorously -resumed, and new researches were made in several directions. Early in -1850, the explorers buckled to the task of removing the lions. That -chapter in Mr. LAYARD’S familiar narrative is not the least interesting -one. - -The explorations partially interrupted in 1847 were resumed in 1849. -[Sidenote: _Discoveries in the Ruins of Nineveh and Babylon_ (1853), pp. -162, 163; 201–209; seqq. Dec., 1849.] From the October of that year -until April, 1851, they were carried on with even more than the old -energy, for the means and appliances were more ample, and the -encouragements drawn from success followed each other in far quicker -succession. - -The suspension had been but partial, for Mr. Hormuzd RASSAM, then -British Vice-Consul at Mósul, had been empowered to keep a few men still -digging at Kouyunjik. He had there unearthed several new sculpture-lined -chambers of no small interest. But at Nimroud nothing worthy of mention -had been done during LAYARD’S absence. That was now his first object. -[Sidenote: 1849, Oct. and Nov.] Kouyunjik, however, for a long time gave -the best yield. - -In December the south-east façade of the Kouyunjik Palace was uncovered. -It was found to be a hundred and eighty feet in length, and contained, -among other sculptures, ten colossal bulls and six human figures. The -accompanying inscriptions contained the early annals of SENNACHERIB, and -of his wars with MERODACH BALADAN.[40] - -Presently, the labours on the north-west palace at Nimroud were also -richly rewarded. The somewhat higher antiquity of that building, as -compared with the homogeneous structures of Kouyunjik and Khorsabad, had -already impressed itself with the force of conviction on Mr. LAYARD’S -individual mind. The fact now became manifest to all eyes that had the -capacity to see. - -These Nimroud monuments belong,—according to the opinion of the best -archæologists,—most of them, to the eighth, some of them, however, to -the earlier part of the seventh centuries _B.C._ They now occupy the -most central of the Assyrian Galleries in the British Museum. The -monuments of Kouyunjik and of Khorsabad are probably but little anterior -to the supposed date (625 _B.C._) of the destruction of Nineveh. These -are exhibited in galleries adjacent to the ‘Nimroud Central Saloon.’ To -describe only a few of them in connection with the interesting -circumstances of their respective disclosures would demand another -chapter. A word or two, however, must be given to one among the earlier -discoveries (October, 1846), and to one among the latest of those made -(in the spring of 1851), whilst Mr. LAYARD himself remained in the -neighbourhood of Mósul. - -[Sidenote: DISCOVERY OF THE BLACK-MARBLE OBELISK, 1846, October (found - in centre of the great mound).] - -At Nimroud many trenches had, in those early days, been opened -unprofitably. Mr. LAYARD doubted whether he ought to carry them further. -Half inclined to cease, in this direction, he resolved, finally, that he -would not abandon a cutting on which so much money and toil had been -spent, until the result of yet another day’s work was shown. [Sidenote: -_Nineveh and its Remains_, vol. i, p. 345. (1849 edit.)] ‘I mounted my -horse,’ he says—to ride into Mósul—‘but had scarcely left the mound when -a corner of black marble was uncovered, lying on the very edge of the -trench.’ It was part of an obelisk seven feet high, lying about ten feet -below the surface. Its top was cut into three gradines, covered with -wedge-shaped inscriptions. Beneath the gradines were five tiers of -sculpture in low-relief, continued on all sides. Between every two tiers -of sculpture ran a line of inscription. Beneath the five tiers, the -unsculptured surface was covered with inscriptions. These, as subsequent -researches have shown, contain the Annals of SHALMANESER, King of -Assyria, during thirty-one years towards the close of the ninth century -before our Lord. The tributaries of the great monarch are seen in long -procession, bearing their offerings. In the appended cuneiform record of -these tributaries are mentioned JEHU, ‘of the House of OMRI,’ and his -contemporary HAZAEL, King of Syria. [Sidenote: _Ibid._, 346.] Well may -the proud discoverer call his trophy a ‘precious relic.’ - - -We now leap over more than four eventful years. Mr. LAYARD is about to -exchange the often anxious but always glorious toils of the successful -archæologist, for the not less anxious and very often exceedingly -inglorious toils of the politician. He will also henceforth have to -exchange many a pleasant morning ride and many a peaceful evening -‘tobacco-parliament’ with Arabs of the Desert, for turbulent discussions -with metropolitan electors, and humble obeisances in order to win their -sweet voices. Just before he leaves Mósul come some new unearthings of -Assyrian sculpture, to add to the welcome tidings he will carry into -England. - -[Sidenote: THE DISCOVERIES AT KOUYUNJIK OF THE SPRING OF 1851.] - -He found, he tells us—in one of the closing chapters of his latest -book—that to the north of the great centre-hall four new chambers, full -of sculpture, had been discovered. On the walls of a grand gallery, -ninety-six feet by twenty-three, was represented the return of an -Assyrian army from a campaign in which they had won loads of spoil and a -long array of prisoners. The captured fighting men wore a sort of -Phrygian bonnet reversed, short tunics, and broad belts. The women had -long tresses and fringed robes. [Sidenote: _Discoveries at Nineveh and -Babylon_ (edit. 1853), pp. 582–584.] Sometimes they rode on mules or -were drawn—by men as well as by mules—in chariots. The captives were the -men and women of Susiana. The victor was SENNACHERIB. - - -In several subsequent years—1853, 1854, 1855, when most Englishmen were -intently acting, or beholding with suspended breath, the great drama in -the Crimea—a famous compatriot was continuing the task so nobly -initiated by Austen LAYARD. Sir Henry RAWLINSON (made by this time -Consul-General at Baghdad) carried on new excavations, both at Nimroud -and at Kouyunjik. In these he was ably assisted by Mr. W. K. LOFTUS, as -well as by Mr. Hormuzd RASSAM, the helper and early friend of LAYARD, -and (in the later stages) by Mr. TAYLOR. Another obelisk, with portions -of a third and fourth; thirty-four slabs sculptured in low-relief; one -statue in the round; and a multitude of smaller objects, illustrating -with wonderful diversity and minuteness the manners and customs, the -modes of life and of thought, as well as the wars and conquests, the -luxury and the cruelty, of the old Assyrians, were among the treasures -which, by the collective labour of these distinguished explorers, were -sent into Britain. [Sidenote: EARLY LABOURERS ON THE DECIPHERING OF -CUNEIFORM INSCRIPTIONS.] Another ‘recension,’ so to speak, of the early -Annals of SENNACHERIB, King of Assyria, inscribed upon a cylinder, was -not the least interesting of the monuments found under the direction of -Sir Henry RAWLINSON, whose name had already won its station—many years -before his consulship at Baghdad—beside those of GROTEFEND, of BURNOUF -and of LASSEN, in the roll of those scientific investigators by whose -closet labours the researches and long gropings of the RICHES, the -BOTTAS, and the LAYARDS, were destined to be interpreted, illustrated, -and fructified for the world of readers at large. - -For it is not the least interesting fact in this particular and most -richly-yielding field of Assyrian archæology—that several men in -Germany;—more than one man in France;—and one man, at least, in Persia, -had been working simultaneously, but entirely without concert, at those -hard and, for a time, almost barren studies which were eventually to -supply a master-key to vast libraries of inscriptions brought to light -after an entombment of twenty-five hundred years. - - -[Sidenote: THE TRAVELS AND RESEARCHES OF SIR CHARLES FELLOWS IN LYCIA.] - -Scarcely smaller than the debt of gratitude which Britain owes to Mr. -LAYARD and to Lord STRATFORD DE REDCLIFFE, for the Marbles and other -antiquities of Assyria, is the debt which she owes to the late Sir -Charles FELLOWS for those of Lycia. Nor ought it to be passed over -without remark that the admirably productive mission to the Levant of -Mr. Charles NEWTON seems to have grown, in germ, out of the applications -made at Constantinople on behalf of Sir Charles FELLOWS. In that merit -he has but a very small share. The merit of the Lycian discoveries is -all his own. He has now gone from amongst us,—like most of the -benefactors whose public services have been recorded in this volume. How -inadequate the record; how insufficient for the task the chronicler; no -one will be so painfully conscious, as is the man whose hand—in the -absence of a better hand—has here attempted the narrative. The Museum -story has been long. What remains to be said must needs be put more -briefly. But because Sir Charles FELLOWS has been so lately removed from -the land he served with so much zeal and ability, I shall still venture -to claim the indulgence of my readers for a somewhat detailed account of -the work done in Lycia, and of the man who did it. - -[Sidenote: THE ANALOGIES AND THE CONTRASTS BETWEEN FELLOWS AND LAYARD.] - -In one respect, it was with Charles FELLOWS as with Austen LAYARD. A -youthful passion for foreign travel, and what grew out of that, lifted -each of them from obscurity into prominence. But LAYARD achieved fame at -a much earlier age than did Sir Charles FELLOWS. Sir Charles was almost -forty before his name came at all before the Public. LAYARD was already -a personage at eight and twenty. This small circumstantial difference -between the fortune of two men whose pursuits in life were, for a time, -so much alike, deserves to be kept in mind, on this account: Sir Charles -lived scarcely long enough to see any fair appreciation of what he had -accomplished. Even those whose political sympathies incline them to a -belief that Mr. LAYARD’S _official_ services will never suffice to -console Englishmen for the interruption of his archæological services, -hope that he may live long enough to enjoy a rich reward for the latter -in their yearly-increasing estimation by his countrymen at large. They -will delight to see the fervid member for Southwark utterly eclipsed in -the fame of the great discoverer of long-entombed Assyria. - - -[Sidenote: THE TRAVELS IN ASIA MINOR, AND WHAT GREW THEREOUT.] - -Sir Charles FELLOWS was the son of Mr. John FELLOWS, of Nottingham. He -was born in 1799. In the year 1837, he set out upon a long tour in Asia -Minor. Archæological discovery no more formed any part of a preconcerted -plan in Mr. FELLOWS’ case than it did, two or three years afterwards, in -Mr. LAYARD’S. Both were led to undertake their respective explorations -in a way that (for want of a more appropriate word) we are all -accustomed to call ‘accidental.’ - -In February, 1838, he found himself at Smyrna. After a good deal of -observation of men and manners, he betook himself to an inspection of -the buildings. [Sidenote: _Journal written during an Excursion in Asia -Minor_, pp. 8, seqq. (edit. 1852).] He soon found that not a little of -the modern Smyrna was built out of the ruins of the Smyrna of the old -world. Busts, columns, entablatures, of white marble and of ancient -workmanship, were everywhere visible, in close admixture with the -recently-quarried building-stone of the country and the period. But not -only had the old marbles been built into the new edifices; they had been -turned into tombstones. Certain Jews, of an enterprising and practical -turn of mind, had bought, in block, a whole hill-full of venerable -marbles, in order to have an inexhaustible supply of new tombstones -close at hand. [Sidenote: _Ibid._, p. 9.] In another part of the suburbs -of the town, the walls of a large corn-field turned out, on close -examination, to be built of thin and flat stones, of which the inner -surface was formed of richly-patterned mosaic, black, white, and red. -From that day, the traveller, wheresoever he journeyed, was a -scrutinising archæologist. And the traveller, thus equipped for his -work, was busied, two months afterwards, in exploring that most -interesting part of Asia Minor (a part now called ‘Anadhouly’), which -includes Lydia, Mysia, Bithynia, Phrygia, Pisidia, Lycia, Pamphylia, and -Caria; and much of which was never before trodden—so far as is known, -and the knowledge referred to is that of the best geographers in -England, discussing this matter expressly, at a meeting of the -Geographical Society—by the feet of any European.[41] - -[Sidenote: THE EXPLORATIONS IN ANTIPHELLUS AND ITS VICINITY. 1838, - April.] - -On the eighteenth of April, Mr. FELLOWS found himself in the -romantically beautiful, but rugged and barren, neighbourhood of -Antiphellus. The ancient town of that name possessed a theatre, and a -multitude of temples, grandly placed on a far-outjutting promontory. For -miles around, the rocks and the ravines were strewn with marble -fragments. The face of the cliff, which, on one side, overhangs the -town, was seen to be deeply indented with rock-tombs, richly adorned. -They contained sarcophagi of a special form. The lid of each of them -bore a rude resemblance to a pointed arch. It sounds at first almost -grotesquely, in the ear of a reader of Mr. FELLOWS’ _Journal_ of 1839, -to hear him speak of Lycian tombs as ‘Elizabethan’ in their -architecture. But, in the sense intended, the term is strictly apposite. -[Sidenote: _Journal of an Excursion_, &c., as above, p. 164.] If the -reader will but glance at one of Mr. FELLOWS’ many beautiful plates of -those rock-tombs, he will see at once that they look not unlike the -stone-mullioned windows of our own Tudor age. - - -But the discovery which eclipsed all Mr. FELLOWS’ previous researches -was that of the ancient capital of Lycia—Xanthus. Next in importance to -that was his disinterment of Tlos. He saw the ruins of other and, in -their day, famous towns. It was plain that he had now before him a fine -opening to add to the stores of human knowledge in some of its grandest -departments—artistic, historical, biblical. But, in 1838, he had not the -most ordinary appliances of minute research. He went back to England; -found (as LAYARD was also destined to find, very shortly afterwards) -only a very little encouragement, at official hands; much more than a -little, however, in his own reflections and foresight. [Sidenote: -FURTHER DISCOVERIES IN THE VALLEY OF THE XANTHUS, AND IN OTHER PARTS OF -LYCIA; 1840–42.] In 1839, he went back to Lycia, taking with him George -SCHARF, then carefully described as ‘a young English artist,’ now widely -known as an eminent archæologist. FELLOWS explored. SCHARF drew. Early -in 1840, ten Lycian cities were added to the previous discoveries. Each -of them contained many precious works of ancient art. - -In order to effectual excavation, and in order also to the safety of -what was found from destruction by Turkish barbarities, the Sultan’s -firman was essential. The difficulties were much like those which, as I -have had occasion to show in ‘Book Second,’ lay in the path of Lord -ELGIN, under similar circumstances, more than forty years earlier. By -Lord PONSONBY’S zealous efforts, they were at length surmounted. -[Sidenote: See Book II, chap. 2; pp. 382, seqq.] At the earnest instance -of the Museum Trustees, the Government at home seconded the exertions of -their ambassador at Constantinople; and this combination of endeavour -made that feasible which the best energies of Sir Charles FELLOWS, -single handed, must have utterly failed to secure. - -The reader will not, I incline to think, regard as an instance of -overmuch detail, if I here add—for instructive comparison with the terms -of the official letter procured by Lord ELGIN—the words in which RIFAAT -Pasha, in June, 1841, describes the antiquities, the removal whereof was -to be graciously permitted. In 1800, Lord ELGIN (after enormous labour) -was empowered to ‘take away any pieces of stone, from the Temples of the -Idols, with old inscriptions or figures thereon.’ Now—in 1841—the -‘pieces of stone’ are described as ‘antique remains and rare objects.’ -The schoolmaster, it will be seen, had been at work at Constantinople. - -[Sidenote: THE RESEARCHES AT CADYANDA, PINARA, &C.] - -The explorations at Cadyanda, at Pinara, and at Sidyma, richly merit the -reader’s attention, as an essential part of our present subject. But -happily Sir Charles FELLOWS’ books are both accessible and popular. Here -we must hasten on to Xanthus, and Sir Charles’ story must now be told in -his own expressive and graphic words: - -[Sidenote: THE EXCAVATIONS AT XANTHUS.] - -‘Xanthus certainly possesses some of the earliest Archaic sculpture in -Asia Minor, and this connected with the most beautiful of its monuments, -and illustrated by the language of Lycia. These sculptures to which I -refer must be the work of the sixth or seventh centuries before the -Christian era, but I have not seen an instance of these remains having -been despoiled for the rebuilding of walls; and yet the decidedly more -modern works of a later people are used as materials in repairing the -walls around the back of the city and upon the Acropolis; many of these -have Greek inscriptions, with names common among the Romans. The whole -of the sculpture is Greek, fine, bold, and simple, bespeaking an early -age of that people. No sign whatever is seen of the works of the -Byzantines or Christians. - -‘To lay down a plan of the town is impossible, the whole being concealed -by trees; but walls of the finest kind, Cyclopean blended with the -Greek, as well as the beautifully squared stones of a lighter kind, are -seen in every direction; several gateways also, with their paved roads, -still exist. I observed on my first visit that the temples have been -very numerous, and, from their position along the brow of the cliff, -must have combined with nature to form one of the most beautiful of -cities. The extent I now find is much greater than I had imagined, and -its tombs extend over miles of country I had not before seen. The -beautiful gothic-formed sarcophagus-tomb, with chariots and horses upon -its roof, of which I have before spoken and have given a sketch of a -battle-scene upon the side, accompanied with a Lycian inscription, is -again a chief object of my admiration amidst the ruins of this city. Of -the ends of this monument I did not before show drawings, but gave a -full description. Beneath the rocks, at the back of the city, is a -sarcophagus of the same kind, and almost as beautifully sculptured; but -this has been thrown down, and the lid now lies half-buried in the -earth. Its hog’s-mane is sculptured with a spirited battle-scene. Many -Greek inscriptions upon pedestals are built into the walls, which may -throw some light upon the history of the city; they are mostly funereal, -and belong to an age and people quite distinct from those of the many -fine Lycian remains. - -‘Two of my days have been spent in the tedious, but, I trust, useful -occupation, of copying the Lycian inscription from the obelisk I -mentioned in my former volume that I had seen: this will be of service -to the philologist. Having, with the assistance of a ladder, ascended to -a level with the top of the monument, I discovered a curious fact: the -characters cut upon the upper portion are larger and wider apart than -those on the lower, thus counteracting the effect of diminution by -distance, as seen from the ground. As the letters are beautifully cut, I -have taken several impressions from them, to obtain fac-similes. By this -inscription I hope to fix the type of an alphabet, which will be much -simplified, as I find upon the various tombs about the town great -varieties, though of a trifling nature, in the forms of each letter; -these varieties have hitherto been considered as different characters. -This long public inscription will establish the form of all the letters -of an alphabet, one form only being used throughout for each letter: if -this should be deciphered, it may be the means of adding information to -history. The inscription exceeds two hundred and fifty lines. - -‘It is to be regretted that the obelisk is not perfect; time or an -earthquake has split off the upper part, which lies at its foot. Two -sides of this portion only remain, with inscriptions which I could copy; -the upper surface being without any, and the lower facing the ground: -its weight of many tons rendered it immoveable. I had the earth -excavated from the obelisk itself, and came to the base, or probably the -upper part of a flight of steps, as in the other obelisk-monuments of a -similar construction. The characters upon the north-west side are cut in -a finer and bolder style than on the others, and appear to be the most -ancient. Should any difference of date occur on this monument, I should -decide that this is the commencement or original inscription upon it. - -‘This, which I must consider as a very important monument, appears to -have on the north-east side a portion of its inscription in the early -Greek language; the letters are comparatively ill cut, and extremely -difficult at such an elevation to decipher; seizing favourable -opportunities for the light, I have done my best to copy it faithfully, -and glean from it that the subject is funereal, and that it relates to a -king of Lycia; the mode of inscription makes the monument itself speak, -being written in the first person. Very near to this stands the -monument, similar in form, which I described in my last Journal as being -near the theatre, and upon which remained the singular bas-reliefs of -which I gave sketches. [Sidenote: _Journal of an Excursion in Asia -Minor_, &c. (2nd Edit.), Appendix.] On closer examination I find these -to be far more interesting and ancient than I had before deemed them. -They are in very low-relief, resembling in that respect the Persepolitan -or Egyptian bas-reliefs. - -‘I have received,’ continues Sir Charles FELLOWS, ‘from Mr. Benjamin -GIBSON of Rome a letter in reference to these bas-reliefs: his -interpretation of this mysterious subject appears far the best that I -have yet heard; and from finding the district to have been in all -probability the burial-place of the kings, it becomes the more -interesting. Mr. GIBSON writes—“The winged figures on the corners of the -tomb you have discovered in Lycia, represented flying away with -children, may with every probability be well supposed to have a -reference to the story of the Harpies flying away with the daughters of -King PANDARUS. This fable we find related by HOMER in the _Odyssey_, -lib. xx, where they are stated to be left orphans, and the gods as -endowing them with various gifts. Juno gives them prudence, Minerva -instructs them in the art of the loom, Diana confers on them tallness of -person, and lastly Venus flies up to Jupiter to provide becoming -husbands for them; in the mean time, the orphans being thus left -unprotected, the Harpies come and ‘snatch the unguarded charge away.’ -STRABO tells us that PANDARUS was King of Lycia, and was worshipped -particularly at Pinara. This tomb becomes thus very interesting; which, -if it be not the tomb of PANDARUS, shows that the story was prevalent in -Lycia, and that the great author of the _Iliad_ derived it from that -source. With this clue, we have no difficulty in recognising Juno on the -peculiar chair assigned to that goddess, and on the same side is Venus -and her attendants; upon another is probably represented Diana, -recognised by the hound. The seated gods are less easily distinguished. -[Sidenote: _Travels and Researches in Asia Minor_, pp. 336–340.] In the -Harpies, at the four corners of the tomb, we have the illustration of -those beings as described by the classic writers.”’ - -[Sidenote: MANY SUBSEQUENT DISCOVERIES; (THE DETAILS HERE NECESSARILY - PASSED OVER).] - -Every lateral excursion made by Sir C. FELLOWS, and by his companions in -travel, added to his collection rich works of sculpture, and not a few -of them added many varied and most interesting minor antiquities. But I -must needs resist all temptation to enlarge on that head, though the -temptation is great. The twentieth and subsequent chapters of the book -itself (I refer to the _collective_ but abridged ‘_Travels and -Researches in Asia Minor_’ of 1852) will abundantly repay the reader who -is disposed to turn to them—whether it be for a renewed or for a new -reading. - -[Sidenote: THE DIFFICULTIES OF TRANSPORT. Jan., 1842.] - -When the task of removal had to be undertaken, difficulties of transport -were found, under certain then existing circumstances, to be graver -obstacles than had been Turkish prejudice or Turkish apathy at an -earlier stage of the business. The maritime part of the duty had been -entrusted to Captain GRAVES, of H.M. Ship _Beacon_. The captain left his -ship at Smyrna; sailed with FELLOWS for the Xanthus, in a steam-packet; -but omitted to provide himself with the needful flat-bottomed boats. -[Sidenote: 1841, February.] When they reached the site of the marbles -which were to be carried away, Captain GRAVES said he would not have any -of the stores taken down the river; that stores must be obtained from -Malta; and that he would take all hands away from the diggings at the -beginning of March. [Sidenote: _Ibid._, pp. 440, seqq.] The reader may -imagine the reflections of the eager discoverer at this sudden -check,—coming, as it did, at the very beginning of the burst. - -He took a solitary walk of many hours, he tells us, before he could -resolve upon his course of action. He saw before him, to use his own -words, ‘a mine of treasure.’ He had willing hands to work it; ample -firmans to stave off opposition; nothing deficient save boats and -tackle. A year might possibly pass in awaiting them from Malta; and, -meanwhile, the ignorance of the peasantry, the indiscreet curiosity of -travellers, or the sudden growth of political complications, might -destroy the enterprise irrecoverably. - -He resolved, in his perplexity, to construct by his own exertions tackle -that would suffice for the removal to the coast; got native help in -addition to the willing efforts—however unscientific—of the honest -sailors of the _Beacon_; succeeded in getting a portion of the precious -objects of his quest to the waterside, before the arrival of the ship; -and got them also strongly cased up. Then he sailed with GRAVES for -Malta. The worthy captain resigned the honourable task—to him so -unwelcome—into the hands of Admiral Sir Edward OWEN. A new expedition -started from Malta at the end of April, and brought away seventy-eight -cases of sculpture in June; leaving the splendid but too heavy -‘winged-chariot-tomb’—so called by its discoverer in one place, and -elsewhere called ‘horse-tomb,’ but since ascertained to be the tomb of a -Lycian satrap named PAIAFA; [Sidenote: ARRIVAL IN ENGLAND OF THE FIRST -SERIES OF XANTHIAN MARBLES. DEC., 1841.] it is adorned with figures of -Glaucus, or perhaps of Sarpedon, in a four-horse chariot—until next -year. The seventy-eight cases were brought to England by the Queen’s -ship _Cambridge_ in the following December. - -On the fourteenth of May, 1842, the Trustees of the British Museum thus -recorded their sense of Mr. FELLOWS’ public services:—‘The Trustees -desire to express their sense of Mr. FELLOWS’ public spirit, in -voluntarily undertaking to lend to so distant an expedition the -assistance of his local knowledge and personal co-operation. They have -viewed with great satisfaction the decision and energy evinced by Mr. -FELLOWS in proceeding from Smyrna to Constantinople, and obtaining the -necessary authority for the removal of the marbles; as well as his -judicious directions at Xanthus, by which the most desirable of the -valuable monuments of antiquity formerly brought to light by him, -together with several others, of scarcely less interest, [Sidenote: -_Minutes of the Trustees of the British Museum_; 14 May, 1842. (Appendix -to Fellows).] now for the first time discovered and excavated, have been -placed in safety, and—as the Trustees have every reason to hope—secured -for the National Museum.’ - -This hope was more than realised. It shows the energy of FELLOWS, that -the expedition to Lycia of 1841 was his _third_ expedition. In 1846 he -made a fourth. It was rich in discovery; but I fear somewhat exhausting -to the strength of the explorer. He lived a good many years, it is true, -after his return to England; but how easily he yielded when a sudden -attack of illness came, I shall have the pain of showing presently. - -In the interval between his third and fourth journeys to Lycia, FELLOWS -married a fellow-townswoman, Mary, the only daughter of Francis HART, of -Nottingham, but she survived the marriage only two years. A year after -her death he married the widow of William KNIGHT, of Oatlands, in Herts. -On his final return from Lycia he was knighted, as a token (and it was -but a slender one) of the public gratitude for his services. At the -close of October, 1860, a sudden attack of pleurisy invaded a toilworn -frame. On the eighth of the following month he died, at his house in -Montagu Place, London, in the sixty-first year of his age. - - -[Sidenote: DATE AND CHARACTER OF THE MONUMENTS IN THE ‘LYCIAN GALLERY.’] - -Taken broadly, the sculptures of Lycia may be described as works which -range, in date, from the sixth century before our Lord to almost as many -centuries—if we take the minor antiquities into account—after the -commencement of the Christian era. Some of them rank, therefore, amongst -the earliest _original_ monuments of Greek art which the British Museum -possesses; and date immediately after the _casts_ of the sculptures of -Selinus and of Ægina. - -On some of the myths and on the habits of Lycian life there has been a -sharp controversy, of the merits of which I am very incompetent to -speak. Narrower and narrower as my limits are becoming, I yet feel it -due to a public benefactor, who can no longer speak for himself -otherwise than by his works, that in these waning pages he should be -permitted to supply at least a part of his own explanatory comments upon -the story of his discoveries. It is one of enchaining interest to the -students of classical antiquity. - -The famous ‘Harpy Tomb,’ thinks Sir Charles FELLOWS, is to be enumerated -as among the most ancient of the remaining works of the ‘Tramilæ,’ or -‘Termilæ,’ mentioned both by HERODOTUS and by STEPHEN of Byzantium, as -well as on the Xanthian obelisk or _stele_, now called the ‘Inscribed -Monument,’ and numbered ‘141’ in the Lycian Gallery of the Museum. - -[Sidenote: FELLOWS’ ACCOUNT OF THE LYCIAN MARBLES.] - -Sir Charles FELLOWS proceeds to say that ‘the shaft, frieze, and cap of -this monument, weighing more than a hundred tons, has been by an -earthquake moved upon its pedestal eighteen inches towards the -north-east, throwing to the ground two stones of the frieze towards the -south-west: in this state I found it in 1838. In 1841 the eight stones -of this frieze were placed in the Museum. The only similar art which I -know in Europe is in the Albani Villa near Rome. This slab is described -by WINCKELMANN as being of earlier workmanship than that of Etruria. I -shall not dwell upon these works, as they were found _in sitû_, and will -therefore be as well understood in England as if seen at Xanthus. I may -draw attention to the blue, red, and other colours still remaining upon -them. The subject also being that of the family of King PANDARUS, it -should ever be borne in mind that this monument stood in the metropolis -of Lycia, and within twelve miles of the city of Pinara, where we are -told that PANDARUS was deified. This and the neighbouring tombs stood -there prior to the building of the theatre, which is probably of Greek -workmanship. The usual form of this structure must have been partially -sacrificed on account of these monuments, as the seats rising in the -circles above the diazoma have abruptly ceased on the western side, and -have not been continued towards the proscenium. Near to one of the -vomitories in the south-eastern bend of the diazoma is a similar -monument to the Harpy Tomb, which has had the capstone and bas-reliefs -removed, and the shaft built over by the theatre. Upon one of its sides -is a short Lycian inscription, and a few words referring to its repair -remain upon another side in the Greek character. - -‘Not far from these stands the inscribed stele, which is of the highest -interest; of this, which is too heavy and too much mutilated to allow, -without great labour, of its removal to the Museum, I have had casts -taken in plaster. From my publications you would learn that a portion of -the top of this [monument], weighing several tons, had been split off by -the shocks of earthquakes: of this I have also had casts taken. In -excavating around the monument on the south-west, and in the opposite -direction to which the top had split off, I found the capstone had been -thrown which had surmounted bas-reliefs; also two fragments of a -bas-relief, but I think too high to have been placed upon this stele: -they are the work of the same age, and are now placed in the Museum. The -most important discovery here was of the upper angles broken from the -monument, and having upon them the inscription on each side, thus -perfecting, as far as they extend, the beginnings and ends of the upper -lines of the inscription; these original stones I have brought home, -being useless and insecure, if left in fragments with the monument. The -exact form of the letters of the Greek portion of this inscription, -compared with many others of which I shall speak, will do much to fix a -date to these works. - -‘Upon the point of rock on the north-west side of the Acropolis is a -fine Cyclopean basement, which has probably been surmounted by a similar -monument to those of which I have spoken. No trace is found of any of -its fragments; and from its position, shocks in the same direction as -those which have destroyed the others would have thrown this down the -perpendicular cliff into the river which flows about three hundred feet -beneath. - -‘The masses of Cyclopean foundations traced around and upon the -Acropolis, have been too much worked in, and converted to the use of an -after people to ascertain their original form: they certainly have not -been continuous, forming a wall or defence for the Acropolis; indeed, -its natural position would render this superfluous, the cliffs on the -south and west are inaccessible. I observe that most of the forms are -referable to vast pedestals or stoas for large monuments; and from their -individual positions at various elevations, and upon angles and points, -I believe that the Acropolis has been covered with the ornamented -monuments of this early people. The walls and basements of these -separate buildings have since been united by strong lines formed of the -old materials, the most ready for the purpose, and all put together with -a very excellent cement, of which I have brought away specimens. A wall -of this formation, facing the south-west, attracted my attention in -1838, by displaying some sculptured animals and chariots built as -material into its front. This wall we have, with great labour, owing to -the hardness of the cement, entirely removed; behind a portion of it we -found a fine Cyclopean wall, which had slightly inclined over from the -weight of earth behind; the casing which we have removed strengthened -it, and, connecting the old buildings with others, formed a line of -fortification, probably in Roman times. From the great size of the -blocks used in constructing this wall, from the similarity of the stone, -as well as from the sculpture traceable upon almost the whole of them, I -conclude that they must have been the ruins of monuments in the -immediate neighbourhood; basements for such are on either side. The -works found here are entirely those of the early people; and I may -extend this remark to all found upon the Acropolis. The architectural -fragments, many specimens of which I bring away, are all Lycian, and -would form monuments imitative of wooden constructions—beam-ends, ties, -mortices, and cornices, similar to the tombs shown in the drawings, but -double the size in point of scale to any now existing; bearing this in -mind, I do not think it improbable that the sculptures representing a -chariot procession have filled the panels on either side; should this be -the case we have nearly the whole complete. The cornice and borders of -these strongly corroborate this idea. We have four somewhat triangular -stones, with sitting sphinxes upon each; these would complete the two -gable ends in similar form and spirit of device to the generality of the -tombs of this people. There is also an angle-stone, interesting from its -sculpture, and from its style and subject blending these works with the -age of the “Harpy Tomb.” - -‘To continue with the works of the early inhabitants: We must next -notice the tombs at the foot of the rocky heights at the south-eastern -parts of the city: of these the most beautiful are the kind having -Gothic-formed tops; these can be seen in the various drawings. The -structure generally consists of a base or pedestal which has contained -bodies, the _Platas_, surmounted by a plinth or solid mass of stone, -which is often sculptured; above this is a sarcophagus, generally -imitative of a wood-formed cabinet, the principal receptacle for the -bodies, the _Soros_; upon this is placed a Gothic lid, sometimes highly -ornamented with sculpture, which also served as a place of sepulture, -probably the _Isostæ_. From one of these, in which the lower parts were -cut out of the solid rock, and the top had fallen and been destroyed, I -have had casts taken, as the subject is intimately connected with the -frieze of the wild animals on the Acropolis. On this tomb, the -inscription is cut in the language of the early people. Not far distant -from this is a tomb which, from the sculpture upon it, I distinguish as -the “Chimæra-Tomb.” The lid of this, which I found in 1840, is perfect, -but had been thrown to the ground by the effect of earthquakes; the -chamber from off which it had slidden was inclining towards the lid; -beneath the chamber a few stones forming the foundation and step (in the -same block) are alone to be found. There is here no trace of the first -two stories, and from the rock approaching the surface of the ground I -found no depth of earth for research. Upon the chamber of this tomb is a -Lycian inscription, of which I have casts, in order that they may be -used in reconstructing the monument in the Museum. The other tomb of -this character, and by far the most highly ornamented, was the tomb of -PAIAFA, and I call it, from its sculpture, the “Winged-Chariot-Tomb.” In -finding this monument, in 1838, I observed that each part had been much -shaken and split by earthquake, but no portion was wanting except a -fragment from the north corner. This monument combines matters of great -interest, showing in itself specimens of the architecture, sculpture, -and language. I have stated that this style of monument is peculiar to -Lycia; and I now add, from the knowledge derived from my research in -that country, that Lycia contains none but these two of this ornamental -description. These differ in minor points, making the possession of each -highly desirable, and I am glad that these will be placed in our -National Museum. The tombs of Telmessus, Antiphellus, and Limyra, are -similar in construction, but have not the sculptured tops and other -ornamental finishings seen in these. - -‘Upon the Acropolis, and fallen into a bath, we found a pedestal having -sculptured upon the side a god and goddess within a temple, in excellent -preservation. On the opposite side of the pedestal is a very singular -subject, which, had not certain points both of execution, material, and -position occurred, I should have attributed to the Byzantine age. -Amongst many other animals, the object of chase to a hunter is seen much -mutilated: this may have been the representation of a novel idea of the -Chimæra: the hind quarters of a goat remain, with a snake for its tail. -It is greatly to be regretted that the other fragments could not be -found. On observing in the ground some very ancient forms of the Greek -letters, differing from all others found so commonly here, cut upon a -slab of marble, I had it taken up, and was delighted to find that it was -a pedestal, with a Lycian inscription upon the other side; this will be -valuable, as showing the form of the Greek characters in use at the age -of the language of Lycia. This same type is seen in all the bilingual -inscriptions, of which we have only casts. - -‘Of another pedestal at Tlos I have taken casts, which will be valued -from the subjects of the bas-reliefs. The pedestal of one stone was -formed of two cubes, a small one upon a larger. The fourth side of the -upper one was not sculptured. One slab of the larger cube represents in -bas-relief a view of the Acropolis of Tlos, the Troas of these early -people: probably the hero whose deeds were by this monument -commemorated, and whose name occurs twice upon it, was engaged in the -defence or capture of the city. At Tlos I also found cut in the rock of -the Acropolis a tomb with an Ionic portico. [Sidenote: _Note._—The plans -referred to are appended to the first edition of Sir C. Fellows’ book.] -Within this are represented a panelled and ornamented door, and several -sculptured devices and animals, as shown in the drawings and plans. On -the side, and within the portico, is a very early bas-relief of -Bellerophon upon Pegasus, and probably a chimæra beneath the horse; but -this portion of the sculpture is unfinished, and the rock beneath is -left rough; the columns of the portico are only blocked out from the -rock. Of the bas-relief of Bellerophon I have casts, and the full detail -of the colouring which now remains upon the figures. This is probably -the earliest sculpture which we have obtained. From Cadyanda I have -casts of parts of a beautiful tomb, which is so much in ruins, and -shaken into fragments, that I could not even take casts of the whole of -the sculptures that remain. The roof or lid is wanting. The tomb now -consists of a chamber in imitation of a wooden structure, and in the -panels is sculpture; surmounting this is a smaller solid block, or -plinth, also sculptured, but the upper part is wanting. These -bas-reliefs, of which I show many drawings in my ‘Lycia,’ derive great -additional interest from several of the figures having near them names -inscribed in two languages—the Greek and the Lycian. The casts of these, -I doubt not, will be valued as important illustrations. From Myra I have -casts of the whole of the figures ornamenting one of the rock-tombs. -Three of these subjects from within the Portico retain so much of their -original painting that I have had the casts coloured on the spot as -fac-similes, and a portion of the paint is preserved for chemical -examination. There are from this tomb eleven figures the size of life. -Of the inscriptions of this people I have made many copies; I have had -casts of one long one from the large Gothic-formed tomb at Antiphellus, -also of the bilingual inscription from the same place, and of another -from Levisse, near the ancient Telmessus. - -‘Of the age of the next works of which I must speak, and which are a -large portion of the collection from Xanthus, I have great difficulty in -forming an opinion. The whole were found around a basement which stands -on the edge of a cliff to the south-east of the ancient Acropolis. The -monument which stood upon this stoa has been thrown down by earthquake, -almost the whole of its ruins falling towards the north-west. These -works are of a people quite distinct from the preceding, both in their -architecture, sculpture, and language: these are purely Greek. On -carefully examining the whole of the architectural members of which I -have specimens selected (some retaining coloured patterns upon them), as -well as the position in which each of the various parts were thrown, I -have, in my own mind, reconstructed the building, the whole of which was -of Parian marble, and highly finished. The monument which I suppose to -have crowned this basement has been either a magnificent tomb, or a -monument erected as a memorial of a great victory. In reforming this, I -require the whole of the parts that we have found, and none are wanting -except two stones of the larger frieze, and the fragments of the -statues. The art of this sculpture is Greek, but the subjects show many -peculiarities and links to the earlier works found in Lycia. The frieze, -representing the taking refuge within a city, and the sally out of its -walls upon the besiegers, has many points of this character. The city -represented is an ancient Lycian city, and has within its walls the -stele, or monument known alone in Xanthus. The city is upon a rock; -women are seen upon the walls. The costume of the men is a longer and -thinner garment than is seen in the Attic Greeks. The shields of the -chiefs are curtained. The saddle-cloth of the jaded horse entering the -city is precisely like the one upon the Pegasus of Bellerophon, and the -conqueror and judge is an Eastern chief, with the umbrella, the emblem -of Oriental royalty, held over him. The body-guard and conquering party -of the chief are Greek soldiers. Many of these peculiarities are also -seen in the larger frieze, and also in the style of the lions and -statues. The form of the building, which alone I can reconcile with the -remains, is a Carian monument of the Ionic order. Bearing in mind all -these points, I am strongly inclined to attribute this work to the -mercenaries from Æolia and Ionia, brought down by HARPAGUS to conquer -the inhabitants of Xanthus, whom they are said to have utterly -destroyed. This monument may have been the tomb of a chief, or erected -as a memorial of the conquest of the city by HARPAGUS. No inscription -has been found, or it might probably have thrown some light upon the -date of this work. In the immediate neighbourhood were found the other -friezes, representing hunting-scenes, a battle, offerings of various -kinds and by different nations, funeral feasts, and several statues -which are of the same date.’ Sir Charles then concludes thus:— - -‘The whole of the remaining works now to be traced amidst the ruins of -Xanthus are decidedly of a late date; scarcely any are to be attributed -to a period preceding the Christian era, and to that age I cannot -conceive the works just noticed to have belonged. A triumphal arch or -gateway of the city at the foot of the cliff of which I have spoken has -upon it a Greek inscription, showing it to have been erected in the -reign of VESPASIAN, _A.D._ 80: from this arch are the metopes and -triglyphs now in the Museum. [Sidenote: _Travels and Researches in Asia -Minor_, pp. 429, 430 (1852).] Through this is a pavement of flagstones -leading towards the theatre. To this age I should attribute the theatre, -agora, and most of the buildings which I have called Greek, and which -are marked red upon the plan. To this people belong the immense quantity -of mosaic pavements which have existed in all parts of the city. Almost -all the small pebbles in the fields are the débris of these works. In -many places we have found patterns remaining which are of coarse -execution, but Greek in design.’ - - -[Sidenote: THE MARBLES OF HALICARNASSUS, OF CNIDUS, AND OF BRANCHIDÆ.] - -The not a whit less interesting discoveries at Halicarnassus and -elsewhere, made chiefly in the years 1856, 1857, and 1858, by Mr. -Charles NEWTON, now claim attention, but my present notice of them can -be but very inadequate to the worth of the subject. They as richly -deserve a full record as do the explorations of LAYARD or those of -FELLOWS. - -The earliest, in arrival, of the Halicarnassian Marbles were procured by -our Ambassador at Constantinople (then Sir Stratford CANNING, now) Lord -STRATFORD DE REDCLIFFE. These first-received marbles comprise twelve -slabs, sculptured with the combats of Greeks and Amazons in low-relief; -and were removed from the walls of the mediæval castle of Budrum, in the -year 1846, with the permission, of course, of the Sublime Porte. It is a -tribute all the stronger to the energy of Lord STRATFORD to find another -man of energy writing, in 1841: ‘I would not have been a party to the -asking what—to all who have seen them’ (namely, the Marbles of -Halicarnassus, built into the inner walls of Budrum Castle)—‘must be -considered as an unreasonable request.’ [Sidenote: _Travels and -Researches in Asia Minor_, pp. 429, 430 (1852).] It took, it is true, -five years for Lord STRATFORD to overcome the obstacle which to Mr. -FELLOWS seemed, in 1841, quite insuperable. - -[Sidenote: THE MISSION TO THE LEVANT OF MR. CHARLES NEWTON. 1856–58.] - -In 1856, and expressly in order to a thorough exploration of the site of -Halicarnassus, and of other promising parts of the Levant, Mr. Charles -NEWTON, then one of the ablest of the officers of the Department of -Antiquities (whose loss at the Museum, even for three or four years, was -not very easily replaceable), accepted the office of British Vice-Consul -at Mitylene. In 1857, he discovered four additional slabs (similar to -those received from the Ambassador), on the site of the world-famous -mausoleum itself; several colossal statues, and portions of such; -together with a multitude of architectural fragments of almost every -conceivable kind; columns—mostly broken into many portions—with their -bases, capitals, and entablatures, in sufficient quantity and diversity -to warrant a faithful restoration of the ancient building by a competent -hand. - -From Didyme (near Miletus), from Cnidus, and from Branchidæ, many fine -archaic figures in the round; some colossal lions; and an enormous -number of fragments both of sculpture and of architecture; with many -minor antiquities, various in character and in material, were -successively sent to England. Mr. Charles NEWTON’S narrative of his -adventures at Budrum, and at several of the other places of his sojourn -and excavations, is very graphic. Some portions of it are worthy to be -placed side by side with the best chapters of the earlier narrative of -the explorations and travelling experiences of LAYARD. - -Of the most famous trophy of Mr. NEWTON’S first mission to the East—the -mausoleum built by Queen ARTEMISIA—the discoverer has himself more -recently given this brief and striking descriptive account:— - -[Sidenote: THE TOMB OF MAUSOLUS AT HALICARNASSUS.] - -This monument, writes Mr. NEWTON, in 1869, was erected ‘to contain the -remains of MAUSOLUS, Prince of Caria, about _B.C._ 352. It consisted of -a lofty basement, on which stood an oblong Ionic edifice, surrounded by -thirty-six Ionic columns, and surmounted by a pyramid of twenty-four -steps. [Sidenote: _Guide to the Department of Antiquities_, &c., pp. 74, -75.] The whole structure, a hundred and forty feet in height, was -crowned by a chariot-group in white marble, in which probably stood -MAUSOLUS himself, represented after his translation to the world of -demigods and heroes. The peristyle edifice which supported the pyramids -was encircled by a frieze, richly sculptured in high-relief,’ and so on. -The frieze thus mentioned is that of which the twelve slabs were, as -already mentioned, given by Lord STRATFORD DE REDCLIFFE in 1846, four -exhumed by NEWTON himself in 1857, and one more purchased from the -Marchese SERRA, of Genoa, in 1865. This piecemeal acquisition of the -principal frieze, by dint of researches spread over twenty years, is not -the least curious of the facts pertaining to the story. But the annals -of the Museum comprise ten or twelve similar instances of ultimate -reunion, after long scattering, of the parts of one whole. They tell of -manuscripts (made perfect after the lapse of a century, it may be) as -well as of sculptures, thus toilsomely recovered. - -But the Greco-Amazonian battle-frieze was not the only frieze of the -famous mausoleum. The external walls of the ‘cella’ had two other -friezes, of which Mr. NEWTON succeeded in recovering several fragments, -some of them of much interest. And the mausoleum was profusely adorned -with sculptures in the round as well as with the richly carved figures -in relief, both high and low, which encircled (in all probability) the -very basement, as well as the peristyle and the cella portions of this -marvellous structure. Lions in watchful attitudes (‘lions guardant,’ in -heraldic phrase) stood here and there, and the fragments of these which -have been recovered testify to their variety of scale, as well as to -their number. The names of five famous sculptors of the later Athenian -school—SCOPAS, LEOCHARES, BRYAXIS, TIMOTHEUS, PYTHIOS—who were employed -upon the decoration of the tomb itself, or upon the chariot-group, have -been recorded, and it would seem that each of four of these had one side -of the tomb specially assigned to him. ‘The material of the sculpture -was Parian marble, and the whole structure was richly ornamented with -colour. [Sidenote: Newton, in _Guide_, as above, p. 74; and _Travels and -Discoveries in the Levant_, vol. ii, pp. 108–137; and passim.] The tomb -of MAUSOLUS was of the class called by the Greeks _heröon_, and so -greatly excelled all other sepulchral monuments in size, beauty of -design, and richness of decoration, that it was reckoned one of the -“Seven Wonders of the World.”’ - -While LAYARD was unearthing Nineveh; FELLOWS bringing into the light of -day the long-lost cities of Lycia; and Charles NEWTON restoring, before -men’s eyes, this funereal marvel of the ancient world, which had long -been known (in effect) only by dim memories and traditions; [Sidenote: -THE EXPLORATIONS OF NATHAN DAVIS AT CARTHAGE AND UTICA.] Dr. Nathan -DAVIS, in his turn, was exhuming Carthage and Utica. All these -distinguished men were labouring, in common, for the enrichment of our -National Museum, within a period of some twenty years. Three of them may -be said to have been busied (in one way or other) with their -self-denying tasks contemporaneously.[42] If we take into the account -the variety, as well as the intrinsic worth, of the additions thus made -to human knowledge; above all, if we duly estimate the value of those -links of connection between things human and things divine, which are -the most essential characteristic of some of the best of these -acquisitions, it may well be said that the annals of no museum in the -world can boast of such an enrichment as this, by the efforts of the -travellers and the archæologists of one generation. And all of these -explorers are—in one sense or other—Britons. - -On one incidental point, I have to express a hope that the reader will -pardon what he may be momentarily inclined to think an over-iteration of -remark. If I have really adverted somewhat too frequently to the -connection which many of these rich archæological acquisitions, of -1842–1861, present between the annals of man and the Book of GOD, I have -this to plead, in extenuation: Certain writers pass over that connection -so hurriedly as almost to lose sight of it. And we live in an age in -which some of our own countrymen—some of those among us to whom the -Creator has been most bounteous in the bestowal of the glorious gifts of -mind and genius—have even spoken of our best of all literary possessions -as ‘Jew-Records,’ and ‘Hebrew old-clothes.’ Those particular -expressions, indeed, were employed long before the arrival of the -Assyrian Marbles. But I think I have seen them quoted since. - - -[Sidenote: THE SPOILS OF CARTHAGE AND UTICA.] - -Among the spoils of Carthage and of Utica which we owe to Dr. Nathan -DAVIS, are many rich mosaic pavements, of the second and third centuries -of our era, and a multitude of Phœnician and Carthaginian inscriptions, -extending in date over several centuries. And it must be added that many -of the antiquities, and more especially of the mosaics, excavated under -Dr. DAVIS’S instructions at Utica, were found to possess greater beauty, -and a more varied interest, than most of those which were disinterred by -him from amidst the ruins of Carthage. Many of these, like some of the -choice treasures of Nineveh, are, in a sense, still buried—for want of -room at the British Museum adequately to display them. The reader may -yet, but too fitly, conceive of some of them as piteously crying out (in -1870, as in 1860)— - - ‘Here have ye piled us together, and left us in cruel confusion, - Each one pressing his fellow, and each one shading his brother; - None in a fitting abode, in the life-giving play of the sunshine; - Here in disorder we lie, like desolate bones in a charnel.’ - - -[Sidenote: OTHER CONSPICUOUS AUGMENTORS OF THE GALLERIES OF - ANTIQUITIES.] - -Many other liberal benefactors to the several Archæological Departments -of the Museum deserve record in this chapter. But the record must needs -be a mere catalogue, not a narrative; and even the catalogue will be an -abridged one. - -Foremost among the discoverers of valuable remains of Greek antiquity, -subsequent to most of those which have now been detailed, are to be -mentioned Mr. George DENNIS, who explored Sicily in 1862 and subsequent -years; and Captain T. A. B. SPRATT, who travelled over Lycia and the -adjacent countries, following in the footsteps of Sir Charles FELLOWS, -[Sidenote: Spratt and Forbes’ _Travels in Lycia, Mityas, and the -Cibyrates_ (2 vols; 1847), passim.] and who enjoyed the advantage of the -company and co-operation of two able and estimable fellow-travellers, -Edward FORBES and Edward Thomas DANIELL, both of whom, like their -honoured precursor in Lycian exploration, have been many years lost to -us. - -The antiquities collected in Sicily by DENNIS, at the national cost, -were chiefly from the tombs. They included very many beautiful Greek -vases, a collection of archaic terracottas, and other minor -antiquities.[43] Some of the marbles discovered by SPRATT are of the -Macedonian period, and probably productions of the school of Pergamus. - -At Camerus and elsewhere, in the island of Rhodes, important excavations -were carried on by Messrs. BILIOTTI and SALZMANN. These also were -effected at the public charge. [Sidenote: _Reports of British Museum_; -1864, and subsequent years.] In the course of them nearly three hundred -tombs were opened, and many choicely painted fictile vases of the best -period of Greek ceramography were found. Those researches at Rhodes were -the work of the years 1862, 1863, and 1864. In 1865, the excavations at -Halicarnassus were resumed by order of the Trustees, and under the -direction of the same explorers, and with valuable results. In 1864, an -important purchase of Greek and Roman statues, and of the sculptures -from the Farnese Collection at Rome, was made. In the following year -came an extensive series of antiquities from the famous Collection of -the late Count POURTALÈS. Of the precious objects obtained by the -researches of Mr. Consul WOOD, at Ephesus, in the same and subsequent -years, a brief notice will be found in Chapter VI. - - - - - CHAPTER V. - THE FOUNDER OF THE GRENVILLE LIBRARY. - - ‘He was a scholar, and a ripe and good one, - Exceeding wise, fairspoken, and persuading; - Crabbed, mayhap, to them that loved him not; - But to those men that sought him, sweet as Summer.’— - _Henry VIII._ - - ‘If a man be not permitted to change his political opinions—when he - has arrived at years of discretion—he must be born a SOLOMON.’— - - W. F. HOOK, _Lives of the Archbishops of Canterbury_, (vol. viii, p. - 237). - - _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_. - - -It was the singular fortune of Thomas GRENVILLE to belong to a family -which has given almost half a score of ministers to England; to possess -in himself large diplomatic ability; and to have been gifted—his -political opponents themselves being judges—with considerable talents -for administration; and yet, in the course of a life protracted to more -than ninety years, to have been an _active_ diplomatist during less than -one year, and to have been a Minister of State less than half a year. It -is true that he was of that happy temperament which both enables and -tempts a man to carve out delightful occupation for himself. He had, -too, those rarely combined gifts of taste, fortune, and public spirit, -which inspire their possessor with the will, and confer upon him the -power, to make his personal enjoyments largely contribute (both in his -own time and after it) to the enjoyments of his fellow-countrymen. It -might be true, therefore, to say that Thomas GRENVILLE was the happier -and the better for his exclusion, during almost forty-nine-fiftieths of -his long life, from the public service. [Sidenote: WHAT WAS IT THAT KEPT -THOMAS GRENVILLE ALOOF FROM POLITICAL OFFICE?] But it can hardly be rash -to say that England must needs have been somewhat the worse for that -exclusion. - -Nor was it altogether a self-imposed exclusion. There was among its -causes a curious conjunction of outward accidents and of philosophic -self-resignation to their results. Untoward chances abroad twice broke -off the foreign embassies of this eminent man. Unforeseen political -complications amongst Whigs and semi-Whigs twice deprived him of cabinet -office at home. But, no doubt, neither shipwreck at sea nor party -intrigue on land would have been potent enough to keep Thomas GRENVILLE -out of high State employment, but for the personal fastidiousness which -withheld him from stretching out his hand, with any eagerness, to grasp -it. - -[Sidenote: THE POLITICAL INFLUENCE OF THE GRENVILLE FAMILY; ITS DURATION - AND ITS PECULIAR CHARACTERISTICS.] - -It would, perhaps, be hard to lay the finger on any one family recorded -in the ‘_British Peerage_’ which so long and so largely influenced our -political history, in the Georgian era of it, as did that of GRENVILLE. -During the century (speaking roundly) which began with the suppression -of the Jacobite Rebellion of 1745, and ended with the Repeal of the Corn -Laws, GRENVILLES are continually prominent in every important political -struggle. The personal influence and (for lack of a plainer word) the -characteristic ‘idiosyncrasy’ of individual GRENVILLES notoriously -shaped, or materially helped to shape, several measures that have had -world-wide results. But perhaps the most curious feature in their -political history as a family is this: At almost every great crisis in -affairs one GRENVILLE, of ability and prominence, is seen in tolerably -active opposition to the rest of the GRENVILLES. In the political -history of the man who forms the subject of this brief memoir the family -peculiarity, it will be seen, came out saliently. - - -The political GRENVILLES were offshoots of an old stock which, in the -days of eld, were richer in gallant soldiers than in peace-loving -publicists. The old GRENVILLES dealt many a shrewd swordthrust for -England by land and by sea, in the Tudor times, and earlier. The younger -branch has been rich in statesmen and rich in scholars. Not a few of -them have shone equally and at once in either path of labour. - -[Sidenote: PARENTAGE AND EARLY LIFE OF THOMAS GRENVILLE.] - -Thomas GRENVILLE was the second son of the Minister of GEORGE THE THIRD, -George GRENVILLE,—himself the second son of Richard GRENVILLE, of -Wotton, and of Hester TEMPLE (co-heiress of Richard TEMPLE, Lord Cobham, -and herself created Countess TEMPLE in 1749). He was born on the -thirty-first of December, 1755, and entered Parliament soon after -attaining his majority. In the House of Commons he voted and acted as a -follower of Lord ROCKINGHAM and a comrade of Charles FOX, in opposition -to the other GRENVILLES and the ‘Grenvillite’ party. Had the famous -India Bill of FOX’S ministry been carried into a law, Thomas GRENVILLE, -it was understood, would have been the first Governor-General of India -under its rule. - -[Sidenote: HIS SHORT DIPLOMATIC CAREER.] - -His first entrance into the diplomatic service was made in 1782. His -mission was to Paris. Its purpose, to negotiate with Benjamin FRANKLIN a -treaty of peace with America. [Sidenote: See above, Book II, Chap. III, -page 431.] The circumstances beneath the influence of which it was -undertaken I have had occasion to advert to, already, in the notice of -Lord SHELBURNE. It is needless to return to them now. - -Thomas GRENVILLE’S union in the double negotiation with Mr. OSWALD -(instructed by SHELBURNE, it will be remembered, as GRENVILLE was by -FOX) proved to be very distasteful to him. From the beginning it boded -ill to the success of the mission. As early as the 4th of June, 1782, we -find Mr. GRENVILLE writing to FOX [Sidenote: THE MISSION TO PARIS, -1782–3.] thus:—‘I entreat you earnestly to see the impossibility of my -assisting you under this contrariety.... I cannot fight a daily battle -with Mr. OSWALD and his Secretary.[44] [Sidenote: T. Grenville to Fox; -4th June, 1782.] It would be neither for the advantage of the business, -for your interest, or for your credit or mine; and, even if it was, _I_ -could not do it.’ - -The then existing arrangements of the Secretaryship of State gave the -control of a negotiation with _France_ to one Secretary, and of a -negotiation with _America_ to the other. The reader has but to call to -mind the well-known political relationship between FOX and SHELBURNE in -1782, to gain a fully sufficient key to the consequent diplomatic -relationship between OSWALD and Thomas GRENVILLE, when thus engaged in -carrying on, abreast, a double mission at the Court of Paris. [Sidenote: -Comp. also same to same, June 16. (_Court and Cabinets_ of Geo. III, pp. -36–51.)] To add to the obvious embroilment, OSWALD had shortly before -received from Benjamin FRANKLIN a suggestion that Britain should -‘spontaneously’ cede Canada, in order to enable his astute countrymen at -home the better to compensate both the plundered Royalists and those -among the victorious opponents of those Royalists who had, from time to -time, sustained any damage at the hands of the British armies. - -The most earnest entreaties, from many quarters, were used to induce -GRENVILLE to remain at Paris. His political friends, and his family -connections, were, on that point, alike urgent. But all entreaties were -in vain. When the news reached him of Lord ROCKINGHAM’S death, and of -the break-up in the Cabinet which followed, his decision was, if -possible, more decided. He still clave to FOX, while his brother, Lord -TEMPLE, accepted from SHELBURNE the Lieutenancy of Ireland. A Lordship -of the Treasury or the Irish Secretaryship was by turns pressed upon Mr. -GRENVILLE by Lord TEMPLE with an earnestness which may be called -passionate. [Sidenote: Lord Temple to T. Grenville, 12th July.] ‘Let me -hope,’ said he, ‘that you will feel that satisfaction that every [other] -member of my family most earnestly feels at my acceptance of the -Lieutenancy of Ireland.... I conjure you, by everything that you prize -nearest and dearest to your heart; by the joy I have ever felt in your -welfare; by the interest I have ever taken in your uneasiness; weigh -well your determination; it decides the complexion of my future -hours.... I have staked my happiness upon this cast.’ The resolve of -Thomas GRENVILLE to adhere to the position he had taken was the cause of -a family estrangement which endured for many years. But the more a -reader, familiar with the annals of the time (and especially if he be -also familiar with the personal history of Lord TEMPLE before and -after), may study Lord TEMPLE’S letters of 1782, the less he is likely -to wonder that the peculiar line of argument they develope failed to -attain the aim they had in view. The vein that runs through them is -plainly that of personal ambition; not of an adherence—at any cost—to a -sincere conviction, whether right or wrong, of public duty. Such a line -of argument was, at no time, the line likely to commend itself to Thomas -GRENVILLE. Both his virtues, and what by many politicians will be -regarded as his weaknesses, alike armed him against obvious appeals to -mere self-interest or self-aggrandisement. - -One result—and the not unanticipated result—of the family estrangement -of 1782 was that, two years later, Mr. GRENVILLE found himself to have -no longer the command of a seat in Parliament. [Sidenote: THE WITHDRAWAL -FROM PARLIAMENT, 1784–90.] For four years to come he gave most of his -leisure to a pursuit which he loved much better—as far as personal taste -was concerned—namely, to the resumption of his systematic studies in -classical literature. But in 1790 he was elected a burgess for the town -of Aldborough. Thenceforward, and for a good many years, politics again -shared his time with literature, and with those social claims and duties -to which no man of his day was more keenly alive. - -In 1795 a second diplomatic mission was offered to him, and it was -accepted. In the interval, another and more lasting change had come -across his career in Parliament. He was one of the many ‘Foxites’ who -utterly disapproved the course which their old leader adopted in regard -to the French Revolution and to the rising passion to glorify and to -imitate it at home. To the ‘Man of the People’ (as he was very -fancifully called), the English countershock to the French overturn was, -in one sense, specially fatal. It ripened peculiar, though hitherto in -some degree latent, weaknesses. And with these, when they became -salient, Thomas GRENVILLE had really as little fellow-feeling as had -Edmund BURKE. Alike both men now supported PITT, with whom, as -experience increased and judgment matured, they both had always had -intrinsically far more in common. And among the results of the new -political relationships came a restoration of family harmony. George -GRENVILLE became PITT’S Foreign Secretary; Thomas GRENVILLE became -PITT’S Minister to the Court of Berlin. One year later, he again sat in -Parliament for Buckingham. - -The mission to Berlin was first impeded by a threatened shipwreck among -icebergs at sea, and, when that impediment had been with difficulty -overcome, the journey was again and more seriously obstructed by an -actual shipwreck upon the coast of Flanders. [Sidenote: THE MISSION TO -BERLIN, 1795.] Mr. GRENVILLE’S life was exposed to imminent danger. -After a desperate effort, he succeeded in saving his despatches and in -scrambling to land. But he saved nothing else; and the inevitable delay -enabled the French Directory to send SIÈYES to Berlin, in advance of the -ambassador of Britain. The able and versatile Frenchman made the best of -his priority. Mr. GRENVILLE was not found wanting in exertion, any more -than in ability. But in the then posture of affairs the advantage in -point of time, proved to be an advantage which no skill of fence could -afterwards recover. Hence it was that the mission of 1795 became -practically an abortive mission. With it ended the ambassador’s -diplomatic career. - -[Sidenote: THE CABINET OF 1806.] - -Almost equally brief was his subsequent actively official career in -England. On the formation of Lord GRENVILLE’S Cabinet (February, 1806), -no office was taken by the Premier’s next brother. But on the death of -FOX, six months later, he became First Lord of the Admiralty. That -office he held until the formation of the Tory Government, in the month -of April, 1807. It was too brief a term to give him any adequate -opportunity of really evincing his administrative powers. And during -almost forty remaining years of life he never took office again, -contenting himself with that now nominal function (conferred on him in -the year 1800), [Sidenote: THE ‘CHIEF-JUSTICESHIP IN EYRE,’ SOUTH OF -TRENT. 1800–1845.] the ‘Chief-Justiceship in Eyre, to the south of the -river Trent,’ of the profits of which, as will be seen presently, he -made a noble use. That office in Eyre had once been a function of real -gravity and potency. It was still a surviving link between the feudal -England of the Henrys and the Edwards, on the one hand, and the -industrial England of the Georges on the other. Under a king who could -govern, as well as reign, the ‘Chief-Justiceship in Eyre’ might have -shown itself, in one particular, to possess a real and precious vitality -still. By possibility, the sports of twelfth century and chase-loving -monarchs might have been made to alleviate the toils, to brighten the -leisure, and to lengthen the lives, of nineteenth-century and -hard-toiling artisans. [Sidenote: THE CHIEF-JUSTICESHIP IN EYRE, AND -WHAT MIGHT HAVE COME OF ITS PERPETUATION.] For in exerting the still -_legal_ powers (long dormant, but not abolished) of the forest -justiceship, a potent check might have been provided against the -profligate, although now common, abuse of the powers entrusted by -Parliament to the Board of Woods and Forests. No new legislation was -wanted to save many splendid tracts of forest land (over which the Crown -then—and as well in 1845, as in 1800—possessed what might have been -indestructible ‘forestal rights’), for public enjoyment for ever. -Existing laws would have sufficed. But no blame on this score lies at -the charge of the then Chief Justice in Eyre. Had Mr. GRENVILLE, for -example, ever conceived the idea of using the Forest Laws to preserve -for the English people, we will say, Epping Forest, or any other like -sylvan tract on this side of Trent, as a ‘People’s Park’ for ever, he -would have been laughed at as a Quixote. If Parliament in 1870 is fast -becoming alive to the misconduct of those ‘Commissioners’ who have dealt -with the Forestal rights of the Crown exactly in the spirit of the -pettiest of village shopkeepers, rather than in the spirit of Ministers -of State, there was in Mr. GRENVILLE’S time scarcely the faintest -whisper of any such conviction of public duty in regard to that matter. -Not one Member of Parliament, I think, had ever (at that time) pointed -out the gross hypocrisy, as well as the folly, of _selling_ by the hands -of one public board and for a few pounds hundreds of acres of ancient -and lovely woodlands, and then presently _buying_, by the hands of -another public board, acres of dreary and almost unimprovable barrenness -by the expenditure of several thousands of pounds, in order to provide -new recreation grounds for ‘public enjoyment!’ - -Of that forestal Chief-Justiceship Mr. GRENVILLE was the last holder. -The office had been established by WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR. It was -abolished by Queen VICTORIA. One of the chief pursuits of those forty -years of retirement which ensued to the founder of the Grenville -Library, upon the breaking up of the Grenville Administration of 1806, -was book-buying and book-reading. ‘A great part of my Library’—so wrote -Mr. GRENVILLE, in 1845—‘has been purchased by the profits of a sinecure -office given me by the Public.’ If that sinecure was not and, under the -then circumstances, could not have been by its holder’s action or -foresight, made the means of preserving for public enjoyment such of the -ancient forests as, early in this century, were still intact in beauty, -and also lay near to crowded and more or less unhealthy towns, it was at -least made the means of giving to the nation a garden for the mind. ‘I -feel it,’ continued Mr. GRENVILLE, in his document of 1845, [Sidenote: -_Will of the Rt. Hon. T. Grenville_; Oct., 1845.] ‘to be a debt and a -duty that I should acknowledge my obligation by giving the Library so -acquired to the BRITISH MUSEUM for the use of the Public.’ - -[Sidenote: MR. T. GRENVILLE’S INTERCOURSE WITH, AND ESTEEM FOR, SIR A. - PANIZZI.] - -I have had occasion, already, to mention that many years before his -death Mr. GRENVILLE formed a very high estimate of the eminent -attainments and still more eminent public services of Sir A. PANIZZI. No -man had a better opportunity of knowing, intimately, the merits of the -then Assistant-Keeper of the printed portion of our National Library. -Mr. GRENVILLE showed his estimate in a conclusive and very -characteristic way. [Sidenote: _Minutes of Inquiry_, &c., 1848, and -subsequent years, pp. 141, seqq.] He had earnestly supported (in the -year 1835) the proposal of a Sub-committee of Trustees that Mr. -PANIZZI’S early services—more especially in relation to the cataloguing -of what are known, at the Museum, as ‘the French Tracts,’ but also as to -other labours—should be substantially recognised by an improvement of -his salary. At a larger meeting, the recommendation of the smaller -sub-committee was cordially adopted in the honorary point of view, but -was set virtually aside, in respect to the ‘honorarium,’ That latter -step Mr. GRENVILLE so resented that he rose from the table, and never -sat at a Trustee meeting again. [Sidenote: _Minutes of Evidence_, as -above.] He many times afterwards visited the Museum; and I well remember -the impression made upon my own mind by his noble appearance, at almost -ninety years of age, on one of the latest of those visits—not very long -before his death. But in the Committee Room he never once sat, during -the last eleven years of his life. - -[Sidenote: CIRCUMSTANCES WHICH MARKED THE GIFT TO THE NATION OF THE - GRENVILLE LIBRARY.] - -The fact being so, Readers unfamiliar with the ‘blue-books’ will learn -without surprise that a conversation between Mr. GRENVILLE and Mr. -PANIZZI, in Hamilton Place, was the prelude to his noble public gift of -1846. That conversation took place in the autumn of 1845. [Sidenote: -Ibid.; and comp. p. 780 of the _Minutes_ of 1849.] He, in the course of -it, assured Mr. PANIZZI (by that time at the head of the Printed Book -Department) of his settled purpose, and evinced a desire that his -Library should be preserved apart from the mass of the National -Collection. He then remarked, ‘You will have a great many duplicate -books, and you will sell them,’ speaking in a tone of inquiry. ‘No,’ -replied PANIZZI, the ‘Trustees will never sell books that are given to -them.’ Mr. GRENVILLE rejoined with an evident relief of mind, ‘Well, so -much the better.’ Long afterwards, when visiting Mr. PANIZZI in his -private study, he asked the question—‘Where are you going to put my -books? I see your rooms are already full.’ He was taken to the long, -capacious, but certainly not very sightly, ‘slip,’ contrived by Sir R. -SMIRKE on the eastern outskirt of the noble King’s Library. [Sidenote: -See the Plan, hereafter.] ‘Well,’ was the Keeper’s reply, ‘if we can’t -do better, we will put them _here_; and, as you see, my room is close -by. Here, for a time, they will at least be under my own eye,’ The good -and generous book-lover went away with a smile on his genial face, well -assured that his books would be gratefully cared for. - - -[Sidenote: THE RECEPTION AT THE MUSEUM OF THE GRENVILLE COLLECTION.] - -Mr. GRENVILLE died on the 17th of December, 1846. On the day of his -death it chanced that the present writer was engaged on a review-article -about the history of the Museum Library. Ere many days were past it was -his pleasant task to add a paragraph—the first that was written on the -subject—respecting the new gift to the Public. But an accident delayed -the publication of that article until the following summer. - -Meanwhile, the final day of the reception of the books—a dreary, snowy -day of the close of February—was, to us of the Museum Library, a sort of -holiday within-doors. Very little work was done that day; but many -choice rarities in literature, and some in art, were eagerly examined. -All who survive will remember it as I do. To lovers of books, such a day -was like a glimpse of summer sunshine interposed in the thick of winter. - - -To tell what little can here be told of the history and character of the -Grenville Library in other words than in those well-considered and -appropriate words which were employed by the man who had had so much -delightful intercourse with the Collector himself, and to whom belongs a -part of the merit of the gift, would be an impertinence. [Sidenote: -PANIZZI’S ACCOUNT OF SOME OF THE CHOICEST BOOKS IN THE GRENVILLE -LIBRARY.] In his report on the accessions of the year 1847, Mr. PANIZZI -wrote thus:—‘It would naturally be expected that one of the editors of -the “Adelphi _Homer_” would lose no opportunity of collecting the best -and rarest editions of the Prince of Poets. ÆSOP, a favourite author of -Mr. GRENVILLE, occurs in his Library in its rarest forms; there is no -doubt that the series of editions of this author in that Library is -unrivalled. The great admiration which Mr. GRENVILLE felt for Cardinal -XIMENES, even more on account of the splendid edition of the Polyglot -_Bible_ which that prelate caused to be printed at Alcala, than of his -public character, made him look upon the acquisition of the _Moschus_, a -book of extreme rarity, as a piece of good fortune. Among the extremely -rare editions of the Latin Classics, in which the Grenville Library -abounds, the unique complete copy of AZZOGUIDI’S first edition of _Ovid_ -is a gem well deserving particular notice, and was considered on the -whole, by Mr. GRENVILLE himself, the boast of his collection. The Aldine -_Virgil_ of 1505, the rarest of the Aldine editions of this poet, is the -more welcome to the Museum as it serves to supply a lacuna; the copy -mentioned in the Catalogue of the Royal Collection not having been -transferred to the National Library. - -‘The rarest editions of English Poets claimed and obtained the special -attention of Mr. GRENVILLE. Hence we find him possessing not only the -first and second edition of CHAUCER’S _Canterbury Tales_ by CAXTON, but -the only copy known of an hitherto undiscovered edition of the same work -printed in 1498, by WYNKYN DE WORDE. Of SHAKESPEARE’S collected Dramatic -Works, the Grenville Library contains a copy of the first edition, -which, if not the finest known, is at all events surpassed by none. His -strong religious feelings and his sincere attachment to the Established -Church, as well as his knowledge and mastery of the English language, -concurred in making him eager to possess the earliest as well as the -rarest editions of the translations of the Scriptures in the vernacular -tongue. [Sidenote: Panizzi’s _Report_, in the _Annual Returns_ of 1847, -passim.] He succeeded to a great extent; but what deserves particular -mention is the only known fragment of the _New Testament_ in English, -translated by TYNDALE and ROY, which was in the press of QUENTELL, at -Cologne, in 1525, when the translators were obliged to interrupt the -printing, and fly to escape persecution. - -‘The History of the British Empire, and whatever could illustrate any of -its different portions, were the subject of Mr. GRENVILLE’S unremitting -research, and he allowed nothing to escape him deserving to be -preserved, however rare and expensive. Hence his collection of works on -the Divorce of HENRY VIII; that of Voyages and Travels, either by -Englishmen, or to countries at some time more or less connected with -England, or possessed by her; that of contemporary works on the -gathering, advance, and defeat of the “Invincible Armada;” and that of -writings on Ireland;—are more numerous, more valuable, and more -interesting, than in any other collection ever made by any person on the -same subjects. Among the Voyages and Travels, the collections of DE BRY -and HULSIUS are the finest in the world; no other Library can boast of -four such fine books as the copies of HARIOT’S _Virginia_, in Latin, -German, French, and English, of the DE BRY series. And it was fitting -that in Mr. GRENVILLE’S Library should be found one of the only two -copies known of the first edition of this work, printed in London in -1588, wherein an account is given of a colony which had been founded by -his family namesake. Sir Richard GRENVILLE. - -‘Conversant with the Language and Literature of Spain, as well as with -that of Italy, the works of imagination by writers of those two -countries are better represented in his Library than in any other out of -Spain and Italy; in some branches better even than in any single Library -in the countries themselves. No Italian collection can boast of such a -splendid series of early editions of ARIOSTO’S _Orlando_, one of Mr. -GRENVILLE’S favourite authors, nor, indeed, of such choice Romance -Poems. The copy of the first edition of ARIOSTO is not to be matched for -beauty; of that of Rome, 1533, even the existence was hitherto unknown. -A perfect copy of the first complete edition of the _Morgante Maggiore_, -of 1482, was also not known to exist before Mr. GRENVILLE succeeded in -procuring his. Among the Spanish Romances, the copy of that of _Tirant -lo Blanch_, printed at Valencia, in 1490, is as fine, as clean, and as -white, as when it first issued from the press; and no second copy of -this edition of a work professedly translated from English into -Portuguese, and thence into Valencian, is known to exist except in the -Library of the Sapienza, at Rome. - -‘But where there is nothing common, it is almost depreciating a -collection to enumerate a few articles as rare. It is a marked feature -of this Library, that Mr. GRENVILLE did not collect mere bibliographical -rarities. He never aimed at having a complete set of the editions from -the press of CAXTON or ALDUS; but _Chaucer_ and _Gower_ by CAXTON were -readily purchased, as well as other works which were desirable on other -accounts, besides that of having issued from the press of that printer; -and, when possible, select copies were procured. Some of the rarest, and -these the finest, Aldine editions were purchased by him, for the same -reasons. The _Horæ_ in Greek, printed by ALDUS in 16º, in 1497, is a -volume which, from its language, size, and rarity, is of the greatest -importance for the literary and religious history of the time when it -was printed. It is therefore in Mr. GRENVILLE’S Library. The _Virgil_ of -1501 is not only an elegant book, but it is the first book printed with -that peculiar _Italic_, known as Aldine, and the first volume which -ALDUS printed, “_forma enchiridii_,” as he called it, being expressly -adapted to give poor scholars the means of purchasing for a small sum -the works of the classical writers. This also is, therefore, among Mr. -GRENVILLE’S books; and of one of the two editions of _Virgil_, both -dated the same year, 1514, he purchased a large paper copy, because it -was the more correct of the two. - -‘It was the merit of the work, the elegance of the volume, the “genuine” -condition of the copy, &c., which together determined Mr. GRENVILLE to -purchase books printed on vellum, of which he collected nearly a -hundred. He paid a very large sum for a copy of the Furioso of 1532, not -because it was “on ugly vellum,” as he very properly designated it, but -because, knowing the importance of such an edition of such a work, and -never having succeeded in procuring it on paper, he would rather have it -on expensive terms and “ugly vellum,” than not at all. - -‘By the bequest of Mr. GRENVILLE’S Library, the collection of books -printed on vellum now at the Museum, and comprising those formerly -presented by GEORGE II, GEORGE III, and Mr. CRACHERODE, is believed to -surpass that of any other National Library, except the King’s Library at -Paris, of which VAN PRAET justly speaks with pride, and all foreign -competent and intelligent judges with envy and admiration. In justice to -the Grenville Library, the list of all its vellum books ought to be here -inserted. As this cannot be done, some only of the most remarkable shall -be mentioned. These are—the Greek _Anthology_ of 1494; the _Book of -Hawking_ of JULIANA BERNERS of 1496; the first edition of the _Bible_, -known as the “Mazarine Bible,” printed at Mentz about 1454; the Aldine -_Dante_ of 1502; the first _Rationale_ of DURANDUS of 1459; the first -edition of FISHER _On the Psalms_, of 1508; the Aldine _Horace_, -_Juvenal_, _Martial_, and _Petrarca_, of 1501; the _Livy_ of 1469; the -_Primer of Salisbury_, printed in Paris in 1531; the _Psalter_ of 1457, -which supplies the place of the one now at Windsor, which belonged to -the Royal Collection before it was transferred to the British Museum; -the _Sforziada_, by SIMONETA, of 1490, a most splendid volume even in so -splendid a Library; the _Theuerdank_ of 1517; the _Aulus Gellius_ and -the _Vitruvius_ of Giunta, printed in 1515, &c. &c. Of this identical -copy of _Vitruvius_, formerly Mr. DENT’S, the author of the -_Bibliographical Decameron_ wrote, “Let the enthusiastic admirers of a -genuine vellum Junta—of the amplest size and in spotless -condition—resort to the choice cabinet of Mr. DENT for such a copy of -this edition of Vitruvius and Frontinus.” [Sidenote: Panizzi’s _Report -to Parliament_, as above.] The _Aulus Gellius_ is in its original state, -exactly as it was when presented to LORENZO DE’ MEDICI, afterwards Duke -of Urbino, to whom the edition was dedicated.’ - - - - - CHAPTER VI. - OTHER BENEFACTORS OF RECENT DAYS.—CREATION OF THE NEW DEPARTMENT OF - BRITISH AND MEDIÆVAL ANTIQUITIES AND ETHNOGRAPHY. - - ‘Amidst tablets and stones, inscribed with the straight and angular - characters of the Runic alphabet, and similar articles which the - vulgar might have connected with the exercise of the forbidden - arts, ... were disposed, in great order, several of those curious - stone axes, formed of green granite, which are often found in these - Islands.... There were, moreover, to be seen amid the strange - collection stone sacrificial knives ... and the brazen implements - called Celts, the purpose of which has troubled the repose of so many - antiquaries.’—_The Pirate_, c. xxviii. - - ‘A Museum of Antiquities—not of one People or period only, but of all - races and all times—exhibits a vast comparative scheme of the material - productions of man. We are thus enabled to follow the progress of the - Fine and Useful Arts, contemporaneously through a long period of time, - tracing their several lines backwards till they converge at one - vanishing point of the unknown Past.’— - - C. T. NEWTON (_Letter to Col. Mure_, 1853). - - _Scantiness of the Notices of some Contributors to the Natural-History - Collections, and its cause.—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. added in 1868.—The Travels of_ VON SIEBOLD _in - Japan, and the gathering of his Japanese Library.—Felix_ SLADE - _and his Bequests, Artistic and Archæological_. - - -No reader of this volume will, in the course of its perusal, have become -more sensible than is its author of a want of due _proportion_, in those -notices which have occasionally been given of some eminent naturalists -who have conspicuously contributed to the public collections, as -compared with the notices of those many archæologists and book-gatherers -who, in common with the naturalists, have been fellow-workers towards -the building up of our National Museum. [Sidenote: THE INADEQUACY OF THE -NOTICES OF NATURALISTS IN THIS VOLUME, AND ITS CAUSE.] I feel, too, that -my own ignorance of natural history is no excuse at all for so imperfect -a filling-out of the plan which the title-page itself of this volume -implies. I feel this all the more strongly, because I dissent entirely -from those views which tend to depreciate the importance of the -scientific collections, in order (very superfluously) to enhance that of -the literary and artistic collections. Far from looking at the splendid -Galleries of mammals, or of birds, or of plants, as mere collections of -‘book-plates,’ gathered for the ‘illustration’ of the National Library, -or from sharing the opinion that the books and the antiquities, alone, -are ‘what may be called the permanent departments of the British Museum’ -(to quote, literally, the words of a publication[45] issued whilst this -sheet is going to press, words which seem somewhat rashly—considering -whence they come—to prejudge a question of national scope, and one which -it assuredly belongs alone _to Parliament_ to settle), I regard these -scientific collections as possessing, in common with the others, the -highest educational value, and as also possessing, even a little beyond -some of the others, a special claim, it may be, upon the respect of -Englishmen. - -That speciality of claim seems to me to accrue from the fact, that two -of the early FOUNDERS, and one of the most conspicuous subsequent -BENEFACTORS of the Museum, were pre-eminently Naturalists. Such was -COURTEN. Such was SLOANE. Such was Sir Joseph BANKS. I shall have erred -greatly in my estimate of the regard habitually paid by a British -Parliament to the memory of the eminent benefactors of Britain, if, in -the issue, it do not become apparent that such a consideration as this -will weigh heavily with those who will shortly—and after due -deliberation and debate—have to decide pending questions in relation to -the enlargement and to the still further improvement of the British -Museum. - -Be that however as it ultimately shall prove to be, if the Public should -honour this volume with a favourable reception, it will be its author’s -endeavour (in a second edition) to supplement, by the knowledge and -co-operation of others, the ignorance and the deficiencies of which he -is very conscious in himself. - - -[Sidenote: THE FORMATION OF THE NEW DEPARTMENT OF BRITISH AND MEDIÆVAL - ANTIQUITIES.] - -In resuming the notices connected with the now truly magnificent -Collection of Antiquities, we have to glance at the organizing of a new -‘Department’ in the Museum. During at least two generations it has been, -from time to time, remarked—with some surprise as well as censure—that -the ‘British’ Museum contained no ‘British’ Antiquities. Sometimes this -criticism has been put much too strongly, as when, for example, one of -the recent biographers of WEDGWOOD thus wrote (in 1866, but referring -also to a period then ninety years distant). ‘At that date, _as at -present_, everything native to the soil, or produced by the races who -had lived and died upon it, was repudiated by those who were the rulers -of the National Collection.’ [Sidenote: Meteyard, _Life of Josiah -Wedgwood_, vol. ii, p. 162.] At that time, assuredly, there were already -in the Museum a good many British beasts, British birds, and British -books;—no inconsiderable part of the ‘productions’ of our soil and of -the races born and nurtured upon it. - -But, within a few months after the appearance of the criticism I have -quoted, all ground for its repetition was removed by the formation of -the ‘Department of British and Mediæval Antiquities and Ethnography.’ It -is thus organized, in six separate sections:— - - § I. British Antiquities anterior to the Roman period. - - II. Roman Antiquities found in Britain. - - III. Anglo-Saxon Antiquities. - - IV. Mediæval sculpture, carving, paintings, metal work, enamels, - pottery, glass, stone ware; and implements of various - kinds, and of various material. - - V. Costumes, weapons, accoutrements, tools, furniture, - industrial productions, &c.—both ancient and modern—of - non-European races. - - VI. Pre-historic Antiquities.[46] - -To the enrichment of the fourth section of this new department of the -Museum (in a small degree), as well as (much more largely) to that of -the Classical Collections, the choice treasures gathered in France -during two generations by successive Dukes of BLACAS largely -contributed. - -[Sidenote: THE BLACAS MUSEUM AND ITS FOUNDERS, 1815–1860.] - -The first of these Dukes, Peter Lewis John Casimir de BLACAS, was born -at Aulps in the year 1770. He was of a family which has been conspicuous -in Provence from the beginning of the Crusades. Attaining manhood just -at the eve of the Revolution, the Duke followed the French princes into -exile, and warmly attached himself to LEWIS THE EIGHTEENTH, to whom, in -after years, he became the minister of predilection, as distinguished -from that monarch’s many ministers of constraint. He had, in his own -day, the reputation of being a courtier; but seems to have been, in -truth, an honest, frank, and outspeaking adviser. One saying of his -depicts quite plainly the nature of the man, and also the nature of the -work he had to do:—“If you want to defend your Crown, you musn’t run -away from your Kingdom.” Those words were spoken in 1815; and, as we all -know, were spoken in vain. - -A statesman of that stamp—one who does _not_ watch and chronicle the -shiftings of popular opinion, in order to know with certainty what are -his own opinions, or in order to shape his own political -‘principles’—rarely enjoys popularity. DE BLACAS became so little -popular at home, that the King was forced to send him, for many years, -abroad. At Rome, he negotiated the Concordat (1817–19); at Naples, he -advised an amnesty (1822), together with other measures, some of which -were too wise for the latitude. In the interval between his two -residences at the Court of Naples, he took part in the Congress of -Laybach. - -[Sidenote: FORMATION OF THE BLACAS MUSEUM.] - -The opportunities afforded by diplomacy in Italy and in other countries -were turned to intellectual and archæological, as well as to political, -account. He imitated the example of HAMILTON and of ELGIN, and that of a -crowd of his own countrymen, long anterior to either. Since his son’s -death, the British Museum has, by purchase, entered into his -archæological labours almost as largely—in their way and measure—as it -has inherited the treasures of its own enlightened ambassadors at Naples -and at Constantinople. - -The Duke died at Goeritz in 1839. Nine years earlier, he had advised -CHARLES X against the measures which precipitated that king into ruin; -and when the obstinate monarch had to pay the sure penalty of neglecting -good advice, the giver of it voluntarily took his share of the -infliction. He offered to attend CHARLES into exile in 1830, as he had -attended him forty years before, when in the flush of youth. He lies -buried at the King’s feet, in the Church of the Franciscans at Goeritz— - - ‘He that can endure - To follow, in exile, his fallen Lord, - Doth conquer them that did his master conquer, - And earns his place i’ the story.’ - -[Sidenote: CHARACTER OF THE BLACAS COLLECTION.] - -The late Duke of BLACAS augmented his father’s collections by many -purchases of great extent and value. His special predilection was for -coins and gems. In that department the combined museum of father and son -soon came to rank as the finest known collection, belonging to an -individual possessor. It includes seven hundred and forty-eight ancient -and classical cameos and intaglios, and two hundred and three others -which are either mediæval, oriental, or modern. The most precious -portion of the STROZZI cabinet passed into it, as did also a choice part -of the collections, respectively, of BARTH and of DE LA TURBIE. The -Blacas Museum is also eminently rich in vases and paintings of various -kinds; in sculptures, on every variety of material; in terracottas, and -in ancient glass. Its ‘silver toilet service’ of a Christian Roman lady -of the fifth century, named PROJECTA, has been made famous throughout -Europe by the descriptive accounts which have appeared from the pen of -VISCONTI and from that of LABARTE. The casket is richly chased with -figure-subjects. Among them are seen figures of Venus and Cupid; of the -lady herself and of her bridegroom, SECUNDUS. Roman bridesmaids, of -indubitable flesh and blood, are mingled with the more unsubstantial -forms of Nereids, riding upon Tritons. - - -[Sidenote: HUGH CUMING; HIS TRAVELS AND HIS COLLECTIONS, IN AMERICA AND - ELSEWHERE, 1791.] - -Of the men devoted, in our own day, to the enchaining pursuits of -Natural History, few better deserve a competent biographer than does -Hugh CUMING, whose career, in its relation to the Museum history, has an -additional interest for us from the circumstance that his course in life -was partly shaped by his having attracted, in childhood, the notice of -another worthy naturalist and public benefactor, [Sidenote: See page -376.] Colonel George MONTAGU, of Lackham. - -Young CUMING’S childish fondness for picking up shells and gathering -plants attracted Colonel MONTAGU’S notice about the time that the boy -was apprenticed to a sailmaker, living not far from the boy’s native -village, West Alvington, in Devon. The elder naturalist fostered the -nascent passion of his young and humble imitator, and the trade of -sailmaking brought CUMING, whilst still a boy, into contact with -sailors. The benevolent and Nature-loving Colonel told the youngster -some of the fairy tales of science; the tars spun yarns for him about -the marvels of foreign parts. A few, and very few, years of work at his -trade at home were followed by a voyage to South America. At Valparaiso -he resumed his handicraft, but only as a step (by aid of frugality and -foresight) towards saving enough of money to enable him to devote his -whole being to conchology and to botany. Seven years of work under this -inspiring ambition, seem to have enabled the man of five-and-thirty to -retire from business, and to build himself a yacht. But his was to be no -lounging yachtman’s life; it was rather to resemble the life of an A.B. -before the mast. The year 1827 was spent in toiling and dredging, to -good purpose, amongst the islands of the South Pacific. When he returned -to Valparaiso, the retired sailmaker found that he had won fame, as well -as many precious rarities in conchology and botany. The Chilian -Government gave him special privileges and useful credentials. He then -devoted two years to the thorough exploration of the coasts extending -from Chiloë to the Gulf of Conchagua. [Sidenote: _Athenæum_ of 1865; -_Returns presented to Parliament_, v. y.] He botanized in plains, -marshes and woods; he turned over shingle, and explored the crannies of -the cliffs, with the patient endurance of a Californian gold-digger, and -was much happier in his companions. In 1831, he returned to England, -with a modest but assured livelihood, and with inexhaustible treasures -in shells and plants, of which multitudes were theretofore unseen and -unknown in Europe. - -The year 1831 was a happy epoch for a conchologist. The Zoological -Society had just gained a firm footing. BRODERIP and SOWERBY were ready -to exhibit and to describe the rich shells of the Pacific. Richard OWEN -was eager to anatomize the molluscs, and to write their biography. Some -of the novelties brought over by CUMING in 1831 were still yielding new -information thirty years afterwards; probably are yielding it still. - -In 1835, Mr. CUMING returned to America. He devoted four years to an -exhaustive survey of the natural history—more especially, but far from -exclusively, the conchology and the botany—of the Philippine group of -islands, of Malacca, Singapore, and St. Helena. - -CUMING was fitted for his work not more by his scientific ardour and his -patient toil-bearing, than by his amiable character. He loved children. -His manner was so attractive to them that in some places to which he -travelled a schoolful of children were extemporised into botanic -missionaries. The joyous band would turn out for a holiday, and would -spend the whole of it in searching for the plants, the shells, and the -insects, with the general forms and appearances of which the promoter -and rewarder of their voluntary labours had previously familiarised -them. He returned to England with such a collection of shells as no -previous investigator had brought home; and with about one hundred and -thirty thousand specimens of dried plants, besides many curious -specimens in other departments. - -[Sidenote: R. Owen, _On a National Museum of Natural History_, pp. 53, - seqq.] - -His collections had been a London marvel before he set out on his third -voyage of discovery. He then possessed, I believe, almost sixteen -thousand _species_, and they were regarded as a near approximation to a -perfect collection, according to the knowledge of the time. [Sidenote: -Comp. _Athenæum_ as above, and the Museum returns of 1865 and subsequent -years.] If the writer of the able notice of him which the _Athenæum_ -published immediately after his death was rightly informed, CUMING -nearly doubled that number by the results of his final voyage, and by -those of subsequent purchases made in Europe. - -Very naturally, strenuous efforts were made to ensure the perpetuity of -this noble collection during its owner’s lifetime. The history of those -efforts still deserves to be told, and for more than one reason. But it -cannot be told here. This inadequate notice of a most estimable man must -close with the few words which, three years ago, closed Professor OWEN’S -annual _Report on the Progress of the Zoological Portion of the British -Museum_. ‘The discoveries and labours of Mr. Hugh CUMING,’ he then -wrote, ‘do honour to his country; the fruition of them by Naturalists of -all countries now depends mainly _on the acquisition of the space -required for the due arrangement, exhibition—facility of access and -comparison—of the rarities which the Nation has acquired_.’ And then he -adds a small individual instance, as a passing illustration of the value -of Mr. CUMING’S life-long pursuit—‘Among the choicer rarities, ... -brought from the Philippines in 1840, was a specimen of siliceous sponge -(described and figured in the _Transactions of the Zoological Society_), -known as _Euplectella Aspergillum_.’ Up to the date of Mr. CUMING’S -death (tenth August, 1865), this specimen—of what, for non-zoological -readers, may be likened to a sort of coral of rare beauty—brought over -in 1840, was unique. [Sidenote: _Transactions_, &c., vol. iii, p. 203.] -In the year next after the discoverer’s death, _many_ fine and curious -specimens were sent from the Philippines. The solitary explorer of 1839 -had at length been followed by a school of explorers. Such men as CUMING -live after their death, and hence the marvellous increase, within a very -few years, in our knowledge of Nature, and of GOD’S bounty to the world -he made. - - -[Sidenote: J. R. CHORLEY AND HIS COLLECTION OF THE SPANISH POETS AND - DRAMATISTS.] - -By a man who did but little in literature, although he possessed -attainments which, in some respects, seem to have surpassed those of a -good many men whose lucubrations have had much publicity and vogue, a -valuable addition was made a few years ago, by bequest, to the Museum -Library, both in the printed and manuscript departments. [Sidenote: -_Will of Mr. Rutter Chorley_, 1866.] Mr. John Rutter CHORLEY had -collected about two hundred volumes of the Spanish poetry and drama, and -had enriched them with manuscript notes, bibliographical and critical. -He had also prepared chronological tables of the dramatists—writing them -in Spanish, of which he was a master—together with an account of their -respective works. He had, I think, contemplated, at some future time, -the preparation of some such book on the Spanish theatre as that -published by Mr. TICKNOR, many years ago, on Spanish literature at -large. Whether the appearance of TICKNOR’S valuable book deterred Mr. -CHORLEY from prosecuting his purpose, I know not. Probably he was one of -the many men the very extent of whose knowledge inspires a -fastidiousness which prompts them to keep on increasing their private -store, and to defer, almost until death overtakes them, the drawing from -that store for the Public. If there may really, by some dim possibility, -have been here and there an inglorious HAMPDEN, or a mute SHAKESPEARE, -it is very certain that there have been, in literary history and in like -departments of human study, many an unknown DISRAELI, many a Tom WARTON, -brimful of knowledge about poets and poetry, who never could have lived -long enough to put to public use the materials he had laboriously -brought together. - - -[Sidenote: GEORGE WITT AND HIS COLLECTIONS ILLUSTRATIVE OF THE HISTORY - OF SUPERSTITIONS.] - -Of another Collector, whose pursuits lay at an opposite pole to those of -Mr. CHORLEY, it would not be edifying to say very much in these pages. -Some among the collections illustrative of the history of obscure -superstitions (to quote the polite euphuism of one of the Museum -_Returns_ to Parliament) partake, in a degree, of the peculiar -associations which connect themselves with the bare name of a place at -which some few of them were really found—that too famous retreat of the -Emperor TIBERIUS. Others of them, however, possess a real archæological -value from a different point of view. All, no doubt, are -characteristically illustrative, more or less, of the doings ‘in the -dark places of the earth,’ and may point a moral, howsoever little -fitted to adorn a tale. - -Mr. George WITT, F.R.S., the collector of these curiosities of human -error, was a surgeon who had lived much in Australia, and who, on his -return from the Colonies, had retired to a provincial town in England, -where, at first, he amused his leisure by gathering a small museum of -natural history. Of that collection I remember to have seen a printed -catalogue, but I imagine that he sold it in his lifetime, as no part of -his objects of natural history came, with his other and much more -eccentric museum, to the augmentation of the public stores. Towards the -close of his life he lived in London, and used to amuse himself by -exhibiting, and by lecturing upon, what he regarded as the more racy -portion of his later collections. He chose (I am told) the hour of -eleven o’clock on Sunday morning for such peculiar expositions, but I do -not think that _these_ ‘Sunday Lectures’ were regarded, either by the -man who gave them or by his auditors, as especially fitted for ‘the -instruction of the working classes.’ - - -[Sidenote: THE CHRISTY MUSEUM AND ITS FOUNDER’S HISTORY.] - -Of a very different calibre to Mr. George WITT was the donor of the -noble Museum of Ethnography which, _for want of room at Bloomsbury_, -still occupies the late donor’s dwelling-house, almost two miles off. It -is not too much to say of Henry CHRISTY, that he was both an illustrious -man of science and an eminent Christian. The man whose fame as a -searcher into antiquity is spread alike over Europe and America, is also -remembered in many Irish cabins as one who was willing to spend, -lavishly, his health and strength, as well as his money, in lifting up, -from squalid beds of straw and filth, poor creatures stricken at once -with famine and with fever, and so stricken as sometimes to have almost -lost the semblance of humanity. He is also remembered by Algerian -peasants, by West African negroes, and by Canadian Indians for like -deeds of beneficence. When Prussian insolence and Prussian barbarity -struck down Danes who were defending hearth and home, CHRISTY was again -the open-handed benefactor of the oppressed. When Turks were, in like -manner, beating down by sheer brute force the Druses of Syria, Henry -CHRISTY was relieving the distressed and the down-trodden in the East, -with no less liberality than he had evinced a little while before in -relieving them in the North of Europe. - -The time which works of good-samaritanism such as these left unoccupied -was given to a vast series—or rather to a succession of series—of -explorations which have had already a noble result, and which will yield -more and more fruit for many a year to come. The scene of them embraced -Mexico, the United States, British America, Denmark, and several -Departments of Southern and Western France. Their period reached from -1860—when he had just entered the fiftieth year of his age—almost to the -day of his lamented and sudden death in the May of 1865. His able and -beloved friend and fellow-worker LARTET was with him in the Allier, when -the fatal illness struck him, at the age of fifty-four. It will be -pardoned me, I trust, if in this connection I quote, once again, those -thoughtful words, out of the private note-book of Lord BACON, which I -applied in a former chapter to another and more recent public -loss—‘Princes, ... when men deserve crowns for their performances, do -not crown them below, where the deeds are performed, but call them up. -So doth GOD, by death.’ - - -[Sidenote: CHARACTER OF THE CHRISTY MUSEUM.] - -The little that need here be added as to the nature and extent of Mr. -CHRISTY’S gift to the Public, will be best said in the words of the -present able Curator of the Collection, Mr. A. W. FRANKS. But it should -be first premised that the posthumous gift was only the continuation of -a long series of gifts, which embraced the Museums, not of England -alone, but those of Northern and of Southern Europe, and (as I think) -some of those of America:— - -[Sidenote: ANCIENT EUROPE AND PART OF NORTH AMERICA.] - -Among the most important contents of the CHRISTY Museum is a collection -of stone implements from the Drift. They are the most ancient remains of -human industry hitherto discovered; they include a remarkably fine -series from St. Acheul, near Amiens. Antiquities found in the Caves of -Dordogne, were excavated by Mr. CHRISTY and M. LARTET, at the expense of -the former. This collection is very extensive, and includes a number of -drawings on reindeer bone and horn, probably some of the most ancient -works of art that have been preserved. [Sidenote: Franks’ _Report on -Christy Museum_ (abridged).] It would have been still more extensive, -had it not been known that Mr. CHRISTY intended to present the unique -specimens to the French Museum, an intention which the Trustees under -his Will have felt bound to fulfil. The Museum includes many ancient -stone implements found on the surface, in England and Ireland, France, -Belgium, and Denmark. The last of these is a remarkable collection, and -includes a good series from the Danish Kitchenmiddens. A few specimens -from Italy are also to be found; a valuable collection from the caves at -Gibraltar; and specimens from the Swiss Lakes. For convenience, a case -of ancient stone implements from Asia has been placed in this room, as -well as the more modern implements, dresses, and weapons of the -Esquimaux of America and Asia, and of the maritime tribes of the -North-West Coast of America. These furnish striking illustrations of the -remains found in the Caves of Dordogne, and prove that, while the -climate was similar to that of the northern countries in question, the -inhabitants of that part of France must have resembled the Esquimaux in -their habits and implements. - -[Sidenote: AFRICA AND ASIA.] - -The African Collection is very extensive, and supplies a lacuna in the -collections of the British Museum, where there are few objects from this -continent. The same may be said of the series from the Asiatic Islands. -The collection from Asia proper is not very numerous; the races now -occupying that continent being generally in a more advanced state of -civilization than that which especially interested Mr. CHRISTY. -Attention should, however, be called to two valuable relics from China; -an Imperial State Seal carved in jade, and a set of tablets of the same -material, on which has been engraved a poem by the Emperor KIEN-LUNG. - -[Sidenote: MELANESIA AND POLYNESIA.] - -The Polynesian Room contains a valuable collection of weapons, -ornaments, and dresses, both from the islands inhabited by the black -races of the Pacific, and from those of Polynesia proper. Many of the -specimens are of interest, as belonging to a state of culture which has -now completely changed, and as illustrating manners and customs that -have disappeared before the commerce and the teaching of Europeans. - -[Sidenote: ASIA.] - -In the ‘Asian Room’ are placed the larger objects from the Pacific, such -as spears, clubs, and paddles. The collection of spears is very large -and interesting. - -[Sidenote: AUSTRALIA AND PART OF NORTH AMERICA.] - -The Australian Collection is very complete, and it would not be easy to -replace it, inasmuch as the native races are dwindling in most parts of -that continent. - -[Sidenote: NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA.] - -The American department in chief includes antiquities and recent -implements and dresses from the North American Indians; ancient Carib -implements; and recent collections from British Guiana, and other parts -of South America. The most valuable part of the contents of this room is -the collection of Mexican antiquities, which is not only extensive, but -includes some specimens of great rarity. Among them should be especially -mentioned the following:—An axe of Avanturine jade, carved into the form -of a human figure; a remarkable knife of white chalcedony; a sacrificial -collar formed of a hard green stone; a squatting figure, of good -execution, sculptured out of a volcanic rock; and three remarkable -specimens coated with polished stones. The latter consist of a wooden -mask covered with a mosaic of blue stones, presumed to be turquoises, -but more probably a rare form of amazon-stone; a human skull made into a -mask, and coated with obsidian and the blue stone mentioned above; and a -knife with a blade of flint, and with a wooden handle, sculptured to -represent a Mexican divinity, and encrusted with obsidian, coral, -malachite, and other precious materials. [Sidenote: Franks’ _Report_, as -above.] There is also a small but choice collection of Peruvian pottery. - -A catalogue of the collection was privately printed by Mr. CHRISTY in -1862; but it embraces only a small part of the present collection. A -more extended catalogue is in preparation. - -It is due to accuracy to add that the aspect of the rooms devoted to the -CHRISTY Museum in Victoria Street, and the facilities of study which -they afford, are utterly unsatisfactory to real students. They are -adapted only to holiday sightseers, who look and go, and but to very -small groups, indeed, even of them. - -Every praise is due both to the Trustees and to their officer, for -having done their best, under strait and lamentable limitations, the -_removal_ of which is the duty of Parliament and of the Chancellor of -the Exchequer, not that of the Trustees. Under the Premiership of such -an eminent scholar and writer as Mr. GLADSTONE, humbler students of -history and of literature would fain hope that a long-standing reproach -will speedily be removed; but his ministerial surroundings are -unfriendly to such anticipations. After words which we have recently -heard, _from the Treasury Bench itself_, about Public Parks, there is -only scanty ground for hope that much improvement can, under existing -circumstances, be looked for in respect to Public Museums. - -At all events, the condition, as to space, of the CHRISTY Museum in -Victoria Street, no less than the condition, in that respect, of -portions of the general Museum of Antiquities at Bloomsbury itself—and -of nearly all our splendid national collections in Natural History—gives -tenfold importance to that question of speedy enlargement or efficient -reconstruction which it will be my duty rather to state, than to -discuss, in the next chapter. [Sidenote: THE STATE OF THE CHRISTY -COLLECTION VIEWED IN ITS BEARINGS UPON THE QUESTION OF MUSEUM -RECONSTRUCTION.] It will be my earnest aim to state it with -impartiality, and, for the most part, in better words than my own. - - -[Sidenote: THE ARCHÆOLOGICAL BEQUEST OF JAMES WOODHOUSE, OF CORFU.] - -Next in importance—but next at a long interval—to the accessions which -the Nation owes to the munificence of Henry CHRISTY, comes the bequest -of Mr. James WOODHOUSE, of Corfu, the circumstances attendant upon which -have much singularity. - -It is only of late years (speaking comparatively) that British Consuls -have become at all notable as collectors of antiquities. But when once -the new fashion was set, it spread rapidly, and it may now be hoped that -there will be as little lack of continuance as of speed. In Chapter V, I -had to mention (though very inadequately to the worth of their labours) -several Consuls in the Levant, who have eminently distinguished -themselves in augmenting our National Museum. But in this chapter the -reader must be introduced to a Consul who rather obstructed than -promoted a worthy public object. - -James WOODHOUSE was a British subject engaged in commerce, who had -resided for many years at Corfu (where for a time he had filled the -office of Government Secretary), and who consoled his self-imposed exile -by collecting a cabinet of coins, which eventually became one of great -value, and also an extensive museum of miscellaneous, but chiefly of -Greek, antiquities. Repeatedly, during his lifetime, he announced his -desire and purpose to perpetuate his collection by giving it to the -British Museum. When his health failed, he began to superintend in -person the packing up of the most valuable portions of his museum; but -illness grew upon him, and he was forced to leave off his preparations -abruptly. - -A delicate circumstance connected with his family circle seems to have -combined with this regretted interruption, by increasing illness, of his -precautionary measures and intentions (the secure fulfilling of which -lay near his heart), to make him uneasy and anxious. [Sidenote: THE -CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE WOODHOUSE BEQUEST.] He sent for a legal friend, Dr. -ZAMBELLI; told him of his plans, and also of his fears that they might -be—in the event of his sudden death, and he felt that death was fast -coming—obstructed. ZAMBELLI told him that the person to whom his purpose -and wishes ought to be communicated, without delay, was undoubtedly the -British Consul-General, Mr. SAUNDERS. In joint communication with both -of them, a deed of gift was prepared. ‘Having been engaged,’ said the -donor, ‘in numismatic pursuits, ... and being desirous that the -Collection of Coins _and other Antiquities_ so formed by me, should be -dedicated to national purposes, I give,’ and so on. No inventory, -however, had been made when the donor died, on the twenty-sixth of -February, 1866. Before WOODHOUSE’S death, Mr. Consul-General SAUNDERS -put a guard round the house; and, immediately after the event, sent away -all the household, taking official possession of the whole of the -effects, in the manner usual in cases of undoubted _intestacy_.[47] He -then, according to his own statement, set about ‘selecting such -portions’ of Mr. WOODHOUSE’S property as ‘seemed’ (to him and to a -clerical friend of the collector) ‘_suitable_ for the British Museum.’ - -Most naturally, when the intelligence came to the Museum, it was thought -by the Trustees that Mr. SAUNDERS had both very seriously exceeded, and -very gravely fallen short of, his obvious official duty. ‘Selection’ was -felt to have been superfluous in respect to any and every item, of every -kind, belonging to the donor’s museum. Just as plainly, the instant -forwarding of the whole, on the other hand, was a peremptory obligation -upon the British Consul. - -Eventually (and by the zealous exertions of Sir A. PANIZZI and of Mr. -Charles NEWTON, respectively, on behalf of the Trustees) conclusive -evidence was placed before Lord STANLEY (the now Earl of DERBY, and -then, it will be remembered, Foreign Secretary of State) that Mr. -Consul-General SAUNDERS had divided the Woodhouse antiquities into _two_ -portions, and had then proceeded to allot the smaller portion to the -British Museum, and the larger to the ‘heirs-at-law’ of the deceased. -Nor is it yet quite certain that such division was _all_ the division -that occurred. - -After long inquiries and much correspondence—as well between the Foreign -Office and the Queen’s Advocate, as between the Trustees and their -officers on the one hand, and various persons at Corfu, including, of -course, the Consul-General himself, on the other—Lord STANLEY touched -the point of the affair with characteristic keenness when he wrote, in -his despatch to Mr. SAUNDERS of the seventh of January, 1867: ‘Your -neglect to _make an Inventory_ of the effects of the deceased has been -the main cause of the doubts which have been felt as to the propriety of -your conduct in this matter, and of the inquiry which has been the -consequence of those doubts.’ - -But that neglect was then incurable. And, subsequently to the despatch -thus worded, further inquiry has but made the omission more regrettable. -The making of the Inventory had been pressed on Mr. SAUNDERS’ attention -at the time of the Collector’s death. - - -[Sidenote: Newton; in _Returns to Parliament_, of the year 1866.] - -That part of the WOODHOUSE Museum which came to England in 1866 included -a very interesting Collection of Greek Coins, chiefly from Corcyra, -Western Greece, and the Greek islands; an extensive series of rings and -other personal ornaments; some ancient glass; a few medallions; a few -sculptures, in marble, of doubtful antiquity; and last, but far indeed -from being least acceptable, a most beautiful head of Athené in cameo, -cut on a sardonyx. [Sidenote: Vischer, _Archaeologische Beiträge aus -Griechenland_, p. 2.] It was thought by the antiquary VISCHER—who saw -this fine cameo about the year 1854—that it represents the head of -PHIDIAS’ famous statue in gold and ivory, and therefore had a common -origin with the jasper intaglio so often praised by archæologists who -have seen the Imperial Cabinet at Vienna. - - -[Sidenote: LORD NAPIER OF MAGDALA, AND THE ADDITIONS TO THE MUSEUM OF - THE ANTIQUITIES AND MSS. OF ABYSSINIA, 1867–8.] - -Some of my readers will remember that although war, and the calamities -which commonly accompany it, have often devastated museums and -libraries, it has occasionally enriched them. Sometimes by sheer -plunder, as under CATHARINE of Russia and the marshals of her predatory -armies. Sometimes by acts of genuine beneficence and public spirit, as -in Ireland under BLOUNT (afterwards Earl of Devonshire); and, again, -under the great Protector. Lord NAPIER adds his honoured name to the -small category of the soldiers who have justifiably turned victorious -arms to the profit of learning, and the enrichment of honestly built-up -national collections. I cannot, however, but regard as utterly unworthy -of the British arms and name certain acquisitions which were incidental -to that campaign. ‘Mr. HOLMES, the officer attached to the Abyssinian -Expedition by the Trustees of the British Museum’—I quote exactly and -literally from the ‘_Accounts and Estimates_’ of last year -(1869)—‘collected ... among other objects, a silver chalice and a paten -bearing Æthiopic inscriptions, showing them to have been given to -various churches by King THEODORE.’ - -[Sidenote: THE COLLECTION OF SACRAMENTAL PLATE IN ABYSSINIA.] - -I am certain to be uncontradicted when I assert, that neither the -Trustees of the British Museum, nor Lord NAPIER of Magdala, instructed -Mr. HOLMES to take from Christian churches in Abyssinia their -sacramental plate, or their processional crosses. - -It is a far pleasanter task to praise the diligence with which Mr. -HOLMES executed the Commission really given him by the Trustees. He -collected many specimens of Abyssinian art and industry which were fit -contributions to the National Museum. [Sidenote: THE COLLECTION OF -ABYSSINIAN MSS.] In like manner, Lord NAPIER authorised the collection, -partly by officers under his command, and partly by the researches of -Mr. HOLMES, of a series of Abyssinian Manuscripts, extending to three -hundred and thirty-nine volumes. These were given to the Museum by the -then Secretary of State for India. - - -[Sidenote: THE SLADE BEQUEST.] - -In the same year with the Abyssinian spoils, came a noble addition to -the Art Collections of the Museum by the bequest of the late Felix -SLADE, and a rich addition to the Library, by the purchase of the -Japanese books collected by the late Dr. VON SIEBOLD, during the later -of his two visits to Japan, a country which he so largely contributed to -make well known to the rest of the world. - -Felix SLADE was the younger son of Robert SLADE, in his day a well-known -Proctor in Doctors’ Commons. Mr. William SLADE, elder brother of Felix, -had inherited the valuable estate of Halsteads in Lonsdale (Yorkshire), -under the will of the last male-heir of that family, and on his early -death he was succeeded by his brother, the benefactor. - -Truly a ‘benefactor.’ To purposes of public charity he bequeathed not -less than seven thousand pounds, and bequeathed that sum with wise -forethought, and with Christian generality of view. He founded and -munificently endowed Professorships of Art at each of the ancient -Universities, and at University College in London. To the British Museum -he gave the splendid bequest about to be described, which had been -selected with exquisite taste, knowledge and judgment, and which, under -such rare conditions of purchase, had cost him more than twenty-five -thousand pounds. [Sidenote: THE SLADE MUSEUM OF ANTIQUITIES. 1869.] I -describe it in the precise words—chiefly from the pen of one of his -Executors—which are used in the Return to Parliament of 1869:—‘The -collection of glass and other antiquities bequeathed to the Nation by -the late Felix SLADE, Esq., F.S.A., includes about nine hundred and -fifty specimens of ancient glass, selected with care, so as to represent -most of the phases through which the art of glass-working has passed. -Collected in the first instance with a view to artistic beauty alone, -the series has been since gradually enriched with historical specimens, -as well as with curiosities of manufacture, so as to illustrate the -history of glass in all its branches. - -‘Of early Egyptian glass there are not many examples in the collection; -one of some interest is a case for holding the _stibium_, used by the -Egyptian ladies for the eye, and which is in the form of a papyrus -sceptre. The later productions of Egypt are represented by some very -minute specimens of mosaic glass, formed of slender filaments of various -colours fused together, and cut into transverse sections. - -‘To the Phœnicians have been attributed the making of many little vases -of peculiar form and ornamentation that are met with, not unfrequently, -in tombs on the shores of the Mediterranean. They are of brilliant -colours, with zigzag decoration, and exhibit the same technical -peculiarities, so that they must have been derived from one centre of -fabrication. Of these vases there is a considerable series, showing most -of the varieties of form and colour that are known. - -‘The collection is especially rich in vessels moulded into singular -shapes, found principally in Syria and the neighbouring islands, and -which were probably produced in the workshops of Sidon, but at a later -time; possibly as late as the Roman dominion. The Museum Collections -were previously very ill provided with such specimens. To the same date -must belong a vase handle, stamped with the name of ARTAS the Sidonian, -in Greek and Latin characters. - -‘Of Roman glass there is a great variety, as might be expected from the -skill shown in glass-making during the Imperial times of Rome. -[Sidenote: A. W. Franks, _Account of Slade Museum_, in the Parliamentary -Returns of 1869.] Large vases were not especially sought after by Mr. -SLADE, but two fine cinerary urns may be noticed, remarkable not only -for their form, but for the beautiful iridescent colours with which time -has clothed them. There is also a very fine amber-coloured ewer, with -blue filaments round the neck, which was found in the Greek Archipelago; -an elegant jug or bottle with diagonal flutings, found at Barnwell, near -Cambridge, and a brown bottle, splashed with opaque white, from Germany. -Of cut glass, an art which it was formerly denied that the Romans -possessed, there are good examples; such, for instance, is a boat-shaped -vase of deep emerald hue, and of the same make apparently as the Sacro -Catino of Genoa; a bowl cut into facets, found near Merseburg, in -Germany; and a cup, similarly decorated, found near Cambridge. The last -two specimens are of a brilliant clear white, imitating rock crystal, a -variety of glass much esteemed by the Romans. Several vessels found in -Germany are remarkable for having patterns in coloured glass, trailed as -it were over the surface. There are two very fine bowls of millefiori -glass, one of them with patches of gold, and very numerous polished -fragments illustrating the great variety and taste shown by the ancients -in such vessels. Two vases exhibit designs in intaglio; one of them, a -subject with figures; the other, a bowl found near Merseburg, exhibits -the story of Diana and Actæon; the goddess is kneeling at a pool of -water in a grotto; Actæon is looking on, and a reflection of his head -with sprouting horns may be distinguished in the water at the goddess’s -feet; to prevent any mistake, the names of the personages, in Greek, are -added. This bowl may be of a late date, probably early Byzantine. Of -vases decorated in cameo, fragments alone are to be found in the -collection; but as only four entire vases are known, this is not -surprising. One of the fragments seems to be part of a large panel which -has represented buildings, &c., and has on it remains of a Greek -inscription. There are several glass cameos and intaglios, the -representatives of original gems that have long since been lost; one of -the cameos is a head of AUGUSTUS; another represents an Egyptian -princess; whilst among the intaglios are several of great excellence; of -these should particularly be noticed a blue paste representing Achilles -wounded in the heel, and crouching down behind his rich shield, a gem -worthy of the best period of Greek art. One of the rarest specimens in -the collection is a circular medallion of glass, on which is painted a -gryphon; the colours appear to be burnt in, and it is therefore a -genuine specimen of ancient painting on glass, of which but three other -instances are known. - -‘In the fourth and fifth century it was the habit to ornament the -bottoms of bowls and cups with designs in gold, either fixed to the -surface or enclosed between two layers of glass. These specimens have -generally been found in the Catacombs of Rome; but two or three have -been found at Cologne, one of which is in the collection. It is the -remains of a disc of considerable size, with a central design, now -destroyed; around are eight compartments, with subjects from the Old and -New Testaments: Moses striking the Rock, the History of Jonah, Daniel in -the Lions’ Den, the Fiery Furnace, the Sacrifice of Isaac, the Nativity, -and the Paralytic Man; of these, the Nativity is a very rare -representation. - -‘Of glass of a Teutonic origin there is but one specimen in the -collection, a tumbler of peculiar form, from a cemetery at Selzen, in -Rhenish Hesse. Like other glasses of the time, it is so made that it -cannot be put down until it has been emptied, and thus testifies to the -convivial habits of the Teutons. - -‘Of early Byzantine glass but little is known; the bowl with Diana and -Actæon, already noticed, is very probably of that period; and a -Byzantine cameo with the head of CHRIST should be mentioned. - -‘Of glass of the middle ages, from the West of Europe, but little or -nothing has been preserved save the exquisite painted glass in -cathedrals and churches. Of the Eastern glass of the same period several -specimens are in the collection. Among these is a very beautiful bottle, -probably of the thirteenth century, decorated with a minute pattern of -birds; a lamp of large size, made in Syria to hang in a mosque, bears -the name of SHEIKHOO, a man of great wealth and importance in Egypt and -Syria, who died in 1356, after building a mosque at Cairo. - -‘To a later period of the Eastern glass works may be referred an ewer of -a sapphire blue, resplendent with gold arabesques, and several other -richly decorated pieces, all made in Persia. - -‘Venice for many centuries held the foremost place among the makers of -glass. Enriched, to begin with, by her very extensive trade in beads, -she received gladly the Byzantine workers in glass, who had been driven -out of Constantinople by the Turks. Henceforward the variety of her -glass wares increased, and must have brought much profit. The earliest -glass vases which can with certainty be referred to Venice are of the -fifteenth century; of these, a large covered cup with gilt ribs is -remarkable for its early date and size. The two finest specimens are, -however, two goblets richly enameled; one of them is blue, with a -triumph of Venus; the other green, with two portraits. These were the -choicest specimens in the DEBRUGE and SOLTYKOFF Collections -successively, and were obtained by Mr. SLADE, for upwards of four -hundred pounds, at the sale of the latter collection. Among other -enameled specimens may be noticed three shallow bowls, or dishes, with -heraldic devices: one has the arms of Pope LEO X, 1513–1521; another -those of LEONARDO LOREDANO, Doge of Venice, 1501–1521; and the third the -arms of FABRIZIO CARETTO, Grand Master of the Order of St. John of -Jerusalem, 1513–1521. - -‘The blown glasses of Venice are numerous and well selected, exhibiting -great beauty of outline and variety of design. Among them should be -especially remarked, a very tall covered cup, surmounted with a winged -serpent, from the BERNAL Collection; and two drinking glasses, with -enameled flowers forming the stems. - -‘The coloured vases display most of the hues made at Venice; ruby, -purple, green, and blue, as well as an opalescent white and an opaque -white, the latter often diversified with splashes of other colours. To -these may be added various imitations of agate, avanturine, &c. -[Sidenote: Franks, as above.] Another peculiar fabric of Venice is well -illustrated, the frosted glass belonging generally to an early period. - -‘In the production of millefiori glass the Venetians did not equal the -ancients, either in harmony of colour or variety of design. The rosettes -were formed of sections of canes, such as were employed in making beads. -The specimens of this glass are rare, but there are not less than seven -pieces so ornamented in the collection. - -‘Of lace glass, one of the most remarkable productions of Venice, and -which nowhere has been carried to such perfection, there are many fine -specimens, both in form and delicacy of pattern, as there are likewise -of the variety called reticelle. Among the latter is a tall covered cup -with snakes on the cover and in the stem; there should also be noticed a -drinking glass, in the stem of which is enclosed a half sequin of the -Doge FRANCESCO MOLINO, 1647. - -‘Of unquestionably ancient French glass but few specimens are known. -This adds much to the value of a goblet in the collection, with enameled -portrait of Jehan BOUCAU and his wife Antoinette, made about 1530. - -‘German glass is fully represented: the earlier specimens are richly -decorated with enamel, chiefly heraldic devices; they are dated 1571, -1572, &c. A few are painted like window glass, and among them is a -cylindrical cup, dated 1662, on which is depicted the procession at the -christening of MAXIMILIAN EMMANUEL, afterwards Elector of Bavaria. The -later German specimens are engraved, and some of them by artists of -note. Of ruby glass, another production for which Germany was famed, -there are good specimens; one bears the cypher of JOHN GEORGE IV, -Elector of Saxony, another that of FREDERICK THE FIRST. KUNCKEL, to whom -these glasses are attributed, was successively in the service of both -princes. - -‘Though glass was early made in Flanders, the most ancient specimens in -the collection under this head have been regarded as Venetian glasses -decorated in the Low Countries. If made at Venice, they must, from -certain peculiarities of form, have been designed for the Flemish and -Dutch markets. The ornaments are etched, and contain allusions to the -political events of the country: for instance, the arms of the seventeen -provinces chained to those of Spain, and dated 1655; a portrait of -PHILIP IV; WILLIAM II of Orange; his wife, MARY OF ENGLAND; OLDEN -BARNEVELDT, &c. Some of the later specimens are engraved on the lathe in -a very ornamental manner, and others delicately stippled. One of the -latter bears the name of F. GREENWOOD, and others are attributed to -WOLF. - -‘In English glass the collection is not rich, the difficulty of -identifying such specimens being very great; some of them are referred -to the works at Bristol, which produced ornamental glass about a century -ago. - -‘Some valuable additions to the collection of glass have been received -from the Executors of Mr. SLADE, purchased by them out of funds set -aside for the purpose. They are nineteen in number, and among them may -be especially noticed a very fine Oriental bottle with elaborate -patterns in gold and enamel, together with figures of huntsmen, &c. It -may be referred to the fourteenth century, and was formerly in the -possession of a noble family at Wurzburg. Two specimens of Chinese -glass, dated in the reign of the Emperor KIEN-LUNG, 1736–1796; and -several ancient Flemish and Dutch glasses. - -[Sidenote: Franks, as above.] - -‘By the acquisition of the SLADE Collection the series of ancient and -more recent glass in the British Museum has probably become more -extensive, as well as more instructive, than any other public collection -of the kind, and it will afford ample materials for study both to the -artist and the antiquary. - -‘In addition to his collection of glass, Mr. SLADE has bequeathed to the -Museum a small series of carvings in ivory and metal work, from Japan, -which are full of the humour and quaintness which characterise the art -of that country. - -‘He has likewise bequeathed to the Museum such of the miscellaneous -works of art in his possession as should be selected by one of his -Executors, Mr. FRANKS. The objects so selected are not numerous, but -include some valuable additions to the National Collection. - -‘Among them may be noticed the following:—Two very beautiful Greek -painted vases, œnochoæ with red figures of a fine style; these were two -of the gems of the DURAND and HOPE Collections successively; also a fine -tazza, with red figures very well drawn, formerly in the ROGERS -Collection. Two red bowls of the so-called Samian ware, with ornaments -in relief; one of them was discovered near Capua, the other is believed -to have been found in Germany; an antique hand, in rock crystal, of -which a drawing by Santo BARTOLI is preserved in the Royal Library at -Windsor, and a small Roman vase of onyx; a panel, probably from a book -cover, a fine example of German enamel of the twelfth century, from the -PREAUX Collection; a very fine flask-shaped vase of Italian majolica, -probably of Urbino ware, and representing battle scenes; three elegant -ewers, one of them made at Nevers, another of Avignon ware, and the -third probably Venetian—all three are rare specimens; an oval plate of -niello work on silver, and a silver plate engraved in the style of -CRISPIN DE PASSE; three early specimens of stamped leather work, -commonly termed cuirbouilli; [Sidenote: Franks, as above.] a tile from -the Alhambra, but probably belonging to the restorations made to that -building in the sixteenth century. - -‘The value of Mr. SLADE’S bequest is considerably increased by a very -detailed and profusely illustrated catalogue of the Collection which, -having been prepared during his lifetime, will be completed and -distributed, according to his directions. - -‘Since the CRACHERODE bequest, which formed the nucleus of the British -Museum Print Collections, no acquisition of the kind approaches the -bequest of Mr. SLADE in rare and choice specimens of etchings and -engravings, wherein nearly every artist of distinction is represented. -The collection comprises rare specimens of impressions from Nielli and -prints of the School of Baldini; fine examples of some of the best -productions of Andrea Mantegna, Zoan Andrea Vavassori, Girolamo Mocetto, -Giovanni Battista del Porto, Jean Duvet, Marc Antonio, with his scholars -and followers, the master of the year 1466; [Sidenote: G. W. Reid, in -Parliamentary Returns of 1869.] Martin Schongauer, Israel van Meckenen, -Albert Dürer, Lucas van Leyden, Hans Burgmair, Lucas Cranach, Matheus -Zazinger, the Behams, Rembrandt, Vandyck, Adrian Ostade, Paul Potter, -Karl du Jardin, Jan Both, N. Berghem, Agostino Caracci, Wenceslaus -Hollar, Cornelius Visscher, Crispin and Simon de Passe, S. à Bolswert, -Houbraken, L. Vorsterman, Jacques Callot, Claude Mellan, Nanteuil, -George Wille, Faithorne, Hogarth, L. A. B. Desnoyers, F. Forster, Sir R. -Strange, William Woollett, Porporati, Pefetti, Pietro Anderloni, Raphael -Morghen, Giuseppe Longhi, Garavaglio, and others. There are also some -rare English portraits and book-illustrations. - -[Sidenote: THE SPECIMENS OF PRINTING AND BINDING IN THE SLADE - COLLECTION.] - -‘The specimens of binding from the SLADE Collection (now placed in the -Printed Book Department), continues the Report of 1869, are twenty-three -in number, chiefly of foreign execution, and afford examples of the -style of PADELOUP, DUSSEUIL, DEROME, and other eminent binders. One of -the volumes, an edition of PAULUS ÆMYLIUS, _De gestis Francorum_ (Paris, -1555, 8vo), is a beautiful specimen of the French style of the period, -with the sides and back richly ornamented in the Grolier manner. An -Italian translation of the works of Horace (Venice, 1581, 4to), is of -French execution, richly tooled, and bears the arms of HENRY III of -France. A folio volume of the _Reformation der Stadt Nürnberg_ -(Frankfort, 1566), which is a magnificent specimen of contemporary -German binding, formerly belonged to the Emperor MAXIMILIAN THE SECOND, -whose arms are painted on the elegantly goffered gilt edges. An edition -of PTOLEMY’S _Geographicæ Narrationis libri octo_ (Lyons, 1541, fol.) -affords a fine illustration of the Italian style of about that date. The -copy of a French translation of XENOPHON’S _Cyropædia_, by Jacques de -VINTEMILLE (Paris, 1547, 4to), appears to have been bound for King -EDWARD VI, of England, whose arms and cypher are on the sides, while the -rose is five times worked in gold on the back. [Sidenote: T. Watts, in -_Returns_, as above.] A volume of Bishop HALL’S _Contemplations on the -Old Testament_ (London, 1626, 8vo), in olive morocco contemporary -English binding, has the Royal arms in the centre of the sides, and -appears to have been the dedication copy of King CHARLES THE FIRST.’ It -is proposed, concludes the _Report_, to exhibit some of the most -beautiful specimens comprised in Mr. SLADE’S valuable donation, in one -of the select cases in the King’s Library. - -Mr. SLADE also bequeathed three thousand pounds for the augmentation, by -his Executors, of his Collection of Ancient Glass, and five thousand -pounds to be by them expended in the restoration of the parish church of -Thornton-in-Lonsdale. - - -[Sidenote: VON SIEBOLD AND HIS JAPANESE COLLECTIONS OF 1823–8.] - -Philip VON SIEBOLD was born at Wurtzburg, in February, 1796, and in the -university of that town he received his education. He adopted the -profession of medicine, but devoted himself largely to the study of -natural history. In the joint capacity of physician and naturalist, he -accompanied the Dutch Embassy to Japan in the year 1823. He was a true -lover of humanity, as well as a lover of science. Many Japanese students -were taught by him both the curative arts, and the passion for doing -good to their fellow-men, which ought to be the condition of their -exercise and practice. He won the respect of the Japanese, but his -ardent pursuit of knowledge brought him into great peril. - -In 1828 he was about to return to Europe, laden with scientific -treasures, when he was suddenly seized and imprisoned for having -procured access to an official map of the Empire, in order to improve -his knowledge of its topography. His imprisonment lasted thirteen -months. At last he was liberated, and ordered to do what he was just -about to do when arrested. (SIEBOLD, says his biographer, _kam mit der -Verbannung davon_.) But his banishment was not perpetual. In 1859, he -returned. He won favour and employment from the then Tycoon. He returned -to his birthplace in 1862, and died there in October, 1866. - -Of his second library, Mr. WATTS wrote thus:—‘The collection of Japanese -books was one of two formed by Dr. VON SIEBOLD during his residence in, -and visits to, Japan. The first of these collections, which is now at -Leyden, and of which a catalogue was published in 1845, was long -considered as beyond comparison the finest of its kind out of Japan and -China; but the second, now in the Museum, is much superior. That at -Leyden comprises five hundred and twenty-five works, that in London one -thousand and eighty-eight works, in three thousand four hundred and -forty-one volumes. It contains specimens of every class of literature: -cyclopædias, histories, law-books, political pamphlets, novels, plays, -poetry, works on science, on antiquities, on female costume, on cookery, -on carpentry, and on dancing. It abounds in works illustrative of the -topography of Japan, as, for instance, one, in twenty volumes, on the -secular capital Yeddo, and two, in eleven volumes, on the religious -capital Miaco; collections of views of Yeddo and of the volcano -Fusiyama, &c. &c. There are also several dictionaries of European -languages, testifying to the eagerness with which the Japanese now -pursue that study. The Museum was already in possession of a second -edition of an English dictionary published at Yeddo in 1866, in which -the lexicographer, HORI TATSNOSKAY, observes in the preface, “As the -study of the English language is now becoming general in our country, we -have had for some time the desire to publish a pocket dictionary of the -English and Japanese languages, as an assistance to our scholars,” and -adds that the first edition is “entirely sold out.” These dictionaries -may now assist Europeans to study the language of Japan, and it is -believed that the Japanese Library now in the Museum will afford -unequalled opportunities for the study of its literature.’ - -This was the last sentence in the last official report which Mr. WATTS -lived to write, for the purpose of being laid before Parliament. He died -on the ninth of September, 1869, at the age of fifty-nine. His post was -not filled up until the end of December, when he was succeeded by Mr. -William Brenchley RYE, who was then Senior Assistant-Keeper in the -Department of Printed Books. Mr. RYE is well known in literature. He has -edited, with great ability, several works of early travel for the useful -‘Hakluyt Society,’—an employment which he has often shared with his -friends and Museum colleagues Messrs. Winter JONES and Richard Henry -MAJOR, and with like honourable distinction in its performance. More -recently, he has increased his reputation by a book which has been -largely read, and which well deserves its popularity—_England as seen by -Foreigners_. This work was published in 1865. - - - - - CHAPTER VII. - RECONSTRUCTORS AND PROJECTORS. - - ‘What do we, as a nation, care about books? How much do you think we - spend altogether on our Libraries, public or private, as compared with - what we spend on our horses? If a man spends lavishly on his Library, - you call him mad,—a Bibliomaniac. But you never call any one a - Horse-maniac, though men ruin themselves every day by their losses, - and you do not hear of people ruining themselves by their books. Or, - to go lower still, how much do you think the contents of the - bookshelves of the United Kingdom, public and private, would fetch, as - compared with the contents of its wine-cellars.’— - - RUSKIN, _Sesame and Lilies_, pp. 75–77. - - _The various Projects and Plans proposed, at different times, for the - Severance, the Partial Dispersion, and the Rearrangement, of the - several integral Collections which at present form_ ‘The British - Museum.’ - - -[Sidenote: GROSLEY’S IDEA OF SEVERING THE MUSEUM COLLECTIONS, 1765.] - -The first reconstructor, in imagination, of the British Museum on the -plan of severing the literature from the scientific collections, was a -speculative and clever Frenchman, Peter John GROSLEY, who visited it -within less than six years of its being first opened to public -inspection. GROSLEY expressed great admiration for much that he saw, and -he also criticised some of the arrangements that seemed to him -defective, with freedom but with courtesy. Some of my readers will -probably think that he hit a real blot, at that time, when he said: ‘The -Printed Books are the weakest part of this immense collection. The -building cannot contain such a Library as England can form and ought to -form for the ornament of its capital. It has a building quite ready in -the “Banquetting-House” [at Whitehall], and that building could be -enlarged from time to time as occasion might require.’ - -Other writers, at various periods, have advocated the severance of -collections which seemed to them too multifarious to admit of full, -natural, and equable development, in common. There is perhaps no -apparent reason, on the surface, why a great Nation should not be able -to enlarge the most varied public collections as effectively, and as -impartially, within one building, as within half a dozen buildings. Nor -does there seem to be any necessary connection between the wise and -liberal government of public collections, and their severance or -division into many buildings, rather than their combination within a -single structure. Nevertheless it is certain that many thinkers have, by -some process or other, reached the conclusion that severance would -favour improvement. - -[Sidenote: MR. WATTS’ PROPOSITION FOR THE SEVERANCE OF THE MUSEUM - COLLECTIONS, 1837.] - -Seventy years after GROSLEY wrote, Thomas WATTS revived the proposition -of dividing the contents of the British Museum, but he revived it in a -new form. His idea was to remove the Antiquities and to retain at -Montagu House both the Libraries and the Natural History Collections. -‘The pictures have been removed,’ wrote Mr. WATTS in 1837, ‘why should -not the statues follow? The collections at the Museum would then remain -of an entirely homogeneous character. It would be exclusively devoted to -conveying literary information; while the collection at the National -Gallery would have for its object to refine and cultivate the taste.’ - -It was not by any oversight that Mr. WATTS spoke of the ‘homogeneity’ of -Manuscripts, Printed Books, and Natural-History Collections. He (at the -time) meant what he said. [Sidenote: Watts, in _Mechanics’ Magazine_, -vol. xxvi, pp. 295, seqq.] But I doubt if the naturalists would feel -flattered by the reason which he gives in illustration of his opinion. -‘The various curiosities accumulated at the Museum might be considered,’ -he continues, ‘as a vast assemblage of _book-plates_, serving to -illustrate and elucidate the literature of the Library.’ - -Be that as it may, the idea of removing either the Antiquities or the -Printed Books has long ceased to be mooted. All who now advocate -severance advise, I think, that the Natural History Collections should -be removed, and none other than those. But hitherto the idea of -severance, in any shape, has been uniformly repudiated both by Royal -Commissions of Inquiry, and by Parliamentary Committees. The question, -however, is sure to be revived, and that speedily. Ere long it must -needs receive a final parliamentary solution—aye or no. - - -In this chapter I shall endeavour to state,—and as I hope with -impartiality,—the main reasons which have been severally adduced, both -by those who advocate a severance, and by those who recommend the -continuance of the existing union of all the varied and vast Collections -now at Bloomsbury. There can be no better introduction of the subject -than that which will be afforded by putting before the reader, on the -one hand, a detailed and well-considered plan which contemplated the -maintenance of the Museum as it is; and, on the other, the elaborate -report in favour of transferring the scientific collections to a new -site,—in order to gain ample space at Bloomsbury for a great Museum of -Literature and Archæology, such as should be in every point of view -worthy of the British Empire,—which was approved of by a Treasury Minute -more than eight years ago. - - -Of the several schemes and projects of extension which rest on the -twofold basis of (1) the retention at Bloomsbury of nearly all the -existing collections, with ample space for their prospective increase, -and (2) such an effective internal re-arrangement of the collections -themselves as would greatly increase the public facilities of access and -study, none better deserves the attention of the reader than that which -was submitted in the first instance to the Trustees of the British -Museum, and subsequently to Parliament (in 1860) by Mr. Edmund OLDFIELD, -then a Senior Assistant in the Department of Antiquities, entrusted (in -succession to Mr. C. T. NEWTON, on his proceeding to Greece) with the -charge of the Greek and Roman Galleries. By this plan it is proposed to -erect on the west side of the Museum a new range of Galleries for Greek -and Roman Antiquities. The façade in Charlotte Street—prolonged to the -house No. 4 in Bedford Square—would extend to about 440 feet in length, -with an usual depth of 140, increased at the southern extremity to 190 -feet. This new range would provide for the whole of the present Greek, -Roman, Phœnician, and Etruscan Antiquities, and for considerable -augmentations. To Assyrian Antiquities would be assigned the present -Elgin Gallery, the ‘Mausoleum Room,’ and the ‘Hellenic Room,’ together -with two other rooms—gained in part by new adaptations of space -comprised within the existing buildings. [Sidenote: MR. OLDFIELD’S -PROJECT OF RECONSTRUCTION OF THE GALLERIES OF ANTIQUITIES (1858–1860).] -The rooms now devoted to the Antiquities of Kouyunjik and Nimroud would -then be applied to the reception of Egyptian Antiquities, together with -a room to be constructed on the site of the present principal staircase. -The Lycian Gallery would retain its site, with an enlargement westward. -I quote Mr. OLDFIELD’S own descriptive account of his project, in full, -from the Appendix to the _Minutes of Evidence_ of 1860. - -[Sidenote: ENTRANCE HALL.] - - I. _Entrance Hall._—On the north side is a staircase, such as - suggested by Mr. PANIZZI, forming the access to the galleries of - Natural History. - -[Sidenote: PRIVATE ROOM FOR SCULPTURES.] - - II. Room for the first reception, unpacking, and examination of - sculptures, the consideration of such as are offered for purchase, the - cleaning and repairing of marbles and mosaics, and storing of - pedestals, mason’s apparatus, and machinery, &c. - -[Sidenote: FIRST EGYPTIAN ROOM.] - - III. _First Egyptian Room._—The present two staircases, and the wall - at the east end of the Assyrian Transept being removed, a handsome - entrance would be obtained to the galleries of Antiquities. The room - would be about seventy-six feet by thirty-five, and though not very - well lighted, might suffice for the monuments of the first twelve - dynasties of Egypt, at present in the northern vestibule and lobby, - which have no very artistic character. - -[Sidenote: SECOND EGYPTIAN ROOM.] - - IV. _Second Egyptian Room._—The monuments of the Eighteenth Dynasty - would here commence. Terminating the vista from the north would be the - head of Thothmes III, more advantageously seen than in its present - position, where it stands in front of a doorway, and exposed to a - cross light. - -[Sidenote: THIRD EGYPTIAN ROOM.] - - V. _Third Egyptian Room._—For smaller remains of the same period. The - alcoves should be removed, and a door opened on the north side. - -[Sidenote: FOURTH EGYPTIAN ROOM.] - - VI. _Fourth Egyptian Room._—To remedy the darkness of this room, an - opening should be made in the ceiling, inclosed by a balustrade in the - room above (_v._ Plan of Upper Floor), and covered with glass; whilst - the roof of this upper room should be lightened, at least in the - central compartment, by substituting glass for its present heavy - ceiling. The small space thus sacrificed in the floor of the upper - room would be a less serious loss than the virtual uselessness of so - large an apartment below. With the proposed improvement in the - lighting, the Fourth Egyptian Room would be well adapted for the - colossal monuments of Amenophis III; without it, the room could hardly - serve for any purpose but a passage. - -[Sidenote: FIFTH EGYPTIAN ROOM.] - - VII. _Fifth Egyptian Room._—In the middle would be arranged, in two - rows, the remaining sculptures of the Eighteenth and part of those of - the Nineteenth Dynasty. In the recesses between the pilasters might be - fixed wall-cases, which would rather improve than impair the - architectural effect of the room, and for which the light is well - adapted, the rays from the opposite windows striking sufficiently low - to obviate the shadow occasioned by shelves in rooms lighted from - above. Such cases would contain small objects from the Egyptian - collection now on the Upper Floor. - -[Sidenote: SIXTH EGYPTIAN ROOM.] - - VIII. _Sixth Egyptian Room._—This room, originally ill lighted, has - been further darkened by the new Reading-Room, erected within a few - yards of its windows. If, however, an opening were made in the ceiling - (as proposed for Room VI), and if the roof of the room above were - somewhat modified, light might be thrown both on the magnificent bust - of Rameses II and on the east wall of the room. The middle window in - that wall, which furnishes no available light, might then be blocked - up; and before it might stand the cast from the head of the colossus - at Abousimbul, now placed over a door in the northern vestibule, but - which ought, in any re-arrangement, to be united with the other - monuments of Rameses II, and which would finely terminate the vista, - looking from the west. - -[Sidenote: SEVENTH EGYPTIAN ROOM.] - - IX. _Seventh Egyptian Room._—Here would be the sculptures, both of the - native dynasties posterior to the Nineteenth, and of the Ptolemaic and - Roman periods, which at present occupy the southern Egyptian Gallery. - In the recesses between the pilasters might be wall-cases. - -[Sidenote: EIGHTH EGYPTIAN ROOM.] - - X. _Eighth Egyptian Room._—This, and the two succeeding rooms, would - be appropriated to smaller Egyptian remains. The light on the western - side of these rooms falls so nearly vertically, from the overshadowing - mass of building adjoining, that wall-cases would have their contents - completely thrown into shade by the shelves, or by the tops of the - cases. Objects in the middle of the room, on the other hand, would be - in uninterrupted light. It is, therefore, proposed to place against - the walls inscribed tablets, which are best seen under an acutely - striking light; painted plaster friezes, which, from their strong - colours and coarse execution, do not require much light; and framed - papyri, which are liable to injury from exposure to powerful light. - Along the centre of the room would be arranged mummies, and mummy - cases, in glass frames, with table-cases for scarabæi, and other small - objects, which are most conveniently exhibited on flat or sloping - surfaces. - -[Sidenote: NINTH EGYPTIAN ROOM.] - - XI. _Ninth Egyptian Room._—The thoroughfare is here too great for - objects to be conveniently arranged in the centre; but the walls might - be occupied as in the preceding room. - -[Sidenote: TENTH EGYPTIAN ROOM.] - - XII. _Tenth Egyptian Room._—To be arranged similarly to the Eighth. - -[Sidenote: SUMMARY OF ACCOMMODATION FOR EGYPTIAN ANTIQUITIES.] - - SUMMARY of the Accommodation provided in the plan for EGYPTIAN - ANTIQUITIES:— - - 1. The large sculptures would gain Rooms III, IV, and VI, in lieu of - the northern vestibule. - - 2. The inscribed tablets, which at present occupy the recesses of - Rooms VII, VIII, IX, containing four hundred and twenty-two linear - feet of wall-space, and the walls of the northern vestibule, - containing about eighty feet, or altogether about five hundred and two - feet, would share with the framed papyri and painted plaster friezes - the walls of Rooms III, IV, V, VI, VIII, X, XI, XII, containing - altogether about nine hundred and sixty feet. - - 3. The mummies, overcrowded in a room containing two thousand and - fourteen square feet of available open space, and the coffins in the - present ‘Egyptian Ante-room,’ would be arranged, with several table - cases, in Rooms X and XII, containing altogether about four thousand - and eighty square feet. - - 4. The small objects, now in wall-cases extending to two hundred and - thirty-seven feet of linear measurement, and in three table-cases, - would be arranged in wall-cases, extending to three hundred and - eighty-three feet, and in several table-cases, of which the exact - extent cannot be fixed. - - The additional space here provided for large Egyptian sculptures is - not so much needed for the present as is the case in some other - series; but the greater comparative difficulty of moving objects so - bulky makes it advisable to secure, as far as possible, the permanence - of any re-arrangement, by leaving room for the probable incorporations - of future years. The accommodation provided for smaller objects is - little more than they already require for advantageous display. - -[Sidenote: FIRST ASSYRIAN ROOM.] - - XIII. _First Assyrian or Nimroud Room._—This room, on the site of the - basement room, would be formed by demolishing the small room, with the - adjoining students’ room and staircase; by extending over their site - the glass roof of room; by throwing a floor, on a continuous level - with those of the adjoining galleries, and supported upon iron - pillars, over so much of room as is coloured brown in the plan; and by - carrying up thin partitions from this floor to the glass roof, so as - to inclose a new apartment. This apartment would, at the south end, - extend across the whole breadth of room, but elsewhere it would be - limited to a central space, nineteen feet wide, corresponding to the - present central compartment of room, so as to leave open an area of - ten feet wide on each side. The open areas would serve to light both - the whole room below, of which the central portion would be partially - obscured by the new structure, and also the rooms in the adjoining - basements, which, though no longer used for exhibition, might be - serviceable for other subordinate purposes. In one of the open areas - might be a private staircase to the basement. Room XIII would be - considerably loftier than the present ‘Nimroud Side Gallery,’ and it - would contain two thousand nine hundred and seventy superficial feet, - and three hundred and fourteen linear feet of wall-space, instead of - two thousand one hundred and seventy-six superficial feet, and two - hundred and seventy-eight feet of wall-space. In this new room would - be placed the earliest of the Assyrian monuments, those of - Sardanapalus I; at the south end those found in the two small temples - at Nimroud, including the colossal lion, the arched monolith and - altar, and the mythological figures from a doorway; in the northern - portion, the sculptures from the North-west Palace at Nimroud, - including the small winged lion and bull, now in room. - -[Sidenote: SECOND ASSYRIAN ROOM.] - - XIV. _Second Assyrian Room._—This would contain a continuation of the - series from Nimroud. On the west side the colossal winged lions now in - the western compartment of the Assyrian Transept, which would complete - the monuments of Sardanapalus I; in other parts of the room, the few - but important sculptures of Divanubara, Shammaz-Phal, and Pul, now - somewhat scattered for want of the requisite accommodation in room, - but for which there would here be ample space, and an advantageous - light. - -[Sidenote: THIRD ASSYRIAN ROOM.] - - XV. A proposed new room, to be entitled the _Third Assyrian or - Khorsabad Room_, the Assistant-Keeper’s study being removed, and - accommodation being provided for him elsewhere. The room might be - forty-seven feet by forty, about the same height as XIV, and similarly - lighted by a central skylight; beneath it would be a basement room for - the uses of the establishment. Room XV would contain, first, the - bas-reliefs of Tiglathpileser II from the South-west edifice of - Nimroud; and secondly, the Khorsabad collection, or monuments of - Sargina, which is next in chronological order to the Nimroud - collection. The two colossal bulls of Sargina are marked in the plan - as facing each other, an arrangement common at Khorsabad. Deducting - space for the bulls, upwards of eighty linear feet of wall-surface - would remain in the room, which is considerably more than the - bas-reliefs of Tiglathpileser and Sargina require. The new building - would necessarily obscure some of the windows of the adjoining - basement, but this is of minor importance; and the evil might be - diminished on the western and southern side, by leaving open spaces in - the floor behind each of the colossal bulls. Between the bulls would - be a passage to - -[Sidenote: FOURTH ASSYRIAN ROOM.] - - XVI. _Fourth Assyrian or Sennacherib Room._—Here would be the first - part of the collection discovered at Koyunjik, the monuments of - Sennacherib, now inconveniently divided, and arranged partly in the - ‘Koyunjik Gallery,’ and partly in the ‘Assyrian Basement Room.’ These - monuments consist, almost entirely, of bas-reliefs, extending as at - present arranged, to about three hundred and fifty-one feet (two - hundred and eight on the ground floor, and one hundred and forty-three - in the basement). In a lofty and wide room, however, such as XVI, an - upper row of bas-reliefs might be introduced over many of the smaller - slabs, now arranged in a single row only; by this means the sculptures - of Sennacherib might all be included on the east, west, and north - sides of the room, containing three hundred and seventeen linear feet - of wall-space, leaving the south side, or twenty-seven feet, for - sculptures of Sardanapalus III, the last monarch of the Assyrian - series. In the centre of the room would be glass cases for the - numerous tablets, cylinders, and other small objects of this - collection, which it is most instructive to exhibit in connection with - the sculptures. The only architectural alteration desirable in the - room would be to open skylights in the lateral portion of the roof, - and to close those in the central, in order to obtain a sharper light, - upon the principle so successfully adopted in the present ‘Nimroud - Side Gallery.’ - -[Sidenote: FIFTH ASSYRIAN ROOM.] - - XVII. _Fifth Assyrian Room._—Here would be the continuation of the - monuments of Sardanapalus III, which conclude the Assyrian department; - they are at present divided like those of Sennacherib, and part - exhibited in the ‘Koyunjik Gallery,’ part in the basement room; - altogether they now extend to three hundred and seventy-three feet; - but as the greater part might, in Room XVII, be very well arranged in - double rows, and some of those in single rows might, without injury, - be less widely spread, two hundred and twenty-five feet would suffice - for their exhibition; of this space twenty-seven feet would be - supplied by Room XVI, and the remainder by XVII. The centre of the - room should be appropriated as the preceding, and the lighting - similarly modified. - -[Sidenote: SUMMARY OF ACCOMMODATION FOR ASSYRIAN ANTIQUITIES.] - - ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ - │ SUMMARY OF THE ACCOMMODATION PROVIDED IN THE PLAN FOR ASSYRIAN │ - │ ANTIQUITIES. │ - ├──────────────────────────────────┬──────────────────────────────────┤ - │ _Amount of Wall-space now in use │_Amount of Wall-space in the Plan │ - │ for Assyrian Bas-reliefs._ │ for Assyrian Bas-reliefs._ │ - │ │Linear│ │Linear│ - │ │feet. │ │feet. │ - │Nimroud Side Gallery │ 278│Room XIII │ 314│ - │Nimroud Central Saloon │ 82│Room XIV │ 95│ - │Assyrian Transept │ 125│Room XV │ 145│ - │Koyunjik Gallery │ 242│Room XVI │ 344│ - │Assyrian Basement Room │ 243│Room XVII │ 199│ - │ │ ———│ │ —————│ - │ │ 970│ │ 1,097│ - │Bas-reliefs in the middle │ │ │ │ - │ of Basement Room │ 254│ │ │ - │ │ —————│ │ │ - │ │ 1,224│ │ │ - └───────────────────────────┴──────┴───────────────────────────┴──────┘ - - It thus appears that the wall-space provided in the plan, though one - hundred and twenty-seven feet more than the wall-space in the existing - rooms, falls short by one hundred and twenty-seven feet of the total - linear extent of the bas-reliefs, as now arranged. In lieu, however, - of placing slabs in the middle of a gallery, as is done in the - basement room, and as it would likewise be possible to do in XVI or - XVII, it is thought better, in these last rooms, to provide the - additional space by simply carrying up the slabs to a greater height. - - The space for central cases for small objects, which is at present - four thousand and eighty square feet in rooms would be eight thousand - one hundred and seventy square feet in Rooms XVI and XVII, an amount - so abundant as to supersede the necessity for any wall-cases. - - The accommodation here provided for Assyrian antiquities is little - more in quantity, though much better in quality, than the present. But - this is nearly the only branch of the archæological collections to - which there seems little probability of future additions. If, contrary - to expectation, any such should be made, a supplemental room might be - built on the vacant space to the north of the Assyrian galleries. - -[Sidenote: PERSIAN ROOM.] - - XVIII. _Persian Room._—The sculptures to be here exhibited, which are - all bas-reliefs, would probably not occupy more than half the - wall-space, which is forty-seven linear feet. They belong chiefly to - the sixth century, B.C., and properly therefore succeed the Assyrian, - which range from the tenth to the seventh century, B.C. - -[Sidenote: LYCIAN GALLERY.] - - XIX. _Lycian Gallery._—It is intended to reserve this room for the - monuments peculiarly characteristic of Lycia, and to transfer to the - Greek galleries those in which the Greek element is predominant; such - as, particularly, the sculptures of the Ionic trophy monument or - _heroum_ from Xanthus, now scattered over the room, and, if necessary, - the casts from the rock tomb at Myra. This would leave abundant space - for the purely Lycian remains. The harpy tomb, of which the - bas-reliefs furnish a very important illustration of archaic Greek - art, might best be placed in an isolated position near the entrance to - the Greek galleries, where it would be favourably lighted and - conspicuously seen. Its present place might be filled by the rude - sarcophagus with sculptures of lions. The lighting of the Lycian room, - which is very defective, should be improved by an alteration in the - roof; but it is thought better not to enter into the details of such - alteration in the present paper. - -[Sidenote: FIRST GREEK ROOM.] - - XX. _First Greek or Inscription Room._—The room beneath this being - supposed to be withdrawn from exhibition, the staircase at the west - end should be separated by a partition, and entered through a private - door. All Greek inscriptions, except the sepulchral, and such as are - engraved on architectural or sculptural monuments, would be here - collected. - - At this point the new buildings commence with— - -[Sidenote: SECOND GREEK ROOM.] - - XXI. _Second Greek or Branchidæ Room_, thirty feet by twenty-four.—The - height both of this and the four succeeding rooms should be about - twenty feet. This would contain the earliest Greek sculptures, of - which the principal are those procured by Mr. NEWTON from Branchidæ. - The ten seated statues would be arranged on each side, as in the - ‘Sacred Way’ at that place, and the recumbent inscribed lion and the - sphinx placed at the end of the room. - -[Sidenote: THIRD GREEK ROOM.] - - XXII. _Third Greek Room_, twenty-four feet by seventeen.—This would - contain other archaic works, including the casts from Selinus. - -[Sidenote: FOURTH GREEK ROOM.] - - XXIII. _Fourth Greek or Æginetan Room_, thirty-eight feet by - twenty-four.—Here would be fixed, in two recesses, the restorations of - the two pedimental groups from Ægina, which are exactly of the length - of this room, and which might be placed at a more convenient level for - examination than their present elevated position in room. - -[Sidenote: FIFTH GREEK ROOM.] - - XXIV. _Fifth Greek Room_, seventeen feet by twenty-four.—On a - pedestal, facing the great Greek gallery, might stand the semi-archaic - Apollo, from Byzantium. - -[Sidenote: SIXTH GREEK ROOM.] - - XXV. _Sixth Greek or Phigaleian Room_, thirty-eight feet by - twenty-four.—Here would be the casts from the Temple of Theseus, and - the sculptures and casts from the Temple of Wingless Victory, both of - the middle of the fifth century, B.C.; also the Phigaleian collection, - which is a somewhat later production of the same school. The friezes, - arranged in two rows, would just fill the room. - -[Sidenote: SEVENTH GREEK ROOM.] - - XXVI. _Seventh Greek or Parthenon Room._—Here would commence the grand - suite of galleries for large sculptures, of which the general breadth - would be forty-two feet, and the height from thirty to thirty-five - feet. By its side would run a secondary suite, twenty feet wide, and - from fifteen to twenty feet high, for minor specimens, of which the - interest generally is rather archæological than artistic. These latter - objects are both more conveniently classified, and more favourably - seen, in small rooms; if placed in large galleries, beside grand - monumental works, they lose importance themselves, whilst they fritter - away the effect of what is really more valuable. The Seventh Greek - Room, which is two hundred and forty-one feet long, would contain only - the remains of the Parthenon; which might be arranged as indicated in - the Plan, so as at once to keep the pedimental groups and the frieze - from interfering with each other, and to distinguish, more accurately - than is now done, the original connection or disconnection of the - several slabs of the frieze. As we possess the entire frieze from the - east end of the temple, and casts of the entire frieze from the west, - these two are here arranged opposite each other, towards the middle of - the two side walls of the room. On either side are the slabs from the - north and south flanks of the temple, which are mostly disconnected. - In front of the casts from the west is a proposed full-sized model of - part of the entablature, supported by one original and five restored - capitals, with the upper parts of their shafts, and incorporating ten - of the metopes, so as to explain their original combination with the - architecture. The total height of this model might be about eighteen - feet. The metopes not included in it should be attached to the wall - opposite, over the frieze. The finest of the pedimental groups would - face the grand entrance from the Lycian Gallery, through which the - whole might be seen in one view, from any distance less than - forty-eight feet. If it were desired to retain the two small models of - the Parthenon in the room, they might stand near the south end. - -[Sidenote: EIGHTH GREEK ROOM.] - - XXVII. _Eighth Greek or Erechtheum Room_, sixty-five feet by - twenty-six, for monuments of the era between Phidias and Scopas, of - which the principal are the remains of the Erechtheum. - -[Sidenote: NINTH GREEK ROOM.] - - XXVIII. _Ninth Greek, or Mausoleum Room_, one hundred and twenty feet - in length, forty-two in breadth, and eighty across the transept.—Here - would be, 1. The marbles procured by Lord STRATFORD and Mr. NEWTON, - from the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus; in the west transept, the group - from the _quadriga_, and in the southern part of the room the other - important sculptural and architectural remains of the building, - including the frieze. 2. In the east transept, the colossal lion from - Cnidus, with a few other sculptures of the same school. 3. In the - northern part of the room, the Xanthian Ionic monument, here placed - for comparison with the remains of the Mausoleum. The whole upper - portion of this monument, commencing with the higher of the two - friezes which surrounded the original base, might be reconstructed, - though not restored, and would form a striking termination to the - vista through the galleries. The lower frieze might be arranged - against the adjoining walls of the room. - -[Sidenote: TENTH GREEK ROOM.] - - XXIX. _Tenth Greek Room._—Having thus passed through the great - monumental series of Greek sculptures in chronological order, the - visitor would return south by the side rooms, containing minor remains - of the same school. The Tenth Greek Room would be forty-two feet by - twenty, and would contain the latest of the smaller sculptures. - -[Sidenote: ELEVENTH GREEK ROOM.] - - XXX. _Eleventh Greek Room_, thirty-three feet by twenty.—This should - be appropriated to the small fragments from the Mausoleum, which would - thus be in immediate connection with its larger sculptures, without - impairing their grandeur of effect. - -[Sidenote: TWELFTH AND THIRTEENTH GREEK ROOMS.] - - XXXI, XXXII. _Twelfth and Thirteenth Greek Rooms_, together one - hundred and thirty-five feet in length and twenty in breadth.—The - exact position of the wall separating these rooms might be reserved - till the arrangement of their contents was settled. In one might be - architectural fragments, from buildings not represented in the large - galleries; in the other, small tablets, votive offerings, altars, and - other minor sculptures. - -[Sidenote: FOURTEENTH GREEK ROOM.] - - XXXIII. _Fourteenth Greek or Sepulchral Room_, ninety-three feet by - eighteen.—Here would be all the Greek sepulchral monuments now in the - basement. The casts from the sculptured tomb at Myra, of which the - style is more Greek than Lycian, might also be here placed, as - indicated in the plan, in case it should be thought desirable to - remove them from the Lycian Room, though the expediency of this - transfer may perhaps be doubted. Wherever placed, these casts ought to - be so put together as to explain the true arrangement of the - originals. - - [Then follows a Summary of the Accommodation provided in the Plan for - Greek Sculptures, amounting to a superficial area of twenty-seven - thousand four hundred and ten square feet, and to two thousand one - hundred and ninety-one lineal feet of wall-space.] - -[Sidenote: ETRUSCAN ROOM.] - - XXXIV. _Etruscan Room._—The next parallel on the ground floor would be - devoted to the monuments of ancient Italy. The earliest are the - Etruscan, which, being altogether taken from tombs, would properly be - placed adjacent, on the one side to the Greek, on the other to the - Roman, sepulchral collections. The principal portion of the Etruscan - Room would be fifty-five feet by forty, with additional recesses at - the south end, the whole about twenty feet high. Two rows of pilasters - would divide the room into three compartments, the central for the - gangway, the other two to be fitted up as a series of tombs, of which - the sides would be formed of the mural restorations, with fac-similes - of paintings from Corneto and Vulci. Within these restored tombs would - be such sarcophagi as we possess, found in the tombs themselves. The - fac-similes of the painted roofs of two of the tombs might be fixed - above them, at such a height as not to obstruct the light. In the - central compartment, which contains six shallow recesses between the - pilasters, might be monuments from various tombs other than those here - restored. - - XXXV. _Staircase Room_, forty feet by thirty, and of the same height - as the three united stories of the western galleries.—Four successive - flights of steps would be required to reach each floor. The landings - between the first and second, and between the third and fourth - flights, might each be supported by Caryatid or Atlantic figures, - which would give the whole composition an ornamental effect, as seen - from the east side. Beneath one side of this staircase might be a - private one leading to the western basement. - - To the north is another private staircase, conducting to the basement - under the Greek galleries. The adjoining passage leads to— - -[Sidenote: FIRST GRÆCO-ROMAN ROOM.] - - XXXVI. _First Græco-Roman Room._—The Etruscan monuments are succeeded - chronologically by the Græco-Roman, here placed so as to adjoin the - galleries both of Greek and of Roman art. In accordance with the - character of Græco-Roman sculpture, the apartments containing it - should be somewhat ornamentally constructed and arranged, as in the - great continental museums, where works of this class form the staple - of the collections. The position of the principal objects in all this - series of rooms is marked in the plan, without distinguishing them - individually, as none are of such a character as to require any - special architectural provision. The first room is one hundred and six - feet by twenty-six, exclusive of the alcoves. Its height need not, for - the display of statuary, exceed twenty feet; but if, for architectural - effect, a vaulted ceiling is preferred, the height must be increased. - In the Braccio Nuovo, in the Vatican Museum, which is probably the - finest gallery of this kind in Europe, and has a cylindrical vault, - with a central skylight, the proportion of height to breadth is about - thirty-seven feet to twenty-seven; but in the darker climate of London - the height should not, if possible, exceed the breadth. - -[Sidenote: SECOND GRÆCO-ROMAN ROOM.] - - XXXVII. _Second Græco-Roman Room, or Rotunda_, sixty feet in diameter, - and about sixty feet high in the centre, being surmounted by a - hemispherical dome.—This room is, with slight variations, and on a - somewhat smaller scale, a copy of the Rotunda in the Museum of Berlin, - an apartment universally admired for its architectural beauty, and - only defective as a hall for sculpture from the unnecessary smallness - of the central skylight. The entablature over the columns would - support a gallery, opening into the first floor of the western - buildings. - -[Sidenote: THIRD GRÆCO-ROMAN ROOM.] - - XXXVIII. _Third Græco-Roman Room_, similar to the first, but only one - hundred and one feet long, exclusive of the northern alcove. - - The spaces between the lateral alcoves on the east side of the First - and Third Græco-Roman Rooms might either be covered with glass, or - left open for ventilation, though the second arrangement would involve - a provision for the drainage below. - -[Sidenote: SUMMARY OF ACCOMMODATION FOR GRÆCO-ROMAN SCULPTURES.] - - The amount of accommodation for Græco-Roman sculptures cannot, from - the form of the rooms, be stated with the same exactness as that for - the Greek. Exclusive of the alcoves, there would be in the— - - ┌─────────────────┬─────────────────┬─────────────────┐ - │ │Superficial Area.│ Length of │ - │ │ │ Wall-space. │ - │First Galley │2,756 square │ 180 linear │ - │ │ feet. │ feet. │ - │Third Gallery │2,626 „ │ 152 „ │ - │ │————— │ ——— │ - │ │5,382 „ │ 332 „ │ - └─────────────────┴─────────────────┴─────────────────┘ - - The Rotunda would not have available space in proportion to its size. - Twelve statues or busts between the columns, and perhaps a large - sculpture in the centre, would be the natural complement of the room. - The wall-space behind the columns would not be available for - sculpture. The total accommodation in the three rooms would amply - suffice for our present collection, even somewhat enlarged. [Sidenote: - MEANS OF FUTURE ENLARGEMENT.] As it increased, however, further space - might be obtained by erecting in the first and third rooms transverse - walls, opposite the alcoves in the Roman galleries, thus subdividing - the first room into three principal compartments, with a small lobby - at each end, and the third into three compartments (of which the most - northern would need some modification), with a lobby at the south end. - The doorways through these walls might be twelve feet wide, so as to - preserve the continuous appearance of the suite; and they would still - leave one hundred and twelve feet of additional wall-space in the - first room, and eighty-four in the third. The lighting would be - somewhat improved by such an alteration. - -[Sidenote: WESTERN GALLERIES.] - - The last suite of galleries on the ground floor would contain the - Roman and Phœnician remains. To avoid any obscuration from the houses - on the west side of Charlotte Street, the windows should be as high in - the wall as possible, and as broad as architectural propriety would - admit, whilst the rooms should be not less than twenty-five feet high. - -[Sidenote: FIRST ROMAN ROOM.] - - XXXIX. _First Roman Room_, one hundred and ten feet by twenty-eight, - exclusive of the alcoves.—It would contain mosaics, including those - from Carthage, and miscellaneous sculptures, altars, architectural - fragments, &c.; the mosaics indifferently placed on all sides of the - room, the sculptures on the east side and against the two end walls. - -[Sidenote: HALL.] - - XL. _Hall_, fifty-six feet by seventeen.—Here might be an entrance - from Charlotte Street, which on many occasions would furnish a - convenient relief to the principal entrance to the Museum. It would - open immediately into the Rotunda, and through the vista beyond would - be seen, in the distance, the cast of the colossal head from - Abousimbul. Within the two abutments of the Rotunda would be recesses - for the attendants to sell catalogues, receive umbrellas, &c. - -[Sidenote: SECOND ROMAN ROOM.] - - XLI. _Second Roman or Iconographical Room_, fifty-four feet by - twenty-eight, without the alcoves.—This would contain the series of - portrait statues and busts, in chronological order. The west, or dark - side of the room, could only be used for very inferior sculptures. - -[Sidenote: THIRD ROMAN ROOM.] - - XLII. _Third (or Anglo-) Roman Room_, the same size as the preceding, - for Roman monuments found in this country. The rude character of many - would admit of placing them on the west side. - -[Sidenote: FOURTH ROMAN ROOM.] - - XLIII. _Fourth Roman or Sepulchral Room_, eighty-two feet by - twenty-six, containing Roman sarcophagi for which the west side might - be partially available, and sepulchral cippi, and inscriptions. At the - north-east angle would be a Columbarium, twenty-three feet by - fourteen, fitted up like that in the present Sepulchral Basement Room, - but with the advantage of a skylight. - - [Then follows a Summary of Accommodation provided in the plan for - Roman Sculptures, amounting to a superficial area (without alcoves) of - eight thousand five hundred and fifty-eight square feet, and seven - hundred and seventeen linear feet of wall-space.] - -[Sidenote: MEANS OF FUTURE ENLARGEMENT.] - - The first three rooms, when their contents sufficiently increased, - would admit of an easy alteration, which would not merely increase the - wall-space, but much improve the lighting, by simply inserting - transverse walls between each window. Against these walls the - sculptures would have a true side light, whilst those against the east - wall would be protected from double lights. It may even be doubted - whether such an arrangement should not be adopted in the first - instance, without waiting till the additional accommodation is - actually required. - -[Sidenote: PHŒNICIAN ROOM.] - - XLIV. _Phœnician Room_, twenty-six feet square.—Here would be the - _stelæ_ and bas-reliefs from Carthage and its vicinity, with the few - Punic inscriptions which we possess. The room contains six hundred and - seventy-six superficial feet, and eighty-eight of wall-space. - -[Sidenote: SUPPLEMENTAL ROOM.] - - XLV. A similar room to the preceding, which, in case of necessity, - might serve for extending the Phœnician collection. In the mean time - it might perhaps be used for exhibiting such miscellaneous inferior - sculptures as could be advantageously weeded from the regular series, - though circumstances might temporarily prevent their removal from the - Museum. In such case it might be entitled ‘Supplemental Room.’ - - In accordance with a suggestion made in the Committee now sitting, the - writer has added to the new buildings proposed in his plan another - story, or second floor, over the first. The advantage of this is, that - it would provide for objects which it might be more costly or - inconvenient to accommodate elsewhere. But it involves necessarily two - evils: [Sidenote: PLAN OF UPPER FLOORS. ADVANTAGES AND EVILS OF A - SECOND STORY.] 1. That the height of the second floor, involving an - ascent of perhaps nearly one hundred steps (though this is not more - than is common in continental museums), might excite complaint in - English visitors. 2. That so lofty a building, by excluding all - oblique rays from the east side of the Græco-Roman galleries, would - make the light on the statues and busts there placed somewhat too - vertical. - -[Sidenote: COLLECTIONS RETAINED OR REMOVED.] - - With regard to the collections to be provided for on the upper floors, - it is here assumed, though of course without any express authority, - that Ethnography and Oriental Antiquities would be removed from the - Museum, and better accommodated elsewhere. The British and Mediæval - Collections, however, are supposed to be retained; if they are - removed, a modification of this plan must in consequence be made. - -[Sidenote: FIRST FLOOR OR NEW BUILDINGS FOR ANTIQUITIES; ITS - CONSTRUCTION.] - - The apartments should all be about eighteen feet high, the windows of - the same breadth as those below, but, except in the Terracotta Room, - only about eight feet high, and as near the ceiling as possible. On - the east side should be corresponding windows, so that each wall would - be illuminated; for cross lights, though so injurious to sculptures, - are generally desirable for galleries filled with wall-cases. All the - windows should have ground glass, to prevent injury to the collections - from the sun. - -[Sidenote: VASE GALLERY.] - - 1. _Vase Gallery._—Two hundred and twenty-two feet long, the southern - half twenty-six feet wide, and the northern twenty-eight feet. The - wall-cases should be about eight feet high, like those in our First - Vase Room; and the transverse projections, flanked by pilasters, would - be only of the same height, so as not to shut out the view of the - upper part of the gallery; having glass on each side, they would serve - for vases with double paintings, such as we now exhibit only in dwarf - central cases. The most important vases should stand isolated on - tables, or pedestals, on each side the gangway; as in the present - arrangement of the Temple Collection. [Sidenote: ITS ACCOMMODATION.] - Although the superficial area of this gallery (five thousand nine - hundred and ninety-two feet) is little more than a third greater than - that occupied by vases in the present buildings (four thousand three - hundred and twenty-one feet), the amount of accommodation it would - afford is nearly double. For the present wall-cases, eight feet high, - extend to one hundred and forty-six feet of linear measurement; those - ten feet high will, when the collection is fully arranged, extend to - eighty-four feet; the whole therefore may be reckoned as equivalent to - two hundred and fifty-one feet of cases, eight feet high. The total - extent, however, of such wall-cases in the proposed gallery is four - hundred and fifty-five feet. The projections also, with the tables and - pedestals, may safely be estimated as providing twice the - accommodation for vases painted on both sides which is now furnished - by the dwarf central cases, besides exhibiting them much more - conveniently. It should be added that the vases would be better - lighted than at present; whilst the length and comparative openness of - the gallery would produce a more striking impression on the passing - visitor. - -[Sidenote: PROPOSED ETRUSCAN APARTMENT.] - - The accommodation here provided being so ample, it might be desirable - to appropriate one compartment of the gallery to an exclusively - Etruscan Collection, comprising not merely the pottery of the - Etruscans, properly so called, but that for which they were really - more distinguished in ancient times, their bronze and other metal - work. - -[Sidenote: TERRACOTTA ROOM.] - - 2. _Terracotta Room._—Fifty-six feet by seventeen. As no windows could - be made on the east side, there should be no cases on the west; but - the western windows, which do not correspond with the others of this - story, should extend from near the ceiling to four or five feet from - the floor. A sloping case might then be placed in each window, for - lamps and other small objects, requiring a strong light. Against the - east wall should be cases for vases, and other large objects. - -[Sidenote: GALLERY OF ROTUNDA.] - - 3. _Gallery of the Rotunda._—From one hundred and eighty to one - hundred and ninety feet in circumference, and about nine feet wide. - The powerful light from the centre of the dome would be favourable to - terracotta statuettes and bas-reliefs, which could all be contained in - shallow wall-cases, that would not materially narrow the gangway.[48] - The Townley Collection of bas-reliefs, now in the Second Vase Room, - might be arranged in panels all round, so as to produce a decorative - effect, agreeable to their original destination. - -[Sidenote: ACCOMMODATION FOR TERRACOTTAS.] - - The entire space provided in these two rooms is much more than our - terracottas can absolutely require; but this will facilitate an - ornamental arrangement of the collection, appropriate to the character - of the larger room. The small spaces between the Rotunda and the main - building would serve for closets. - -[Sidenote: GLASS ROOM.] - - 4. _Glass Room_, twenty-eight feet by twenty-six.—The fittings proper - for glass being different from those of terracottas, it is desirable - to give it a separate room. This should be similarly arranged to the - Vase Gallery, with wall-cases eight feet high, and table-cases in the - centre. - -[Sidenote: BRONZE GALLERY. ITS ACCOMMODATION.] - - 5. _Bronze Gallery_, three apartments united; together eighty-two feet - by twenty-eight.—As the advantage of a skylight for the bronze - statuettes is necessarily sacrificed by the adoption of an upper - floor, it would be best to place them, as far as possible, against - each side of the transverse projections, separating those sides by - internal partitions, and employing some contrivance to protect the - bronzes from the cross light of the further windows, an arrangement - possible with small objects in glass cases, though not with large - statuary. In the middle of the gallery might be table-cases, placed - longitudinally, or important objects on pedestals. The increase of - accommodation in the Bronze Gallery, as in the Vase Gallery, is more - than proportionate to the increase of space. Though the superficial - area is only two thousand two hundred and ninety-six feet, in lieu of - our present quantity, two thousand and twenty-one, the extent of - wall-cases, which now is only one hundred and thirty-eight feet, - would, even allowing doorways of twelve feet wide between each of - these compartments, be increased to two hundred and fifty feet, - equivalent, after allowing for the difference in height of the cases, - to two hundred feet. This, if the Etruscan bronzes were transferred as - already suggested, would liberally provide for the Greek and Roman - Collection. - -[Sidenote: SECOND FLOOR OF NEW BUILDINGS FOR ANTIQUITIES.] - - Each room should be fifteen to eighteen feet high; the windows - exclusively on the east side, and extending from the ceiling to four - or five feet from the floor. As the aspect is nearly N.E., the sun - could not be injurious, and the glass of the windows, therefore, had - better be unground. - -[Sidenote: BRITISH ROOMS.] - - 1. _British Rooms_, each twenty-seven feet by twenty-six.—That which - adjoins the staircase (and, if necessary, those on each side), should - be lighted from the roof, and have wall-cases all round, with a - separate case in the centre. The other rooms should have wall-cases on - the west side, and shallower cases against the transverse walls. Two - long table-cases in each room might extend from the windows to a line - with the doorway. - -[Sidenote: MEDIÆVAL ROOMS.] - -[Sidenote: SUMMARY OF ACCOMMODATION FOR BRITISH AND MEDIÆVAL.] - - 2. _Mediæval Rooms_, each twenty-eight feet by twenty-seven, and - similarly arranged to the British.—Though the entire superficial area - in the British and Mediæval Rooms is only five thousand and - seventy-two feet, in lieu of four thousand and forty-six, the amount - in the present building, yet the wall-space is four hundred and - sixty-six feet, instead of only two hundred and ninety-seven, and the - cases, having no windows above, might, if necessary, be made ten feet - high, like the present. The gain in table-cases would be much greater. - In lieu of six, there would be twelve, each sixteen or eighteen feet - long, instead of ten; whilst the central case in the room adjoining - the staircase might be at least as capacious as the large separate - case in the present British and Mediæval Room. The lighting would - throughout be more advantageous for these collections than at present; - and the rooms, from the character of the windows, might be bright - instead of gloomy. - -[Sidenote: GEM ROOM.] - - 3. _Gem Room._—As the contents of this and the succeeding room have - more or less intrinsic value, an iron door might be placed at the end - of the Mediæval Gallery, to be open only when the public are admitted - to the Museum. The Gem Room, twenty-eight feet by twenty-seven, would - be fitted like the preceding. The gems would occupy the table-cases, - which would accommodate a far larger collection than ours, and would - exhibit them in the best possible light for such objects. In the - wall-cases might be displayed the gold and silver ornaments, which - would have much more space than as now arranged, though in a room only - of the same size. - -[Sidenote: COIN AND MEDAL GALLERY.] - - 4. _Coin and Medal Gallery_, fifty-six feet by seventeen.—As the dome - of the Rotunda would only rise a few feet above the floor of this - gallery, and would, from its curvature, recede to a distance of - several feet, windows on the east side would be quite unobstructed. In - each might stand a table-case, six or seven feet long, on which would - be exhibited, under glass, a series of coins and medals which, though - not the most valuable of our collection in the eyes of a numismatist, - would suffice to give the public an interesting and instructive view - of the monetary art. In the drawers of these cases might be kept the - moulds and casts of the Coin Collection. Against the side walls might - be upright cases, or frames, for extending the exhibition; but the - walls facing the windows, having a front light, would be unsuitable - for coins or medals, and must be employed for some other purpose. - -[Sidenote: PRIVATE ROOMS OF COIN DEPARTMENT.] - - 5. The rooms which remain would be a private suite for the Coin - Department. The present rooms of that department are arranged in an - order the reverse of what is best for security and convenience, the - coins being kept in an outer room, which must be passed in going - either to the Keeper’s study, or to the Ornament Room, a room open to - all persons merely on application. In the accompanying plan the - contents of the Ornament Room have been transferred to the Gem Room; - and the Keeper’s study is placed near the beginning of the private - suite. - -[Sidenote: OUTER COIN ROOM.] - - _Outer Coin Room_, twenty-eight feet by twenty-seven, for the freer - exhibition of coins to properly introduced persons, for the use of - artists copying coins or other minute objects, and all other purposes - now served by the Medal Room, except the custody of the collection, - and work of the department. - -[Sidenote: INNER COIN ROOM.] - - _Inner Coin Room_, fifty-five feet by twenty-eight, secured by a - strong iron door, of which the Keeper, Assistant-Keeper, and - Principal-Librarian, would alone have keys.—In this room, to which - none but the departmental staff would be admitted, the coins and - medals would be preserved, arranged, and catalogued; they would be - carried hence by the officers into the Outer Room when required for - inspection. The room is somewhat more than half as large again as the - present Medal Room; and as the absence of visitors, and of the - barriers their presence now requires, would leave the whole space - free, there would be ample accommodation for any probable enlargement - of the collection. The library of the department might be arranged - partly in this, partly in the Outer Room. - - Of the apartments reserved as private, two are placed at the south end - of the first and second floors, and each of these might, if necessary, - be subdivided into two small studies, each twenty-six feet by - thirteen, for the use either of officers or students. [Sidenote: - PRIVATE ROOMS IN PLAN. OTHERS SUGGESTED.] Private rooms are, however, - required on the ground floor, to replace the female students’ room, - and the Assistant-Keeper’s study, proposed to be removed for the new - Nimroud and Khorsabad Galleries. The most effectual provision for - these and other wants would be one which has been suggested during the - present inquiry, namely, to transfer to the Department of Antiquities - the several rooms now occupied as the Trustees’ Room and adjoining - offices, and to remove the official establishment to new rooms to be - erected on the east side of the Museum. Should this be found - impracticable, the present Insect Room, and adjoining studies, might, - in the event of the transfer of this part of the Zoological Department - to the upper floor, furnish the required accommodation. In default of - both these alternatives, rooms might be constructed north of the new - Assyrian Galleries, though, in the opinion of the writer, this ground - should only be built over as a last resort. - -[Sidenote: USE OF BASEMENT.] - - The basement, both of the old and new buildings, would, though - unfitted for exhibition, and shut up from the public, be more or less - available for workshops, storing-places, retiring-rooms, &c. No part - of the existing basement would be made altogether useless, though the - rooms under the present Greek Galleries would all be somewhat - darkened. [Sidenote: LIGHTING OF BASEMENT.] The basement under the new - buildings may, with reference to lighting, be divided into three - classes:—1. The rooms under the first six or small Greek Rooms, the - south end of the Etruscan Room, and the north end of the Greek - Galleries, would all have ordinary windows, and be better lighted than - any part of the basement now used for the purposes mentioned. 2. The - rooms under the Roman Galleries, which would also have windows, would - be less well lighted than the preceding, being some feet below the - level of Charlotte Street, and being further somewhat obscured by the - grating over the area, and the parapet to screen it from passengers in - the street, which would both probably be thought necessary. 3. The - basement under the Græco-Roman, and greater part of the small Greek - Galleries, would receive a partial light from the openings between - them. To increase this, however, and to furnish the only light to the - basement under the Fourteenth Greek Room, and the apartments adjoining - its west side, panels of strong glass or open metal work might be - inserted at convenient places in the various floors, and serve rather - as an ornament to them. With the aid of some such arrangement, the - last-mentioned portions of the basement would serve as storing-rooms; - in default of it, they could merely be available for any apparatus - used in heating or ventilation. - - [Then follows a General Summary of Additional Space provided for the - Collections of Antiquities, amounting to a net addition of forty-one - thousand nine hundred and fifty-six square feet of superficial area.] - -[Sidenote: SUMMARY OF SPACE FOR ANTIQUITIES.] - - This is somewhat less than the additional space demanded in the - estimate supplied to the Committee by Mr. HAWKINS; but it supposes the - removal of the Oriental and Ethnographical Collections, which Mr. - HAWKINS, when considering only the existing department, and not the - question of its modification, included in its contents. - -[Sidenote: EXTRA SPACE.] - - In addition, however, to the space provided for the collections, the - new buildings would comprise about eight thousand six hundred feet on - the three principal floors, for studies, closets, staircases, &c. - -[Sidenote: SPACE IN BASEMENT.] - - The space in the basement it is unnecessary to estimate in detail, - being manifestly superabundant for its purpose. - -[Sidenote: SPACE TRANSFERRED TO NATURAL HISTORY.] - - The Plan of the Upper Floors shows the accommodation which might be - provided, upon the present scheme, for the Departments of Natural - History, by transferring to them the galleries and studies on that - floor now occupied by Antiquities, and constructing an upper room on - the site of the staircase, to unite the Central Saloon (Return 379, - Plan 18, No. 1), into which the new principal staircase would conduct, - with the galleries so transferred. The apportionment of the space - amongst the different collections of Natural History must be left to - more competent authorities than the present writer. He may, however, - add a few words on the general character of the apartments - comprehended in the transfer. [Sidenote: PUBLIC GALLERIES.] The public - galleries are similar to the present Zoological Galleries, not merely - in their structure, but in their fittings. The wall-cases, therefore, - might be available, without alteration, for the new collections; and - the central cases might either be retained for Natural History, or - removed to the new upper floors for Antiquities, as was found more - convenient. [Sidenote: STUDIES FOR OFFICERS AND STUDENTS.] The present - Medal and Ornament Rooms might serve for the use of students, whilst - the four private studies numbered 6, 7, 10, and 10 in Plan 18, would - be used by the officers. [Sidenote: SUGGESTION FOR INCREASING THOSE - FOR STUDENTS.] The rooms for students might, if necessary, be further - increased by a trifling alteration, in the event of the official - establishment being transferred to the east of the Museum. In place of - the closet adjoining the Medal Room, a private staircase might descend - by a few steps to the entresol below, the whole of which might then be - made an appendage to the upper, instead of the lower floor, and would - furnish two convenient rooms for students, over those numbered 4 and 6 - in Plan 17. The same staircase, falling in with one already existing - between the entresol and Secretary’s Office, would supply a private - communication between the upper and lower floors, in lieu of that - abolished for the construction of the First Egyptian Room (III, 69). - -[Sidenote: SUMMARY OF SPACE FOR NATURAL HISTORY.] - - The total area of the apartments transferred to Natural History may be - summarily stated thus:— - - ┌──────────────────────────────────┬─────────┬─────────┬─────────┐ - │ │ │ Without │ With │ - │ │ │Entresol.│Entresol.│ - ├──────────────────────────────────┼─────────┼─────────┼─────────┤ - │Public Galleries: │ │ │ │ - │ Present Galleries of Antiquities│ 19,185│ │ │ - │ Proposed room over III (69) │ 2,660│ │ │ - ├──────────────────────────────────┼─────────┼─────────┼─────────┤ - │ │ │ 21,845│ 21,845│ - │Students’ Working Rooms │ │ 1,749│ 3,168│ - │Officers’ Studies │ │ 868│ 868│ - │Closets, Passages, and Staircase │ │ 936│ 1,557│ - ├──────────────────────────────────┼─────────┼─────────┼─────────┤ - │ Total addition │ │ 25,398│ 27,438│ - └──────────────────────────────────┴─────────┴─────────┴─────────┘ - -[Sidenote: CONVENIENCE OF GIVING IT A DISTINCT FLOOR.] - - Independently of the increased accommodation, the advantage of - acquiring for Natural History the exclusive possession of the upper - floor is obvious and unquestionable, though the gain is not limited to - that department. By separating its galleries entirely from those of - Antiquities, the practical superintendence of each would be - simplified; one department would no longer be a necessary thoroughfare - to another; the confusion of ideas experienced by ordinary visitors - from the juxtaposition of collections so incongruous would be avoided; - and as each department would have a separate entrance, a facility - would be given for varying their periods or regulations of admission, - as the circumstances of each might at any time require; considerations - which must hereafter acquire increasing weight in proportion to the - increasing magnitude of the Museum. - -[Sidenote: ESTIMATE OF APPROXIMATE EXPENSE.] - - The ground immediately round the Museum, on the average of its three - sides, is valued in the Report of the Special Committee of Trustees - (twenty-sixth November, 1859), at about forty-three thousand five - hundred pounds per acre. [Sidenote: EXPENSE OF GROUND.] The houses in - Charlotte Street are inferior in character to those on the other two - sides, and might doubtless be purchased at a proportionately less - price; but the writer, being anxious to err only on the safe side, - assumes the average price as necessary. The ground proposed to be - taken is about four hundred and fifty feet long, by a breadth - generally of one hundred and fifty feet, but at the south end not - exceeding one hundred and ten feet; so that the total area is about - sixty-four thousand seven hundred square feet, or somewhat less than - an acre and a half. The price, therefore, may be set down at - sixty-five thousand pounds. - - Buildings are estimated in the same report to cost about two pounds - per square foot, reckoned upon the total internal area of the - principal floors, without the basement. This calculation is founded on - buildings consisting of a basement, a ground floor, and one upper - floor. [Sidenote: OF BUILDINGS.] The buildings proposed by the writer - are in one respect more costly than these, as their basements bear a - larger proportion to those floors on which the cost is calculated. But - in two other respects they are more economical:—1. Because they - include, in one part, a second floor, which swells the space from - which the expense is calculated, without involving any addition to the - basement. 2. Because some of the galleries on the ground floor are not - really separate buildings, but parts of a single block of buildings, - subdivided merely by partition walls. On the whole, therefore, the - estimate of two pounds per foot seems the safest basis of calculation. - - Now the quantity of internal area or floor space in the proposed new - buildings is— - - ┌────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ - │For the collections 71,760 square feet.│ - │For studies, staircases, &c. 8,600 „ │ - │ ______ │ - │Total 80,360 „ │ - └────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ - - This gives, therefore, one hundred and sixty thousand seven hundred - and twenty pounds for buildings, which, added to sixty-five thousand - pounds for ground, would amount to two hundred and twenty-five - thousand seven hundred and twenty pounds. A further sum must be added - for alterations of the existing building, particularly for the removal - and reconstruction of the staircase, and the formation of the two - rooms described as III (69) and XIII (15). Assuming the expense of - these alterations, quite conjecturally, at ten thousand pounds, the - total cost would be two hundred and thirty-five thousand seven hundred - and twenty pounds. The largeness of the valuation allowed for the - ground gives reason to believe that the actual expense of ground and - buildings would not exceed, and might probably fall short of, this - estimate. - -[Sidenote: MEANS OF FUTURE EXTENSION.] - - [In concluding his remarks on this plan of reconstruction, Mr. - OLDFIELD points out that if ever hereafter further extensions should - be required, they might be obtained without material disturbance of - the proposed galleries. [Sidenote: _Appendix to Minutes of Evidence_, - 1860, pp. 245, _ad fin_.] For Antiquities, one or more additional - houses might be purchased either in Bedford Square, commencing with - No. 4, or in Charlotte Street, commencing with No. 3. The former would - be required for the prolongation of the Greek, Græco-Roman, or Roman - Galleries; the latter for the Etruscan or Phœnician. For the minor - collections on the upper floors either side would be equally - appropriate. If further space were needed for Natural History, - galleries might be built as suggested by Professor MASKELYNE, - extending either northwards to Montague Place, or eastwards to - Montague Street, as found convenient.] - -To the clear and forcible exposition of his plan, thus given by its -framer in the paper submitted to the Committee of 1860, many further -elucidations were added in evidence. But enough has already been quoted -for the perfect intelligibility of the plans so proposed for the -sanction of the Trustees and of Parliament. [Sidenote: _Minutes of -Evidence_, June, 1860, Q. 2034, p. 143.] ‘I think,’ said Mr. OLDFIELD, -when questioned, in the Committee, as to the extent of provision _for -the probable future_ requirements of the Museum, ‘the proper mode is to -secure so much space as will at least meet those demands which are -likely to occur during the construction of the building; and then, above -all, to adopt a system of construction which would at any future time -admit of an extension, without derangement of that which now exists, and -so would obviate the very great expense and inconvenience which has -hitherto occurred from alterations and reconstructions.’ - -In reporting upon this plan, originally framed in 1858, the Committee of -1860, after comparing with it two other but only partial plans of -extension and re-arrangement, prepared respectively by Mr. Sydney SMIRKE -and by Mr. Nevil STORY-MASKELYNE, observe: ‘Your Committee have reason -to think that if any of these plans were adopted—involving the -[immediate] purchase of not more than two acres of land, with the -[immediately] requisite buildings and alterations—the cost would not -exceed three hundred thousand pounds. If, however, only this limited -portion of land should be at once acquired, it is probable that the -price of what remains would be enhanced. If the whole were to be -purchased, as your Committee have already recommended, the cost above -stated would be, of course, increased.’ - -The recommendation here referred to has been already quoted in a -preceding chapter, together with a statement of the grounds on which it -was based. - -[Sidenote: See Chap. III of Book III.] - -The only additional elucidation, on this head, which it seems necessary -to give may be found in a passage of the evidence of one of the -Trustees, Sir Roderick MURCHISON, who, in 1858, with other eminent men -of science, presented a Memorial to the then Chancellor of the -Exchequer, praying that the British Museum might _not_ be dismembered by -any transference of the Natural History Collections to another locality. -After saying: ‘I entirely coincide still in every opinion that was -expressed in that Memorial, and I have since seen additional and -stronger reasons for wishing that [its prayer] should be supported,’ Sir -Roderick added: ‘When it was brought before us [that is, before a -Sub-Committee of Trustees] in evidence, that if we were largely to -extend the British Museum at once _in sitû_, and that as large a -building were to be made _in sitû_ as might be made at Kensington, we -then learned that the expense would be greater. But I have since seen -good grounds to believe that by purchasing the ground rents or the land, -to north, east, or west, of the Museum, according to a plan which I -believe has now been prepared and laid before the members of the -Committee [referring to that of Mr. OLDFIELD, just described], and -availing ourselves of the gradual[49] power of enlargement ... -[Sidenote: _Minutes of Evidence_, 1860, Q. 1243–1250, pp. 102, 103.] the -Nation would be put to a much less expense for several years to come, -and would in the end realise all those objects which it is the aim[50] -of men of science to obtain.’ - -The chief alternative plan is based on the transference of the Natural -History Collections to an entirely new site, and on the devotion to the -uses of the Literary and Archæological Departments of the Museum of the -whole of the space so freed from the scientific departments. - -[Sidenote: PLAN FOR THE TRANSFERENCE OF THE NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS - TO KENSINGTON (OR ELSEWHERE). 1861–62.] - -The Committee of 1860 condemned this plan in the main (but only, as it -seems, by a single voice upon a division), but what that Committee had -under consideration was only the first form into which the plan of -separation had been shaped. At the end of the year 1861 and beginning of -1862, that plan was again brought before a Sub-Committee of the -Trustees, at the express instance of the Lords of Her Majesty’s -Treasury, and it was thus reported upon:— - -[Sidenote: REPORT OF SUB-COMMITTEE OF TRUSTEES, Jan., 1862.] - - Your Committee, to whom it has been referred to consider the best - manner of carrying into effect the Treasury Minute of the thirteenth - of November, 1861, and the Resolution passed at the special general - meeting of the third of December of the same year, have unanimously - agreed to the following report:[51]— - -[Sidenote: MINUTE OF TREASURY.] - - The Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty’s Treasury state in that - Minute, ‘That, in their judgment, some of the collections ought to be - removed from the present buildings, and that they will be prepared to - make proposals at the proper time to the Royal Commissioners of the - Exhibition of 1851, with a view to the provision, on the estate of the - Commissioners, of space and buildings, which shall be adequate to - receive in particular, at first the Mineralogical, Geological, and - Palæontological Collections, and ultimately, in case it shall be - thought desirable, all those of the Natural History Departments.’ - Their Lordships, after having invited the Trustees to prosecute the - further examination of the question, continue as follows:—‘It will - have to be considered what other or minor branches of the collections - may, with propriety or advantage, be removed to other sites, or even - made over, if in any case it might seem proper, to other - establishments.’ - - Your Committee have, therefore, thought it their duty at the outset to - examine whether all the Natural History Collections, viz. the - Zoological and Botanical, in addition to the Geological, - Palæontological, and Mineralogical, specified in the Treasury Minute, - might with propriety and advantage be removed from the present British - Museum buildings. [Sidenote: ALL COLLECTIONS OF NATURAL HISTORY TO BE - REMOVED.] The importance, as regards science, of preserving together - all objects of Natural History, was forcibly urged by Sir R. - MURCHISON, at the special general meeting of the third of December. In - a Memorial laid before the Chancellor of the Exchequer in 1858, and - signed by more than one hundred and twenty eminent promoters and - cultivators of science,[52] it was represented ‘that as the chief end - and aim of natural history is to demonstrate the harmony which - pervades the whole, and the unity of principle, which bespeaks the - unity of the Creative Cause, it is essential that the different - classes of natural objects should be preserved in juxtaposition under - the roof of one great building.’ Your Committee concur in this - opinion, and they have come to the conclusion that it is essential to - the advantage of science and of the collections which are to remain in - Bloomsbury, that the removal of all the objects of Natural History - should take place, and, as far as practicable, should be - simultaneously effected. - -[Sidenote: BOTANY.] - - With regard to Botany, it is a question whether the existence of the - Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew does not suggest an exception as to the - place to which the British Museum Botanical Collection should be - removed, reserving a small series for the illustration of fossil - Botany, in connexion with Palæontology. - - It is to be kept in view that the removal of the Palæontology, - Geology, and Mineralogy, would leave unoccupied only two very - inconveniently placed rooms in the basement, besides the north half of - the north gallery on the upper floor (about four hundred feet in - length, by thirty-six in width); whereas the recently imported marbles - from Halicarnassus, Cnidus, Geronta, and Cyrene, fill completely the - space under the colonnade, extending to about five hundred and forty - feet in length. Nor can your Committee omit to add, that should the - removal of the Botany and Zoology be delayed, the final and systematic - arrangement of the collections which are to remain must be equally - delayed; while, if any portions of these were removed to other - situations in the Museum, or their final transfer postponed, many of - the objects retained would have again to be shifted for the sake of - congruity and economy of space. - - It is, therefore, recommended by your Committee, that all the Natural - History Collections be speedily and simultaneously removed. - -[Sidenote: ETHNOLOGICAL COLLECTION TO BE REMOVED.] - - Together with these the Ethnological Collection ought to be provided - for elsewhere. Most of the objects which it contains have no affinity - with those which are contained in the other parts of the Museum, nor - is the collection worthy of this country for its extent, nor yet, - owing to its exceptional character, is it brought together in a - methodical and instructive manner. Occupying but a secondary place in - the British Museum, it cannot obtain either the space or the attention - which it might obtain, were it not surrounded and cast into the shade - by a vast number of splendid and interesting objects which have - irresistible claims to preference. Mr. HAWKINS was of opinion, ‘that - if Ethnography be retained,’ it would be necessary to quadruple the - space for its exhibition. The Select Committee in their report (p. - vii), state that ‘they have received evidence from every witness - examined on this subject in favour of the removal of the - Ethnographical Collection.’ If it were to be retained, an area of ten - thousand feet (same report, p. xi) would be required. Your Committee - cannot, therefore, hesitate to recommend the removal of the - Ethnographical Collection to a fitter place. [Sidenote: PORTRAITS.] - Nor can they hesitate in proposing the removal, from the present - Ornithological Gallery, of the Collection of Portraits hanging on the - walls above the presses containing the stuffed birds. Those paintings - having no connexion with the objects for the preservation of which the - Museum was founded, would never have been placed there had there been - a National Portrait Gallery in existence for their reception. - -[Sidenote: SPACE LEFT VACANT.] - - The following is a detailed statement of the space which would be left - vacant in various parts of the Museum by the removal of the above - collections.... - -Then follows an enumeration, first, of the space left vacant by the -removal of the Geological, Palæontological, and Mineralogical -Collections, amounting in the whole to an area of twenty thousand one -hundred and thirty-five feet; secondly, of the space left vacant by the -removal of the Zoological Collection, amounting to an area of -thirty-five thousand four hundred and twenty-eight feet; thirdly, of the -space left vacant by the removal of the Botanical Collection, amounting -to five thousand nine hundred feet; and, finally, of the space left -vacant by the removal of the Ethnological Collection, namely, a room on -the south side of the upper floor, marked ‘3’ on the plan, ninety-four -feet by twenty-four, giving an area of two thousand two hundred and -fifty-six feet; and giving, in the whole, an aggregate area of -sixty-five thousand and seventy-nine feet. - -[Sidenote: TREASURY MINUTE; ALTERATION OF PRESENT BUILDING.] - -Having enumerated the collections which might, with propriety and -advantage, be removed from the British Museum, and stated the extent of -new accommodation which would consequently be gained for other -collections, the Committee proceeded to consider, in the words of the -Treasury Minute, ‘the two important questions—first, of such final -enlargement and alterations of the present buildings as the site may -still admit, and as may be conducive to the best arrangement of the -interior; secondly, of the redistribution of the augmented space among -the several collections that are to remain permanently at the Museum, -among which, of course, my Lords give the chief place to the Library -Departments and the Antiquities.’ - -The Committee, agreeing with their Lordships that the chief claims in -the redistribution of the augmented space are those of the Antiquities -and of the Library Departments, then proceed to say that— - - They have thought themselves bound also to pay attention to certain - other important purposes, to which a portion of the space to be - obtained by alterations within and by building on some remaining spots - of unoccupied ground, might be beneficially applied. - -[Sidenote: TRUSTEES’ OFFICES.] - - Your Committee have, in the first place, had their attention drawn to - that part of the existing buildings appropriated to the administrative - department of the Museum. The want of space for clerks, for Museum - publications, for stationery, for the archives of the Trust, for - papers of all descriptions, for the transaction of business with - officers and servants of the Trustees, and with tradesmen, as well as - the want of a waiting-room for strangers of all ranks who have to - attend on the Trustees, or wish to have interviews with their chief - officer or any of the persons attached to his office, is the cause of - great embarrassment and discomfort. To which is to be added the - inconvenience caused by the unsuitable arrangement of the rooms, which - renders those who occupy them liable to perpetual interruptions. - Moreover, by the strict rule forbidding the admission of artificial - light into the Museum, the period of available working time is - occasionally much abridged. Another site must be found for this - department; there are no means of providing on its present site - against the evils above mentioned. - - In the next place, your Committee have taken into consideration the - absolute necessity of providing for the exhibition of specimens of - coins and medals, always intended by the Trustees, but never carried - into effect for want of space. [Sidenote: EXHIBITION OF COINS AND - MEDALS.] And not only a selection of coins and medals, but also one of - gems, cameos, and valuable ornaments, should be exhibited to Museum - visitors. The want of room for such a purpose is the source of great - trouble and inconvenience. The present Medal Room is much too confined - even for the arrangement and preservation of its contents, and for - such accommodation of its officers as is necessary to enable them to - perform properly their duties. Moreover, as visitors cannot be - indiscriminately admitted to the Ornament Room, still less to the - Medal Room, such of them as do not take the proper steps for gaining - access to those rooms are debarred from seeing even specimens of - objects which acquire a peculiar interest in proportion to the - strictness with which they are guarded. The general visitors should - have an opportunity of satisfying their laudable curiosity by seeing a - good selection of coins, just as they can at the present time see - interesting specimens of manuscripts and printed books; scholars and - persons who have special reasons for examining coins leisurely and - minutely, ought to have the means of doing so comfortably under proper - regulations, and in a separate room, in the same manner as readers are - allowed to use books; but no stranger should be admitted into the room - where the Collection of Coins and Medals is preserved unless in rare - and exceptional cases, and always in the presence of the - Principal-Librarian, or the keeper of the department. - -[Sidenote: EXHIBITION OR PRINTS AND DRAWINGS.] - - In the third place, your Committee, being aware of the importance of - space for the due exhibition of prints and drawings, and of the - repeated complaints of the keeper of that department, who cannot find - room wherein to arrange the collection so as to have it safely - preserved as well as readily accessible, have given their best - attention to those complaints. Most of the inconveniences which are - felt by visitors, as well as by Museum officers, in the existing Medal - Room, are equally felt in the existing Print Room; and many of the - wants which it is suggested should be provided for to make the - Collection of Coins and Medals as useful and instructive as it ought - to be in a great national institution, are wants against which - provision must be made in order to render equally useful and - instructive the Collection of Prints and Drawings. These wants are - ample space for classing, arranging, and preserving the bulk of the - collection, as well as ample space wherein to exhibit, for the - amusement and instruction of the public generally, such a selection of - prints and drawings as may be calculated to give a general notion of - both arts from their infancy to comparatively modern times, in various - countries, and according to the style of the most celebrated masters. - Studies should likewise be provided for the keeper, and also for an - assistant-keeper, in this department, as well as accommodation for - artists who come to copy or study critically any of the objects, or - classes of objects, forming part of this collection, and for those who - come for the purpose of researches requiring less minute attention, - and who desire to see a variety of prints and drawings in succession. - -[Sidenote: BINDERS’ SHOPS.] - - In the fourth place, your Committee have taken into consideration the - want of space for carrying on the binding of the Museum books. The - Collection of Manuscripts, and, much more, that of Printed Books, have - of late years been increasing with unexampled rapidity; but the - bookbinders’ accommodation has not been increased in a corresponding - ratio. The damage caused, particularly to new books, placed unbound in - the readers’ hands, may well be conceived; and the Trustees were - compelled, by the necessity of the case, to sanction an expedient of - doubtful legality, by allowing a large number of books, which in case - of misfortune might be easily replaced at a comparatively small - outlay, to be taken out of the Museum to be bound in a house - immediately opposite to it, hired by the bookbinder. Your Committee - think that such an arrangement, avowedly a temporary one, ought not to - continue a moment longer than is unavoidable; and that adequate - provision should be made as speedily as possible within the Museum - premises for binding all books belonging to the Trust. - -[Sidenote: ALTERATIONS AND REDISTRIBUTION OF SPACE GENERALLY.] - - Your Committee will now proceed to consider the questions of the final - enlargement and alterations of the present buildings, and of the - redistribution of the augmented space for the several purposes above - mentioned. In making the following proposals, your Committee have kept - in view the principle that it would not be advisable for the Trustees - to appropriate specifically to particular objects any particular - space. They will, therefore, as much as possible, confine themselves - to stating how the augmented space should be generally redistributed - among the remaining collections, giving the chief place to the - Antiquities and Library; the arrangement of the particular objects or - classes of objects should rest on the responsibility of the head of - each department, who would in due time submit his views to the - Trustees. Your Committee also wish it to be clearly understood that - the structural details herein suggested or implied, must be considered - liable to such modifications as the farther development of the scheme - may require. - -[Illustration: - - BRITISH MUSEUM. - - PLAN OF THE GROUND FLOOR. -] - -[Sidenote: NEW STAIRCASES.] - - In the building as now arranged, the principal staircase (No. 69 on - the plan of the ground floor) is situated on the left in the Entrance - Hall (No. 2); opposite to the entrance is the corridor (No. 80) - leading to the Reading-Room; east and west of that corridor, between - the main building and the new Library, there is an area (No. 70 and - 79) about thirty feet wide unoccupied. It has long been suggested that - the principal staircase should be removed from No. 69, and that two - staircases be erected on the area 70 and 79, one on each side of No. - 80. The hall entrance (No. 2) would be lighted by the skylight already - existing in the roof, and by a corresponding opening to be made in the - upper floor. The site of the principal staircase, No. 69, would be - occupied by a large room, seventy-five feet by thirty-five, giving an - area of two thousand six hundred and twenty-five feet, exactly like - the one opposite to it (No. 58) in height as in every other respect, - with a floor on a level with the rest of the building. - -[Sidenote: PRESENT ROMAN GALLERY.] - - There are blank windows on the north side of the principal staircase - that would have to be cut through to light the new room, and - additional light could be admitted if necessary. On the south of the - projected new room is a narrow room, ninety-four feet by twenty-four - (No. 3), designated as the Roman Gallery, the light of which is very - defective, especially on the side of the windows opening under the - front colonnade. The Collections of Antiquities contain some large - objects, more interesting archæologically than artistically, for which - light on each side of them is very desirable. If the wall now - separating the staircase from No. 3 were removed, and pilasters or - columns substituted (the upper part of that wall in the floor above - might likewise be removed if desirable), a room ninety-four feet by - sixty, giving an area of five thousand six hundred and forty feet, - admirably adapted for antiquities of this kind, would be obtained. - -[Sidenote: TRUSTEES’ PRESENT OFFICES.] - - At the western extremity of the Roman Gallery (No. 3), and turning - southward, are the Trustees’ room (No. 4), two rooms for clerks (No. 5 - and 6), and the study of the Principal-Librarian (No. 7). It is - proposed to remove all the partition walls inside the space occupied - by No. 4, 6, and 5, and by the corridor on the east of No. 4, and to - open windows on the west side at the same height, and uniform with - those in the gallery No. 17, of which this part of the building would - then be a continuation, opening a communication like that on the - corresponding side on the east (between No. 56 and 63). The Egyptian - Gallery might thus be extended to the total length of four hundred and - sixty-five feet. - -[Sidenote: NEW BUILDINGS ON NO. 11.] - - By removing the corridor and study No. 7, as well as the projection on - the north side of the house now occupied by Mr. CARPENTER, so far west - as the point at which it would intersect a prolongation to the south - of the west wall of the first Elgin Room, a plot of unoccupied ground, - one hundred feet by seventy-five, might be turned to great advantage. - The interior arrangement of this newly acquired space would depend on - the purposes to which the Trustees should think fit to apply it: - whether, for instance, it might be advisable to throw into it the - third Græco-Roman Saloon (No. 10), which is now by common consent too - narrow, or whether the western part of that plot of ground had not - better be set out as a continuation of the Elgin Room, which should be - carried through the end of the above room (No. 10) and of the Lycian - Room (No. 13). Before finally deciding this point it would be - imperative to determine what is to be done with the Lycian Room, which - is in an unfinished state, because it neither is nor ever was large - enough for the collection for which it was intended; whilst, on the - other hand, it contains objects which ought never to have been placed - there, and which ought to be removed. [Sidenote: SPACE ACQUIRED (NO. - 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11, 13).] Until the keeper of the department has - before him a correct plan of all the space which he may eventually - have at his disposal, and until he has well considered how the objects - to be placed ought to be arranged, he cannot give a decided opinion - upon any scheme for building on the plot now under consideration. For - the present purpose it is enough to say that the Trustees’ room and - those annexed (No. 4, 5, and 6), giving an area of about two thousand - nine hundred and fifty feet on the ground floor, and a large piece of - ground, one hundred feet by seventy-five, may be beneficially applied - to the Department of Antiquities. - -[Sidenote: BUILDINGS ON NO. 31 AND 32, AND ALTERATION OF PRESENT PRINT - ROOM.] - - No. 14 and 18 are the two Elgin Rooms, containing the finest reliques - of Greek art in existence, which have remained unarranged for years, - owing to the difficulties which the space hitherto available presented - for their definitive arrangement, and to the uncertainty of the final - appropriation of the space No. 31. It seems, however, to be generally - admitted that on the unoccupied plot of ground, No. 31, a continuation - of the second Elgin Room should be erected of the same width, to - include the Print Room, the floor of which should be lowered to the - general level of the Museum ground floor, and its width extended - westward about seven feet. Another gallery might thus be formed - altogether four hundred and seventy-five feet long and thirty-seven - wide. Should it not extend farther than the southern extremity of the - first Elgin Room (No. 14), its length would be three hundred and - thirty feet. The plot of ground, No. 32, ought also to be applied to - the accommodation of Antiquities. The study No. 23 should be done away - with. [Sidenote: ALTERATION OF STAIRCASE, NO. 27.] The two lower - flights of the N.W. staircase, No. 27, should be taken down and - reconstructed in No. 26 and 36, with the necessary alterations to - reconnect them with the two upper flights, which would remain as they - are now. The studies No. 28, and passage No. 29, should be cleared - away, as well as those above them, together with the lower part of the - western wall of No. 27, the southern wall of that space being - continued to No. 30, thus forming a passage or gallery, about - twenty-two feet wide, for communication between the Northern Egyptian - Gallery and the new gallery to be erected at the north of the Elgin - Rooms. From the new passage thus formed there should be an opening on - the south side, and a flight of steps to descend to the gallery which - is to be built on No. 32. There would be room under the new staircase, - in the space No. 36, to form an additional study for the Printed Book - Department, where it is much wanted. Upon No. 32, a gallery should be - erected from the basement, like the Assyrian Gallery, No. 15, to both - of which access might be had by two handsome staircases, descending - north and south of No. 19, from which it is taken for granted the - Phigaleian Marbles and other objects, now there, would be removed, the - central space being applied to better purposes. - -[Illustration: - - BRITISH MUSEUM. - - PLAN OF THE GROUND FLOOR. - WITH THE - PROPOSED ALTERATIONS. -] - - It does not appear to your Committee that any farther accommodation - for Antiquities can be procured on the ground floor, without - interfering with rooms now appropriated to the Library. - -[Sidenote: NEW GALLERY ON NO. 32, LIKE ONE NOW ON NO. 13.] - - On the north side of the upper floor, all that portion marked 21, 32, - 31, 30, 29, 33, 28, and 27, on the plan of that floor, now occupied by - Geology, Palæontology, and Mineralogy, should be transferred to the - Antiquities. It would be desirable to remove the two studies, marked - 21, at the western extremity of that floor, and to add so much more - space to the gallery for exhibition. - -[Sidenote: SPACE FOR ANTIQUITIES ON NORTH UPPER FLOOR.] - - But before proceeding farther, your Committee wish to make one or two - remarks on the advantages which all the galleries on the upper floor - offer for the exhibition of Antiquities, even of considerable size and - weight, were any of the space on this floor wanted for such objects. - [Sidenote: FITNESS OF UPPER FLOOR FOR SUCH PURPOSES.] With respect to - light, as all these galleries may, if requisite, be lighted by - skylights (those on the east and west being so already), they will so - far meet with the approbation of those who are considered judges of - the kind of light peculiarly required for the exhibition of - sculptures. The size of the rooms gives ample space for the public - exhibition of Antiquities, including statues, not much less than - life-size, if necessary; whilst the galleries, though lofty, will not - dwarf them. Competent critics have pronounced that it is a mistake to - suppose that all sculptures look better in magnificent rooms. The - solidity of the Museum building, throughout, leaves no doubt of its - upper floor being strong enough to receive ordinary marble statues, - not to speak of busts and smaller objects. The floor of the western - end of the northern gallery, marked No. 21 and 32 on the plan, offers - extra solidity, as it rests on substantial walls at intervals of - twelve feet from each other. Your Committee have been assured by their - architect that a mass of marble, weighing several tons, might be - safely deposited on any part of that floor. - -[Sidenote: STUDIES.] - - With respect to the northernmost central portion (No. 33) of the - gallery now under consideration, it could not be better applied than - to studies for the officers of the Department of Antiquities. Five - such studies might be formed therein, each eighteen feet by sixteen, - opening on a corridor six feet wide and eighty-four long, in which - might be kept the Departmental Collection of Books for the common - daily use of the occupiers of those studies. - - The whole of the eastern side of the upper floor, including rooms 35 - to 40 (all Zoology), together with the rooms marked 41 (Zoology), 42, - 43 (Botany), 1 (Zoology), 2 (the site of the principal staircase, as - well as the smaller staircase on the west of it), and finally No. 3 - (Ethnography), should be transferred to the Departments of - Antiquities; subject to the consideration whether the rooms No. 42 and - 43 might not be reserved for the Department of Manuscripts, if at any - time required. Space is wanted, not only for Antiquities now - unprovided with any accommodation, but also for the display of future - additions, and for the better arrangement of what is now - unsatisfactorily exhibited, either too far from the eye or in dark - corners. [Sidenote: SPACE FOR ANTIQUITIES ON THE EAST AND SOUTH UPPER - FLOORS.] A large number of objects, to be seen as they ought to be, - must be spread over twice the space which they fill at present; a - great many more, now placed where they cannot be seen at all, ought to - be removed to more suitable situations. [Sidenote: WEST SIDE OF UPPER - FLOOR TO REMAIN FOR ANTIQUITIES.] The whole of the west side—that is, - rooms 9 to 15—would continue to be applied to the exhibition of - Antiquities; it is not, however, to be assumed that the objects now - there would necessarily be left where they are, nor yet that, for - instance, Egyptian Antiquities should necessarily occupy the same - galleries which they occupy at present. From room No. 14 must be - removed either the Egyptian Antiquities now in it, or the Temple - Collection, which was placed there from absolute necessity, there - being no other space whatever where it could be exhibited. The British - and Mediæval Collections would probably have to be removed to some - other part of the upper floor, now occupied, or which it is now - proposed should be occupied, by Antiquities, where the transition - would be less abrupt than from Egyptian to Mediæval. - -[Sidenote: EXHIBITION OF COINS AND MEDALS.] - - As before suggested, space should be set apart for the exhibition of - Coins and Medals, besides that which is required for their safe - custody, arrangement, and study. Your Committee will presently state - how the latter ought to be provided for. As to the public exhibition - of coins, the three rooms, 8, 5, and 4, in which the coins, medals, - gems, &c., are now kept, would be admirably adapted for the purpose, - after the internal partition walls are removed. It would be desirable - to preserve the two rooms, 6 and 7, the one as a study for an - assistant, who should be always at hand to give information connected - with the coins exhibited close by, and to answer such questions as - would not require reference to the general collection; the other as a - waiting-room, to which a stranger might be more safely and freely - admitted, on the understanding that nothing valuable be kept in it, - whilst admission to the assistant’s room should be much more sparingly - granted. An obvious reason for applying this part of the premises to - the above purpose is, that it is provided with special doors, windows, - and locks, for the safety of the present contents. And as the objects - which it is proposed should be therein exhibited would be of some - considerable value, advantage should be taken of the existing - arrangements for their security. It is to be noted that this - exhibition would not interfere with the arrangement of any Collection - of Antiquities, with none of which could the coins and medals properly - mix, although so nearly allied to them. - -[Illustration: - - BRITISH MUSEUM. - - PLAN OF THE UPPER FLOOR. -] - - The corresponding part of the upper floor on the south-east corner, - No. 44 and 45, is perfectly well adapted for the exhibition of prints - and drawings. As to space for the arrangement and preservation of the - prints and drawings, for the tranquil examination and study of them, - for the studies of the officers, &c., your Committee will presently - lay before you their views. - -[Sidenote: EXHIBITION OF PRINTS AND DRAWINGS.] - - Your Committee have endeavoured to show how far a portion of the new - accommodation to be gained by removing the Natural History and - Ethnographical Collections, by alterations within the now existing - buildings, and by building on some remaining spots of unoccupied - ground, may with propriety and advantage be applied to the Departments - of Oriental, Mediæval, and Classical Antiquities, of the Coins and - Medals, and of the Prints and Drawings; your Committee will now show - what part of that accommodation might be made available for Printed - Books and Manuscripts. - -[Sidenote: PRINTED BOOKS.] - - When the erection of the new Library and Reading-Room was suggested, - it was stated that that Library would hold eight hundred thousand - volumes; that is, the annual increase for forty years, calculating - that increase at twenty thousand volumes. But the annual increase has - been, during the last five years, at the rate of upwards of thirty - thousand volumes, and during the last four years at the rate of about - thirty-five thousand, which number, however, is ultimately reduced by - the practice of binding two or more volumes of the same work in one; - while, on the other hand, the new building will certainly contain two - hundred thousand volumes more than it was originally estimated to - hold; so that if the present rate of increase continues, as it ought, - the new Library will be full in about twenty-five years from this - date. It was necessary to say thus much, as a notion seems prevalent - that a great deal more was promised when that building was suggested, - and that the number of books, which that new Library can hold, may - reach an almost fabulous quantity, and the space be sufficient for an - extravagant number of years. - -[Sidenote: ROOMS IN BASEMENT TRANSFERRED TO PRINTED BOOKS.] - - The rooms on the basement floor of the north side, both marked 15 on - the plan of that floor, and now occupied by Geology, cannot be - otherwise appropriated than to the Department of Printed Books; the - same is to be said of the seven small rooms, marked 17, now used for - Geology, as well as of rooms 18 and 19 on the east side, now used for - Zoology; all these rooms are immediately under the Department of - Printed Books, and naturally belong to it. The rooms marked 13, 14, - and 16, from west to east, were formerly appropriated to the - Department of Printed Books, to which they should now be restored. - When the first importation of Halicarnassian Antiquities took place, - they were deposited temporarily in these rooms, as no other space - whatever could be found in which to shelter and unpack them. In this - space are now arranged the Inscriptions, which have had to be removed - from under the colonnade to make room for the Marbles recently arrived - from Cyrene. Appropriate space for the Inscriptions will be found - without difficulty in the Department of Antiquities, enlarged - according to the foregoing suggestions, or, at all events, in the - basement, either now existing or to be built under the galleries for - Antiquities on the west side of the Museum, where sufficient light may - be procured for objects like these, which are of no great interest to - sightseers, and therefore need not be publicly exhibited; enough that - they be easily accessible to the small number of antiquarians and - scholars who may wish to examine them. - -[Sidenote: PART OF NORTH GALLERY IN UPPER FLOOR TO PRINTED BOOKS.] - - The north galleries on the upper floor are divided lengthways, from - east to west, into two portions; that now containing Zoological - Collections (No. 22 to 26) can be advantageously appropriated to the - Department of Printed Books when required. The volumes placed there - can be easily lowered down and returned through a hoisting apparatus - to be placed at either the south-east or south-west corner of No. 24, - immediately above No. 41 on the ground floor—the nearest point of any - in the main Library to the Reading-Room. By these various alterations - space would be provided for about two hundred and fifty thousand - printed volumes, in addition to that which still remains available in - that department, from which, however, space for about fifty thousand - volumes would have to be deducted, as will be presently shown. - -[Sidenote: WANT OF SPACE IN DEPARTMENT OF MANUSCRIPTS.] - - Although there is now space remaining in the Department of Manuscripts - for the accommodation of twelve thousand volumes, and although the - annual average increase of manuscript volumes may be safely reckoned - at less than six hundred and fifty, your Committee have, nevertheless, - felt that prospective increased accommodation should now be provided, - not only for the Collection of Manuscripts, but still more for artists - and readers who have occasion to refer to select manuscripts, as well - as for assistants, of whom two, together with one attendant and eight - readers, are pent up in a space of thirty feet by twenty-three, - crowded with tables, chairs, &c., which scarcely allow room for moving - from one place to another or for access to the officers’ study on each - side. The Head of the Department of Manuscripts has recently - represented to the Trustees his want of six assistants; but he has, at - the same time, been obliged to state that, if appointed, he should not - know where to place them. The Trustees have complied with his request, - to the extent of granting two new assistants; and he will experience - great difficulty in placing the two who are to be appointed. Add to - this, the interruption to which each of these persons is unavoidably - liable from each of the others in the performance of his duties and - occupations, owing chiefly to the narrow space in which they are - confined. - -[Illustration: - - BRITISH MUSEUM. - - PLAN OF THE UPPER FLOOR WITH THE PROPOSED ALTERATIONS. -] - - On account of its locality, the Department of Manuscripts cannot - derive any direct advantage from the removal of the Natural History - Collections; no space which will thus become vacant can be rendered - available for the purpose of remedying the inconveniences here stated. - As, however, the Department of Printed Books obtains the additional - accommodation before mentioned, a portion of the space now occupied by - Printed Books, very conveniently situated to supply the wants of the - Department of Manuscripts, ought to be transferred to this department. - -[Sidenote: SPACE TO BE TRANSFERRED FROM PRINTED BOOKS TO MANUSCRIPTS.] - - It is, therefore, proposed that the study, marked No. 57 on the ground - floor plan, be removed to the north end of No. 55, now occupied by - Printed Books, and that the site of No. 55 be attached to the - Department of Manuscripts. In that gallery, one hundred and fifteen by - eighteen, excellent accommodation, with abundance of light, would be - found for twenty thousand manuscript volumes—for fifteen students at - least (this number is ample if admission be strictly and _bonâ fide_ - limited to the class of persons for whom it is intended) at separate - seats, each having a table space of two feet and a half in depth and - four in length,—and for ten assistants or more, admirably placed for - superintendence. The area of the eastern recess of No. 56 would then - be quite clear, and available for the exhibition of manuscripts, like - the western recess in the same room. And when as large an exhibition - of manuscripts as the space permits is accessible to the public (and - still more accommodation for this exhibition might be found in the - present Department of Manuscripts), the same restrictions as have been - suggested with respect to coins and to prints ought to be imposed on - the handling of select manuscripts. - - It now remains to find space wherein to provide proper accommodation - for the binder, as well as for the Trustees’ offices, for the - Collection of Prints and for the Collection of Coins. - -[Sidenote: BUILDINGS IN THE GARDEN ATTACHED TO PRINCIPAL-LIBRARIAN’S - HOUSE.] - - On the east side of the roadway parallel to the Department of - Manuscripts, there is a piece of ground extending to Montague Street - on the east, to the house No. 30, in that same street towards the - north, and to the Principal-Librarian’s house on the south. On a - portion of this ground stands an old building, now partly appropriated - to the binder and partly used as a guard-house; the remainder forms - the garden attached to the residence of the Principal-Librarian. It - appears to your Committee that by substituting a new building for the - one existing, and by building on the greater part of the garden, ample - accommodation will be found for what is wanted. Your Committee cannot - abstain from mentioning that this great sacrifice of personal - convenience on the part of the Principal-Librarian was suggested and - brought under their notice by that officer himself. - - It was some years ago suggested by the Government that the military - guard might be dispensed with at the Museum; at times when the - services of the army were pressingly required, it was felt that - soldiers might be more usefully employed than in being kept for mere - show at the Museum. It was, however, thought that on removing the - military guard, better provision should be made for the safety of the - Museum. - -[Sidenote: MILITARY GUARD DISCONTINUED.] - -Then follow various details of minor consequence; to which succeed an -enumeration of the additional space gained for the Collections of -Printed Books, Manuscripts, Prints and Drawings, Antiquities, Coins and -Medals, as well as for offices, store-rooms, bookbinders’ shops, &c., by -the proposed alterations, as respects each of the several Departments of -Printed Books, Manuscripts, and Antiquities; and a summary of the whole, -from which it appears that the additional space gained by the Department -of Printed Books amounts to an area of seventeen thousand eight hundred -and three square feet; that the additional space gained by the -Department of Antiquities amounts to sixty-seven thousand six hundred -and ninety-two square feet; and, finally, that the additional space -gained by the Department of Manuscripts amounts to three thousand four -hundred and thirty square feet. - - ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ - │ RECAPITULATION. │ - ├───────────────────────────────┬───────┬─────────┬──────────┬────────┤ - │ │Present│Proposed │ Proposed │Proposed│ - │ │Space. │Addition.│Deduction.│ Total. │ - ├───────────────────────────────┼───────┼─────────┼──────────┼────────┤ - │ PRINTED BOOKS. │ │ │ │ │ - │Basement │ 33,998│ 14,667│ │ 48,665│ - │Ground floor │ 83,748│ │ 2,070│ 81,678│ - │Upper floor │ │ 5,206│ │ 5,206│ - ├───────────────────────────────┼───────┼─────────┼──────────┼────────┤ - │ │117,746│ 19,873│ 2,070│ 135,549│ - ├───────────────────────────────┼───────┼─────────┼──────────┼────────┤ - │ MANUSCRIPTS. │ │ │ │ │ - │Basement │ 210│ 1,360│ │ 1,570│ - │Ground floor │ 12,968│ 2,070│ │ 15,038│ - ├───────────────────────────────┼───────┼─────────┼──────────┼────────┤ - │ │ 13,178│ 3,430│ │ 16,608│ - ├───────────────────────────────┼───────┼─────────┼──────────┼────────┤ - │ ANTIQUITIES. │ │ │ │ │ - │Basement │ 33,868│ 16,036│ 6,767│ 43,137│ - │Ground floor │ 39,334│ 13,775│ │ 53,109│ - │Upper floor 21,532│ │ │ │ │ - │ Less Coins and Medals 2,950│ │ │ │ │ - │ ——————│ 18,582│ 44,648│ │ 63,230│ - ├───────────────────────────────┼───────┼─────────┼──────────┼────────┤ - │ │ 91,784│ 74,459│ 6,767│ 159,476│ - ├───────────────────────────────┼───────┼─────────┼──────────┼────────┤ - │ COINS AND MEDALS. │ │ │ │ │ - │Upper floor │ 2,950│ │ │ │ - │New building │ │ 4,950│ │ │ - ├───────────────────────────────┼───────┼─────────┼──────────┼────────┤ - │ │ 2,950│ 4,950│ │ 7,900│ - ├───────────────────────────────┼───────┼─────────┼──────────┼────────┤ - │ PRINTS AND DRAWINGS. │ │ │ │ │ - │Upper floor │ 2,600│ 3,204│ 2,600│ │ - │New building │ │ 4,950│ │ │ - ├───────────────────────────────┼───────┼─────────┼──────────┼────────┤ - │ │ 2,600│ 8,154│ 2,600│ 8,154│ - ├───────────────────────────────┼───────┼─────────┼──────────┼────────┤ - │ COMMITTEE ROOM, OFFICES, │ │ │ │ │ - │ STORES, &C. │ │ │ │ │ - │Basement │ 1,290│ │ 1,290│ │ - │Ground floor │ 3,565│ │ 3,565│ │ - │Upper floor │ 1,869│ │ 1,869│ │ - │New Building (Basement) │ │ 5,400│ │ │ - │New Building (Ground) │ │ 4,950│ │ │ - ├───────────────────────────────┼───────┼─────────┼──────────┼────────┤ - │ │ 6,724│ 10,350│ 6,724│ 10,350│ - ├───────────────────────────────┼───────┼─────────┼──────────┼────────┤ - │ BINDERS. │ │ │ │ │ - │Basement │ 1,360│ │ 1,360│ │ - │Detached building │ 3,179│ │ 3,179│ │ - │New building │ │ 7,760│ │ │ - ├───────────────────────────────┼───────┼─────────┼──────────┼────────┤ - │ │ 4,539│ 7,760│ 4,539│ 7,760│ - └───────────────────────────────┴───────┴─────────┴──────────┴────────┘ - - Your Committee, proceeds the Report, do not think it necessary to give - the particulars of the accommodation which the unappropriated portions - of the basement floor would afford for the preservation of moulds, as - well as for the formatore, for making and preserving casts of statues - and other large objects, as well as of gems and seals, and also for - providing such decent and suitable conveniences as the health and - comfort of the thousands who visit the Museum absolutely require. - -[Sidenote: FUTURE USE OF BASEMENT.] - - It is, perhaps, unnecessary to do more than simply to remind the - Trustees that the want of space at the Museum has been felt and has - been urged on the Government for several years past, and that during - the last four or five years the additions to the Collections of - Antiquities have been so rapid and so numerous, as to render it - impossible to do more than provide for them temporary shelter at a - considerable expense, and to the great disfigurement of the noble - façade which entitles the Museum to claim rank among the most - classical buildings of modern times. [Sidenote: URGENCY OF BUILDING AT - ONCE.] Should the above proposals of your Committee meet with the - approbation of the Trustees and the sanction of the Government, they - ought to be carried into effect without delay. The Government would, - doubtless, lose no time in providing a proper building for the - reception of such collections as are to be removed from the Museum; - until this removal has taken place, no redistribution of the vacated - space can be undertaken; but the new structures proposed to be erected - on ground now unoccupied ought to be proceeded with at once, that they - might be rendered available as speedily as possible. - -[Sidenote: WHAT TO BE FIRST PUT IN HAND.] - - Your Committee are of opinion that the new building facing Montague - Street, the building for the bookbinder, the building intended to be - erected on the ground now vacant between the Elgin Room and the Print - Room, and the construction of the new principal staircases, should be - commenced immediately. The building intended to be erected on the - vacant ground on the west of the Trustees’ Room (No. 11 on the plan), - must, necessarily, be postponed for awhile. The alterations which - might and ought to be rapidly completed, are those which will be - required on the east side of the King’s Library (No. 55 and 57), to - transfer the gallery to the Department of MSS. from that of Printed - Books. - -[Sidenote: COMMITTEE OF TRUSTEES TO BE APPOINTED.] - - The Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty’s Treasury state that ‘they - will be prepared to enter upon the details of these questions in - communication with the Trustees, and even, if it should be desired, to - offer suggestions upon them.’ Your Committee are of opinion that the - proffered assistance should be at once accepted; and that in order to - derive all possible advantage from that assistance a small Committee - of Trustees should be appointed to carry on the necessary - communications with the Treasury, either verbally or otherwise, and to - consider with their Lordships all suggestions that might be offered - respecting the points touched upon in this Report, and their details. - This Committee would be similar to that which the Trustees requested - the Treasury to appoint, by letter of the twentieth of June, 1829, and - which was afterwards appointed by the Trustees themselves, with the - approbation of their Lordships, to direct and superintend, not only - the works then in progress, but those to be afterwards undertaken. - -On the tenth of February, 1862—after the communication of this Report to -each of the Trustees individually—the recommendations of the -Sub-Committee were unanimously approved, at a Special General Meeting of -the Trustees, at which twenty-four members of the Board were present. -[Sidenote: _Correspondence Relating to the British Museum_, No. 97 of -Session 1862.] After the adoption of the plans thus accepted, another -Sub-Committee of Trustees was appointed to confer with the Treasury in -order to their realisation. - - -Before Parliament, this plan of severance and of re-arrangement—after -some modifications of detail which are too unimportant for remark—was -supported, in 1862, with the whole influence of the Government. But it -failed to win any adequate amount either of parliamentary or of public -favour. Some men doubted if the estimated saving, as between building at -Bloomsbury and building at Kensington, would or could be realized. -Others denied that the evils or inconveniences attendant upon severance -would be compensated by any adequate gain on other points. [Sidenote: -THE PARLIAMENTARY DEBATE OF 1862.] The popularity of the Natural History -Collections; the facilities of access to Great Russell Street; the -weighty—though far from unanimous—expressions of opinion from eminent -men of science in favour of continuance and enlargement, rather than of -severance and removal; all these and other objections were raised, and -were more or less dwelt upon, both in the House of Commons and in -scientific circles out of doors, scarcely less entitled to discuss a -national question of this kind. The Commons eventually decided against -the project by their vote of the 19th May, 1862. - -Substantially,—and in spite of small subsequent additions from time to -time to the buildings at Bloomsbury—the question of 1862 is still the -question of 1870. As I have said, it has been my object to state that -question rather than to discuss it. - -Should it seem, after full examination, that good government may be -better maintained, and adequate space for growth be efficiently -provided, by enlarging the existing Museum, would it be worthy of -Britain to allow the additional expenditure of a few scores of thousands -of pounds—an expenditure which would be spread over the taxation of many -years—to preponderate in the final vote of Parliament over larger and -more enduring considerations? - -In the session of 1866 Mr. Spencer WALPOLE spoke thus: ‘You must either -determine to separate the Collections now in the Museum, or buy more -land in Bloomsbury.... I have always been for keeping them together. I -am, however, perfectly willing to take either course, provided you do -not heap those stores one on another—as at present,’ (July, 1866)—‘in -such a manner as to render them really not so available as they ought to -be to those who wish to make them objects of study.’ Few men are so well -entitled to speak, authoritatively, on the question—because few have -given such an amount of time and labour to its consideration. - -By every available and legitimate expression of opinion the Trustees -have acted in the spirit of this remark, made almost four years since, -by one of the most eminent of their number. The words are, -unfortunately, as apposite in March, 1870, as they were in July, 1866. - - - THE END. - - - - - GENERAL INDEX. - - - Abbot, George, Archbishop of Canterbury, 66, 70 - - Abercorn, Earl of. _See_ Hamilton - - Abercromby, Sir Ralph, 548 - - Abyssinia, MSS., brought from, 707 - - Accessibility, Public, of the British Museum, Successive changes in the - Regulations and Statistics of the, 323, 336, 338, 339, 341, 368, - 520, 599 - - Adair, Sir Robert, 373 - - Æginæ, Vases and other Antiquities brought from, 386 _seqq._ - - Africa, Pre-historic and Ethnographical Collections from, 699 _seqq._ - - Agarde, Arthur, and Sir Robert Cotton, 85, 86 - - Albemarle, Duchess of. _See_ Monk - - Albums, Series of German, 457 - - Alexandria, Sarcophagus from, 365 _seqq._ - - Allan-Greg Cabinet of Minerals, 606 - - Almanzi, Joseph, Hebrew Library of, 42 - - Amadei, Victor, Marbles from the Collection of, 372 - - Amba-Bichoi, Biblical MSS. from the Monastery of, 615 _seqq._ - - America, Pre-historic and Ethnographical Collections from, 699 _seqq._ - - Anadhouly, Exploration by Sir Charles Fellows of, 644 - - _Ancient Marbles in the British Museum, Description of the_, 372 - _seqq._ - - Anderson, Edmund (of Eyworth and Stratton), 132 - - Andréossi, Anthony Francis, Count, Researches in the Monasteries of - Nitria of, 610 - - Angouleme, Duke of, 539 - - Anne, Queen of England, 207 _seqq._ - - Anne of Denmark, Queen Consort of James I, 153, 156, 166 - - Ansse de Villoisin, John Baptist, G. d’, 455 - - Antiphellus, Researches of Sir Charles Fellows at, 644 - - _Antiquités Étrusques, &c._, 352 _seqq._ - - Apotheosis of Homer, 401 - - Arcadia, Archæological Explorations in, 397 _seqq._ - - Argos, Vases and other Antiquities from, 386 - - Artas of Sidon, Ancient glasswork of, 709 _seqq._ - - Artemisia, Ancient Sculptures from the Mausoleum built by, 664 _seqq._ - - Arundel, Earl of. _See_ Fitzalan - - Arundel, Earl of. _See_ Howard - - Arundelian Library, 198 _seqq._ - - Arundelian Marbles, 197 _seqq._ - - Ashburnham House, Fire at, 140 - - Askew, Anthony, 472 - - Assemani, Joseph Simon, and Stephen Evode, obtain, for the Vatican, - Syriac MSS. from the Monastery of the Syrians, 617 - - Assyrian Antiquities, First beginning of the Collection of, 401; - Account of the Discoveries by Mr. Layard and his successors of, 629 - _seqq._ - - Athanasius, Saint, Syriac Version of the Festal Letters of, 623 - - Athens, Researches of Lord Elgin at, their History and Results, 381 - _seqq._ - - Aublet, John Baptist Christopher Fusée d’, Botanical Collection of, 509 - - - B. - - Baber, Rev. Henry Hervey, M.A., Services of, in the Department of - Printed Books, 532, _seqq._, 542; - Death of, 553 - - Bacon, Francis, Viscount St. Alban’s, is assisted by Sir R. Cotton in - his endeavour to frame an acceptable measure for a union with - Scotland, 57 - - Bankes, George, 441 - - Banks-Hodgkenson, J., 488 - - Banks, Sir Joseph, Bart., P.R.S., Notices of the Life, Travels, - Labours, and Benefactions of, 335, 480–489, 497–501, 509; - His Correspondence with Sir William Hamilton on Volcanic Eruptions, - 354 _seqq._ - - Banks, Mrs. S. S., Bequest of, 27 - - Barbadoes, Notices of the Early History of the Island of, and of the - attempts at plantation there made by William Courten and others, 251 - _seqq._, 261 _seqq._; - Botanizing Expedition of Sir Hans Sloane at, 278 - - Barberini (or Portland) Vase, History of the, 461 - - Barbier, Anthony Alexander, 455 - - Barbier, Eugene Auguste, 452 - - Barlow, Hugh, 349 - - Barnard, Sir Frederick Augusta, Labours of, as Royal Librarian, 468, - 472; - Johnson’s Letter to him on the Collection of Books, _ib._ - - Barrington, Shute, Bishop of Durham, 420 - - Barth Cabinet of Gems, 691 - - Battely, William, 240 - - Bean, Rev. James, M.A., 544 - - Beattie, James, LL.D., Conversation with King George III of, 475 - - Beauclerc, Topham, 425 - - Beaumont, Sir George, Bart., Bequest of a Gallery of Pictures to the - British Museum by, 30, 460 - - Bentinck Papers, 457 - - Bentley, Richard, D.D., Royal Librarianship of, 140, 169 - - Berkeley, Mary, 345 - - Berlin Museum, 579 - - Bernard, Sir John, 299 - - Beroldingen Fossils, 26 - - Bethel, Slingsby, 299 - - Biblical MSS. of the Nitrian Monasteries, 610 _seqq._ - - Biliotti and Salzmann, Messrs., Archæological Researches of, in the - Island of Rhodes, 669 - - Birch, Thos., D.D., Services of, as an early Trustee, 415 _seqq._; - his bequests, 415 - - Blacas, P. L. J. Casimir de, Duke of Blacas, Museum of, 689 _seqq._ - - Blagrove, Major, 408 - - Blois, Earls of, Archives, now at Pomard, of the, 536 _seqq._ - - Bodley, Sir Thomas, and Sir R. Cotton, 332 - - Bolingbroke, Henry, Viscount. _See_ St. John - - Bolton, Edmund, 84 - - Bonaparte, Lucien, Prince of Canino, Acquisition of part of the - Collection of Vases formed by, 35 - - Bond, Edward Augustus, 600 - - Bonpland, M., 455 - - Borell, H. P., Collection of Greek and Roman Coins made by, 34 - - Borough, Sir John, 195 - - Bosset, Colonel de, Collection of Greek Coins made by, 25, 400 - - Botanical Collections, 267, 269, 277 _seqq._, 283, 295, 492 _seqq._, - 507 - - Botanical Collections in France, 260 _seqq._, 500 - - Botanical Collections in Germany and Italy, 267 - - Botanical Studies in England, Notice of the rise and progress of, 259 - _seqq._ - - Botanic Gardens at Chelsea, 275, 293, 297 - - Botanic Garden at Paris, 500 - - Botta, P. E., Assyrian Researches of, 616; - his first and brilliant discoveries at Khorsabad, 629; - his genial and liberal co-operation with Layard, 631, _foot-note_ - - Boudaen, Peter, 255 - - Bourchier, Sir William, 539 - - Bowood in Wiltshire, Lord Shelburne’s improvements at, 428 - - Bowring, J., Entomological Collection of, 51 - - Boyle, Robert, 275 - - Branchidæ, Ancient Sculpture brought by C. T. Newton from, 664 - - Brander, Gustavus, Gift of the ‘Solander Fossils,’ by, 21, 333 - - Briasson’s Correspondence with Sir H. Sloane respecting a French - version of the _Natural History of Jamaica_, 289 - - Bridges’ Zoological Collections made in South America, 581 - - Bridgewater, Francis Henry, Earl of. _See_ Egerton - - Brienne, Henry Lewis de Lomenie de, Count. _See_ Lomenie - - Brindley, James, 447 - - British and Mediæval Antiquities and Ethnography, Formation of the new - Department of, 688 - - British Museum, Chronological Epitome of the principal incidents in the - formation, enlargement, and growth of the successive Collections - which constitute the, 6–47 - - Brocas, Elizabeth, 52 - - Brocas, William, 52 - - Bröndsted, Peter Olave, 399 - - Brougham, Henry, Lord Brougham and Vaux, 547 - - Brown, Robert, F.R.S., Keeper of Botany, Services of, 507, 508 - - Browne, William George, Researches in the Nitrian Monasteries of, 610 - - Bruce, Agnes, of Conington in Huntingdonshire, 49 - - Bruce, Thomas, Earl of Elgin and Kincardine, Archæological Explorations - at Athens and in various other parts of Greece, 381–396; - Notices of his Life and Public Career, _ib._, 400, 411; - the controversy as to the archæological and artistical value of the - Elgin Marbles, 411 _seqq._; - other national results of Lord Elgin’s Embassy and Public Spirit, 439 - - Bruchmann’s Fossils, 39 - - Bruni d’Entrecasteaux, Joseph Anthony, 500 - - Bryant, Jacob, 479 - - Bryaxis, Ancient Sculptures by, 665 - - Buchan, Mr., a Naturalist engaged in the Voyage of Banks and Cook, 493 - - Buckingham House and its History, 318 - - Buckland, William, D.D., 449 - - Budrum (the ancient Halicarnassus), Explorations of C. T. Newton and - other Archæologists at, 663 _seqq._ - - Burckhardt, John Lewis, Travels and Researches in Africa of, 404 - - Burlamachi, Philip, 250 - - Burnet, Gilbert, Bishop of Salisbury, 133, 211 - - Burney, Charles, D.D., Notices of the Life, Labours, and Literary - Character of, with Notices of his Manuscript and Printed - Collections, 435–438; 440 _seqq._ - - Burney, Frances (afterwards Mme. d’Arblay), 475, 503 - - Burnouf, M., Researches on Assyrian Palæography of, 641 - - Bute, Earl of. _See_ Stuart - - Byres, James, 372 - - Byron, George Gordon, Lord Byron, Autograph MSS. of, 458; - Notice of the recent slander on the fame of, _ib._ - - - C. - - Cadogan, Charles Sloane, 297 - - Cadogan, Lord, 300, 304 - - Cadyanda, Casts of Rock-Tombs at, 660 - - Cæsar Papers, 426 - - Calah (of _Genesis_) Conjectural identification of, 629 - - Calvert, Sir William, 299 - - Camden, William, Friendship of Sir Robert Cotton, and, 52, 53; - their joint labours on the _Britannia_, 54; - their archæological tour in the north of England, _ib._; - other joint labours and friendly intercourse, 87, 98 - - _Campi Phlegræi_, 350 - - Canino, Lucien Bonaparte, Prince of, and his Collection of Greek Vases, - 35 - - Canning, Stratford, Lord Stratford de Redcliffe, encourages liberally - the researches of Layard, 632; - procures from Halicarnassus the primary specimens of the sculptures - of the Mausoleum and presents them to the Nation, 663 - - Canova, Anthony, Opinion on the Elgin Marbles of, 455 - - Caraffa, Carlo, MSS. of, 457 - - Carew, George, 261 _seqq._ - - Carleton, Dudley, Lord Dorchester, 65, 176 - - Carlisle, James, Earl of. _See_ Hay. - - _Carmina Quadragesimalia_ of 1748, Oxford, 418 - - Carr, Robert, Earl of Somerset, Political connection between Sir Robert - Cotton and, 66 _seqq._; - Somerset’s intercourse with the Court of Spain, 69; - His alleged complicity in the murder of Sir Thomas Overbury, 31 - _seqq._ - - Carr, Frances, Countess of Somerset, 66 _seqq._ - - Carteret, Lady Sophia, 424 - - Carthage, Explorations on the site of ancient, and their results, 666 - _seqq._ - - Cary, Henry Francis, Notice of the Literary Life and Museum Service of, - 532; - circumstances attendant on his Candidature for the Keepership of - Printed Books in 1837, 543 _seqq._ - - Casaubon, Isaac, 167 - - Casier, Margaret, 249 - - Casley, David, Services of, as Deputy Royal Librarian, 140, 144 - - Castile, Earls of, 56 - - Catharine, Empress of Russia, 407 - - _Catalogue of the Anglo-Gallic Coins_, 522 - - _Catalogue of the Printed Books_, 523, 533, 566 _seqq._ - - Cautley, Major, Fossils collected in the Himalayas, by, 39 - - Cavendish, Mary, Duchess of Portland, 462 - - Caxton, William, Series of the productions of the press of, 476–478, - 681–683 - - Cecil, William, Lord Burghley, 427 - - Cecil, Robert, Earl of Salisbury, 88, 162 - - Chaloner, Sir Thomas, 158, 159 - - Chamberlain, John, 176 - - Charles I, King of England, 68, 91, 94, 98, 101, 124, 331 - - Charles II, King of England, 260 - - Charles X, King of France, 691 - - Charlett, Arthur, 236, 283 - - Chelsea, Botanic Garden at, 275, 293, 297 - - Chelsea, Manor House of, and its History, 294 _seqq._ - - Children, John George, 532 - - Chimæra-Tomb from Lycia, 658 - - Chinese Books, Hull’s Collection of, 461 - - Chinese Antiquities and Curiosities, 700 - - Choiseul Gouffier, M. G. A. L. de, Count, Archæological Researches in - Greece of, 384 - - Chorley, J. Rutter, Collection of Spanish Dramatic Poetry formed and - bequeathed by, 695 _seqq._ - - Christy, Henry, Notices of the Life, Beneficence, and Archæological - explorations of, 697 _seqq._; - his Collections and their bequest to the Public, 699 _seqq._, 701 - - Churchill, John, Duke of Marlborough, 209 _seqq._ - - Clarke, Edward Daniel, LL.D., and the Sarcophagus from Alexandria, 366; - MS. of the Greek Orators obtained by him at Constantinople, 439 - - Clayton’s Herbarium, 509 - - Cnidus, Ancient Sculpture brought by C. T. Newton from, 664 _seqq._ - - Cockerell, Charles Robert, Researches in Phigaleia of, 397 - - _Codex Alexandrinus_, 167, 170 - - Coinage of the Realm, Collections by Sir Joseph Banks, on the, 508 - - Coins, Medals, and Gems, Collection of, 139, 201, 271, 295, 303, 412, - 417, 421, 443, 705 - - Coke, Sir Edward, 80, 82, 149 - - Coke, Thomas, Earl of Leicester, 372 - - Coleridge, Samuel Taylor, 545 - - Combe, Taylor, 392, 399 - - Conington, in Huntingdonshire, 49 - - Constable, Alice, 132 - - Constantinople, Early Researches for Greek Marbles and MSS. at, 191 - _seqq._ - - Conway, Sir Edward, 184 - - Conyers, John, 259 - - Cook, Captain James, 334 - - Corinth, Vases and other Antiquities brought from, 386 _seqq._ - - Cotton, Sir John, 135, 139 - - Cotton, Sir John, Great-grandson of the Founder, Donor of the Cotton - Library and Antiquities, 134, 306 - - Cotton, John, Grandson of the Founder, 133 - - Cotton, Robert (of Gedding, Cambridgeshire), 139 - - Cotton, Sir Robert (of Hatley St. George, in Cambridgeshire), 139 - - Cotton, Sir Robert Bruce, Descent and Pedigree of, 50 - 1570–1585. His education and early friendships, 52 - 1587–98. Commencement and growth of his library and museum, 53 - 1599. His archæological tour in the North of England with Camden, and - his share in the composition of the _Britannia_, 54; - is employed by the Queen to prepare a tractate on the precedency of - England over Spain, 55; - analysis of that treatise, _ib._ - 1603. Writes a _Discourse on King James’ descent from the Saxon - Kings_, 56; - is knighted, _ib._; - and returned to Parliament for Huntingdonshire, but takes little - part in its debates, 57; - accepts a prominent share in the labour of Committees, _ib._; - and carries on an extensive correspondence both literary and - political, _ib._; - acquires for his Library a mass of State Papers, 58; - petitions Queen Elizabeth for the establishment of a National and - Public Library for England, _ib._; - inference which is obviously deducible thence in relation to the - charge that Sir R. Cotton was an embezzler of Public Records, - 59. - 1607. Receives an address from the Corporation of London, praying him - to restore certain documents alleged to belong to the City - Chamber, _ib._ - 1608. Proposes to the King certain reforms in the naval - administration of the country, 62; - and obtains Letters Patent, creating a commission of Naval Inquiry, - 63; - takes a leading part in the labours of the Commission, and prepares - its report, 63. - 1609. His _Report on the Crown Revenues_, and his Memorials on the - necessity for a reform in the royal expenditure, 64. - 1611. Proposes to the King the creation of a new hereditary - dignity—the Baronetage of England, 65; - receives that dignity, but is dissatisfied with the mode in which - his idea is worked out, 66. - 1613–15. Nature of his political connection and intercourse with the - Earl of Somerset, 67; - his alleged share in carrying on negotiations with Gondomar, in - relation to the projected match with Spain, 68. - 1615. He receives a visit from Gondomar, in which that ambassador - introduces himself as a lover of antiquities desirous to view the - Cottonian Library, _ib._; - is charged with the communication of State Papers to Gondomar, 69; - returns the Spanish ambassador’s visit, 70, 71; - Gondomar’s account of what passed at their several interviews, - _ib._; - notices of Mr. S. R. Gardiner’s comments on and deductions from - that account, 72 _note_; - is entrusted by Somerset with the temporary care of certain jewels - of the Crown, 75; - and is consulted by him with reference to the drafting of a royal - pardon to be passed under the Great Seal, 77; - writes a Letter to Prince Charles (afterwards King Charles I), in - relation to foreign affairs and in praise of warlike exercises, - 79; - is accused of communicating papers and secrets of State to the - Spanish Ambassador, 79; - proceedings taken against him thereupon, 80 _seqq._ - 1616, June. Is liberated, 83; - and receives a pardon under the Great Seal, _ib._; - his conduct and his literary labours in retirement, 84 _seqq._; - instances of the liberality with which he communicates his - knowledge and his manuscripts, 87, 88. - 1616–23. His share in the labours which resulted in the ‘Petition of - Right,’ 89. - 1624, April. His _Remonstrance of the Treaties of Amity and Marriage - with Austria and Spain_ 91; - his advice on the prosecution of the Spanish Ambassadors, and - Report addressed to Buckingham, 92. - 1625, August. Speech ascribed to him in the Parliament held at - Oxford, 93; - its eulogy on the political conduct of Somerset, 96; - the friendly intercourse between Cotton and Sir Symonds d’Ewes, 97 - _seqq._. - 1626. The scene at Cotton House on occasion of the Coronation of - Charles I, 99; - his conduct in 1626 and subsequent years, as an unofficial adviser - of the Crown, 101 _seqq._; - his opinions on Coinage, and on the management of the Royal Mint, - 103 _seqq._ - 1628, Jan. Appears at the Privy Council Board, and delivers a - Discourse advising the immediate calling of a Parliament, 106; - but has no seat in that Parliament, _ib._ - 1629, November. Is accused of circulating a _Proposition to bridle - Parliaments_, written by Sir Robert Dudley, 107 _seqq._; - History of that production, 110 _seqq._; - Sir Robert’s Library is placed under seal, and remains so until his - death, 107, 117, _seqq._; - intercourse between Ben Jonson and Cotton, 116. - 1630. Decline of Cotton’s health, and his correspondence with Dr. - Frodsham, 118; - his visit to Amphyllis Ferrers, and the plot to obtain money from - him, 120 _seqq._; - the proceedings in the Court of Star Chamber thereon, _ib._ - 1631. Illness, 123; - Conferences with Dr. Oldisworth and with Bishop Williams, 124; - death, 125. - - Cotton, Sir Thomas, Bart., 125, 127, 129, 131, 161 - - Cotton, Thomas, 49, 118 - - Cotton, William, 49, 53 - - _Cottoni Posthuma_, 91 _seqq._ and _foot-note_ - - Courten, Peter, 250 - - Courten, Sir Peter, 254 - - Courten, Sir William, Bart., 251, 256, 260, 267 - - Courten, William (I), 249 - - Courten, William (II), 257 - - Courten, William, Founder of the Sloane Museum: - 1642, March. Birth and Parentage, 259 - 1656. Benefaction to the Tradescant Museum, _ib._ - 1657? Residence at Montpelier, 260 - 1662. Contention with George Carew respecting the administration of - the Estates of Sir William Courten, 262 _seqq._ - 1663, July. Presents a petition to King Charles II, 263; - but subsequently enters into a compromise with Carew, _ib._; - and retires to Fawsley, 264 - 1670. Relinquishes his family name and returns to Montpelier, whence - he makes many Continental tours and extensive Collections both in - Natural History and in Antiquities, 267 _seqq._ - 1684? Returns to England, 268; - establishes his museum in the Middle Temple, 269; - his correspondence with Sloane, _ib._ - 1686. Account of a Visit to Courten’s Museum by John Evelyn, 270 - 1695. Another Account of a like visit by Ralph Thoresby, 271 - 1695–1701. His closing years, 272 - 1702, March. Death and monumental inscription, 273 - - Cracherode, Clayton Mordaunt, Notices of the Life and of the Literary - and Archæological Collections of, 417–421; - his Bequests to the Nation, 421 - - Craven, Keppel, Bequest of, 38 - - Croft, Sir Thomas Elmsley, 536 - - Croizet’s Fossil Mammalia collected in Auvergne, 37 - - Crommelinck, Peter, 249 - - Cromwell, Oliver, 90 - - Cromwell, Sir Oliver, 56 - - Cromwell, Thomas, Earl of Essex, 370 - - Cuming, Hugh, Notices of the Life, Travels, and Collections in Natural - History of, 692 _seqq._ - - Cureton, William, Early labours in Bodley’s Library of, 619; - becomes Assistant-Keeper of MSS. in the British Museum, and devotes - himself to the Oriental Department, 620; - his labours on the MSS. from the Monasteries of Nitria, 621; - and his account of the discoveries there made, given in the - _Quarterly Review_ of 1846, 622; - publishes a Syriac version of the _Festal Letters_ of St. Athanasius, - 623; - his _Spicilegium Syriacum_, 624; - other publications and labours, literary and parochial, _ib._; - is made a Royal Trustee, _ib._; - publishes the _Martyrs in Palestine_ of Eusebius, 625; - his lamented death, _ib._ - - Cuvier, George, 455 - - Cyrene, Archæological Researches at, 40 - - - D. - - Da Costa, Solomon, 328 _seqq._ - - Daniell, Edward Thomas, Researches in Lycia of, 668 - - Davis, Nathan, Explorations on the site of Ancient Carthage made by, - and their results, 666 _seqq._ - - Davy, Sir Humphrey, 508 - - Debruge Collection, Specimens of Ancient Glass now in the British - Museum formerly in the, 712 - - Dee, John, 58 - - De Foe, Daniel, 208 - - Delessert, Benjamin, 587 - - Dendy, Sergeant, 131 - - Dennis, George, Archæological Explorations in Sicily of, 668 - - Denon, Vivant, 362 - - _Description of the Ancient Marbles in the British Museum_, 522 _seqq._ - - _Description of the Terra Cottas in the British Museum_, 522 - - Des Hayes, M., Tertiary Fossils collected in France by, 38 - - Dethick, William, 52 - - D’Ewes, Adrian, 237 - - D’Ewes, Sir Symonds, Notices of the Researches, the Political Career, - and the Antiquarian Collections of, 82, 83, 91, 97–99, 133, 237 - - D’Hancarville, J. B., 372, 375 - - Didyme, Ancient Sculpture brought from, 664 - - Digby, John, Earl of Bristol, 69 - - Dordogne, Exploration of the Caves of, and its results, 699 - - Doubleday, John, 463 - - Downing, Frances, 134 - - Downing, Sir George, 134, 262 - - Drawings, Collections of, 310, 408, 421 - - Dreux, M. de, Researches on the site of Ancient Carthage carried on by, - 626 - - Dryander, Jonas, 509 - - Dudley, Edmund, 113 - - Dudley, Sir Robert, and the _Proposition to bridle the Impertinency of - Parliaments_, 110 - - Dugdale, Sir William, 435 - - Durand Collection of Vases, 715 - - Dureau de La Malle, Researches on the site of Ancient Carthage of, 626 - - Dutertre, M., 362 - - Dyson, Mr., Zoological Collections made in Venezuela by, 581 - - - E. - - Edmonds, Mr., 59 - - Edward VI, King of England, 64 - - Edwards, Major Arthur, Bequest in augmentation of the Cottonian - Library, made by, 142, 305; - this Bequest was, for a long period after the foundation of the - Museum, the mainstay of its Library, 443 and _foot-note_ - - Edwards, George, 301 - - Egerton, Francis, Earl of Ellesmere, 597 - - Egerton, Francis Henry, Earl of Bridgewater, Notices of the Life, - Character, and Testamentary Benefactions of, 446–455 - - Egerton, Francis, Duke of Bridgewater, K.G., 446 - - Egerton, Lady Katharine, 257 - - Egyptian Antiquities, Early History of the Collection of, 347 _seqq._, - 362 _seqq._ - - Egyptian Glass in the Slade Collection, 708 - - Elgin, Thomas, Earl of. _See_ BRUCE - - Eliot, Sir John, 56, 90, 93, 94, 96, 101 - - Elizabeth, Queen of England, 51, 103, 157 - - Ellesmere, Francis, Earl of. _See_ EGERTON - - Ellis, Sir Henry, Notice of the Literary Labours and Public Services - of, 524–534, 549, 569 - - Elmsley, Thomas, 419 - - Empson, James, 304, 322 - - _Epistles of St. Ignatius_, Syriac Version of, 609 - - Erskine, William, Oriental MSS. of, 42 - - Esquimaux Collections made and bequeathed by Henry Christy, 699 _seqq._ - - Estcourt, T. B. Sotheron, 541 - - Ethnography and British and Mediæval Antiquities, Organization of the - Department of, 688 - - Etruria in Staffordshire, Debt to the Hamilton Vases of the Porcelain - Works established at, 353 - - _Evangeliary of King Ethelstan_, 98 - - Evelyn, John, 196, 201, 270 - - - F. - - Farmer, Richard, 476 - - Fellows, Sir Charles, Early Life and Travels of, 642; - his researches in Lycia and other parts of Asia, and his excavations - of ancient marbles, 644 _seqq._; - his death, 653; - his views of the date and archæological character of the Lycian - Marbles, 654 _seqq._ - - Fenwick, Sir John, 206 - - Fermor, Sir William, 199 - - Ferrers, Amphyllis, 120 - - Fitzalan, Henry, Earl of Arundel, 172 - - Fleetwood, Sir Robert, 254 - - Forbes, Edward, Researches in Lycia, of, 668 - - Forshall, Rev. Josiah, 141, 532 - - Foscarini, Anthony, 179 - - Foscolo, Hugh, 547 - - Fossils, Collections of, 22, 26, 34, 35, 37, 38, 39, 40, 333 - - Fox, Charles James, 673 _seqq._ - - Fox, Henry, Lord Holland, 310, 423 - - Foxe, John, 325 - - _Fragmenta Scenica Græca_, 441 and _foot-note_ - - France, State Papers and other MSS. relating to the history of, 456, - 572 - - France, Notice of the early and persistent efforts for the acquisition - for public use of the treasures of Learning and Art made by the - Statesmen of, 348 - - Franklin, Benjamin, 672, 673 - - Franks, A. W., Account of some of the choice specimens in the Christy - Collection by, 698 _seqq._; - and of those in the Slade Collection, 708 _seqq._ - - Fraser, Mr., Zoological Collections made in Tunis by, 581 - - Frattochi (the ancient Bovillæ), Discovery of Ancient Sculpture at, 401 - - Frederick, Prince of Wales, 294 - - Fusée d’Aublet, J. B. C., 509 - - Fynes Clinton, Henry, Candidature for the Principal-Librarianship of - the Museum of, 533 - - - G. - - Gaisford, Thomas, 620, 624 - - Galloway, Patrick, 155 - - Gardiner, S. R., Notice of the account of the intercourse between Sir - R. Cotton and the Count of Gondomar given by, 52, 72, 146 - - Gardiner, Mr., Zoological Collections made in Brazil by, 581 - - Garnett, Rev. Richard, 549 - - Garrick, David, 415 - - Gaston, Duke of Orleans, 270 - - Gautier, Abbé, 221 - - George III, King of Great Britain, Gift to the Nation of the Thomason - Library by, 330; - his Political Intercourse with Lord Shelburne, 430 _seqq._; - his Literary tastes and Character, 465 _seqq._; - Formation of his Library, 469; - his Conversations with Johnson and with Beattie, 474 _seqq._; - Pains taken by him in forming a series of the early productions of - the English Press, 477 _seqq._; - Circumstances which attended the Gift of his Library to the Nation, - 482 _seqq._ - - George IV, King of Great Britain, 465, 482 _seqq._ - - German Albums, series of, 457 - - German Glass in the Slade Collection, Early, 713 - - Gibbons, Grinling, 273 - - Gibson, Benjamin, Remarks of, on the Lycian Marbles discovered by Sir - C. Fellows, 649 - - Gilbert, Mr., Zoological Collections made in Australia and New Zealand - by, 581 - - Ginguené, Peter Lewis, Library of, 442, 455 - - Glass, Slade Collection of Ancient, 708 _seqq._ - - Goade, Dr., 193 - - Godolphin, Sydney, Earl of Godolphin, 211 - - Goldsmith, Oliver, 425 - - Gondomar, Diego de Sarmiento, Count of, Intercourse of Sir R. Cotton - with, 68, 80, 81, 95, 102, 146 - - Gorges, Ferdinando, 187 - - Gosse, P. H., Zoological Collections made in Jamaica by, 581 - - Goudot, M., Zoological Collections made in Columbia by, 581 - - Gough, Richard, 529 - - Gould, John, Zoological Collections made in Australia and in New - Zealand by, 381 - - Graves, Captain, 651 - - Gray, John Edward, F.R.S., Public Services of, 577 _seqq._; - his _Illustrations of Indian Zoology_, _ib._; - Catalogues and Synopses of the Natural History Collections originated - by, 578; - Evidence on the comparative state of those Collections in 1836 and in - 1849, 579 _seqq._ - - Greek and Roman Marbles, History of the Collection of, 372 _seqq._ - - Greek Coins, Collection of, 412, 705 - - Greek Manuscripts, Researches in the 17th century for the Collection - of, 199 _seqq._ - - Greek Marbles, Early Researches in the Levant for the acquisition of, - 189 _seqq._ - - Gregg, William, 210 - - Grenville, Thomas, Notices of the Political Life of, 670 _seqq._; - on his retirement from politics he devotes himself to literary and - social pursuits, and collects his Library, 677 _seqq._; - its character, 678, 681; - his Conversation with Sir A. Panizzi as to its destination, 679 - - Grenville, Richard, Marquess of Buckingham, 674 _seqq._ - - Greville, Charles, 356, 459 - - Grey, Lady Jane, 113, 477 - - Grey, Henry, Earl of Kent, 254 - - Grey, Henry, Duke of Kent, 446 - - Grey, Lady Anna Sophia, 446 - - Grey, Thomas, Earl of Stamford, 241 - - Gronovius, John Frederick, Herbarium of, 509 - - Grosley, Peter John, Account of the early condition and regulations of - the British Museum by, 337 - - Grotefend, George Frederick, 641 - - Guenther, Dr., 603 - - Guiscard, Anthony de, 217 - - - H. - - Haeberlein Fossils, 40 - - Halicarnassian Marbles, 663 _seqq._ - - Haller von Hallerstein, Charles, 397 - - Halley, Edmund, 276 - - Hamilton, Gavin, 372, 374, 376, 406 - - Hamilton, Sir William, Notices of the Diplomatic Career, the scientific - researches, the archæological and artistic Collections of, 347–360; - his promotion of the explorations of Lord Elgin, 382; - he brings to England the Barberini or Portland Vase, 459 - - Hamilton, Lady, 356, 358 - - Hamilton, William Richard, 399 - - Hampden, John, 300 - - Hanbury, William, 137, 139 - - Hancarville, J. B. d’, 352 - - Harcourt, Simon, Lord Chancellor of Great Britain, 225 - - Hardiman, John, 456 - - Harding Prints and Drawings, 36 - - Hardy, Sir Thomas Duffus, 529 - - Hardwicke, Major-General, Bequest of Zoological Collections by, 580 - - Hargrave, Francis, Library of, 435 - - Harley, Sir Edward, 204, 234 - - Harley, Robert, Earl of Oxford, a Trustee of the Cotton Library under - the Act of 1700, 139; - Parentage and Descent of, 203; - his first public appearance on occasion of the Revolution of 1688, - 204; - his Parliamentary and Official Career, 205 _seqq._; - his Secretaryship of State, 207; - he protects De Foe, 208; - the crime of William Gregg and the use made of it by Harley’s - enemies, 210; - his dismissal from the Secretaryship, 211; - he intrigues against the Godolphin Ministry, 212; - becomes Chancellor of the Exchequer, 213; - his friendship with Swift, 214; - Guiscard’s attempt on his life and its results, 217; - he becomes Lord High Treasurer, 219; - his intercourse with the ‘October Club,’ 220; - and with the Jacobite exiles, 221 _seqq._; - his intercourse with George the First, 229; - his impeachment, 230; - and trial, 232; - returns to Parliament, 233; - his Domestic Life, 234; - the History of his Library, 235, 477 _seqq._; - its Acquisition by Parliament, 242; - extracts from the Stuart Papers illustrative of the intercourse of - Lord Oxford with the Jacobites subsequently to the Accession of - George I, 242 _seqq._ - - Harley, Edward, Earl of Oxford, 241, 307 - - Harpagus, Monuments of the Conquest of Xanthus by, 662 - - Harpy Tomb, or Pandarus-Tomb, brought from Xanthus, 649, 654 - - Hartweg, Mr., Zoological Collections made in Mexico by, 581 - - Hawes, Sir Benjamin, 544 - - Hawkins, Edward, 43, 532 - - Hawkins, Ernest, 549 - - Hawkins, Thomas, 34 - - Hawley, Sir Henry, 507 - - Hays’ Egyptian Antiquities, 45 - - Heber, Richard, 483 - - Hebrew Books, Collections of, 42, 329 - - Henrietta Maria, Queen Consort of Charles I, 186 - - Henry III, King of England, 79 - - Henry V, King of England, 79 - - Henry VII, King of England, 113 - - Henry VIII, King of England, 54 - - Henry, Prince of Wales, Life and Character, 153 _seqq._; - his intercourse with Ralegh and his influence upon Naval Affairs, - 160; - his purchase of Lord Lumley’s Library, 162; - the projects for his marriage, 164; - his death, 166; - union of his Library with that at Whitehall, 167; - subsequent history of the Royal Library until its incorporation with - the British Museum, 168 _seqq._ - - Heralds’ College, Arundelian MSS. at the, 202 - - Herbert, Edward, Lord Herbert of Cherbury, 235 - - Herbert, Elizabeth, 134 - - Herbert, Lord Chief Justice, 278 - - Herculaneum, Explorations at, 353 - - Hickes, Sir Michael, 426 - - Hickes, Sir William, 426 - - Hill, Sir John, 322 - - Hoare, Sir Richard Colt, Benefactions of, 459 - - Hoeck, J. van, 240 - - Holles Bentinck, Margaret, Duchess of Portland, 242 - - Holles, Thomas, 347 - - Holwell Carr, William, Bequest of Pictures to the British Museum by, 30 - - Homer, Palimpsest Fragments of, found amongst the MSS. from the Nitrian - Monasteries, 624 - - Honeywood, Elizabeth, 133 - - Hope Collection of Vases, 715 - - Hornemann, Frederick, 504 - - Horsley, Samuel, Bishop of St. Asaph, 506 - - Hosking, William, 586 - - Howard, Henry, Earl of Northampton, 64, 66, 81, 113 - - Howard, Margaret, 132 - - Howard, Lady Philippa, 370 - - Howard, Philip, Earl of Arundel and Surrey, 163, 174 - - Howard, Thomas, Earl of Arundel, Surrey, and Norfolk, Correspondence - with Sir R. Cotton of, 87; - his early life and his career at Court, 174 _seqq._; - beginnings of his extensive Collections in literature, art, and - archæology, 177; - his quarrel with Lord Spencer, _ib._; - the adventure of his wife at Venice and its consequences, 179; - his imprisonment by Charles I, 183 _seqq._; - his efforts in Colonization, 186; - his withdrawal from England, and death, 188; - character and history of the Arundelian Collections, 189 _seqq._ - - Howard, Henry, Duke of Norfolk, 197, 199 - - Howell, James, 52, 94, 101 - - Hubert, Robert, 259 - - Hugessen, Dorothea, 503 - - Hugessen, William Weston, 503 - - Hull, John Fowler, 460 - - Humboldt, William von, 455, 501 - - Huntington, Robert, Bishop of Raphoe, 609 - - Hutchinson, General Lord, 362, 367 - - Hutton, William, 340 - - Hyde, Edward, Earl of Clarendon, 265 - - Hyde, Lawrence, Earl of Rochester, 572 - - - I. - - Icelandic Books, 497 - - Ignatius, St., Nitrian MSS. of the Epistles of, 609 _seqq._ - - Inglis, Sir Robert Harry, 542 - - Institute of Egypt, 362 _seqq._ - - Institute of France, 505 - - Irish Manuscripts, Collections of, 456, 457 - - Italian Topography, Collection of, 460 - - - J. - - Jackson, Cyril, 422 - - Jacquier, M., 509 - - James I, King of England, &c., 49, 65, 69, 73, 85, 86, 87, 103, 111, - 131, 154 - - James Stuart, Prince of Wales (called ‘The Old Pretender’), 221 - _seqq._, 244, 245 - - James, Richard, 114 _seqq._ - - Japanese Books, 718 _seqq._ - - Jenkins, Thomas, 372, 376, 377 - - Jenkinson, Robert Banks, Earl of Liverpool, 483 - - Johnson, Samuel, 242, 469, 470, 471, 473, 475 - - Jolles, Sir John, 59 - - Jones, John Winter, 568, 575, 600 - - Jones, Inigo, 163 - - Jonson, Benjamin, 116 - - _Journal Britannique_, 343 - - Joursanvault, Baron de, 536 _seqq._ - - Junius, Francis, 199 - - Jussieu, Bernard de, 289 - - - K. - - Kaye, John, Bishop of Lincoln, 441 - - Kennet, White, Bishop of Peterborough, 427 - - Khorsabad and Kouyunjik, Discoveries at, 629 _seqq._ - - King, Dr. William, 286 - - Knatchbull, Sir Edward, 507 - - Knight, Gowin, 321, 342 - - Knight, Richard Payne, Notices of the Public and Literary Life, the - Collections, the Writings, and the Benefactions of, 401–412, 460; - his opinions and his Parliamentary Evidence on the Elgin Marbles, - 389, 411 _seqq._ - - Knightley, Sir Richard, 254 - - Kokscharow Minerals, 42 - - König, Charles, 532, 575 - - - L. - - La Billardière, M. de, Botanical and other Collections of, 500 - - Lambarde, William, 52 - - Lambe, Dr., 87 - - Lansdowne Manuscripts, 526 _seqq._ - - Lansdowne, William, Marquess of. _See_ PETTY-FITZMAURICE - - Lartet, M., 699 _seqq._ - - La Turbie Gems, 691 - - Laud, Archbishop, 151 - - Laurenzano Collection, Marbles formerly in the, 373 _seqq._ - - La Vallière, Duke of, 472 - - Layard, Austen Henry, Notices of the Travels, the Archæological - Researches and Collections of, 627 _seqq._ - - Leach, Dr., 573 - - Leheup, Peter, and his dealings with the Foundation-Lottery of the - British Museum, 309, 340 - - Lemery, Nicholas, 275 - - Le Neve, Peter, 435 - - Lennox, Esme, Duke of. _See_ STUART - - Leochares, Sculptures of, 665 - - Lerma, Duke of, 71 - - Lethieullier, Pitt, 347 - - Lethieullier, Smart, 347 - - Lethieullier, William, 347 - - Levant Manuscripts, Early Researches for the Acquisition of, 609 - _seqq._ - - Lever, Sir Ashton, 339 - - Ley, James, Earl of Marlborough, 53 - - Leyden, Natural History Museum of, 579 - - Limyra, Tombs of, 658 - - Linart, M., Visit to the Monasteries of the Nitrian Desert of, 610 - - Lincolnshire, Collections for, 435 - - Lind, Dr., 495 - - Linkh, James, 397 - - Linnæus, Charles, 509 - - Lisle, William, 87 - - Lloyd, William, Bishop of Lichfield, 236 - - Locke, John, 267 - - Lomenie, Henry de, Count of Brienne, Manuscripts of, 235 - - Long, Charles, Lord Farnborough, 456, 483 - - Loureiro, John de, Herbarium of, 509 - - Lucar, Cyril, Patriarch of Constantinople, 167 - - Lumley, John, Lord Lumley, Library of, 162 - - Lusieri, John Baptist, 382 - - Lycian Marbles, 645 _seqq._ - - Lyttelton, Sir Edward, 254 - - Lyttelton, Sir Thomas, 206 - - - M. - - Macclesfield, Earl of. _See_ PARKER - - Madden, Sir Frederick, 122, 141, 523 - - Magna Græcia, Antiquities from, 351 _seqq._ - - Major, Richard Henry, 471 - - Manchester, Henry, Earl of. _See_ MONTAGU - - Manuscript Collections, 242, 303, 304, 426, 455, 460, 461, 485, 523, - 616–624, 707 - - Map and Chart Collections, 471 - - Marsden’s Collections of Oriental Coins, 35 - - Maty, Matthew, 322, 342 - - Mausoleum of Halicarnassus, Sculptures of the, 664 _seqq._ - - Mausoleum and Cinerary Urns, 522 - - Maynwaring, Roger, 87 - - Menou, General, and the Egyptian Antiquities collected by the French - Explorers, 363 - - Menzies, Archibald, 334 - - Merret, Christopher, 290 - - Mewtas, Thomas, 117 - - Millard, John, 541 - - Mineralogical Collections, 459, 510, 521 - - _Minutes of Evidence before Select Committee on the British Museum_ of - 1835–36, 555, 558; - —_before the Royal Commissioners of 1848–50_, 566 - - Moll, Baron von, 413 - - Mommsen, Tycho, MSS. of, 457 - - Monck Mason, Henry, MSS. of, 457 - - Monk, Christopher, Duke of Albemarle, 270 - - Montagu, Colonel George, Collections in Zoology of, and his public - benefaction, 459, 576, 692 - - Montagu, John, Earl of Sandwich, 489 - - Montagu, Ralph, Duke of Montagu, 319 - - Montagu House and its history, 319, 324 - - Monticelli’s Minerals, 521 - - Morghens, Raphael, Prints of, 36 - - Moritz, Charles, 338 - - Morrison, Robert, Chinese Library of, 37 - - Morton, Dr. Charles, 322, 344, 519 - - Mouncey, John, 250 - - _Museum Tradescantianum_, 259 - - Musgrave, Sir William, Benefactions of, 416 - - Myra, Casts of Rock-Tombs at, 660 - - - N. - - Napier of Magdala, Lord, Efforts for the collection of Abyssinian MSS. - and Antiquities during the late Campaign made by, 703 _seqq._ - - Napoleon and the Institute of Cairo, 366; - his plans for the acquisition of the Marbles of the Parthenon, 384 - - Natural History Collections, Propositions which have been made for the - removal of the, 513, 594 _seqq._, 744 _seqq._ - - _Natural History of Jamaica_, 289 _seqq._ - - Nelson, Horatio, Lord Nelson, 356, 359, 361 - - Neville, Sir Henry, 55 - - Newton, Adam, 157 - - Newton, Charles Thomas, Researches for Antiquities at Halicarnassus, - Branchidæ, Cnidus, &c., of, 663 _seqq._; - his labours in respect to the Woodhouse Collection, 704 - - Newton, Sir Isaac, 499 - - Nice, Daniel, Museum of, 195 - - Nicolas, Sir Harris, 535, 541 - - Nimeguen, Discovery of Ancient Bronzes near, 409 - - Nimroud, Excavations of Mr. Layard and his Successors at, 629 _seqq._ - - Nitrian Monasteries, Account of the successive researches for MSS. in - the Libraries of the, 609 _seqq._ - - Norgate, Edward, 195 - - Northampton, Henry, Earl of. _See_ HOWARD - - - O. - - Oldisworth, William, 124 - - Onslow, Arthur, 306 - - Orsini, Flavio, MSS. of, 457 - - Osborne, Sir John, 240 - - Oswald, James, 673 - - Ouseley, Sir Gore, 461, 509 - - Overbury, Sir Thomas, 67, 81, 82, 83 - - Owen, Admiral Sir Edward, 651 - - Owen, Richard, on the growth and progress of the Zoological - Collections, 602, 694; - on the state, classification, and requirements of the Collection of - Minerals, 606. - - - P. - - Pacho, Mr., negotiates the transfer from the Monastery of St. Mary - Deipara of a residuary Collection of Syrian MSS. previously - withheld, 618 - - Paiafa, Xanthian tomb of, 652, 658 - - Palmer, Sir Geoffrey, 263 - - Pandarus, Lycian Marbles illustrative of the Legend of, 654 - - Panizzi, Sir Antonio, 485, 523, 543, 546, 552, 558, 559, 560, 563, 567, - 570, 704; - his influence on the bequest of the Grenville Library, 678 _seqq._; - his designs and labours for the construction of the New Reading-Room, - 586 _seqq._; - his account of the choice books in the Grenville Collection, 681 - _seqq._; - testimony borne in Parliament in 1866 to his public services, 583 - - Papin, Dionysius, 276 - - Paramythia (in Epirus), Discovery of ancient Bronzes at, 407 - - Paris and London Museums compared, 579, 581 - - Parker, George, Earl of Macclesfield, 299, 304 - - Parker, Matthew, Archbishop of Canterbury, 58 - - Parry, John Humffreys, 568 - - Paynell, Robert, 241 - - Pelham, Henry, 307, 309 - - Pell, John, 427 - - Pennant, Thomas, 496 - - Percy, Algernon, Duke of Northumberland, 610 - - Perez, Anthony, 457 - - Persepolitan Marbles, 461 - - Persian MSS., 456, 459 - - Peters, Hugh, 168 - - Petiver, James, 290 - - Pett, Phineas, 161 - - Petty, William, 191, 193 - - Petty-Fitzmaurice, William, Marquess of Lansdowne, 426 _seqq._, 672 - - Petyt, William, 435 - - Phigaleia, Marbles of, 396 _seqq._ - - Phœnician Glass, 708 - - Piaggi, Anthony, 358 - - Pierre-Luisit (Pays-de-Bugey), Discovery of ancient Sculpture at, 407 - - Pindar, Sir Paul, 260, 267 - - Pinelli Library, 438 - - Pirckheimer Library, 195 - - Pitton de Tournefort, Joseph, 267 - - Planta, Andrew, 517 - - Planta, Joseph, Notices of the Life, Literary Works, and Public - Services of, 517 _seqq._ - - Portland Vase, History of the, 461 _seqq._ - - Pourtalès Collection of Antiquities, 669 - - _Proposition to bridle the Impertinency of Parliaments_, 100 - - - R. - - Ralegh, Sir Walter, 87, 113, 147, 160, 161, 187 - - Ratcliffe, John, 476 - - Rawlinson, Sir Henry, 641 - - Ray, John, 275, 282 - - Reid, George William, on Prints in the Slade Collection, 716 - - Rich, Claudius James, 459, 616 - - Robartes, John, Earl of Radnor, 241 - - Roberts, Edward, 25 - - Roe, Sir Thomas, Researches in the Levant of, 167, 192 _seqq._ - - Rosetta Inscription, 365 _seqq._ - - Royal Academy of Arts, 471 - - Royal Society, 284 _seqq._, 498 _seqq._ - - Russell, John, Duke of Bedford, 524 - - Rycaut, Sir Paul, 427 - - Rye, William Brenchley, 719 - - Rymer, Thomas, 328 - - - S. - - Saint-John, Henry, Viscount Bolingbroke, 212 _seqq._, 309 - - Saint-John, Oliver, 110, 114 - - Salisbury, Earl of. _See_ CECIL - - Salway, Richard, 268 - - Sancroft, William, Archbishop of Canterbury, 235 - - Saunders, Dr. Sedgwick, on certain MSS. in the Cotton Collection, 151 - - Saunders, William, 703 _seqq._ - - Scharf, George, 645 - - Scopas, Sculptures of, 665 - - Segar, Sir William, 435 - - Seguier, Peter, 235, 240 - - Selden, John, 97, 130, 131, 419 - - Sennacherib, Sculptural Monuments of, 633, 640 _seqq._ - - Serra, Marquess (of Genoa), 665 - - Seymour, Edward, Duke of Somerset, 64, 211 - - Sheepshanks, John, 35 - - Sicily, Archæological Researches in, 668 - - Siebold, Philip Francis von, Travels and Researches in Japan of, 717 - _seqq._; - his Japanese Libraries, 718 - - Slade, Felix, Collections and Bequests of, 707 _seqq._ - - Sloane, Sir Hans: - 1660–1677–1683. Parentage, and early education in Ireland, 274 - 1678. Studies Chemistry, Botany, and Medicine in London, 275 - 1683. Goes to France to prosecute his professional and scientific - education, _ib._ - 1684. Commences his medical career in London, 276 - 1687. Proceeds to the West Indies as Physician to the - Governor-General and to the Fleet, and during that Voyage begins - the formation of his Museum, 278 _seqq._ - 1689. Returns to England with extensive Collections, 281 - 1693. Becomes Secretary of the Royal Society, 282 - 1696. Publishes his first scientific work, _ib._ - 1690 to 1727. Resumes the publication of the suspended _Philosophical - Transactions_, 284; - Discussions between Sloane and Woodward, 286; - Enumeration of the honours and distinctions conferred upon him, 287 - 1708. Publishes the first volume of the _Natural History of Jamaica_, - 288 - 1710–18. Incorporation of the Collections of Plukenet, Petiver, and - others, with Sloane’s Museum, 290; - his extensive correspondence and charities, 291 - 1741. Retires to his Manor House at Chelsea, 293 - 1748. Visit to the Sloane Museum of the Prince and Princess of Wales, - 294 - 1748–9. Last Will and Codicils, 296 _seqq._; - declining years and death, 300; - Comparative Synoptical Table of his Museum in 1725 and in 1753, - 303; - its acquisition by Parliament and its public establishment, in - 1753, 304 _seqq._ - - Smirke, Sir Robert, 584 _seqq._ - - Smirke, Sydney, 587 _seqq._, 596 - - Smith and Porcher, Explorations at Cyrene of Messrs., 40 - - Smith, Joseph, 469 - - Smith, Robert, 59 - - Smith, Dr. Thomas, 142 - - Smith, Sir Thomas, 235 - - Solander, Daniel Charles, 491 - - Soltikoff Collection, 712 - - Somers, John, Lord Somers, 139 - - Somerset, Earl of. _See_ CARR - - Somerville, Lord, 480 - - Sonnini de Manoncourt, Charles N. S., Researches in the Nitrian - Monasteries of, 610 - - Spanish MSS., 456 - - Spanish Poetry and Drama, Chorley Collection of, 695 - - Spano (Canon), of Cagliari, 626 - - Spencer, Charles, Earl of Sunderland, 239 - - _Specimens of Ancient Sculpture_, 735 _seqq._, 410 - - Spelman, Sir Henry, 124 - - Spratt, T. A. B., Researches in Lycia of, 668 - - Stephen, James Francis, 38 - - Strozzi Gems, 691 - - Stuart, Esme, Duke of Lennox, 71, 182 - - Suffolk, Thomas, Earl of. _See_ HOWARD - - Swift, Jonathan, 214 _seqq._ - - - T. - - Tattam, Henry, Researches in the Nitrian Monasteries of, 613 - - Theyer, Charles and John, 168 - - Thomason, George, 331 - - Thoresby, John, Visit to Courten’s Museum of, 270 - - Tischendorf’s Visit to the Nitrian Monasteries, 618 - - Towneley, Charles, Birth and Ancestry of, 369; - his Continental Education and Travels, 370; - History of his Collection of Ancient Sculpture, 372 _seqq._; - his return to Italy and further enlargement of his Gallery, 377 - _seqq._; - its testamentary disposal, and subsequent acquisition by Parliament, - 379 - - Tradescant’s Museum, 259 - - Tyrwhitt, Thomas, Benefactions of, 417 - - - U. - - Utica, Archæological Researches at, 666 _seqq._ - - - V. - - Vase Collections, Notices of the growth and extent of the, 351, 386 - _seqq._ - - Villiers, George, Duke of Buckingham, 68, 73, 84, 85, 86, 91, 99, 100, - 116 - - Vincent, Augustine, 87 - - Vossius, Gerard John, 235 - - - W. - - Wake, Sir Isaac, 195 - - Walker, Sir Edward, 176 - - Walpole, Horace, Earl of Orford, 309, 310, 322, 405, 415, 426, 429 - - Wanley, Humphrey, 143, 235, 236, 238, 240, 241, 427 - - Warburton, John, 240, 435 - - Warburton, William, Bishop of Gloucester, 457 - - Ward, Dr. John, 336, 347, 519 - - Watts, Thomas, Notice of the Literary Life and Public Services of, 554 - _seqq._; - his remarks on the new buildings of the Museum, 585 _seqq._; - his account of the specimens of Bookbinding in the Slade Collection, - 716; - and of the Japanese Library of P. F. von Siebold, 719 - - Watson-Wentworth, Charles, Marquis of Rockingham, 429 - - Webb, Philip Carteret, 426 - - Wedgwood, Josiah, 358 - - Wendeborn, Frederick, 338, 485 - - Wentworth, Thomas, Earl of Strafford, 111, 186 - - Wesenham Family, 49 - - West, James, 427, 476 - - Whitaker, Lawrence, 117 - - Whitelocke, Bulstrode, 168 - - Wilbraham, Roger, 409 - - Williams, John, Archbishop of York, 87, 124 - - Witt, George, 696 - - Wood, Antiquarian explorations at Ephesus of Mr. Consul, 669 - - Woodhouse, James, Museum of Antiquities formed at Corfu by, 702; - its bequest to the Public, and the circumstances attendant thereon, - 703 _seqq._ - - Woodward, Dr. John, 259, 286 - - Wotton, Sir Henry, 179, 181 - - - X. - - Xanthus and its sculptured monuments, Discovery by Sir C. Fellows of, - 645 _seqq._ - - - Y. - - Yelverton, Sir Henry, 178 - - Young, Arthur, 480 - - Young, Patrick, 167 - - Young, Thomas, 367 - - - PRINTED BY J. E. ADLARD, BARTHOLOMEW CLOSE. - ------ - -Footnote 1: - - “Or must I, as a wit, with learned air - Like Doctor Dibdin, to Tom Payne’s repair, - Meet Cyril Jackson and mild Cracherode there? - ‘Hold!’ cries Tom Payne, ‘that margin let me measure, - And rate the separate value of the treasure’ - Eager they gaze. ‘Well, Sirs, the feat is done. - Cracherode’s _Poetæ Principes_ have won!’” - Mathias, _Pursuits of Literature_. - -Footnote 2: - - Loakes had been purchased from the last owner of the Archdall family - by Henry, Earl of Shelburne. Earl William (first Marquess of - Lansdowne) eventually sold it to the ancestor of the present Lord - Carrington. - -Footnote 3: - - See, hereafter, in life of T. Grenville, Book III, c. 2. - -Footnote 4: - - This famous speech was delivered on the 5th of March, 1778. ‘_Then_,’ - said Lord Shelburne, after denouncing measures which would sever the - Colonies from the Kingdom, ‘the sun of Great Britain is set. We shall - be no more a powerful or even a respectable people.’—_Parliamentary - Debates_, vol. xix, col. 850. - -Footnote 5: - - More than one of Burney’s scholars was accustomed to speak feelingly - on the topic of ancient school ‘discipline’ when any passing incident - led the talk in that direction in after life. - -Footnote 6: - - This small fact in classical bibliography is remarkable enough to call - for some particular exemplifications, beyond those given in the text, - on a former page. Of the three greatest Greek dramatists, Burney had - 315 editions against 75 in the Library of the British Museum. Of Homer - he had 87 against 45; of Aristophanes, 74 against 23; of Demosthenes, - 50 against 18; and of the _Anthologia_, 30 against 19. - -Footnote 7: - - It was also from the Edwards fund that the whole costs of the Oriental - MSS. of Halhed, and of the Minerals of Hatchett, together with those - of several other early and important acquisitions, were defrayed. That - fund, in truth, was the mainstay of the Museum during the years of - parliamentary parsimony. - -Footnote 8: - - Of these four thousand pounds, two thousand three hundred and - forty-five pounds seem to have been expended in Printed Books; the - remainder, probably, in Manuscripts. - -Footnote 9: - - To give but one example: Samuel Burder—the author of the excellent - work, so illustrative of Biblical literature, entitled _Oriental - Customs_—states, in his MS. correspondence now before me, that the - _only_ effective reward given to him, in the course of his long - labours, was given by Lord Bridgewater. The book above mentioned was - ‘successful,’ ‘but,’ he says, ‘the booksellers, as usual, reaped the - harvest,’ not the author. It is—shall I say?—an amusing comment on - this latter clause, to find that in one of his letters to Lord - Bridgewater, Burder states that the person who took the most kindly - notice of his literary labours, next after Lord Bridgewater himself, - was—the Emperor of Russia (Alexander I). - -Footnote 10: - - These form the Egerton MSS. 215 to 262 inclusive. - -Footnote 11: - - Horace Walpole, at this sale, purchased the fine MS., with drawings by - Julio Clovio, which was long an ornament of the villa at Strawberry - Hill, and also a choice cameo of Jupiter Serapis, for which he gave a - hundred and seventy-three pounds. He preferred, he said, either of - them to the vase. So, at least, he fancied when he found it - unattainable. ‘I am glad,’ he wrote to Conway (18 June, 1786), ‘that - Sir Joshua saw no more excellence in the _Jupiter_ than in the Clovio, - or the Duke, I suppose, would have purchased it as he did the Vase—for - £1000. I told Sir William and the late Duchess—when I never thought - that it would be mine—that I would rather have the head than the - vase.’ - -Footnote 12: - - Lord Harcourt resigned his office of Governor to the Prince at the - beginning of December, 1752. Scott, then the Prince’s tutor, was - recommended to his office by Bolingbroke. The Bishop of Peterborough’s - appointment as Preceptor was made in January, 1753. Among the books - complained of, the _Histoire de la Grande Bretagne_ of Father Orléans, - and the _Introduction à la vie du Roi Henri IV_ of another Jesuit, - Father Péréfixe, are said to have been included. Another and more - famous book, which was much in Prince George’s hands in his early - years, was also obnoxious to the Whigs—Bolingbroke’s _Idea of a - Patriot King_. But it would scarcely have been prudent in the - malcontents to have put a work which (whatever its faults) ranks, to - some extent, among our English classics, in the same expurgatory, or - prohibitory, index with the books of Orléans and of Péréfixe. If - George the Third got some harm out of Lord Bolingbroke’s book, he - probably obtained also some good. Pure Whiggism—pure but not - simple—has never been noted for any discriminating tolerance of - spirit. And, in 1752, it was furious at the prospect that the - continuance of its long domination was imperilled. - -Footnote 13: - - The mansion for which the Trustees of the British Museum had been - asked to give £30,000 was sold, five years afterwards, to the King for - £20,000. It was purchased for the Queen as a jointure-house in lieu of - her proper mansion, Somerset House, then devoted to public purposes. - All the royal princes and princesses were born in Buckingham House, - except George IV, and one, perhaps, of the younger children. - -Footnote 14: - - The story, I observe, has been endorsed in Mr. Blades’ excellent _Life - of Caxton_ (see part 2, p. 268), but it is undoubtedly a distortion or - exaggeration of some chance occurrence. No such series could have been - formed otherwise than, in the main, by systematic research. - -Footnote 15: - - _Edinburgh Weekly Journal_, Feb. 1820. The article is reprinted in - _Miscellaneous Prose Works_, Edition of 1841, vol. ii, p. 184. - -Footnote 16: - - ‘Ralph Robinson’ is the name signed to the communications to the - _Annals of Agriculture_, but they are dated from Windsor. (See - _Annals_, vol. vii, 1787.) - -Footnote 17: - - Curiously enough, three volumes of the Georgian MSS. had belonged to - Sir Hans Sloane, and had, in some unexplained way, come to be - separated from the bulk of his Collection. They now rejoined their old - companions in Great Russell Street. - -Footnote 18: - - See, before, p. 339. - -Footnote 19: - - John Montagu, fourth Earl of Sandwich (1729–1792). - -Footnote 20: - - Solander, who was afterwards to be so intimately connected with the - Banksian Collections, had been for some years in this country when he - was selected by Banks to be one of his companions in the voyage of - _The Endeavour_. He was born in Sweden, in the year 1736. He came to - England in July, 1760. He succeeded Dr. Maty, as Under-Librarian of - the British Museum, in 1773, when Maty was made Principal-Librarian. - At that date he had already served the Trustees for many years as one - of their Assistant-Librarians. - -Footnote 21: - - See Book I, c. 6. - -Footnote 22: - - Bishop Horsley certainly forgot the ever-memorable words which he had - so often read—Matt. v, 44—when he, a prelate, signed himself - ‘Misogallus.’ - -Footnote 23: - - Morton died at eighty-three; Planta, at eighty-four; Ellis, at - ninety-two. Morton, as we have seen, was known to Sir Hans Sloane. - Sloane was already a noted man in the days of Charles the Second; and - he also lived to be ninety-two. The joint lives of Sloane, Morton, and - Ellis extended over nearly two hundred and ten years. - -Footnote 24: - - I do not make this statement without ample warrant. When preparing, - under Lord Romilly’s direction, my humble contribution of the lost - _Liber de Hyda_ to the series of _Chronicles and Memorials_, I had - competent occasion to test the _Monasticon_ of 1813–1824, and found it - to teem with errors and oversights in that part of it which I had then - to do with. I had had other occasions to study it somewhat closely - twenty years before, and with like result. At the interval of twenty - years, one could hardly stumble twice upon exceptionally ill-edited - portions of such a book. For the new ‘Dugdale,’ thus truthfully - characterised, subscribers paid a hundred and thirty pounds for small - paper, two hundred and sixty pounds for large paper, copies; and the - number of subscribers was considerable. So much for the ‘We must - retrench’ of the publishers. - -Footnote 25: - - After stating that Mr. Ellis had made needless proclamation at Paris - of the object of his journey, Sir Harris Nicolas proceeds thus:—‘Not - contented with this injudicious and useless development of the objects - in view, the learned gentleman himself pompously announced wherever he - went that he was the “Chief Librarian of the British Museum,” sent - specially to treat for these manuscripts, thus making a public affair - of what should have been kept private. The effect of this folly may - easily be imagined. Long before the “Chief Librarian” reached Pomard, - the French newspapers expressed their indignation that historical - muniments should be sold to the British Government, inferring that - England must be anxious to possess the records in question, when the - purchase of them was made an official business. - - ‘The effect of all this parade upon the owner of the manuscripts was a - natural one; he fancied he had erred in his estimate of their value, - and that, as they seemed to be objects of national importance to - another Government, he resolved to make that Government pay at a much - higher rate, for what they manifested such extraordinary anxiety to - obtain, than a private individual. On the “Chief Librarian’s” arrival - at Pomard, he discovered that the Baron could speak little English; - and the Baron, as he has since asserted, discovered that the “Chief - Librarian” could speak less French; hence it was with great difficulty - that the latter could understand that the Baron had become so - enlightened about his treasures as to expect, not merely double the - price he originally asked for them, but as our Government had - interfered on the subject, he wished it to advance one step further, - by inducing his Most Christian Majesty to raise his Barony into a - Comté. Such terms were out of the question; and after spending two or - three hours only in examining the Collection, but which required at - least as many weeks, the “Chief Librarian” returned to England _re - infecta_, and made his report to the Trustees, who refused to purchase - the Collection, but offered to buy a few documents, which the owner, - of course, declined. Thus, highly valuable documents are lost to the - Museum and to the country, in consequence, solely and entirely, of the - absurd measures adopted for their acquisition.’—NICOLAS, _Observations - on the State of Historical Literature in England_, pp. 78–80. My long - and observant acquaintance with Sir H. Nicolas justifies me in adding - to this extract—in which there are such obvious exaggerations of - statement—that I am convinced he was writing from insufficient and - inaccurate information. He was incapable of wilful misstatement. - -Footnote 26: - - I was myself present at an interview (in Lambeth), when the most - urgent influence was used with Mr. Hawes to induce him to attack Mr. - Panizzi’s original appointment as an ‘Assistant-Librarian’; and I - heard him express a strong approval of it, on the ground of the - obvious qualifications and abilities of the individual officer—though - himself sharing the opinion that in such appointments Englishmen - should have the preference. - -Footnote 27: - - It was in the old rooms in the Court-yard of Montagu House that - Charles Lamb enjoyed the last, I think, of his ‘dinings-out.’ A few - days after his final visit (November, 1834) the hand of Death was - already upon him. Cary, before writing the well-known epitaph, wrote - some other graceful and touching lines on his old friend. They were - occasioned by finding, in a volume lent to Lamb by Cary, Lamb’s - bookmark, against a page which told of the death of Sydney. They begin - thus:— - - ‘So should it be, my gentle friend, - Thy leaf last closed at Sydney’s end; - Thou too, like Sydney, wouldst have given - The water, thirsting, and near Heaven.’ - -Footnote 28: - - It is necessary that I should state, with precision, the sources of - the information conveyed in the text. I rely, chiefly, on three - several sources, one of which is publicly accessible. My main - knowledge of the matter rests (first) upon the _Minutes of Evidence_ - taken by Lord Ellesmere’s Commission of 1848–1850; (secondly) upon - conversations with the late Mr. Edward Hawkins, held in July and - August, 1837, not long after the appearance of Mr. Cary’s letter in - _The Times_; (thirdly) upon a conversation, on the same subject, with - which I was honoured by Sir Henry Ellis in 1839. - -Footnote 29: - - I believe that his earliest contribution consisted of some articles - entitled ‘Notes of a Reader,’ published in 1830, in a periodical (long - since defunct) called _The Spirit of Literature_. These were written - and printed long before Mr. Watts became a correspondent of the - _Mechanics’ Magazine_, as mentioned in the text. - -Footnote 30: - - In _Minutes of Evidence_ (page 596) printed erroneously - ‘_reasonable_.’ To the brief extract, for which alone I can here - afford space, were appended, in the original Report, many pertinent - amplifications and illustrations. Some of these are given in the - _Minutes of Evidence_ above referred to. - -Footnote 31: - - The ‘successor’ referred to is Mr. Winter Jones, then Keeper of - Printed Books, now Principal-Librarian of the British Museum. - -Footnote 32: - - Birch, _Ancient Pottery_, vol. i, pp. 209, 210. - -Footnote 33: - - If the question of mere hints and analogies in construction were to be - followed out to its issues, the result, I feel assured, would in no - degree tend to strengthen the contention of Mr. Hosking’s pamphlet. - Something like a first germ of the mere ground-plan of the new - Reading-Room may, perhaps, be found in M. Benjamin Delessert’s _Projet - d’une Bibliothèque circulaire_, printed, at Paris, as far back as the - year 1835, when the question of reconstructing the then ‘Royal,’ now - ‘Imperial Library,’ was under discussion in the French Chambers. ‘I - propose,’ says Delessert, ‘to place the officers and the readers in - the centre of a vast rotunda, whence branch off eight principal - galleries, the walls of which form diverging radii ... and _have - book-cases on both sides_,’ &c. His plan may be thus shown, in small. - The differences, it will be seen, between this sketch and Mr. - Panizzi’s sketch of 1854, are greater than are the resemblances. - -[Illustration] - -Footnote 34: - - Namely, two millions five hundred and twenty-seven thousand two - hundred and sixteen visits, which _included_ seventy-eight thousand - two hundred and eleven visits to the Reading-Room for study. - -Footnote 35: - - In—unless a memory more than thirty years old deceive me—that noble - masterpiece of English prose, the ‘_Citation of Shakespeare for - Deer-stealing_’ (1835). - -Footnote 36: - - The Oriental Translation Fund. - -Footnote 37: - - Comp. ‘Asshur builded Nineveh, and the city Rehoboth, and - _Calah_.’—_Gen._ x, 11. Mr. Layard quotes this passage, in _Nineveh - and its Remains_ (vol. i, p. 4, edit. 1849), and seems to identify - ‘Kalah Sherghat’ as retaining its ancient name. - -Footnote 38: - - Nor was there any petty or unworthy jealousy in the distinguished - French explorer. ‘During the entire period of his excavations,’ writes - Mr. Layard, ‘M. Botta regularly sent me, not only his [own] - descriptions, but copies of the inscriptions, without exacting any - promise as to the use I might make of them. That there are few who - would have acted thus liberally, those who have been engaged in a - search after Antiquities in the East will not be inclined to - deny.’—_Nineveh and its Remains_, vol. i, p. 14. - -Footnote 39: - - It is a slight blemish in Mr. Layard’s otherwise admirable books that - they are loose in the handling of dates. It is sometimes necessary to - turn over hundreds of pages in order to be sure of the year in which a - particular excavation was made, or in which an interesting incident - occurred. Sometimes, again, there is an actual conflict of dates, _e. - g._ _Discoveries in the Ruins_, &c. (1853), p. 3, ‘After my departure - from Mósul in 1847,’ and again, p. 66, ‘On my return to Europe in - 1847;’ but at p. 162, we read: ‘Having been carefully covered up with - earth, previous to my departure in 1848, they [the lions] had been - preserved,’ &c. I mention this simply because it is possible that - error may thus, once or twice, have crept into the marginal dates - given above, though pains has been taken about these. - -Footnote 40: - - The Berodach-Baladan of 2 Kings, xx, 12, who ‘sent letters and a - present unto Hezekiah, when he had heard that Hezekiah had been sick.’ - -Footnote 41: - - And in which not a few readers will be sure to feel all the more - interest, because of its sacred associations, when they call to mind - those first-century travels of certain famous travellers who, ‘after - they had passed throughout Pisidia, came to Pamphylia, and ... when - they had gone through Phrygia, ... and were come to Mysia, assayed to - go into Bythinia, but the Spirit suffered them not;’—having work for - them to do in another quarter. - -Footnote 42: - - I shall not, I trust, be suspected of a want of gratitude for the - eminent and most praiseworthy efforts of Mr. Davis—one of the many - Americans who have returned, with liberal profuseness, the reciprocal - obligations which _all_ Americans owe to Britain (for their ancestry, - and also for the noble interchange of benefits between parent and - offspring, prior to 1776; if for nought else), if I venture to remark - that the above-written passage in the text has been inserted somewhat - hesitatingly, as far as it concerns the _date_ of the Carthaginian - explorations. No index; no summary; no marginal dates; conflicting and - obscure dates, when any dates appear anywhere; no introduction, which - introduces anything; scarcely any divarication of personal knowledge - and experiences, from borrowed knowledge and experiences; such are - some of the difficulties which await the student of _Carthage and her - Remains_. Yet the book is full of deep interest; its author is, none - the less, a benefactor to Britain, and to the world. - -Footnote 43: - - These were given to the Museum by Lord Russell, as Secretary of State - for Foreign Affairs. Lord Russell was one of the earliest of the - Foreign Secretaries who began a new epoch, in this department of - public duty, by setting new official precedents of regard and - forethought for the augmentation of the national collections. - -Footnote 44: - - Meaning Lord Shelburne. See, heretofore, pp. 431–433. - -Footnote 45: - - ‘_A Handy-Book of the British Museum, for Every-day Readers._’ 1870 - (Cassell and Co.). - -Footnote 46: - - See the notice, hereafter, of the Christy Museum. - -Footnote 47: - - This, I think, has been clearly shown by the correspondence laid - before Parliament. The reader is referred to the papers of the session - of 1867, entitled _Correspondence as to the Woodhouse Collection of - Antiquities_, printed by order of Lord Derby, as Foreign Secretary. - -Footnote 48: - - In the accompanying Plan (of the Parliamentary Report, 1860), - pilasters of unnecessary size have been inadvertently introduced into - this gallery, reducing both the extent of the wall-cases, and the - breadth of the gangway, in a manner never intended. - -Footnote 49: - - Printed by oversight ‘general’ in the _Minutes of Evidence_. - -Footnote 50: - - Printed ‘object’ in _Minutes of Evidence_, as above. - -Footnote 51: - - It is to this Report of 1862 that the accompanying lithographic - fac-similes of the original illustrative plans belong. Two of them - show the then existing arrangements of the principal floors; the other - two show the then proposed alterations and re-arrangements. - -Footnote 52: - - Parliamentary Return, No. 456, of the Session 1858. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES - - - 1. The Table of Contents is in Part I. - 2. Silently corrected obvious typographical errors and variations in - spelling. - 3. Retained archaic, non-standard, and uncertain spellings as printed. - 4. 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} - .ph2 { text-indent: 0em; font-weight: bold; font-size: x-large; margin: .75em auto; - page-break-before: always; } - .right {text-align: right; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: 0em; - max-width: 50%; } - .center {text-align: center; margin-top: 2em; } - .x-ebookmaker p.dropcap:first-letter { float: left; } - .x-ebookmaker { } - /* ]]> */ </style> - </head> - <body> -<p style='text-align:center; font-size:1.2em; font-weight:bold'>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Lives of the Founders of the British Museum, by Edward Edwards</p> -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -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 <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. 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. -</div> - -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: Lives of the Founders of the British Museum</p> -<p style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:0; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:1em;'>with Notices of its Chief Augmentors and Other Benefactors, 1570-1870. Part II of II</p> -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Edward Edwards</p> -<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: February 17, 2022 [eBook #67390]</p> -<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</p> - <p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em; text-align:left'>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.)</p> -<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LIVES OF THE FOUNDERS OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM ***</div> - -<div class='tnotes covernote'> - -<p class='c000'><strong>Transcriber’s Note:</strong></p> - -<p class='c000'>The cover image was created by the transcriber and is placed in the public domain.</p> - -</div> - -<div class='titlepage'> - -<div> - <h1 class='c001'><span class='large'>LIVES OF</span><br /> <span class='xlarge'>THE FOUNDERS</span><br /> <span class='xsmall'>OF THE</span><br /> BRITISH MUSEUM;<br /> <span class='xsmall'>WITH</span><br /> <span class='small'>NOTICES OF ITS CHIEF AUGMENTORS<br /> AND OTHER BENEFACTORS.</span><br /> <span class='large'>1570–1870.</span></h1> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c002'> - <div><span class='large'><span class='sc'>By</span> EDWARD EDWARDS.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='chapter'> - <h2 class='c003'><span class='large'>PART II.</span></h2> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c002'> - <div>LONDON:</div> - <div>TRÜBNER AND CO., 60, PATERNOSTER ROW.</div> - <div>1870.</div> - <div><span class='small'>(<em>All rights reserved.</em>)</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c004'> - <div><span class='small'>PRINTED BY J. E. ADLARD, BARTHOLOMEW CLOSE.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_413'>413</span> - <div class='section'><h4 class='c005'>CHAPTER III.<br /> <span class='large'>A GROUP OF BOOK-LOVERS AND PUBLIC BENEFACTORS.</span></h4></div> -</div> -<p class='c006'>‘If we were to take away from the Museum Collection -[of Books] the King’s Library, and the collection which -George the Third gave before that, and then the -magnificent collection of Mr. Cracherode, as well as -those of Sir William Musgrave, Sir Joseph Banks, Sir -Richard Colt Hoare, and many others,—and also all the -books received under the Copyright Act,—if we were to -take away all the books so given, I am satisfied not one -half of the books [in 1836], nor one third of the <i>value</i> of -the Library, has been procured with money voted by the -Nation. The Nation has done almost nothing for the -Library....</p> - -<p class='c007'>‘Considering the British Museum to be a National -Library for research, its utility increases in proportion -with the very rare and costly books, in preference to -modern books.... I think that scholars have a right -to look, for these expensive works, to the Government of -the Country....</p> - -<p class='c007'>‘I want a poor student to have the same means of indulging -his learned curiosity,—of following his rational -pursuits,—of consulting the same authorities,—of fathoming -the most intricate inquiry,—as the richest man in the -kingdom, as far as books go. And I contend that Government -is bound to give him the most liberal and unlimited -assistance in this respect. I want the Library of the -British Museum to have books of both descriptions....</p> - -<p class='c007'>‘When you have given a hundred thousand pounds,—in -ten or twelve years,—you will begin to have a library -worthy of the British Nation.’—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-r c008'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'><span class='sc'>Antonio Panizzi</span>—<cite>Evidence before Select Committee on British Museum</cite>, 7th June, 1836. (Q. 4785–4795.)</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c009'><em>Notices of some early Donors of Books.—The Life and Collections -of Clayton Mordaunt</em> <span class='sc'>Cracherode</span>.—<em>William</em> -<span class='sc'>Petty</span>, <em>first Marquess of Lansdowne, and his Library -of Manuscripts.—The Literary Life and Collections of -Dr. Charles</em> <span class='sc'>Burney</span>.—<em>Francis</em> <span class='sc'>Hargrave</span> <em>and his -Manuscripts.—The Life and Testamentary Foundations -of Francis Henry</em> <span class='sc'>Egerton</span>, <em>Ninth Earl of Bridgewater</em>.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The Reader has now seen that, within some twelve or -fifteen years, a Collection of Antiquities, comparatively small -and insignificant, was so enriched as to gain the aspect of a -National Museum of which all English-speaking men might -<span class='pageno' id='Page_414'>414</span>be proud, and mere fragments of which enlightened Foreign -Sovereigns were under sore temptation to covet. He has -seen, also, that the praise of so striking a change was due, -in the main, to the public spirit and the liberal endeavours -of a small group of antiquarians and scholars. They were, -most of them, men of high birth, and of generous education. -They were, in fact, precisely such men as, in the -jargon of our present day, it is too much the mode to speak -of as the antitheses of ‘the People,’ although in earlier days -men of that strain were thought to be part of the very core -and kernel of a nation.</p> - -<p class='c011'>But if it be undeniably true that the chief and primary -merit of so good a piece of public service was due to the -<span class='sc'>Hamiltons</span>, <span class='sc'>Towneleys</span>, <span class='sc'>Elgins</span>, and <span class='sc'>Knights</span> of the last -generation, it is also true that the Public, through their -representatives, did, at length, join fairly in the work by -bearing their part of the cost, though they could share -neither the enterprise, the self-denial, nor the wearing toils, -which the work had exacted.</p> - -<p class='c011'>Now that the story turns to another department of the -National Museum, we find that the same primary and salient -characteristic—private liberality of individuals, as distinguished -from public support by the Kingdom—still holds -good. But we have to wait a very long time indeed, -before we perceive public effort at length falling into rank -with private, in the shape of parliamentary grants for the -purchase of books, calculated even upon a rough approximation -towards equality.</p> - -<p class='c011'>As <span class='sc'>Cotton</span>, <span class='sc'>Sloane</span>, <span class='sc'>Harley</span>, and Arthur <span class='sc'>Edwards</span>, -were the first founders of the Library, so <span class='sc'>Birch</span>, <span class='sc'>Musgrave</span>, -<span class='sc'>Tyrwhitt</span>, <span class='sc'>Cracherode</span>, <span class='sc'>Banks</span>, and <span class='sc'>Hoare</span>, were its -chief augmentors, until almost ninety years had elapsed -since the Act of Organization. Of the Collections of those -<span class='pageno' id='Page_415'>415</span>ten benefactors, eight came by absolute gift. For the other -two, much less than one half of their value was returned to -the representatives of the founders. And that, it has been -shown, was provided, not by a parliamentary grant, but out -of the profits of a lottery.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The first important addition to the Library, subsequent -to those gifts which have been mentioned in a preceding -chapter as nearly contemporaneous with the creation of the -Museum, was made by the Will of Dr. Thomas <span class='sc'>Birch</span>, -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><span class='sc'>Bequest of Dr. Thomas Birch</span>, January, 1766.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -one -of the original Trustees. It comprised a valuable series of -manuscripts, rich in collections on the history, and especially -the biographical history, of the realm, and a considerable -number of printed books of a like character.</p> - -<p class='c011'>Dr. <span class='sc'>Birch</span> was born in 1705, and died on the ninth of -January, 1766. He was one of the many friends of Sir -Hans <span class='sc'>Sloane</span>, in the later years of Sir Hans’ life. When -the Museum was in course of organization, <span class='sc'>Birch</span> acted -not only as a zealous Trustee, but he occasionally supplied -the place of Dr. <span class='sc'>Morton</span> as Secretary. His literary productions -have real and enduring value, though their value -would probably have been greater had their number been -less. His activity is sufficiently evidenced by the works -which he printed, but can only be measured when the -large manuscript collections which he bequeathed are taken -into the account. Very few scholars will now be inclined -to echo Horace <span class='sc'>Walpole’s</span> inquiry—made when he saw -the Catalogue of the Birch MSS.—‘Who cares for the correspondence -of Dr. <span class='sc'>Birch</span>?’</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Bequest of David Garrick</span>, January, 1779.</div> - -<p class='c011'>Soon after the receipt of the <span class='sc'>Birch</span> Collection, a choice -assemblage of English plays was bequeathed to the Museum -by David <span class='sc'>Garrick</span>. Its formation had been one of the -favourite relaxations of the great actor. And the study of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_416'>416</span>the plays gathered by <span class='sc'>Garrick</span> had a large share in moulding -the tastes and the literary career of Charles <span class='sc'>Lamb</span>. -Thence he drew the materials of the volume of <cite>Specimens</cite> -which has made the rich stores of the early drama known to -thousands of readers who but for it, and for the Collection -which enabled him to compile it, could have formed no -fair or adequate idea of an important epoch in our -literature.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Benefactions of Sir W. Musgrave.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>Sir William <span class='sc'>Musgrave</span> was another early Trustee whose -gifts to the Public illustrated the wisdom of <span class='sc'>Sloane’s</span> plan -for the government of his Museum and of its parliamentary -adoption. <span class='sc'>Musgrave</span> shared the predilection of Dr. <span class='sc'>Birch</span> -for the study of British biography and archæology, and he -had larger means for amassing its materials. He was -descended from a branch of the Musgraves of Edenhall, and -was the second son of Sir Richard <span class='sc'>Musgrave</span> of Hayton -Castle, to whom he eventually succeeded. He made large -and very curious manuscript collections for the history of -portrait-painting in England (now <cite>Additional MSS.</cite> 6391–6393), -and also on many points of the administrative and -political history of the country. He was a zealous Trustee -of the British Museum, and in his lifetime made several -additions to its stores. On his death, in 1799, all his manuscripts -were bequeathed to the Museum, together with a -Library of printed British Biography—more complete than -anything of its kind theretofore collected.</p> - -<p class='c011'>This last-named Collection extended (if we include a -partial and previous gift made in 1790) to nearly two -thousand volumes, and it probably embraced much more -than twice that number of separate works. For it was -rich in those biographical ephemera which are so precious -to the historical inquirer, and often so difficult of obtainment, -when needed. Nearly at the same period (1786) a -<span class='pageno' id='Page_417'>417</span>valuable Collection of classical authors, in about nine hundred -volumes, was bequeathed by another worthy Trustee, -Mr. Thomas <span class='sc'>Tyrwhitt</span>, distinguished both as a scholar and -as the Editor of <span class='sc'>Chaucer</span>.</p> - -<p class='c011'>But all the early gifts to the Museum, made after its -parliamentary organization, were eclipsed, at the close of -the century, by the bequest of the Cracherode Collections. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><span class='sc'>The -Bequest -of the -Cracherode -Collection.</span><span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -That bequest comprised a very choice library of printed -books; a cabinet of coins, medals, and gems; and a series -of original drawings by the great masters, chosen, like the -books and the coins, with exquisite taste, and, as the -auctioneers say, quite regardless of expense. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>1799.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -It also -included a small but precious cabinet of minerals.</p> - -<p class='c011'>The collector of these rarities was wont to speak of -them with great modesty. They are, he would say, mere -‘specimen collections.’ But to amass them had been the -chief pursuit of a quiet and blameless life.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Life and Character of Mr. Mordaunt Cracherode.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>Clayton Mordaunt <span class='sc'>Cracherode</span> was born in London -about the year 1730. And he was ‘a Londoner’ in a sense -and degree to which, in this railway generation, it would -be hard to find a parallel. Among the rich possessions -which he inherited from Colonel <span class='sc'>Cracherode</span>, his father—whose -fortune had been gathered, or increased, during an -active career in remote parts of the world—was an estate -in Hertfordshire, on which there grew a certain famous -chestnut-tree, the cynosure of all the country-side for its -size and antiquity. This tree was never seen by its new -owner, save as he saw the poplars of Lombardy, or the -cedars of Lebanon—in an etching. In the course of a long -life he never reached a greater distance from the metropolis -than Oxford. He never mounted a horse. The ordinary -extent of his travels, during the prime years of a long life, -was from Queen Square, in Westminster, to Clapham. For -<span class='pageno' id='Page_418'>418</span>almost forty years it was his daily practice to walk from his -house to the shop of <span class='sc'>Elmsly</span>, a bookseller in the Strand, -and thence to the still more noted shop of Tom <span class='sc'>Payne</span>, by -‘the Mews-Gate.’ Once a week, he varied the daily walk -by calling on <span class='sc'>Mudge</span>, a chronometer-maker, to get his -watch regulated. His excursions had, indeed, one other -and not infrequent variety—dictated by the calls of -Christian benevolence—but of these he took care to have no -note taken.</p> - -<p class='c011'>Early in life, and probably to meet his father’s wish, he -received holy orders, but he never accepted any preferment -in the Church. He took the restraints of the clerical profession, -without any of its emoluments. His classical -attainments were considerable, but the sole publication of a -long life of leisure was a university prize poem, printed in -the <cite>Carmina Quadragesimalia</cite> of 1748. The only early -tribulation of a life of idyllic peacefulness was a dread that -he might possibly be called upon, at a coronation, to appear -in public as the King’s cupbearer—his manor of Great -Wymondley being held by a tenure of grand-serjeantry in -that onerous employment. Its one later tinge of bitterness -lay in the dread of a French invasion. These may seem -small sorrows, to men who have had a full share in the -stress and anguish of the battle of life. But the weight of -a burden is no measure of the pain it may inflict. Mr. -<span class='sc'>Cracherode</span> looked to his possible cupbearership, with -apprehension just as acute as that with which <span class='sc'>Cowper</span> -contemplated the awful task of reading in public the -Journals of the House of Lords. And the sleepless nights -which long afterwards were brought to <span class='sc'>Cracherode</span> -by the horrors of the French revolutionary war were -caused less by personal fears than by the dread of -public calamities, more terrible than death. During one -<span class='pageno' id='Page_419'>419</span>year of the devastations on the other side of the Channel, -chronicled by our daily papers, Mr. <span class='sc'>Cracherode</span> was -thought by his friends to have ‘aged’ full ten years in his -aspect.</p> - -<p class='c011'>The one active and incessant pursuit of this noiseless -career was the gathering together of the most choice books, -the finest coins and gems, the most exquisite drawings and -prints, which money could buy, without the toils of travel. -Our Collector’s liberality of purse enabled him to profit, at his -ease, by the truth expressed in one of the wise maxims of -John <span class='sc'>Selden</span>:—‘The giving a dealer his price hath this -advantage;—he that will do so shall have the refusal of -whatsoever comes to the dealer’s hand, and so by that -means get many things which otherwise he never should -have seen.’ The enjoyment—almost a century ago—of six -hundred pounds a year in land, and of nearly one hundred -thousand pounds invested in the ‘sweet simplicity’ of the -three per cents., enabled Mr. <span class='sc'>Cracherode</span> to outbid a -good many competitors. His natural wish that what he -had so eagerly gathered should not be scattered to the four -winds on the instant he was carried to his grave, and also -the public spirit which dictated the choice of a national -repository as the permanent abode of his Collections, has -already made that long course of daily visits to the London -dealers in books, coins, and drawings, fruitful of good to -hundreds of poorer students and toilers, during more than two -generations. From stores such as Mr. <span class='sc'>Cracherode’s</span>—when -so preserved—many a useful labourer gets part of his -best equipment for the tasks of his life. He, too, would -enjoy a visit to the ‘<span class='sc'>Paynes</span>’ and the ‘<span class='sc'>Elmslys</span>’ of the -day as keenly as any book-lover that ever lived, but is too -often, perhaps, obliged to content himself with an outside -glance at the windows. Public libraries put him practically -<span class='pageno' id='Page_420'>420</span>on a level with the wealthiest connoisseur. When, as -in this case—and in a hundred more—such libraries derive -much of their best possessions from private liberality, a life -like Mordaunt <span class='sc'>Cracherode’s</span> has its ample vindication, -and the sting is taken out of all such sarcasms -as that which was levelled—in the shape of the -query, ‘In all that big library is there a single book -written by the Collector himself?’—by some snarling -epistolary critic, when commenting on a notice that appeared -in <cite>The Times</cite> on the occasion of Mr. <span class='sc'>Cracherode’s</span> -death.</p> - -<p class='c011'>On another point our Collector was exposed to the -shafts of sarcastic comment. He loved a good book to be -printed on the very choicest material, and clothed in the -richest fashion. The treasure within would not incline him -to tolerate blemishes without.—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c012'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">‘Nusquam blatta, vel inquinata charta,</span></div> - <div class='line'><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">Sed margo calami notæque purus,</span></div> - <div class='line'><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">Margo latior, albus integerque,</span></div> - <div class='line'><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">Nec non copia larga pergainenæ.—</span></div> - <div class='line'><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">Adsint Virgilius, paterque Homerus,</span></div> - <div class='line'><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">Mundi pumice, purpuraque culti;</span></div> - <div class='line'><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">Et quicquid magica quasi arte freti</span></div> - <div class='line'><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">Faustusque Upilioque præstiterunt.</span></div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'> · · · · ·</div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">Hic sit qui nitet arte Montacuti,</span></div> - <div class='line'><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">Aut Paini, Deromique junioris;</span></div> - <div class='line'><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">Illic cui decus arma sunt Thuani,</span></div> - <div class='line'><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">Aut regis breve lilium caduci.’</span></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c011'>In <span class='sc'>Cracherode’s</span> eyes, external charms such as these -were scarcely less essential than the intrinsic worth of -the author. ‘Large paper’ and broad pure margins are -fancies which it needs not much culture or much wit to -banter. But now and then, they are ridiculed by those -who have just as little capacity to judge the pith and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_421'>421</span>substance of books, as of taste to appreciate beauty in -their outward form.<a id='r1'></a><a href='#f1' class='c013'><sup>[1]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c011'>The solidity of those three per cents., and the plodding -perseverance of their owner, were in time rewarded by the -collection (1) of a library containing only four thousand -five hundred volumes, but of which probably every volume—on -an average of the whole—was worth, in mercantile -eyes, some three pounds; (2) of seven portfolios of drawings, -still more choice; (3) of a hundred portfolios of prints, -many of which were almost priceless; and (4) of coins and -gems—such as the cameo of a lion on sardonyx, and the -intaglio of the <em>Discobolos</em>—worthy of an imperial cabinet.</p> - -<p class='c011'>The ruling passion kept its strength to the last. An -agent was buying prints, for addition to the store, when the -Collector was dying. About four days before his death, -Mr. <span class='sc'>Cracherode</span> mustered strength to pay a farewell visit -to the old shop at the Mews-Gate. He put a finely printed -<cite>Terence</cite> (from the press of <span class='sc'>Foulis</span>) into one pocket, and a -large paper <cite>Cebes</cite> into another; and then,—with a longing -look at a certain choice <cite>Homer</cite>, in the course of which he -mentally, and somewhat doubtingly, balanced its charms with -those of its twin brother in Queen Square,—parted finally -from the daily haunt of forty peripatetic and studious years.</p> - -<p class='c011'>Clayton Mordaunt <span class='sc'>Cracherode</span> died towards the close -of 1799. He bequeathed the whole of his collections to the -Nation, with the exception of two volumes of books. A -polyglot <cite>Bible</cite> was given to Shute <span class='sc'>Barrington</span>, Bishop -<span class='pageno' id='Page_422'>422</span>of Durham; a princeps <cite>Homer</cite> to Cyril <span class='sc'>Jackson</span>, Dean of -Christ Church. Those justly venerated men were his two -dearest friends.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The next conspicuous donor to the Library of the British -Museum was a contemporary of the learned recluse of -Queen Square, but one whose life was passed in the thick -of that worldly turmoil and conflict of which Mr. <span class='sc'>Cracherode</span> -had so mortal a dread. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><span class='sc'>The -Collector -of the -Lansdowne -Manuscripts.</span><span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -To the Collector of the -‘Lansdowne Manuscripts,’ political excitement was the -congenial air in which it was indeed life to live. But he, -also, was a man beloved by all who had the privilege of his -intimate friendship.</p> - -<p class='c011'>William <span class='sc'>Petty-Fitzmaurice</span>, third Earl of Shelburne, -and first Marquess of Lansdowne, was born in Dublin, in -May, 1737. He was the son of John, Earl of Shelburne in -the peerage of Ireland, and afterwards Baron Wycombe in -the peerage of Great Britain. The Marquess’s father united -the possessions of the family founded by Sir William <span class='sc'>Petty</span> -with those which the Irish wars had left to the ancient line -of Fitzmaurice.</p> - -<p class='c011'>William, Earl of <span class='sc'>Shelburne</span>, was educated by private -tutors, and then sent to Christ Church, Oxford. He left -the University early, to take (in or about the year 1756) a -commission in the Guards. He was present in the battles -of Campen and of Minden. At Minden, in particular, he -evinced distinguished bravery. In May, 1760, and again -in April, 1761, he was elected by the burgesses of High -Wycombe to represent them in the House of Commons. -But the death of Earl John, in the middle of 1761, called -his son to take his seat in the House of Lords. He soon -evinced the possession of powers eminently fitted to shine -in Parliament. The impetuosity he had shown on the field -<span class='pageno' id='Page_423'>423</span>of Minden did not desert him in the strife of politics. -Those who had listened to the early speeches of <span class='sc'>Pitt</span> might -well think that the army had again sent them a ‘terrible -cornet of horse.’ So good a judge of political oratory as -was Lord <span class='sc'>Camden</span> thought <span class='sc'>Shelburne</span> to be second only -to <span class='sc'>Chatham</span> himself.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Beginning of Lord Shelburne’s Career in Parliament.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>Lord <span class='sc'>Shelburne’s</span> first speech in Parliament—the first, -at least, that attracted general notice—was made in support -of the Court and the Ministry (November 3, 1762). Within -less than six months after its delivery he was called to the -Privy Council, and placed at the head of the Board of Trade -and Plantations. This appointment was made on the -23rd of April, 1763. Just before it he had taken part in -that delicate negotiation between Lord <span class='sc'>Bute</span> and Henry <span class='sc'>Fox</span> -(afterwards Lord <span class='sc'>Holland</span>) which has been kept well in -memory by a jest of the man who thought himself the loser -in it. This early incident is in some sort a key to many -later incidents in Lord <span class='sc'>Shelburne’s</span> life.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Shelburne and Henry Fox.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>For, in all the acts and offices of a political career, save -only one, Lord <span class='sc'>Shelburne</span> was characteristically a lover of -soft words. In debate, he could speak scathingly. In -conversation, he was always under temptation to flatter his -interlocutor. In this conversation of 1763 with <span class='sc'>Fox</span>, <span class='sc'>Shelburne’s</span> -innate love of smoothing asperities co-operated with -his belief that it was really for the common interest that -<span class='sc'>Bute</span> and <span class='sc'>Fox</span> should come to an agreement, to make him -put the premier’s offer into the most pleasing light. When -<span class='sc'>Fox</span> found he was to get less than he thought to have, he -fiercely assailed the negotiator. Lord <span class='sc'>Shelburne’s</span> friends -dwelt on his love of peace and good fellowship. At worst, -said they, it was but a ‘pious fraud.’ ‘I can see the -fraud plainly enough,’ rejoined <span class='sc'>Fox</span>, ‘but where is the -piety?’</p> - -<p class='c011'><span class='pageno' id='Page_424'>424</span>The office accepted in April was resigned in September, -when the coalition with ‘the <span class='sc'>Bedford</span> party’ was made. -Lord <span class='sc'>Shelburne’s</span> loss was felt in the House of Lords. -But it was in the Commons that the Ministry were now -feeblest. ‘I don’t see how they can meet Parliament,’ -said <span class='sc'>Chesterfield</span>. ‘In the Commons they have not a man -with ability and words enough to call a coach.’</p> - -<p class='c011'>In February, 1765, <span class='sc'>Shelburne</span> married Lady Sophia -<span class='sc'>Carteret</span>, one of the daughters of the Earl of <span class='sc'>Granville</span>. -The marriage was a very happy one. Not long after it, he -began to form his library. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><span class='sc'>Formation -of Lord -Shelburne’s -Library.</span><span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -Political manuscripts, state -papers of every kind, and all such documents as tend to -throw light on the arcana of history, were, more especially, -the objects which he sought. And the quest, as will be seen -presently, was very successful. For during his early researches -he had but few competitors.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>The Secretaryship of State.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>On the organization of the Duke of <span class='sc'>Grafton’s</span> Ministry -in 1766 (July 30) Lord <span class='sc'>Shelburne</span> was made Secretary of -State for the Southern Department, to which at that time -the Colonial business was attached. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>1766–1768.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -His colleague, in the -Northern, was <span class='sc'>Conway</span>, who now led the House of Commons. -As Secretary, Lord <span class='sc'>Shelburne’s</span> most conspicuous -and influential act was his approval of that rejection of -certain members of the Council of Massachusetts by -Governor <span class='sc'>Bernard</span>, which had so important a bearing on -colonial events to come.</p> - -<p class='c011'><span class='sc'>Shelburne</span>, however, was one of a class of statesmen of -whom, very happily, this country has had many. He was -able to render more efficient service in opposition than in -office. Of the Board of Trade he had had the headship but -a few months. As Secretary of State, under the <span class='sc'>Grafton</span> -Administration, he served little more than two years. His -opponents were wont to call him an ‘impracticable’ man. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_425'>425</span>But if he shared some of <span class='sc'>Chatham’s</span> weaknesses, he also -shared much of his greatness. And on the capital question -of the American dispute, they were at one. They both -thought that the Colonies had been atrociously misgoverned. -They were willing to make large concessions to regain the -loyalty of the Colonists. They were utterly averse to admit -of a severance.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Lord Shelburne in Opposition.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>Under circumstances familiar to all readers, and by the -personal urgency of the King, Lord <span class='sc'>Shelburne</span> was dismissed -from his first Secretaryship in October, 1768. His -dismissal led to <span class='sc'>Chatham’s</span> resignation. <span class='sc'>Shelburne</span> became -a prominent and powerful leader of the Opposition, an -object of special dislike to a large force of political adversaries, -and of warm attachment to a small number of political -friends. His personal friends were, at all times, many.</p> - -<p class='c011'>The nickname under which his opponents were wont to -satirize him has been kept in memory by one of the many -infelicities of speech which did such cruel injustice to the -fine parts and the generous heart of <span class='sc'>Goldsmith</span>. The story -has been many times told, but will bear to be told once again. -The author of the <cite>Vicar of Wakefield</cite> was an occasional supporter -of the Opposition in the newspapers. One day, in -the autumn of 1773, he wrote an article in praise of Lord -<span class='sc'>Shelburne’s</span> ardent friend in the City, the Lord Mayor -<span class='sc'>Townshend</span>. Sitting, in company with Topham <span class='sc'>Beauclerc</span>, -at Drury Lane Theatre, just after the appearance of -the article, <span class='sc'>Goldsmith</span> found himself close beside Lord -<span class='sc'>Shelburne</span>. His companion told the statesman that his -City friend’s eulogy came from <span class='sc'>Goldsmith’s</span> pen. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>1773. -November.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -‘I -hope,’ said his Lordship—addressing the poet—‘you put -nothing in it about Malagrida?’ -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>Hardy, -<cite>Life of Lord -Charlemont</cite>, -vol. i, p. 177.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -‘Do you know,’ rejoined -poor <span class='sc'>Goldsmith</span>, ‘I could never conceive the reason why -they call you “Malagrida,”—<em>for</em> Malagrida was a very good -<span class='pageno' id='Page_426'>426</span>sort of man.’ This small misplacement of an emphasis was -of course quoted in the clubs against the unlucky speaker. -‘Ah!’ said Horace <span class='sc'>Walpole</span>, with his wonted charity, -‘that’s a picture of the man’s whole life.’</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Growth of Lord Shelburne’s Library.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>Lord <span class='sc'>Shelburne’s</span> library profited by his long releasement -from the cares of office. He bestowed much of his -leisure upon its enrichment, and especially upon the acquisition -of manuscript political literature. In 1770, he was -fortunate enough to obtain a considerable portion of the -large and curious Collection of State Papers which Sir Julius -<span class='sc'>Cæsar</span> had begun to amass almost two centuries before. -Two years later, he acquired no inconsiderable portion of -that far more important series which had been gathered by -<span class='sc'>Burghley</span>.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>The Cæsar Papers.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>Whilst Lord <span class='sc'>Shelburne</span> was serving with the army in -Germany, the ‘Cæsar Papers’ had been dispersed by -auction. There were then—1757—a hundred and eighty-seven -of them. About sixty volumes were purchased by -Philip Cartaret <span class='sc'>Webb</span>, a lawyer and juridical writer, as -well as antiquary, of some distinction. On Mr. <span class='sc'>Webb’s</span> -death, in 1770, these were purchased by <span class='sc'>Shelburne</span> from -his executors. On examining his acquisition, the new -possessor found that about twenty volumes related to -various matters of British history and antiquities; thirty-one -volumes to the business of the British Admiralty and -its Courts; ten volumes to that of the Treasury, Star -Chamber, and other public departments; two volumes contained -treaties; and one volume, papers on the affairs of -Ireland.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>The Cecil or Burghley Papers.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>The ‘Burghley papers,’ acquired in 1772, had passed -from Sir Michael <span class='sc'>Hickes</span>, one of that statesman’s secretaries, -to a descendant, Sir William <span class='sc'>Hickes</span>, by whom -they were sold to <span class='sc'>Chiswell</span>, a bookseller, and by him to -<span class='pageno' id='Page_427'>427</span><span class='sc'>Strype</span>, the historian. These (as has been mentioned -in a former chapter) were looked upon with somewhat -covetous eyes by Humphrey <span class='sc'>Wanley</span>, who hoped to have -seen them become part of the treasures of the Harleian -Library. On <span class='sc'>Strype’s</span> death they passed into the hands -of James <span class='sc'>West</span>, and from his executors into the Library -at Shelburne House. They comprised a hundred and -twenty-one volumes of the collections and correspondence -of Lord <span class='sc'>Burghley</span>, together with his private note-book -and journal.</p> - -<p class='c011'>Another valuable acquisition, made after Lord <span class='sc'>Shelburne’s</span> -retirement in 1768 from political office, consisted -of the vast historical Collections of Bishop White <span class='sc'>Kennett</span>, -extending to a hundred and seven volumes, of which a -large proportion are in the Bishop’s own untiring hand. -Twenty-two of these volumes contain important materials -for English Church History. Eleven volumes contain -biographical collections, ranging between the years 1500 -and 1717. All that have been enumerated are now national -property.</p> - -<p class='c011'>Other choice manuscript collections were added from -time to time. Among them may be cited the papers of -Sir Paul <span class='sc'>Rycaut</span>—which include information both on -Irish and on Continental affairs towards the close of the -seventeenth century; the correspondence of Dr. John -<span class='sc'>Pell</span>, and that of the Jacobite Earl of <span class='sc'>Melfort</span>.</p> - -<p class='c011'>These varied accessions—with many others of minor -importance—raised the Shelburne Library into the first -rank among private repositories of historical lore. To -amass and to study them was to prove to its owner the -solace of deep personal affliction, as well as the relief of -public toils. At the close of 1770, he lost a beloved wife, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_428'>428</span>after a union of less than six years. He remained a -widower until 1779.</p> - -<p class='c011'>Another source of solace was found in labours that have -an inexhaustible charm, for those who are so happy as to -have means as well as taste for them. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><span class='sc'>Lord Shelburne -as a -Landscape -Gardener.</span><span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -Lord <span class='sc'>Shelburne</span> -lived much at Loakes—now called Wycombe Abbey—a -delightful seat, just above the little town of High Wycombe. -Its striking framework of beech-woods, its fine plane-trees -and ash-trees, and its broad piece of water, make up -a lovely picture, much of the attraction of which is due to -the skill and judgment with which its then owner elicited -and heightened the natural beauties of the place.<a id='r2'></a><a href='#f2' class='c013'><sup>[2]</sup></a> But -those of Bowood exceeded them in Lord <span class='sc'>Shelburne’s</span> -eyes. There, too, he did very much to enhance what -nature had already done, and he had the able assistance -of Mr. <span class='sc'>Hamilton</span> of Pains-Hill. In consequence of their -joint labours, almost every species of oak may be seen at -Bowood, with great variety of exotic trees of all sorts. -Both wood and water combine to make, from some points -of view, a resemblance between Wycombe and Bowood. -And both differ from many much bepraised country seats -in the wise preference of natural beauty—selected and -heightened—to artificial beauty. Lord <span class='sc'>Shelburne</span> himself -was wont to say: ‘Mere workmanship should never be -introduced where the beauty and variety of the scenery -are, in themselves, sufficient to excite admiration.’</p> - -<p class='c011'>But, in their true place, few men better loved the productions -of artistic genius. He collected pictures and -sculpture, as well as trees and books. He was the first of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_429'>429</span>his name who made Lansdowne House in London, as well -as Loakes and Bowood in the country, centres of the best -society in the intellectual as well as in the fashionable -world.</p> - -<p class='c011'>Years passed on. The course of public events—and -especially the death of Lord <span class='sc'>Chatham</span> and the issues of -the American war—together with many conspicuous proofs -of his powers in debate, tended more and more to bring -Lord <span class='sc'>Shelburne</span> to the front. Between him and Lord -<span class='sc'>Rockingham</span>, as far as regards real personal ability—whether -parliamentary or administrative—there could, in -truth, be little ground for comparison. But in party connection -and following, the claims of the inferior man were -incontestible. Lord <span class='sc'>Shelburne</span>, towards the close of -1779, signified his readiness to waive his pretensions to -take the lead—in the event of the overthrow of the existing -Government—and his willingness to serve under -Lord <span class='sc'>Rockingham</span>; so little truth was there in the assertion, -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>H. Walpole -to Mann; -1780. -March 21.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -made by Horace <span class='sc'>Walpole</span> to his correspondent at -Florence, that <span class='sc'>Shelburne</span> ‘will stick at nothing to gratify -his ambition.’</p> - -<p class='c011'>But that very charge is, in fact, a tribute. <span class='sc'>Walpole’s</span> -indignation had been excited just at that moment by the -zealous assistance which <span class='sc'>Shelburne</span> had given, in the -House of Lords, to the efforts of <span class='sc'>Burke</span> in the lower -House in favour of economical reforms. He had brought -forward a motion on that subject on the same night on -which <span class='sc'>Burke</span> had given notice for the introduction of -his famous Bill (December, 1779). He continued his -efforts, and presently had to encounter a more active and -pertinacious opponent of retrenchment than Horace <span class='sc'>Walpole</span>.</p> - -<p class='c011'>In the course of a vigorous speech on reform in the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_430'>430</span>administration of the army, Lord <span class='sc'>Shelburne</span> had censured -a transaction in which Mr. <span class='sc'>Fullerton</span>, a Member -of the House of Commons, was intimately concerned. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><span class='sc'>Lord Shelburne’s -Duel with -Fullerton.</span><span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -<span class='sc'>Fullerton</span> made a violent attack, in his place in the -House, upon his censor. But his speech was so disorderly -that he was forced to break off. In his anger he sent -Lord <span class='sc'>Shelburne</span> a minute, not only of what he had -actually spoken, but of what he had intended to say, in -addition, had the rules of Parliament permitted. And he -had the effrontery to wind up his obliging communication -with these words:—‘You correspond, as I have heard -abroad, with the enemies of your country.’ His letter -was presented to Lord <span class='sc'>Shelburne</span> by a messenger.</p> - -<p class='c011'>The receiver, when he had read it, said to the bearer: -‘The best answer I can give Mr. <span class='sc'>Fullerton</span> is to desire -him to meet me in Hyde Park, at five, to-morrow morning.’ -They fought, and <span class='sc'>Shelburne</span> was wounded. On being -asked how he felt himself, he looked at the wound, and -said: ‘I do not think that Lady <span class='sc'>Shelburne</span> will be the -worse for this.’ But it was severe enough to interrupt, -for a while, his political labours.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>His Secretaryship in the Rockingham Administration.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>On the formation in March, 1782, of the Rockingham -Administration, he accepted the Secretaryship of State, and -took with him four of his adherents into the Cabinet. But -the most curious feature in the transaction was that Lord -<span class='sc'>Shelburne</span> carried on, personally, all the intercourse in the -royal closet that necessarily preceded the formation of the -Ministry, although he was not to be its head. <span class='sc'>George -the Third</span> would not admit Lord <span class='sc'>Rockingham</span> to an -audience until his Cabinet was completely formed. The -man whose exclusion from the Grafton Ministry the King -had so warmly urged a few years before, was now not less -warmly urged by him to throw over his party, and to -<span class='pageno' id='Page_431'>431</span>head a cabinet of his own. He resisted all blandishment, -and virtually told the King that the triumph of the Opposition -must be its triumph as an unbroken whole; though -he doubtless felt, within himself, that the cohesion was of -singularly frail tenacity.</p> - -<p class='c011'>On the 24th of March, <span class='sc'>Shelburne</span> had the satisfaction -of conveying to Lord <span class='sc'>Rockingham</span> the royal concession of -his constitutional demands—obtained after a wearisome -negotiation, and only by the piling up of argument on -argument in successive conversations at the ‘Queen’s -House,’ lasting sometimes for three mortal hours. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><span class='sc'>Death of -Lord Rockingham</span>, -1782, 1 July.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -Three -months afterwards, the new Premier was dead. And with -him departed the cohesion of the Whigs.</p> - -<div class='c002'></div> -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Formation of Lord Shelburne’s Ministry.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>As Secretary of State, Lord <span class='sc'>Shelburne’s</span> chief task -had been the control of that double and most unwelcome -negotiation which was carried on at Paris with France and -with America.<a id='r3'></a><a href='#f3' class='c013'><sup>[3]</sup></a> For it had fallen to the lot of the utterer -of the ‘sunset-speech,’<a id='r4'></a><a href='#f4' class='c013'><sup>[4]</sup></a>—‘if we let America go, the sun of -Great Britain is set’—to arrange the terms of American -pacification. And the obstructions in that path which -were created at home were even more serious stumbling-blocks -than were the difficulties abroad. The cardinal -points of Lord <span class='sc'>Shelburne’s</span> policy, at this time, were to -retain, by hook or crook, some amount or other of hold -upon America, and at the worst to keep the Court of -France from enjoying the prestige, or setting up the pretence, -of having dictated the terms of peace.</p> - -<p class='c011'>That the split in the Whig party was really and altogether -<span class='pageno' id='Page_432'>432</span>inevitable, now that <span class='sc'>Rockingham’s</span> death had placed -<span class='sc'>Shelburne</span> above reasonable competition for the premiership, -was made known to him when at Court, in the most -abrupt manner. On the 7th of July (six days after the -death of the Marquess), Fox took him by the sleeve, with -the blunt question: ‘Are you to be First Lord of the -Treasury?’ -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>Walpole to -Mann (from -an eye witness), -1782, -July 7.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -When <span class='sc'>Shelburne</span> said ‘Yes,’ the instant -rejoinder was, ‘Then, my Lord, I shall resign.’ Fox had -brought the seals in his pocket, and proceeded immediately -to return them to the King.</p> - -<p class='c011'>In his first speech as Premier, Lord <span class='sc'>Shelburne</span> spoke -thus:—‘It has been said that I have changed my opinion -about the independence of America.... My opinion is still -the same. When that independence shall have been established, -the sun of England may be said to have set. I -have used every effort, public and private—in England, and -out of it—to avert so dreadful a disaster.... -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><cite>Parliamentary -Debates</cite>, -vol. xxiii, -col. 194.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -But though -this country should have received a fatal blow, there is still -a duty incumbent upon its Ministers to use their most -vigorous exertions to prevent the Court of France from -being in a situation to dictate the terms of Peace. The sun -of England may have set. But we will improve the twilight. -We will prepare for the rising of that sun again. -And I hope England may yet see many, many happy -days.’</p> - -<p class='c011'>The best achievements of the brief government of Lord -<span class='sc'>Shelburne</span> were (first) the resolute defence, in its diplomacy -at Paris and Versailles, of our territories in Canada, and -(secondly) its consistent assertion of the principle that -underlay a sentence contained in a former speech of the -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><span class='sc'>Merits of -the Shelburne -Ministry.</span><span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -Premier—a sentence which, at one time, was much upon -men’s lips:—‘I will never consent,’ he had said, ‘that the -King of England shall be a King of the Mahrattas.’ The -<span class='pageno' id='Page_433'>433</span>merits, I venture to think, of that short Ministry, have had -scant acknowledgment in our current histories. And the -reason is, perhaps, not far to seek.</p> - -<p class='c011'>The popular history of <span class='sc'>George the Third’s</span> reign has -been, in a large degree, imbued with Whiggism. The historians -most in vogue have had a sort of small apostolical -succession amongst themselves, which has had the result of -giving a strong party tinge to those versions of the course of -political events in that reign which have most readily -gained the public ear. When the full story shall come to -be told, in a later day and from a higher stand-point, Lord -<span class='sc'>Shelburne</span>, not improbably, will be one among several -statesmen whose reputation with posterity (in common—in -some measure—with that of their royal master himself, it -may even be) will be found to have been elevated, rather than -lowered, by the process.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><cite>Debates</cite>, vol. xix, col. 850.</div> - -<p class='c011'>But, be that as it may, party intrigue, rather than ministerial -incapacity, had to do, confessedly, with the rapid -overthrow of the Government of July, 1782.</p> - -<p class='c011'>Personally, Lord <span class='sc'>Shelburne</span> was in a position which, in -several points of view, bears a resemblance to that in which -another able statesman, who had to fight against a powerful -coterie, was to find himself forty years later. But in -<span class='sc'>Shelburne’s</span> case, the struggle of the politician did not, as -in <span class='sc'>Canning’s</span>, break down the bodily vigour of the man. -Lord <span class='sc'>Shelburne</span> had twenty-two years of retirement yet -before him, when he resigned the premiership in 1783. And -they were years of much happiness.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>The closing Years of Lord Lansdowne’s Life.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>Part of that happiness was the result of the domestic -union just adverted to. Another part of it accrued from -the rich Library which the research and attention of many -years had gradually built up, and from the increased leisure -that had now been secured, both for study and for the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_434'>434</span>enjoyment of the choice society which gathered habitually -at Lansdowne House and at Bowood.</p> - -<p class='c011'>Lord <span class='sc'>Shelburne’s</span> retirement had been followed, in -1784, by his creation as Earl Wycombe and Marquess of -Lansdowne. In the following year, he sold the Wycombe -mansion and its charming park to Lord <span class='sc'>Carrington</span>. -Thenceforward, Bowood had the benefit, exclusively, of his -taste and skill in landscape-gardening. Unfortunately, his -next successor, far from continuing his father’s work, did -much to injure and spoil it. But the third Marquess, in -whom so many of his father’s best qualities were combined -with some that were especially his own, made ample -amends.</p> - -<p class='c011'>The exciting debates which grew out of the French Revolution -and the ensuing events on the Continent, called -Lord <span class='sc'>Lansdowne</span>, now and then, into the old arena. But -the domestic employments which have been mentioned, -together with that which was entailed by a large and varied -correspondence, both at home and abroad, were the things -which chiefly filled up his later years. The Marquess died -in London on the seventh of May, 1805. He was but -sixty-eight years of age, yet he was then the oldest general -officer on the army list, having been gazetted as a major-general -just forty years before.</p> - -<div class='c002'></div> -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>The Purchase of the Lansdowne Manuscripts.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>In order to acquire for the nation that precious portion -of Lord <span class='sc'>Lansdowne’s</span> Library which was in manuscript, the -national purse-strings were now, for the first time, opened -on behalf of the literary stores of the British Museum. -Fifty-three years had passed since its complete foundation -as a national institution, and exactly twice that number of -years since the first public establishment of the Cottonian -Library, yet no grant had been hitherto made by Parliament -<span class='pageno' id='Page_435'>435</span>for the improvement of the national collections of -books.</p> - -<p class='c011'>Four thousand nine hundred and twenty-five pounds was -the sum given to Lord <span class='sc'>Lansdowne’s</span> executors for his -manuscripts. Besides the successive accumulations of -State Papers heretofore mentioned, the <span class='sc'>Lansdowne</span> Collection -included other historical documents, extending in -date from the reign of <span class='sc'>Henry the Sixth</span> to that of -<span class='sc'>George the Third</span>; the varied Collections of William -<em>Petyt</em> on parliamentary and juridical lore; those of <span class='sc'>Warburton</span> -on the topography and family history of Yorkshire, -and of <span class='sc'>Holles</span>, containing matter of a like character for -the local concerns of the county of Lincoln; the Heraldic -and Genealogical Collections of <span class='sc'>Segar</span>, <span class='sc'>Saint George</span>, -<span class='sc'>Dugdale</span>, and <span class='sc'>Le Neve</span>; and a most curious series of -early treatises upon music, which had been collected by -John <span class='sc'>Wylde</span>, who was for many years precentor of -Waltham Abbey, in the time of the second of the Tudor -monarchs.</p> - -<div class='c002'></div> -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>The Acquisition of the Hargrave and Burney Libraries.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>The Lansdowne Collection did not contain very much -of a classical character. Its strength, it has been seen -already, lay in the sections of Modern History and Politics. -The next important addition to the Library of the Museum—that -of the manuscripts and printed books of Francis -<span class='sc'>Hargrave</span>—was likewise chiefly composed of political -and juridical literature. But the third parliamentary -acquisition brought to the Museum a store of classical -wealth, both in manuscripts and in printed books. <span class='sc'>Hargrave’s</span> -Legal Library was bought in 1813. Charles <span class='sc'>Burney’s</span> -Classical Library was bought in 1818. In the biographical -point of view neither of these men ran a career -which offers much of narrative interest. The one career -<span class='pageno' id='Page_436'>436</span>was that of a busy lawyer; the other, that of a laborious -scholar. But to <span class='sc'>Burney’s</span> life a few sentences may be -briefly and fitly given.</p> - -<p class='c011'>The second Charles <span class='sc'>Burney</span> was a younger son of the -well-known historian of Music, who for more than fifty -years was a prominent figure in the literary circles—and -especially in the Johnsonian circle—of London; and in -whose well-filled life a very moderate share of literary -ability was made to go a long way, and to elicit a very -resonant echo. That ‘clever dog <span class='sc'>Burney</span>,’ as he was -wont to be called by the autocrat of the dinner-table, had -the good fortune to be the father of several children even -more clever than himself. Their reputation enhanced his -own.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>The Life and Literary Works of Dr. Chas. Burney.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>Charles <span class='sc'>Burney</span>, junior, was born at Lynn, in Norfolk, -on the 10th of December, 1757. He was educated at the -Charter House in London, at Caius College, Cambridge, -and at King’s College, Aberdeen. At Aberdeen, <span class='sc'>Burney</span> -formed a friendship with Dr. <span class='sc'>Dunbar</span>, a Scottish professor -of some distinction, and an incident which grew, in after-years, -out of that connection, determined the scene and -character of the principal employments of <span class='sc'>Burney’s</span> life. -He devoted himself to scholastic labours, in both senses -of the term; their union proved mutually advantageous, -and as tuition gave leisure for literary labour, so the successful -issues of that labour spread far and wide his fame -as a schoolmaster. He was one of the not very large -group of men who in that employment have won wealth -as well as honour. It was finely said, many years ago—in -one of the State Papers written by <span class='sc'>Guizot</span>, when he -was Minister of Public Instruction in France—‘the good -schoolmaster must work for man, and be content to await -his reward from God.’ In <span class='sc'>Burney’s</span> case, the combined -<span class='pageno' id='Page_437'>437</span>assiduity of an energetic man at the author’s writing-table, -at the master’s desk, and also (it must in truthful -candour be added) at his flogging block,<a id='r5'></a><a href='#f5' class='c013'><sup>[5]</sup></a> brought him a -large fortune as well as a wide-spread reputation. This -fortune enabled him to collect what, for a schoolmaster, I -imagine to have been a Classical Library hardly ever rivalled -in beauty and value. It was the gathering of -a deeply read critic, as well as of an open-handed purchaser.</p> - -<p class='c011'>The bias of Dr. <span class='sc'>Burney’s</span> learning and tastes in literature -led him to a preference of the Greek classics far -above the Latin. Naturally, his Library bore this character -in counterpart. He aimed at collecting Greek authors—and -especially the dramatists—in such a way that the -collocation of his copies gave a sort of chronological view -of the literary history of the books and of their successive -recensions.</p> - -<p class='c011'>For the tragedians, more particularly, his researches -were brilliantly successful. Of <cite>Æschylus</cite> he had amassed -forty-seven editions; of <cite>Sophocles</cite>, one hundred and two; -of <cite>Euripides</cite>, one hundred and sixty-six.</p> - -<p class='c011'>His first publication was a sharp criticism (in the <cite>Monthly -Review</cite>) on Mr. (afterwards Bishop) <span class='sc'>Huntingford’s</span> Collection -of Greek poems entitled <cite>Monostrophica</cite>. This was -followed, in 1789, by the issue of an Appendix to <span class='sc'>Scapula’s</span> -Lexicon; and in 1807 by a collection of the correspondence -of <span class='sc'>Bentley</span> and other scholars. Two years -later, he gave to students of Greek his <cite><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">Tentamen de Metris -ab Æschylo in choricis cantibus adhibitis</span></cite>, and to the youthful -theologians his meritorious abridgment of Bishop <span class='sc'>Pearson’s</span> -<span class='pageno' id='Page_438'>438</span><cite>Exposition of the Creed</cite>. In 1812, he published the Lexicon -of <span class='sc'>Philemon</span>.</p> - -<p class='c011'>The only Church preferments enjoyed by Dr. <span class='sc'>Burney</span> -were the rectory of St. Paul, Deptford, near London, -and that of Cliffe, also in Kent. His only theological publication—other -than the abridgment of <span class='sc'>Pearson</span>—was a -sermon which he had preached in St. Paul’s Cathedral in -1812. Late in life he was made a Prebendary of -Lincoln.</p> - -<p class='c011'>Like his father, and others of his family, Charles -<span class='sc'>Burney</span> was a very sociable man. He lived much with -<span class='sc'>Parr</span> and with <span class='sc'>Porson</span>, and, like those eminent scholars, he -had the good and catholic taste which embraced in its -appreciations, and with like geniality, old wine, as well as -old books. He was less wise in nourishing a great dislike -to cool breezes. ‘Shut the door,’ was usually his first -greeting to any visitant who had to introduce himself to the -Doctor’s notice; and it was a joke against him, in his later -days, that the same words were his parting salutation to a -couple of highwaymen who had taken his purse as he was -journeying homewards in his carriage, and who were -adding cruelty to robbery by exposing him to the fresh air -when they made off.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Choice Books in Burney’s Library.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>Some of Dr. <span class='sc'>Burney’s</span> choicest books were obtained -when the Pinelli Library was brought to England from -Italy. The prime ornament of his manuscript Collection, a -thirteenth century copy of the <cite>Iliad</cite>, of great beauty and -rich in scholia, was bought at the sale of the fine Library of -Charles <span class='sc'>Towneley</span>, Collector of the Marbles.</p> - -<p class='c011'>Although classical literature was the strength of the -<span class='sc'>Burney</span> Collection, it was also rich in some other departments. -Of English newspapers, for example, he had -brought together nearly seven hundred volumes of the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_439'>439</span>seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, reaching from the -reign of <span class='sc'>James the First</span> to the reign of <span class='sc'>George the -Third</span>. No such assemblage had been theretofore formed, -I think, by any Collector. He had also amassed nearly four -hundred volumes containing materials for a history of the -British Stage, which materials have subsequently been -largely used by Mr. <span class='sc'>Genest</span>, in his work on that subject. -For <span class='sc'>Burney’s</span> life-long study of the Greek drama had gradually -inspired him with a desire to trace what, in a sense, -may be termed its modern revival, in the grand sequel -given to it by <span class='sc'>Shakespeare</span> and his contemporaries. He -had also collected about five thousand engraved theatrical -portraits, and two thousand portraits of literary personages.</p> - -<p class='c011'>A large number of his printed books contained marginal -manuscript notes by <span class='sc'>Bentley</span>, <span class='sc'>Casaubon</span>, <span class='sc'>Burmann</span>, and -other noted scholars. And in a series of one hundred and -seventy volumes <span class='sc'>Burney</span> had himself collected all the -extant remains and fragments of Greek dramatic writers—about -three hundred in number. These remains he had -arranged under the collective title of <cite><span lang="co" xml:lang="co">Fragmenta Scenica -Græca</span></cite>.</p> - -<p class='c011'>A splendid vellum manuscript of the Greek orators, -in scription of the fourteenth century, had been obtained -from Dr. <span class='sc'>Clarke</span>, by whom it had been acquired during -Lord <span class='sc'>Elgin’s</span> Ottoman Embassy, and brought into England. -It supplied lacunæ which are found wanting in all other -known manuscripts. It completed an imperfect oration of -<cite>Lycurgus</cite>, and another of <cite>Dinarchus</cite>. Another MS. of the -Greek orators, of the fifteenth century, is only next in value -to that derived from <span class='sc'>Clarke’s</span> researches in the East, of -1800. There is also a very fine manuscript of the Geography -of <span class='sc'>Ptolemy</span>, with maps compiled in the fifteenth -<span class='pageno' id='Page_440'>440</span>century, and two very choice copies of the Greek <cite>Gospels</cite>, -one of which is of the tenth, and the other of the twelfth -centuries.</p> - -<p class='c011'>In Latin classics, the <span class='sc'>Burney</span> Manuscripts include a -fourteenth century <cite>Plautus</cite>, containing no fewer than twenty -plays—whereas a manuscript containing even twelve plays -has long been regarded as a rarity. A fifteenth century -copy of the mathematical tracts collected by <span class='sc'>Pappus Alexandrinus</span>, -a <cite>Callimachus</cite> of the same date, and a curious -Manuscript of the <cite>Asinus Aureus</cite> of <span class='sc'>Apuleius</span>, are also -notable. The whole number of Classical Manuscripts which -this Collector had brought together was stated, at the time -of his death, to be three hundred and eighty-five.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Dr. <span class='sc'>Burney</span> died on the twenty-eighth of December, -1817, having just entered upon his sixty-first year. He was -buried at Deptford, amidst the lamentations of his parishioners -at his loss.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Doctor Burney’s Character.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>For in <span class='sc'>Burney</span>, too, the scholar and the Collector had -not been suffered to dwarf or to engross the whole man. -His parishioners assembled, soon after his death, to evince -publicly their sense of what Death had robbed them of. -The testimony then borne to his character was far better, -because more pertinent, laudation, than is usually met with -in the literature of tombstones. Those who had known the -man intimately then said of him: ‘His attainments in learning -were united with equal generosity and kindness of heart. -His impressive discourses from the pulpit became doubly -beneficial from the influence of his own example.’ The -parishioners agreed to erect a monument to his memory, -‘as a record of their affection for their revered pastor, -monitor, and friend; of their gratitude for his services, and -of their unspeakable regret for his loss.’</p> - -<p class='c011'><span class='pageno' id='Page_441'>441</span>Another meeting was called shortly afterwards, with a -like object, but of another sort. Despite his reverence for -Busbeian traditions, Dr. <span class='sc'>Burney</span> had known how to win -the love of his pupils. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><cite>Annual -Biography -and Obituary</cite>, -vol. iii, p. 225.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -A large body of them met, under -the chairmanship of the excellent John <span class='sc'>Kaye</span>, then Regius -Professor of Divinity at Cambridge, and afterwards Bishop -of Lincoln, and they subscribed for the placing of a monument -to their old master in Westminster Abbey.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>The application of the Trustees of the British Museum to Parliament for the purchase of Burney’s Library.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>On the twenty-third of February, 1818, the Trustees of -the British Museum presented to the House of Commons -a petition, praying that Dr. <span class='sc'>Burney’s</span> Library should be -acquired for the Public. The prayer of the petition was -supported by Mr. <span class='sc'>Bankes</span> and by Mr. <span class='sc'>Vansittart</span>, and -a Select Committee was appointed to inquire and report -upon the application.</p> - -<p class='c011'>In order to an accurate estimate of the value of the -Library, a comparison was instituted, in certain particulars, -between its contents and those of the Collection already in -the national Museum. In comparing the works of a series -of twenty-four Greek authors, it was found that of those -authors, taken collectively, the Museum possessed only two -hundred and thirty-nine several editions, whereas Dr. -Charles <span class='sc'>Burney</span> had collected no fewer than seven hundred -and twenty-five editions.<a id='r6'></a><a href='#f6' class='c013'><sup>[6]</sup></a> -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><span class='sc'>Acquisition -of the -Burney -Library by -the Nation.</span><span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -His Collection of the Greek -dramatists was not only, as I have said, extensive, but it -was arrayed after a peculiar and interesting manner. By -making a considerable sacrifice of duplicate copies, he had -brought his series of editions into an order which exhibited, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_442'>442</span>at one view, all the diversities of text, recension, and -commentary. His Greek grammarians were arrayed in -like manner. And his collection of lexicographers generally, -and of philologists, was both large and well selected.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><cite>Report of Select Committee</cite>, 1818; passim.</div> - -<p class='c011'>The total number of printed books was nearly thirteen -thousand five hundred volumes, that of manuscripts was -five hundred and twenty; and the total sum given for -the whole was thirteen thousand five hundred pounds.</p> - -<p class='c011'>It was estimated that the Collection had cost Dr. <span class='sc'>Burney</span> -a much larger sum, and that, possibly, if sold by public -auction, it might have produced to his representatives more -than twenty thousand pounds.</p> - -<p class='c010'>In the same year with the acquisition of the Burney -Library, the national Collections were augmented by the -purchase of the printed books of a distinguished Italian -scholar long resident in France, and eminent for his contributions -to French literature. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><span class='sc'>Collection -of P. L. -Ginguené.</span> -(Died 11 Nov., -1816.)<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -Pier Luigi <span class='sc'>Ginguené</span>—author -of the <cite><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Histoire Littéraire d’Italie</span></cite> and a conspicuous -contributor to the early volumes of the <cite><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Biographie Universelle</span></cite>—had -brought together a good Collection of Italian, French, -and Classical literature. It comprised, amongst the rest, -the materials which had been gathered for the book by -which the Collector is now chiefly remembered, and extended, -in the whole, to more than four thousand three -hundred separate works, of which number nearly one thousand -seven hundred related to Italian literature, or to its -history. This valuable Collection was obtained by the -Trustees—owing to the then depressed state of the -Continental book-market—for one thousand pounds. And, -in point of literary value, it may be described as the first—in -point of price, as the cheapest—of a series of purchases -which now began to be made on the Continent.</p> - -<p class='c011'><span class='pageno' id='Page_443'>443</span>A more numerous printed Library had been purchased -together with a cabinet of coins and a valuable herbarium, -at Munich, three years earlier, at the sale of the Collections -of Baron <span class='sc'>Von Moll</span>. His Library exceeded fourteen -thousand volumes, nearly eight thousand of which related -to the physical sciences and to cognate subjects. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><span class='sc'>Collection -of Baron -von Moll.</span> -(1815.)<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -The cost -of this purchase, with the attendant expenses, was four -thousand seven hundred and seventy pounds. The whole -sum was defrayed out of the fund bequeathed by Major -Arthur <span class='sc'>Edwards</span>.<a id='r7'></a><a href='#f7' class='c013'><sup>[7]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c011'>These successive purchases, together with the Hargrave -Collection—acquired in 1813—increased the theretofore -much neglected Library by an aggregate addition of nearly -thirty-five thousand volumes. And for four successive -years (1812–15) Parliament made a special annual grant -of one thousand pounds<a id='r8'></a><a href='#f8' class='c013'><sup>[8]</sup></a> for the purchase of printed books -relating to British History.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Francis Hargrave and his Collections in Law Literature.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>The peculiar importance of the Hargrave Collection -consisted in its manuscripts and its annotated printed -books. The former were about five hundred in number, -and were works of great juridical weight and authority, -not merely the curiosities of black-letter law. Their Collector -was the most eminent parliamentary lawyer of his -day, but his devotion to the science of law had, to some -degree, impeded his enjoyment of its sweets. During -some of the best years of his life he had been more intent -on increasing his legal lore than on swelling his legal -<span class='pageno' id='Page_444'>444</span>profits. And thus the same legislative act which enriched -the Museum Library, in both of its departments, helped to -smooth the declining years of a man who had won an -uncommon distinction in his special pursuit. Francis -<span class='sc'>Hargrave</span> died on the sixteenth of August, 1821, at the -age of eighty.</p> - -<div class='c002'></div> -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>The Egerton Bequest.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>Leaving now this not very long list of acquisitions made -by the National Library, in the way of purchase, either at -the public cost or from endowments, we have again to turn -to a new and conspicuous instance of private liberality. -Like <span class='sc'>Cracherode</span>, and like <span class='sc'>Burney</span>, Francis Henry -<span class='sc'>Egerton</span> belonged to a profession which at nearly all periods -of our history—though in a very different degree in different -ages—has done eminent honour and rendered large services -to the nation, and that in an unusual variety of paths.</p> - -<p class='c011'>Each of these three clergymen is now chiefly remembered -as a ‘Collector.’ Each of them would seem to have -been placed quite out of his true element and sphere of -labour, when assuming the responsibilities of a priest in -the Church of England. <span class='sc'>Cracherode</span> was scarcely more -fitted for the work, at all events, of a preacher—save by -the tacit lessons of a most meek and charitable life—than -he was fitted to head a cavalry charge on the field of battle. -<span class='sc'>Burney</span> was manifestly cut out by nature for the work of -a schoolmaster; although, as we have seen, he was able—late, -comparatively, in life—so to discharge (for a very few -years) the duties of a parish priest as to win the love of -his flock. <span class='sc'>Egerton</span> was unsuited to clerical work of -almost any and every kind. Yet he, too, with all his eccentricities -and his indefensible absenteeism, became a public -benefactor. The last act of his life was to make a provision -which has been fruitful in good, having a bearing—very -<span class='pageno' id='Page_445'>445</span>real though indirect—upon the special duties of the priestly -function, for which he was himself so little adapted. The -bequests of Francis <span class='sc'>Egerton</span> had, among their many -useful results, the enabling of Thomas <span class='sc'>Chalmers</span> to add -one more to his fruitful labours for the Christian Church -and for the world.</p> - -<p class='c011'>It may not, I trust, be out of place to notice in this -connection, and as one among innumerable debts which -our country owes specifically to its Church Establishment, -the impressive and varied way in which the English Church -has, at every period, inculcated the lesson (by no means, nowadays, -a favourite lesson of ‘the age’) that men owe duties -to posterity, as well as duties to their contemporaries. -The fact bears directly on the subject of this book. Into -every path of life many men must needs enter, from time -to time, without possessing any peculiar and real fitness -for it. In a path which (in the course of successive ages) -has been trodden by some millions of men, there must -needs have been a crowd of incomers who had been better -on the outside. They were like the square men who get -to be thrust violently into round holes. But, even of these -misplaced men, not a few have learnt, under the teaching -of the Church, that if they could not with efficiency do -pulpit work or parish work, there was other work which -they could do, and do perpetually. Men, for example, who -loved literature could, for all time to come, secure for the -poorest student ample access to the best books, and to the -inexhaustible treasures they contain. <span class='sc'>Cracherode</span> did -this. <span class='sc'>Burney</span> helped to do it. <span class='sc'>Egerton</span> not only did the -like, in his degree, in several parts of England, but he enabled -other and abler men to write new books of a sort -which are conspicuously adapted to add to the equipment -of divines for their special duty and work in the world. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_446'>446</span>Neglecting to learn many lessons which the Church teaches, -to her clergy as well as to laymen, he had at least learnt -one lesson of practical and permanent value.</p> - -<p class='c011'>Hence it is that, in addition to the matchless roll of -English worthies which, in her best days, the Church has furnished—in -that long line of men, from her ranks, who -have done honour to her, and to England, under <em>every</em> point -of view—she can show a subsidiary list, comprising men -whose benefactions are more influential than were, or could -have been, the labours of their lives; men of the sort who, -being dead, can yet speak, and to much better purpose -than ever they could speak when alive. Among such is -the Churchman whose testamentary gifts have now very -briefly to be mentioned.</p> - -<div class='c002'></div> -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Life of Francis Henry Egerton, Earl of Bridgewater, and Founder of the ‘Bridgewater Treatises.’</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>Francis Henry <span class='sc'>Egerton</span> was a younger son of John -<span class='sc'>Egerton</span>, Bishop of Durham, by the Lady Anna Sophia -<span class='sc'>Grey</span>, daughter and coheir of Henry <span class='sc'>Grey</span>, Duke of -Kent. He was born on the eleventh of November, 1756. -The Bishop of Durham was fifth in descent from the -famous Chancellor of England, Thomas <span class='sc'>Egerton</span>, Viscount -Brachley, to whom, as he lay upon his death-bed, <span class='sc'>Bacon</span> -came with the news of King <span class='sc'>James’s</span> promise to make him -an Earl. Before the patent could be sealed, the exchancellor, -it will be remembered, was dead, and <span class='sc'>James</span>, -to show his gratitude to the departed statesman, sold for a -large sum the Earldom of Bridgewater to the Chancellor’s -son. Eventually, of that earldom Francis Henry <span class='sc'>Egerton</span> -was, in his old age, the eighth and last inheritor.</p> - -<p class='c011'>Mr. <span class='sc'>Egerton</span> was educated at Eton and at All Souls. -He took his M.A. in 1780, and in the following year was -presented, by his relative, Francis, Duke of <span class='sc'>Bridgewater</span>—the -father of inland navigation in Britain—to the Rectory -<span class='pageno' id='Page_447'>447</span>of Middle, in Shropshire, a living which he held for -eight and forty years.</p> - -<p class='c011'>He was a toward and good scholar. From his youth -he was a great reader and a lover of antiquities, as well as -a respectable philologist. His foible was an overweening -although a pardonable pride in his ancestry. That ancestry -embraced what was noblest in the merely antiquarian point -of view, along with the grand historical distinctions of state -service rendered to Queen <span class='sc'>Elizabeth</span>, and of a new element -introduced into the mercantile greatness of England -under <span class='sc'>George the Third</span>. A man may be forgiven for -being proud of a family which included the servant of -<span class='sc'>Elizabeth</span> and friend of <span class='sc'>Bacon</span>, as well as the friend of -<span class='sc'>Brindley</span>. But the pride, as years increased, became -somewhat wearisome to acquaintances; though it proved to -be a source of no small profit to printers and engravers, -both at home and abroad. Mr. <span class='sc'>Egerton’s</span> writings in -biography and genealogy are very numerous. They date -from 1793 to 1826. Some of them are in French. All of -them relate, more or less directly, to the family of <span class='sc'>Egerton</span>.</p> - -<p class='c010'>In the year 1796, he appeared as an author in another -department, and with much credit. His edition of the -<cite>Hippolytus</cite> of <span class='sc'>Euripides</span> is also noticeable for its modest -and candid acknowledgment of the assistance he had -derived from other scholars. He afterwards collected and -edited some fragments of the odes of <span class='sc'>Sappho</span>. The later -years of his life were chiefly passed in Paris. His mind -had been soured by some unhappy family troubles and -discords, and as years increased a lamentable spirit of -eccentricity increased with them. It had grown with his -growth, but did not weaken with his loss of bodily and -mental vigour.</p> - -<p class='c011'><span class='pageno' id='Page_448'>448</span>One of the most noted manifestations of this eccentricity -was but the distortion of a good quality. He had a fondness -for dumb animals. He could not bear to see them -suffer by any infliction,—other than that necessitated by -a love of field sports, which, to an Englishman, is as -natural and as necessary as mother’s milk. At length, the -Parisians were scandalised by the frequent sight of a carriage, -full of dogs, attended with as much state and solemnity -as if it contained ‘milord’ in person. To his -servants he was a most liberal master. He provided largely -for the parochial service and parochial charities of his two -parishes of Middle and Whitchurch (both in Shropshire). -He was, occasionally, a liberal benefactor to men of recondite -learning, such as meet commonly with small reward -in this world.<a id='r9'></a><a href='#f9' class='c013'><sup>[9]</sup></a> But much of his life was stamped with -the ineffaceable discredit of sacred functions voluntarily -assumed, yet habitually discharged by proxy.</p> - -<p class='c011'>On the death, in 1823, of his elder brother—who had -become seventh Earl of <span class='sc'>Bridgewater</span>, under the creation -of 1617, on the decease of Francis third Duke and sixth -(Egerton) Earl—Francis Henry <span class='sc'>Egerton</span> became eighth -Earl of <span class='sc'>Bridgewater</span>. But he continued to live chiefly -in Paris, where he died, in April, 1829, at the age of -seventy-two years. With the peerage he had inherited a -<span class='pageno' id='Page_449'>449</span>very large estate, although the vast ducal property in canals -had passed, as is well known, in 1803, to the <span class='sc'>Leveson-Gowers</span>.</p> - -<p class='c011'>Part of Lord <span class='sc'>Bridgewater’s</span> leisure at Paris was given -to the composition of a largely-planned treatise on Natural -Theology. But the task was far above the powers of the -undertaker. He had made considerable progress, after his -fashion, and part of what he had written was put superbly -into type, from the press of <span class='sc'>Didot</span>. Very wisely, he -resolved to enable abler men to do the work more efficiently. -And this was a main object of his remarkable -Will.</p> - -<p class='c011'>That portion of the document which eventually gave to -the world the well-known ‘Bridgewater Treatises’ of <span class='sc'>Chalmers</span>, -<span class='sc'>Buckland</span>, <span class='sc'>Whewell</span>, <span class='sc'>Prout</span>, <span class='sc'>Roget</span>, and their -fellows in the task, reads thus:—</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Lord Bridgewater’s Bequests for the preparation of Treatises on Natural Theology.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>‘I give and bequeath to the President of the Royal -Society the sum of eight thousand pounds, to be applied -according to the order and direction of the said President -of the Royal Society, in full and without any diminution -or abatement whatsoever, in such proportions and at such -times, according to his discretion and judgment, and without -being subject to any control or responsibility whatsoever, to -such person or persons as the said President for the time -being of the aforesaid Royal Society shall or may nominate -or appoint and employ. And it is my will and particular -request that some person or persons be nominated -and appointed by him to write, print, publish, and expose -to public sale, one thousand copies of a work “<cite>On -Power, Wisdom, and Goodness of God, as manifested in -the Creation</cite>,” illustrating such work by all reasonable arguments; -as, for instance, the variety and formation of God’s -creatures, in the animal, vegetable, and mineral kingdoms; -<span class='pageno' id='Page_450'>450</span>the effect of digestion, and thereby of conversion; the construction -of the hand of man, and an infinite variety of -arrangements; as also by discoveries, ancient and modern, -in arts, sciences, and in the whole extent of literature. And -I desire that the profits arising from and out of the circulation -and sale of the aforesaid work shall be paid by the said -President of the said Royal Society, as of right, as a further -remuneration and reward to such persons as the said President -shall or may so nominate, appoint, and employ as -aforesaid. And I hereby fully authorise and empower the -said President, in his own discretion, to direct and cause to -be paid and advanced to such person or persons during -the printing and preparing of the said work the sum of -three hundred pounds, and also the sum of five hundred -pounds sterling to the same person or persons during the -printing and preparing of the said work for the press, out -of, and in part of, the same eight thousand pounds sterling. -And I will and direct that the remainder of the said sum -of eight thousand pounds sterling, or of the stocks or funds -wherein the same shall have been invested, together with -all interest, dividend, or dividends accrued thereon, be -transferred, assigned, and paid over to such person or persons, -their or his executors, administrators, or assigns, as -shall have been so nominated, appointed, and employed by -the said President of the said Royal Society, at the instance -and request of the same President, as and when he shall -deem the object of this bequest to have been fully complied -with by such person or persons so nominated, -appointed, and employed by him as aforesaid.’</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Bequests of Lord Bridgewater to the British Museum.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>What was done by the Trustees under this part of Lord -<span class='sc'>Bridgewater’s</span> Will, and with what result, is known to all -readers. That other portion of the Will which relates to -his bequest to the British Museum reads thus:—‘I give -<span class='pageno' id='Page_451'>451</span>and bequeath to the Trustees for the time being of the -<em>British Museum</em> at Montagu House, in London, to be there -deposited ... for the use of the said Museum, in conformity -with the rules, orders, and regulations of the said -establishment, absolutely and for ever, all and every my -Collection of Manuscripts as hereinafter particularly described. -That is to say, the several volumes of Manuscripts, -and all papers, parchments (written or printed), and -all letters, despatches, registers, rolls, documents, evidences, -authorities and signatures, and all impressions of seals and -marks, of every description and sort, and of what nature -or kind, severally and generally belonging to my Collection -of Manuscripts, or in my possession, stamped with my arms -or otherwise (except such letters, notes, papers, &c.), as are -hereinafter directed to be burned and destroyed [‘<em>two words -cancelled</em>, <span class='sc'>Bridgewater</span>’], in the discretion of my Trustees -and Executors hereinafter appointed; and also save and -except all such letters, papers, and writings as are attached -to and accompanying the printed books specifically bequeathed -by me to the Library at <em>Ashridge</em>, and which said -last-mentioned letters, papers, and writings are also, if I -mistake not, stamped with my arms. And I also will and -require that all and every the aforesaid manuscripts, papers, -parchments (written or printed), letters, despatches, registers, -rolls, documents, evidences, authorities, signatures, -impressions of seals and marks of every description and sort, -and every other Manuscript or Manuscripts appertaining -to my said Collection whatsoever and wheresoever, or which -shall or may hereafter, during my life, be added thereto (but -not private letters, notes, or memorandums of any sort or -kind, which I direct to be burned or destroyed), shall, within -the space of two years from the day of my decease, be collected -and removed to the <em>British Museum</em> as aforesaid, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_452'>452</span>under the particular care, superintendence, and direction -of Eugene Auguste <span class='sc'>Barbier</span>, one of my Trustees and -Executors hereinafter appointed; for which particular service -I give and bequeath to him, the said Eugene Auguste -<span class='sc'>Barbier</span>, the sum of two thousand pounds sterling. I -also give, bequeath, and demise unto the said Trustees of -the <em>British Museum</em> all my estate, lands, parcels of land, -ground, hereditaments and appurtenances, situate in the -parish of <em>Whitchurch-cum-Marbury</em>, or in any other parish -or place in the Counties of Salop or Chester, or in either -or both of the said Counties, and also all the trees growing -thereon, and all seats, sittings, and pews in the Parish -Church of Whitchurch-cum-Marbury aforesaid, all or any -of which I shall or may have bought or purchased, and -which now belong to me by right of purchase, descent, or -otherwise, to have and to hold the same estate, lands, parcels -of land, ground, hereditaments and appurtenances, to them -the said Trustees of the said <em>British Museum</em> for the time -being for ever, upon the trusts nevertheless, and to and for -the ends, intents, and purposes hereinafter particularly -mentioned, expressed, and declared; that is to say, that the -trees growing on the aforesaid estate, lands, parcels of lands, -ground, hereditaments, and appurtenances, shall not be cut -or brought down or destroyed, but shall and may be suffered -to grow during their natural life, and that the smaller trees -only may be thinned here and there, with care and judgment, -so as to promote the growth of the larger trees; and -that the same estate, lands, parcels of land, ground, hereditaments -and appurtenances, seats, sittings or pews, or any -part thereof, shall not be susceptible of being let, underlet -or rented, by or to any person or persons who shall hold, -have, take, or rent any estate, farm, lands, or property of -or from the family of <span class='sc'>Egerton</span>, or of or from any person or -<span class='pageno' id='Page_453'>453</span>persons having that name, or of or from the Rector of -<em>Whitchurch-cum-Marbury</em> aforesaid for the time being; and -upon further trust that they the said Trustees of the British -Museum for the time being do and shall lay out and apply -the rents, issues, and profits which shall from time to time -arise from and out of the said estate, lands, parcels of land, -ground, hereditaments and appurtenances, in the purchase -of manuscripts for the continual augmentation of the aforesaid -Collection of Manuscripts. I further will and direct -that my said Trustees hereinafter appointed, within the -space of eighteen calendar months after my decease, do lay -out and invest in the Three per cent. Consolidated stocks or -funds of England, in the names of the Trustees of the -<em>British Museum</em> for the time being, or in such names and -for such account as the said Trustees shall direct, the sum of -seven thousand pounds sterling, the interest and dividends -whereof, as the same shall from time to time become due -and payable, I desire and direct shall and may be paid over -by the said Trustees to such person or persons as shall from -time to time be charged with the care and superintendence -of the said Collection of Manuscripts. I also give, grant, -bequeath, and devise unto my Trustees hereinafter appointed -all and singular my house, land, tenements, hereditaments, -and appurtenances at or near <em>Little Gaddesden</em>, in the -County of Herts, upon trust that they my said Trustees -do and shall, during their joint lives and the life of the -survivor of them, let and demise the same for such term or -time as they shall think fit, for the best rent that can be -had and gotten for the same; but the same premises, under -no circumstances, to be let, underlet, or rented by or to any -person or persons who shall have, hold, take, or rent any -estate, farm, or property of or from the family of <span class='sc'>Egerton</span>, -or any person or persons bearing that name, and do and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_454'>454</span>shall pay over the rents, issues, and profits thereof, as and -when received, to the Trustees for the time being of the -<em>British Museum</em> aforesaid, to be laid out and applied by -such last-mentioned Trustees in the service and for the -continued augmentation of the said Collection of Manuscripts; -and from and after the decease of the survivor of -them my said Trustees hereinafter appointed, I give and -devise the said house, land, tenements, hereditaments and -appurtenances, unto and for the use of the proprietor or -proprietors of the Manor and Estate of <em>Ashridge</em>, his heirs -and assigns for ever. And as to all the rest, residue and -remainder of my real and personal estate and effects, of -every nature and kind soever and wheresoever situate, not -hereinbefore disposed of, or availably so, for the purposes -intended, I give, devise, and bequeath the same to my -said Trustees, upon trust that they my said Trustees do -pay over and transfer the same to the said Trustees of the -<em>British Museum</em>, and do otherwise render the same available -for the service of and towards maintaining, preserving, -keeping up, improving, augmenting, and extending, as -opportunities may offer, -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><cite>Will of -Francis -Henry, Earl -of Bridgewater.</cite> -(Official -copy.)<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -my said Collection of Manuscripts -so deposited in the <em>British Museum</em> as aforesaid, in the -most advantageous manner, according to their judgment -and discretion.’</p> - -<p class='c011'>The eccentricity of which I have spoken showed itself in -the successive changes of detail and other modifications -which these bequests underwent before the testator’s death. -What with the Will and its many codicils, the documents, -collectively, came to be of a kind which might task the acumen -of a <span class='sc'>Fearne</span> or a St. <span class='sc'>Leonards</span>. But the drift of the -Will was undisturbed. The restrictions as to the underletting -of the Whitchurch estate, and the like, were now -limited by codicils to a prescribed term of years after -<span class='pageno' id='Page_455'>455</span>the testator’s death; power was given to the Museum -Trustees to sell, also after a certain interval, the landed estate -bequeathed for the purchase of manuscripts, should it be -deemed conducive to the interest of the Library so to do; -and an additional sum of five thousand pounds was given -to the Trustees for the further increase of the Collection -of Manuscripts, and for the reward of its keeper, in lieu of -the residuary interest in the testator’s personal estate.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><cite>Minutes of Trustees</cite>; (printed in Parliamentary Paper of 1835–6).</div> - -<p class='c011'>On the 10th of March, 1832, the Trustees resolved that -the yearly proceeds of the last-named bequest should be -paid to the Librarians in charge of the MSS., but that their -ordinary salaries, on the establishment, should be diminished -by a like amount.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Character of the Egerton MSS.</span>;</div> - -<p class='c011'>The Manuscripts bequeathed by Lord <span class='sc'>Bridgewater</span> -comprise a considerable collection of the original letters of -the Kings, Queens, Statesmen, Marshals, and Diplomatists, -of France; another valuable series of original letters and -papers of the authors and scientific men of France and of -Italy; many papers of Italian Statesmen; and a portion of -the donor’s own private correspondence. The latter series -of papers includes, amongst others, letters by Andres, -D’Ansse de Villoisin, the Prince of Aremberg, Auger, -Barbier, the Duke of Blacas, Bodoni, Boissonade, Bonpland, -Canova, Cuvier, Ginguené, Humboldt, Valckenaer, and -Visconti. Some of these are merely letters of compliment. -Others—and, in an especial degree, those of D’Ansse de -Villoisin, of Boissonade, of Ginguené, of Humboldt, and of -Visconti—contain much interesting matter on questions of -archæology, art, and history.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>and of the Additions made to it from 1832 to 1870.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>The earliest additions to the Egerton Collection were -made by the Trustees in May, 1832. In the selection of -MSS. for purchase the Trustees, with great propriety, have -given a preference—on the whole; not exclusively—to that -<span class='pageno' id='Page_456'>456</span>class of documents of which the donor’s own Collection was -mainly composed—the materials, namely, of Continental -history. Amongst the earliest purchases of 1832 was -a curious Venetian <em>Portolano</em> of the fifteenth century. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><span class='sc'>The Hardiman -MSS. -on Irish -Archæology -and -English -History.</span><span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -In -the same year a large series of Irish Manuscripts, collected -by the late John <span class='sc'>Hardiman</span>, was acquired. This extends -from the Egerton number ‘74’ to ‘214’; and from the -same Collector was obtained the valuable <cite>Minutes of -Debates in the House of Commons</cite>, taken by Colonel -<span class='sc'>Cavendish</span>, between the years—so memorable in our -history—from 1768 to 1774.<a id='r10'></a><a href='#f10' class='c013'><sup>[10]</sup></a> In the year 1835, a large -collection of manuscripts illustrative of Spanish history was -purchased from Mr. <span class='sc'>Rich</span>, a literary agent in London, and -another large series of miscellaneous manuscripts—historical, -political, and literary—from the late bookseller, Thomas -<span class='sc'>Rodd</span>. From the same source another like collection was -obtained in 1840. An extensive series of French State -Papers was acquired (by the agency of Messrs. <span class='sc'>Barthes</span> -and <span class='sc'>Lowell</span>) in 1843; and also, in that year, a collection -of Persian MSS. In the following year a curious series of -drawings, illustrating the antiquities, manners, and customs -of China, was obtained; and, in 1845, another valuable -series of French historical manuscripts.</p> - -<p class='c011'>Meanwhile, the example set by Lord <span class='sc'>Bridgewater</span> had -incited one of those many liberal-minded Trustees of the -British Museum who have become its benefactors by augmentation, -as well as by faithful guardianship, to follow it -in exactly the same track. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><span class='sc'>Augmentation -of -Lord -Bridgewater’s -Gift by -that of -Lord Farnborough, -1838.</span><span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -Charles <span class='sc'>Long</span>, Lord Farnborough, -bequeathed (in 1838) the sum of two thousand -eight hundred and seventy-two pounds in Three per cent. -Consols, specifically as an augmentation of the Bridgewater -<span class='pageno' id='Page_457'>457</span>fund. Lord <span class='sc'>Farnborough’s</span> bequest now produces eighty-six -pounds a year; Lord <span class='sc'>Bridgewater’s</span>, about four -hundred and ninety pounds a year. Together, therefore, -they yield five hundred and seventy pounds, annually, for -the improvement of the National Collection of Manuscripts.</p> - -<p class='c011'>In 1850 and 1852, an extensive series of German <cite>Albums</cite>—many -of them belonging to celebrated scholars—was -acquired. These are now ‘Egerton MSS. 1179’ to ‘1499,’ -inclusive, and ‘1540’ to ‘1607.’ A curious collection of -papers relating to the Spanish Inquisition was also obtained -in 1850. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><cite>Egerton MSS.</cite> -1704–1756.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><em>Ib.</em> 1758–1772.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -In 1857, the important historical collection, -known as ‘the Bentinck Papers,’ was purchased from Tycho -<span class='sc'>Mommsen</span>, of Oldenburgh. In the following year, another -series of Spanish State Papers, and also the Irish Manuscripts -of Henry <span class='sc'>Monck Mason</span>;—in 1860, a further -series of ‘Bentinck Papers,’—and in 1861, an extensive -collection of the Correspondence of <span class='sc'>Pope</span> and of Bishop -<span class='sc'>Warburton</span>, were successively acquired.</p> - -<p class='c011'>To these large accumulations of the materials of history -were added, in the succeeding years, other important collections -of English correspondence, and of autograph MSS. -of famous authors; and also a choice collection of Spanish -and Portuguese Manuscripts brought together by Count -<span class='sc'>da Ponte</span>, and abounding with historical information. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><cite>Egerton MSS.</cite> -2047–2064.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -To -this an addition was made last year (1869) of other like -papers, amongst which are notable some Venetian <em>Relazioni</em>; -papers of Cardinals Carlo <span class='sc'>Caraffa</span> and Flavio <span class='sc'>Orsini</span>; and -some letters of Antonio <span class='sc'>Perez</span>. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><em>Ib.</em> 2077–2084.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -In 1869, there was also -obtained, by means of the conjoined Egerton and Farnborough -funds, -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><em>Ib.</em> 2087–2099.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -a curious parcel of papers relating to the -early affairs of the Corporation and trade of Dover, from -the year 1387 to 1678; -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><em>Ib.</em> 2086; -2100.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -together with some other papers -illustrative of the cradle-years of our Indian empire.</p> - -<p class='c011'><span class='pageno' id='Page_458'>458</span>Amongst the latest accessions obtained from the Bridgewater -fund are some MSS. from the hand of a famous -English poet of the last generation. These have now an -additional, and special, interest in English eyes, from a -recent lamentable occurrence. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><span class='sc'>The ‘Byron -MSS.’ in the -Egerton -Collection -(1867).</span><span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -The pen of a slanderer has -aimed at gaining a sort of celebrity, more enduring than -anything of its own proper production could hope to secure, -by attempting to affix on <span class='sc'>Byron</span> and on Augusta <span class='sc'>Leigh</span>—after -both the great poet and the affectionate sister have -lain many years in their several graves, and can no longer -rebut the slander—the stain of an enormous guilt. Some, -however, are yet alive, by whom the calumny <em>can</em>, and will, -be conclusively exposed. Meanwhile, the slanderer’s poor -aim will, probably, have been reached—but in an unexpected -and unenviable way.</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c012'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in18'>‘The link</div> - <div class='line'><em>Thou</em> formest in his fortunes, bids us think</div> - <div class='line'>Of thy poor malice, naming thee with scorn.’</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c014'>Very happily, the calumniating pen was not held in any -English hand.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Much more might, and not unfitly, be said in illustration -of the historical and literary value of those manuscript -accessions to the National Library which, in these later years, -have accrued out of the proceeds of Lord <span class='sc'>Bridgewater’s</span> -gift. Enough, however, has been stated, to serve by way -of sample.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Other benefactions of Lord Bridgewater.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>Nor were these the only literary bequests and foundations -of the last Earl of <span class='sc'>Bridgewater</span>. He bequeathed, as heir-looms, -two considerable Libraries, rich both in theology and -in history—to the respective rectors, for ever, of the -parishes of Middle and of Whitchurch. These, I learn—from -MS. correspondence now before me—are of great -<span class='pageno' id='Page_459'>459</span>value, and are gladly made available, by their owners for -the time being, to the use of persons able and willing to -profit by them. He also founded a Library, likewise by -way of heirloom, at Ashridge.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Whilst the National Library was thus being gradually improved, -both by increased liberality on the part of Parliament -and, far more largely, by the munificent gifts of -individuals, other departments of the Museum had not been -neglected.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>The acquisition of the Greville Minerals</span>;</div> - -<p class='c011'>Charles <span class='sc'>Greville</span>, the nephew of Sir William <span class='sc'>Hamilton</span>, -had collected, in his residence at Paddington Green, a -noble cabinet of minerals. It was the finest assemblage of -its kind which had yet been seen in England. For the -purchase of this Collection Parliament made a grant, in the -year 1810, of thirteen thousand seven hundred and twenty-seven -pounds.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>of the Montagu Museum</span>; [See, hereafter, Book III, c. I.]</div> - -<p class='c011'>In 1816, a valuable accession came to the zoological -department, by the purchase, for the sum of eleven hundred -pounds, of a Collection of British Zoology, which had been -formed at Knowle, in Devonshire, by Colonel George -<span class='sc'>Montagu</span>. The Montagu Collection was especially rich in -birds.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>and of the Collections of Sir R. C. Hoare.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>Nine years later, the Library was further benefited, in the -way of gift, by a choice Italian Collection, gathered and -given by Sir Richard Colt <span class='sc'>Hoare</span>, of Stourhead; and, in -the way of Parliamentary grant, by the acquisition of the -collection of manuscripts, coins, and other antiquities, which -had been made in the East, during his years of Consulship -at Baghdad, by Claudius James <span class='sc'>Rich</span>.</p> - -<p class='c011'>Sir Richard <span class='sc'>Hoare</span> was not less distinguished for the -taste and judgment with which he had collected the historical -literature of Italy, than for the zeal and ability with -<span class='pageno' id='Page_460'>460</span>which he cultivated, both as author and as patron, the—in -Britain—too much neglected department of provincial topography. -He had spent nearly five years in Italy—partly -during the reign of <span class='sc'>Napoleon</span>—and amassed a very fine -collection of books illustrative of all departments of Italian -history. In 1825, Sir Richard presented this Collection to -the Trustees of the British Museum in these words:—‘Anxious -to follow the liberal example of our gracious -monarch <span class='sc'>George the Fourth</span>, of Sir George <span class='sc'>Beaumont</span>, -and of Richard Payne <span class='sc'>Knight</span> (though in a very humble -degree), I do give unto the British Museum my Collection -of Topography, made during a residence of five years -abroad; and hoping that the more modern publications may -be added to it hereafter.’ The Library so given included -about seventeen hundred and thirty separate works. Sir -Richard did something, himself, to secure the fulfilment of -the annexed wish, by adding to his first gift, made in 1825, -in subsequent years.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Collections of Claudius Rich.</span> [See, hereafter, Book III, c. 3.]</div> - -<p class='c011'>The researches of Claudius <span class='sc'>Rich</span> merit some special -notice. He may be regarded as the first explorer of Assyria. -Had it not been for his early death, it is very probable that -he might have anticipated some of the brilliant discoveries -of Mr. <span class='sc'>Layard</span>. But his quickly intercepted researches -will be best described, in connection with the later explorations -in the same field. Here it may suffice to say -that from Mr. <span class='sc'>Rich’s</span> representatives a Collection of Manuscripts, -extending to eight hundred and two volumes—Syriac, -Arabic, Persian, and Turkish—was obtained, by -purchase, in 1825, together with a small Collection of Coins -and miscellaneous antiquities.</p> - -<p class='c011'>To the Oriental Manuscripts of <span class='sc'>Rich</span>, an important -addition was made in the course of the same year by the -bequest of -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><span class='sc'>Hull’s Oriental -MSS.</span><span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -Mr. John Fowler <span class='sc'>Hull</span>—another distinguished -<span class='pageno' id='Page_461'>461</span>Orientalist who passed from amongst us at an early age—who -also bequeathed a Collection of Oriental and Chinese -printed books. Mr. <span class='sc'>Hull’s</span> legacy was the small beginning -of that Chinese Library which has now become so -large.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>The Persepolitan Marbles.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>It was also in the year 1825 that Sir Gore <span class='sc'>Ouseley</span> -presented a Collection of Marbles obtained from Persepolis. -These will be mentioned hereafter in connection with the -antiquarian explorations of Claudius <span class='sc'>Rich</span> and his successors. -The donor of the Persepolitan Marbles died on -the eighteenth of November, 1844.</p> - -<div class='c002'></div> -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>History of ‘the Portland Vase.’</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>In addition to these many liberal benefactions made -during the earlier years of the present century, a smaller -gift (virtually a gift, though in name a ‘deposit’) of the -same period claims brief notice, on account both of its -artistic value and of its curious history. I refer to that -exquisite monument of ancient art known, for many years, -as the ‘Barberini Vase,’ but now more commonly as the -‘Portland Vase,’ from the name of its last individual -possessor.</p> - -<p class='c011'>This vase is one of the innumerable acquisitions which -the country owes to the intelligent research and cultivated -taste of Sir William <span class='sc'>Hamilton</span>. It had been found more -than a century before his time (probably in the year 1640), -beneath the Monte del Grano, about three miles from -Rome, on the road to Tusculum. The place of the discovery -was a sepulchral chamber, within which was found a -sarcophagus containing the vase, and bearing an inscription -to the memory of the Emperor <span class='sc'>Alexander Severus</span> (<em>A.D.</em> -222–235) and to his mother. About this sarcophagus and -its inscription there have been dissertations and rejoinders, -essays and commentaries, illustrative and obscurative, in -<span class='pageno' id='Page_462'>462</span>sufficient number to immortalise half a dozen Jonathan -<span class='sc'>Oldbucks</span> and ‘Antigonus’ <span class='sc'>Mac-Cribbs</span>. And the controversy -is still undetermined.</p> - -<p class='c011'>After having been long a conspicuous ornament of the -Barberini Palace, the ‘Barberini Vase’ was bought by -<span class='sc'>Hamilton</span>. When, in December, 1784, he paid one of his -visits to England, the vase came with him. Its fame had -previously excited the desires of many virtuosi. By the -Duchess of <span class='sc'>Portland</span> it was so strongly coveted, that she -employed a niece of Sir William to conduct a negotiation -with much more solemnity and mystery than the ambassador -would have thought needful in conducting a critical Treaty -of Peace. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><cite>Correspondence -of Mrs. -Delany</cite>, vol. -ii (in many -places).<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -The Duchess’s precautions foiled the curiosity of -not a few of her fellow-collectors in virtû. ‘I have heard,’ -wrote Horace <span class='sc'>Walpole</span>, ‘that Sir W. <span class='sc'>Hamilton’s</span> renowned -vase, which had disappeared with so much mystery, -is again recovered; not in the tomb, but the treasury, of -the Duchess of <span class='sc'>Portland</span>, in which, I fancy, it had made -ample room for itself. Sir William told me it would never -go out of England. I do not see how he could warrant -<em>that</em>. The Duchess and Lord Edward have both shown how -little stability there is in the riches of that family.’ -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>H. Walpole to -Lady Upper-Ossory, -10 -August, 1785. -(Cunn. Edit., -vol. ix, p. 3.)<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -As yet, -the reader will remember, that ‘Portland Estate,’ which -was so profitably to turn farms into streets, was but in -expectancy.</p> - -<p class='c011'>And then <span class='sc'>Walpole</span> adds: ‘<em>My</em> family has felt how -insecure is the permanency of heir-looms,’—the thought of -that grand ‘Houghton Gallery,’ and its transportation to -Russia, coming across his memory, whilst telling Lady -<span class='sc'>Upper-Ossory</span> the story of the coveted vase, just imported -from the Barberini Palace at Rome.</p> - -<p class='c011'>The Duchess of <span class='sc'>Portland</span> enjoyed the sight of her -beautiful purchase only during a few weeks. It was bought -<span class='pageno' id='Page_463'>463</span>in by the family (at the nominal price of £1029<a id='r11'></a><a href='#f11' class='c013'><sup>[11]</sup></a>) at the -sale of her famous museum of curiosities—a sale extending -to more than four thousand lots—and twenty-four years -afterwards, it was lent, for exhibition (1810), by the third -Duke of <span class='sc'>Portland</span>, to the Trustees of the British Museum, -where it has since remained.</p> - -<p class='c011'>When <span class='sc'>Wedgwood</span> set about imitating the Portland -Vase in his manufactory at Etruria—for which purpose the -then Duke liberally lent it to him—he discovered that the -vase had been broken and skilfully put together again. -After it had been publicly exhibited during almost thirty-five -years in London, the frenzy of a maniac led—as it -seemed at the moment—to its utter destruction. But, -mainly by the singular skill and patience of the late John -<span class='sc'>Doubleday</span> (a craftsman attached to the Department of -Antiquities for many years), it was soon restored to its pristine -beauty. That one act of violence in 1845 is the only -instance of very serious injury arising from open exhibition -to all comers which the annals of the Museum record.</p> - -<div> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_464'>464</span> - <div class='section'><h4 class='c005'>CHAPTER IV.<br /> <span class='large'>THE KING’S OR ‘GEORGIAN’ LIBRARY;—ITS COLLECTOR, AND ITS DONOR.</span></h4></div> -</div> -<div class='lg-container-b c012'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in24'>‘A crown,</div> - <div class='line'>Golden in show, is but a wreath of thorns;</div> - <div class='line'>Brings dangers, troubles, cares, and sleepless nights,</div> - <div class='line'>To him who wears the regal diadem.’</div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'> · · · · ·</div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>‘O polish’d perturbation! golden care!</div> - <div class='line'>That keep’st the ports of slumber open wide</div> - <div class='line'>To many a watchful night!’—</div> - <div class='line in24'><cite>Henry IV</cite>, Part 2, iv, 4.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c009'><em>Notices of the Literary Tastes and Acquirements of King</em> -<span class='sc'>George the Third</span>.—<em>His Conversations with Men -of Letters.—History of his Library and of its Transfer -to the British Nation by</em> <span class='sc'>George the Fourth</span>.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The strong antagonisms in mind, in disposition, and in -tastes, which existed between <span class='sc'>George the Third</span> and -<span class='sc'>George the Fourth</span>, may be seen in the small and incidental -acts of their respective lives, almost as distinctly, and -as sharply defined, as they are seen in their private lives, or -in their characteristic modes of transacting the public -business. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><span class='sc'>The Contrasts -between -George III -and George -IV.</span><span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -<span class='sc'>George the Third</span> regretted the giving away -of the old ‘Royal Library’ of the Kings his ancestors, not -because he grudged a liberal use of royal books by private -scholars, but because he thought a fine Library was the -necessary appendage of a palace. He occasionally stinted -himself of some of his personal enjoyments in life, in order -<span class='pageno' id='Page_465'>465</span>to have the more means to amass books. He formed, -during his own lifetime, a Library which is probably both -larger and finer than any like Collection ever made by any -one man, even under the advantageous conditions of -royalty. When he had collected his books, he made them -liberally accessible. To himself, as we all know, Nature had -not given any very conspicuous faculty for turning either -books or men to good account; nor had education done -much to improve the parts he possessed.</p> - -<p class='c011'><span class='sc'>George the Fourth</span>, as it seems, regretted the formation -of the new Royal Library by the King his father, -because, when he inherited it, he found that its decent -maintenance and upkeeping would demand every year a -sum of money which he could spend in ways far more to -his taste. He had been far better educated than his father -had been. And to him Nature had given good abilities; -but study was about the last and least likely use to which, -at any time, he was inclined to apply them. If he saw any -good at all in having, on his accession, the ownership of a -large Library, it lay, not in the power it afforded him of -benefiting literature, and the labourers in literature, but in -the possibility he saw that so fine a collection of books -might be made to produce a round sum of money. One -of his first thoughts about the matter was, that it would be -a good thing to offer his father’s beloved Library for sale—to -the Emperor of Russia. By what influences that shrewd -scheme of turning a penny was diverted will be seen in -the sequel.</p> - -<p class='c010'>If <span class='sc'>George the Third</span> was, in respect to his parts, only -slenderly endowed, he had in another respect large gifts. -Both his industry and his power of sustained application -were uncommon. And his conscientious sense of responsibility -<span class='pageno' id='Page_466'>466</span>for the use of such abilities as he had was no less -remarkable. Whatever may have been his mistakes in -government, no man ever sat on the British throne who -was more thoroughly honest in his intentions, or more -deeply anxious to show, in the discharge of his duties, his -consciousness of being</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c012'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>‘Ever in his great taskmaster’s eye.’</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c014'>That his public acts did not more adequately correspond -with his good desires was due, in large measure, to an -infelicitous parentage and a narrow education.</p> - -<p class='c011'>As the father of lies sometimes speaks truth, so a mere -party manifesto may sometimes give sound advice, though -clothed in a discreditable garb. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><span class='sc'>The education -of -George III, -after the -death of -Frederick, -Prince of -Wales.</span><span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -When public attention -came first to be attracted to the character of the peculiar -influences which began to mould the training of the young -Prince of <span class='sc'>Wales</span> soon after his father’s death, a Court -Chamberlain received, one morning, by the post, an unsigned -document, which he thought it his duty to place in the -hands of the Prime Minister, and he, when he had read it, -thought the paper important enough to be laid before the -King. This anonymous memorial denounced, as early as in -the winter of 1752 (when the Prince was but fourteen years -old), the sort of education which <span class='sc'>George the Third</span> was -receiving as being likely to initiate an unfortunate reign.</p> - -<p class='c011'>The paper (which I have now before me) is headed: -‘<cite>A Memorial of several Noblemen and Gentlemen of the first -rank</cite>,’ and in the course of it there is an assertion—as being -already matter of public notoriety—‘that books inculcating -the worst maxims of government, and defending the most -avowed tyrannies, have been put into the hands of the Prince -of Wales,’ and such a fact, it is said, ‘cannot but affect the -memorialists with the most melancholy apprehensions when -<span class='pageno' id='Page_467'>467</span>they find that the men who had the honesty and resolution -to complain of such astonishing methods of instruction are -driven away from Court, and the men who have dared to -teach such doctrines are continued in trust and favour.’<a id='r12'></a><a href='#f12' class='c013'><sup>[12]</sup></a></p> - -<div class='sidenote'><cite>A Memorial</cite>, &c.; MS. <span class='sc'>Addit.</span> 6271, fol. 3.</div> - -<p class='c011'>Making all allowance for partisan feeling and for that -tinge of Whig oligarchism which peeps out, as well in the -very title, as in the contents of this ‘Memorial,’ there was -obvious truth in the denunciation, and a modicum of true -prophecy in the inference. But such a remonstrance had -just as little effect, in the way of checking undue influences, -as it had of wisdom in the form given to it, or in the mode -of its presentation at Court.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Narrow range of George the Third’s tastes for books.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>The Prince’s education was not merely imbued with -ideas and maxims little likely to conduce towards a prosperous -reign. It was intellectually narrow and mean. He -grew up, for example, in utter ignorance of many of the -great lights of English literature. In respect to all books, -save one (that, happily, the greatest of all), he became one -of those who, through life, draw from the small cisterns, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_468'>468</span>instead of going to the deep wells. He seems to have -been trained to think that the literary glories of his country -began with the age of Queen <span class='sc'>Anne</span>.</p> - -<p class='c011'>In after-years, <span class='sc'>George the Third</span> attained to some dim -consciousness of his own narrowness of culture. The ply, -however, had been too early taken to be got rid of. No -training, probably, could have made him a scholar. But -his powers of application under wise direction would have -opened to him stores of knowledge, from which unwise -influences shut him out for life. His faculty of perseverance -in study, it must be remembered, was backed by thorough -honesty of nature, and by an ability to withstand temptations. -When he was entering his nineteenth year, a sub-preceptor, -who had watched him sedulously, said of him: -‘He is a lad of good principle. He has no heroic strain, -and no turn for extravagance. He loves peace, and, as -yet, has shown very virtuous principles. He has the -greatest temptation to gallant with ladies, who lay themselves -out in the most shameless manner to draw him on, -but to no purpose.’ Certainly this last characteristic was -neither an inherited virtue nor an ancestral tradition. And -it stands in curious contrast with the tendencies of all -his brothers and of almost all his sons.</p> - -<p class='c011'>From youth upwards the Prince read much, though -he did not read wisely. No sooner was he King than he -began to set about the collection of his noble Library. -In the choice of a librarian he was not infelicitous, though -the selection was in part dictated by a feeling of brotherly -kindness. For he chose a very near relative—Mr. afterwards -Sir Frederick Augusta <span class='sc'>Barnard</span>. Mr. <span class='sc'>Barnard</span> had -many qualities which fitted him for his task.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Foundation of the New Royal Library.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>The foundation of the Library was laid by a very fortunate -purchase on the Continent. Its increase was largely -<span class='pageno' id='Page_469'>469</span>promoted by a political revolution which ensued shortly -afterwards; and, in order to turn his large opportunities to -most account, the King’s Librarian modestly sought and instantly -obtained the best advice which that generation could -afford him—the advice of Samuel <span class='sc'>Johnson</span>.</p> - -<p class='c011'>In 1762, the fine Library of Joseph <span class='sc'>Smith</span>, who had -been British Consul at Venice during many years, was -bought for the King. It cost about ten thousand pounds. -<span class='sc'>Smith</span> had ransacked Italy for choice books, much as his -contemporary, Sir William <span class='sc'>Hamilton</span>, had ransacked that -country for choice vases. And he had been not less successful -in his quest. In amassing early and choice editions -of the classics, and also the curiosities and rarities of -fifteenth century printing, he had been especially lucky. -From the same source, but at a later date, <span class='sc'>George the -Third</span> also obtained a fine gallery of pictures and a collection -of coins and gems. For these he gave twenty thousand -pounds. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><cite>Dactyliotheca -Smithiana</cite>; -1767; Lady -M. W. -Montagu, -<cite>Letters</cite>, -vol. iii, p. 89.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -For seven or eight years the shops and -warehouses of English booksellers were also sedulously -examined, and large purchases were made from them. In -this labour <span class='sc'>Johnson</span> often assisted, actively, as well as by -advice.</p> - -<p class='c011'>When the suppression of the Jesuits in many parts of -Europe made the literary treasures which that busy Society -had collected—often upon a princely scale and with admirable -taste, so far as their limitations permitted—both the -King and his librarian were struck with the idea that -another fine opportunity opened itself for book-buying on -the Continent. It was resolved that Mr. <span class='sc'>Barnard</span> should -travel for the purpose of profiting by it. Before he set -out on his journey, he betook himself to <span class='sc'>Johnson</span> for -counsel as to the best way of setting about the task.</p> - -<p class='c011'><span class='sc'>Johnson’s</span> counsel may be thus abridged: The literature -<span class='pageno' id='Page_470'>470</span>of every country may be best gathered on its native -soil. And the studies of the learned are everywhere influenced -by peculiarities of government and of religion. In -Italy you may, therefore, expect to meet with abundance of -the works of the Canonists and the Schoolmen; in Germany -with store of writers on the Feudal Laws; in Holland -you will find the booksellers’ shops swarming with the -works of the Civilians. <span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><span class='sc'>Substance -of -Johnson’s -advice on -the Collection -of -the King’s -Library.</span><span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -Of Canonists a few of the most -eminent will suffice. Of the Schoolmen a liberal supply -will be a valuable addition to the King’s Library. The -departments of Feudal and Civil Law you can hardly render -too complete. In the Feudal Constitutions we see the -origin of our property laws. Of the Civil Law it is not -too much to say that it is a regal study.</p> - -<p class='c011'>In respect to standard books generally, continued <span class='sc'>Johnson</span>, -a Royal Library ought to have the earliest or most -curious edition, the most sumptuous edition, and also the -most useful one, which will commonly be one of the latest -impressions of the book. As to the purchase of entire -libraries in bulk, the Doctor inclined to think—even a century -ago—that the inconvenience would commonly almost -overbalance the advantage, on the score of the excessive -accumulation of duplicate copies.</p> - -<p class='c011'>And then he added a remark which (long years afterwards) -Sir Richard Colt <span class='sc'>Hoare</span> profited by, and made a -source of profit to our National Museum. ‘I am told,’ -said <span class='sc'>Johnson</span>, ‘that scarcely a village of Italy wants its -historian. And it will be of great use to collect, in every -place, maps of the adjacent country, and plans of towns, -buildings, and gardens. By this care you will form a -more valuable body of geography than could otherwise be -had.’</p> - -<p class='c011'>On that point—as, indeed, on all the points about which -<span class='pageno' id='Page_471'>471</span>he gave advice—<span class='sc'>Johnson’s</span> counsel bore excellent fruit. -The ‘body of geography’ contained in the Georgian Library -has never, I think, been surpassed in any one Collection -(made by a single Collector) in the world. It laid, substantially, -the foundation of the noble assemblage of charts -and maps which now forms a separate Department of the -Museum, under the able superintendence of Mr. Richard -Henry <span class='sc'>Major</span>, who has done much for the advancement of -geographical knowledge in many paths, but in none more -efficiently than in his Museum labours.</p> - -<p class='c011'>Like good counsel was given to <span class='sc'>Barnard</span> by the great -lexicographer, in relation to the gathering of illustrated -books. He told the King’s Librarian that he ought to -seek diligently for old books adorned with woodcuts, -because the designs were often those of great masters.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Johnson’s remark on modern illustrated books.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>When to this remark the Doctor added the words: -‘Those old prints are such as cannot be made by any artist -now living,’ he asserted what was undoubtedly true, if he -limited that high praise to the best class of the works of -which he was speaking. But his words carry in them also -an indirect testimony of honour to <span class='sc'>George the Third</span>. If, -in the century which has passed since Samuel <span class='sc'>Johnson</span> -discussed with Frederick <span class='sc'>Barnard</span> the wisest means of -forming a Royal Library, a great stride has been made by -the arts of design in Britain, a share of the merit belongs -to the patriotic old King. He was amongst the earliest in -his dominions to encourage British art with an open hand. -He was not only the founder of the Royal Academy, but -a most liberal patron to artists; and he did not limit his -patronage to those men alone who belonged to his own -Academy. If for a series of years the Royal Academy did -less for Art, and did its work in a more narrow spirit of -coterie than it ought to have done, the fault was not in the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_472'>472</span>founder. And, of late years, the Academy itself has, in -many ways, nobly vindicated its foundation and the aid it -has received from the Public. Towards the foundation -of the Academy, <span class='sc'>George the Third</span> gave, from his privy -purse, more than five thousand pounds. To many of its -members he was a genial friend, as well as a liberal patron.</p> - -<p class='c011'>Many other institutions of public education shared his -liberality. Some generous benefactions which he gave to -the British Museum itself, in the earlier years of his reign, -have been mentioned already. But there were a crowd of -other gifts, both in the earlier and in the later years, of -which the limits of this volume at present forbid me to -make detailed mention.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The Continental tour of Mr. <span class='sc'>Barnard</span> was very successful -as to its main object. He obtained such rich accessions -for the Library as raised it—especially in the various departments -of Continental history and literature—much -above all other Libraries in Britain.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><cite>Bibliotheca Askeviana</cite> (1775). <cite>Literary Anecdotes of Eighteenth Century</cite>, vol. iv, p. 513 (183–).</div> - -<p class='c011'>Within a few years of his return to England the very -choice Collection which had been formed by Dr. Anthony -<span class='sc'>Askew</span> came into the market. For this Library, in bulk, -the King offered <span class='sc'>Askew’s</span> representatives five thousand -pounds. They thought they could make more of the -Collection by an auction, but, in the event, obtained less -than four thousand pounds. The Askew Library extended -only to three thousand five hundred and seventy separate -printed works, but it contained a large proportion of rare -and choice books. The chief buyers at the sale were the -Duke of <span class='sc'>La Vallière</span> and (through the agency of <span class='sc'>De -Bure</span>) <span class='sc'>Lewis the Sixteenth</span>. The King of England -bought comparatively little, although on this occasion Mr. -<span class='sc'>Barnard</span> could scarcely have withholden his hand on the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_473'>473</span>score of the special injunctions which the King had formerly -laid down for his guidance in such public competitions.</p> - -<p class='c011'>For it deserves to be remembered that <span class='sc'>George the -Third’s</span> conscientious thoughtfulness for other people led -him, early in his career as a Collector, to give to his -librarian a general instruction such as the servants of -wealthy Collectors rarely receive. ‘I do not wish you,’ he -said, ‘to bid either against a literary man who wants books -for study, or against a known Collector of small means.’ -He was very free to bid, on the other hand, against a Duke -of <span class='sc'>Roxburghe</span> or an Earl <span class='sc'>Spencer</span>.</p> - -<p class='c011'>The King’s kindness of nature was also shown in the -free access which he at all times afforded to scholars and -students in his own Library. To this circumstance we owe -some of the most interesting notices we have of his opinions -of authors and of books.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>The old localities of the Georgian Library.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>In the earliest years of the Royal Collectorship part of -the Library was kept in the old palace at Kew, which has -long since disappeared, the site of it being now a gorgeous -flower-bed. Afterwards, and on the acquisition for the -Queen, of Buckingham House,<a id='r13'></a><a href='#f13' class='c013'><sup>[13]</sup></a> the chief part of the Collection -was removed to Pimlico, and arranged in the handsome -rooms of which a view appears, by way of vignette, -on the title-pages of the sumptuously printed catalogue -prepared by <span class='sc'>Barnard</span>. It was at Buckingham House that -<span class='sc'>Johnson’s</span> well-known conversation with the King took -place, in February, 1767.</p> - -<p class='c011'>When <span class='sc'>Johnson</span> first began to use the Royal Collection it -<span class='pageno' id='Page_474'>474</span>was still in its infancy. He was surprised both at its -extent and at the number of rare and choice books which -it already included. He had seen <span class='sc'>Barnard’s</span> assiduity, -and had helped him occasionally in his book-researches, -long prior to the tour of 1768. But it astonished him to -see that the King, within six or seven years, had gathered -so fine a Library as that which he saw in 1767. He became -a frequent visitor. The King, hearing of the circumstance, -desired his librarian to let him know when the literary -autocrat came again.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>The interview at Buckingham House between George III and Dr. Johnson.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>The King’s first questions were about the doings at -Oxford, whence, he had been told, Johnson had recently -returned. The Doctor expressed his inability to bestow -much commendation on the diligence then exhibited by the -resident scholars of the University in the way of any conspicuous -additions to literature. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>1767, February.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -Presently, the King put -to him the question, ‘And what are you about yourself?’ -‘I think,’ was the answer—given in a tone more modest -than the strict sense of the words may import—‘that I -have already done my part as a writer.’ To which the -King rejoined, ‘I should think so too, had you not written -so well.’ After this happy retort, the King turned the conversation -on some recent theological controversies. About -that between <span class='sc'>Warburton</span> and <span class='sc'>Lowth</span> he made another -neat though obvious remark—‘When it comes to calling -names, argument, truly, is pretty well at an end.’ They -then passed in review many of the periodical publications -of the day, in the course of which His Majesty displayed -considerable knowledge of the chief books of that class, -both English and French. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>Croker’s -<cite>Boswell</cite>, pp. -184–186.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -He showed his characteristic -and kingly attention to minutiæ by an observation which -he made when <span class='sc'>Johnson</span> had praised an improved arrangement -of the contents of the <cite>Philosophical Transactions</cite>—oblivious, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_475'>475</span>at the moment, that he had himself suggested the -change. ‘They have to thank Dr. <span class='sc'>Johnson</span> for that,’ said -the King.</p> - -<p class='c011'>Another remark made by <span class='sc'>George the Third</span> during this -conversation deserves to be remembered. ‘I wish,’ said he, -‘that we could have a really well-executed body of British -Biography.’ This was a desideratum in the seventh year -of the old King, and it is a desideratum still in the thirty-fourth -year of his granddaughter. The reign of Queen <span class='sc'>Victoria</span> -was comparatively young when the late Mr. <span class='sc'>Murray</span> -first announced, not without some flourish of trumpets, a -forthcoming attempt at such a labour, but the little that -was said as to the precise plan and scope of the work then -contemplated, gave small promise of an adequate performance; -and hitherto there has been no performance at all.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>The King’s conversation with Dr. Beattie</span>;</div> - -<p class='c011'>Six years after the interview with <span class='sc'>Johnson</span>, another literary -conversation, of which we have a record, was held in -the Royal Library. But on this occasion the scene was -Kew. Dr. <span class='sc'>Beattie’s</span> fame is now a thing of the past. -There is still, however, some living interest in the account -of the talk between the author of <cite>The Minstrel</cite> and his -sovereign, held in 1773, -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>1773. -August.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -about liturgies, -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>Forbes, <cite>Life -of Beattie</cite>, -vol. i, pp. 347–354.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -about prayers occasional -and prayers <em>ex tempore</em>, and about the methods of -education adopted in the Scottish universities.</p> - -<p class='c011'>The King’s least favourable—but not least characteristic—appearance, -as a talker on literary subjects, is made in -that conversation with Miss <span class='sc'>Burney</span>, -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><span class='sc'>and with -Miss -Burney.</span><span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -in which he uttered -his often-quoted remark on <span class='sc'>Shakespeare</span>:—‘Was there -ever such stuff as great part of <cite>Shakespeare</cite>—only one -must not say so?’ -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>1785. -December.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -The sense of the humorous seems in -<span class='sc'>George III</span> to have been wholly lacking. And some part -of the sadness of his life has probably a vital connexion -with that deficiency.</p> - -<p class='c011'><span class='pageno' id='Page_476'>476</span>In the last-mentioned conversation, the King evinced -considerable acquaintance with French literature. He shared, -to some extent, the then very general admiration for <span class='sc'>Rousseau</span>, -on whom he had bestowed more than one act of kindness -during the brief English exile of the author of <cite>Emile</cite>. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>D’Arblay, -<cite>Diary</cite>, vol. ii, -pp. 395–398.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -He shared, also, the common impression as to the absence -of gratitude in the brilliant Frenchman’s character. When -Miss <span class='sc'>Burney</span> told him that his own portrait had been seen -to occupy the most conspicuous place in <span class='sc'>Rousseau’s</span> living-room -after his return to France, the King was both surprised -and touched.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Next after the large and choice acquisitions made for -the King’s Library on the Continent, some of its most conspicuous -and valuable literary treasures were acquired at -the several sales, in London, of the Libraries of James -<span class='sc'>West</span> (1773), of John <span class='sc'>Ratcliffe</span> (1776), and of Richard -<span class='sc'>Farmer</span> (1798). It was at the first of these sales that -<span class='sc'>George the Third</span> laid the foundation of his unequalled -series of the productions of the father of English printing.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>George the Third’s series of books from Caxton’s Press.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>The <em>Caxtons</em> bought for the King at West’s sale included -the dearly prized <cite>Recuyell of the Histories of Troye</cite> (1472–1474?), -the <cite>Booke of the Chesse</cite> (1476?), the <cite>Canterbury -Tales</cite> of <span class='sc'>Chaucer</span> (1478?), the <cite>Dictes and Sayinges of the -Philosophers</cite> (1480), the <cite>Mirrour of the World</cite> (1481), the -<cite>Godfrey of Boloyne</cite> (1482), the <cite>Confessio Amantis</cite> (1483), -the <cite>Paris and Vienne</cite> (1485), and the <cite>Royal Booke</cite> (1487?). -Of these, the lowest in price was the <cite>Confessio</cite> of 1483, -which the King acquired for nine guineas, and the highest -in price was the <cite>Chaucer</cite> of 1478, which cost him forty-seven -pounds fifteen shillings.</p> - -<p class='c011'>At the same sale, he also acquired another Caxton, which -has a peculiar interest. The King’s copy of the <cite>Troylus -<span class='pageno' id='Page_477'>477</span>and Creside</cite> (probably printed in the year 1484) formerly -belonged</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c012'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>‘To Her, most gentle, most unfortunate,</div> - <div class='line'>Crowned but to die—who in her chamber sate</div> - <div class='line'>Musing with Plato, though the horn was blown,</div> - <div class='line'>And every ear and every heart was won,</div> - <div class='line'>And all, in green array, were chasing down the sun;’</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c014'>and it bears her autograph.</p> - -<p class='c011'>Three years after the dispersion of <span class='sc'>West’s</span> Library came -that of the extraordinary Collection which had been made -by a Bermondsey ship-chandler, John <span class='sc'>Ratcliffe</span> by name. -This worthy and fortunate Collector has been said, commonly, -to have amassed his black-letter curiosities by buying -them, at so much a pound, over his counter.<a id='r14'></a><a href='#f14' class='c013'><sup>[14]</sup></a> But of such -windfalls no man has ever been so lucky as to have more -than a few. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><span class='sc'>John Ratcliffe -of -Bermondsey -and his -curious Library.</span><span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -John <span class='sc'>Ratcliffe</span> was, like his King, a large -buyer at <span class='sc'>West’s</span> sale, and at many other sales, upon the -ordinary terms.</p> - -<p class='c011'>By pains and perseverance he had collected of books -printed by <span class='sc'>Caxton</span> the extraordinary number of forty-eight. -No Collector ever surpassed, or even reached, that -number, except Robert <span class='sc'>Harley</span>, in whose days books that -are now worth three hundred pounds could, not infrequently, -be bought for much less than the half of three -hundred pence.</p> - -<p class='c011'><span class='sc'>Ratcliffe’s</span> forty-eight <em>Caxtons</em> produced at his sale -two hundred and thirty-six pounds. The King bought -twenty of them at an aggregate cost of about eighty-five -pounds. Amongst them were the <cite>Boethius</cite>, of 1478; the -<cite>Reynarde the Foxe</cite>, of 1481; the <cite>Golden Legende</cite>, and the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_478'>478</span><cite>Curial</cite>, both of 1484; and the <cite>Speculum Vitæ Christi</cite>, -probably printed in 1488. The <cite>Boethius</cite> is a fine copy, -and was obtained for four pounds six shillings. A few -years ago an imperfect copy of the same book brought -more than sixteen times that sum.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Gifts to the King’s Library.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>Two others of the King’s <cite>Caxtons</cite> were the gift of Jacob -<span class='sc'>Bryant</span>. One of these is Ralph <span class='sc'>Lefevre’s</span> <cite>Recueil des -histoires de Troye</cite>, printed, probably, in 1476. The other -is the <cite>Doctrinal of Sapience</cite>, printed in 1489. This last-named -volume is on vellum, and is the only copy so printed -which is known to exist. A third Caxton volume was -bequeathed to <span class='sc'>George the Third</span> by Mr. <span class='sc'>Hewett</span>, of -Ipswich. This is the <cite>Æsop</cite> of 1484, and is the only extant -copy. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><span class='sc'>George III -and the -Bibliomania.</span><span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -It was delivered to the King by Sir John <span class='sc'>Hewett</span> -and Mr. Philip <span class='sc'>Broke</span>, the legator’s executors. <span class='sc'>George -the Third</span> was very sensitive to the special triumphs of -collectorship, and would be sure to prize the <cite>Æsop</cite> all the -more for its attribute of uniqueness.</p> - -<p class='c011'>A story in illustration of this specific tinge of the bibliomania -in our royal Collector was wont to be told by Sir -Walter <span class='sc'>Scott</span>, and is mentioned in his interesting obituary -notice of the King, printed in the <cite>Edinburgh Weekly -Journal</cite><a id='r15'></a><a href='#f15' class='c013'><sup>[15]</sup></a> immediately after the King’s death. According -to <span class='sc'>Scott</span>, <span class='sc'>George the Third</span> was fond of crowing a little -over his brother-collector, the Duke of <span class='sc'>Roxburghe</span>, on the -score that the royal copy of the famous <cite>Recuyell of the -Histories of Troye</cite> had a pre-eminence over the Roxburghe -copy. The pre-eminence was of a sort, indeed, to which no -one but a thorough-paced Collector would be sensible. For -it consisted in the ‘locking,’ or wrong imposing, of certain -pages, afterwards corrected at press. The fault, therefore, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_479'>479</span>indicated priority of working off. But I do not find in -the King’s <cite>Recuyell</cite>—which now lies before me—the -peculiarity spoken of in the poet’s story. Such a fault -does exist in the Roxburghe copy, which now belongs to -the Duke of <span class='sc'>Devonshire</span>. Other and authenticated -anecdotes, however, are abundant, which suffice to show -the close knowledge of, and the keen interest in, his books, -by which <span class='sc'>George the Third</span> was characterised. It was a -still better trait in him that he found real pleasure in -knowing that the treasures and rarities of his Library -subserved the inquiries and studies of scholars. Nor did -he make narrow limitations. Men like <span class='sc'>Johnson</span> and -Bishop <span class='sc'>Horsley</span> profited by the Collection. So, too, did -men like <span class='sc'>Gibbon</span> and <span class='sc'>Priestley</span>.</p> - -<p class='c011'>The total number of Caxton prints amassed by <span class='sc'>George III</span> -was thirty-nine. Of these three are in the Royal Library at -Windsor—namely, the <cite>Recueil</cite> (1476?), the <cite>Æsop</cite> (1484), -and the <cite>Doctrinal</cite> (1489).</p> - -<div class='c002'></div> -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>George the Third’s appearance as an Author.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>To a keen enjoyment of the pleasures of collectorship, -the King added, in 1787, a passing taste of those of authorship. -As a Collector, the bibliomania did not engross -him. He had a delight in amassing fine plants as well as -fine books. The <em>Hortus Kewensis</em> (in both applications of -the term) was largely indebted to his liberality of expenditure -and to his far-spread research. He sent botanic missionaries -to the remotest parts of Asia, as well as to Africa. -He took the most cordial interest in those varied voyages of -discovery which—as I have observed in a former chapter—cast -so distinctive a lustre on his reign, and in consequence -of which such large additions were made to our natural -history collections, public and private. And he did much -to promote scientific agriculture, both by precept and by -<span class='pageno' id='Page_480'>480</span>example. It was as a practical agriculturist that the -King (under a slight veil of pseudonymity<a id='r16'></a><a href='#f16' class='c013'><sup>[16]</sup></a>) made his bow -to the reading public by the publication of seven articles in -Arthur <span class='sc'>Young’s</span> useful and then well-known periodical, -the <cite>Annals of Agriculture</cite>.</p> - -<p class='c011'>Those articles have a threefold aim. They inculcate the -wisdom, for certain soils, of an intermediate system of treatment -and of cropping, midway between the old routine -and the drill-husbandry, then of recent introduction; they -describe several new implements, introduced by <span class='sc'>Ducket</span> of -Esher and of Petersham; and they advocate an almost -entire rejection of fallows. They further describe a method, -also introduced by Farmer <span class='sc'>Ducket</span>, and then peculiar, of -destroying that farmer’s pest, couch-grass (<em>triticum repens</em>), -by trench-ploughing it deep into the ground, and contain -many other practical suggestions, some of which seem to -have been empirical, and others so good that they have -become trite.</p> - -<p class='c011'>But the best service rendered by <span class='sc'>George the Third</span> to -the agricultural pursuits, of which he was so fond, was his -introduction of the Merino flocks, which became conspicuous -ornaments to the great and little parks at Windsor. Part -of the success which, for a time, attended the importation -of those choice Merino breeds was due to the zealous co-operation -of Lord <span class='sc'>Somerville</span> and of Sir Joseph <span class='sc'>Banks</span> -[see the next chapter], but the King himself took a real -initiative in the matter; acquired real knowledge about it; -and deserved, by his personal efforts, the cognomen given -him (by some of those worthy farmers who used to attend -the annual sales at Windsor) of ‘the Royal Shepherd.’</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Illness of George III</span>;</div> - -<p class='c011'><span class='pageno' id='Page_481'>481</span>The recreative pursuits, alike of the book-collector and -of the agriculturist, as well as the labours of the conscientious -monarch, were at length to be arrested by that -great calamity which, after clouding over some months of -the years of vigour, was destined to veil in thick gloom all -the -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>1810.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -years of decline—the years when great public triumphs -and crushing family afflictions passed equally unnoted by -the recluse of Windsor.</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c012'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>‘Thy lov’d ones fell around thee.</div> - <div class='line in14'>... Thou, meanwhile,</div> - <div class='line'>Didst walk unconscious through thy royal towers,</div> - <div class='line'>The one that wept <em>not</em>, in the tearful isle!</div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'> · · · · ·</div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>But who can tell what visions might be thine?</div> - <div class='line'>The stream of thought, though broken, still was pure.</div> - <div class='line'>Still on that wave the stars of Heaven might shine</div> - <div class='line'>Where earthly image would no more endure.</div> - <div class='line'>Nor might the phantoms to thy spirit known,</div> - <div class='line'>Be dark or wild,—creations of Remorse,—</div> - <div class='line'>Unstain’d by thee, the blameless Past had thrown</div> - <div class='line'>No fearful shadows o’er the Future’s course.’</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>And his death.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>When <span class='sc'>George the Third</span> died at Windsor Castle, on -the 29th of January, 1820, the public mourning was -sincere. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>1820. -January.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -During its ten years of rule, the Regency had done -very much to heighten and intensify regret for the calamity -of 1810. The errors of the old monarch came, naturally, -to be dwarfed to the view, when his private virtues acquired -all the sharp saliency of contrast.</p> - -<p class='c011'>Since his death, political writers have usually been -somewhat harsh to his memory. But the verdict of history -has not yet been given in. When the time for its delivery -shall at length come, there will be a long roll of good deeds -to set off against many mistakes in policy. Nor will the -genuine piety, and the earnest conscientiousness of the -individual man—up to the measure of the light vouchsafed -<span class='pageno' id='Page_482'>482</span>to him—be forgotten in the preliminary summing up. -What <span class='sc'>George the Third</span> did for Britain simply in conferring -upon it the social blessings of a pure Court, and of -a bright personal example, is best to be estimated by contemplating -what, in that respect, existed before it, and also -what came immediately after it. Comparisons of such a -sort will serve, eventually, to better purpose than that of -feathering the witty shafts of reckless satirists, whether in -prose or in verse. Meanwhile, it is enough to say that no -honester, no more God-fearing man, than was <span class='sc'>George the -Third</span>, ever sat upon the throne of England.</p> - -<p class='c010'>During all the time of his long illness, the King’s Library -had continued, more or less, to grow. When he died, it -contained sixty-five thousand two hundred and fifty -volumes, besides more than nineteen thousand unbound -tracts. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><span class='sc'>State of -the King’s -Library in -January, -1820.</span><span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -These have since been bound severally. The total -number of volumes, therefore, which the Collection comprised -was about eighty-four thousand. At the time of the -King’s decease, the annual cost of books in progress, and of -periodical works, somewhat exceeded one thousand pounds. -The annual salaries of the staff—four officers and two -servants—amounted to eleven hundred and seventy-one -pounds. The Library occupied a fine and extensive suite -of rooms in Buckingham Palace. One of them was large -enough to make a noble billiard-room.</p> - -<p class='c011'>The Royal Library, therefore, embarrassed King <span class='sc'>George -the Fourth</span> in two ways. It cost two thousand two hundred -pounds a year, even without making any new additions -to its contents. It occupied much space in the royal -residence which could be devoted to more agreeable purposes. -Then came the welcome thought that, instead of -being a charge, it might be made a source of income. The -<span class='pageno' id='Page_483'>483</span>Emperor of Russia was known to covet, as a truly imperial -luxury, what to the new King of Great Britain was but a -costly burden. He broached the idea—but met, instead of -encouragement, with strong remonstrance.</p> - -<p class='c011'>The news of the royal suggestion soon spread abroad. -Amongst those who heard of it with disgust were Lord -<span class='sc'>Farnborough</span> (who is said to have learnt the design in -talking, one day, with Princess <span class='sc'>Lieven</span>) and Richard -<span class='sc'>Heber</span>. Both men bestirred themselves to prevent the -King from publicly disgracing the country in that way. -Lord <span class='sc'>Farnborough</span> betook himself to a conference with -the Premier, Lord <span class='sc'>Liverpool</span>. Mr. <span class='sc'>Heber</span> discussed the -matter with Lord <span class='sc'>Sidmouth</span>. By the ministers, public -opinion upon the suggested sale was pretty strongly and -emphatically conveyed to His Majesty, whatever may have -been the courtliness of tone employed about it.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Conference between George IV and his Ministers on disposal of the Library.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'><span class='sc'>George the Fourth</span>, however, was not less strongly -impressed by the charms of the prospective rubles from -Russia. He felt that he could find pleasant uses for a -windfall of a hundred and eighty thousand pounds, or so. -And he fought hard to secure his expected prize—or some -indubitably solid equivalent. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>R. Ford, in -the <cite>Quarterly -Review</cite> (Dec., -1850), vol. -lxxxviii, p. -143;<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -‘If I can’t have the rubles,’ -said the King, ‘you must find me their value in pounds -sterling.’ The Ministers were much in earnest to save the -Library, and, in the emergency, laid their hands upon a -certain surplus which had accrued from a fund furnished -some years before by France, to meet British claims for -losses sustained at the date of the first French Revolution. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>Comp. -<cite>Minutes of -Evidence -taken by the -Commissioners -on Brit. -Mus.</cite> (also in -1850), pp. 117, -118.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -But the expedient became the subject of an unpleasant -hint in the House of Commons. And the Government, it -is said, then resorted to that useful fund, the ‘Droits of -Admiralty.’ By hook or crook, <span class='sc'>George the Fourth</span> -received his ‘equivalent.’ He then sat down to his writing-table -<span class='pageno' id='Page_484'>484</span>(at Brighton), to assure Lord <span class='sc'>Liverpool</span>—in his -official capacity—of the satisfaction he felt in having -‘this means of advancing the Literature of my Country.’ -Then he proceeded to add:—‘I also feel that I am paying -a just tribute to the memory of a Parent, whose life was -adorned with every public and private virtue.’</p> - -<p class='c010'>The Executors or Trustees of King <span class='sc'>George the Third</span> -knew well what the monarch’s feelings about his Library -would, in all reasonable probability, have been, had he -possessed mental vigour when preparing for his last change. -They exacted from the Trustees of the Museum a pledge -that the Royal Library should be preserved apart, and -entire.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>The New Building erected for the Georgian Library.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>Parliament, on its side, made a liberal provision for the -erection of a building worthy to receive the Georgian -Library. The fine edifice raised in pursuance of a parliamentary -vote cost a hundred and forty thousand pounds. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>1821–28.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -It provided one of the handsomest rooms in Europe for the -main purpose, and it also made much-needed arrangements -for the reception and exhibition of natural-history Collections, -above the books.</p> - -<p class='c011'>The removal of the Royal Library from Buckingham -House was not completed until August, 1828. All who -saw the Collection whilst the building was in its first -purity of colour—and who were old enough to form an -opinion on such a point—pronounced the receptacle to be -eminently worthy of its rich contents. The floor-cases and -the heavy tables—very needful, no doubt—have since -detracted not a little from the architectural effect and elegance -of the room itself.</p> - -<p class='c011'>Along with the printed books, and the extensive geographical -Collections, came a number of manuscripts—on -<span class='pageno' id='Page_485'>485</span>historical, literary, and geographical subjects.<a id='r17'></a><a href='#f17' class='c013'><sup>[17]</sup></a> By some -transient forgetfulness of the pledge given to Lord <span class='sc'>Farnborough</span>, -the manuscripts, or part of them, were, in March, -1841, sent to the ‘Manuscript Department’ of the Museum. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><cite>Minutes of -Evidence</cite> -(1850), as -above.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -But Mr. <span class='sc'>Panizzi</span>, then the Keeper of the Printed Books, -successfully reclaimed them for their due place of deposit, -according to the arrangement of 1823. Nor was such a -claim a mere official punctilio.</p> - -<p class='c011'>In every point of view, close regard to the wishes of -donors, or of those who virtually represent them, is not more -a matter of simple justice than it is a matter of wise and -foreseeing policy in the Trustees of Public Museums. The -integrity of their Collections is often, and naturally, an -anxious desire of those who have formed them. In a subsequent -chapter (C. ii of Book III) it will be seen that the -wish expressed by the representatives of King <span class='sc'>George the -Third</span> was also the wish of a munificent contemporary and -old minister of his, who, many years afterwards, gave to -the Nation a Library only second in splendour to that which -had been gathered by <span class='sc'>George the Third</span>.</p> - -<p class='c011'>Not the least curious little fact connected with the -Georgian Library and its gift to the Public, is that the gift -was <em>predicted</em> thirty-one years before <span class='sc'>George the Fourth</span> -wrote his letter addressed to Lord <span class='sc'>Liverpool</span> from the -Pavilion at Brighton, and twenty-eight years before the -death of <span class='sc'>George the Third</span>.</p> - -<p class='c011'>In 1791, Frederick <span class='sc'>Wendeborn</span> wrote thus:—‘The -King’s private Library ... can boast very valuable and magnificent -books, which, as it is said, will be one time or another -<span class='pageno' id='Page_486'>486</span>joined to those of the British Museum.’ <span class='sc'>Wendeborn</span><a id='r18'></a><a href='#f18' class='c013'><sup>[18]</sup></a> -was a German preacher, resident in London for many -years. He was known to Queen <span class='sc'>Charlotte</span>, and had -occasional intercourse with the Court. May it not be -inferred that on some occasion or other the King had intimated, -if not an intention, at least a thought on the matter, -which some courtier or other had repeated in the hearing -of Dr. <span class='sc'>Wendeborn</span>?</p> - -<div> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_487'>487</span> - <div class='section'><h4 class='c005'>CHAPTER V.<br /> <span class='large'>THE FOUNDER OF THE BANKSIAN MUSEUM AND LIBRARY.</span></h4></div> -</div> -<p class='c006'>‘It may be averred for truth that they be not the highest -instances that give the best and surest information.... It -often comes to pass [in the study of Nature] -that small and mean things conduce more to the discovery -of great matters, than great things to the discovery of -small matters.’—<span class='sc'>Bacon.</span></p> - -<p class='c007'>‘Not every man is fit to travel. Travel makes a wise -man better, but a fool worse.’—<span class='sc'>Owen Felltham.</span></p> - -<p class='c009'><em>The Life, Travels, and Social Influence, of Sir Joseph</em> -<span class='sc'>Banks</span>.—<em>The Royal Society under his Presidency.—His -Collections and their acquisition by the Trustees of -the British Museum.—Notices of some other contemporaneous -accessions.</em></p> - -<div class='c002'></div> -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Book II</span>, Chap. V. <span class='sc'>The Founder of the Banksian Museum and Library.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>We have now to glance at the career—personal and -scientific—of an estimable public benefactor, with whom -King <span class='sc'>George the Third</span> had much pleasant intercourse, -both of a public and a private kind. Sir Joseph <span class='sc'>Banks</span> -was almost five years younger than his royal friend and -correspondent, but he survived the King by little more -than three months, so that the Georgian and the Banksian -Libraries were very nearly contemporaneous accessions. -The former, as we have seen, was given in 1823, and fully -received in 1828; the latter was bequeathed (conditionally) -in 1820, and received in 1827. These two accessions, -taken conjointly, raised the Museum collection of books -<span class='pageno' id='Page_488'>488</span>(for the first time in its history) to a respectable rank -amongst the National Libraries of the day. The Banksian -bequest made also an important addition to the natural-history -collections, especially to the herbaria. It is as a -cultivator and promoter of the natural sciences, and pre-eminently -of botany, that Sir Joseph won for himself enduring -fame. But he was also conspicuous for those personal -and social qualities which are not less necessary to the man, -than are learning and liberality to the philosopher. For -the lack of such personal qualities some undoubted public -benefactors have been, nevertheless, bad citizens. In this -public benefactor both sets of faculties were harmoniously -combined. They shone in his form and countenance. They -yet dwell in the memory of a survivor or two, here and -there, who were the contemporaries of his closing years.</p> - -<p class='c011'>Joseph <span class='sc'>Banks</span> was born at Reresby Abbey, in Lincolnshire, -on the thirteenth of December, 1743. He was the -only son of William <span class='sc'>Banks-Hodgkenson</span>, of Reresby -<span class='sc'>Abbey</span>, by his wife Sophia <span class='sc'>Bate</span>.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>The Bankeses of Reresby Abbey.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>Mr. <span class='sc'>Banks-Hodgkenson</span> was the descendant of a Yorkshire -family, which was wont, of old, to write itself -‘Banke,’ and was long settled at Banke-Newton, in the -wapentake of Staincliffe. The second son of a certain -Henry <span class='sc'>Banke</span>, of Banke-Newton, acquired, by marriage, -Beck Hall, in Giggleswick; and by his great-grandson, the -first Joseph <span class='sc'>Bankes</span>, Reresby Abbey was purchased -towards the close of the seventeenth century. His son (also -Joseph) sat in Parliament for Peterborough, and served as -Sheriff of Lincolnshire in 1736. The second (and eldest -surviving) son of the Member for Peterborough took the -name of <span class='sc'>Hodgkenson</span>, as heir to his mother’s ancestral -estate of Overton, in Derbyshire, but on the death of his -elder brother (and his consequent heirship) resumed the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_489'>489</span>paternal name, and resigned the Overton estate to his -next brother, who became Robert <span class='sc'>Hodgkenson</span>, of Overton. -Mr. <span class='sc'>Banks-Hodgkenson</span> died in 1761, leaving to his son, -afterwards Sir Joseph <span class='sc'>Banks</span>, a plentiful estate.</p> - -<p class='c011'>The youngster was then little more than beginning his -career at Oxford, whither he had recently come from Eton, -though his schooling had been begun at Harrow. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><span class='sc'>Early -years of -Sir Joseph -Banks.</span><span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -He was -‘lord of himself,’ and of a fine fortune, at the critical age -of eighteen. To many, such an inheritance, under like -circumstances, has brought misery. To Joseph <span class='sc'>Banks</span>, it -brought noble means for the prosecution of a noble aim. -It was the ambition of this young Etonian—not to eclipse -jockies, or to dazzle the eyes of fools, but—to tread in the -footsteps of <span class='sc'>Linnæus</span>. Rich, hardy, and handsome in -person, sanguine in temperament, and full of talent, he -resolved that, for some years to come, after leaving the -University, the life that might so easily be brimmed with -enjoyments should incur many privations and face many -hardships, in order to win both knowledge and the power -of benefiting the Public by its communication. That -object of early ambition, it will be seen, was abundantly -realised in the after-years.</p> - -<p class='c011'>There is no reason to think that a resolution, not often -formed at such an age as eighteen, was come to in the -absence of temptation to a different course. <span class='sc'>Banks</span> was -no ascetic. Nor was it his fortune, at any time, to live -much with ascetics. One of his earliest friends was that -Lord <span class='sc'>Sandwich</span><a id='r19'></a><a href='#f19' class='c013'><sup>[19]</sup></a> whose memory now chiefly connects itself -with the unsavoury traditions of Medmenham Abbey, and -with the peculiar pursuits in literature of John <span class='sc'>Wilkes</span>. -With <span class='sc'>Sandwich</span> he spent many of the bright days of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_490'>490</span>youth in fishing on Whittlesea Mere. <span class='sc'>Banks</span> had the -good fortune—and the skill—to make his early acquaintanceship -with the future First Lord of the Admiralty conducive -to the interests of science. The connexion with -the Navy of another friend of his youth, Henry <span class='sc'>Phipps</span>, -afterwards Earl of <span class='sc'>Mulgrave</span>, was also turned, eventually, -to good account in the same way.</p> - -<p class='c011'>Part of young <span class='sc'>Banks’</span> vacations were passed at Reresby -and in frequent companionship with Lord <span class='sc'>Sandwich</span>; -part at his mother’s jointure-house at Chelsea, very near to -the fine botanic garden which, a few years before, had been -so much enriched by the liberality of Sir Hans <span class='sc'>Sloane</span>. -In that Chelsea garden, and in other gardens at Hammersmith, -<span class='sc'>Banks</span> studied botany with youthful ardour. And -he made frequent botanic excursions in the then secluded -neighbourhood. In the course of one of these rambles he -fell under suspicion of felony.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Banks’ youthful adventure near Hammersmith.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>He was botanizing in a ditch, and his person happened -to be partially concealed by a thick growth of briars and -nettles, at a moment when two or three constables, who -were in chase of a burglar, chanced to approach the spot. -The botanist’s clothes were in a miry condition, and his suspicious -posture excited in the minds of the local Dogberries -the idea that here they had their man. They were deaf -to all expostulations. The future President of the Royal -Society was dragged, by ignominious hands, before the -nearest justice. The magistrate agreed with the constables -that the case looked black, but, before committing either the -prisoner or himself, he directed that the culprit’s pockets -should be searched. They contained little money, and no -watches; but an extraordinary abundance of plants and -wild flowers. The explanations which before had been -refused were now accepted, and very courteous apologies -<span class='pageno' id='Page_491'>491</span>were tendered to the victim of an excess of official zeal. -But the awkwardness of the adventure failed to deter the -sufferer from his eager pursuit, in season and out of it, of -his darling science. A botanist he was to be.</p> - -<p class='c011'>He left Oxford in 1763, and almost instantly set out on -a scientific voyage to Newfoundland and Labrador. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><span class='sc'>The first -Voyage of -Exploration -to -Newfoundland -and -Labrador.</span><span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -Here -he laid the first substantial groundwork of his future collections -in natural history. He sailed with <span class='sc'>Phipps</span>, who -was already a captain in the Navy, and had been charged -with the duty of protecting the Newfoundland fisheries. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>1763.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -The voyage proved to be one of some hardship, but its -privations rather sharpened than dulled the youthful naturalist’s -appetite for scientific explorations. He had learned -thus early to endure hardness, for a worthy object.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>The second Voyage;—to the South Seas.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>His second voyage was to the South Seas, and it was -made in company with the most famous of the large band -of eighteenth century maritime discoverers—James <span class='sc'>Cook</span>, -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>1768.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -and also with a favourite pupil of <span class='sc'>Linnæus</span> (the idol of -<span class='sc'>Banks’</span> youthful fancy), Daniel Charles <span class='sc'>Solander</span>, who, -though he was little above thirty years of age, had already -won some distinction in England, and had been made an -Assistant-Librarian in the British Museum.<a id='r20'></a><a href='#f20' class='c013'><sup>[20]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c011'>To make the voyage of <em>The Endeavour</em> as largely conducive -as was possible to the interests of the natural sciences, -Mr. <span class='sc'>Banks</span> incurred considerable personal expense, and -he induced the Admiralty to make large efforts, on its -<span class='pageno' id='Page_492'>492</span>part, to promote and secure the various objects of the new -expedition. One of those objects was the observation at -Otaheite of a coming transit of Venus over the Sun; -another was the further progress of geographical discovery -in a quarter of the world to which public interest was at -that time specially and strongly turned. <span class='sc'>Banks</span>, individually, -was also bent on collecting specimens in all departments -of natural history, and on promoting geographical -knowledge by the completest possible collection of drawings, -maps, and charts of all that was met with. He engaged -Dr. <span class='sc'>Solander</span> as his companion, and gave him a salary of -four hundred pounds a year. With them sailed two -draughtsmen and a secretary, besides four servants.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>The Botanical Explorations at Terra-del-Fuego.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'><em>The Endeavour</em> set sail from Plymouth on the twenty-sixth -of August, 1768, and from Rio-de-Janeiro on the eighth of -December. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>1769. -January.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -On the fourteenth of January, 1769, the -naturalists landed at Terra-del-Fuego, and they gathered -more than a hundred plants theretofore unknown to European -botanists. Proud of their success, they resolved that, -after a brief rest, they would explore the higher regions, in -hope to reap a rich harvest of Alpine plants. <span class='sc'>Solander</span>, -as a Swede and as a traveller in Norway, knew something -of the dangers they would have to face. <span class='sc'>Banks</span> himself -was not without experience. But both were enterprising -and resolute men. They set out on their long march in -the night of the fifteenth of January, in order to gain as -much of daylight as possible for the work of botanizing. -They hoped to return to the ship within ten hours. As -they ascended, <span class='sc'>Solander</span> warned his companions against -the temptation that he knew awaited them of giving way -to sleep when overcome by the toil of walking. ‘Whoever -sits down,’ said he, ‘will be sure to sleep, and whoever -sleeps will wake no more.’ But the fatigue proved to be -<span class='pageno' id='Page_493'>493</span>excessive. The foreseeing adviser was borne down by it, -and was the first to throw himself upon the snow. <span class='sc'>Banks</span> -was the younger man by six or seven years, and had a -strong constitution. He fought resolutely against temptation, -and, with the help of the draughtsmen, exerted himself -with all his might to keep <span class='sc'>Solander</span> awake. They succeeded -in getting him to walk on for a few miles more. -Then he lay down again, with the words, ‘Sleep I must, for -a few minutes.’ In those few minutes the fierce cold almost -paralysed his limbs. Two servants (a seaman and a negro) -imitated the Swede’s example, and were really paralysed. -With much grief, it was found that the servants must, inevitably, -be left to their fate. The party had wandered so far -that when they set about to return they were—if the return -should be by the way they had come—a long day’s journey -from the ship. And their route had lain through pathless -woods. Their only food was a vulture. A third man -seemed in peril—momentarily—of death by exhaustion. -Happily, a shorter cut was found. Their journey had not -been quite fruitless. But they all felt that they had bought -their botanical specimens at too dear a rate. Two men were -already dead. One of the draughtsmen seems to have -suffered so severely that he never recovered from the effects -of the journey. Mr. <span class='sc'>Buchan</span> died, three months afterwards, -in Otaheite, just four days after they had landed in -the celebrated island, to visit which was among the especial -objects of their mission.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>The stay in Otaheite.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>The transit of Venus over the Sun’s disc was satisfactorily -observed on the third of June, -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>1769.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -but the observation had been -nearly foiled by the roguery of a native, who had carried off -the quadrant. The thief was found amongst several -hundred of his fellows, and, but for a characteristic combination -in <span class='sc'>Banks</span> of frank good humour and of firm hardihood, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_494'>494</span>the spoil would not have been recovered. On this, -as upon many other occasions, both his fine personal -qualities and his genial manners marked him as a natural -leader of men. On occasions, however, of a more delicate -kind they brought him into a peculiar peril. Queen -<span class='sc'>Oberea</span> fell in love with him. She was not herself without -attractions. And they were clad in all the graces of unadorned -simplicity. The poetical satirists of his day used -Sir Joseph—after his return—with cruel injustice if he was -really quite so successful, in resisting feminine charms in -Otaheite, as he had formerly been at home.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>The Voyage to New Holland.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>But however that may have been, his researches, as a -naturalist, at Otaheite were abundantly successful. And to -the island, in return, he was a friend and benefactor. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>1769–1770.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -After -a stay of three months the explorers left Otaheite for New -Holland on the 15th of August, 1769. In Australia their -collections were again very numerous and valuable. But -their long stay in explorations exposed them to two great -dangers, each of which was very nearly fatal to Mr. <span class='sc'>Banks</span> -and to most of his companions. They struck upon a rock, -while coasting New South Wales. Their escape was -wonderful. The accident entailed an amount of injury to -the ship which brought them presently within a peril more -imminent still. Whilst making repairs in the noxious -climate of Batavia, a pestilence seized upon nearly all the -Europeans. Seven, including the ship’s surgeon, died -in Batavia. Twenty-three, including the second draughtsman, -Mr. <span class='sc'>Parkinson</span>, died on shipboard afterwards. <span class='sc'>Banks</span> -and <span class='sc'>Solander</span> were so near death that their recovery -seemed, to their companions, almost miraculous.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>The Return Home.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>After leaving New South Wales and Batavia they had -a prosperous passage -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>1771. -June.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -to the Cape—prosperous, save for the -loss of those whom the pestilence had previously stricken—and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_495'>495</span>made some additions to their scientific stores. <em>The -Endeavour</em> anchored in the Downs on the 12th of June, -1771, after an absence of nearly three years. Beyond the -immediate and obvious scientific results of the voyage, it -was the means, eventually, of conferring an eminent benefaction -on our West Indian Colonies. It gave them the -Bread-Fruit tree (<em>Artocarpus incisa</em>). The transplantation -of <span class='sc'>God’s</span> bounties from clime to clime was a favourite -pursuit—and a life-long one—with Sir Joseph <span class='sc'>Banks</span>, and -its agencies cost him much time and thought, as well as no -small expenditure of fortune.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The hardships and sufferings of Terra-del-Fuego and of -Batavia had not yet taken off the edge of his appetite for -remote voyages. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><span class='sc'>The Expedition -to Iceland.</span><span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -He expended some thousands of pounds -in buying instruments and making preparations for a new -expedition with <span class='sc'>Cook</span>, -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>1772. -July.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -but the foolish and obstructive -conduct of our Navy Board inspired him with a temporary -disgust. He then turned his attention to Northern Europe. -He resolved that after visiting the western isles of Scotland -he would explore Iceland. <span class='sc'>Solander</span> was again his companion, -together with two other northern naturalists, Drs. -<span class='sc'>Lind</span> and <span class='sc'>Von Troil</span>. <span class='sc'>Banks</span> chartered a vessel at his -own cost (amounting, for the ship alone, to about six hundred -pounds).</p> - -<p class='c011'>Before starting for the cold north, they refreshed their -eyes with the soft beauties of the Isle of Wight. There, -said one of the delighted party, ‘Nature has spared none -of her favours;’ and a good many of us have unconsciously -repeated his remark, long afterwards. They reached the -Western Isles of Scotland before the end of July, and, -after a long visit, explored Staffa, the wonders of which -were then almost unknown. Scientific attention, indeed, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_496'>496</span>was first called to them by <span class='sc'>Banks</span>, when he communicated -to Thomas <span class='sc'>Pennant</span>, of Downing, his minute survey, and -his drawings of the basaltic columns.</p> - -<p class='c011'>He thought that the mind can scarcely conceive of anything -more splendid, in its kind, than the now famous cave. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><span class='sc'>The Visit to -Staffa.</span><span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -When he asked the local name of it, his guide gave him an -answer which, to Mr. <span class='sc'>Banks</span>, seemed to need explanation, -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>1772. -August 12.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -though the name has nowadays become but too familiar to -our ears. ‘The Cave of <span class='sc'>Fiuhn</span>,’ said the islander. ‘Who -or what is “Fiuhn”?’ rejoined <span class='sc'>Banks</span>. The stone, he says, -of which the pillars are formed, is a coarse kind of basalt, -much resembling the ‘Giants’ Causeway’ in Ireland, ‘though -none of them so neat as the specimens of the latter which -I have seen at the British Museum.... -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>Banks to -Pennant; -Aug., 1772.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -Here, it is dirty -brown; in the Irish, a fine black.’ But he carried away -with him the fullest impression of the amazing grandeur of -the whole scene.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>The Tour in Iceland.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>The tourists reached Iceland on the twenty-eighth of -August. They explored the country, and saw everything -notable which it contained. On the twenty-first of September -they visited the most conspicuous of the <em>geysers</em>, or -hot-springs, and spent thirteen hours in examining them. -On the twenty-fourth, they explored Mount Hecla.</p> - -<p class='c011'>The most famous geyser described by <span class='sc'>Von Troil</span> (who -acted usually as penman for the party) was situate near a -farm called Harkaudal, about two days’ journey from Hecla. -You see, he tells us, a large expanse of fields shut in, upon -one side, by lofty snow-covered mountains, far away, with -their heads commonly shrouded in clouds, that occasionally -sink (under the force of a prevalent wind) so as to conceal -the slopes, while displaying the peaks. The peaks, at such -moments, seem to spring out of the clouds themselves. On -another hand, Hecla is seen, with its three ice-capped summits, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_497'>497</span>and its volcanic vapours; and then, again, a ridge of -stupendous rocks, at the foot of which the boiling springs -gush forth, with deafening roar, and are backed by a broad -marsh containing forty or fifty other springs, or ‘geysers,’ -from which arise immense columns of vapour, subject of -course to all the influences and lightings-up of wind and -sky. Our tourists carefully watched the ‘spoutings’ of the -springs—which are always fitful—and, according to their -joint observations, some of these rose to the height of sixty -feet. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>Von Troil to -Bergmann; -7 Sept., 1773. -(Abridged.)<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -Occasionally—it has since been observed by later -explorers—they reach to an elevation of more than three -times that number of feet.</p> - -<p class='c011'>Nor did Mr. <span class='sc'>Banks</span> neglect the literature of Iceland, -which abounds with interest. He bought the Library of -Halfdan <span class='sc'>Einarsson</span>, the literary historian of Iceland, and -made other large and choice collections. And he presented -the whole to the British Museum—after bestowing, -I believe, some personal study on their contents—upon his -return to England at the close of the year.</p> - -<div class='c002'></div> -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Social position and influence of Sir Joseph Banks.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>For many generations, it has been very conducive to the -possession of social prestige in this country that a man -should have acquired the reputation of an adventurous traveller. -Even if the traveller shall have seen no anthropophagi, -no men ‘whose heads do grow beneath their -shoulders,’ he is likely to attain to some degree of social -eminence, merely as one who has explored those</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c012'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>‘Antres vast and desarts idle,’</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c014'>of which home-keeping people have no knowledge, save -from the tales of voyagers. To prestige of this kind, Mr. -<span class='sc'>Banks</span> added respectable scientific attainments, a large -fortune, and a liberal mind. He was also the favoured -<span class='pageno' id='Page_498'>498</span>possessor of graceful manners and of no mean powers of -conversation. It was, therefore, quite in the ordinary course -of things that his house in London should become one of -the social centres of the metropolis. It became much more -than that. From the days of his youth <span class='sc'>Banks</span> had seen -much of foreigners; he had mixed with men of European -distinction. An extensive correspondence with the Continent -became to him both a pursuit and an enjoyment, and -one of its results, in course of time, was that at his house -in Soho Square every eminent foreigner who came to England -was sure to be seen. To another class of persons that -house became scarcely less distinguished as the abode, not -only of the rich Collections in natural history which their -owner had gone so far to seek, and had gathered with so -much toil and hardship, but of a noble Library, for the -increase of which the book-shops of every great town in -Europe had been explored.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>The Royal Society, and its history under the rule of Sir Joseph Banks.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>The possessor of such manifold distinctions and of such -habits of mind seemed, to most men, marked out as the -natural head of a great scientific institution. Such a -man would be sure to reflect honour on the Society, as -well as to derive honour from his headship. But at this -particular epoch the Royal Society (then the one conspicuous -scientific association in the kingdom) was much embroiled. -Mr. <span class='sc'>Banks</span> was, in many respects, just the man -to assuage dissensions. But these particular dissensions -were of a kind which his special devotion to natural -history tended rather to aggravate than to soften.</p> - -<p class='c011'>Mathematicians, as all men know, have been illustrious -benefactors to the world, but—be the cause what it may—they -have never been famous for a large-minded estimate -of the pursuits and hobbies of other men, whom Nature -had not made mathematical. At the time when Joseph -<span class='pageno' id='Page_499'>499</span><span class='sc'>Banks</span> leaped—as one may say—into eminence, both -scientific and social, in London, Sir John <span class='sc'>Pringle</span> was -President of the Royal Society, and his position there somewhat -resembled the position in which we have seen Sir -Hans <span class='sc'>Sloane</span> to have been placed. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>See before, -Book I, -c. 6.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -Like Sir Hans, -<span class='sc'>Pringle</span> was an eminent physician, and a keen student of -physics. He did not give umbrage to his scientific team, -exactly in the way in which <span class='sc'>Sloane</span> had given it—by an -overweening love of reading long medical papers. But -natural, not mathematical, philosophy, was his forte; and -the mathematicians were somewhat uneasy in the traces -whilst Sir John held the reins. If <span class='sc'>Pringle</span> should be -succeeded by <span class='sc'>Banks</span>, there would be a change indeed on -the box, but the style of coachmanship was likely to be -little altered. It is not surprising that there should -have been a good deal of jibbing, just as the change -was at hand, and also for some time after it had been -made.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>The election to the Presidency.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>Mr. <span class='sc'>Banks</span> was elected to the chair of the Royal Society -on the 30th of November, 1777. He found it to be a -very difficult post. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>1777. -30 Nov.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -But, in the end, the true geniality of -the man, the integrity of his nature, and the suavity of his -manners, won over most, if not quite all, of his opponents. -The least that can be said of his rule in that chair is that -he made the Royal Society more famous throughout Europe, -than it had ever been since the day when it was presided -over by <span class='sc'>Newton</span>.</p> - -<p class='c011'>For it was not the least eminent quality of <span class='sc'>Banks’</span> character -that, to him, a touch of <em>science</em> ‘made the whole -world kin.’ He was a good subject, as well as a good man. -He knew the blessings of an aristocratic and time-honoured -monarchy. He had that true insight which enables a man -to discriminate sharply between the populace and the People. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_500'>500</span>But, when the interests of science came into play, he could -say—with literal and exactest truth,—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c012'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>‘<span lang="la" xml:lang="la">Tros Tyriusve mihi nullo discrimine agetur.</span>’</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c014'>He took a keen and genial delight both in watching and -in promoting the progress of science on the other side of -the Channel, whether France itself lay under the loose rule -of the republican and dissolute Directory, or under the -curbing hand of the First Consul, who was already rapidly -aspiring towards empire.</p> - -<p class='c011'>On ten several occasions, <span class='sc'>Banks</span> was the means of inducing -our Government to restore scientific collections, -which had been captured by British cruisers, to that magnificent -Botanic Garden (the <em>Jardin des Plantes</em>, at Paris) -for which they had been originally destined. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>Cuvier, -<cite><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Éloge de M. -Banks</span></cite>, -passim.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -Such conduct -could not but win for him the affectionate reverence of -Frenchmen. On one eminent occasion his good services -went much further.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Banks’ intervention with respect to some of the fruits of the Expedition of la Pérouse.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>Men yet remember the European interest excited by the -adventurous expedition and the sad fate of the gallant -seaman, John Francis <span class='sc'>De La Pérouse</span>. When the long -search for <span class='sc'>La Pérouse</span>, which had been headed by the -French Admiral <span class='sc'>Bruni d’Eutrecasteaux</span>, came by discords -to an untimely end, the collection of specimens of natural -history which had been made, in the course of it, by -<span class='sc'>De La Billardière</span>, was brought into an English port. -The commander, it seems, felt much as <span class='sc'>Sloane’s</span> captain<a id='r21'></a><a href='#f21' class='c013'><sup>[21]</sup></a> -had felt at the time of our own Revolution of 1688. From -<span class='sc'>Lewis the Sixteenth</span> he had received his commission. -He was unprepared to yield an account of its performance -to anybody else. He brought his cargo to England, and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_501'>501</span>placed it at the absolute disposal of the French emigrant -Princes.</p> - -<p class='c011'>By the eldest Prince, afterwards <span class='sc'>Lewis the Eighteenth</span>, -directions were given that an offer should be made to -Queen <span class='sc'>Charlotte</span> to place at Her Majesty’s disposal -whatever she might be pleased to select from the Collections -of <span class='sc'>La Billardière</span>, and that all the remainder of them -should be given to the British Museum.</p> - -<p class='c011'>To the interests of that Museum no man of sense will -think that Sir Joseph <span class='sc'>Banks</span> was, at any time, indifferent. -At this particular time, he had been, repeatedly, an eminent -benefactor to it. By the French Prince the Collections -were put at his orders for the advantage of the Museum, -of which he was now a Trustee, as well as a benefactor. -But his first thought was for the national honour of -Britain, not for the mere aggrandizement of its Museum. -‘I have never heard,’ said <span class='sc'>Banks</span>, ‘of any declaration of -war between the philosophers of England and the philosophers -of France. These French Collections must go to the -French Museum, not to the British.’ And to France he -sent them, without a moment’s hesitation. Such an act, -I take it, is worthy of the name of ‘cosmopolitanism.’ -The bastard imitation, sometimes current under that much -abused term—that which knows of no love of country, -except upon a clear balance of mercantile profit—might be -more fitly called by a plainer word.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Instances of Banks’ liberality to Humboldt.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>Nor were Frenchmen the only persons to benefit by the -largeness of view which belonged to the new President of -the Royal Society. At a later period, he heard that Collections -which had been made by William <span class='sc'>Von Humboldt</span>, -and subsequently seized by pirates, had been carried to the -Cape, and there detained. <span class='sc'>Banks</span> sent to the Cape a -commission for their release, and restoration to the Collector. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_502'>502</span>He defrayed the expenses, and refused to accept of any -reimbursement. Such actions might well reflect honour -on the Royal Society, as well as on the man whom the -wisest among its fellows had placed at their head.</p> - -<p class='c011'>The Royal Society had but a share of its President’s -attention, though the share was naturally a Benjamin’s -portion. He worked assiduously on the Board of Agriculture. -He helped to found the Horticultural Society and -the Royal Institution of London. He became, also, in -1788, a co-founder of that ‘African Institution’ which -contributed so largely, in the earlier years of this century, -to promote geographical discovery in Africa, and to spread—of -dire necessity, at but a snail’s pace—some of the -blessings of Christian civilization to those dark places of -the earth which are full of cruelty.</p> - -<p class='c011'><span class='sc'>Banks’</span> close intercourse with the Continent enabled him -to do yeoman’s service to the African Institution. Many -ardent and aspiring young men in all parts of Europe were -fired, from time to time, with an ambition to do some stroke -or other of good work in an enterprise which was, at once, -scientific and, in its ultimate issues, evangelical. Some of -the aspirants were, of course, but very partially fitted or -equipped for such labours. But among those who entered -on it with fairest promise the protégés of <span class='sc'>Banks</span> were -conspicuous. Some brief notice of the services he was -enabled to render in this direction belongs, however, more -fitly, to a somewhat later date than that at which we have, -as yet, arrived.</p> - -<div class='c002'></div> -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Banks’ favourable reception at the Court of George III.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>Among the Fellows of the Royal Society there had been -much division of opinion as to the eligibility of Joseph -<span class='sc'>Banks</span> for their Presidency. At Court, there was none. -<span class='sc'>George the Third</span>, with all his genuine good nature, had -<span class='pageno' id='Page_503'>503</span>been unable to restrain a lurking dislike of Sir John -<span class='sc'>Pringle’s</span> friendly intercourse with Benjamin <span class='sc'>Franklin</span>. -He was pleased to see <span class='sc'>Pringle</span> retire to his native Scotland, -and to receive <span class='sc'>Banks</span> at Court, in Sir John’s place. He -did not then anticipate that the new President would, one -day, offend (for a moment) his irrepressible prejudices in a -somewhat like manner.</p> - -<p class='c011'>Sometimes, Sir Joseph’s attendance at Court brought -him into company which had become to him, in some -degree, unwonted. We have seen him making a very -favourable impression in the feminine circles at Otaheite. -But the ladies in attendance on Queen <span class='sc'>Charlotte</span> -were less charmed with him. In March, 1788, I find -Fanny <span class='sc'>Burney</span> diarizing (at Windsor Castle) thus:—‘Sir -Joseph <span class='sc'>Banks</span> was so exceedingly shy that we made no -acquaintance at all. If, instead of going round the world, -he had only fallen from the moon, he could not appear -less versed in the usual modes of a tea-drinking party. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>D’Arblay, -<cite>Diary</cite>, vol. iv, -p. 128.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -But what, you will say, has a tea-party to do with a -botanist, a man of science, and a President of the Royal -Society?’</p> - -<p class='c011'>In March, 1779, Mr. <span class='sc'>Banks</span> made a happy marriage -with Dorothea <span class='sc'>Hugessen</span>, daughter and coheir of William -Weston <span class='sc'>Hugessen</span>, of Provender, in Kent. Two years -afterwards, the King made him a Knight Grand Cross of -the Order of the Bath, and cultivated his familiar and frequent -acquaintance both in town and at Windsor. Ere -long, he was still further honoured with the rank of a Privy -Councillor. Both men were deeply interested in agriculture -and in the improvement of stock. Sir Joseph -shared his sovereign’s liking for the Merino breeds; took -an active part in managing those in Windsor Park, and for -many years presided, very successfully, over the annual -<span class='pageno' id='Page_504'>504</span>sales. The King had been willing to give away his surplus -stock, for the mere sake of promoting improvement, but he -was made to see that more good was likely to accrue from -sales than from gifts. When in Lincolnshire Sir Joseph -<span class='sc'>Banks</span> laboured hard for the more complete drainage of -the fens, and in many ways furthered the introduction of -sound agricultural methods. He was a good neighbour; -though not a very keen sportsman. And most of his time -was now necessarily passed either in London or in its -neighbourhood. But, among other acts of good fellowship, -he rarely visited Reresby Abbey without patronising a -picnic ball at Horncastle, for the benefit of the public -dispensary of that town. And it was noted by Lincolnshire -people that when, in the after-years, Sir -Joseph’s severe sufferings from gout kept him much -away from Reresby, the dispensary suffered also—from -depletion—until Mr. <span class='sc'>Dymoke</span>, of Scrivelsby, had revived, -after <span class='sc'>Banks’</span> example, the good old annual custom of the -town.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>The African Institution.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>It was in the year 1797, and again in 1806, that Sir -Joseph was enabled to render special service to that African -enterprise which lay near his heart, by enlisting in its toils -a zealous German and a not less zealous Swiss—Frederick -<span class='sc'>Hornemann</span> and John Lewis <span class='sc'>Burckhardt</span>. It was the fate -of both of those enterprising men to pay the usual penalty -of African exploration. <span class='sc'>Hornemann</span> succumbed, after six -years’ service. <span class='sc'>Burckhardt</span> was spared to work for ten -years. Some among the minor scientific results of his -well-known travels are preserved in the Public Library at -Cambridge (to which he bequeathed his manuscripts). -Others of them are in the British Museum. The latter -would deserve record in these pages, were it now practicable. -<span class='sc'>Burckhardt</span> died at Cairo on the seventeenth of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_505'>505</span>October, 1817, just eleven years after his arrival in London, -from Göttingen, with that letter to Sir Joseph <span class='sc'>Banks</span> in -his pocket which, under Divine Providence, determined his -work in life. Another great public service of a like kind, -rendered by Sir Joseph <span class='sc'>Banks</span> to his country and to mankind, -was his zealous encouragement of explorations in -Australia.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Meanwhile, a new outburst of discord in the Royal Society -arose out of a well-merited honour conferred on its President -by the Institute of France, in 1802. It was inevitable -that a body so eminent and illustrious as the French Institute -should not only feel gratitude to Sir Joseph <span class='sc'>Banks</span> -for that liberality of spirit which had dictated, in the midst -of war, his many gracious and generous acts of service to -Frenchmen, but should long since have reached the conviction -that they would be honouring themselves, not less -than honouring him, by his reception in their midst. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><span class='sc'>His election -into -the Institute -of -France.</span><span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -During -the momentary lull afforded by the Peace of Amiens—when -the Institute was reorganized by the hand of the great -man who was proud of its badge of fellowship, even when -clad in the dalmatica—they placed <span class='sc'>Banks</span> at the head of -their eight Foreign Members. <span class='sc'>Banks’</span> estimate of the -honour of membership was much like <span class='sc'>Napoleon’s</span>. ‘I -consider this mark of your esteem,’ said <span class='sc'>Banks</span>, in his -reply, ‘the highest and most enviable literary distinction -which I could possibly attain. To be the first elected as an -Associate of the first Literary Society in the world surpasses -my most ambitious hopes.’</p> - -<p class='c011'>Several Fellows of the Royal Society resented these warm -acknowledgments. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><cite>Letter of Misogallus</cite>, -1802 (privately -printed).<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -They thought them both unpatriotic, -and uncomplimentary to themselves. The mathematical -malcontents, with Bishop <span class='sc'>Horsley</span> at their head, eagerly -<span class='pageno' id='Page_506'>506</span>profited by so favourable an opportunity of renewing the -expression of their old and still lurking dissatisfaction with -the choice of their President. <span class='sc'>Horsley</span> addressed to Sir -Joseph a letter of indignant and angry remonstrance. -Somewhat discreditably, the Bishop chose a pseudonymous -signature instead of manfully affixing his own. ‘<cite>Misogallus</cite>’<a id='r22'></a><a href='#f22' class='c013'><sup>[22]</sup></a> -was the mask under which he made an appeal to those -anti-Gallican prejudices which so many of us imbibe almost -with our mother’s milk, and have in after-years to get rid -of. He aimed a poisoned dart at his old antagonist, -when pointing one of his many passionate sentences in a -way which he knew would arrest the special attention of -the King. The shaft hit the mark. But the King was -presently appeased. He knew <span class='sc'>Banks</span>, and he knew the -Bishop of St. Asaph.</p> - -<div class='c002'></div> -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Sir Joseph Banks as an Author.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>From time to time Sir Joseph <span class='sc'>Banks</span> contributed many -interesting articles to the <cite>Philosophical Transactions</cite>, and -to the <cite>Annals of Agriculture</cite>. His able paper on the Blight -in Wheat did service in its day, and was separately published. -But it is not as an author that this illustrious man -will be remembered. He knew how to fructify the thoughts -and to disseminate the wisdom of minds more largely -gifted than his own. Necessarily, space and prominence -in the public eye is—more especially after a man’s death—a -good deal determined by authorship. Hence, in our -<cite>Biographical Dictionaries</cite>, a crowd of small writers occupy -a disproportionate place, and some true and illustrious -public benefactors remain almost unnoticed. Undeniably, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_507'>507</span>the fame of one such benefactor as a Joseph <span class='sc'>Banks</span> ought -to outweigh, and must, intrinsically, outweigh, that of many -scores of minor penmen. His benefactions were world-wide. -And by them he, being dead, yet speaks, and will -long continue to speak, to very good and lofty purpose. He -died in London on the ninth of May, 1820, at the venerable -age of eighty-one years completed.</p> - -<p class='c011'>He died without issue, and was succeeded in his chief -Lincolnshire estates by the Honourable James Hamilton -<span class='sc'>Stanhope</span> (afterwards Mr. <span class='sc'>Stanhope Banks</span>), and by Sir -Henry <span class='sc'>Hawley</span>. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><span class='sc'>Death.</span><span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><span class='sc'>Bequests.</span><span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -His Kentish estates were bequeathed to -Sir Edward <span class='sc'>Knatchbull</span>.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><cite>Will and Codicils</cite>, Jan. 7 and 21; and March 7, 1820.</div> - -<p class='c011'>His Library, Herbarium, Manuscripts, Drawings, Engravings, -and all his other subsisting Collections, he -bequeathed to the Trustees of the British Museum, for -public use for ever, subject to a life-use and a life-interest -in them which, together with an annuity, he specifically -bequeathed to the eminent botanist, Robert <span class='sc'>Brown</span>, who -was, for many years, both his friend and his librarian. He -also gave an annuity of three hundred pounds a year to Mr. -<span class='sc'>Bauer</span>, an eminent botanical draughtsman; and he added, -largely, to the innumerable benefactions he had made in his -lifetime to the Botanical Gardens at Kew. To Mr. <span class='sc'>Brown</span> -he also left the use, for life, of his town house in Soho Square, -subject to the life-interest, or the voluntary concession, of -the testator’s widow.</p> - -<p class='c011'>In his first Codicil, Sir Joseph <span class='sc'>Banks</span> made a proviso -that, if it should be the desire of the Trustees of the British -Museum—and if that desire should also receive the approval -of Mr. <span class='sc'>Brown</span>—the life-possessor should be at full liberty -to cause the Collections to be transferred to the Museum -during his lifetime. That, in fact, was the course which, -by mutual consent, was eventually taken, to the manifest -<span class='pageno' id='Page_508'>508</span>advantage of the British Public and the promotion of -Science.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Part of Sir Joseph’s personal Manuscripts were bequeathed -to the Royal Society; another portion to the British Museum; -and a third portion (connected with the Coinage of the -Realm) to the Royal Mint. A minor part of his Collections -in Natural History had been given to the British Museum -in his own lifetime, -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><span class='sc'>Other bequests.</span><span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -and he had personally superintended -their selection and arrangement. He had also been a benefactor -to the Hunterian Museum at Glasgow, to the -Museum of the London College of Surgeons, and to that, -also in London, formerly known as ‘Bullock’s Museum.’ -He was, throughout life, as eager to give, as he was diligent -to get.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>The transfer of the Banksian Collections to the Museum.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>About the year 1825, negotiations were opened by the -Trustees of the British Museum with Mr. Robert <span class='sc'>Brown</span>, -with the view of obtaining for the Public the immediate use -of the Banksian Library and the other Collections, and, -along with them, the public services of the eminent botanist -under whose charge they then were. The then President -of the Royal Society, Sir Humphrey <span class='sc'>Davy</span>, acted for the -Public in that negotiation; but some delays intervened, so -that it was not brought to a close until nearly the end of -the year 1827.</p> - -<p class='c011'>At that date, the transfer was effected. Mr. <span class='sc'>Brown</span> -became the head of the Botanical Department of the -Museum, and his accession to the Staff added honour to the -institution—in the eyes of all scientific Europe—as well as -eminent advantage to the public service. Mr. <span class='sc'>Brown</span> -acted as Keeper until nearly the time of his decease. He -died in the year 1858, full of years and of botanical -fame.</p> - -<p class='c011'><span class='pageno' id='Page_509'>509</span>The Library of Sir Joseph <span class='sc'>Banks</span> comprised the finest -collection of books on natural history which had ever been -gathered into one whole in England. It was also pre-eminently -rich in the transactions, generally, of learned -societies in all parts of the world; and there is a masterly -Catalogue of the Collection, by Jonas <span class='sc'>Dryander</span>, which was -printed, at Sir Joseph’s cost, in the years 1798–1800. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><span class='sc'>The -Banksian -Library.</span><span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -That -Catalogue, I venture to hope, will, some day, become—with -due modification—the precedent for a printed Catalogue of -the whole Museum Library—vast as it already is, and -vaster as it must needs become before that day shall have -arrived.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>The Banksian Herbaria.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>The Banksian Herbaria comprise <span class='sc'>Banks’</span> own botanical -collections in his travels, and those of <span class='sc'>Cliffort</span>, <span class='sc'>Hermann</span>, -<span class='sc'>Clayton</span>, <span class='sc'>Aublet</span>, <span class='sc'>Miller</span>, <span class='sc'>Jacquier</span>, and -<span class='sc'>Loureiro</span>, together with part of those made by <span class='sc'>Tournefort</span>, -the friend and fellow-botanizer of <span class='sc'>Sloane</span>, and the -author of the <cite><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">Corollarium</span></cite>. They also include many valuable -plants gathered during those many English Voyages of -Discovery which, from time to time, <span class='sc'>Banks’</span> example and -his liberal encouragement so largely fostered. From the -Collections now seen in the Botanical Room of the British -Museum not a few of the great works of <span class='sc'>Linnæus</span>, <span class='sc'>Gronovius</span>, -and other famous botanists, derived some of their -best materials. These Collections are at present under the -zealous and faithful care of Mr. John Joseph <span class='sc'>Bennett</span>, long -the assistant and the friend of <span class='sc'>Brown</span>.</p> - -<div class='c002'></div> -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Brief notice of some other nearly contemporaneous accessions.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>Among nearly contemporaneous accessions which would -well merit some detailed notice, were the space for it available, -are a valuable assemblage of Marbles from Persepolis, -which had been collected by Sir Gore <span class='sc'>Ouseley</span>, and were -given to the Museum by the Collector, and a small but -<span class='pageno' id='Page_510'>510</span>choice Collection of Minerals from the Hartz Mountains, -given to the Public by King <span class='sc'>George the Fourth</span>. -The Persepolitan sculptures were received in the year -1825; the Minerals from the Hartzgebirge, in the year -1829.</p> - -<div> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_511'>511</span> - <div class='section'><h3 class='c001'><span class='large'>BOOK THE THIRD.</span><br /> <em>LATER AUGMENTORS AND BENEFACTORS.</em><br /> <span class='large'>1829–1870.</span></h3></div> -</div> - -<div> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_512'>512</span> - <div class='section'><h4 class='c005'><em>CONTENTS OF BOOK III</em>:—</h4></div> -</div> - - <dl class='dl_1 c002'> - <dt><span class='sc'>Chapter</span> I.</dt> - <dd><span class='sc'>Introduction:—Summary View of the History of the British Museum during - the Principal-Librarianship of Joseph Planta.</span> - </dd> - <dt>II.</dt> - <dd><span class='sc'>Introduction (continued):—Summary View of the History of the British - Museum during the Principal-Librarianship of Sir Henry Ellis.</span> - </dd> - <dt>III.</dt> - <dd><span class='sc'>Introduction (continued):—Summary View of the History of the British - Museum during the Principal-Librarianship of Sir Antonio Panizzi.</span> - </dd> - <dt>IV.</dt> - <dd><span class='sc'>Another Group of Archæologists and Classical Explorers.</span> - </dd> - <dt>V.</dt> - <dd><span class='sc'>The Founder of the Grenville Library.</span> - </dd> - <dt>VI.</dt> - <dd><span class='sc'>Benefactors of Recent Days.</span> - </dd> - <dt>VII.</dt> - <dd><span class='sc'>Reconstructors and Projectors.</span> - </dd> - </dl> - -<p class='c011'><span class='pageno' id='Page_513'>513</span>‘The comprehensive character of the British Museum—the -origin of which may be traced to the heterogeneous -nature of Sir Hans <span class='sc'>Sloane’s</span> bequest—doubtless makes it -difficult to provide for the expansion of its various branches, -according to their relative demands upon the space and -light which can be applied to their accommodation. Any -attempt, however, now to diminish that difficulty by segregating -any portion, or by scattering in various localities the -components of the vast aggregate, would involve a sacrifice -of great scientific advantages which are not the less inherent -in their union because that union was, in its origin, -fortuitous....</p> - -<p class='c011'>‘Some passages of our evidence ... illustrate the difficulty -of drawing a line of separation, for purposes of management -and superintendence, between certain Collections.... -Its occurrence [<em>i. e.</em> the occurrence of such a difficulty] -indicates strongly the value to Science, of the accidents -which have placed in near juxtaposition the Collections of -mineralogy [and] of forms of existing and extinct animal -and vegetable life. The immediate connexion of all alike -with the Library of the Museum is too important to allow -us to contemplate its dissolution.’—<cite>Report of the Commissioners -appointed to inquire into the Constitution and Management -of the British Museum</cite> (1850), p. 36.</p> - -<div> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_515'>515</span> - <div class='section'><h4 class='c005'>CHAPTER I.<br /> <span class='large'>GENERAL VIEW OF THE HISTORY OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM, UNDER THE ADMINISTRATION, AS PRINCIPAL-LIBRARIAN, OF JOSEPH PLANTA.</span></h4></div> -</div> -<div class='lg-container-b c012'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>... Perséverance keeps honour bright.</div> - <div class='line'>To have done, is to hang</div> - <div class='line'>Quite out of fashion, like a rusty mail</div> - <div class='line'>In monumental mockery.</div> - <div class='line in28'><cite>Troilus and Cressida.</cite></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-b c012'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>‘<span lang="it" xml:lang="it">Signor, mirate, come ’l tempo vola,</span></div> - <div class='line in4'><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">E siccome la vita</span></div> - <div class='line in4'><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">Fugge, e la Morte nè sovra le spalle,</span></div> - <div class='line in4'><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">Voi siete or qui: pensate alla partita</span></div> - <div class='line in4'><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">Che l’ alma ignuda e sola</span></div> - <div class='line in4'><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">Conven ch’ arrive a quel dubbioso calle.</span>’.</div> - <div class='line in28'><span class='sc'>Petrarch</span> (<cite><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">Italia mia</span></cite>, &c.).</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c009'><em>Notices of the Life of Joseph</em> <span class='sc'>Planta</span>, <em>third Principal-Librarian.—Improvements -in the Internal Economy of -the Museum introduced or recommended by Mr.</em> -<span class='sc'>Planta</span>.—<em>His labours for the enlargement of the -Collections—and on the Museum Publications and -Catalogues.—The Museum Gardens and the Duke of</em> -<span class='sc'>Bedford</span>.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Hitherto these pages have chiefly had to do with the -history of the integral parts of the British Museum, and -with that of the men by whom these integral parts, taken -severally, were first founded or first gathered. We have -<span class='pageno' id='Page_516'>516</span>now to glance at the organic history of the whole, after the -primary Collections and the early additions to them came, -by aggregation, to be combined into the existing national -establishment. It may, at best, be only by glances that so -wide a subject can (within the limits of this one volume) -be looked over, in retrospect. That necessity of being brief -suggests a connection of the successive epochs in the story -of the Museum, for seventy years, with the lives of the -three eminent men who have successively presided over the -institution since the beginning of the present century. -Those three official lives, I think, will be found to afford -succinct divisions or breakings of the subject, as well as to -possess a distinctive personal interest of their own. Our -introductory chapters will therefore—in relation to the -chapters which follow them—be, in part, retrospective, and, -in part, prospective.</p> - -<p class='c010'>When Dr. Charles <span class='sc'>Morton</span> died (10 February, 1799), -Joseph <span class='sc'>Planta</span> was, by the three principal Trustees, appointed -to be his successor. The choice soon commended -itself to the Public by the introduction of some important -improvements into the internal economy of the institution. -It is the first librarianship which is distinctively marked as -a reforming one. In more than one of his personal qualities -Mr. <span class='sc'>Planta</span> was well fitted for such a post as that of Principal -Officer of the British Museum. He had been for -many years in the service of the Trustees. He had won -the respect of Englishmen by his literary attainments. He -was qualified, both by his knowledge of foreign languages -and by his eminent courtesy of manners, for that salient -part of the duties of librarianship which consists in the -adequate reception and the genial treatment of strangers.</p> - -<p class='c011'>Joseph <span class='sc'>Planta</span> was of Swiss parentage. He was of a -<span class='pageno' id='Page_517'>517</span>race and family which had given to Switzerland several -worthies who have left a mark in its national history. He -was born, on the twenty-first of February, 1744, at Castasegna, -where his father was the pastor of a reformed church. -The boy left Switzerland before he had completed the -second year of his age. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><span class='sc'>Life of -Joseph -Planta, -third -Principal-Librarian.</span><span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -He began his education at Utrecht, -and continued it, first at the University of Göttingen, and -afterwards by foreign travel—whilst yet open to the formative -influences of youthful experience upon character—both -in France and in Italy. It was thus his fortune to combine -what there is of good in the characteristics of the cosmopolite -with what is better in those of a patriotic son of the -soil. It was Joseph <span class='sc'>Planta’s</span> fortune never to live in -Switzerland, as a resident, after the days of early infancy, -but, for all that, he remained a true Swiss. And one of the -acts of his closing years in England was to make a most -creditable contribution to Helvetic history.</p> - -<p class='c011'>Andrew <span class='sc'>Planta</span>, father of Joseph, came to London in -1752. He was a man of good parts and of pleasing -address. He established himself as pastor of a German -congregation, and was also made an Assistant-Librarian in -the British Museum. Afterwards, he was chosen to be a -Fellow of the Royal Society and a ‘reader’ to Queen -<span class='sc'>Charlotte</span>. That appointment brought with it, in course -of time, a measure of Court influence by which young -<span class='sc'>Planta</span> profited. His youthful ‘<i><span lang="de" xml:lang="de">Wanderjahre</span></i>’ had inspired -the growing man with a keen desire to see more of -foreign countries. When the father’s favour at Court put -him in a position to represent at head-quarters the youth’s -fancy to see life abroad, and to state (as he truthfully could) -that neither talent nor industry were lacking in his -character, the statement obtained for Joseph <span class='sc'>Planta</span> the -secretaryship of legation at Brussels. There, he felt himself -<span class='pageno' id='Page_518'>518</span>to be in an element which suited him; but his filial affection -brought him back to England in 1773, in order that -he might solace the last days, on earth, of his father. In -that year the elder <span class='sc'>Planta</span> died.</p> - -<p class='c011'>It was also in 1773 that Joseph <span class='sc'>Planta</span> became an -Assistant-Librarian. In the next year he was appointed -to succeed Dr. <span class='sc'>Maty</span> in both of his then offices. At the -Royal Society he succeeded him as Secretary; at the -Museum, he succeeded him as an Under-Librarian—when -the Doctor was made head of the establishment. His new -post at the Museum brought to <span class='sc'>Planta</span> the special charge -of the Department of MSS.</p> - -<p class='c011'>Joseph <span class='sc'>Planta</span> had already made—immediately after -his first appointment as Assistant-Librarian—his outset in -authorship by the publication of his <cite>Account of the Romansch -Language</cite>. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><cite>Phil. Trans.</cite>, -vol. lxvi, pp. -129–160.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -It is a scholarly production, though (it need -hardly be said) not what would be expected, on such -a subject, after the immense stride made in linguistical -studies during the ninety-five years which have elapsed -since it was given to literature, in pages in which nowadays -such a treatise would hardly be looked for. Its first -appearance was in the <cite>Philosophical Transactions</cite>. In 1776 -it was translated into German and printed at Chamouni.</p> - -<p class='c011'>The subsequent years were devoted, almost exclusively, to -the proper duties of his Museum office—on the days of -service—and to those of the Paymastership of Exchequer -Bills, a function to which Mr. <span class='sc'>Planta</span> was appointed in -1788, and the duties of which he discharged, with efficiency -and honour, for twenty-three years. Authorship had but -little of his time until a much later period of life.</p> - -<p class='c011'>A little before his appointment in the administrative -service of the country, <span class='sc'>Planta</span> had married Miss Elizabeth -<span class='sc'>Atwood</span>. For him, marriage did just the opposite of what -<span class='pageno' id='Page_519'>519</span>it has, now and then, been said to do for some other men. -It took off the edge of his liking for foreign travel. For -it gave him a very happy home. Their union endured for -twenty-four years. <span class='sc'>Planta</span> was not a man of the gushing -sort. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>Falkenstein, -<cite><span lang="de" xml:lang="de">Zeitgenossen</span></cite>, -&c., Dritte -Reihe, Bd. ii, -pp. 3, seqq.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -But, to intimates, he would say—in the lonely years; -there were to be but few of them—‘She was an angel -in spirit and in heart.’ Mrs. <span class='sc'>Planta</span> died in 1821.</p> - -<p class='c011'>On the death of Charles <span class='sc'>Morton</span>, Mr. <span class='sc'>Planta</span>, as we -have seen already, was made Principal-Librarian. He -found the Museum still in its infancy, although no less -than forty-six years had passed since the bequest of Sir -Hans <span class='sc'>Sloane</span> was made to the British Public, and more -than forty years since that Public had entered upon its inheritance. -The collections had kept pace with the growth -of science only in one or two departments. In others -the arrear was enormous. The accessibility was hampered -with restrictions. The building was in pressing need of -enlargement, gradual as had been the growth of some -sections, and glaring as was the deficiency of other -sections.</p> - -<p class='c011'><span class='sc'>Planta</span> put his shoulders to the wheel, and met with -support and encouragement from several of the Trustees. -But the feeling still ran strongly against any approach -to indiscriminate publicity in any department of the -Museum. Men did not carry that restrictive view quite so -far in 1800, as it had been expressed by Dr. John <span class='sc'>Ward</span>—an -able and good man—in 1760, and earlier; but they -still looked with apprehension upon the combined ideas of -a crowd of visitors, and irreplaceable treasures of learning -and of art. A good many of the men of 1800 possessed, -it must in candour be remembered, living recollections of -the sights and the deeds of 1780. Residents in Bloomsbury -were likely, on that score, to have particularly good -<span class='pageno' id='Page_520'>520</span>memories. They had seen with their eyes precious manuscripts, -which treasured up the life-long lore of a <span class='sc'>Mansfield</span>, -given by the populace to the flames.</p> - -<p class='c011'>Under the influence of such memories as these, Mr. <span class='sc'>Planta</span> -had to propose abolition of restrictions, with a gentle and -very gradual hand. He began by improving the practice, -without at first greatly altering the rules. By and by he -brought, from time to time, before the Trust, suggestions -for relaxations in the rules themselves.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Improvements introduced, or recommended, by Joseph Planta, in the internal economy of the Museum.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>From the outset he administered the Reading-Room -itself with much liberality. When he became Principal-Librarian the yearly admissions were much under two -hundred. In 1816, they had increased to two hundred -and ninety-two. In 1820, to five hundred and fifteen. As -respects the Department of Antiquities, the students admitted -to draw were in 1809 less than twenty; in 1818 -two hundred and twenty-three were admitted. In 1814 -he recommended the Trustees to make provision for the -exhibition every Thursday, ‘to persons applying to see -them,’ the Engravings and Prints;—the persons admitted -not exceeding six at any one time, and others being -admitted in due succession. He also recommended a somewhat -similar system of exhibition for adoption in the -Department of Coins and Medals. And the Trustees gave -effect to both recommendations. Eventually Mr. <span class='sc'>Planta</span> -proposed, for the <em>general</em> show Collections of the Museum, -a system of entirely free admission at the instant of application, -abolishing all the hamper of preliminary forms.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>His recommendations for the enlargement of the various Collections.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>It was also, I believe, at Mr. <span class='sc'>Planta’s</span> instance, or -partly so, that the Trustees applied to Parliament, in 1812, -for special grants to enable them to improve the Collection -of Printed Books, with reference more particularly to the -endeavour to perfect the National Library in the National -<span class='pageno' id='Page_521'>521</span>History—to that very limited extent to which the monuments -and memorials of our history are to be found in -print. Virtually, the grants on behalf of the Manuscript -Department, not those on behalf of the Printed Book -Department, were, in 1812, as they still are in 1870, the -grants which mainly tend to make the British Museum -what, most obviously, it ought to become, the main storehouse -of British History and Archæology, both in literature -and in art.</p> - -<p class='c011'>The magnificent additions made by private donors to -every section of the British Museum during the administration -of <span class='sc'>Planta</span>, have been sufficiently passed under -review in the closing chapters of Book II. Several of them, -it has been seen, were the fruits of the public spirit of individual -Trustees. Such gifts amply vindicated the wisdom -both of Sir Hans <span class='sc'>Sloane</span> and of Parliament, when both -Founder and Legislature gave to men of exalted position a -preference as peculiarly fit, in the judgment of each, for the -general guardianship of the Museum.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>His catholicity of tastes and sympathies.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>But private gifts—munificent as they were—left large -gaps in the National Collections. It is one of Mr. <span class='sc'>Planta’s</span> -distinctive merits that his tastes and sympathies embraced -the Natural History Department, as well as those literary -departments with which, as a man of letters, he had a more -direct personal connection. He supported, with his influence, -the wise recommendation to Parliament—made in -1810—for the purchase of the <span class='sc'>Greville</span> Collection of -Minerals. He recommended, in 1822, the purchase, from -the representatives of the naturalist <span class='sc'>Monticelli</span>, of a like, -though minor Collection, which had been formed at Naples. -The Cavaliero <span class='sc'>Monticelli’s</span> Collection was, in the main, one -that had been undertaken in imitation of an earlier assemblage -of volcanic products which had been also gathered at -<span class='pageno' id='Page_522'>522</span>Naples by Sir William <span class='sc'>Hamilton</span>, and by the Collector -given (as I have already recorded) to the Trustees. In -a similar spirit he promoted the acquisitions which -were made from time to time, by the instrumentality -of Claudius <span class='sc'>Rich</span>, of Henry <span class='sc'>Salt</span>, and of several other -workers in the fruitful field of Classical, Assyrian, and -Egyptian archæological exploration. Both in the literary -and scientific departments of the Museum he also gave some -special attention to the due continuance and completion of -the various collections bestowed on the Public by the -munificence of Sir Joseph <span class='sc'>Banks</span>.</p> - -<p class='c011'>Another conspicuous merit belongs to Joseph <span class='sc'>Planta</span>. -He supported the Trustees in that wise and large-minded -policy which induced them to regard <em>publication</em>, as well as -accumulation, to be one of the chief duties of their Trust for -the Nation. He thought it not enough, for example, to show -to groups of Londoners, from time to time, and to occasional -foreign visitants, in almost solitary state, the wealth of -Nature and of Art in the Museum Collections. He saw it -to be no less the duty of the faithful trustees of such treasures -to show them to the world at large by the combined -labours of the painter, the draughtsman, the engraver, and -the printer. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><span class='sc'>Planta’s Labours on the Museum’s Publications;</span><span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -It will ever be an honourable distinction—in the -briefest record of his Museum labours—that he promoted -the publication of the beautiful volumes entitled <cite>Description -of the Ancient Marbles in the British Museum</cite>; of the -<cite>Catalogue of the Anglo-Gallic Coins</cite>; of the <cite>Mausoleum -and Cinerary Urns</cite>; of the <cite>Description of Terra Cottas</cite>; -and other like works. The first-named work in particular -is an especial honour to the Trustees of the Museum, and -to all who were concerned in its production. Beautifully -engraved, and ably edited, it made the archæological treasures -of the Nation widely known even to such foreigners, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_523'>523</span>interested in the study of antiquity, as circumstances precluded -from ever seeing the marbles themselves. When -watching—in the bygone years—the late Henry <span class='sc'>Corbould</span> -busy at the work into which he threw so much of his love, -as well as of his skill in drawing, I have been tempted, now -and then, to envy the craft which, in its results, made our -national possessions familiarly known, in the far parts of -the world, to students who could never hope to see the -wonderful handicraft of the old Greek sculptors, otherwise -than as it is reflected and transmitted by the handicraft of -the skilled modern draughtsman. <span class='sc'>Corbould</span> had the eye -to see artistic beauty and the soul to enjoy it. He was -not one of the artists who are artisans, in everything but -the name. In the ‘<cite>Ancient Marbles in the British Museum</cite>,’ -published under the active encouragement of the Trustees -and of their Principal-Librarians, during a long series of -years, <span class='sc'>Corbould</span>, as draughtsman, had just the work for -which Nature had pre-eminently fitted him.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>and, particularly, on the Catalogues.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>Joseph <span class='sc'>Planta</span> also took his share in the compilation of -the Catalogues both of Printed Books and of Manuscripts. -In this department, as in the archæological one, he extended -the benefits of his zealous labour to the scholar abroad as -well as to the scholar at home. What was carefully prepared -was liberally <em>printed</em> and liberally circulated. <span class='sc'>Planta</span> -wrote with his own hand part of the published <cite>Catalogue -of the Printed Books</cite>, and much of the <cite>Catalogue of the -Cottonian Manuscripts</cite>. To the latter he prefixed a brief -life of the Founder, by which I have gladly and thankfully -profited in my own more extended labour at the beginning -of this volume.</p> - -<p class='c011'>One incidental employment which Mr. <span class='sc'>Planta’s</span> office -entailed upon him—as Principal-Librarian—was of a less -grateful kind. It merits notice on more than one account, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_524'>524</span>very trivial as is the incident of Museum history that occasioned -it, when looked at intrinsically.</p> - -<p class='c011'>In 1821, the then Duke of <span class='sc'>Bedford</span> (John, ninth Duke) -filed in Chancery an injunction against the Trustees to -restrain them from building on the garden-ground of the -Museum. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><span class='sc'>The -Gardens of -the British -Museum -and the -Duke of -Bedford.</span><span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -To build was—at that time—an undoubted injury -to the Bloomsburians, and, consequently, a not less undoubted -depreciation of the Duke’s estate. It is hard, nowadays, -to realise to one’s fancy what the former Museum gardens -were in the olden time. They not only adorned every -house that looked over them, but were—in practice, and -by the indulgence of the Trustees and officers—a sort of -small public park for the refreshment of the vicinity at -large. Their neighbourhood made houses more valuable in -the market.</p> - -<p class='c011'>Almost seventy years before the filing of the Chancery -injunctions of 1820–21, a predecessor of the Duke (John, -seventh Duke) had compelled Parliament—and with great -reason—to enact that the ‘New Road’ should be made a -broad road; not a narrow lane. He had carried a proviso for -the construction of gardens in front of all the houses along the -road. Were public property, and public enjoyments, protected -by English law with one tenth part of the efficiency with which -private property and private enjoyments are protected, that -clause in the ‘New Road Act’ of 1750 would have proved, -in our own present day, a measure advantageous to public -health. But public easements are unknown, or nearly -unknown, to English law. And the Duke’s clause has -come, in course of time, to teem with public nuisance, -instead of public benefit. Englishmen build at the national -cost magnificent cathedrals, and then permit railway-jobbers -to defile them, at pleasure, with railway ‘architecture.’ -They construct, by dint of large taxation, magnificent -<span class='pageno' id='Page_525'>525</span>river-embankments, and permit every sort of smoke-belching -chimney and eye-killing corrugated-iron-monstrosity to -spoil the view. What the old Duke of <span class='sc'>Bedford</span> intended -to make a metropolitan improvement, as well as a defence -to his own property, has come to be a cause of public detriment,—simply -because our legislation, in the year of Grace -1870, affords protection to no kind of public property that -is insusceptible, by its nature, of direct valuation in pounds -and pence.</p> - -<p class='c011'>The action of the ninth Duke of <span class='sc'>Bedford</span> was in contrast -with that of his predecessor. It was not altogether -selfish, since there was an actual abatement of public enjoyment -in that step which he was opposing. The Trustees of -the British Museum were really compelled to take something -from the Public with one hand;—but, with the other, they -gave a tenfold equivalent. Their contention, of course, -prevailed against the Duke’s opposition.</p> - -<p class='c011'>It may not be intrusive here to mention that it is known -that by the present Duke of <span class='sc'>Bedford</span> very generous and -liberal furtherance would be given to new schemes of extension -for the Museum, were Parliament, on full consideration, -to think enlargement at Bloomsbury the right course -to be taken in pending matters. But this subject will -demand a few words hereafter.</p> - -<p class='c010'><span class='sc'>Planta’s</span> energies seem for several years to have been -given, almost exclusively, to his Museum duties, in combination -(as was perfectly practicable and befitting, under -the then circumstances) with his Exchequer Paymastership. -But in the closing years of his Under-Librarianship many -months were (not less fitly) given to a worthy literary undertaking. -He wrote his <cite>History of the Helvetic Confederacy</cite> -towards the end of the last century, and published -<span class='pageno' id='Page_526'>526</span>it soon after his appointment to the Principal-Librarianship. -In the next year he published a supplement to it, under -the title of <cite>A View of the Restoration of the Helvetic -Confederacy</cite>. The <cite>History</cite> reached its second edition in -1807.</p> - -<p class='c011'>Based primarily on the great work of Johannes <span class='sc'>Von -Müller</span>, <span class='sc'>Planta’s</span> <cite>History of the Helvetic Confederacy</cite> -is both a very able production and one that is animated by -a spirit of patriotism which is wise as well as strong. It -was an enduring contribution to the literature of the -author’s fatherland. After its appearance, his official duties -mainly engrossed his attention. He died, full of years and -honours, in the year 1827, leaving a son, who, like his -father and his grandfather, distinguished himself in the -civil service of their adopted country.</p> - -<p class='c011'>Joseph <span class='sc'>Planta</span>, in his fifty-three years of service, had -seen the British Museum pass from its infancy into the -early stages of its maturity. But it still, at the time of -his death, was too much regarded, both by the general -Public and by Parliament, as, in the main, a place of popular -amusement. His next successor saw the beginning of -further improvements, such as lifted the Museum upon a -level with the best of its fellow-institutions in all Europe. -His second successor saw it lifted far above them, in several -points of view. And what he witnessed of augmented -improvement—when leaving office three or four years ago—was, -in a very large measure, the result of his own -zealous labours and of his eminent ability.</p> - -<div> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_527'>527</span> - <div class='section'><h4 class='c005'>CHAPTER II.<br /> <span class='large'>INTRODUCTION TO BOOK III <span class='normal'>(<em>Continued</em>):</span>—GROWTH, PROGRESS, AND INTERNAL ECONOMY, OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM, DURING THE PRINCIPAL-LIBRARIANSHIP OF SIR HENRY ELLIS.</span></h4></div> -</div> -<p class='c006'>‘It is expedient that the Trustees should revise the -salaries of the Establishment, with the view of ascertaining -what increase may be required for the purpose of ... obtaining the whole time and services of the ablest -men, independently of any remuneration from other -sources; and that, when such scale of salary shall have -been fixed, it shall not be competent to any Officer of the -Museum, paid thereunder, to hold any other situation -conferring emolument or entailing duties.’</p> - -<div class='lg-container-r c008'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'><span class='sc'>Report from Select Committee on British</span></div> - <div class='line in8'><span class='sc'>Museum</span>, 14 July, 1836.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c009'><em>Internal Economy of the Museum at the time of the death -of Joseph</em> <span class='sc'>Planta</span>.—<em>The Literary Life and Public -Services of Sir Henry</em> <span class='sc'>Ellis</span>.—<em>The Candidature of -Henry</em> <span class='sc'>Fynes Clinton</span>.—<em>Progress of Improvement in -certain Departments.—Introduction of Sir Antonio</em> -<span class='sc'>Panizzi</span> <em>into the Service of the Trustees.—The House -of Commons’ Committee of 1835–36.</em>—<span class='sc'>Panizzi</span> <em>and -Henry Francis</em> <span class='sc'>Cary</span>.—<em>Memoir of</em> <span class='sc'>Cary</span>.—<span class='sc'>Panizzi’s</span> -<em>Report on the proper Character of a National Library -for Britain, made in October, 1837.—His successful -labours for Internal Reform.—And his Helpers in the -work.—The Literary Life and Public Services of -Thomas</em> <span class='sc'>Watts</span>.—<em>Sir A.</em> <span class='sc'>Panizzi’s</span> <em>Special Report to -the Trustees of 1845, and what grew thereout.—Progress, -during Sir H.</em> <span class='sc'>Ellis’s</span> <em>term of office, of the several -Departments of Natural History and of Antiquities</em>.</p> - -<div class='c002'></div> -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Book III, Chap. II. History of the Museum under Sir H. Ellis.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>When Sir Henry <span class='sc'>Ellis</span> was appointed to be the successor -of Mr. <span class='sc'>Planta</span> (20th December, 1827), the British Museum -was still composed of but four departments, in conformity -<span class='pageno' id='Page_528'>528</span>with the organization of 1809. It was publicly open on -three days in each week, but only during forty weeks of -every year. This was a great improvement of the previous -arrangements, as we have seen, under <span class='sc'>Maty</span> and <span class='sc'>Morton</span>. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><span class='sc'>Conditions -of Museum -Accessibility -at -commencement -of -Mr. Ellis’s -rule.</span><span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -But Mr. <span class='sc'>Planta’s</span> most conspicuous improvements lay in -the (admittedly more important) direction of access to the -Medal, Print, and Reading-Rooms. To his administration, -students in all these departments were much indebted. Sir -Henry <span class='sc'>Ellis</span> was to witness and to carry out, very efficiently -as Principal-Librarian, some more extensive modifications -of the old system of things; but he, in his turn, -was to be quite eclipsed (so to speak) in the character of -Museum improver, by his successor in office. And it was, -in fact, to the latter that such among the conspicuous -improvements of the last twenty years of Sir Henry’s -official administration as related to the Department of -Printed Books—and in no department were the improvements -more striking—were pre-eminently due.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Sir Henry <span class='sc'>Ellis</span> (who has but so recently departed from -amongst us) entered the service of the Trustees, as a temporary -assistant in the Library, in the year 1800, having -had already three years’ experience in Bodley’s Library at -Oxford. When coming occasionally to London during his -employment at Oxford he would see Dr. Charles <span class='sc'>Morton</span>, -who had helped to organize the Museum almost fifty years -before. The <em>public</em> life of those two acquaintances spread, -conjointly, over a period of a hundred and twenty years.<a id='r23'></a><a href='#f23' class='c013'><sup>[23]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c011'><span class='pageno' id='Page_529'>529</span>Had it never fallen to the lot of Henry <span class='sc'>Ellis</span> to render -to the Public any service at all, in the way of administering -and improving the National Museum, he would still have -earned an honourable niche in our literary history. His -contributions to literature are, indeed, very unequal in their -character. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><span class='sc'>The -labours in -literature -of Sir H. -Ellis.</span><span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -Some of them are fragmentary; some might be -thought trivial. But very many of them have sterling -value. And his archæological labours, in particular, were -zealous and unremitting. He began them in 1798. He -had not entirely ceased to add to them in 1868. In the -closing year of the eighteenth century he was giving furtherance -to the labours on British history of Richard <span class='sc'>Gough</span>. -In the sixty-eighth year of the nineteenth century he was -still taking an intelligent and critical interest in the large -undertakings of Lord <span class='sc'>Romilly</span> and of Mr. <span class='sc'>Duffus Hardy</span>, -for affording to future historians the means of basing the -reconstruction of our national history upon the one firm -foundation of an exhaustive search of our national records.</p> - -<p class='c011'>The fourth Principal-Librarian of the British Museum -was born at Shoreditch, in London, on the 29th of -November, 1777. He was of a Yorkshire family long -settled (and still flourishing) at Dewsbury. Henry <span class='sc'>Ellis</span> -was educated at Merchant Taylors’ School, and at St. -John’s College, Oxford, where he graduated B.C.L. in -1802. His first book (but not, perhaps, his first publication) -was the <cite>History of the Parish of St. Leonard, Shoreditch</cite>, -printed in 1798. He became F.S.A. in 1800; one -of its Secretaries in 1813; and its Director in 1854. To -the <cite>Archæologia</cite> he was a contributor for more than fifty -years. In 1800, he sent to the first Record Commission a -Report on the Historical Manuscripts at St. John’s. For -the same Commission he wrote, in the year 1813, and the -three following years, an <cite>Introduction to Domesday Book</cite>. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_530'>530</span>Of this he would speak very modestly in after-days, -saying: ‘I have worked on <cite>Domesday</cite> for years; but only -in making an opening into the mine. Other men will -have yet to bring out the metal.’ For the second Record -Commission he re-edited his <cite>Introduction</cite> and considerably -improved it. This was done in 1832; and, to say the least, -it brought some very good ore to the surface. When both -these Commissions had given way to the better organization -recently framed by Lord <span class='sc'>Romilly</span>, he edited, for the -series of <cite>Chronicles and Memorials of Great Britain</cite>, the -Latin Chronicle of John of Oxenedes, from a MS. belonging -to Sir Robert <span class='sc'>Cotton’s</span> Library. When <cite>Oxenedes</cite> was -published, just sixty years had passed from the publication -of Sir Henry’s first Record labour, undertaken at the -instance of Lord <span class='sc'>Colchester</span>.</p> - -<p class='c011'>In the interval, he had had a great opportunity, the first -glimpse of which needs must have dilated the heart of so -genuine a lover of antiquity. The publication of an improved -edition of the <cite>Monasticon Anglicanum</cite> of <span class='sc'>Dodsworth</span> -and <span class='sc'>Dugdale</span> ought to have made a new epoch in British -archæology. But the opportunity was lost. In those days, -there was no encouragement for such labours at the Treasury; -no enlightened promoter of them at the Rolls House. The -control of the new <cite>Monasticon</cite> passed into the hands of -mere tradesmen. Neither of Mr. <span class='sc'>Ellis’s</span> co-editors ever -buckled to the work. <span class='sc'>Ellis</span> himself became simply the -servant of the associated publishers, who had no aim whatever -beyond turning a golden penny out of the traditional -prestige of Sir William <span class='sc'>Dugdale’s</span> name, and out of the -standing advertisement that the <cite>Monasticon</cite> was indubitably -one of those books ‘which no gentleman’s library ought to -be without.’ Heaps of crude, untranslated, and unelucidated -information were thrust into the book, against the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_531'>531</span>editor’s own clear conviction of his duty, and in spite of his -remonstrance. ‘We must retrench,’ was the one answer -to all editorial recommendations of real improvement. And -meanwhile the publishers were actually netting fair profits -from a long list of confiding subscribers. What might -well have been a ‘broadstone of honour’ to English -literature became its glaring disgrace.<a id='r24'></a><a href='#f24' class='c013'><sup>[24]</sup></a> No one would -more gladly have striven for a better result—had the -power lain with him—than would Sir Henry <span class='sc'>Ellis</span>. As -to his nominal co-editors, they did almost nothing, from -first to last.</p> - -<p class='c011'>To far better result did <span class='sc'>Ellis</span> labour upon his successive -editions of <cite>Hall</cite>, <cite>Hardyng</cite>, <cite>Fabyan</cite>, and <cite>Polydore Vergil</cite>, -among our chroniclers, and of <span class='sc'>Brand’s</span> <cite>Observations on -Popular Antiquities</cite>, of <span class='sc'>Dugdale’s</span> <cite>History of Saint Paul’s -Cathedral</cite>, and of <span class='sc'>Norden’s</span> <cite>Essex</cite>, among the standard -illustrations of our archæology and topography. But his -most enduring contribution to historical literature is, -beyond doubt, his <cite>Original Letters, illustrative of English -History</cite>, the publication of which began in 1824, and was -completed in 1846. That work alone would suffice to -keep his name in honourable memory for a long time to -come.</p> - -<p class='c011'><span class='pageno' id='Page_532'>532</span>At the British Museum he had a considerable advantage -over his predecessor in the Principal-Librarianship. He -enjoyed the assistance, almost from the first, of an abler -staff, in more than one of the departments, than Mr. -<span class='sc'>Planta</span> had commanded during the earlier years of his -administration. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><span class='sc'>Labours of -Sir H. Ellis -at the -British -Museum.</span><span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -And an improved order of service had -been established before Mr. <span class='sc'>Ellis’s</span> rule began. In this -way appliances lay already under his hand which facilitated -the work of progress, when—more especially—a strong demand -for improvement came from without, as well as from -the action of the Trustees themselves within.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>State of the British Museum Staff at the time of the Death of Mr. Planta.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>At that date the Department of Printed Books was under -the charge of the Rev. Henry Hervey <span class='sc'>Baber</span> (the eminent -editor of the ‘Alexandrian MS.’ of the Septuagint). He -was assisted by Mr. Henry Francis <span class='sc'>Cary</span>, the translator of -<span class='sc'>Dante</span>, and also by Mr. <span class='sc'>Walter</span>, who had been one of the -Librarians of King <span class='sc'>George the Third</span>, and who, in 1831, -was succeeded by Mr. Antonio <span class='sc'>Panizzi</span>. In the Department -of MSS. Mr. <span class='sc'>Ellis’s</span> Assistant-Keeper, the Rev. -Josiah <span class='sc'>Forshall</span>, had succeeded to the charge, and the -new Keeper had the able assistance of Sir Frederick -<span class='sc'>Madden</span>, whose labours for the improvement of his department -are well known to scholars. The Antiquities were -confided to Mr. Edward <span class='sc'>Hawkins</span>; the various Natural -History Collections to Messrs. <span class='sc'>König</span> and <span class='sc'>Children</span>. The -Botanical Department was, as I have shown at the close -of the preceding Book, just about to be reorganized -(almost to be created) by the transfer of the Collections of -Sir Joseph <span class='sc'>Banks</span>, and with them of the services of their -distinguished Keeper. Taken altogether, such a staff as this -was of threefold efficiency to that with which Mr. <span class='sc'>Planta</span> -had started at the beginning of the century.</p> - -<p class='c011'>Mr. <span class='sc'>Ellis</span> enjoyed an additional advantage from the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_533'>533</span>great familiarity with the whole service of the Museum -which he had acquired during his labours as Secretary -from the year 1814. The secretarial duty had been combined -with the functions of keepership during thirteen -years. Great punctuality, a conspicuous faculty for method -and memory, and very courteous manners, were qualifications -which are not always, or necessarily, found in union -with conspicuous industry. In him they were combined. -Nevertheless, he narrowly escaped losing the merited reward -of long and assiduous labours. For he had a formidable -competitor.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>The Candidature of Mr. H. Fynes Clinton.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>At this time, a most accomplished scholar, who deservedly -possessed large influence, both social and political, had -obtained the virtual promise of almost the highest personage -in the realm that whenever Mr. <span class='sc'>Planta</span> died he -should receive the offer of successorship. Mr. Henry -<span class='sc'>Fynes Clinton</span>, in those quiet ante-reform days, had been -able, for twenty years, to unite the functions of a Member -of Parliament with the assiduous pursuits of scholarship -in one of its highest forms. Learning had higher charms -for him than Politics, and he had no turn for debate, but -he had steadily attended the House of Commons while -giving to the world his <cite><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">Fasti Hellenici</span></cite> and <cite><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">Fasti Romani</span></cite>. -Six months before Mr. <span class='sc'>Planta’s</span> decease, the Archbishop -of <span class='sc'>Canterbury</span> had, in effect, promised Mr. <span class='sc'>Fynes Clinton</span> -that he would nominate him to be Principal-Librarian, -and the Archbishop well knew that, as far as learning went, -such an appointment would be applauded throughout -Europe. The Archbishop (Dr. Charles <span class='sc'>Manners Sutton</span>), -did not forget his promise, and his vote carried that of the -then Speaker of the House of Commons, who was the -Archbishop’s son. Their joint communication with the -Lord Chancellor procured his assent also. ‘We have made,’ -<span class='pageno' id='Page_534'>534</span>the Archbishop told Mr. <span class='sc'>Fynes Clinton</span>, ‘your recommendation -to the King as strong as possible.’ The practice, -as the reader will perhaps remember, was that the then -Principal Trustees should in all such cases recommend to -the Sovereign <em>two</em> names, with such observations upon them -as to those Trustees might seem appropriate.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><cite>Letters and Journ. of</cite> H. Fynes Clinton, in the <em>Literary Remains</em> (1854), pass.</div> - -<p class='c011'>As Mr. <span class='sc'>Ellis</span> was now the senior officer; had had the -care successively of two several departments (MSS. and -Printed Books); had also served as Secretary, and, in all -these employments, had acquitted himself with diligence -and credit, there could, of course, be no difficulty as to the -name which should be submitted to <span class='sc'>George the Fourth</span> -in company with that of Mr. <span class='sc'>Fynes Clinton</span>. Other -Trustees interested themselves in supporting, indirectly but -efficiently, the claims of one who had served the Board so -long. And the King was pleased to prefer the second -name which had been placed before him by the Principal -Trustees rather than the first. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>Lord Lansdowne -to -Archbishop -of Canterbury; -20 -December, -1827.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -Lord <span class='sc'>Lansdowne</span> received -His Majesty’s commands to signify to the Archbishop that -it was upon the ground of ‘long service in the Museum’ -that the King had made his choice.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Services and character of Sir H. Ellis.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>Those who had (like the writer) opportunity to watch, -during most of the succeeding thirty years, the continuance -of that service, know that the King’s selection was justified. -Sir Henry <span class='sc'>Ellis</span> was not gifted with any of those salient -abilities which dazzle the eyes of men; but he had great -power of labour, the strictest integrity of purpose, and a -very kind heart. He was ever, to the Trustees, a faithful -servant, up to the full measure of his ability. To those -who worked under him he was always courteous, considerate, -and very often he was generous. He would sometimes -expose himself to misconstruction, in order to appease -discords. He would at times rather seem wanting in -<span class='pageno' id='Page_535'>535</span>firmness of will than, by pressing his authority, wound the -feelings of well-intentioned but irritable subordinates. No -one could receive from him a merited reproof—I speak -from personal experience—without perceiving that the duty -of giving it was felt to be a painful duty. The Commissioners -of 1850 had ample warrant for hinting, in their -Report to the Crown—when alluding to certain internal -disputes—that the qualities least abounding in Sir Henry -<span class='sc'>Ellis’s</span> composition were those which equip a man -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><cite>Report</cite> (1850) -p. 32.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -‘for -such harsher duties of his office, as cannot be accomplished -by the aid of conciliatory manners, the index of a benevolent -disposition.’</p> - -<p class='c011'>A man of that temper will now and then, in his own -despite, get forced into a somewhat bitter controversy. -One sharp attack on Sir Henry’s administration of his -Principal-Librarianship had a close connection with discords -of an anterior date which had broken out in the Society of -Antiquaries. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><span class='sc'>The story -of the MSS. -at Pomard.</span><span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -The late Sir Harris <span class='sc'>Nicolas</span> would scarcely -have criticised, with so much vehemence, what he thought -to have been a careless indifference on <span class='sc'>Ellis’s</span> part to the -acquisition for the British Museum of an important body -of historical manuscripts, preserved in a chateau in a distant -corner of France (and offered to the Trustees in 1829), -but for the circumstance that Sir Henry’s kindly unwillingness, -evinced a little while before, to desert a very weak -colleague at Somerset House had stood in the way of some -much-needed reforms in that quarter. Without in the -least intending beforehand to represent things unfairly, -Sir H. <span class='sc'>Nicolas</span> acted under the influence of an unconscious -bias or pre-judgment. The Joursanvault story is -still worth telling, although it has now become an old story, -and one portion of the historical treasures it relates to are -now past wishing for, as an English possession.</p> - -<p class='c011'><span class='pageno' id='Page_536'>536</span>In the course of the revolutionary convulsions in France, -a great body of historical documents had been abstracted -from the famous old Castle of Blois. Eventually, as years -passed on, they found their way into the country-seat, at -Pomard, of the Baron de <span class='sc'>Joursanvault</span>, and with them were -amalgamated an extensive collection of old family papers, -many books on genealogy, and some choice illuminated -missals.</p> - -<p class='c011'>An English gentleman long resident in France had -formed the acquaintance of the Baron de <span class='sc'>Joursanvault</span>, -and in the course of conversation came to hear of the existence -of these historical treasures. He also perceived that -their owner had little taste for them, or ability to profit by -their contents. Sir Thomas Elmsley <span class='sc'>Croft</span> probed his -French friend on the subject of parting with them. The -Baron lent a willing ear, and, to whet his interlocutor’s -appetite, told him that a great many of the manuscripts -related to the history of the English rule in France. Sir -Thomas then apprised an English friend, famous for his -love of old MSS., of the existence of the hoards, and of the -certainty that the Baron who owned them would greatly -prefer a few rouleaux of English gold to a whole castle-full -of the most precious parchments that ever charmed the -longing eyes of a Jonathan <span class='sc'>Oldbuck</span>—or a Harris -<span class='sc'>Nicolas</span>.</p> - -<p class='c011'>Sir Harris, directly he received this piece of news from -Paris, passed it on to his friend the late Lord <span class='sc'>Canterbury</span>, -then Speaker, who, in turn, communicated the information -to Sir H. <span class='sc'>Ellis</span>, for the use of the Trustees. <span class='sc'>Ellis</span> was -sent to France—whither indeed he had, just at that moment, -arranged to go, in order to spend part of his holidays in -Paris, according to his frequent custom.</p> - -<p class='c011'>He reached Pomard (two hundred and fifty miles from -<span class='pageno' id='Page_537'>537</span>Paris) in September, 1829, and found a vast body of -charters which had formed the archives of the mediæval -Earls of Blois, together with many heraldic and genealogical -manuscripts chiefly relating to French families. But he -found hardly any manuscripts which bore, directly, upon -English history or affairs—the immediate object, it must -be remembered, of the mission given him by the Trustees.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Sir Henry Ellis’s report on the Historical MSS. at Pomard.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>Immediately on his return to Paris, Sir Henry wrote -thus to the Archbishop of <span class='sc'>Canterbury</span>:—‘The Collection -is indeed a most extraordinary one of its kind, and would -be a treasure in the stores of the British Museum, or of -any other public Collection, though, perhaps, for a reason -which will presently appear, some of the Trustees may -think a public library of France would be its most appropriate -repository. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>1829, September.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -It is placed in two attics of the Chateau, -of considerable area—and I should say sixteen feet in -height—in cartons (or paste-board boxes), each two feet in -length by one in depth and width. Each carton contains -some hundreds of charters, at least whenever I examined -them, and I made here and there my comparison with the -catalogue of from twenty to thirty cartons, all answering -to the catalogue and to the successive dates upon the -outside of the boxes.... In one room there were above -a hundred boxes piled up to the ceiling, the lower ones of -which, where I could get at them, were full of instruments -arranged as I have described. I counted also, in the same -room, near a hundred and fifty bundles, all of single articles, -partly piled up for want of room, and placed upon the floors. -In the second room I counted a hundred and forty-nine -cartons piled up like the former, and no ladder in the house -to get at them. I did what I could upon a pair of steps -made of two thin boards fastened to two other upright -boards, but I had not even a safe pair of steps. Many of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_538'>538</span>the cartons in the second room contained collections of a -comparatively recent date, apparently the manuscripts of -the Baron’s father. Some of these were terriers of lands, -others were marked <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">“<cite>Pays Étrangers</cite>,” “<cite>Monumens -Généalogiques</cite>;” “<cite>Pièces Historiques</cite>;” “<cite>Parlement</cite>;” -“<cite>Histoire de l’Église</cite>.”</span>’</p> - -<p class='c011'>‘Of the great collection of charters (and it appeared to -me to be larger than all the collection of charters at present -in the British Museum put together), I am bound to say -that I believe them to have formed almost the entire muniments -of the Earls of <span class='sc'>Blois</span>, containing whatever related to -their concern in the wars of Europe in the middle ages, to -their prædial possessions, their granting out of property -and privileges, sales, feudal or public acts, quittances of -money for military services, letters patents, expenses of -household, and every act, material or immaterial, likely to -be found in the archives of one of the greatest houses of -England.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Paucity of English Documents in the Archives at Pomard.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>‘I looked in vain, however, for anything illustrative of -English history, except in a single bundle, tied in paper, -which seemed unconnected with the cartons, and was not, -as far as I could find, in any of the MS. catalogues. This -bundle was entitled, in a modern hand, “<span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Documens relatifs -à l’occupation de la France par les Anglais, 1400</span>.” It -consists of about one hundred vellum instruments, one or -two, or perhaps more, so far in the form of letters that they -were official announcements; such as the Duke of <span class='sc'>Orleans</span> -in England in 1437, that he had obtained safe conducts -for his Chancellor and Premier Écuyer d’écurie. Amongst -these are various orders of payment and acquittances for -money, and several relate to Charles, Duke of <span class='sc'>Orleans</span>, -whilst prisoner in England after the fight of Agincourt. -There is a payment to the Earl of <span class='sc'>Suffolk</span>; another to -<span class='pageno' id='Page_539'>539</span>persons fighting against the English; a payment for the -deliverance of the Duc d’<span class='sc'>Angouleme</span> whilst a prisoner in -England in 1412; various orders of John, Duke of <span class='sc'>Bedford</span>, -the Bastard of Salisbury, the Duke of <span class='sc'>Exeter</span>, &c., -to persons in the care of military posts under them; the -Duke of <span class='sc'>Bedford</span> concerning musters; <span class='sc'>Henry the -Fifth’s</span> acquittance to the parishioners of certain villages -for payments on account of the war; various grants of -the same King for services in the wars; a grant to Sir -William <span class='sc'>Bourchier</span> of the estates of the Earl of <span class='sc'>Eu</span>, dated -at Mantes in his seventh year; and an order for a confirmation -to be made out of the different grants of the Kings -of England and Dukes of Normandy to the House of -Lepers at Dieppe.’</p> - -<p class='c011'>When Sir Henry <span class='sc'>Ellis</span> had completed at Pomard that -rough examination of the Collection which he thus described -on his return to Paris, his first inquiry of the -owner was, of course, about price. M. de <span class='sc'>Joursanvault</span> -was embarrassed. To Sir Thomas <span class='sc'>Croft</span> he had already -said that he hoped to get sixty thousand francs. <span class='sc'>Ellis</span> -had noticed, as the Baron drove him from Beaune into the -court-yard of the old chateau, that its appearance denoted -wealth in past rather than in present days, but he could -hardly have been prepared for the effect of altered circumstances -in turning a gentleman into a chapman. In the -evening the anticipated sixty thousand francs had grown -into a hundred and ten thousand. Nor was this the only -demand. The Duke of <span class='sc'>Wellington</span> must use his credit -at Paris to transform the Baron into a Count (without any -stipulation for an entailed estate by way of ‘majorat’); and -if the task should be beyond the powers even of the conqueror -of <span class='sc'>Napoleon</span>, then M. de <span class='sc'>Joursanvault</span> was to -receive, from the English Government, authority to import -<span class='pageno' id='Page_540'>540</span>into England five hundred pipes of Beaune wine, grown -upon his own estate, free of all customs duties, and for his -own profit.</p> - -<p class='c011'>Sir Henry (who with great good sense had already taken -precaution that his position at the British Museum should -not be known to his host at Pomard, in the hope of precluding -any exaggeration of terms) remonstrated against -the burden of such a demand, but all entreaty was vain. -The Baron was bent on having—in addition to his £4400—either -a step in nobility, or, at the least, a handsome remission -of customs duty. The Trustees, in the end, -declined to treat.</p> - -<p class='c010'>When it came to Sir Harris <span class='sc'>Nicolas’s</span> knowledge that -<span class='sc'>Ellis’s</span> journey to Pomard was apparently to have no result -in the way of bringing historical manuscripts into England, -he felt angry as well as disappointed. It was his earnest -belief—whether right or wrong—that a valuable occasion -had been somewhat trifled with. He told the story,<a id='r25'></a><a href='#f25' class='c013'><sup>[25]</sup></a> and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_541'>541</span>treasured up the memory, and both the story and the narrator’s -personal reminiscences of the transaction had their -share in bringing about the parliamentary enquiry into the -affairs of the British Museum.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>The Parliamentary Inquiry into Museum affairs of 1835 and 1836.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>Originally, and immediately, that inquiry was proposed -to the House of Commons by Mr. Benjamin <span class='sc'>Hawes</span>, then -M.P. for Lambeth, at the instance of a Mr. John <span class='sc'>Millard</span>, -who had been employed, for some years, on an Index of -MSS., and whose employment (upon very good grounds) -had been discontinued. Sir Harris <span class='sc'>Nicolas</span> also brought -his influence to bear. Mr. <span class='sc'>Hawes</span>, personally, had a very -earnest intention to benefit the Public by the inquiry. But -his own pursuits in life were not such as to have given him -the literary qualifications necessary for conducting it. -With not less wisdom than modesty, when he had carried -his motion for a Select Committee, he waived his claim to -its chairmanship. The Committee chose for that office Mr. -<span class='sc'>Sotheron Estcourt</span>. The burden of examination, on -<span class='pageno' id='Page_542'>542</span>behalf of the Trustees, was borne—it need not be said -how ably—by men of no less mark than Sir Robert Harry -<span class='sc'>Inglis</span> and the late Earl of <span class='sc'>Derby</span>, then Lord Stanley.</p> - -<p class='c011'>One of the best results of the appointment of that -Committee of 1835–36 was the opportunity it gave to -Mr. <span class='sc'>Baber</span> and to Mr. <span class='sc'>Panizzi</span> of advocating the claims -of the National Library to largely increased liberality on -the part of Parliament. The latter, in particular, did it -with an earnestness, and with a vivacity and felicity of -argument and of illustration, which I believe won for him -the respect of every person who enjoyed (as I did) the -pleasure of listening to his examination. I do not think -that anybody in that Committee Room of 1836 thought -his arguments a whit the weaker for being expressed by -‘a foreigner.’ But it chances to be within my knowledge -that pressure was put upon Mr. <span class='sc'>Hawes</span>, as a conspicuous -member of the Committee, to induce him to put questions -to a certain witness with the view of enabling that witness -to attack the Trustees for appointing a foreigner to an important -office in the Museum. The ludicrous absurdity of -an objection on that score—in relation to a great establishment -of Literature and Science—was not, it seems, felt in -those days as it would assuredly be felt in the present day. -The absurdity did not strike the mind of Mr. <span class='sc'>Hawes</span>, -but, to his great credit, he steadfastly refused to admit of -any impeachment in the Committee of a choice which he -believed had been most fitly made in all other respects.<a id='r26'></a><a href='#f26' class='c013'><sup>[26]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c011'><span class='pageno' id='Page_543'>543</span>It is more than probable that the ability which Mr. -<span class='sc'>Panizzi</span> had displayed in the Committee Room of the -House of Commons, as well as the zeal for our national -honour which he had shown himself to possess, had something -to do in preparing the way for the promotion which -awaited him within a few months after Mr. <span class='sc'>Hawes’</span> -Committee made its final report to the House. But -his labours in the Museum itself had certainly given -substantial and ample warrant for that promotion—under -all the circumstances of the case—as will be seen -presently.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Mr. Panizzi’s appointment to the Keepership of Printed Books.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>Amongst the duties entrusted to Mr. <span class='sc'>Panizzi</span> after his -entrance (in 1831) into the service of the Trustees as an -extra Assistant-Librarian, was the cataloguing of an extraordinary -Collection of Tracts illustrative of the History of -the French Revolution. He had laboured on a difficult -task with great diligence and with uncommon ability. In -1835, a Committee of Trustees reported, in the highest -terms, on the performance of his duties, and concluded -their report with a recommendation which, although the -general body of Trustees did not act upon it, became the -occasion of a very eulogistic minute. Two years afterwards, -the office of Keeper of Printed Books became vacant -by the resignation of the Reverend Henry Hervey <span class='sc'>Baber</span>, -who had filled it, with great credit, from the year -1802.</p> - -<p class='c011'>The office of Senior Assistant-Librarian in that Department -was then filled by another man of eminent literary -distinction, the Reverend Henry Francis <span class='sc'>Cary</span>, who, as one -of the best among the many English translators of <span class='sc'>Dante</span>, -is not likely to be soon forgotten amongst us. Not a few -Englishmen of the generation that is now passing away -learnt in his version to love <span class='sc'>Dante</span>, before they were able to -<span class='pageno' id='Page_544'>544</span>read him in his proper garb, and learnt too to love Italy, -as <span class='sc'>Cary</span> loved it, for <span class='sc'>Dante’s</span> sake.</p> - -<p class='c011'>Mr. <span class='sc'>Cary</span> was the grandson of Mordecai <span class='sc'>Cary</span>, Bishop of -Killaloe, and the son of a Captain in the British Army, who at -the time of Henry <span class='sc'>Cary’s</span> birth was quartered at Gibraltar, -where the boy was born on the sixth of December, 1772. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><span class='sc'>Life and -literary -labours of -Henry -Francis -Cary.</span><span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -He -was educated at Birmingham and at Christ Church, Oxford. -It was in his undergraduate days at Christ Church that he -began to translate the <cite>Inferno</cite>, although he did not publish -his first volume until he had entered his thirty-third year, -and had established himself in ‘the great wen’ as Reader at -Berkeley Chapel (1805). <span class='sc'>Cary’s</span> ‘<cite>Dante</cite>’ soon won its -way to fame. Among other blessings it brought about his -life-long friendship with <span class='sc'>Coleridge</span> and with the Coleridgian -circle. He now became an extensive contributor to -the literary periodicals. In 1816, he was made Preacher at -the Savoy. In 1825, he offered himself to the Trustees of -the British Museum as a candidate for the Keepership of -the Department of Antiquities in succession to Taylor -<span class='sc'>Combe</span>. That office was given, with great propriety, to -Mr. Edward <span class='sc'>Hawkins</span>, who had assisted Mr. <span class='sc'>Combe</span>, and -had, in fact, replaced him during his illness. But Mr. -<span class='sc'>Cary</span> had met with encouragement—especially from the -Archbishop of <span class='sc'>Canterbury</span>—and kept a bright look-out -for new vacancies. In May or June, 1826, he wrote to his -father that he had learnt that the office of Assistant-Librarian -in the Department of Printed Books was vacant. -It had been, he added, held by a most respectable old -clergyman of the name of <span class='sc'>Bean</span>, and Mr. <span class='sc'>Bean</span> was just -dead. Within a week or two, Mr. <span class='sc'>Cary</span> was appointed -to be his successor. By a large circle of friends the appointment -was hailed as a fitting tribute to a most deserving -man of letters.</p> - -<p class='c011'><span class='pageno' id='Page_545'>545</span>The homely rooms in the Court-yard of the Museum -allotted to the Assistant-Keeper of the Printed Book Department -were soon the habitual resort of a cluster of poets. The -faces of <span class='sc'>Coleridge</span>, <span class='sc'>Rogers</span>, Charles <span class='sc'>Lamb</span>,<a id='r27'></a><a href='#f27' class='c013'><sup>[27]</sup></a> and (during -their occasional visits to London) those of <span class='sc'>Southey</span> and -of <span class='sc'>Wordsworth</span>, became, in those days, very familiar at -the gate of old Montagu House. <span class='sc'>Coleridge</span> had always -loved <span class='sc'>Cary</span>, and when the charms of long monologues, -delivered at the Grove to devout listeners, withheld him -from visits, the correspondence between Highgate and -Bloomsbury became so frequent and so voluminous, that -he is said to have endeavoured to persuade Sir Francis -<span class='sc'>Freeling</span> that all correspondence to or from the British -Museum ought to be officially regarded as ‘On His Majesty’s -Service,’ and to be franked, to any weight, accordingly. -But those love-enlivened rooms were, in a very few -years, to be darkly clouded. <span class='sc'>Cary</span> lost his wife on the -twenty-second of November, 1832, and almost immediately -afterwards—so dreadful was the blow to him—‘a look of -mere childishness, approaching to a suspension of vitality, -marked the countenance which had but now beamed with -intellect.’ -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><cite>Life of H. F. -Cary</cite>, by his -Son, vol. ii, -p. 198.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -Such are the words of his fellow-mourner.</p> - -<p class='c011'>Part of Mr. <span class='sc'>Cary’s</span> duties at the Museum now necessarily -fell, for a few months, to be discharged by Mr. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_546'>546</span><span class='sc'>Panizzi</span>, who, in the preceding year, had been appointed -next in office to <span class='sc'>Cary</span>. The circumstances of that appointment -have been thus stated by the eminent Prelate who -made it:—</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Circumstances of Mr. Panizzi’s first appointment in 1831.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>‘Mr. <span class='sc'>Panizzi</span> was entirely unknown to me, except by -reputation. I understood that he was a civilian who had -come from Italy, and that he was a man of great acquirements -and talents, peculiarly well suited for the British -Museum. That was represented to me by several persons -who were not connected with the Museum, and it was -strongly pressed by several of the Trustees, who were of -opinion that Mr. <span class='sc'>Panizzi’s</span> appointment would be very -advantageous for the institution. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><cite>Minutes of -Evidence -taken before -the Select -Committee on -the British -Museum</cite>, 28 -June, 1836, -p. 433.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span>Considering the qualifications -of that gentleman, his knowledge of foreign -languages, his eminent ability and extensive attainments, I -could not doubt the propriety of acceding to their wishes.’</p> - -<p class='c011'>When that appointment was made, Mr. <span class='sc'>Panizzi</span> had -already passed almost ten years in England. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><span class='sc'>Mr. -Panizzi’s -early -career and -his labours -in England.</span><span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -The greater -part of them had been spent at Liverpool, as a tutor in the -language and literature of Italy. Born at Brescello, in the -Duchy of Modena, Mr. <span class='sc'>Panizzi</span> had been educated at -Reggio and at Parma; in the last-named University he -had graduated as LL.D. in 1818; and he had practised -with distinction as an advocate. Part of his leisure hours -had been given to the study of bibliography, and to the -acquisition of a library. But he was an ardent aspirant -for the liberty of Italy, and, in 1820, narrowly escaped -becoming one of its many martyrs. After the unsuccessful -rising of that year in Piedmont, he was arrested at -Cremona, but escaped from his prison. After his escape -he was sentenced to death. He sought a refuge first at -Lugano, and afterwards at Geneva. But his ability had -made him a marked man. Austrian spies dogged his -<span class='pageno' id='Page_547'>547</span>steps, and appealed, by turns, to the suspicions and to the -fears of the local authorities. Presently it seemed clear -that England, alone, would afford, to the dreaded ‘conspirator’ -for Italy, a secure abode. At Liverpool he acquired -the friendship successively of Ugo <span class='sc'>Foscolo</span>, of -<span class='sc'>Roscoe</span>, and of <span class='sc'>Brougham</span>. In 1828, he received and -accepted the offer of the Professorship of Italian Literature -in the then London University, now ‘University College.’ -In 1830, he began the publication of his admirable edition -of the poems of <span class='sc'>Bojardo</span> and <span class='sc'>Ariosto</span>, which was completed -in 1834.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><cite>Minutes of Evidence on the Constitution and Management of the British Museum</cite>, 26 May, 1848, § 2764 (Report of 1850, p. 114).</div> - -<p class='c011'>When Mr. <span class='sc'>Baber</span> announced, in March, 1837, his intention -to resign his Keepership, Mr. <span class='sc'>Panizzi</span> made no -application for the office, but he wrote to the Principal -Trustees an expression of his hope that if, in the event, -‘any appointment was to take place on account of Mr. -<span class='sc'>Baber’s</span> resignation,’ his services would be borne in -mind.</p> - -<p class='c011'>One of Mr. <span class='sc'>Cary’s</span> earliest steps in the matter was to -apply to his friend and fellow-poet, Mr. Samuel <span class='sc'>Rogers</span>. -<span class='sc'>Rogers</span>—to use his own words—was one who had known -<span class='sc'>Cary</span> ‘in all weathers.’ His earnest friendship induced -him to write a letter of recommendation to the three Principal -Trustees. After he had sent in his recommendation, -a genuine conscientiousness—not the less truly characteristic -of the man for all that outward semblance of cynicism -which frequently veiled it—prompted him to think the -matter over again. It occurred to him to doubt whether -he was really serving his old friend <span class='sc'>Cary</span> by helping to put -him in a post for which failing vigour was but too obviously, -though gradually, unfitting him. His misgiving increased -the more he turned the affair over in his mind. He -then wrote three letters (to the Archbishop, Chancellor, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_548'>548</span>and Speaker), recalling his recommendation, and stating -his reason. With the Speaker, <span class='sc'>Rogers</span> also conversed on -the subject. Mr. <span class='sc'>Abercromby</span> asked the poet: ‘What do -you know about a Mr. <span class='sc'>Panizzi</span>, who stands next to <span class='sc'>Cary</span>?’ -‘<span class='sc'>Panizzi</span>,’ said <span class='sc'>Rogers</span>, ‘would serve you very well.’ ‘To -tell you the truth,’ rejoined the Speaker, ‘we think that, if -Mr. <span class='sc'>Cary</span> is not appointed, <span class='sc'>Panizzi</span> will be the right -man.’ At that time, Mr. <span class='sc'>Panizzi</span> was not personally -known either to the Speaker or to the Chancellor.</p> - -<p class='c011'>I give these details, first, because they became, in after-days, -a very vital and influential part of the History of the -British Museum. No appointment was ever made during -the whole of the hundred and fifteen years which have -elapsed betwixt the first organization of the establishment -in 1755 and the year in which I write (1870) that has had -such large influence upon its growth and its improvement; -and, secondly, because in a published life of the excellent -man whose temporary disappointment led to a great public -benefit a passage appears which (doubtless very unintentionally, -but not the less seriously) misrepresents the matter, -and hints, mysteriously, at underhanded influence, as -though something had been done in the way of treachery -to <span class='sc'>Cary</span>. ‘The Lord Chancellor and the Speaker,’ writes -<span class='sc'>Cary’s</span> biographer, ‘acting under information, <em>the source of -which was probably known only to them and their informant</em>, -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><cite>Life of Henry -Francis Cary</cite>, -vol. ii, p. 200.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -resolved on passing him over, and appointing his subordinate, -Mr. <span class='sc'>Panizzi</span>, to the vacant place.’</p> - -<p class='c011'>These letters and conversations passed in the interval -between the announcement that there would be a vacancy -in the Museum staff and its actual occurrence. The -Keepership became vacant on the twenty-fourth of June. -On that day Mr. <span class='sc'>Cary</span> made his personal application to the -Archbishop. The Archbishop told him that objections were -<span class='pageno' id='Page_549'>549</span>made to his appointment. <span class='sc'>Cary</span>, immediately after his -return, told his brother-officers <span class='sc'>Baber</span> and <span class='sc'>Panizzi</span> what -the Archbishop had communicated to him. ‘Then,’ said -Mr. <span class='sc'>Panizzi</span>, ‘the thing concerns me.’ ‘Yes,’ rejoined -<span class='sc'>Cary</span>, ‘certainly it does.’ They all knew that applications -for the vacant office from outsiders were talked of. Among -these were the late Reverend Ernest <span class='sc'>Hawkins</span> and the late -Reverend Richard <span class='sc'>Garnett</span> (who afterwards succeeded to -the Assistant-Librarianship). And Mr. <span class='sc'>Panizzi</span> then -proceeded to say to Mr. <span class='sc'>Cary</span>: ‘You will not, now, object -to my asking for the place myself, as there are these objections -to you.’ <span class='sc'>Cary</span> replied, ‘Not at all.’ Instantly, -and in <span class='sc'>Cary’s</span> presence, Mr. <span class='sc'>Panizzi</span> wrote thus to the -Archbishop:—‘I hope your Grace will not deem it presumptuous -in me to beg respectfully of your Grace and the -other Principal Trustees to take my case into consideration, -should they think it necessary to depart from the usual -system of regular promotion, on appointing Mr. <span class='sc'>Baber’s</span> -successor. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>Panizzi to the -Archbishop of -Canterbury, -26 June, 1837 -(<cite>Minutes of -Evidence of -1850</cite>).<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -I venture to say thus much, having been informed -by Mr. <span class='sc'>Cary</span> of the conversation he has had the -honour to have with your Grace.’ The writer gave his -letter into Mr. <span class='sc'>Cary’s</span> hand, received his brother-officer’s -immediate approval, and had that approval, at a later hour -of the day and after a re-perusal of the letter, confirmed.</p> - -<p class='c011'>Within the walls of the Museum, the general feeling -was so strongly in favour of Mr. <span class='sc'>Cary’s</span> appointment, -despite all objection (and nothing can be more natural than -that it should be so—‘A fellow-feeling makes us wondrous -kind’), that the <em>public</em> interest, in having an officer who -would use the appointment rather as a working-tool than -as a reclining staff, was, for the moment, lost sight of. Sir -Henry <span class='sc'>Ellis</span> himself, when asked to give a formal testimonial -of Mr. <span class='sc'>Panizzi’s</span> qualifications to be head of the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_550'>550</span>Printed Book Department, answered: ‘If you told me that -the Bodleian Librarianship was vacant—or any other outside -Librarianship worth your having—you should have my -heartiest recommendation. At present, you must excuse -me;’ or in words to that effect. Edward <span class='sc'>Hawkins</span>, then -Keeper of the Department of Antiquities, expressed himself -(in the hearing of the present writer) to like purpose, -when asked what his opinion was on a point which, at the -moment, attracted not a little attention in literary circles.<a id='r28'></a><a href='#f28' class='c013'><sup>[28]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c011'><span class='sc'>Cary</span> afterwards—and when it was too late to recall it—regretted -his assent to Mr. <span class='sc'>Panizzi’s</span> application. He -applied again to the Archbishop, and obtained something -like a promise of support. He wrote several letters to the -Lord Chancellor. In one of these he (unconsciously, as it -seems) adduced a conclusive argument against his own -appointment to the office he sought. He wrote that, as he -was informed, the objections of his Lordship and of the -Speaker were twofold: the one resting on his age, and the -other on the state of his health. He answered the objections -in these words:—‘My age, it is plain, might rather -ask for me that <em>alleviation of labour</em> which, <em>in this as in -other public offices, is gained by promotion</em> to a superior -place, than call for a continuance of the same laborious -employment.’ -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>Cary to the -Lord Chancellor, -18 -July, 1837 -(<cite>The Times</cite>).<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -What must have been a Lord Chancellor’s -ruminations upon the ‘alleviation of labour’ which ‘a -<span class='pageno' id='Page_551'>551</span>superior place’ brings to a public servant, is a somewhat -amusing subject of conjecture.</p> - -<p class='c011'>It was with perfect honesty and integrity of purpose that -Mr. <span class='sc'>Cary</span> adduced medical testimony of his fitness for continued -but diminished labours. He would have exerted -himself to the best of his ability. But it was a blemish in -an excellent man that (under momentary irritation) he twice -permitted himself to reproach his competitor and colleague -with being ‘a foreigner.’</p> - -<p class='c011'>One would fain have hoped that our famous countryman -Daniel <span class='sc'>Defoe</span> had, a hundred years before, put all reproach -and contumely on the score of a man’s <em>not</em> being a ‘true-born -Englishman’ quite out of Court, in all contentions -concerning capabilities of public service. But, of all places -in the world, a <span class='sc'>Museum</span> is the queerest place in which to -raise petty questions of nationality. If it be at all worthy -of its name, its contents must have come from the four -quarters of the globe. Men of every race under Heaven -must have worked hard to furnish it. It brings together -the plants of Australia; the minerals of Peru; the shells of -the far Pacific; the manuscripts which had been painfully -compiled or transcribed by twenty generations of labourers -in every corner of Europe, as well as in the monasteries of -Africa and of the Eastern Desert; and the sculptures and the -printed books of every civilised country in the world. And -then it is proposed—when arrangements are to be made for -turning dead collections into living fountains of knowledge—that -the question asked shall be: <em>not</em> ‘What is your -capacity to administer?’ but ‘Where were you born?’ I -hope, and I believe, that in later years Mr. <span class='sc'>Cary</span> regretted -that he had permitted a name so deservedly honoured to -endorse so poor a sophism.</p> - -<p class='c011'><span class='pageno' id='Page_552'>552</span>Mr. Antonio <span class='sc'>Panizzi</span> received his appointment on the -fifteenth of July, 1837. If he had worked hard to gain -promotion, he worked double tides to vindicate it. In the -following month, Mr. <span class='sc'>Cary</span> resigned his Assistant-Librarianship. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><span class='sc'>Panizzi’s -appointment -as -Keeper of -the Printed -Books</span>, July, -1837.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -He left the Museum with the hearty respect and -with the brotherly regrets of all his colleagues, without any -exception. Of him, it may very truly be said, he was a man -much beloved.</p> - -<p class='c011'>Nor was it otherwise with Mr. <span class='sc'>Baber</span>. His public -services began in old Bodley towards the end of the year -1796, and they were so efficient as to open to him, at the -beginning of the present century, a subordinate post in the -British Museum, his claims to which he waived the instant -that he knew they would stand in the way of <span class='sc'>Ellis</span>, his early -friend of undergraduate days. He became Assistant-Librarian -in 1807; Keeper of Printed Books in 1812. He, too, was -a man with no enemies. In literature he won (before he was -fifty) an enduring place by his edition of the <cite><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">Vetus Testamentum -Græcum e Codice MS. Alexandrino ... descriptum</span></cite>.</p> - -<p class='c011'>Of the amiability of character which distinguished Mr. -<span class='sc'>Baber</span>, not less than did his scholarship, the present writer -had more than common experience. It was my fortune -to make my first intimate acquaintance (1835) with the -affairs of the British Museum in the capacity of a critic on -that part of Mr. <span class='sc'>Baber’s</span> discharge of his manifold functions -as Keeper which related to the increase of the Library, both -by purchase and by the operation of the Copyright Act. -I criticised some of his doings, and some of his omissions to -do, with youthful presumption, and with that self-confident -half-knowledge which often leads a man more astray, practically, -than does sheer ignorance. So far from resenting -strictures, a few of which may have had some small validity -and value, while a good many were certainly plausible but -<span class='pageno' id='Page_553'>553</span>shallow, he turned the former to profit, and, so far from -resenting the latter, repeatedly evinced towards their -author acts of courtesy and kindness. It was in his -company that I first explored—as we strode from beam to -beam of the unfinished flooring—the new Library rooms -in which, long afterwards, I was to perform my humble -spell of work on the <cite>Catalogue of the Printed Books</cite>; as he -had performed his hard-by almost thirty years earlier.</p> - -<p class='c011'>Mr. <span class='sc'>Baber</span> survived his retirement from his Keepership -(in 1837) no less than thirty-two years. He died, on the -twenty-eighth of March, 1869, at his rectory-house at Stretham, -in the Isle of Ely, and in his 94th year. He had then -been F.R.S. for fifty-three years, and had survived his old -friend Sir Henry <span class='sc'>Ellis</span> by a few weeks. He served his -parishioners in Cambridgeshire, as he had served his country -in London, with unremitting zeal and punctual assiduity.</p> - -<p class='c010'>One of Mr. <span class='sc'>Panizzi’s</span> earliest employments in his new -office of 1837 was to make arrangements for the formidable -task of transferring the whole mass of the old Library from -Montagu House to the new Building, but he also did something -immediately towards preparing the way for that systematic -enlargement of the Collection of Printed Books which -he had formerly and so earnestly pressed on the attention, not -merely of the Select Committee of the House of Commons in -1835–36, but of every Statesman and Parliament-man whose -ear he could gain, whether (in his interlocutor’s opinion) in -season or out of season. To use the expression of the man -who, at a later date, mainly helped him in that task, -Mr. <span class='sc'>Panizzi’s</span> leading thought, in regard to Public Libraries, -was that Paris must be surpassed. In common with others -of us who, like himself, had been examined before Mr. -<span class='sc'>Hawes’</span> Committee on that subject, he had brought into -<span class='pageno' id='Page_554'>554</span>salient relief some points of superiority which foreign -countries possessed over Britain, but the ruling motive -of the unsavoury comparison was British improvement, -not, most assuredly, British discredit.</p> - -<p class='c011'>In the formidable business of the transfer of the bulk of -the National Library, Mr. <span class='sc'>Panizzi</span> received his best help -from a man now just lost to us, but whose memory will -surely survive. Exactly six months after his own appointment -to the headship of his Department, he introduced -into the permanent service of the Trustees Mr. Thomas -<span class='sc'>Watts</span>. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><span class='sc'>The -literary -career and -the public -services of -Thomas -Watts.</span><span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -The readers of such a volume as this will not, I -imagine, think it to be a digression if I here make some -humble attempt to record what was achieved by my old -acquaintance—an acquaintance of almost one and thirty -years’ standing—both in his varied literary labours and in -his long and fruitful service at the Museum.</p> - -<p class='c011'>Thomas <span class='sc'>Watts</span> was born in London in the year 1811. -He was educated at a private school in London, where he -was very early noted for the possession of three several -qualities, one or other of which is found, in a marked -degree, in thousands of men and in tens of thousands of precocious -boys, but the union of all of which, whether in child -or in man, is rare indeed. Young <span class='sc'>Watts</span> evinced both an -astonishing capacity for acquiring languages—the most far -remote from his native speech—and an unusual readiness -at English composition. He had also a knack for turning -off very neat little speeches and recitations. Before he -was fifteen, he could give good entertainment at a breaking up -or a ‘speech-day.’ Before he was twenty, he had gained -his footing as a contributor to periodical literature.<a id='r29'></a><a href='#f29' class='c013'><sup>[29]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c011'><span class='pageno' id='Page_555'>555</span>In the autumn of the year 1835, Mr. <span class='sc'>Watts’</span> attention -was attracted to the publication of the <cite>Minutes of Evidence -taken before the Select Committee on the British Museum</cite>, the -first portion of which had been ordered to be printed, by -the House of Commons, in the preceding August. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><span class='sc'>Watts’ -early -interest in -the improvement -of the -British -Museum.</span><span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -He -read the evidence with great interest, and ere long he wrote -(in 1836 and 1837) some valuable comments upon it, which -embodied several suggestions for the improvement of the -Museum service, and for making it increasedly accessible -to the Public. More than two or three of the suggestions -so offered, he lived to carry out—long afterwards, by his -own exertions, and with the cordial approval of his superior -officer, Mr. <span class='sc'>Panizzi</span>—into practice, after he had himself -entered into the service of the Trustees as an Assistant in -the Printed Book Department.</p> - -<p class='c011'>But he chose a very unfortunate medium for his useful -communications of 1836 and 1837. He printed them in -the columns of the ‘<cite>Mechanics’ Magazine</cite>,’ where, for practical -purposes, they were almost buried. Of this fact I am -able to give a small illustrative and personal instance. -Possibly, it may be thought to have some little biographical -value, as a trait of his character.</p> - -<p class='c011'>In both of the years above named Mr. <span class='sc'>Watts</span> did the -present writer the honour to make some remarks on his -humble labours for the improvement of the Museum in -1835 and 1836. Mr. <span class='sc'>Watts’</span> remarks were very complimentary -and kind in their expression. But I never saw or -heard of them, until this year, 1870, after their writer had -passed from the knowledge of the many acquaintances and -friends who, in common with myself, much esteemed him, -and who will ever honour his memory.</p> - -<p class='c011'><span class='pageno' id='Page_556'>556</span>One of the communications which my late friend published -in that ‘<cite>Mechanics’ Magazine</cite>’ contained two suggestions—made -contingently, and by way of alternative plans—for -the enlargement of the Museum buildings. Nearly -eleven years afterwards (August, 1847), I unconsciously -repeated those very suggestions, amongst many others, in -a pamphlet, entitled <cite>Public Libraries in London and Paris</cite>. -I was in complete ignorance that my suggestions of 1847 -were otherwise than entirely original. I thought them -wholly my own. Of the print which accompanied my -pamphlet I give the reader an exact fac-simile, errors included, -on the opposite plate. The print embodied very -nearly the same thoughts, on the enlargement of the library, -which had been expressed, so long before, in the pages of -the ‘<cite>Mechanics’ Magazine</cite>.’ The first presented copy of -that pamphlet and print was given to my friend <span class='sc'>Watts</span>. -I was then absent, far from London, and I had presently -the pleasure of receiving from him a long letter, containing -some criticisms and remarks on my publication. But such -was his modest reticence about his own prior performance, -that the letter contained no word or hint concerning the -anticipation of my alternative suggestions for the enlargement -of the Library in his prior publication. And, in the -long interval between 1837 and 1847, I suppose we had -conversed about the improvement of the Museum, and -about its buildings, actual and prospective, some thirty or -forty times, but (as I have said) those valuable and thoughtful -articles of his, printed in 1836–7—and making complimentary -mention of my own labours, and of my evidence -given before Mr. <span class='sc'>Hawes’</span> Committee—never came within -my knowledge. No part of their contents was even mentioned -to me. I saw them, for the first time, in January, -1870. Very few men—within my range of acquaintance—had so much dislike to talk of their performances, as was -manifested by Thomas <span class='sc'>Watts</span>. To this day, very much of -what he did for the Public is scarcely known even by those -who (at one time or other) enjoyed the pleasure, and the -honour, of his friendship. He was one of the men who -‘did good by stealth,’ and would have almost blushed to -find it fame.</p> -<div class='figcenter id001'> -<img src='images/i_556fp.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic001'> -<p><span class='right'><em>Plate Nº 2</em></span><br /><br /><br />SUGGESTIONS, MADE IN 1847.<br />FOR THE ENLARGEMENT OF THE LIBRARY OF THE<br />BRITISH MUSEUM.<br /><br />BEING THE FAC-SIMILE OF A PLAN INSERTED IN A PAMPHLET (WRITTEN IN 1846.)<br /><br />ENTITLED<br /><br />PUBLIC LIBRARIES IN LONDON AND PARIS.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<div class='c002'></div> -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Watts’ labours for the augmentation of the British Museum Library.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'><span class='pageno' id='Page_557'>557</span>When Thomas <span class='sc'>Watts</span> entered the Museum, the immediate -task entrusted to him, onerous as it was, did not (for -any long time) engross his attention. In common with -Mr. <span class='sc'>Panizzi</span>, his desire to increase the Library, and to -make London surpass Paris—‘<em>Paris must be surpassed</em>,’ -are the words which close the best of those articles, printed -in 1837, to which I have just now referred—amounted -to a positive passion. He did not talk very much about -it; but I fancy it occupied, not only his waking thoughts, -but his very dreams.</p> - -<p class='c011'>Mr. <span class='sc'>Panizzi</span> had not been at the head of his Department -many weeks before he began a Special Report to the -Trustees, recommending a systematic increase of the Collection -of Printed Books.</p> - -<p class='c011'>In the autumn of 1837 he could hardly foresee that -one of the attacks to be made, in the after-years, upon -those who had appointed him, or who had promoted -his appointment, for the crime of preferring ‘a foreigner’ -to a high post in our National Museum, would be based -upon the foreigner’s neglect of English Literature. ‘An -Italian Librarian,’ said those profound logicians, ‘must, -naturally and necessarily, swamp the Library with Italian -books. He can’t help doing it.’ But, strange as it may have -seemed to objectors of that calibre, this particular Italian -happened to be, not only a scholar—a ripe and good one—but -<span class='pageno' id='Page_558'>558</span>a man of wide sympathies, and of catholic tastes in -literature. He was able himself to enjoy <span class='sc'>Shakespeare</span>, -not less thoroughly than he was able, by his critical acumen, -to increase other men’s enjoyment of <span class='sc'>Ariosto</span> and of <span class='sc'>Dante</span>.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Sir A. Panizzi’s Report, in October, 1837, on the proper characteristics of a National Library for Great Britain.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>In October, 1837, he wrote thus:—‘With respect to the -purchase of books, Mr. <span class='sc'>Panizzi</span> begs to lay before the -Trustees the general principles by which he will be guided, -if not otherwise directed, in endeavouring to answer the -expectations and wishes of the Trustees and of the Public -in this respect. First, the attention of the Keeper of this -emphatically British Library ought to be directed, most -particularly, to British works, and to works relating to the -British Empire; its religious, political, and literary, as well -as scientific history; its laws, institutions, description, commerce, -arts, &c. The rarer and more expensive a work of -this description is, the more indefatigable<a id='r30'></a><a href='#f30' class='c013'><sup>[30]</sup></a> efforts ought to -be made to secure it for the Library. Secondly, the old -and rare, as well as the critical, editions of ancient Classics, -ought never to be sought for in vain in this Collection. Nor -ought good comments, as also the best translations into -modern languages, to be wanting. Thirdly, with respect to -foreign literature, arts, and sciences, the Library ought to -possess the best editions of standard works for critical -purposes or for use. The Public have, moreover, a right -to find, in their National Library, heavy as well as expensive -foreign works, such as <cite>Literary Journals</cite>; <cite>Transactions -of Societies</cite>; large Collections, historical or otherwise; complete -series of Newspapers; Collections of Laws, and their -best interpreters.’ We have, in this brief passage, the germ -<span class='pageno' id='Page_559'>559</span>of the admirable Report on the National Library, written -on a far more extended scale, which was afterwards laid -before the Government, and, ultimately, before Parliament.</p> - -<p class='c011'>If this Report failed to lead, immediately (or, indeed, -for a long time to come), to the increased means of acquisition -on which its writer’s mind was so much bent, the -fault did not lie in the Trustees. It lay with the House of -Commons, and with the Chancellor of the Exchequer.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>The impediments in the way of improvement.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>It is hard to realise, in 1870, how entirely the effort -for an adequate improvement of the British Museum was an -uphill task. Trustees like the late Lord <span class='sc'>Derby</span> and the -late Sir R. H. <span class='sc'>Inglis</span> were earnestly desirous to carry out -such recommendations as those of Mr. <span class='sc'>Panizzi</span>, but the -employment of urging them on the Ministry was an ungrateful -one. In those days of reforming-activity, although, -in 1837, the average radicals in ‘the House’ were not quite -such devout believers in the faith that a general overturn -was the only road to a general millenium as they had been -in 1832, they were willing enough to listen to attacks -upon the managers of any public institution (no matter -how crude were the views of the assailants, or how lopsided -their information), but they were not half so ready to -open the public purse-strings in order to enable impugned -managers or trustees to improve the institution entrusted -to them upon a worthy scale.</p> - -<p class='c011'>Three months after writing his Report of 1837, Mr. -<span class='sc'>Panizzi</span> was enabled to procure the official assistance of -Mr. <span class='sc'>Watts</span>. The appointment strengthened his hands, -by giving to a man of extraordinary powers for organization -and government, the services of a man not less -extraordinary for his powers of accumulating and assimilating -detail. What each man characteristically possessed, -was just the right supplement to the special -<span class='pageno' id='Page_560'>560</span>faculties of the other. But even such a happy union of -personal qualities would have failed to carry into effect the -large aspirations for the improvement of the Museum which -both men, severally and independently, had cherished -(during many years), but for one other circumstance. -This was a merely incidental—one might say a fortuitous—circumstance; -but it proved very influential upon the fortunes -of the British Museum in the course of the years to -come. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>See hereafter, -Chap. V.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -When Mr. <span class='sc'>Panizzi</span> began to be known in London -society—at first, very much by the instrumentality of the -late Mr. Thomas <span class='sc'>Grenville</span>, who, at an early period, had -become warmly attached to him—his acquaintance was -eagerly cultivated. In this way he obtained opportunities -to preach his doctrine of increased public support for our -great national and educational institutions (his advocacy -was not limited within the four walls of the Museum) in -the ears of very valuable and powerful listeners. It was -thought, now and then, that he preached on that topic out -of season as well as in season. But the issue amply vindicated -the zeal which prompted him to make the pleasures of -social intercourse subserve the performance of a public trust. -Few men, I imagine—holding the unostentatious post of a -librarianship—ever possessed so many social opportunities -of the kind here referred to, as were possessed by Mr. -<span class='sc'>Panizzi</span>. And even those listeners who may have thought -him over-pertinacious, sometimes, in pressing his convictions, -must needs have carried away with them the assurance -that one public servant, at all events, did not regard -his duties as ‘irksome.’ They must have seen that this -man’s heart was in his official work.</p> - -<p class='c011'>So was it also in the instance of Mr. <span class='sc'>Panizzi’s</span> righthand -man within the Museum itself. Thomas <span class='sc'>Watts</span> was -not gifted with powers of persuasive argument. His -<span class='pageno' id='Page_561'>561</span>address and manners did no sort of justice to the intrinsic -qualities, or to the true heart, of the man himself. To -strangers, they often gave a most inaccurate idea of his -faculties and character. Under the outward guise of a -blunt-spoken farmer, there dwelt, not only high scholarship, -but a lofty sense—it would not be too strong to say a -passionate sense—of public duty. He had none of the -persuasive gifts of vivid talk. But he could preach -forcibly, by example. When he had made some way with -the first task which was assigned him, that of superintending -the removal of the Library, and its due ordering—in -some of the details of which he was ably assisted, almost -from the outset, by Mr. George <span class='sc'>Bullen</span> (who, in January, -1838, was first specially employed to retranscribe the -press-marks or symbols of the books, as they stood in -old Montagu House, into the new equivalents necessitated -by their altered position in the new Library, in which -labour he was, in the April following, assisted by Mr. -N. W. <span class='sc'>Simons</span>)—and had solved, by assiduous effort and -self-denying labour, some of the many difficulties which -stood in the way of effecting that removal without impeding, -to any serious degree, the service of the Public -Reading-Room, he turned his attention, at Mr. <span class='sc'>Panizzi’s</span> -instance, to the—to him—far more grateful task of preparing -lists of foreign books for addition to the Library. -For this task he evinced special qualities and attainments -which, I believe, were never surpassed, by any librarian in -the world; not even by an <span class='sc'>Audiffredi</span>, a <span class='sc'>Van-Praet</span>, or -a <span class='sc'>Magliabechi</span>.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Linguistic attainments of Thomas Watts.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>Mr. <span class='sc'>Watts’</span> earliest schoolfellows had marvelled at his -faculty for acquiring with great rapidity such a degree of -familiarity with foreign tongues, as gave him an amply -sufficient master-key to their several literatures. When -<span class='pageno' id='Page_562'>562</span>yet very young, he showed a scholarly appreciation of the -right methods of setting to work. He studied languages -in groups—giving his whole mind to one group at a time, -and then passing to another. At an age when many men -(far from being blockheads) are painfully striving after a -literary command of their mother-tongue, young <span class='sc'>Watts</span> -had showed himself to be master of two several clusters of -the great Indo-European family, and to have a very -respectable acquaintance with a third. When, as a youthful -volunteer at the Museum, he was fulfilling a request -made to him by Mr. <span class='sc'>Baber</span>, that he would catalogue the -Collection of Icelandic books given to the Public, half a -century before, by Sir Joseph <span class='sc'>Banks</span>, and also another -parcel of Russian books, which had been bought at his own -recommendation, the reading of Chinese literature was the -labour of his hours of private study, and the reading of -Polish literature was the recreation of his hours of leisure.</p> - -<p class='c011'>What the feelings of an ambitious student of that strain -would be when officially instructed by his superior to take -under his sole (or almost sole) charge the duty of examining -the Museum Catalogues, and of obtaining from all -parts of Europe and Asia, and from many parts of America, -other catalogues of every kind, in order to ascertain the -deficiencies of the Library, and to supply them, the reader -can fancy. The new assistant luxuriated in his office. -Many of his suggestions were periodically and earnestly -supported with the Trustees by Mr. <span class='sc'>Panizzi</span>. His labours -were appreciated and often (to my personal knowledge) -warmly applauded by his superior officer.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>His Lists of Museum Desiderata.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>He began with making lists of Russian books that were -<em>desiderata</em> in the Museum Library; then of Hungarian; -then of Dutch; then of French, Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese; -then of Chinese; then of Welsh; then of the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_563'>563</span>rapidly growing, but theretofore (at the Museum) much -neglected, literature of the Americas and the Indies.</p> - -<p class='c011'>I used, now and then, to watch him at his work, and to -think that no man could possibly be employed more entirely -to his liking. Long after I ceased to enjoy any opportunity -of talking with him about his employment, I used occasionally -to hear that similar tasks occupied, not infrequently, -the hours of evening leisure as well as the hours of official -duty. Some who knew him more intimately than—of late -years—it was my privilege to know him, believe that his -early death was in part (humanly speaking) due to his passion -for poring over catalogues and other records of far-off -literatures when worn-out nature needed to be refreshed, -and to be recreatively interested in quite other occupations.</p> - -<p class='c011'>During the last twenty years alone (1850–1869 inclusive) -he cannot have marked and recommended for purchase -less than a hundred and fifty thousand foreign works, and -in order to their selection he must needs have examined -almost a million of book-titles, in at least eighteen different -languages.</p> - -<p class='c011'>When little more than half that last-named term of years -had expired he was able to write—in a Report which he -addressed to Mr. <span class='sc'>Panizzi</span> in February, 1861—that the -common object of Keeper and Assistant-Keeper had been, -during almost a quarter of a century, to ‘bring together -from all quarters the useful, the elegant, and the curious -literature of every language; to unite with the best English -Library in England, or the world, the best Russian Library -out of Russia, the best German out of Germany, the best -Spanish out of Spain, and so with every language from Italian -to Icelandic, from Polish to Portuguese. In five of the -languages in which it now claims this species of supremacy, -in Russian, Polish, Hungarian, Danish, and Swedish, I -<span class='pageno' id='Page_564'>564</span>believe I may say that, with the exception of perhaps fifty -volumes, every book that has been purchased by the -Museum within the last three and twenty years has been -purchased at my suggestion. I have the pleasure of reflecting -that every future student of the less-known literatures -of Europe will find riches where I found poverty; though, -of course, <span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>Reports of -1861, pp. 17, -18.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -the collections in all these languages together form -but a small proportion of the vast accumulations that have -been added to the Library during your administration and -that of your successor.’<a id='r31'></a><a href='#f31' class='c013'><sup>[31]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c011'>When the reader comes to add to his estimate of the -amount of mental labour thus briefly and modestly indicated -by the man who performed it, a thought of the -further toil involved in the re-arrangement and careful -<em>classification</em> of more than four hundred thousand volumes -of books, in all the literary languages of the world (without -any exception), he will have attained some rough idea of -the public service which was crowded into one man’s life; -and that, as we all have now to regret, not a protracted -life. He will have, too, some degree of conception of the -amount of acquired knowledge which was taken from us -when Thomas <span class='sc'>Watts</span> was taken.</p> - -<p class='c011'>To his works of industry and of learning, the man we -have lost added the still better works of a kindly, benevolent -heart. Many a struggling student received at his hands -both wise and loving counsel, and active help. And his -good deeds were not advertised. They would not now -have been spoken of, but for his loss—in the very thick of -his labours for the Public.</p> - -<p class='c011'>In a precious volume, which was first added to the -manuscript stores of the British Museum a little before -<span class='pageno' id='Page_565'>565</span>Mr. <span class='sc'>Watts’</span> death, there occurs the rough jotting of a -thought which is very apposite to our human and natural -reflections upon such an early removal from the scene of -labour as that just referred to. When somebody spoke -to <span class='sc'>Bacon</span> of the death, in the midst of duty and of mental -vigour, of some good worker or other in the vineyard of -this world, almost three centuries ago, he made the following -entry in his private note-book:—‘Princes, when in -jousts, triumphs, or games of victory, men deserve crowns -for their performance, do not crown them below, where the -deeds are performed, but call them up. <span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>Lord Bacon’s -<cite>Note-Book</cite> -(MS. <span class='sc'>Addit.</span> -B. M.).<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -So doth God by -death.’</p> - -<div class='c002'></div> -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Other literary labours of Thomas Watts.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>But these several branches of public duty, onerous as -they were, were far from exhausting Mr. <span class='sc'>Watts’</span> mental -activity, either within the Museum walls or outside of -them. He was a frequent contributor to periodical literature. -To his pen the <cite>Quarterly Review</cite> was indebted for -an excellent article on the <cite>History of Cyclopædias</cite>; the -<span class='sc'>Athenæum</span>, for a long series of papers on various topics of -literary history and of current literature, extending over -many years; the various Cyclopædias and Biographical -Dictionaries successively edited by Mr. Charles <span class='sc'>Knight</span>, -for a long series of valuable notices, embracing the Language -and Literature of Hungary; those of Wales; and more than -a hundred and thirty brief biographical memoirs, distinguished -alike for careful research and for clear and vigorous -expression. These biographies relate, for the most part, to -foreign men of letters. To the pages of the <cite>Transactions of -the Philological Society</cite> he was a frequent contributor. His -Memoir on Hungarian Literature, first read to that Society, -procured him the distinction of a corresponding-membership -of the Hungarian Academy, and the distinction was enhanced -<span class='pageno' id='Page_566'>566</span>by his being elected on the same day with Lord -<span class='sc'>Macaulay</span>.</p> - -<p class='c011'>Within the Museum itself two distinct and important -departments of official labour, both of which he filled with -intelligence and zeal, have yet to be indicated. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><span class='sc'>The -Museum -Printed -Book Catalogue -of -1839–1869, -and Watts’ -labours in -relation to -it.</span><span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -In 1839, -he took part—with others—in framing an extensive code -of ‘rules’ for the re-compilation of the entire body of the -Catalogues of Printed Books. In May, 1857, he took -charge of the Public Reading-Room, as Chief Superintendent -of the daily service.</p> - -<p class='c011'>It need hardly be said that the first-named task—that -on the Catalogues—was a labour of planning and shaping, -not one of actual execution. It was very important, however, -in its effects on the public economy of the Library, -and it was the one only labour, as I believe, performed -by Mr. <span class='sc'>Watts</span>, whether severally or in conjunction with -others, which failed to give unmixed satisfaction to the -general body of readers. The <cite>Minutes of Evidence</cite>, taken -by the Commissioners of 1848–1850, whilst they abound -in expressions of public gratitude both to Mr. <span class='sc'>Panizzi</span> and, -next after him, to Mr. <span class='sc'>Watts</span>, contain a not less remarkable -abundance of criticisms, and of complaints, upon the plan -(not the execution) of the <cite>Catalogue of Printed Books</cite> begun -in 1839. The subject is a dry one, but will repay some -brief attention on the reader’s part.</p> - -<p class='c011'>When Mr. <span class='sc'>Panizzi</span> became Keeper, he had (it will have -been seen) to face almost instantly, and abreast, three several -tasks, each of which entailed much labour upon himself, -personally, as well as upon his assistants. The third of -them—this business of the Catalogue—proved to be not -the least onerous, and it was, assuredly, not the best -rewarded in the shape of its ultimate reception by those -concerned more immediately in its performance. I can -<span class='pageno' id='Page_567'>567</span>speak with some sympathy on this point, since it was as a -temporary assistant in the preparation of this formidable -and keenly-criticised Catalogue, that the present writer -entered the service of the Trustees, in February, 1839.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Objections to the plan of the Museum Printed Book Catalogue (1839–1869).</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>That some objections to the plan adopted in 1839 are -well-grounded I entirely believe. But the important point -in this matter, for our present purpose, is, not that the plan -preferred was unobjectionable, but that the utmost effort -was used, at the time and under the circumstances of the -time, to prepare such a Catalogue as should meet the fair -requirements both of the Trustees and of the Readers. It -is within my recollection that, to effect this, Mr. <span class='sc'>Panizzi</span> -laboured, personally as well as in the way of super-intendance -and direction, as it has not often happened to -me, in my time, to see men labour for the Public. Assuredly -to him promotion brought no lessening of toil in -any form.</p> - -<p class='c011'>In shaping the plan of the General Catalogue of 1839–1870 -(for it is, at this moment of writing, still in active -progress), the course taken was this:—A sort of committee -of five persons was formed, each of whom severally was to -prepare, in rough draft, rules for the compilation of the -projected work, illustrated by copious examples. It was -to be entirely new, and to embrace every book contained in -the Library up to the close of the year 1838. The draft -rules were then freely discussed in joint committee, and -wherever differences of opinion failed to be reconciled upon -conference, the majority of votes determined the question. -Such was Mr. <span class='sc'>Panizzi’s</span> anxiety to prepare the best Catalogue -for the Readers that was practicable, that he never -insisted, authoritatively, on his own view of any point -whatever, which might be in contention amongst us, when -he stood in a minority. On all such points, he voted upon -<span class='pageno' id='Page_568'>568</span>an exact equality with his assistants. The rules that were -most called into question (before the Commissioners of 1848–1850) -had been severally discussed and determined in this fair -and simple way. Beyond all doubt, some of the rules might -now be largely amended in the light of subsequent experience. -But, when adopted, they seemed to <em>all</em> of us the -best that were practicable under all the then circumstances.</p> - -<p class='c011'>The committee thus formed consisted of Mr. <span class='sc'>Panizzi</span> -himself, of Mr. Thomas <span class='sc'>Watts</span>, of Mr. John Winter <span class='sc'>Jones</span> -(now Principal-Librarian), of Mr. John Humffreys <span class='sc'>Parry</span> -(now Mr. Serjeant <span class='sc'>Parry</span>), and of the writer of this -volume. The labour was much more arduous than the -average run of readers in a Public Library have any adequate -conception of. It occupied several months. It was -pushed with such energy and industry, that many a time, -after we had all five worked together, till the light of the -spring days of 1839 failed us, we adjourned to work on—with -the help of a sandwich and a glass of Burgundy—in -Mr. <span class='sc'>Panizzi’s</span> private apartment above the old gate in the -Court-yard. If the result of our joint labours had been -printed in the ordinary form of books, it would have made -a substantial octavo volume. The code has, no doubt, -many faults and oversights, but, be they what they may, it -was a vast improvement upon former doings in that direction; -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>See Mr. -Panizzi’s -evidence -before the -Commissioners -of 1848–9.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -and not a little of it has been turned to account, of -late years, in the Public Libraries of France, of Germany, -and of America.</p> - -<p class='c011'>In the labours of this little house-committee my late -friend took a very large share. To Mr. <span class='sc'>Panizzi</span>, and to -him, all their colleagues in the task of 1839 will readily -admit that the chief merit of what is good, and the smallest -part of the demerit of what may have been injudicious, in -the <cite>Rules for the Compilation of the Catalogue of Printed -<span class='pageno' id='Page_569'>569</span>Books</cite> (now before me) is incontestably due. My own -experience in such matters, in the spring of 1839, was -small indeed. That of my friend <span class='sc'>Parry</span> was even less. -Mr. Winter <span class='sc'>Jones</span> possessed, already, the advantage of a -thorough familiarity with the Library about to be catalogued, -and also an extensive and thorough general knowledge -of books. Of Mr. <span class='sc'>Panizzi’s</span> qualifications and -attainments, for such a labour, it would be supererogatory -and idle to say a word more, except that he had already—and -single-handed—made so good a Catalogue of the fine -Library of the Royal Society that the meddling of half a dozen -‘revisers’ failed to spoil it. But there is no impropriety -in saying of Mr. <span class='sc'>Watts</span>, that he so delighted in -the labour in hand as to make it seem, to those who worked -with him, that he looked upon it in the light of a pleasant -recreation rather than in the light of a dry task.</p> - -<p class='c010'>But whatever the ultimate differences of opinion, -amongst those concerned in such a matter, about the merits -of the Museum Catalogue, begun in 1839, there was no -difference at all, either in the House or out of it, as to the -conspicuous merits of his performance of every subsequent -duty. His stores of knowledge were put, with the utmost -readiness, at the service of all sorts of readers; and he was -not less admirable in the discharge of his office of Superintendent -of the Reading-Room than afterwards in the -more prominent office of Keeper of Printed Books—which -he held little more than three years.</p> - -<p class='c011'>When Sir Henry <span class='sc'>Ellis</span> retired, in 1856, from the office -of Principal-Librarian, the Collection of Printed Books—which -he had found, on his accession to that office, extending -to less than one hundred and fifty thousand volumes—exceeded -five hundred and twenty thousand volumes. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_570'>570</span>The annual number of Readers admitted had increased -from about seven hundred and fifty to nearly four -thousand.</p> - -<p class='c011'>The one step which did more than aught else to promote -this improvement was the systematic survey of the then -existing condition of the Printed Library, in all the great -departments of knowledge, which Mr. <span class='sc'>Panizzi</span> set on foot -in 1843, and embodied in a Memoir addressed to the -Trustees, on the first of January, 1845.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Mr. Panizzi’s Memoir on the Collection of Printed Books, 1845.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>The principle on which this Memoir was compiled lay in -the careful comparison of the Museum Catalogues with the -best special bibliographies, and with the Catalogues of -other Libraries. In Jurisprudence, for example, the national -collection was tested by the <cite>Bibliotheca Juridica</cite> of -<span class='sc'>Lipenius</span>, <span class='sc'>Senckenberg</span>, and <span class='sc'>Madahn</span>; by the list of law-books -inserted in <span class='sc'>Dupin’s</span> edition of <span class='sc'>Camus’</span> <cite><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Lettres sur -la profession d’Avocat</span></cite>, and by the <cite>Bibliothèque diplomatique -choisie</cite> of <span class='sc'>Martens</span>. In Political Economy, by <span class='sc'>Blanqui’s</span> -list given in the <cite><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Histoire de l’Economie politique en Europe</span></cite>. -The Mathematical section of the Library was compared -with <span class='sc'>Rogg’s</span> <cite><span lang="de" xml:lang="de">Handbuch der mathematischen Literatur</span></cite>. In -British History, the <cite>Bibliotheca Grenvilliana</cite>, and the -<cite>Catalogue of the Library of the Writers to the Signet</cite>, were -examined, for those sections of the subject to which they -were more particularly applicable, and so on in the -other departments. The facts thus elicited were striking. -It was shown that much had been done since 1836 to -augment almost every section of the Library; but that the -deficiencies were still of the most conspicuous sort. In a -word, the statement abundantly established the truth of -the proposition that ‘the Collection of Printed Books in the -British Museum is not nearly so complete and perfect as -the National Library of Great Britain ought to be ...’ -<span class='pageno' id='Page_571'>571</span>and it then proceeded to discuss the further question: ‘By -what means can the collection be brought with all proper -despatch to a state of as much completeness and perfection -as is attainable in such matters, and as the public service -may require?’</p> - -<p class='c011'>It was shown that no reliance could be placed upon -donations, for the filling up those gaps in the Library which -were the special subject of the Memoir. Rare and precious -books might thus come, but not the widely miscellaneous -assemblage still needed. As to special grants for -the acquisition of entire collections, not one of ten such -collections, it was thought, would, under existing circumstances, -be suitable for the Museum. The Copyright-tax -has no bearing, however rigidly enforced, save on current -British Literature. There remained, therefore, but one -adequate resource, that of annual Parliamentary grants, -unfettered by restrictions as to their application, and capable -of being depended upon for a considerable number of years -to come. Purchases might thus be organized in all parts of -the world with foresight, system, and continuity. In the -letter addressed by the Trustees to the Treasury, it was -stated that, ‘for filling up the chasms which are so much to -be regretted, and some of which are distinctly set forth in -the annexed document, the Trustees think that a sum of -not less than ten thousand a year will be required for the -next ten years,’ in addition to the usual five thousand a -year for the ordinary acquisitions of the Library.</p> - -<p class='c011'>The Lords of the Treasury were not willing to recommend -to Parliament a larger annual grant than ten thousand -pounds, ‘for the purchase of books of all descriptions,’ -but so far they were disposed to proceed, -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><cite>Treasury -Minutes</cite>, -1845.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -‘for some -years to come;’ and they strongly inculcated upon the -Trustees ‘the necessity, during the continuance of such -<span class='pageno' id='Page_572'>572</span>grants, of postponing additions to the other collections -under their charge, which, however desirable in themselves, -are of subordinate importance to that of completing the -Library.’</p> - -<p class='c010'><span class='sc'>Manuscripts -added in -the years -1849, 1850.</span></p> - -<p class='c011'>In 1843, an important series of modern Historical MSS., -relating more especially to the South of Europe, was purchased -from the <span class='sc'>Ranuzzi</span> family of Bologna. The papers -of the Brothers Laurence <span class='sc'>Hyde</span>, Earl of Rochester, and -Henry <span class='sc'>Hyde</span>, Earl of Clarendon, were also secured. Additions, -too, of considerable interest, were made to the theological -and classical sections of the MS. Department, by -the purchase of many vellum MSS., ranging from the -eleventh to the fifteenth centuries. In 1849, the most -important acquisitions related to our British History. -About three hundred documents illustrative of the English -Wars in France (1418 to 1450), nearly a hundred autograph -letters of <span class='sc'>William III</span>, and an extensive series of transcripts -from the archives at the Hague, were thus gathered for the -future historian. In 1850, a curious series of Stammbücker, -three hundred and twenty in number, and in date -extending from 1554 to 1785, was obtained by purchase. -These Albums, collectively, contained more than twenty-seven -thousand autographs of persons more or less eminent -in the various departments of human activity. Amongst -them is the signature of <span class='sc'>Milton</span>. The acquisitions of 1851 -included some Biblical MSS. of great curiosity; an extensive -series of autograph letters (chiefly from the Donnadieu -Collection), and a large number of papers relating to the -affairs of the English Mint.</p> - -<p class='c011'>In the year last-named Sir Frederick <span class='sc'>Madden</span> thus -summed up the accessions to his Department since the -year 1836:</p> - -<table class='table0'> - <tr><td class='c015' colspan='2'><span class='pageno' id='Page_573'>573</span></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='btt blt c016'>Volumes of Manuscripts</td> - <td class='btt brt c017'>9051</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c016'>Rolls of Maps, Pedigrees, &c.</td> - <td class='brt c017'>668</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c016'>Manuscripts on Reed, Bark, or other material</td> - <td class='brt c017'>136</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c016'>Charters and Rolls</td> - <td class='brt c017'>6750</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c016'>Papyri</td> - <td class='brt c017'>42</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='bbt blt c016'>Seals</td> - <td class='bbt brt c017'>442</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Tabular view of the accessions to the MSS. Department from 1836–1851.</span></div> - -<p class='c014'>And he adds:—‘If money had been forthcoming, the number -of manuscripts acquired during the last fifteen years might -have been more than doubled. The collections that have -passed into other hands, namely, Sir Robert <span class='sc'>Chambers’</span> -Sanscrit MSS.; Sir William <span class='sc'>Ouseley’s</span> Persian; <span class='sc'>Bruce’s</span> -Ethiopic and Arabic; <span class='sc'>Michael’s</span> Hebrew; <span class='sc'>Libri’s</span> Italian, -French, Latin, and Miscellaneous; <span class='sc'>Barrois’</span> French and -Latin; as well as the Stowe Collection of Anglo-Saxon, -Irish, and English manuscripts, might all have been so -united. The liberality of the Treasury becomes very small -when compared with the expenditure of individuals. Lord -<span class='sc'>Ashburnham</span>, during the last ten years, has paid nearly as -large a sum for MSS. as has been expended on the National -Collection since the Museum was first founded.’</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Growth of the Printed Department up to 1851.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>The causes which at this period again tended somewhat to -slacken the growth of the Printed Collection have been -glanced at already. But during the fifteen years from -1836 to 1851, it had increased at the rate of sixteen -thousand volumes a year, on the average. When the estimates -of 1852 were under discussion, Mr. <span class='sc'>Panizzi</span> stated, -‘that till room is provided, the deficiency must in a great -measure continue, and new [foreign] books only to a -limited extent be purchased.’ The grant for such purchases -was therefore, in that year, limited to four thousand -pounds. In a subsequent report, Mr. <span class='sc'>Panizzi</span> added, -‘that he could not but deeply regret the ill-consequences -which must accrue by allowing old deficiencies to continue, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_574'>574</span>and new ones to accumulate.’ From the same -report may be gathered a precise view of the actual additions, -from all sources, during the quinquennium of 1846–1850. -The increase in the printed books, therefore, -although it had not quite kept pace with Mr. <span class='sc'>Panizzi’s</span> -hopeful anticipations in 1852, had actually reached a larger -yearly average, during that last quinquennium, than was -attained in the like period from 1846 to 1850.</p> - -<p class='c011'>The report from which these figures are taken was made -in furtherance of the good and fruitful suggestion that a -great Reading-Room should be built within the inner -quadrangle. Judging from the past, argued Mr. <span class='sc'>Panizzi</span>, -in June, 1852, ‘and supposing that for the next ten years -from seven thousand to seven thousand five hundred pounds -will be spent in the purchase of printed books, the increase ... would be at the average of about twenty-seven -thousand volumes a year, without taking into consideration -the chance of an extraordinary increase, owing to the purchase -or donation of any large collection. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>See hereafter, -Chap. V.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -It was owing -to the splendid bequest of Mr. <span class='sc'>Grenville</span> that the additions -to the Collection in 1847 reached the enormous amount -of more than fifty-five thousand volumes. After the steady -and regular addition of about twenty-seven thousand -volumes for ten years together, here reckoned upon, the -Collection of Printed Books in the British Museum might -defy comparison, and would approach, as near as seems -practicable in such matters, to a state of completeness. -The increase for the ten years next following might be -fairly reduced to two thirds of the above sum. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><span class='sc'>Growth of -the Printed -Section of -the Library -since 1852.</span><span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -At this -rate, the collection of books, which has been more than -doubled during the last fifteen years, would be double -of what it now is in twenty years from the present time -[1852].’ At the date of this report the number of volumes -<span class='pageno' id='Page_575'>575</span>was already upwards of four hundred and seventy thousand. -At the date at which I now write (January, 1870), the -number of volumes, as nearly as it can be calculated, -has become one million and six thousand. On the average, -therefore, of the whole period, the increase has been not -less than thirty-one thousand five hundred volumes in every -year. The Collection was somewhat more than doubled -during the first fifteen years of Mr. <span class='sc'>Panizzi’s</span> Keepership. -During the next like term of years, when the department -was partly under the administration of Mr. <span class='sc'>Panizzi</span>, and -partly under that of Mr. Winter <span class='sc'>Jones</span>, it was nearly -doubled again. It follows that the anticipation expressed -in the <cite>Report</cite> of 1852 has been much more than fulfilled. -Less than seventeen years of labour have achieved what -was then expected to be the work of twenty years.</p> - -<p class='c010'>If the other departments of the British Museum cannot -show an equal ratio of growth during the term now under -review, it has not been from lack of zeal, either in their -heads or in the Trustees. Their progress, too, was very -great, although it is not capable of being so strikingly and -compendiously illustrated. It has also to be borne in mind -that the arrears, so to speak, of the Library, were relatively -greater than those of some other divisions of the Museum.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Progress of the Natural History Collections.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>At the commencement of Sir Henry <span class='sc'>Ellis’s</span> term of -Principal-Librarianship, the Natural-History Collections were -partly under the charge of Dr. <span class='sc'>Leach</span>, partly under that -of Mr. Charles <span class='sc'>König</span>. Both were officers of considerable -scientific attainments. In the instance of Dr. <span class='sc'>Leach</span>, certain -peculiar eccentricities and crotchets were mixed up in -close union with undoubted learning and skill. In not a -few eminent naturalists a tendency to undervalue the -achievements of past days, and to exaggerate those of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_576'>576</span>the day that is passing, has often been noted. <span class='sc'>Leach</span> -evinced this tendency in more ways than one. But a -favourite way of manifesting it led him many times into -difficulties with his neighbours. He despised the taxidermy -of Sir Hans <span class='sc'>Sloane’s</span> age, and made periodical bonfires of -Sloanian specimens. These he was wont to call his -‘cremations.’ In his time, the Gardens of the Museum -were still a favourite resort of the Bloomsburians, but the -attraction of the terraces and the fragrance of the shrubberies -were sadly lessened when a pungent odour of -burning snakes was their accompaniment. The stronger -the complaints, however, the more apparent became Dr. -<span class='sc'>Leach’s</span> attachment to his favourite cremations.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>George Montagu; his labours in Natural History and his Zoological Museum.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'><span class='sc'>Leach</span> was the friend and correspondent of that eminent -cultivator of the classificatory sciences, Colonel George -<span class='sc'>Montagu</span>, of Lackham. Both of them rank among the -early members of the Linnæan Society, and it was under -<span class='sc'>Leach’s</span> editorship that <span class='sc'>Montagu’s</span> latest contributions to -the Society’s <cite>Transactions</cite> were published. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>1802–13.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -<span class='sc'>Montagu’s</span> -<cite>Synopsis of British Birds</cite> marks an epoch in the annals of -our local ornithology, as does his treatise entitled <cite>Testacea -Britannica</cite> in those of conchology. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>1803–9.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -His contributions to -the National Collections were very liberal. But he did not -care much for any books save those that treated of natural -history. In addition to a good estate and a fine mansion, -he had inherited from his brother a choice old Library at -Lackham, and a large cabinet of coins. These, I believe, -he turned to account as means of barter for books and specimens -in his favourite department of study. His love of -the beauties of nature led him to prefer an unpretending -abode in Devon to his fine Wiltshire house, and it was at -Knowle that he died in August, 1815. His Collections in -Zoology were purchased by the Trustees, and were removed -<span class='pageno' id='Page_577'>577</span>from Knowle soon after his death. Scarcely any other -purchase of like value in the Natural-History Department was -made for more than twenty years afterwards. After the -purchase of the Montagu Collection, the growth of that -department depended, as it had mainly depended before it, -on the acquisitions made for the Public by the several -naturalists who took part in the Voyages of Discovery or -whose chance collections, made in the course of ordinary -duty, came to be at the disposal of the British Admiralty.</p> - -<p class='c011'>Many of those naturalists were men of marked ability. -Of necessity, their explorations were attended with much -curious adventure. To detail their researches and vicissitudes -would form—without much credit to the writer—an -interesting chapter, the materials of which are superabundant. -But, at present, it must needs be matter of hope, -not of performance.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The distinctive progress of the Natural-History Collections, -from comparative and relative poverty, to a creditable -place amongst rival collections, connects itself pre-eminently -with the labours of Dr. John Edward <span class='sc'>Gray</span>, who -will hereafter be remembered as the ablest keeper and -organizer those collections have hitherto had. Dr. <span class='sc'>Gray</span> is -now (1870) in the forty-sixth year of his public service at -the British Museum, which he entered as an Assistant, in -1824. He is widely known by his able edition of <span class='sc'>Griffiths’</span> -<cite>Animal Kingdom</cite>, by his <cite>Illustrations of Indian Zoology</cite>, by -his account of the famous Derby Menagerie at Knowsley, -and by his <cite>Manual of British Shells</cite>; but his least ostensible -publications rank among the most conclusive proofs both of -his ability and of his zeal for the public service. Dr. <span class='sc'>Gray</span> -has always advocated the publication—to use Mr. <span class='sc'>Carlyle’s</span> -words when under interrogatory by the Museum -<span class='pageno' id='Page_578'>578</span>Commissioners of 1848—of ‘all sorts of Catalogues.’ It -is to him that the Public owe the admirable helps to the -study of natural history which have been afforded by the -long series of inventories, guides, and nomenclators, the -publication of which began, at his instance, in the year -1844, and has been unceasingly pursued. A mere list of -the various printed synopses which have grown out of -Dr. <span class='sc'>Gray’s</span> suggestion of 1844 would fill many such pages -as that which the reader has now before him. The consequence -is, that in no department of the Museum can the -student, as yet, economise his time as he can economise it -in the Natural-History Department. <em>Printed</em>, not Manuscript, -Catalogues mean time saved; disappointment -avoided; study fructified. No literary labour brings so -little of credit as does the work of the Catalogue-maker. -None better deserves the gratitude of scholars, as well as of -the general mass of visitors.</p> - -<div class='c002'></div> -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>State of the Natural History Collections of the Museum in 1836.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>Dr. <span class='sc'>Gray</span> became Keeper of Zoology in 1840. Four years -earlier, he had given to Sir Benjamin <span class='sc'>Hawes’</span> Committee a -striking account of the condition of that department, illustrating -it by comparisons with the corresponding Collections -in Paris, which may thus (not without unavoidable injustice) -be abridged:—The species of mammalia then in the Museum -were four hundred and five; the species of birds were two -thousand four hundred, illustrated by four thousand six hundred -and fifty-nine individual specimens. At that date, the -latest accessible data assigned to the Paris Collection about -five hundred species of mammals, and about two thousand -three hundred species of birds, illustrated by nearly six -thousand specimens. The Museum series of birds was -almost equally rich in the orders, taken generally; but in -gallinaceous birds it was more than proportionately rich, a -<span class='pageno' id='Page_579'>579</span>large number of splendid examples having been received -from India. In the birds of Africa, of Brazil, and of -Northern Europe, also, the Museum was already exceptionally -well-stored.</p> - -<p class='c011'>The special value of the Ornithological Collection undoubtedly -showed that it had been more elaborately cared for -than had been some other parts of natural history. But the -extent and richness of the bird gallery, even at this period, -is not to be ascribed merely to a desire to delight the eyes -of a crowd of visitors. For scientific purposes, a collection -of birds must be more largely-planned and better filled than -a collection of mammals, or one of fish. In birds, the -essential characters of a considerable group of individual -specimens may be identical and their colours entirely -different. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>See <cite>Minutes of Evidence</cite>, 1836, p. 238.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -Besides the numerous diversities attendant upon -age and sex, the very date at which a bird is killed may -produce variations which have their interest for the scientific -student.</p> - -<p class='c011'>The number of species of reptiles was in 1836 about -six hundred, illustrated by about one thousand three hundred -specimens. This number was much inferior to that -of the Museum at Paris, but it exceeded by one third the -number of species in the Vienna Museum, -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><em>Ibid.</em>, p. 242 -(Q. 2996–9).<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -and almost by -one half the then number at Berlin.</p> - -<p class='c011'>The species of fish amounted to nearly a thousand, but -this was hardly the fourth of the great collection at Paris, -although it probably exceeded every other, or almost every -other, Continental collection of the same date. Of shells, -the Museum number of species was four thousand and -twenty-five (exclusive of fossils), illustrated by about fifteen -thousand individuals. This number of species was at par -with that of Paris; much superior both to Berlin and to -Leyden; but it was far from representing positive—as distinguished -<span class='pageno' id='Page_580'>580</span>from comparative—wealth. There were already, -in 1836, more than nine thousand known species of shells.</p> - -<p class='c011'>It was further shown in the evidence that, even under the -arrangements of 1836, the facilities of public access equalled -those given at the most liberal of the Continental Museums, -and considerably exceeded those which obtained at fully -four-fifths of their number.</p> - -<p class='c011'>Among the many services rendered to the Museum by -Dr. <span class='sc'>Gray</span>, one is of too important a character to be passed -over, even in a notice so brief as this must needs be. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><span class='sc'>The -Hardwicke -Bequest of -Zoology.</span><span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -The -large bequest in Zoology of Major-General <span class='sc'>Hardwicke</span> -grew out of a stipulation made by Dr. <span class='sc'>Gray</span>, when he -undertook, at General <span class='sc'>Hardwicke’s</span> request, the editorship -of the <cite>Illustrations of Indian Zoology</cite>. A long labour -brought to the editor no pecuniary return, but it brought -an important collection to the British Public in the first -instance, and eventually a large augmentation of what had -been originally given.</p> - -<div class='c002'></div> -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Growth of the Natural History Collections of the Museum. 1836–49.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>In March, 1849, the course of inquiries pursued by -Lord <span class='sc'>Ellesmere’s</span> Commission led to a new review of the -growth of the Natural-History Collections, and more especially -of the Zoology. It applied in particular to the twelve -or thirteen years which had then elapsed since the prior -inquiries of 1835–1836. The statement possesses much -interest, but it is occasionally deficient in that systematic -and necessary distinction between species and specimens -which characterised the evidence of 1836. In brief, however, -it may be said, that in the eight years extending -between June, 1840, and June, 1848, twenty-nine thousand -five hundred and ninety-five <em>specimens</em> of vertebrated -animals were added to the Museum galleries and storehouses. -Of these, five thousand seven hundred and ninety-seven -<span class='pageno' id='Page_581'>581</span>were mammals; thirteen thousand four hundred and -fourteen were birds; four thousand one hundred and twelve -reptiles; and six thousand two hundred and seventy-two -were fish. The number of specimens of annulose animals -added during the same period was seventy-three thousand -five hundred and sixty-three: and that of mollusca and -radiata, fifty-seven thousand six hundred and ten.</p> - -<p class='c011'>These large additions comprised extensive gatherings -made by <span class='sc'>Dyson</span> in Venezuela, and in various parts of North -America; by <span class='sc'>Gardiner</span> and <span class='sc'>Clausen</span> in Brazil; by <span class='sc'>Gosse</span> -in Jamaica; by <span class='sc'>Gould</span>, <span class='sc'>Gilbert</span>, and <span class='sc'>Stephenson</span>, in -Australia and in New Zealand; by <span class='sc'>Hartweg</span> in Mexico; -by <span class='sc'>Goudot</span> in Columbia; by <span class='sc'>Verreaux</span> and <span class='sc'>Smith</span> in -South Africa; by <span class='sc'>Frazer</span> in Tunis; and by <span class='sc'>Bridges</span> in -Chili and in some other parts of South America.</p> - -<p class='c011'>Of the splendid collections made by Mr. <span class='sc'>Hodgson</span> in -India, some more detailed mention must be made -hereafter.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Check in the growth of Natural-History Collections on the Continent, 1845–1855.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>Meanwhile, on the Continent of Europe, political commotion -had seriously checked the due progress of scientific -collections. Britain had been making unwonted strides in -the improvement of its Museum, at the very time when -most of the Continental States had allowed their fine -Museums to remain almost stationary. In mammals, -birds, and shells, the British Museum had placed itself in -the first rank. Only in reptiles, fish, and crustacea, could -even Paris now claim superiority. Those classes had there -engaged for a long series of years the unremitting research -and labour of such naturalists as <span class='sc'>Cuvier</span>, <span class='sc'>Dumeril</span>, -<span class='sc'>Valenciennes</span>, and <span class='sc'>Milne-Edwards</span>; and their relative -wealth of specimens it will be hard to overtake. In insects, -the Museum Collection vies with that of Paris in point of -extent, and excels it in point of arrangement.</p> - -<p class='c011'><span class='pageno' id='Page_582'>582</span>Not less conspicuous had been the growth of the several -Departments of Antiquities. And this part of the story of -the Museum teems with varied interest. Within a period -of less than thirty years, vast and widely-distant cities, rich -in works of art, have been literally disinterred. In succession -to the superb marbles of Athens, of Phigaleia, and of -Rome, some of the choicest sculptures and most curious -minor antiquities of Nineveh, of Calah, of Erech, of Ur-of-the-Chaldees, -of Babylon, of Xanthus, of Halicarnassus, -of Cnidus, and of Carthage, have come to London.</p> - -<p class='c011'>The growth of the subordinate Collections of Archæology -has been scarcely less remarkable. The series of ancient -vases—to take but one example—of which the research -and liberality of Sir William <span class='sc'>Hamilton</span> laid a good -foundation almost a century ago, has come at length to -surpass its wealthiest compeers. Only a few years earlier, -it ranked as but the third, perhaps as but the fourth, -among the great vase collections of Europe. London, in -that point of view, was below both Naples and Paris, if not -also below Munich. It now ranks above them all; possessing -two thousand six hundred vases, as against two -thousand at Paris, and two thousand one hundred at -Naples.<a id='r32'></a><a href='#f32' class='c013'><sup>[32]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c011'>Another department, lying in part nearer home—that of -British, Mediæval, and Ethnological Antiquities—has been -almost created by the labours of the last twenty years. The -‘British’ Museum can no longer be said to be a misnomer, -as designating an establishment in which British Archæology -met with no elucidation.</p> - -<div> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_583'>583</span> - <div class='section'><h4 class='c005'>CHAPTER III.<br /> <span class='large'>INTRODUCTION TO BOOK III <span class='normal'>(<em>Continued</em>):</span>—GROWTH, PROGRESS, AND INTERNAL ECONOMY, OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM DURING THE PRINCIPAL-LIBRARIANSHIP OF SIR ANTONIO PANIZZI.</span></h4></div> -</div> -<p class='c006'>‘Whatever be the judgment formed on [certain contested] -points at issue, the Minutes of Evidence must be -admitted to contain pregnant proofs of the acquirements -and abilities, the manifestation of which in subordinate -office led to Mr. Panizzi’s promotion to that which he -now holds under circumstances which, in our opinion—formed -on documentary evidence—did credit to the Principal -Trustees of the day.’—<span class='sc'>Report of the Commissioners -appointed to inquire into the Management -of the British Museum</span> (1850).</p> - -<p class='c007'>‘In consideration of the long and very valuable services -of Mr. Panizzi, including not only his indefatigable labours -as Principal-Librarian, but also the service which he rendered -as architect of the new Reading-Room, the Trustees -recommended that he should be allowed to retire on full -salary after a discharge of his duties for thirty-four years.’</p> - -<div class='lg-container-r c008'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'><span class='sc'>Hansard’s</span> <cite>Parliamentary Debates</cite> (27 July, 1866).</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c009'><em>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.</em></p> - -<p class='c010'>No question connected with the improvement of the -British Museum has, from time to time, more largely engrossed -the attention, either of Parliament or of the Public -at large, than has the question of the Buildings. On none -<span class='pageno' id='Page_584'>584</span>have the divergences of opinion been greater, or the expressions -of dissatisfaction with the plans—or with the -want of plan—louder or more general.</p> - -<p class='c011'>Yet there is no doubt (amongst those, at least, who have -had occasion to examine the subject closely) that the architects -of the new British Museum—first Sir Robert <span class='sc'>Smirke</span>, -and then Mr. Sydney <span class='sc'>Smirke</span>—have been conspicuous for -professional ability. Nor is there any doubt, anywhere, -that the Trustees of the Museum have bestowed diligent -attention on the plans submitted to them. They have -been most anxious to discharge that part of their duty to -the Public with the same faithfulness which, on the whole, -has characterised their general fulfilment of the trust committed -to them. Why, it is natural to ask, has their success -been so unequal?</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Causes of the unsatisfactoriness of many parts of the new Museum Buildings.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>Without presuming upon the possession of competence -to answer the question with fulness, there is no undue confidence -in offering a partial reply. Part of their failure to -satisfy the public expectations has arisen from a laches in -Parliament itself. At the critical time when the character -of the new buildings had practically to be decided, parsimoniousness -led, not only to construction piecemeal, but to -the piecemeal preparation of the designs themselves. Temporary -makeshifts took the place of foreseeing plans. And -what may have sounded like economy in 1830 has, in its -necessary results, proved to be very much like waste, long -before 1870.</p> - -<p class='c011'>Had a comprehensive scheme of reconstruction been -looked fully in the face when, forty years ago, the new -buildings began to be erected, three fourths at most of -the money which has been actually expended would have -sufficed for the erection of a Museum, far more satisfactory -in its architectural character, and affording at least one -<span class='pageno' id='Page_585'>585</span>fourth more of accommodation for the National Collections. -The British Museum buildings have afforded a salient instance -of the truth of <span class='sc'>Burke’s</span> words: ‘Great expense may -be an essential part in true economy. Mere parsimony is -<em>not</em> economy.’ But, in this instance, the fault is plainly in -Parliament, not in the Trustees of the establishment which -has suffered.</p> - -<p class='c011'>The one happy exception to the general unsatisfactoriness -of the new buildings—as regards, not merely architectural -beauty, but fitness of plan, sufficiency of light, and -adaptedness to purpose—is seen in the new Reading-Room. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><span class='sc'>The new -Reading-Room.</span><span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -And the new Reading-Room is, virtually, the production of -an amateur architect. The chief merits of its design belong, -indubitably, to Sir Antonio <span class='sc'>Panizzi</span>. The story of -that part of the new building is worth the telling.</p> - -<p class='c011'>That some good result should be eventually derived -from the large space of ground within the inner quadrangle -had been many times suggested. The suggestion offered, -in 1837, by Mr. Thomas <span class='sc'>Watts</span> was thus expressed in his -letter to the Editor of the <cite>Mechanics Magazine</cite>:—</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>The suggestions for building additional Libraries of 1837 and of 1847.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>Mr. <span class='sc'>Watts</span> began by criticising, somewhat incisively, -the architectural skill which had constructed a vast quadrangle -without providing it even with the means of a free -circulation of air. He pinned Sir Robert <span class='sc'>Smirke</span> on the -horns of a dilemma. If, he argued, the architect looked to -a sanitary result, he had, in fact, provided a well of malaria. -If he contemplated a display of art, he had, by consenting -to the abolition of his northern portico, spoiled and -destroyed all architectural effect. ‘The space,’ he proceeded -to say, which has thus been wasted, ‘would have -afforded accommodation <em>for the whole Library</em>, much superior -to what is now proposed to afford it. A Reading-Room -of ample dimensions might have stood in the centre, and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_586'>586</span>been surrounded, on all four sides, with galleries for the -books.’ Afterwards, when adverting to the great expense -which had been incurred upon the façades of the quadrangle, -he went on to say: ‘It might now seem barbarous to propose -the filling up of the square—as ought originally to -have been done. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><cite>Mechanics’ -Magazine</cite> -(1837); vol. -xxvi, pp. 295, -seqq.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -Perhaps the best plan would be to -design another range of building entirely [new?], enclosing -the present building on the eastern and northern sides as -the Elgin and other galleries do on the western. To do -this, it would be necessary to purchase and pull down -one side of two streets,—Montagu Street and Montagu -Place.’ -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><em>Ibid.</em><span class='hidev'>|</span></span></p> - -<div class='sidenote'>See Chap. ii of Book III, p. 566, and the accompanying fac-simile.</div> - -<p class='c011'>As I have intimated already, this alternative project was -unconsciously reproduced, by the present writer, ten years -later, without any idea that it had been anticipated. But -neither to the mind of the writer of 1837, nor to that of -the writer of 1847, did the grand feature of construction -which, within another decade, has given to London a -splendid building as well as a most admirable Reading-Room, -present itself. The substantial merit, both of originally -suggesting, and of (in the main) eventually realising -the actual building of 1857, belongs to Antonio <span class='sc'>Panizzi</span>.</p> - -<p class='c011'>As to the claims on that score advanced by Mr. <span class='sc'>Hosking</span>, -formerly Professor of Architecture at King’s College, they -apply to a plan wholly different from the plan which was -carried into execution.</p> - -<p class='c011'>Mr. <span class='sc'>Hosking’s</span> scheme was drawn up, for private circulation, -in February, 1848 (thirteen months after the writing -of my own pamphlet entitled <cite>Public Libraries in London -and in Paris</cite>, and more than six months after its circulation -in print), when it was first submitted to Lord <span class='sc'>Ellesmere’s</span> -Commission of Inquiry. It was first published (in -<cite>The Builder</cite>) in June, 1850. His object was to provide -<span class='pageno' id='Page_587'>587</span>a grand central hall for the Department of Antiquities.</p> - -<p class='c011'>When Mr. <span class='sc'>Hosking</span> called public attention to his design -of 1848—in a pamphlet entitled <cite>Some Remarks upon the -recent Addition of a Reading-Room to the British Museum</cite>—Mr. -Sydney <span class='sc'>Smirke</span> wrote to him thus:—‘I recollect -seeing your plans at a meeting of the Trustees, ... shortly -after you sent them [to Lord <span class='sc'>Ellesmere</span>]. When, long -subsequently, Mr. <span class='sc'>Panizzi</span> showed me his sketch for a plan -of a new Reading-Room, I confess it did not remind me of -yours, the purposes of the two plans and the treatment and -construction were so different.’<a id='r33'></a><a href='#f33' class='c013'><sup>[33]</sup></a> -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>Sydney -Smirke to -William -Hosking. -(<cite>Remarks</cite>, -&c.)<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -Whilst to Mr. <span class='sc'>Smirke</span> -himself belongs the merit of practical execution, that of -design belongs no less unquestionably to <span class='sc'>Panizzi</span>.</p> - -<p class='c011'><span class='pageno' id='Page_588'>588</span>Mr. <span class='sc'>Panizzi</span> himself preferred, at first, the plan of -extending the building on the eastern and northern sides. -His suggestions had the approval of the Commissioners of -1850. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><span class='sc'>The new -or Panizzi -Reading-Room.</span><span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -But the Government was slow to give power to -the Trustees to carry out the plan of their officer and the -recommendation of the Commissioners of Inquiry, by proposing -the needful vote in a Committee of Supply. Plan -and Report alike lay dormant from the year 1850 to 1854. It -was then that, as a last resort, and as a measure of economy, -by avoiding all present necessity to buy more ground of the -Duke of <span class='sc'>Bedford</span>, Mr. <span class='sc'>Panizzi</span> recommended the Trustees -to build within the quadrangle, and drew a sketch-plan, on -which their architect reported favourably. Sixty-one thousand -pounds, by way of a first instalment, was voted on the -third of July, 1854. The present noble structure was -completed within three years from that day, and its total -cost—including the extensive series of book-galleries and -rooms of various kinds, subserving almost innumerable -purposes—amounted in round numbers to a hundred and -fifty thousand pounds. It was thus only a little more than -the cost of the King’s Library, which accommodates eighty -thousand volumes of books and a Collection of Birds. The -new Reading-Room and its appendages can be made to -accommodate, in addition to its three hundred and more of -readers, some million, or near it, of volumes, without impediment -to their fullest accessibility.</p> - -<p class='c011'>To describe by words a room which, in 1870, has become -more or less familiar, I suppose, to hundreds of -thousands of Britons, and to a good many thousands of -foreigners, would now be superfluous. But it will not be -without advantage, perhaps, to show its character and appearance -with the simple brevity of woodcuts.</p> - -<p class='c011'>The following illustrative block-plan shows the general -<span class='pageno' id='Page_589'>589</span>arrangement of the Museum building at large, at the date -of the erection of the new Reading-Room.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Block-plan of Museum (1857), distinguishing the Libraries from the Galleries of Antiquities, &c.</span></div> - -<div class='figcenter id001'> -<img src='images/i_589.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic001'> -<p>I. <span class='sc'>General Block-Plan of the British Museum, as it was in 1857.</span></p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c011'>The shaded part of the building itself shows the portions -allotted to the <em>Library</em>. The unshaded part is assigned, on -the ground floor, to the Department of <em>Antiquities</em>, and -(speaking generally) on the floor above—in common with -<span class='pageno' id='Page_590'>590</span>the upper floors of the Library part—to the Departments -of <em>Natural History</em>. The ‘<em>Print Room</em>’ is shown on the -ground-plan between the Elgin Gallery and the north-western -extremity of the Department of Printed Books.</p> - -<p class='c011'>The next illustration shows, in detail, the ground-plan -of the new Reading-Room and of the adjacent book-galleries:—</p> - -<div class='figcenter id001'> -<img src='images/i_590.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic001'> -<p>II. <span class='sc'>Ground-Plan of the new or ‘Panizzi’ Reading-Room, and of the adjacent Galleries, 1857.</span></p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c011'><span class='pageno' id='Page_591'>591</span>The general appearance of the interior of the Reading-Room -may be shown thus:—</p> - -<div class='figcenter id002'> -<img src='images/i_591.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic001'> -<p>III. <span class='sc'>Interior View of the new Reading-Room, 1857.</span></p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c011'><span class='pageno' id='Page_592'>592</span>Of course, the improvements thus effected did but solve -a portion of the difficulty felt, long before 1857, in accommodating -the National Collections upon any adequate scale, -which should provide alike for present claims and for -future extension. This more effectual provision became -one of the most pressing questions with which both the -Trustees and their officers had now to deal. During the -whole term of Sir A. <span class='sc'>Panizzi’s</span> Principal-Librarianship -this building question increased in gravity and urgency, -from year to year. Both the Trustees and the Principal-Librarian -were intent upon its solution. But the latter -was enforced, by failing health, to quit office, leaving the -matter still unsolved.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Parliamentary inquiry into proposed enlargement of British Museum in 1860.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>Most of the little information on this part of the subject -which, within my present limits, it will be practicable for -me to offer to the reader, belongs, properly, to a subsequent -chapter. But some brief notice must be given here of the -important inquiries, ‘how far, and in what way, it may be -desirable to find increased space for the extension and -arrangement of the various Collections of the British -Museum, and the best means of rendering them available -for the promotion of Science and Art,’ which were made, -between the months of May and August of 1860, by a -Select Committee of the House of Commons.</p> - -<p class='c011'>The first question to be answered by the Committee of -1860 was this: Is it expedient, or not, that the <em>Natural-History</em> -Collections should be removed from Bloomsbury, to -make room for the inevitable growth of the Collections of -<em>Antiquities</em>?</p> - -<p class='c011'>After an elaborate inquiry, spreading over three months, -the Committee reported thus:—‘The witnesses examined -have, almost unanimously, testified to the preference -over the other Collections, with which the Natural-History -<span class='pageno' id='Page_593'>593</span>Collections are viewed by the ordinary and most -numerous frequenters of the Museum. This preference is -easily accounted for; the objects exhibited, especially the -birds, from the beauty of their plumage, are calculated to -attract and amuse the spectators. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><span class='sc'>The -Select -Committee -of the -House of -Commons, -1860.</span><span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -The eye has been accustomed -in many instances to the living specimens in the -Zoological Gardens, and cheap publications and prints have -rendered their forms more or less familiar. It is, indeed, -easily intelligible that, while for the full appreciation of -works of archæological interest and artistic excellence a -special education must be necessary, the works of Nature -may be studied with interest and instruction by all persons -of ordinary intelligence. It appears, from evidence, that -many of the middle classes are in the habit of forming collections -in various branches of Natural History, and that -many, even the working classes, employ their holidays in -the study of botany or geology, or in the collection of insects -obtained in the neighbourhood of London; that they -refer to the British Museum, in order to ascertain the -proper classification of the specimens thus obtained, and -that want of leisure alone restrains the further increase of -this class of visitors. Your Committee, in order to confirm -their view of the peculiar popularity of the Natural-History -Collections, beg to refer to a return from the Principal-Librarian, -which shows the number of visitors in the -several public portions of the Museum, at the same hour of -the day, during fifteen open days, from the fifteenth of June -to the eleventh of July, 1860. From this it appears that -two thousand five hundred and fifty-seven persons were in -the Galleries of Antiquities at the given hour, and one thousand -and fifty-six in the King’s Library and MSS. Rooms, -while three thousand three hundred and seventy-eight were -in the Natural-History Galleries; showing an excess of two -<span class='pageno' id='Page_594'>594</span>hundred and twenty per cent. in the Natural-History -Department over the King’s Library and MSS. Rooms, -and of thirty-three per cent. over the Galleries of Antiquities, -notwithstanding that the latter are of considerably -greater extent than the Galleries of Natural History. The -evidence received by your Committee induces the belief -that the removal of these most popular collections from -their present central position to one less generally accessible -would excite much dissatisfaction, not merely among a -large portion of the inhabitants of the metropolis, but -among the numerous inhabitants of the country, who -from time to time visit London by railway, and to whom -the proximity of the British Museum to most of the railway -termini, as compared with the distance of the localities -to which it has been proposed to transport such collections, -is of great practical importance. Similar evidence shows -that the proposed removal of those collections from the -British Museum has excited grave and general disapprobation -in the scientific world. Your Committee cannot here -employ more forcible language than that made use of in a -memorial signed by one hundred and fourteen persons, including -many eminent promoters and cultivators of science -in England, and presented to the Chancellor of the -Exchequer in 1848. The following are their words:—“We -beg to add the expression of our opinion that the removal -of the Natural-History Collections from the site where they -have been established for upwards of a century, in the -centre of London, particularly if to any situation distant -from that centre, would be viewed by the mass of the inhabitants -with extreme disfavour, it being a well-known fact -that by far the greater number of visitors to the Museum -consists of those who frequent the halls containing the -Natural-History Collections, while it is obvious that many of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_595'>595</span>those persons who come from the densely peopled districts of -the eastern, northern, and southern parts of London, would -feel it very inconvenient to resort to any distant locality.”’</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Recommendations of the Commons’ Committee of 1860.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>After an elaborate examination into the nature and -extent of those enlargements which the present growth and -probable increase of the several Collections of Antiquities -and of Natural History render necessary, the Committee -proceed thus:—</p> - -<p class='c011'>The ground immediately surrounding the Museum, says -the reporter, speaking of the adjacent streets to the east, -west, and north, ‘comprises altogether about five and a half -acres, valued by Mr. <span class='sc'>Smirke</span> at about two hundred and -forty thousand pounds. As the proprietary interest in all -this ground belongs to a single owner, your Committee are -of opinion that it would be convenient, and possibly even a -profitable arrangement, for the State at once to purchase -that interest, and to receive the rents of the lessees in -return for the capital invested. The State would then have -the power, whenever any further extension of the Museum -became necessary, to obtain possession of such houses as -might best suit the purpose in view.</p> - -<p class='c011'>‘Independently, however, of this larger suggestion, your -Committee are fully convinced, both from the uniform -purport of the papers printed at different times by the -House of Commons, and from the statements of the various -witnesses whom they have now examined, that it is indispensable, -not merely to the appropriate exhibition of our -unequalled National Collections, but even to the avoidance -of greater ultimate expense, through alterations and re-arrangements, -that sufficient space should be immediately -acquired in connexion with the British Museum, to meet -the requirements of the several departments which have -been enumerated under the last head, and that such space -<span class='pageno' id='Page_596'>596</span>should throughout be adapted, by its position, extent, and -facilities of application, to the arrangement of the collections -on a comprehensive, and, therefore, probably permanent -system. They will now proceed to point out several -sites, either on or adjoining the present ground of the -Museum, which seem to them to present the greatest advantages -for the accommodation of the respective departments.’</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Natural History Collections.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>Although, the Committee proceed to say, the amount of -space which, on the foregoing estimate, would be requisite for -the Natural-History Collections is not so great as to involve -the necessity of their removal from the British Museum on -that ground alone, your Committee, nevertheless, attach so -much weight to the arguments in favour of preserving the -various departments of the Museum from the risk of collision -with each other, that, should it be determined to provide -new space for Natural History in connexion with the -Museum, they would make it a primary object to isolate -its collections, as far as possible, from all others in the -same locality. The chief part of the Natural-History Collections -is now on the upper floor, where they occupy, according -to the return of Mr. <span class='sc'>Smirke</span>, in November, 1857, -forty-eight thousand four hundred and forty-two superficial -feet. The remainder of that floor, containing, exclusively of -a small space not reckoned by Mr. <span class='sc'>Smirke</span>, twenty-one -thousand five hundred and thirty-two feet, is occupied by -Antiquities. It appears to your Committee that if, by any -adaptation of ground to be acquired adjoining the Museum, -adequate space should be provided elsewhere for the Antiquities -now on the upper floor, the most expedient arrangement -would be to appropriate the whole of that floor to -the Natural-History Collections. If this space proved insufficient -for all such collections, your Committee would then -recommend that the newly acquired portion should be -<span class='pageno' id='Page_597'>597</span>applied exclusively to the Department of Zoology; and that -a sufficient portion of ground should be purchased on the -north side of the Museum as a site for galleries to provide -for Mineralogy, and thus also indirectly for Geology.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Prints and Drawings.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>A convenient site for this department would, in the -opinion of the Committee, be provided by the suggested -acquisition of additional ground on the north side. A -building might there be erected in continuation of the -present east wing of the Museum, to contain, on its upper -floor, the Mineralogical Collections, and on the lower the -Prints and Drawings, with adequate space both for their -preservation and exhibition.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Antiquities.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>In determining the site most suitable for the large additional -accommodation required for this department, the -Committee thought it most prudent that the Trustees of the -Museum should be guided, partly by the greater or less cost -of purchasing the requisite amount of ground in different -directions, but chiefly by the greater or less fitness of the different -portions of ground for the best system of arrangement.</p> - -<div class='c002'></div> -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Internal economy:—Reorganization and subdivision of Departments. 1856–66.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>In the same year in which Mr. <span class='sc'>Panizzi</span> became Principal-Librarian -(1856), one of the recommendations of Lord -<span class='sc'>Ellesmere’s</span> Commission-Report of 1850 was carried -into effect by the creation of the new office of ‘Superintendent -of the Natural-History Departments.’ And the -former partial subdivision and reorganization of those -departments was, in the following year, carried further by -the formation of a separate Department of Mineralogy. In -subsequent years, the old Department of Antiquities was, like -the Natural History, divided into four departments, namely, -(1) Greek and Roman Antiquities; (2) Oriental Antiquities; -(3) British and Mediæval Antiquities and Ethnography; -(4) Coins and Medals.</p> - -<p class='c011'><span class='pageno' id='Page_598'>598</span>At present (1870), it may here be added, the entire -Museum is divided into twelve departments, comprising -three several groups of four sections to each. The Natural-History -group being comprised of (1) Zoology; (2) Palæontology; -(3) Botany; (4) Mineralogy. The Literary group -comprising (1) Printed Books; (2) Manuscripts; (3) -Prints and Drawings; (4) Maps, Charts, Plans, and Topographical -Drawings. Experience has amply vindicated -the wisdom of the principle of subdivision. But it is -probable that the principle has now been carried as far as -it can usefully work in practice.</p> - -<p class='c011'>Increased efficiency and rapidly growing collections -brought with them enlarged grants from Parliament. In -the first year of Sir A. <span class='sc'>Panizzi’s</span> Principal-Librarianship, -the estimate put before the House of Commons for the -service of the year 1856–7 was sixty thousand pounds, as -compared with a grant for the service of the year immediately -preceding of fifty-six thousand one hundred and -eighty pounds. In his last year of office, the estimate for -the service of the year 1866–67 amounted to one hundred -and two thousand seven hundred and forty-four pounds, -against a grant in the year preceding of ninety-eight thousand -one hundred and sixty-four pounds.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Statistics of Public Access.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>There had also been, in that decade, a marked degree of -increase—though one of much fluctuation—in the number -of visits, both to the General Collections and, much more -notably, to the Reading-Rooms and the Galleries for Study. -In 1856, the number of general visitors was three hundred -and sixty-one thousand seven hundred and fourteen; in -1866, it was four hundred and eight thousand two hundred -and seventy-nine. But in the ‘Exhibition Year’ (1862), -it had reached eight hundred and ninety-five thousand and -seventy-seven, which was itself little more than one third -<span class='pageno' id='Page_599'>599</span>of the exceptionally enormous number of visitors recorded<a id='r34'></a><a href='#f34' class='c013'><sup>[34]</sup></a> -in the year of the first of the great Industrial Exhibitions -(1851).</p> - -<p class='c011'>It was during Sir A. <span class='sc'>Panizzi’s</span> decade that the largest -number of visitors ever recorded to have entered the Museum -within one day was registered. This exceptional number -occurred on the ‘Boxing Day’ of the Londoners, 26th -December, 1858, when more than forty-two thousand -visitors were admitted. Under the old system there had -been a dread of holiday crowds, and the largest number -ever admitted on any one day, prior to 1837, was between -five thousand eight hundred and five thousand nine hundred. -That number had been looked upon as a marvel. On the -Easter Monday of 1837, twenty-three thousand nine -hundred and eighty-five were admitted. Neither then nor -on the 1858 ‘Boxing Day’ was any injury or disorderly -conduct complained of.</p> - -<p class='c011'>The highest number of visits for study made to the -Reading-Room, prior to 1857, occurred in 1850, when the -number was seventy-eight thousand five hundred and thirty-three. -The number in the year 1865 was one hundred -thousand two hundred and seventy-one, but in the interval -it had risen (1861) to one hundred and thirty thousand -four hundred and ten. For several years, between 1856 -and 1866, the average number of visits for study to the -Galleries of Antiquities averaged about one thousand nine -hundred annually; those to the Print Room, about two -thousand eight hundred; those to the Coin and Medal -Room, about one thousand nine hundred.</p> - -<p class='c011'><span class='pageno' id='Page_600'>600</span>The rapid growth of the Collection of Printed Books, -more especially between the years 1845–1865, which -had, as we have seen, resulted from the unremitting labours -of Mr. <span class='sc'>Panizzi</span>, was well kept up, both under his immediate -successor, Mr. John Winter <span class='sc'>Jones</span>, and (after Mr. <span class='sc'>Jones’</span> -promotion to the Principal-Librarianship, towards the close -of 1866) by the next Keeper, Mr. <span class='sc'>Watts</span>. As is well known, -the increase of the Library is still more remarkable for the -character of the additions purchased than for their mere -number. But recent years have afforded no such instance -of individual munificence in this department of the Museum -as that which will presently call for detailed notice when -we record the acquisition (in 1846) of the Grenville -Library, nor could any such instance, indeed, be reasonably -looked for.</p> - -<p class='c011'>Sir Frederick <span class='sc'>Madden’s</span> energetic researches and labours -for the improvement of the Collection of MSS. would well -merit a fuller account than it is here practicable to give of -them. They have been perseveringly and worthily continued -by his successor, Mr. Edward Augustus <span class='sc'>Bond</span>, to whom -students also owe the great and distinctive debt of the commencement -of an admirable “<span class='sc'>Index of Matters</span>” to the -Collection generally. No greater boon, in the way of Catalogues, -was ever given within the walls of the Museum, -though, as yet, it is necessarily a beginning only. The special -labours of Dr. <span class='sc'>Gray</span> in that sphere, for the Natural-History -Collections, comprised the extended advantage of printing -and sale. Not less, I hope, will eventually be done for the -service of manuscript students. There is the desire to do it, -and the means must, sooner or later, follow.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The wonderful growth and development of the Collections -of Antiquities in recent years is the special subject of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_601'>601</span>the next chapter. That growth derives no small part of -its permanent scientific interest and value from the impressive -way in which it illustrates the teachings of Holy -Scripture. <em>Some</em> of the collections amassed in the British -Museum have, more than once, by dint of human vanity, -been made to subserve a laudation of the wonderful -achievements of Man, rather than of the power, wisdom, and -goodness of God; but for the ebullitions of human vanity -there is extremely little room when a visitor stands beside -the sculptured memorials of that vast empire which ‘the -cedars in the garden of <span class='sc'>God</span> could not hide,’ -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>Ezek. xxxi, -8 to 13. -Comp. -Habak. ii, 14.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -which was -‘lifted up in the pride of its height,’ only to become a -marvel for desolation, so that upon its ruin ‘the fowls of -the heaven remain.’ When before our own eyes and ears -the very stones cry out in the wall, and the beams out of -the timber answer them, the man vainest of his science -or of his philosophy must needs be led to ask himself: -‘What hath <span class='sc'>God</span> wrought?’</p> - -<p class='c011'>Some very advanced men of science have become, of -late, fond of ‘Sunday-evening Lectures’ <em>for the instruction -of the working classes</em>. That would be a tolerably impressive -Sunday-evening Lecture which a competent scholar could -give in the Assyrian Gallery of the British Museum.</p> - -<p class='c011'>Here, and now, the recent increase of the Department -of Antiquities may be wholly passed over. But to that -part of the history of accessions which bears upon the -Natural-History Galleries some attention must needs be -given, by way of continuing our former brief epitome of the -improvements made between the years 1836 and 1850.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Of the state of the Department of Zoology, during the -earlier part of the decade now more immediately under -review, a good and instructive account was given in Professor -<span class='pageno' id='Page_602'>602</span><span class='sc'>Owen’s</span> Annual Report of 1861. Its most material -portions run thus:—</p> - -<p class='c011'>‘The proportion of the stuffed specimens of the class -Mammalia, exhibited in the glazed cases of the Southern -Zoological Gallery and Mammalian Saloon, is in good condition. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><span class='sc'>The -Growth -of the -Natural -History -Collections. -1850–1861.</span><span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -The stuffed specimens, which, from their bulk, or -from want of space in the cases, stand on the floor, have -suffered in a certain degree from exposure to the corrosive -smoke-dust of the metropolis, the effects of which cannot -be wholly prevented.’</p> - -<p class='c011'>The proportion, continues Mr. <span class='sc'>Owen</span>, of the Collection -of Mammalia consisting of skins preserved in boxes, the -Osteological specimens, including the horns and antlers, and -the specimens kept in spirit, are all in a good state of preservation. -The unstuffed, Osteological and bottled specimens -are unexhibited and restricted in use, as at present -located, to scientific investigation and comparison; but it is -with difficulty that the special visitor for such purposes can -now avail himself of these materials, owing to their crowded -accumulation in the Basement Rooms in which they are stored.</p> - -<p class='c011'>‘The exhibited Collection of Birds is in a good state of -preservation, is conveniently arranged for public inspection, -and is usefully and instructively named and labelled. The -interest manifested by visitors, and the satisfaction generally -expressed in regard to this gallery, indicate the amount of -public instruction and gratification which would result from -a corresponding serial arrangement and exposition of the -other classes of the animal kingdom.</p> - -<p class='c011'>‘The stuffed and exhibited selections from the classes of -Reptilia and Fishes, are in a very good state of preservation; -they suffer less from the requisite processes of cleaning -than the classes covered by hair, fur, or feathers.</p> - -<p class='c011'>‘Of these cold-blooded Vertebrates the proportion preserved -<span class='pageno' id='Page_603'>603</span>in spirits is much greater than in Mammals and -Birds, and, consequently, through the present allotment of -space, the majority of the singular specific forms of Reptiles -and Fishes are excluded from public view. Upwards of two -thousand specimens in spirits of these classes have been added -in the past year to the previously crowded shelves of the -basement store-rooms, where access to any individual specimen -is a matter of some difficulty, if not hazard. Of the -above additions, fourteen hundred and fifty-six have accrued -from the donation of the Secretary of State for India in -Council. The interest and novelty of the specimens have -constrained their acceptance, and the same reason has led -to the acquisition of many additions from other sources.</p> - -<p class='c011'>‘Amongst them deserve to be specified two specimens -of that singular snake, the <em>Herpeton tentaculatum</em>, known -for a century past only by a single discoloured example in -the Paris Museum; those now in the stores of the British -Museum were acquired from Siam, and have served to -enrich Zoology with a complete knowledge of the species, -through the descriptions and figures by Dr. <span class='sc'>Günther</span>.</p> - -<p class='c011'>‘The following may be also specified, namely, the burrowing -Snake from South Africa, <em>Uriechis microlepidotus</em>; -a new genus of tree-snake, <em>Herpetoreas</em>; a new genus, -<em>Barycephalus</em>, of Saurian, from an altitude in the Himalayas -of fifteen thousand feet above the level of the sea; also two -new species of freshwater Tortoise, the <em>Emys Livingstonii</em>, -dedicated to its discoverer in Africa, and the <em>Emys Siamensis</em>. -Among the additions to the class of Fishes has been -acquired a new genus, <em>Hypsiptera</em>, of the Scomberoid -family; with several new species, including one, <em>Centrolophus -Britannicus</em>, belonging to this country.</p> - -<p class='c011'>‘The specimens of the Molluscous classes showing the -entire animal, preserved in spirits, and stored in the basement -<span class='pageno' id='Page_604'>604</span>room, are in good condition. The entire class of -<em>Tunicata</em> is so preserved; also the families or genera devoid -of, or with rudimental, shells, in the other Molluscous -classes. A small proportion of such “naked” Mollusca, and -the soft parts of a few of the testaceous kinds, are represented -by coloured wax models in the exhibited series of -shells arranged in the Bird Gallery.</p> - -<p class='c011'>‘The whole of the exhibited collection is in an excellent -state of preservation. The system or scale on which the -genera, species, and local varieties of shells are exhibited, -with their names and localities, gives to the ordinary visitor -a power of comparing his own specimens, and, in most -instances, of determining them, without the necessity of -special application to the keeper or assistant in the department. -The extent to which students and others avail -themselves of this facility of comparison, and the value -attached to it, show that the above principle and scale of -exhibition of specimens are proper to be adopted in a -National Museum for public use.’</p> - -<p class='c011'>In the year following the presentation of this Report, -Professor <span class='sc'>Owen</span> made a more elaborate review, both of -the condition and of the needs of the Zoological Department, -from which I gather broadly, and by abridgement, -the following striking results:—</p> - -<p class='c011'>The number of <em>species</em> of Mammals possessed by the -British Museum was a little over two thousand, exemplified -by about three thousand individual specimens. In the year -1830, the number of <em>specimens</em> had been about one thousand -three hundred and fifty; in 1850, it had risen to nearly -two thousand. It follows that, within thirty-two years, the -number of specimens in the Museum Collection had been -somewhat more than doubled. But still the number of -<em>species</em> adequately illustrated was only about two thousand -<span class='pageno' id='Page_605'>605</span>against three thousand five hundred species of Mammals -which are known, named, and have been more or less -adequately described, by zoologists.</p> - -<p class='c011'>Of Birds, about two thousand five hundred species were, -in 1862, exhibited in the galleries of the British Museum, -and in its store-rooms there were the skins of about four -thousand two hundred species. The number of species -already known and described, in 1862, was not less than -eight thousand three hundred. And, it is hardly necessary -to add, vast explorations have since been undertaken, in the -years which have elapsed, or are now about to be undertaken -in Africa, in Madagascar, in Borneo, in New Guinea, -and in many parts of Australia.</p> - -<p class='c011'>Of Fishes, the Museum contained, in 1862, about four -thousand species. These were then represented, by way -of public exhibition, irrespectively of the unexhibited stores, -by about one thousand five hundred stuffed specimens, illustrating -about one thousand species. The total number of -recorded species, already at that date, amounted to more -than eight thousand.</p> - -<p class='c011'>Of Reptiles, little more than two hundred and fifty -species were publicly shown in the Museum Galleries, -but its collections, unexhibited for want of space, were -already much larger. The number of known species of -<em>Reptilia</em>, in 1862, exceeded two thousand.</p> - -<p class='c011'>Coming to the Invertebrata, it appears that, in 1862, -about ten thousand species of molluscs, illustrated by about -one hundred thousand specimen shells, were publicly -exhibited. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>See, hereinafter, -Chap. VI.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -This, it will be remembered, was anterior to -the great accession of the <span class='sc'>Cuming</span> Collection, which already, -in 1862, contained more than sixteen thousand <em>species</em>—and -is the finest and most complete series ever brought -together.</p> - -<p class='c011'><span class='pageno' id='Page_606'>606</span>About forty-five thousand specimens of molluscs were, -in 1862, stored in the drawers of the galleries and other -rooms, or in the vaults beneath. These, on a rough computation, -may have illustrated about four thousand five -hundred species.</p> - -<p class='c011'>Within the <em>two years only</em>, 1860–1862, the registered -number of specimens of Fossils was increased from one -hundred and twenty thousand to one hundred and fifty-three -thousand, but of these it was found possible to exhibit -to the Public little more than fifty thousand specimens.</p> - -<div class='c002'></div> -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Growth of the Mineralogical Collections. 1858–1862.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>Coming to the Department of Mineralogy, we find that -the registered specimens had increased, within about four -years, from fifteen thousand to twenty-five thousand. This -increase was mainly due to the acquisition of the noble -<span class='sc'>Allan-Greg</span> Cabinet formed at Manchester. But large as -this increase is, the national importance of the Mineralogical -Collections is very far from being adequately represented by -the existing state of the Museum series, even after all the -subsequent additions made between the years 1862–1870. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>Owen, -<cite>Report</cite>, as -above (1862).<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -A Museum of Mineralogy worthy of England must eventually -include five several and independent collections. -There must be (1) a Classificatory Collection, for general -purposes; (2) a Geometrical Collection, to show the crystalline -forms; (3) an Elementary Collection, to show the -degrees of lustre and the varieties of cleavage and of colour; -(4) a Technological Collection, to show the economic application -of minerals—the importance of which, to a commercial, -manufacturing, and artistic country, can hardly be -exaggerated. Last of all, there is needed a special collection -of an ancillary kind; that, I mean, which has been -called sometimes a ‘teratological’ collection, -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>(Ibid.)<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -sometimes a -‘pseudomorphic’ collection. Call it as you will, its object -<span class='pageno' id='Page_607'>607</span>is important. Such a series serves to show both the defective -and the excessive forms of minerals, and their transitional -capacities. These five several collections are, it will -be seen, over and above that other special Collection of -Sky-stones or ‘Meteorites,’ which is already very nobly represented -in our National Museum.</p> - -<div> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_608'>608</span> - <div class='section'><h4 class='c005'>CHAPTER IV.<br /> <span class='large'>ANOTHER GROUP OF ARCHÆOLOGISTS AND EXPLORERS.—THE SPOILS OF XANTHUS, OF BABYLON, OF NINEVEH, OF HALICARNASSUS, AND OF CARTHAGE.</span></h4></div> -</div> - -<p class='c006'>‘She doted upon the Assyrians her neighbours, ... -when she saw men pourtrayed upon the wall,—the images -of the Chaldeans pourtrayed with vermilion, girded with -girdles upon their loins, exceeding in dyed attire upon -their heads; all of them princes to look to, after the -manner of the Babylonians of Chaldea.’</p> - -<div class='lg-container-r c008'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'><span class='sc'>Ezekiel</span> xxiii, 12–15.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-b c012'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in2'>‘I do love these ancient ruins;</div> - <div class='line'>We cannot tread upon them, but we set</div> - <div class='line'>Our foot upon some reverend history.</div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'> · · · · ·</div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in18'>But all things have their end,</div> - <div class='line'>Castles and cities (which have diseases like to men)</div> - <div class='line'>Must have like death which we have.’</div> - <div class='line in20'><span class='sc'>Webster</span>, <cite>The Duchess of Malfi</cite>.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c009'><em>The Libraries of the East.—The Monasteries of the Nitrian -Desert, and their Explorers.—William</em> <span class='sc'>Cureton</span> <em>and -his Labours on the MSS. of Nitria, and in other -Departments of Oriental Literature.—The Researches -in the Levant of Sir Charles</em> <span class='sc'>Fellows</span>, <em>of Mr.</em> <span class='sc'>Layard</span>, -<em>and of Mr. Charles</em> <span class='sc'>Newton</span>.—<em>Other conspicuous -Augmentors of the Collection of Antiquities.</em></p> - -<p class='c010'>We have now to turn to that vast field of research -and exploration, from which the national Museum of Antiquities -has derived an augmentation that has sufficed to -double, within twenty-five years, its previous scientific and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_609'>609</span>literary value to the Public. In this chapter we have -to tell of not a little romantic adventure; of remote -and perilous explorations and excavations; sometimes, of -sharp conflicts between English pertinacity and Oriental -cunning; often, of great endurance of hardship and privation -in the endeavour at once to promote learning—the -world over—and to add some new and not unworthy entries -on the long roll of British achievement.</p> - -<p class='c011'>Two distinct groups of explorers have now to be recorded. -The labours of both groups carry us to the Levant. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><span class='sc'>The -Libraries -of the East.</span><span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -What -has been done of late years by the searchers after manuscripts, -in their effort to recover some of the lost treasures -of the old Libraries of the East, will be most fairly appreciated -by the reader, if, before telling of the researches and -the studies of <span class='sc'>Curzon</span>, <span class='sc'>Tattam</span>, <span class='sc'>Cureton</span>, and their fellow-workers -in Eastern manuscript archæology, some brief -prefatory notice be given of the earlier labours, in the -same field, of <span class='sc'>Huntington</span>, <span class='sc'>Browne</span>, and other travellers -in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Mention -must also be made of the explorations of <span class='sc'>Sonnini</span> -and of <span class='sc'>Andréossi</span>.</p> - -<div class='c002'></div> -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>The researches of Robert Huntington in the Nitrian Monasteries;</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>About the year 1680, Robert <span class='sc'>Huntington</span>, afterwards -Bishop of Raphoe, visited the Monasteries of the Nitrian -Desert, and made special and eager research for the Syriac -version of the <cite>Epistles of St. Ignatius</cite>, of the existence of -which there had been wide-spread belief amongst the -learned, since the time of Archbishop <span class='sc'>Ussher</span>. But his -quest was fruitless, although, as it is now well known, a -Syriac version of some of those epistles did really exist in -one of the monasteries which <span class='sc'>Huntington</span> visited. The -monks, then as afterwards, were chary of showing their -MSS., very small as was the care they took of them. The -<span class='pageno' id='Page_610'>610</span>only manuscripts mentioned by <span class='sc'>Huntington</span>, in recording -his visits to three of the principal communities—St. Mary -Deipara, St. Macarius, and El Baramous—are an <cite>Old -Testament</cite> in the Estrangelo character; two volumes of -Chrysostom in Coptic and Arabic; a Coptic Lectionary -in four volumes; and a <cite>New Testament</cite> in Coptic and -Arabic.</p> - -<p class='c011'>Towards the close of the following century, these -monasteries received the successive visits of <span class='sc'>Sonnini</span>, of -William George <span class='sc'>Browne</span>, and of General Count <span class='sc'>Andréossi</span>. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><span class='sc'>and those -of Sonnini, -Browne, -and others.</span><span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -<span class='sc'>Sonnini</span> says nothing of books. <span class='sc'>Browne</span> saw but -few—among them an Arabo-Coptic <cite>Lexicon</cite>, the works of -St. Gregory, and the <cite>Old</cite> and <cite>New Testaments</cite> in Arabic—although -he was told by the superior that they had nearly -eight hundred volumes, with none of which they would -part. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>Browne, -<cite>Travels in -Africa</cite>, &c., -p. 43.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -General <span class='sc'>Andréossi</span>, on the other hand, speaks -slightingly of the books as merely ‘ascetic works, ... -some in Arabic, and some in Coptic, with an Arabic translation -in the margin;’ -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>Huntington, -<cite>Observations</cite> -(repr. in -Ray’s Coll.).<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -but adds, ‘We brought away some -of the latter class, which appear to have a date of six -centuries.’ This was in 1799. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>Andréossi, -<cite><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Vallées des -Lac de Nation</span></cite>, -pass.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -<span class='sc'>Browne</span> died in 1814; -<span class='sc'>Sonnini de Manoncourt</span>, in 1812; Count <span class='sc'>Andréossi</span> -survived until 1828.</p> - -<p class='c011'>In the year 1827, the late Duke of <span class='sc'>Northumberland</span> -(then Lord <span class='sc'>Prudhoe</span>) made more elaborate researches. His -immediate object was a philological one, his Lordship -desiring to further Mr. <span class='sc'>Tattam’s</span> labours on a Coptic and -Arabic Dictionary. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>Lord Prudhoe’s -<cite>Narrative</cite>, -&c., as -abridged in -<cite>Quarterly -Review</cite>, -vol. lxxvii, -pp. 45, seq.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -Hearing that ‘Libraries were said to -be preserved, both at the Baramous and Syrian convents,’ -he proceeded to El Baramous, accompanied by Mr. -<span class='sc'>Linart</span>, and encamped outside the walls. ‘The monks -in this convent,’ says the Duke, ‘about twelve in number, -appeared poor and ignorant. They looked on us with -<span class='pageno' id='Page_611'>611</span>great jealousy, and denied having any books, except those -in the church, which they showed us.’ But having been -judiciously mollified by some little seductive present, on the -next day, ‘in a moment of good humour, they agreed to -show us their Library. From it I selected a certain -number of Manuscripts, which, with the <cite>Lexicon</cite> (<cite>Selim</cite>) -already mentioned, were carried into the monk’s room. -A long deliberation ensued, ... as to my offer to -purchase them. Only one could write, and at last -it was agreed that he should copy the <cite>Selim</cite>, which copy -and the MSS. I had collected were to be mine, in exchange -for a fixed sum of dollars, to which I added a present of -rice, coffee, tobacco, and such other articles as I had to -offer.’ After narrating the acquisition of a few other -MSS. at the Syrian convent, or Convent of St. Mary Deipara, -his Lordship proceeds:—‘These manuscripts I presented to -Mr. <span class='sc'>Tattam</span>, and gave him some account of the small -room with its trap-door, through which I descended, candle -in hand, to examine the manuscripts, where books, and -parts of books, and scattered leaves, in Coptic, Ethiopic, -Syriac, and Arabic, were lying in a mass, on which I stood.... -In appearance, it seemed as if, on some sudden emergency, -the whole Library had been thrown down this trap-door, -and they had remained undisturbed, in their dust and -neglect, for some centuries.’</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>The researches in the Levantine Monasteries of Mr. Curzon.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>Ten years later, Mr. <span class='sc'>Tattam</span> himself continued these -researches. But in the interval they had been taken up -by the energetic and accomplished traveller Mr. Robert -<span class='sc'>Curzon</span>, to whose charming <cite>Visits to the Monasteries of the -Levant</cite> it is mainly owing that a curious aspect of monastic -life, which theretofore had only interested a few scholars, -has become familiar to thousands of readers of all classes.</p> - -<p class='c011'>Mr. <span class='sc'>Curzon’s</span> researches were much more thorough -<span class='pageno' id='Page_612'>612</span>than those of any of his predecessors. He was felicitous -in his endeavours to win the good graces of the monks, and -seems often to have made his visits as pleasant to his hosts -as afterwards to his readers. But, how attractive soever, -only one of them has to be noticed in connexion with our -present topic—that, namely, to the Convent of the Syrians -mentioned already. ‘I found,’ says Mr. <span class='sc'>Curzon</span>, ‘several -Coptic MSS. lying on the floor, but some were placed in -niches in the stone wall. They were all on paper, except -three or four; one of them was a superb MS. of the -Gospels, with a commentary by one of the early fathers. -Two others were doing duty as coverings to large open pots -or jars, which had contained preserves, long since evaporated. -On the floor I found a fine Coptic and Arabic -Dictionary, with which they refused to part.’ After a most -graphic account of a conversation with the Father Abbot—the -talk being enlivened with many cups of rosoglio—he -proceeds to recount his visit to a ‘small closet, vaulted with -stone, which was filled to the depth of two feet or more -with loose leaves of Syriac MSS., which now form one of -the chief treasures of the British Museum.’ The collection -thus ‘preserved’ was that of the Coptic monks; the same -monastery contained another which was that of the -Abyssinian monks. ‘The disposition of the manuscripts -in the Library,’ continues Mr. <span class='sc'>Curzon</span>, ‘was very original.... -The room was about twenty-six feet long, -twenty feet wide, and twelve feet high; the roof was -formed of the trunks of palm-trees. A wooden shelf was -carried, in the Egyptian style, around the walls, at the -height of the top of the door, ... underneath the shelf -various long wooden pegs projected from the wall, ... on -which hung the Abyssinian MSS., of which this curious -Library was entirely composed. The books of Abyssinia -<span class='pageno' id='Page_613'>613</span>are bound in the usual way—sometimes in red leather, and -sometimes in wooden boards, ... they are then enclosed in -a case, ... to which is attached a strap, ... and by these -straps the books are hung on the wooden pegs, three or four -on a peg, or more, if the books were small; their usual size -was that of a small, very thick quarto.... Almost all -Abyssinian books are written upon skins.... They have no -cursive writing; each letter is therefore painted, as it were, -with the reed-pen.... Some manuscripts are adorned with -the quaintest and grimmest illustrations conceivable, ... -and some are worthy of being compared with the best specimens -of caligraphy in any language.’ Then follows an amusing -account of the ‘higgling of the monks,’ after a truly -Abyssinian fashion, ending in the acquisition of books, of the -whole of which the travellers could not, by any packing or -stuffing, make their bags containable. ‘In this dreadful -dilemma, ... seeing that the quarto was the most imperfect, -I abandoned it; and I have now reason to believe, on seeing -the manuscripts of the British Museum, that this was the -famous book, with the date of <em>A.D.</em> 411, the most precious -acquisition to any Library that has been made in modern -times, with the exception, as I conceive, of some in my -own Collection.... <span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>Curzon, -<cite>Visits</cite>, &c., -as above.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -This book, which contains some lost -works of Eusebius, has ... fallen into better hands than -mine.’</p> - -<p class='c011'>In the following year (1838), the Rev. Henry <span class='sc'>Tattam</span> -(afterwards Archdeacon of Bedford), in furtherance of the -purpose which had previously enlisted Lord <span class='sc'>Prudhoe’s</span> -co-operation, set out upon his expedition into Egypt. He -arrived at Cairo in October, and in November proceeded up -the Nile as far as Esneh, visiting many monasteries, and -inspecting their Libraries, in most of which he only met -with liturgies and service-books. Sanobon was an exception, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_614'>614</span>for there he found eighty-two Coptic MSS., some -of them very fine.</p> - -<p class='c011'>Continuing the narrative, we find that on the 12th of -January they started across the desert for the valley of the -Natron Lakes, and pitched their tent at a short distance -from the Monastery of Macarius. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>Miss <span class='sc'>Platt’s</span> -Journal (unpublished, -but -abridged in -the <cite>Quarterly -Review</cite>, as -above).<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -The monks told them -that of these convents there had once been, on the mountain -and in the valley of Nitria, no less than three hundred -and sixty. Of fifty or thereabouts the ruins, it is said, -may still be seen. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><span class='sc'>Researches -of Archdeacon -Tattam.</span><span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -At the Convent of the Syrians, the Archdeacon -was received with much civility, not, however, unaccompanied -by a sort of cautious circumspection. After a -look at the church, followed by the indispensable pipes and -coffee, the monks asked the cause to which they were indebted -for the honour of his visit. He told them discreetly -that it was his wish to see their books. ‘They replied -that they had no more than what he had seen in the church; -upon which he told them plainly that he knew they had.’ -A conference ensued, and, on the next day, they conducted -him to the tower, and then into a dark vault, where -he found a great quantity of very old and valuable Syriac -MSS. He selected six quarto volumes, and took them to -the superior’s room. He was next shown a room in the -tower, where he found a number of Coptic and Arabic -MSS., principally liturgies, with a beautiful copy of the -<cite>Gospels</cite>. He then asked to see the rest. The monks -looked surprised to find he knew of others, and seemed at -first disposed to deny that they had any more, but at length -produced the key of the apartment where the other books -were kept, and admitted him. After looking them over, -he went to the superior’s room, where all the priests were -assembled, fifteen or sixteen in number; one of them -brought a Coptic and Arabic <cite>Selim</cite>, or <cite>Lexicon</cite>, which Mr. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_615'>615</span><span class='sc'>Tattam</span> wished to purchase; they informed him they could -not part with it, ... but consented to make him a copy. -He paid for two of the Syriac MSS. he had placed in the -superior’s room, for the priests could not be persuaded to -part with more.... The superior would have sold the -Dictionary, but was afraid, because the Patriarch had written -in it a curse upon any one who should take it away.’ [It -was the same volume which had been vainly coveted by -Mr. <span class='sc'>Curzon</span>, as well as by several preceding travellers, and -of which he tells us he ‘put it in one of the niches of the -wall, where it remained about two years, when it was purchased -and brought away for me by a gentleman at Cairo.’] -‘In the Convent of El Baramous,’ continues Miss <span class='sc'>Platt</span>, -‘Mr. <span class='sc'>Tattam</span> found about one hundred and fifty Coptic -and Arabic liturgies, and a very large Dictionary in both -languages. In the tower is an apartment, with a trap-door -in the floor, opening into a dark hole, full of loose leaves of -Arabic and Coptic manuscripts.’ At the Monastery of -Amba-Bichoi, Mr. <span class='sc'>Tattam</span> saw a lofty vaulted room, so -strewn with loose manuscripts as scarcely to afford a glimpse -of the floor on which they lay, ‘in some places a quarter of -a yard deep.’ At Macarius Convent a similar sight presented -itself, but of these Mr. <span class='sc'>Tattam</span> was permitted to -carry off about a hundred.</p> - -<p class='c011'>As the reader may well imagine, the charms of the -Syriac MSS. had made too deep an impression on Mr. -<span class='sc'>Tattam’s</span> heart to admit of an easy parting. Many were -the longing, lingering looks, mentally directed towards -them. Almost at the moment of setting out on his return -to Cairo, he added four choice books to his previous spoils. -In February, he resolved to revisit the convents, and once -more to ply his most persuasive arguments. He was manfully -seconded by his Egyptian servant, <span class='sc'>Mahommed</span>, whose -<span class='pageno' id='Page_616'>616</span>favourite methods of negotiation much resembled those of -Mr. <span class='sc'>Curzon</span>. ‘The Archdeacon soon returned,’ says -Miss <span class='sc'>Platt</span>, ‘followed by <span class='sc'>Mahommed</span> and one of the -Bedouins, bearing a large sack full of splendid Syriac -MSS. on vellum. They were safely deposited in the tent.’ -At Amba-Bischoi a successful bargain was struck for an -old <cite>Pentateuch</cite> in Coptic and Arabic, and a beautiful Coptic -<cite>Evangeliary</cite>. <span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>Platt’s -Journal; -abridged, as -above.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -On the next day, ‘Mahommed brought -from the priests a Soriana, a stupendous volume, beautifully -written in the Syriac characters, with a very old worm-eaten -copy of the <cite>Pentateuch</cite> from Amba-Bischoi, exceedingly -valuable, but not quite perfect.’ The remainder of -the story, or rather the greater part of what remains, -must here be more concisely told than in the words of -the reviewer.</p> - -<p class='c011'>The manuscripts which Mr. <span class='sc'>Tattam</span> has thus obtained, -in due time arrived in England. Such of them as were in -the Syriac language were disposed of to the Trustees of the -British Museum.... Forty-nine manuscripts of extreme antiquity, -containing some valuable works long since supposed -to have perished, and versions of others written several -centuries earlier than any copies of the original texts now -known to exist, constituted such an addition as has been -rarely, if ever, made at one time to any Library. The collection -of Syriac MSS. procured by Mr. <span class='sc'>Rich</span> had already -made the Library of the British Museum conspicuous for -this class of literature; but the treasure of manuscripts -from Egypt rendered it superior to any in Europe.</p> - -<p class='c011'>From the accounts which Lord <span class='sc'>Prudhoe</span>, Mr. <span class='sc'>Curzon</span>, -and Mr. <span class='sc'>Tattam</span> had given of their visits to the Monastery -of the Syrians, it was evident that but few of the manuscripts -belonging to it had been removed since the time of -<span class='sc'>Assemani</span>; and probable that no less a number than -<span class='pageno' id='Page_617'>617</span>nearly two hundred volumes must be still remaining in the -hands of the monks. Moreover, from several notes in the -manuscripts ... already brought to England, it was certain -that most of them must be of very considerable antiquity.... -In several of these notices, <span class='sc'>Moses</span> of Tecrit states that, in -the year 932, he brought into the convent from Mesopotamia -about two hundred and fifty volumes. As there -was no evidence whatever to show that even so many as -one hundred of these MSS. had ever been taken away (for -those which were procured for the Papal Library by the -two <span class='sc'>Assemani</span>, added to those which Mr. <span class='sc'>Curzon</span> and -Mr. <span class='sc'>Tattam</span> had brought to England, do not amount to -that number), there was sufficient ground for supposing -that the Convent of the Syrians still possessed not fewer -than about one hundred and fifty volumes, which, at the -latest, must have been written before the tenth century. -Application, accordingly, was made by the Trustees to the -Treasury; a sum was granted to enable them to send -again into Egypt, and Mr. <span class='sc'>Tattam</span> readily undertook the -commission. <span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><span class='sc'>Treasury -grant, in -1841, for -further researches.</span><span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -The time was most opportune. Had much more -delay been interposed, these manuscripts, which, perhaps, -constitute the greatest accession of valuable literature -which has been brought from the East into Europe since -the taking of Constantinople, -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><cite>Quart. -Review</cite>, -as before.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -would, in all probability, have -been now the pride of the Imperial Library at Paris.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Mr. Tattam’s expedition to Nitria in 1842.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>Mr. <span class='sc'>Tattam</span> thought he could work most effectively -through the influence of a neighbouring Sheikh with the -superior of the convent. By which means he obtained, -after some delays, a promise that all the Syriac MSS. -should be taken to the Sheikh’s house, and there bargained -for. ‘My servant,’ he says, ‘had taken ten men and eight -donkeys from the village; had conveyed them, and already -bargained for them, which bargain I confirmed. That night -<span class='pageno' id='Page_618'>618</span>we carried our boxes, paper, and string, and packed them all.... -Before ten in the morning they were on their way to -Alexandria.’ But, as will be seen in the sequel, the monks -were too crafty for Mr. <span class='sc'>Tattam</span> to cope with.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Tischendorf’s visit in 1844.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>In 1844, <span class='sc'>Tischendorf</span> visited the monasteries already -explored by <span class='sc'>Curzon</span> and <span class='sc'>Tattam</span>. His account reproduces -the old characteristics:—‘Manuscripts heaped indiscriminately -together, lying on the ground, or thrown -into large baskets, beneath masses of dust.... The -excessive suspicion of these monks renders it extremely difficult -to induce them to produce their MSS., in spite of the -extreme penury which surrounds them.... But much -might yet be found to reward the labour of the searcher.’</p> - -<p class='c011'>In truth, the monks, poor and simple as they sometimes -seemed to be, had taken very sufficient care to keep enough -of literary treasures in their hands to reward ‘further researches.’ -Nearly half of their collection seems to have -been withheld.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Pacho’s negotiation for the recovery of the MSS. withheld by the monks of St. Mary Deipara.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>A certain clever Mr. <span class='sc'>Pacho</span> now entered on the scene as -a negotiator for the obtainment or recovery of the missing -‘treasures of the tombs.’ They had been virtually purchased -before, but the Lords of the Treasury very wisely re-opened -the public purse, and at length secured for the Nation an -inestimable possession. The new accession completed, or -went far towards completing, many MSS. which before -were tantalizingly imperfect. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>See page 622, -in this -Chapter.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -It supplied a second ancient -copy of the famous Ignatian <cite>Epistles</cite> (<em>to St. Polycarp</em>, <em>to -the Ephesians</em>, and <em>to the Romans</em>); many fragments of -palimpsest manuscripts of great antiquity, and among -them the greater part of St. Luke’s <cite>Gospel</cite> in Greek; and -about four thousand lines of the <cite>Iliad</cite>, written in a fine -square uncial letter, apparently not later than the sixth -century. The total number of volumes thus added to the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_619'>619</span>previous Nitrian Collections were calculated, roundly, to be -from a hundred and forty to a hundred and fifty.</p> - -<p class='c010'>That the rich accession to our sacred literature, thus -made amidst many obstacles, should be turned speedily to -public advantage, two conditions had to be fulfilled. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><span class='sc'>William -Cureton -and his -labours in -Oriental -Literature.</span><span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -Skilful labour had first to be employed in the arrangement -of a mass of fragments. Scholars competently prepared, -by previous studies in Oriental literature and more especially -in Syriac, must then get to work on their transcription, -their gloss, and their publication. It could scarcely -have been expected, beforehand, that any one man would -be able to undertake both tasks, and to keep them, for -some years to come, well abreast. The fact, however, -proved to be so. The right man was already in the right -place for the work that was to be done.</p> - -<p class='c011'>The late William <span class='sc'>Cureton</span> had entered the service of the -Trustees of the British Museum in 1837, at the age of -twenty-nine, when he had been already for about eight -years in holy orders. He was a native of Westbury, -in Shropshire. His education, begun at Newport School, -had been matured at Christ Church, Oxford. He had -been just about to enter himself at Christ Church in the -ordinary way, when his father died, suddenly, leaving -the family fortunes under considerable embarrassment. -<span class='sc'>Cureton</span>, and a brother of his, showed the metal they were -both made of, by instantly changing their youthful plans. -That the whole of the diminished patrimony might be at -their mother’s sole disposal, William <span class='sc'>Cureton</span> went to -Oxford as a servitor. His brother, instead of waiting for -his expected commission in the Army, enlisted as a private -dragoon. And certainly, in the issue, neither of these -young men lost any ‘dignity’—in any sense of that word—on -<span class='pageno' id='Page_620'>620</span>account of the step so unselfishly taken at their start in -life.</p> - -<p class='c011'>William <span class='sc'>Cureton</span> began his literary labours as a -Coadjutor-Under-Librarian in old Bodley. Dr. <span class='sc'>Gaisford</span> -introduced him to Dr. <span class='sc'>Bandinel</span>, in 1834, with the words:—‘I -bring you a good son. He will make a good librarian.’ -It was at Oxford that he laid the substantial -foundation of his Oriental studies. After three years, he -followed the fashion already set him by some of the best -and ablest officers the Bodleian has ever had—<span class='sc'>Ellis</span>, -<span class='sc'>Baber</span>, and H. O. <span class='sc'>Coxe</span>, for example—by transferring, -for a time, his services from the great Library of Oxford to -that of London. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><span class='sc'>Cureton’s -entrance -into the -British -Museum.</span><span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -His first (or nearly his first) Museum -task was to set to work on the cataloguing of the Arabic -and Persian MSS. In 1842, he began his earliest Oriental -publication (undertaken for the ‘Oriental Text Society,’ to -be mentioned presently), namely, <span class='sc'>Al Sharastani’s</span> ‘<cite>Book -of Religious and of Philosophical Sects</cite>.’</p> - -<p class='c011'>At the British Museum, he became quite as notable for -the amiability of his character, and the genial frankness of -his manners, as for his scholarly attainments and his power -of authorship. I have a vivid recollection of my own introduction -to him, in the February of 1839, and of the impression -made on me by his kindly and cordial greeting. When -I noted that pleasant face, which beamed with good nature -as well as with intellect, I instantly appreciated the force -of the words used by my introducer: ‘Let me make you -known,’ said he, ‘to my father-confessor.’ I thought the -choice to be obviously a felicitous one. Not less vivid is -my memory of the delight Mr. <span class='sc'>Cureton</span> manifested on receiving, -within the Museum <em>vaults</em>, the first importation -from the Nitrian Desert. The sight of such a mass of torn, -disorderly, and dirty fragments, would have appalled many -<span class='pageno' id='Page_621'>621</span>men not commonly afraid of labour, but to William -<span class='sc'>Cureton</span> the scholarly ardour of discovery made the task, -from the first, a pleasure. When successive fresh arrivals -gave new hope that many gaps in the manuscripts of -earliest importation would, in course of time, be filled up, -the laborious pleasure ripened into joy.</p> - -<p class='c011'>The collection, obtained by the long succession of -labours already narrated, reached the British Museum -on the first of May, 1843. When the cases were opened, -very few indeed of the MSS. were perfect. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><span class='sc'>Fragmentary -condition -of -the Syriac -MSS. imported -in -1843.</span><span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -Nearly two -hundred volumes had been torn into separate leaves, and -then mixed up together, by blind chance and human stupidity. -It was a perplexing sight. But the eyes that looked -on it belonged to a seeing head. Even into a little chaos -like this, almost hopeless as at the first glance it seemed, -the learning, assiduity, and patience of Mr. <span class='sc'>Cureton</span> -gradually brought order. Of necessity, the task took a long -time. First came the separation of the fragments of different -works, and then the arrangement of the leaves into volumes, -with no aid to pagination or catchwords. With translations -of extant Greek works, the collection of their originals -gave, of course, great help. But in a multitude of cases -every leaf had to be read and closely studied.</p> - -<p class='c011'>Within about eighteen months of the reception of the -MSS., Mr. <span class='sc'>Cureton</span> had ascertained the number of volumes—reckoning -books made up of fragments, as well as complete -works—to amount to three hundred and seventeen, of -which two hundred and forty-six were on vellum, and -seventy on paper; all in Syriac or Aramaic, except one -volume of Coptic fragments. With the forty-nine volumes -previously acquired, an addition was thus made to the MS. -Department of the National Library of three hundred and -sixty-six volumes. Many of these volumes contain two, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_622'>622</span>three, or four distinct works, of different dates, bound together, -so that probably, in the whole, there were of manuscripts -and parts of manuscripts, upwards of one thousand, -written in all parts of Mesopotamia, Syria, and Egypt, and -at periods which range from the year 411 to the year 1292. -Of the specific character and contents of some of the -choicest of these MSS., mention will be made hereafter.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Dr. Cureton’s publications in Syriac, and in Arabic Literature.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>For several years, the labour on the Syriac fragments did -but alternate with that on the larger body of the Arabic -MSS., a classed catalogue of which Mr. <span class='sc'>Cureton</span> published -in 1846,—only a month or two after he had contributed -to the <cite>Quarterly Review</cite> a deeply interesting and -masterly article on the Syriac discoveries. This paper was -quickly followed by his first edition of the <cite>Three Epistles -of St. Ignatius</cite> (I, to Polycarp; II, to the Ephesians; III, -to the Romans). In an able preface, he contended that, of -these genuine <cite>Epistles</cite>, all previous recensions were, to a -considerable extent, interpolated, garbled, and spurious; -and also that the other Ignatian <cite>Epistles</cite>, so-called, are entirely -supposititious. In the year 1870 it need hardly be -said either that this publication excited much controversy, -or that competent opinion is still divided on some parts of -the subject. But on two points there has never been any -controversy whatever:—As an editor, William <span class='sc'>Cureton</span> -displayed brilliant ability; as a student of theology, he was -no less distinguished by a single-minded search after truth. -He was never one of those noisy controversialists of whom -Walter <span class='sc'>Landor</span> once said, so incisively,<a id='r35'></a><a href='#f35' class='c013'><sup>[35]</sup></a> that they were less -angry with their opponents for withstanding the truth, than -for doubting their own claims to be the channels and the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_623'>623</span>champions of Truth. To his dying day, <span class='sc'>Cureton</span> owned -himself to be a learner—even in Syriac.</p> - -<p class='c011'>Within three years of the publication of his <cite>Ignatius</cite>, -<span class='sc'>Cureton</span> gave to the world his precious edition of the -fragmentary <cite>Festal Letters</cite> of <span class='sc'>Athanasius</span>, which Richard -<span class='sc'>Burgess</span> soon translated into English, and <span class='sc'>Lassow</span> into -German. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><span class='sc'>The foundation -of the -Oriental -Text Society.</span><span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -The Syriac version was one of its editor’s earliest -discoveries amongst the spoils of the Nitrian monasteries, -and it was published at the cost of a new society, of which -<span class='sc'>Cureton</span> himself was the main founder. For the old -Oriental publication society<a id='r36'></a><a href='#f36' class='c013'><sup>[36]</sup></a> limited itself, as its name -imports, to the publication of translations. The new one—the -claims of which to liberal support <span class='sc'>Cureton</span> was -never weary of vindicating—was expressly founded to print -Oriental texts. This new body had his strongest sympathies, -but he co-operated zealously with the ‘Translation -Fund’ as well as with the ‘Text Society,’</p> - -<p class='c011'>Among his other and early labours, was the publication -of a Rabbinical Comment on the <cite>Book of Lamentations</cite>, -and of the Arabic text of <span class='sc'>En Nasafi’s</span> <cite>Pillar of the Creed -of the Sunnites</cite> (‘Umdat Akidat ahl al Sunnat wa al -Tamaat’), both of which books were printed in 1843. -After 1845, <span class='sc'>Cureton’s</span> literary labours were almost exclusively -devoted to that Syriac field in which he was to be so -large and so original a discoverer. The first distinctively -public recognition of his services was his appointment as a -Chaplain to the Queen, in 1847. Two years afterwards, he -was made a Canon of Westminster and Rector of St. -Margaret’s. Thenceforward, his energies were divided. -The charms of Syriac discovery were not permitted to obstruct -the due performance of the appropriate work of a -parish priest; though it is much to be feared that they -<span class='pageno' id='Page_624'>624</span>were but too often permitted to interfere, more than a little, -with needful recreation and rest.</p> - -<p class='c011'>Among those of his parochial labours which demanded -not a small amount of self-sacrifice were the rebuilding -and the improved organization of the schools; -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><span class='sc'>Parochial -labours.</span><span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -the building -of a district church—St. Andrew’s—in Ashley Place; and -the establishment of Working-Class Lectures, upon a wise -and far-seeing plan.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Further contributions to literature.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>In 1851, he gave to scholars the curious palimpsest fragments -of <span class='sc'>Homer</span> from a Nitrian manuscript (now <span class='sc'>Addit. -MS.</span>, 17,210), and, two years afterwards, the <cite>Ecclesiastical -History</cite> of <span class='sc'>John</span>, Bishop of Ephesus. This was quickly translated -into German by <span class='sc'>Schönfehler</span>, and into English by -Dr. R. Payne <span class='sc'>Smith</span>. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>MS. <span class='sc'>Addit.</span> -14,640. -(B. M.)<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -Then came the <cite>Spicilegium Syriacum</cite>, -containing fragments of <span class='sc'>Bardesanes</span>, of <span class='sc'>Melito</span> of -Sardes, and the inexpressibly precious fragments of an -ancient recension of the Syriac <cite>Gospels</cite>, believed by <span class='sc'>Cureton</span> -to be of the fifth century, and offering considerable and -most interesting divergences from the Peshito version.</p> - -<p class='c011'>In a preface to these evangelical fragments of the fifth -century, their editor contends that they constitute a far -more faithful representation of the true Hebrew text than -does the Peshito recension, and that the remark holds good, -in a more especial degree, of the <cite>Gospel of St. Matthew</cite>. -This publication appeared in 1858.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Labour and its rewards in fresh labours.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>Enough has been said of these untiring labours to make -it quite intelligible, even to readers the most unfamiliar -with Oriental studies, that their author had become already -a celebrity throughout learned Europe. As early as in -1855, the Institute of France welcomed Dr. <span class='sc'>Cureton</span>, as -one of their corresponding members, in succession to his -old master, <span class='sc'>Gaisford</span>, of Christ Church. In 1859, the -Queen conferred on him a distinction, which was especially -<span class='pageno' id='Page_625'>625</span>appropriate and dear to his feelings. He became ‘Royal -Trustee’ of that Museum which he had so zealously served -as an Assistant-Keeper of the MSS., up to the date of his -appointment to his Westminster parish and canonry. No -fitter nomination was ever made. Unhappily, he was not -to be spared very long to fill a function so congenial.</p> - -<p class='c011'>Yet one other distinction, and also one other and most -honourable labour, were to be his, before another illustrious -victim was to be added to the long list of public losses inflicted -on the country at large by the gross mismanagement, -and more particularly by what is called—sardonically, -I suppose—the ‘economy’ of our British railways. <span class='sc'>Cureton’s</span> -life too, like some score of other lives dear to literature -or to science, was to be sacrificed under the car of our -railway Juggernaut.</p> - -<p class='c011'>In 1861, he published, from another Nitrian manuscript, -<span class='sc'>Eusebius’</span> <cite>History of the Martyrs in Palestine</cite>. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><span class='sc'>The -removal, -and its -circumstances.</span><span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -Early in -1863, he succeeded the late Beriah <span class='sc'>Botfield</span> in the Chair -of the Oriental Translation Fund. On the twenty-ninth -of May, of the same year, a railway ‘accident’ inflicted -upon him such cruel injuries as entailed a protracted and -painful illness of twelve months, and ended—to our loss, -but to his great gain—in his lamented death, on the seventeenth -of June, 1864.</p> - -<p class='c011'>He died where he was born, and was buried with his -fathers. The writer of these poor memorial lines upon an -admirable man well remembers the delight he used to express -(thirty years ago) whenever it was in his power to -revisit his birthplace, and knows that the delight was shared -with the humblest of its inhabitants. Dr. <span class='sc'>Cureton</span> was -one of those genuine men who (in the true and best sense -of the words) are not respecters of persons. He had a -frank, not a condescending, salutation for the lowliest acquaintances -<span class='pageno' id='Page_626'>626</span>of youthful days. And those lowliest were not -among the least glad to see his face again at his holiday-visits; -nor were they among the least sorrowful to see it, -when it bore the fatal, but now to most of us quite familiar, -traces of victimism to the mammon-cult of our railway -directors.</p> - -<div class='c002'></div> -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>The archæological explorations in the Levant.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>Just as we have to go very far back indeed in the history -of the Manuscript Department of the British Museum, in -order to find an accession quite as notable as are—taking -them as a whole—the manuscripts of the Nitrian monasteries, -so have we also to do in the history of the several -Departments of Antiquities, in order to find any parallel to -the acquisitions of monuments of art and archæology made -during the thirty years between 1840 and 1870. In point -of <em>variety</em> of interest, in truth, there is no parallel at all to -be found.</p> - -<p class='c011'>In archæology, however—as in scientific discovery, or -in mechanical invention—every great burst of new light -will be seen, if we look closely enough, to have had its -remote precursive gleams, howsoever faint or howsoever -little noticed they may have been.</p> - -<p class='c011'>Austen Henry <span class='sc'>Layard</span>, for example, is a most veritable -‘discoverer.’ Nevertheless, the researches of <span class='sc'>Layard</span> link -themselves with those of Claudius <span class='sc'>Rich</span>, and with the still -earlier glimpses, and the mere note-book jottings, of Carsten -<span class='sc'>Niebuhr</span>, as well as with the explorations of <span class='sc'>Layard’s</span> -contemporary and most able French fellow-investigator, -Monsieur <span class='sc'>Botta</span>. In like manner, Nathan <span class='sc'>Davis</span> is the -undoubted disinterrer of old Carthage, but the previous -labours of the Italian canon and archæologist <span class='sc'>Spano</span>, of -Cagliari, and those of the French geographers <span class='sc'>De Dreux</span> -and <span class='sc'>Dureau de La Malle</span>, imperfect as they all were, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_627'>627</span>helped to put him upon the quest which was destined to -receive so rich a reward.</p> - -<p class='c011'>It is obvious, therefore, that a tolerably satisfactory account -of the researches of the renowned archæologists mentioned -at the head of this chapter must be prefaced with -some notices of much earlier and much less successful -labours than theirs; and a thorough account would -need greatly more than that. But, at present, I cannot -hope to give either the one or the other. Rapid glances at -the recent investigations are all that, for the moment, are -permitted me, and for the perfunctory manner of these I -shall have to make not a little demand on the reader’s indulgence. -The subject-matter is rich enough to claim a -volume to itself; nor would the story be found to lack -well-sustained and varied interest, even if retold at large.</p> - -<p class='c011'>The first inquiries and explorations in <cite>Lycia</cite> of Sir -Charles <span class='sc'>Fellows</span> began several years earlier than those in -<cite>Assyria</cite> of Mr. Austen <span class='sc'>Layard</span>, but an intelligible narrative -of what <span class='sc'>Layard</span> did, in 1845, must needs start with -a notice, be it ever so brief, of what <span class='sc'>Botta</span> had been doing -in 1842. The Lycian excavations were also effectively -begun in 1842. They were, in fact, contemporaneous -with the first excavations at Nineveh. I begin, therefore, -with the closely-linked labours of <span class='sc'>Botta</span> and of <span class='sc'>Layard</span>, -prefacing them with a glance at the previous pursuits and -aims in life of our distinguished fellow-countryman.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Austen Henry Layard and his early career.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>Austen Henry <span class='sc'>Layard</span> is an Englishman, notwithstanding -his birth in Paris (5th of March, 1817), and his descent -from one of the many Huguenot families who (in one sense) -do honour to France for their sufferings for conscience -sake, and who (in many more senses than one) do honour -to England by the way in which zealous and persevering -exertions in the service of their adopted country have -<span class='pageno' id='Page_628'>628</span>enabled them to pluck the flowers of fame, or of distinction, -from amidst the sharp thorns of adversity. Austen <span class='sc'>Layard</span> -is the grandson of the honoured Dr. <span class='sc'>Layard</span>, Dean of Bristol, -and he began active life, whilst yet very young, in a solicitor’s -office in the City of London. But he had scarcely reached -twenty-two years of age before family circumstances enabled -him to gratify a strong passion for Eastern travel. Archæology -had no share, at first, in the attractions which the -Levant presented to his youthful enterprise. But a fervid -nature, a good education, and a wonderful power of self-adaptation -to new social circumstances, made the mind of -the young traveller a fitting seedplot for antiquarian knowledge, -whenever the opportunity of acquiring it should -come.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>The journey through Asia Minor and Syria in 1839–1840.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>To a man of that stamp it would be impossible that he -should tread near those ancient ruins, every stone of which -must needs connect itself with some ‘reverend history’ -or other—when the discerning eye should at length pore -upon it and ponder it—without the ambition stirring within -him to make at least an earnest attempt to explore and to -decipher. To this particular man and his companion in -travel, Fortune was propitious, by dint of her very parsimony. -As he says himself: ‘No experienced dragoman -measured our distances or appointed our stations. We -were honoured with no conversations by pashas, nor did -we seek any civilities from governors. We neither drew -tears nor curses from the villagers by seizing their horses, -or searching their houses for provisions; -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><cite>Nineveh and -its Remains</cite> -(1849), vol. i, -p. 2.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -their welcome was -sincere; their scanty fare was placed before us; we ate, -and came, and went in peace.’</p> - -<p class='c011'>It was almost thirty years ago—about the middle of -April, 1840—that Mr. <span class='sc'>Layard</span> looked upon those vast -ruins on the east bank of the Tigris, opposite Mósul, which -<span class='pageno' id='Page_629'>629</span>include the now famous mounds of Konyunjik and of -Nebbi Yunus. Having gazed on them with an incipient -longing—even then—to explore them thoroughly, he and -his companion rode into the desert, and looked with new -wonder at the great mound of Kàlàh Sherghat, the site of -which is by some geographers identified with the Assur of -the book Genesis.<a id='r37'></a><a href='#f37' class='c013'><sup>[37]</sup></a> After that hasty and tantalising visit, -in the spring of 1840, <span class='sc'>Layard</span> did not again see Mósul -until the summer of 1842, when he was again travelling -Tatar, and hurrying to Constantinople. In the interval, he -had often thought of his early purpose, and had talked of -it to many travellers. <span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><span class='sc'>Botta’s -first discoveries.</span><span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -Now, in 1842, he heard that what he -had hitherto been able only to contemplate, as the wished-for -task of the future, Monsieur <span class='sc'>Botta</span>, the new French -Consul at Mósul, had, for some months, been actually -working upon; although, as yet, with very small success. -Our countryman encouraged the French Consul in his undertaking, -and presently learned that by him the first real -monument of old Assyria had been uncovered. This primary -discovery was not made at Kouyunjik, but at Khorsabad, -near the river Khauser, many miles away from the -place at which the first French excavations had been made, -early in 1842.</p> - -<p class='c011'>The delighted emotions of Monsieur <span class='sc'>Botta</span>, when he -found himself, very suddenly, standing in a chamber in -which—to all probability—no man had stood since the -Fall of Nineveh, and saw that the chamber was lined with -sculptured slabs of ‘gypsum-marble’ or alabaster, full of -historic scenes from the wars and triumphs of Assyria, a -<span class='pageno' id='Page_630'>630</span>reader can better imagine than a writer can describe. -<span class='sc'>Botta</span> himself rather indicates than depicts them, in the -deeply interesting letters which he speedily addressed to his -friend <span class='sc'>Mohl</span> at Paris (and which by <span class='sc'>Mohl</span> were not less -promptly published in the <cite><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Journal Asiatique</span></cite>, to be within -a month or two pondered and wondered over by almost -every archæologist in Europe). The delight, and also the -surprise, were enhanced when the discoverer saw that -almost every slab had a line of wedge-shaped characters -carved above it, giving hope of history in legible inscriptions, -as well as history in ruins. For, unhappily, nearly -all the sculptures <em>first</em> discovered at Khorsabad were fractured. -The durability of the Assyrian style of building -had brought about the defacement of the sculptured -records. The walls were formed of blocks of gypsum, -backed and lined, so to speak, with enormous masses of -clay. When the weight of such large earth-banks pressed -down upon the sculptured slabs, these were thrust from -their place. Many that were still in position, when first -seen, fell, or crumbled, as the explorer was looking at -them. He had to shore-up and underpin, as he went on; -and to do this by unpractised hands. Else, the more -diligent his excavations, the more destructive they would -have been of the very end he had in view.</p> - -<p class='c011'><span class='sc'>Layard</span> was at Constantinople when the news came -of M. <span class='sc'>Botta’s</span> increasing successes. His detention there -had been unexpected, as well as unavoidable. But he -wrote to England without delay. He had a foresight -that <span class='sc'>Botta</span> would not lack encouragement in France. He -felt no unworthy jealousy on account of the fact that it -was a Frenchman who was now disinterring historic treasures -of a hitherto unexampled kind, and who was rapidly -<span class='pageno' id='Page_631'>631</span>securing historic fame for himself.<a id='r38'></a><a href='#f38' class='c013'><sup>[38]</sup></a> Mr. <span class='sc'>Layard</span> knew—few -men just then knew more fully—that in all matters -of learning and of discovery the gains of France are the -gains of the world. <span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><span class='sc'>Layard’s -overtures -to the -British -Government.</span><span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -For the staunchest of John Bulls -amongst us must acknowledge that in the arts of scientific -dissemination and exposition a Frenchman (other things -being equal) has usually twice the expertness of an Englishman. -But he was naturally desirous that France -should not have <em>all</em> the glory of Assyrian discovery. What, -then, was the reception with which his first overtures were -met? ‘With a single exception,’ in the person of his -London correspondent, ‘no one,’ he tells us, ‘in England’ ... -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><cite>Nineveh and -its Remains</cite>, -vol. i, p. 10.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -‘seemed inclined to assist or take any interest in -such an undertaking.’</p> - -<p class='c011'>What, on the other hand, were the encouragements given -to the French explorer by the Government and the Nation -of France? They were large; they were ungrudgingly -given; and they were instantaneously sent. In Mr. -<span class='sc'>Layard’s</span> words: ‘The recommendation was attended to -with that readiness and munificence which [has] almost -invariably distinguished the French Government in undertakings -of this nature. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><span class='sc'>Liberal aid -extended -to M. Botta -by the -French -Government.</span><span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -Ample funds to meet the cost of -extensive excavations were at once assigned to M. <span class='sc'>Botta</span>, -and an artist of acknowledged skill was placed under his -orders, to draw such parts of the monuments discovered as -could not be preserved or removed.’ Who will wonder -<span class='pageno' id='Page_632'>632</span>that at first it seemed as though France would carry off all -the stakes, and England have no place at all in the archæological -race?</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Contrasts:—England and France.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>Mr. <span class='sc'>Layard</span>, however, was otherwise minded. And he -found, presently, a powerful helper in the person of the -British Ambassador at Constantinople, Sir Stratford <span class='sc'>Canning</span> -(now Lord Stratford de Redcliffe). Had it not been -for the union, in that ambassador, of a large intellect, a -liberal mind, and a strong will, and also for the <em>absence</em>, in -him, of that shrinking from extra-official responsibilities -which in so many able men has often emasculated their -ability, Mr. <span class='sc'>Layard’s</span> efforts, earnest and unremitting as -they were, would assuredly have been foiled.</p> - -<p class='c011'>The reader will perceive that for what was achieved, in -1845 and in the subsequent years, on the banks of the -Tigris, the British public owe a debt of gratitude to Lord -<span class='sc'>Stratford de Redcliffe</span>, the encourager of the enterprise, -as well as to Mr. <span class='sc'>Layard</span>, its originator.</p> - -<p class='c011'>But neither does this fact, nor does the like of it, five -years earlier, in the help given by Lord <span class='sc'>Ponsonby</span> to the -Lycian researches of Sir Charles <span class='sc'>Fellows</span>, invalidate or -weaken the remark I have ventured to make (on pages -348; 381, of the present volume, and elsewhere) about the -discreditable and long-continued apathy of our Foreign -Office in matters of art and literature; especially if we -compare on that head British practice with French practice. -Perhaps, at first blush, it might be thought somewhat -presumptuous, in a private person, to remark so freely -on what seem to him the shortcomings of statesmen. But -it has to be borne in mind that, in such cases as this, outspoken -criticism is rather the expression of known public -opinion, than of mere individual judgment. The one -writer, how humble soever, is very often the mouthpiece of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_633'>633</span>the thoughts of many minds. Nor is other warrant for -such criticism lacking.</p> - -<p class='c011'><em>Three years</em> after beginning his excavations at Nimroud, -Mr. <span class='sc'>Layard</span> himself wrote thus (from Cheltenham):—‘It is -to be regretted that proper steps have not been taken for -the transport to England of the sculptures discovered at -Nineveh. Those which have already reached this country, -and (it is to be feared) those which are now on their way, -have consequently suffered <em>unnecessary</em> injury; ... -yet, ... -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><cite>Nineveh and -its Remains</cite>, -vol. i, p. xiii.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -they are almost the only remains of a great city -and of a great nation.’</p> - -<p class='c011'>Part of the injury now observable in the Assyrian sculptures -of the British Museum was, of course, inseparable -from circumstances attending the discovery. Besides the -injury already spoken of—from the pressure of the earth-banks—all -the low-reliefs of one great palace had suffered -from intense heat. From this cause, Mr. <span class='sc'>Layard’s</span> experiences -recall, in one particular, the impressive accounts we -have all read of the opening of ancient tombs in Egypt -and in Italy. The fortunate excavator suddenly beheld a -kingly personage, in fashion as he lived. The royal forehead -was still encircled by a regal crown. The fingers -were decked with rings; the hand, mayhap, grasped a -sceptre. But whilst the discoverer was still gazing in the -first flush of admiration, the countenance changed; the ornaments -crumbled; the sceptre and the hand that held it -alike became dust. So it was, at times, at Nimroud. Some -of the calcined slabs presented, for a moment, their story -in its integrity. Presently, they fell into fragments.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Mixed nature of the causes of the mutilations observable in the Museum Sculptures from Assyria.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>None the less, when the reader goes into the Kouyunjik -Gallery; looks at the sculptures from <span class='sc'>Sennacherib’s</span> -palace; observes the innumerable ‘joinings,’ and then -glances at his official ‘<cite>Guide</cite>’ (which tells him, at page 85, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_634'>634</span>‘many single slabs reached this country in three hundred or -four hundred pieces’), he is bound for truth’s sake to remember -that, whilst some of the breakage is ascribable to -the action of fire at the time of the Fall of Nineveh, -another portion of it is ascribable to the want or absence -of action, on the part of some worthy officials in the public -service of Britain, just twenty-five centuries afterwards.</p> - -<p class='c010'>With Sir Stratford <span class='sc'>Canning’s</span> help, and with the still -better help of his own courage and readiness of resource, -Mr. <span class='sc'>Layard</span> surmounted most of the obstacles which lay -in his path. There was a rich variety of them. To quote -but a tithe of his encounters with Candian pashas, Turcoman -navvies, Abou-Salman visitors, and Mósul cadis and -muftis, would ensure the reader’s amusement beyond all -doubt; but the temptation must be overcome. Happily, -the original books are well known, though the anecdotes -are more than racy enough to bear quotation and requotation.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Layard’s first discovery</span>, 28th Nov., 1845.</div> - -<p class='c011'>Two incidents of the first explorations (1845–46) must -needs be told. The earliest discovery was made on the twenty-eighth -of November. The indications of having approached, -at length, a chamber lined with sculpture, rejoiced the Arab -labourers not less than it rejoiced their employer. They -kept on digging long after the hour at which they were -accustomed to strike work. The slab first uncovered was -a battle-scene. War chariots drawn by splendidly equipped -horses contained three warriors apiece, in full career. The -chief of them (beardless) was clothed in complete mail, ‘and -wore a pointed helmet on his head, from the sides of which -fell lappets covering the ears, the lower part of the face, and -the neck. The left hand (the arm being extended) grasped -a bow at full stretch; whilst the right, drawing the string to -<span class='pageno' id='Page_635'>635</span>the ear, held an arrow ready to be discharged. A second -warrior urged, with reins and whip, three horses to the -utmost of their speed.... A third, without helmet and with -flowing hair and beard, held a shield for the defence of the -principal figure. Under the horses’ feet, and scattered -about, were the conquered, wounded by the arrows of the -conquerors. I observed with surprise the elegance and -richness of the ornaments, the faithful and delicate delineation -of the limbs and muscles, both in the men and -horses, and the knowledge of art displayed in the grouping -of the figures and the general composition. <span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><cite>Nineveh and -its Remains</cite> -(1849), vol. i, -p. 41.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -In all these -respects, as well as in costume, this sculpture appeared to -me, not only to differ from, but to surpass, the bas-reliefs -of Khorsabad.’</p> - -<p class='c011'>Thus cheered, the work of digging went on with fresh -vigour, and in new directions. Parts of a building which -had suffered from decay, not from fire, were at length uncovered. -Slabs of still greater beauty were disclosed. ‘I now -thought,’ says the explorer, ‘I had discovered the earliest -palace of Nimroud.’</p> - -<p class='c011'>On the morning after the discovery of these new and -more choice sculptures—middle of February, 1846—Mr. -<span class='sc'>Layard</span> rode away from the mound to a distant Arab encampment—wisely -cultivating, as was his manner, a good -understanding with a ticklish sort of neighbours. Two early -Arabs, from this camp, had already paid a morning visit to -the mound. They hastened back at a racing pace. Before -they could well pull up their horses, or regain their own -Oriental composure, the riders shouted at sight of Layard: -‘Hasten, O Bey, to the diggers. They have found great -<span class='sc'>Nimrod</span> himself. Wallah! it is wonderful, but it is true! -We have seen him with our eyes.’</p> - -<p class='c011'>The ‘Bey’ did not wait for lucid explanations; but -<span class='pageno' id='Page_636'>636</span>urged his horse to emulate the speed with which the grateful, -though mysterious, tidings had been brought to him. No -sooner had he entered the new trench at the mound, than -he saw a splendidly sculptured head, the form of which -assured him at a glance that it must belong to a winged -bull or lion like to those of Persepolis and of Khorsabad. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><em>Ibid.</em>, p. 65.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -Its preservation was perfect, its features sharply cut. <span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>1846, -February.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -The -Arab workmen stood looking at it with intent and fear-expressing -eyes—but with open palms. The first word -that came from their lips begged a ‘back-sheesh,’ in honour -of the auspicious occasion. The terror of one of them, -only, had led him to scamper at full speed to his tent, that -he might hide himself from the frightful monster whose -aspect seemed to threaten vengeance on those rash men -who had dared to disturb his long repose, in the bowels of -the earth.</p> - -<p class='c011'>Scarcely had Mr. <span class='sc'>Layard</span> glanced at ‘<span class='sc'>Nimrod</span>’ before -he found that more than half the tribe whose encampment -he had just left had followed hard at his heels. They were -headed by their Sheikh. It would be difficult to depict, in -few words, the conflict of their feelings. Admiration, terror, -anger, had each a part in the emotion which was evinced, no -less in their gestures than in their words. ‘There is no God -but <span class='sc'>God</span>, and <span class='sc'>Mahomed</span> is his prophet! <span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><em>Ibid.</em>, p. 66.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -This is not the -work of men’s hands, but of those infidel giants whom the -Prophet—peace be with him!—has said, that “they were -higher than the tallest date-tree.” This is one of the idols -which <span class='sc'>Noah</span>—peace be with him!—cursed before the -Flood.’ Such were the words of Sheikh <span class='sc'>Abd-ur-rahman</span> -himself. He showed great reluctance, at first, to enter the -trench. But when once in, he examined the image with -great and continued earnestness. All his followers echoed -his verdict.</p> - -<p class='c011'><span class='pageno' id='Page_637'>637</span>But the townspeople of Mósul were more difficult to deal -with. The Cadi called a meeting of the Mufti and the -Ulema, to discuss the most effectual protest against such -an atrocious violation of the Koran as that committed by -the unbelieving explorer and his mercenary labourers. -Their notions about <span class='sc'>Nimrod</span> were very vague. Some -thought him to have been an ancient true-believer; others -had a strong misgiving that he, like his unearther, was -but an infidel. They were all clear that the digging must be -stopped. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><cite>Nineveh and -its Remains</cite>; -passim.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -It tasked all Mr. <span class='sc'>Layard’s</span> skill, experience, and -force of character, to surmount these new difficulties. When -they had been at length overcome—with the brilliant -results known now to most Englishmen—he had to face -the enormous difficulties of transport. The great human-headed -lions he was obliged to leave in their original position. -A multitude of smaller sculptures (many of them -reduced in bulk by sawing) were safely brought to England. -The first arrivals came in 1847.<a id='r39'></a><a href='#f39' class='c013'><sup>[39]</sup></a> In 1849 and in 1850, -the excavations in the mounds first opened were vigorously -resumed, and new researches were made in several directions. -Early in 1850, the explorers buckled to the task of -removing the lions. That chapter in Mr. <span class='sc'>Layard’s</span> familiar -narrative is not the least interesting one.</p> - -<p class='c011'><span class='pageno' id='Page_638'>638</span>The explorations partially interrupted in 1847 were -resumed in 1849. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><cite>Discoveries in the Ruins of Nineveh and Babylon</cite> (1853), pp. 162, 163; 201–209; seqq. Dec., 1849.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -From the October of that year until -April, 1851, they were carried on with even more than the -old energy, for the means and appliances were more ample, -and the encouragements drawn from success followed each -other in far quicker succession.</p> - -<p class='c011'>The suspension had been but partial, for Mr. Hormuzd -<span class='sc'>Rassam</span>, then British Vice-Consul at Mósul, had been -empowered to keep a few men still digging at Kouyunjik. -He had there unearthed several new sculpture-lined chambers -of no small interest. But at Nimroud nothing worthy -of mention had been done during <span class='sc'>Layard’s</span> absence. That -was now his first object. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>1849, -Oct. and Nov.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -Kouyunjik, however, for a long -time gave the best yield.</p> - -<p class='c011'>In December the south-east façade of the Kouyunjik -Palace was uncovered. It was found to be a hundred and -eighty feet in length, and contained, among other sculptures, -ten colossal bulls and six human figures. The -accompanying inscriptions contained the early annals of -<span class='sc'>Sennacherib</span>, and of his wars with <span class='sc'>Merodach Baladan</span>.<a id='r40'></a><a href='#f40' class='c013'><sup>[40]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c011'>Presently, the labours on the north-west palace at Nimroud -were also richly rewarded. The somewhat higher -antiquity of that building, as compared with the homogeneous -structures of Kouyunjik and Khorsabad, had already -impressed itself with the force of conviction on Mr. <span class='sc'>Layard’s</span> -individual mind. The fact now became manifest to all eyes -that had the capacity to see.</p> - -<p class='c011'>These Nimroud monuments belong,—according to the -opinion of the best archæologists,—most of them, to the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_639'>639</span>eighth, some of them, however, to the earlier part of the -seventh centuries <em>B.C.</em> They now occupy the most central -of the Assyrian Galleries in the British Museum. The -monuments of Kouyunjik and of Khorsabad are probably -but little anterior to the supposed date (625 <em>B.C.</em>) of the -destruction of Nineveh. These are exhibited in galleries -adjacent to the ‘Nimroud Central Saloon.’ To describe -only a few of them in connection with the interesting circumstances -of their respective disclosures would demand -another chapter. A word or two, however, must be given -to one among the earlier discoveries (October, 1846), and -to one among the latest of those made (in the spring of -1851), whilst Mr. <span class='sc'>Layard</span> himself remained in the neighbourhood -of Mósul.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Discovery of the black-marble obelisk</span>, 1846, October (found in centre of the great mound).</div> - -<p class='c011'>At Nimroud many trenches had, in those early days, been -opened unprofitably. Mr. <span class='sc'>Layard</span> doubted whether he -ought to carry them further. Half inclined to cease, in this -direction, he resolved, finally, that he would not abandon -a cutting on which so much money and toil had been spent, -until the result of yet another day’s work was shown. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><cite>Nineveh and -its Remains</cite>, -vol. i, p. 345. -(1849 edit.)<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -‘I -mounted my horse,’ he says—to ride into Mósul—‘but had -scarcely left the mound when a corner of black marble was -uncovered, lying on the very edge of the trench.’ It was -part of an obelisk seven feet high, lying about ten feet -below the surface. Its top was cut into three gradines, -covered with wedge-shaped inscriptions. Beneath the -gradines were five tiers of sculpture in low-relief, continued -on all sides. Between every two tiers of sculpture ran a -line of inscription. Beneath the five tiers, the unsculptured -surface was covered with inscriptions. These, as subsequent -researches have shown, contain the Annals of <span class='sc'>Shalmaneser</span>, -King of Assyria, during thirty-one years towards -the close of the ninth century before our Lord. The tributaries -<span class='pageno' id='Page_640'>640</span>of the great monarch are seen in long procession, -bearing their offerings. In the appended cuneiform record -of these tributaries are mentioned <span class='sc'>Jehu</span>, ‘of the House of -<span class='sc'>Omri</span>,’ and his contemporary <span class='sc'>Hazael</span>, King of Syria. <span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><em>Ibid.</em>, 346.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -Well -may the proud discoverer call his trophy a ‘precious relic.’</p> - -<p class='c010'>We now leap over more than four eventful years. Mr. -<span class='sc'>Layard</span> is about to exchange the often anxious but always -glorious toils of the successful archæologist, for the not less -anxious and very often exceedingly inglorious toils of the politician. -He will also henceforth have to exchange many a -pleasant morning ride and many a peaceful evening ‘tobacco-parliament’ -with Arabs of the Desert, for turbulent discussions -with metropolitan electors, and humble obeisances -in order to win their sweet voices. Just before he leaves -Mósul come some new unearthings of Assyrian sculpture, -to add to the welcome tidings he will carry into England.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>The discoveries at Kouyunjik of the spring of 1851.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>He found, he tells us—in one of the closing chapters of -his latest book—that to the north of the great centre-hall -four new chambers, full of sculpture, had been discovered. -On the walls of a grand gallery, ninety-six feet by twenty-three, -was represented the return of an Assyrian army -from a campaign in which they had won loads of spoil -and a long array of prisoners. The captured fighting -men wore a sort of Phrygian bonnet reversed, short tunics, -and broad belts. The women had long tresses and fringed -robes. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><cite>Discoveries -at Nineveh -and Babylon</cite> -(edit. 1853), -pp. 582–584.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -Sometimes they rode on mules or were drawn—by -men as well as by mules—in chariots. The captives -were the men and women of Susiana. The victor was -<span class='sc'>Sennacherib</span>.</p> - -<p class='c010'>In several subsequent years—1853, 1854, 1855, when -most Englishmen were intently acting, or beholding with -<span class='pageno' id='Page_641'>641</span>suspended breath, the great drama in the Crimea—a famous -compatriot was continuing the task so nobly initiated by -Austen <span class='sc'>Layard</span>. Sir Henry <span class='sc'>Rawlinson</span> (made by this -time Consul-General at Baghdad) carried on new excavations, -both at Nimroud and at Kouyunjik. In these he -was ably assisted by Mr. W. K. <span class='sc'>Loftus</span>, as well as by Mr. -Hormuzd <span class='sc'>Rassam</span>, the helper and early friend of <span class='sc'>Layard</span>, -and (in the later stages) by Mr. <span class='sc'>Taylor</span>. Another obelisk, -with portions of a third and fourth; thirty-four slabs -sculptured in low-relief; one statue in the round; and a -multitude of smaller objects, illustrating with wonderful -diversity and minuteness the manners and customs, the -modes of life and of thought, as well as the wars and -conquests, the luxury and the cruelty, of the old Assyrians, -were among the treasures which, by the collective labour -of these distinguished explorers, were sent into Britain. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><span class='sc'>Early -labourers -on the -deciphering -of -cuneiform -inscriptions.</span><span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -Another ‘recension,’ so to speak, of the early Annals of -<span class='sc'>Sennacherib</span>, King of Assyria, inscribed upon a cylinder, -was not the least interesting of the monuments found under -the direction of Sir Henry <span class='sc'>Rawlinson</span>, whose name had -already won its station—many years before his consulship -at Baghdad—beside those of <span class='sc'>Grotefend</span>, of <span class='sc'>Burnouf</span> and -of <span class='sc'>Lassen</span>, in the roll of those scientific investigators by -whose closet labours the researches and long gropings -of the <span class='sc'>Riches</span>, the <span class='sc'>Bottas</span>, and the <span class='sc'>Layards</span>, were destined -to be interpreted, illustrated, and fructified for the -world of readers at large.</p> - -<p class='c011'>For it is not the least interesting fact in this particular -and most richly-yielding field of Assyrian archæology—that -several men in Germany;—more than one man -in France;—and one man, at least, in Persia, had been -working simultaneously, but entirely without concert, at -those hard and, for a time, almost barren studies which -<span class='pageno' id='Page_642'>642</span>were eventually to supply a master-key to vast libraries of -inscriptions brought to light after an entombment of twenty-five -hundred years.</p> - -<div class='c002'></div> -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>The travels and researches of Sir Charles Fellows in Lycia.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>Scarcely smaller than the debt of gratitude which Britain -owes to Mr. <span class='sc'>Layard</span> and to Lord <span class='sc'>Stratford de Redcliffe</span>, -for the Marbles and other antiquities of Assyria, is the -debt which she owes to the late Sir Charles <span class='sc'>Fellows</span> for -those of Lycia. Nor ought it to be passed over without -remark that the admirably productive mission to the Levant -of Mr. Charles <span class='sc'>Newton</span> seems to have grown, in germ, out -of the applications made at Constantinople on behalf of -Sir Charles <span class='sc'>Fellows</span>. In that merit he has but a very small -share. The merit of the Lycian discoveries is all his own. -He has now gone from amongst us,—like most of the benefactors -whose public services have been recorded in this -volume. How inadequate the record; how insufficient for -the task the chronicler; no one will be so painfully conscious, -as is the man whose hand—in the absence of a better -hand—has here attempted the narrative. The Museum story -has been long. What remains to be said must needs be -put more briefly. But because Sir Charles <span class='sc'>Fellows</span> has -been so lately removed from the land he served with so -much zeal and ability, I shall still venture to claim the -indulgence of my readers for a somewhat detailed account -of the work done in Lycia, and of the man who did it.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>The analogies and the contrasts between Fellows and Layard.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>In one respect, it was with Charles <span class='sc'>Fellows</span> as with -Austen <span class='sc'>Layard</span>. A youthful passion for foreign travel, -and what grew out of that, lifted each of them from -obscurity into prominence. But <span class='sc'>Layard</span> achieved fame at -a much earlier age than did Sir Charles <span class='sc'>Fellows</span>. Sir -Charles was almost forty before his name came at all before -the Public. <span class='sc'>Layard</span> was already a personage at eight and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_643'>643</span>twenty. This small circumstantial difference between the -fortune of two men whose pursuits in life were, for a time, -so much alike, deserves to be kept in mind, on this account: -Sir Charles lived scarcely long enough to see any fair -appreciation of what he had accomplished. Even those -whose political sympathies incline them to a belief that Mr. -<span class='sc'>Layard’s</span> <em>official</em> services will never suffice to console Englishmen -for the interruption of his archæological services, -hope that he may live long enough to enjoy a rich reward -for the latter in their yearly-increasing estimation by his -countrymen at large. They will delight to see the fervid -member for Southwark utterly eclipsed in the fame of the -great discoverer of long-entombed Assyria.</p> - -<div class='c002'></div> -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>The travels in Asia Minor, and what grew thereout.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>Sir Charles <span class='sc'>Fellows</span> was the son of Mr. John <span class='sc'>Fellows</span>, -of Nottingham. He was born in 1799. In the year 1837, -he set out upon a long tour in Asia Minor. Archæological -discovery no more formed any part of a preconcerted plan in -Mr. <span class='sc'>Fellows’</span> case than it did, two or three years afterwards, -in Mr. <span class='sc'>Layard’s</span>. Both were led to undertake -their respective explorations in a way that (for want of a -more appropriate word) we are all accustomed to call -‘accidental.’</p> - -<p class='c011'>In February, 1838, he found himself at Smyrna. After -a good deal of observation of men and manners, he betook -himself to an inspection of the buildings. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><cite>Journal -written -during an -Excursion in -Asia Minor</cite>, -pp. 8, seqq. -(edit. 1852).<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -He soon found -that not a little of the modern Smyrna was built out of the -ruins of the Smyrna of the old world. Busts, columns, -entablatures, of white marble and of ancient workmanship, -were everywhere visible, in close admixture with the recently-quarried -building-stone of the country and the -period. But not only had the old marbles been built into -the new edifices; they had been turned into tombstones. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_644'>644</span>Certain Jews, of an enterprising and practical turn of mind, -had bought, in block, a whole hill-full of venerable marbles, -in order to have an inexhaustible supply of new tombstones -close at hand. <span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><em>Ibid.</em>, p. 9.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -In another part of the suburbs of the town, -the walls of a large corn-field turned out, on close examination, -to be built of thin and flat stones, of which the inner -surface was formed of richly-patterned mosaic, black, white, -and red. From that day, the traveller, wheresoever he -journeyed, was a scrutinising archæologist. And the traveller, -thus equipped for his work, was busied, two months -afterwards, in exploring that most interesting part of Asia -Minor (a part now called ‘Anadhouly’), which includes -Lydia, Mysia, Bithynia, Phrygia, Pisidia, Lycia, Pamphylia, -and Caria; and much of which was never before trodden—so -far as is known, and the knowledge referred to is that of -the best geographers in England, discussing this matter -expressly, at a meeting of the Geographical Society—by the -feet of any European.<a id='r41'></a><a href='#f41' class='c013'><sup>[41]</sup></a></p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>The explorations in Antiphellus and its vicinity.</span> 1838, April.</div> - -<p class='c011'>On the eighteenth of April, Mr. <span class='sc'>Fellows</span> found himself -in the romantically beautiful, but rugged and barren, neighbourhood -of Antiphellus. The ancient town of that name -possessed a theatre, and a multitude of temples, grandly -placed on a far-outjutting promontory. For miles around, -the rocks and the ravines were strewn with marble fragments. -The face of the cliff, which, on one side, overhangs -the town, was seen to be deeply indented with rock-tombs, -richly adorned. They contained sarcophagi of a special -<span class='pageno' id='Page_645'>645</span>form. The lid of each of them bore a rude resemblance to -a pointed arch. It sounds at first almost grotesquely, in -the ear of a reader of Mr. <span class='sc'>Fellows’</span> <cite>Journal</cite> of 1839, to -hear him speak of Lycian tombs as ‘Elizabethan’ in their -architecture. But, in the sense intended, the term is -strictly apposite. <span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><cite>Journal of an -Excursion</cite>, -&c., as above, -p. 164.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -If the reader will but glance at one of -Mr. <span class='sc'>Fellows’</span> many beautiful plates of those rock-tombs, -he will see at once that they look not unlike the stone-mullioned -windows of our own Tudor age.</p> - -<p class='c010'>But the discovery which eclipsed all Mr. <span class='sc'>Fellows’</span> -previous researches was that of the ancient capital of Lycia—Xanthus. -Next in importance to that was his disinterment -of Tlos. He saw the ruins of other and, in their -day, famous towns. It was plain that he had now before -him a fine opening to add to the stores of human knowledge -in some of its grandest departments—artistic, historical, -biblical. But, in 1838, he had not the most ordinary -appliances of minute research. He went back to -England; found (as <span class='sc'>Layard</span> was also destined to find, very -shortly afterwards) only a very little encouragement, at -official hands; much more than a little, however, in his own -reflections and foresight. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><span class='sc'>Further -discoveries -in the -Valley of -the Xanthus, -and -in other -parts of -Lycia; -1840–42.</span><span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -In 1839, he went back to Lycia, -taking with him George <span class='sc'>Scharf</span>, then carefully described -as ‘a young English artist,’ now widely known as an -eminent archæologist. <span class='sc'>Fellows</span> explored. <span class='sc'>Scharf</span> drew. -Early in 1840, ten Lycian cities were added to the previous -discoveries. Each of them contained many precious works -of ancient art.</p> - -<p class='c011'>In order to effectual excavation, and in order also to the -safety of what was found from destruction by Turkish barbarities, -the Sultan’s firman was essential. The difficulties -were much like those which, as I have had occasion to show -<span class='pageno' id='Page_646'>646</span>in ‘Book Second,’ lay in the path of Lord <span class='sc'>Elgin</span>, under -similar circumstances, more than forty years earlier. By -Lord <span class='sc'>Ponsonby’s</span> zealous efforts, they were at length surmounted. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>See Book II, -chap. 2; -pp. 382, seqq.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -At the earnest instance of the Museum Trustees, -the Government at home seconded the exertions of their -ambassador at Constantinople; and this combination of -endeavour made that feasible which the best energies of -Sir Charles <span class='sc'>Fellows</span>, single handed, must have utterly failed -to secure.</p> - -<p class='c011'>The reader will not, I incline to think, regard as an -instance of overmuch detail, if I here add—for instructive -comparison with the terms of the official letter procured by -Lord <span class='sc'>Elgin</span>—the words in which <span class='sc'>Rifaat</span> Pasha, in June, -1841, describes the antiquities, the removal whereof was to -be graciously permitted. In 1800, Lord <span class='sc'>Elgin</span> (after enormous -labour) was empowered to ‘take away any pieces of -stone, from the Temples of the Idols, with old inscriptions -or figures thereon.’ Now—in 1841—the ‘pieces of stone’ -are described as ‘antique remains and rare objects.’ -The schoolmaster, it will be seen, had been at work at -Constantinople.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>The researches at Cadyanda, Pinara, &c.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>The explorations at Cadyanda, at Pinara, and at Sidyma, -richly merit the reader’s attention, as an essential part of -our present subject. But happily Sir Charles <span class='sc'>Fellows’</span> books -are both accessible and popular. Here we must hasten on -to Xanthus, and Sir Charles’ story must now be told in his -own expressive and graphic words:</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>The excavations at Xanthus.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>‘Xanthus certainly possesses some of the earliest Archaic -sculpture in Asia Minor, and this connected with the most -beautiful of its monuments, and illustrated by the language -of Lycia. These sculptures to which I refer must be the -work of the sixth or seventh centuries before the Christian -era, but I have not seen an instance of these remains having -<span class='pageno' id='Page_647'>647</span>been despoiled for the rebuilding of walls; and yet the -decidedly more modern works of a later people are used as -materials in repairing the walls around the back of the -city and upon the Acropolis; many of these have Greek -inscriptions, with names common among the Romans. -The whole of the sculpture is Greek, fine, bold, and simple, -bespeaking an early age of that people. No sign whatever -is seen of the works of the Byzantines or Christians.</p> - -<p class='c011'>‘To lay down a plan of the town is impossible, the -whole being concealed by trees; but walls of the finest -kind, Cyclopean blended with the Greek, as well as the -beautifully squared stones of a lighter kind, are seen in -every direction; several gateways also, with their paved -roads, still exist. I observed on my first visit that the -temples have been very numerous, and, from their position -along the brow of the cliff, must have combined with nature -to form one of the most beautiful of cities. The extent I -now find is much greater than I had imagined, and its -tombs extend over miles of country I had not before seen. -The beautiful gothic-formed sarcophagus-tomb, with chariots -and horses upon its roof, of which I have before -spoken and have given a sketch of a battle-scene upon the -side, accompanied with a Lycian inscription, is again a -chief object of my admiration amidst the ruins of this city. -Of the ends of this monument I did not before show -drawings, but gave a full description. Beneath the rocks, -at the back of the city, is a sarcophagus of the same kind, -and almost as beautifully sculptured; but this has been -thrown down, and the lid now lies half-buried in the earth. -Its hog’s-mane is sculptured with a spirited battle-scene. -Many Greek inscriptions upon pedestals are built into the -walls, which may throw some light upon the history of the -city; they are mostly funereal, and belong to an age and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_648'>648</span>people quite distinct from those of the many fine Lycian -remains.</p> - -<p class='c011'>‘Two of my days have been spent in the tedious, but, I -trust, useful occupation, of copying the Lycian inscription -from the obelisk I mentioned in my former volume that -I had seen: this will be of service to the philologist. -Having, with the assistance of a ladder, ascended to a level -with the top of the monument, I discovered a curious fact: -the characters cut upon the upper portion are larger and -wider apart than those on the lower, thus counteracting the -effect of diminution by distance, as seen from the ground. -As the letters are beautifully cut, I have taken several impressions -from them, to obtain fac-similes. By this inscription -I hope to fix the type of an alphabet, which will -be much simplified, as I find upon the various tombs about -the town great varieties, though of a trifling nature, in the -forms of each letter; these varieties have hitherto been -considered as different characters. This long public inscription -will establish the form of all the letters of an -alphabet, one form only being used throughout for each -letter: if this should be deciphered, it may be the means -of adding information to history. The inscription exceeds -two hundred and fifty lines.</p> - -<p class='c011'>‘It is to be regretted that the obelisk is not perfect; -time or an earthquake has split off the upper part, which -lies at its foot. Two sides of this portion only remain, -with inscriptions which I could copy; the upper surface -being without any, and the lower facing the ground: its -weight of many tons rendered it immoveable. I had the -earth excavated from the obelisk itself, and came to the -base, or probably the upper part of a flight of steps, as in -the other obelisk-monuments of a similar construction. -The characters upon the north-west side are cut in a finer -<span class='pageno' id='Page_649'>649</span>and bolder style than on the others, and appear to be the -most ancient. Should any difference of date occur on this -monument, I should decide that this is the commencement -or original inscription upon it.</p> - -<p class='c011'>‘This, which I must consider as a very important monument, -appears to have on the north-east side a portion of -its inscription in the early Greek language; the letters are -comparatively ill cut, and extremely difficult at such an -elevation to decipher; seizing favourable opportunities for -the light, I have done my best to copy it faithfully, and -glean from it that the subject is funereal, and that it relates -to a king of Lycia; the mode of inscription makes the -monument itself speak, being written in the first person. -Very near to this stands the monument, similar in form, -which I described in my last Journal as being near the -theatre, and upon which remained the singular bas-reliefs -of which I gave sketches. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><cite>Journal of an -Excursion in -Asia Minor</cite>, -&c. (2nd -Edit.), -Appendix.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -On closer examination I find -these to be far more interesting and ancient than I had -before deemed them. They are in very low-relief, resembling -in that respect the Persepolitan or Egyptian bas-reliefs.</p> - -<p class='c011'>‘I have received,’ continues Sir Charles <span class='sc'>Fellows</span>, ‘from -Mr. Benjamin <span class='sc'>Gibson</span> of Rome a letter in reference to these -bas-reliefs: his interpretation of this mysterious subject -appears far the best that I have yet heard; and from finding -the district to have been in all probability the burial-place -of the kings, it becomes the more interesting. Mr. <span class='sc'>Gibson</span> -writes—“The winged figures on the corners of the tomb -you have discovered in Lycia, represented flying away -with children, may with every probability be well supposed -to have a reference to the story of the Harpies flying away -with the daughters of King <span class='sc'>Pandarus</span>. This fable we find -related by <span class='sc'>Homer</span> in the <cite>Odyssey</cite>, lib. xx, where they are -<span class='pageno' id='Page_650'>650</span>stated to be left orphans, and the gods as endowing them -with various gifts. Juno gives them prudence, Minerva -instructs them in the art of the loom, Diana confers on -them tallness of person, and lastly Venus flies up to Jupiter -to provide becoming husbands for them; in the mean time, -the orphans being thus left unprotected, the Harpies come -and ‘snatch the unguarded charge away.’ <span class='sc'>Strabo</span> tells us -that <span class='sc'>Pandarus</span> was King of Lycia, and was worshipped -particularly at Pinara. This tomb becomes thus very interesting; -which, if it be not the tomb of <span class='sc'>Pandarus</span>, shows -that the story was prevalent in Lycia, and that the great -author of the <cite>Iliad</cite> derived it from that source. With -this clue, we have no difficulty in recognising Juno on -the peculiar chair assigned to that goddess, and on the -same side is Venus and her attendants; upon another -is probably represented Diana, recognised by the hound. -The seated gods are less easily distinguished. <span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><cite>Travels and -Researches in -Asia Minor</cite>, -pp. 336–340.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -In the -Harpies, at the four corners of the tomb, we have the -illustration of those beings as described by the classic -writers.”’</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Many subsequent discoveries; (the details here necessarily passed over).</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>Every lateral excursion made by Sir C. <span class='sc'>Fellows</span>, and by -his companions in travel, added to his collection rich works -of sculpture, and not a few of them added many varied and -most interesting minor antiquities. But I must needs -resist all temptation to enlarge on that head, though the -temptation is great. The twentieth and subsequent chapters -of the book itself (I refer to the <em>collective</em> but abridged -‘<cite>Travels and Researches in Asia Minor</cite>’ of 1852) will -abundantly repay the reader who is disposed to turn to -them—whether it be for a renewed or for a new reading.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>The difficulties of transport.</span> Jan., 1842.</div> - -<p class='c011'>When the task of removal had to be undertaken, difficulties -of transport were found, under certain then existing -circumstances, to be graver obstacles than had been Turkish -<span class='pageno' id='Page_651'>651</span>prejudice or Turkish apathy at an earlier stage of the business. -The maritime part of the duty had been entrusted to -Captain <span class='sc'>Graves</span>, of H.M. Ship <em>Beacon</em>. The captain left -his ship at Smyrna; sailed with <span class='sc'>Fellows</span> for the Xanthus, -in a steam-packet; but omitted to provide himself with the -needful flat-bottomed boats. <span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>1841, -February.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -When they reached the site -of the marbles which were to be carried away, Captain -<span class='sc'>Graves</span> said he would not have any of the stores taken -down the river; that stores must be obtained from Malta; -and that he would take all hands away from the diggings -at the beginning of March. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><em>Ibid.</em>, pp. 440, -seqq.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -The reader may imagine the -reflections of the eager discoverer at this sudden check,—coming, -as it did, at the very beginning of the burst.</p> - -<p class='c011'>He took a solitary walk of many hours, he tells us, before -he could resolve upon his course of action. He saw before -him, to use his own words, ‘a mine of treasure.’ He had -willing hands to work it; ample firmans to stave off opposition; -nothing deficient save boats and tackle. A year -might possibly pass in awaiting them from Malta; and, -meanwhile, the ignorance of the peasantry, the indiscreet -curiosity of travellers, or the sudden growth of political -complications, might destroy the enterprise irrecoverably.</p> - -<p class='c011'>He resolved, in his perplexity, to construct by his own -exertions tackle that would suffice for the removal to the -coast; got native help in addition to the willing efforts—however -unscientific—of the honest sailors of the <em>Beacon</em>; -succeeded in getting a portion of the precious objects of his -quest to the waterside, before the arrival of the ship; and -got them also strongly cased up. Then he sailed with -<span class='sc'>Graves</span> for Malta. The worthy captain resigned the -honourable task—to him so unwelcome—into the hands of -Admiral Sir Edward <span class='sc'>Owen</span>. A new expedition started -from Malta at the end of April, and brought away seventy-eight -<span class='pageno' id='Page_652'>652</span>cases of sculpture in June; leaving the splendid but -too heavy ‘winged-chariot-tomb’—so called by its discoverer -in one place, and elsewhere called ‘horse-tomb,’ -but since ascertained to be the tomb of a Lycian satrap -named <span class='sc'>Paiafa</span>; <span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><span class='sc'>Arrival in -England of -the first -series of -Xanthian -Marbles. -Dec., 1841.</span><span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -it is adorned with figures of Glaucus, or -perhaps of Sarpedon, in a four-horse chariot—until next -year. The seventy-eight cases were brought to England -by the Queen’s ship <em>Cambridge</em> in the following December.</p> - -<p class='c011'>On the fourteenth of May, 1842, the Trustees of the -British Museum thus recorded their sense of Mr. <span class='sc'>Fellows’</span> -public services:—‘The Trustees desire to express their -sense of Mr. <span class='sc'>Fellows’</span> public spirit, in voluntarily undertaking -to lend to so distant an expedition the assistance -of his local knowledge and personal co-operation. -They have viewed with great satisfaction the decision and -energy evinced by Mr. <span class='sc'>Fellows</span> in proceeding from Smyrna -to Constantinople, and obtaining the necessary authority -for the removal of the marbles; as well as his judicious -directions at Xanthus, by which the most desirable of the -valuable monuments of antiquity formerly brought to light -by him, together with several others, of scarcely less -interest, -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><cite>Minutes of -the Trustees -of the British -Museum</cite>; -14 May, 1842. -(Appendix to -Fellows).<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -now for the first time discovered and excavated, -have been placed in safety, and—as the Trustees -have every reason to hope—secured for the National -Museum.’</p> - -<p class='c011'>This hope was more than realised. It shows the energy -of <span class='sc'>Fellows</span>, that the expedition to Lycia of 1841 was his -<em>third</em> expedition. In 1846 he made a fourth. It was rich -in discovery; but I fear somewhat exhausting to the strength -of the explorer. He lived a good many years, it is true, -after his return to England; but how easily he yielded when -a sudden attack of illness came, I shall have the pain of -showing presently.</p> - -<p class='c011'><span class='pageno' id='Page_653'>653</span>In the interval between his third and fourth journeys to -Lycia, <span class='sc'>Fellows</span> married a fellow-townswoman, Mary, the -only daughter of Francis <span class='sc'>Hart</span>, of Nottingham, but she -survived the marriage only two years. A year after her -death he married the widow of William <span class='sc'>Knight</span>, of Oatlands, -in Herts. On his final return from Lycia he was -knighted, as a token (and it was but a slender one) of the -public gratitude for his services. At the close of October, -1860, a sudden attack of pleurisy invaded a toilworn frame. -On the eighth of the following month he died, at his house -in Montagu Place, London, in the sixty-first year of his -age.</p> - -<div class='c002'></div> -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Date and character of the monuments in the ‘Lycian Gallery.’</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>Taken broadly, the sculptures of Lycia may be described -as works which range, in date, from the sixth century before -our Lord to almost as many centuries—if we take the -minor antiquities into account—after the commencement of -the Christian era. Some of them rank, therefore, amongst -the earliest <em>original</em> monuments of Greek art which the -British Museum possesses; and date immediately after the -<em>casts</em> of the sculptures of Selinus and of Ægina.</p> - -<p class='c011'>On some of the myths and on the habits of Lycian life -there has been a sharp controversy, of the merits of which I -am very incompetent to speak. Narrower and narrower as -my limits are becoming, I yet feel it due to a public benefactor, -who can no longer speak for himself otherwise than -by his works, that in these waning pages he should be permitted -to supply at least a part of his own explanatory -comments upon the story of his discoveries. It is one of -enchaining interest to the students of classical antiquity.</p> - -<p class='c011'>The famous ‘Harpy Tomb,’ thinks Sir Charles <span class='sc'>Fellows</span>, -is to be enumerated as among the most ancient of the remaining -works of the ‘Tramilæ,’ or ‘Termilæ,’ mentioned both -<span class='pageno' id='Page_654'>654</span>by <span class='sc'>Herodotus</span> and by <span class='sc'>Stephen</span> of Byzantium, as well as -on the Xanthian obelisk or <em>stele</em>, now called the ‘Inscribed -Monument,’ and numbered ‘141’ in the Lycian Gallery of -the Museum.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Fellows’ account of the Lycian Marbles.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>Sir Charles <span class='sc'>Fellows</span> proceeds to say that ‘the shaft, -frieze, and cap of this monument, weighing more than -a hundred tons, has been by an earthquake moved upon -its pedestal eighteen inches towards the north-east, -throwing to the ground two stones of the frieze towards -the south-west: in this state I found it in 1838. In 1841 -the eight stones of this frieze were placed in the Museum. -The only similar art which I know in Europe is in the -Albani Villa near Rome. This slab is described by -<span class='sc'>Winckelmann</span> as being of earlier workmanship than that -of Etruria. I shall not dwell upon these works, as they -were found <em>in sitû</em>, and will therefore be as well understood -in England as if seen at Xanthus. I may draw attention -to the blue, red, and other colours still remaining upon -them. The subject also being that of the family of King -<span class='sc'>Pandarus</span>, it should ever be borne in mind that this monument -stood in the metropolis of Lycia, and within twelve -miles of the city of Pinara, where we are told that <span class='sc'>Pandarus</span> -was deified. This and the neighbouring tombs stood there -prior to the building of the theatre, which is probably of -Greek workmanship. The usual form of this structure -must have been partially sacrificed on account of these -monuments, as the seats rising in the circles above the -diazoma have abruptly ceased on the western side, and have -not been continued towards the proscenium. Near to one -of the vomitories in the south-eastern bend of the diazoma -is a similar monument to the Harpy Tomb, which has had -the capstone and bas-reliefs removed, and the shaft built -over by the theatre. Upon one of its sides is a short Lycian -<span class='pageno' id='Page_655'>655</span>inscription, and a few words referring to its repair remain -upon another side in the Greek character.</p> - -<p class='c011'>‘Not far from these stands the inscribed stele, which is of -the highest interest; of this, which is too heavy and too much -mutilated to allow, without great labour, of its removal to -the Museum, I have had casts taken in plaster. From my -publications you would learn that a portion of the top of -this [monument], weighing several tons, had been split off -by the shocks of earthquakes: of this I have also had casts -taken. In excavating around the monument on the south-west, -and in the opposite direction to which the top had -split off, I found the capstone had been thrown which had -surmounted bas-reliefs; also two fragments of a bas-relief, -but I think too high to have been placed upon this stele: -they are the work of the same age, and are now placed in -the Museum. The most important discovery here was of -the upper angles broken from the monument, and having -upon them the inscription on each side, thus perfecting, as -far as they extend, the beginnings and ends of the upper -lines of the inscription; these original stones I have brought -home, being useless and insecure, if left in fragments with -the monument. The exact form of the letters of the -Greek portion of this inscription, compared with many -others of which I shall speak, will do much to fix a date -to these works.</p> - -<p class='c011'>‘Upon the point of rock on the north-west side of the -Acropolis is a fine Cyclopean basement, which has probably -been surmounted by a similar monument to those of which -I have spoken. No trace is found of any of its fragments; -and from its position, shocks in the same direction as those -which have destroyed the others would have thrown this -down the perpendicular cliff into the river which flows -about three hundred feet beneath.</p> - -<p class='c011'><span class='pageno' id='Page_656'>656</span>‘The masses of Cyclopean foundations traced around and -upon the Acropolis, have been too much worked in, and -converted to the use of an after people to ascertain their -original form: they certainly have not been continuous, -forming a wall or defence for the Acropolis; indeed, its -natural position would render this superfluous, the cliffs on -the south and west are inaccessible. I observe that most -of the forms are referable to vast pedestals or stoas for -large monuments; and from their individual positions at -various elevations, and upon angles and points, I believe -that the Acropolis has been covered with the ornamented -monuments of this early people. The walls and basements -of these separate buildings have since been united by strong -lines formed of the old materials, the most ready for the -purpose, and all put together with a very excellent cement, -of which I have brought away specimens. A wall of this -formation, facing the south-west, attracted my attention in -1838, by displaying some sculptured animals and chariots -built as material into its front. This wall we have, -with great labour, owing to the hardness of the cement, -entirely removed; behind a portion of it we found a fine -Cyclopean wall, which had slightly inclined over from the -weight of earth behind; the casing which we have removed -strengthened it, and, connecting the old buildings -with others, formed a line of fortification, probably in -Roman times. From the great size of the blocks used in -constructing this wall, from the similarity of the stone, as -well as from the sculpture traceable upon almost the whole -of them, I conclude that they must have been the ruins of -monuments in the immediate neighbourhood; basements -for such are on either side. The works found here -are entirely those of the early people; and I may -extend this remark to all found upon the Acropolis. The -<span class='pageno' id='Page_657'>657</span>architectural fragments, many specimens of which I bring -away, are all Lycian, and would form monuments imitative -of wooden constructions—beam-ends, ties, mortices, and -cornices, similar to the tombs shown in the drawings, but -double the size in point of scale to any now existing; -bearing this in mind, I do not think it improbable that the -sculptures representing a chariot procession have filled the -panels on either side; should this be the case we have -nearly the whole complete. The cornice and borders of -these strongly corroborate this idea. We have four somewhat -triangular stones, with sitting sphinxes upon each; -these would complete the two gable ends in similar form -and spirit of device to the generality of the tombs of this -people. There is also an angle-stone, interesting from its -sculpture, and from its style and subject blending these -works with the age of the “Harpy Tomb.”</p> - -<p class='c011'>‘To continue with the works of the early inhabitants: -We must next notice the tombs at the foot of the rocky -heights at the south-eastern parts of the city: of these -the most beautiful are the kind having Gothic-formed tops; -these can be seen in the various drawings. The structure -generally consists of a base or pedestal which has contained -bodies, the <em>Platas</em>, surmounted by a plinth or solid -mass of stone, which is often sculptured; above this is a -sarcophagus, generally imitative of a wood-formed cabinet, -the principal receptacle for the bodies, the <em>Soros</em>; upon -this is placed a Gothic lid, sometimes highly ornamented -with sculpture, which also served as a place of sepulture, -probably the <em>Isostæ</em>. From one of these, in which the -lower parts were cut out of the solid rock, and the top had -fallen and been destroyed, I have had casts taken, as the -subject is intimately connected with the frieze of the wild -animals on the Acropolis. On this tomb, the inscription -<span class='pageno' id='Page_658'>658</span>is cut in the language of the early people. Not far distant -from this is a tomb which, from the sculpture upon it, I -distinguish as the “Chimæra-Tomb.” The lid of this, -which I found in 1840, is perfect, but had been thrown to -the ground by the effect of earthquakes; the chamber -from off which it had slidden was inclining towards the lid; -beneath the chamber a few stones forming the foundation -and step (in the same block) are alone to be found. There -is here no trace of the first two stories, and from the rock -approaching the surface of the ground I found no depth -of earth for research. Upon the chamber of this tomb is -a Lycian inscription, of which I have casts, in order that -they may be used in reconstructing the monument in the -Museum. The other tomb of this character, and by far -the most highly ornamented, was the tomb of <span class='sc'>Paiafa</span>, and -I call it, from its sculpture, the “Winged-Chariot-Tomb.” -In finding this monument, in 1838, I observed that each -part had been much shaken and split by earthquake, but -no portion was wanting except a fragment from the north -corner. This monument combines matters of great interest, -showing in itself specimens of the architecture, -sculpture, and language. I have stated that this style of -monument is peculiar to Lycia; and I now add, from the -knowledge derived from my research in that country, that -Lycia contains none but these two of this ornamental description. -These differ in minor points, making the possession -of each highly desirable, and I am glad that these -will be placed in our National Museum. The tombs of -Telmessus, Antiphellus, and Limyra, are similar in construction, -but have not the sculptured tops and other ornamental -finishings seen in these.</p> - -<p class='c011'>‘Upon the Acropolis, and fallen into a bath, we found a -pedestal having sculptured upon the side a god and goddess -<span class='pageno' id='Page_659'>659</span>within a temple, in excellent preservation. On the opposite -side of the pedestal is a very singular subject, which, -had not certain points both of execution, material, and -position occurred, I should have attributed to the Byzantine -age. Amongst many other animals, the object of chase -to a hunter is seen much mutilated: this may have been -the representation of a novel idea of the Chimæra: the -hind quarters of a goat remain, with a snake for its tail. -It is greatly to be regretted that the other fragments could -not be found. On observing in the ground some very -ancient forms of the Greek letters, differing from all others -found so commonly here, cut upon a slab of marble, I had -it taken up, and was delighted to find that it was a pedestal, -with a Lycian inscription upon the other side; this will be -valuable, as showing the form of the Greek characters in -use at the age of the language of Lycia. This same type -is seen in all the bilingual inscriptions, of which we have -only casts.</p> - -<p class='c011'>‘Of another pedestal at Tlos I have taken casts, which will -be valued from the subjects of the bas-reliefs. The pedestal -of one stone was formed of two cubes, a small one upon -a larger. The fourth side of the upper one was not sculptured. -One slab of the larger cube represents in bas-relief -a view of the Acropolis of Tlos, the Troas of these -early people: probably the hero whose deeds were by this -monument commemorated, and whose name occurs twice -upon it, was engaged in the defence or capture of the -city. At Tlos I also found cut in the rock of the Acropolis -a tomb with an Ionic portico. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><em>Note.</em>—The -plans referred -to are -appended to -the first -edition of Sir -C. Fellows’ -book.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -Within this are represented -a panelled and ornamented door, and several -sculptured devices and animals, as shown in the drawings -and plans. On the side, and within the portico, is a very -early bas-relief of Bellerophon upon Pegasus, and probably -<span class='pageno' id='Page_660'>660</span>a chimæra beneath the horse; but this portion of the sculpture -is unfinished, and the rock beneath is left rough; the -columns of the portico are only blocked out from the rock. -Of the bas-relief of Bellerophon I have casts, and the full -detail of the colouring which now remains upon the figures. -This is probably the earliest sculpture which we have obtained. -From Cadyanda I have casts of parts of a beautiful -tomb, which is so much in ruins, and shaken into fragments, -that I could not even take casts of the whole of the -sculptures that remain. The roof or lid is wanting. The -tomb now consists of a chamber in imitation of a wooden -structure, and in the panels is sculpture; surmounting this -is a smaller solid block, or plinth, also sculptured, but the -upper part is wanting. These bas-reliefs, of which I show -many drawings in my ‘Lycia,’ derive great additional interest -from several of the figures having near them names inscribed -in two languages—the Greek and the Lycian. The -casts of these, I doubt not, will be valued as important illustrations. -From Myra I have casts of the whole of the -figures ornamenting one of the rock-tombs. Three of -these subjects from within the Portico retain so much of -their original painting that I have had the casts coloured -on the spot as fac-similes, and a portion of the paint is -preserved for chemical examination. There are from this -tomb eleven figures the size of life. Of the inscriptions of -this people I have made many copies; I have had casts of -one long one from the large Gothic-formed tomb at Antiphellus, -also of the bilingual inscription from the same -place, and of another from Levisse, near the ancient -Telmessus.</p> - -<p class='c011'>‘Of the age of the next works of which I must speak, -and which are a large portion of the collection from Xanthus, -I have great difficulty in forming an opinion. The whole -<span class='pageno' id='Page_661'>661</span>were found around a basement which stands on the edge of a -cliff to the south-east of the ancient Acropolis. The monument -which stood upon this stoa has been thrown down by -earthquake, almost the whole of its ruins falling towards -the north-west. These works are of a people quite distinct -from the preceding, both in their architecture, sculpture, -and language: these are purely Greek. On carefully examining -the whole of the architectural members of which -I have specimens selected (some retaining coloured patterns -upon them), as well as the position in which each of the -various parts were thrown, I have, in my own mind, reconstructed -the building, the whole of which was of Parian -marble, and highly finished. The monument which I suppose -to have crowned this basement has been either a magnificent -tomb, or a monument erected as a memorial of a -great victory. In reforming this, I require the whole of the -parts that we have found, and none are wanting except two -stones of the larger frieze, and the fragments of the statues. -The art of this sculpture is Greek, but the subjects show -many peculiarities and links to the earlier works found in -Lycia. The frieze, representing the taking refuge within a -city, and the sally out of its walls upon the besiegers, has -many points of this character. The city represented is an -ancient Lycian city, and has within its walls the stele, or -monument known alone in Xanthus. The city is upon a -rock; women are seen upon the walls. The costume of -the men is a longer and thinner garment than is seen in -the Attic Greeks. The shields of the chiefs are curtained. -The saddle-cloth of the jaded horse entering the city is -precisely like the one upon the Pegasus of Bellerophon, -and the conqueror and judge is an Eastern chief, with the -umbrella, the emblem of Oriental royalty, held over him. -The body-guard and conquering party of the chief are -<span class='pageno' id='Page_662'>662</span>Greek soldiers. Many of these peculiarities are also seen -in the larger frieze, and also in the style of the lions and -statues. The form of the building, which alone I can -reconcile with the remains, is a Carian monument of the -Ionic order. Bearing in mind all these points, I am strongly -inclined to attribute this work to the mercenaries from -Æolia and Ionia, brought down by <span class='sc'>Harpagus</span> to conquer -the inhabitants of Xanthus, whom they are said to have -utterly destroyed. This monument may have been the -tomb of a chief, or erected as a memorial of the conquest -of the city by <span class='sc'>Harpagus</span>. No inscription has been found, -or it might probably have thrown some light upon the -date of this work. In the immediate neighbourhood were -found the other friezes, representing hunting-scenes, a -battle, offerings of various kinds and by different nations, -funeral feasts, and several statues which are of the same -date.’ Sir Charles then concludes thus:—</p> - -<p class='c011'>‘The whole of the remaining works now to be traced -amidst the ruins of Xanthus are decidedly of a late date; -scarcely any are to be attributed to a period preceding the -Christian era, and to that age I cannot conceive the works -just noticed to have belonged. A triumphal arch or gateway -of the city at the foot of the cliff of which I have -spoken has upon it a Greek inscription, showing it to have -been erected in the reign of <span class='sc'>Vespasian</span>, <em>A.D.</em> 80: from this -arch are the metopes and triglyphs now in the Museum. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><cite>Travels and -Researches in -Asia Minor</cite>, -pp. 429, 430 -(1852).<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -Through this is a pavement of flagstones leading towards -the theatre. To this age I should attribute the theatre, -agora, and most of the buildings which I have called Greek, -and which are marked red upon the plan. To this people -belong the immense quantity of mosaic pavements which -have existed in all parts of the city. Almost all the small -pebbles in the fields are the débris of these works. In many -<span class='pageno' id='Page_663'>663</span>places we have found patterns remaining which are of -coarse execution, but Greek in design.’</p> - -<div class='c002'></div> -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>The Marbles of Halicarnassus, of Cnidus, and of Branchidæ.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>The not a whit less interesting discoveries at Halicarnassus -and elsewhere, made chiefly in the years 1856, -1857, and 1858, by Mr. Charles <span class='sc'>Newton</span>, now claim -attention, but my present notice of them can be but very -inadequate to the worth of the subject. They as richly -deserve a full record as do the explorations of <span class='sc'>Layard</span> or -those of <span class='sc'>Fellows</span>.</p> - -<p class='c011'>The earliest, in arrival, of the Halicarnassian Marbles -were procured by our Ambassador at Constantinople -(then Sir Stratford <span class='sc'>Canning</span>, now) Lord <span class='sc'>Stratford de -Redcliffe</span>. These first-received marbles comprise twelve -slabs, sculptured with the combats of Greeks and Amazons -in low-relief; and were removed from the walls of the -mediæval castle of Budrum, in the year 1846, with the -permission, of course, of the Sublime Porte. It is a tribute -all the stronger to the energy of Lord <span class='sc'>Stratford</span> to find -another man of energy writing, in 1841: ‘I would not have -been a party to the asking what—to all who have seen -them’ (namely, the Marbles of Halicarnassus, built into the -inner walls of Budrum Castle)—‘must be considered as an -unreasonable request.’ -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><cite>Travels and -Researches in -Asia Minor</cite>, -pp. 429, 430 -(1852).<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -It took, it is true, five years for -Lord <span class='sc'>Stratford</span> to overcome the obstacle which to Mr. -<span class='sc'>Fellows</span> seemed, in 1841, quite insuperable.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>The mission to the Levant of Mr. Charles Newton. 1856–58.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>In 1856, and expressly in order to a thorough exploration -of the site of Halicarnassus, and of other promising -parts of the Levant, Mr. Charles <span class='sc'>Newton</span>, then one of -the ablest of the officers of the Department of Antiquities -(whose loss at the Museum, even for three or four years, -was not very easily replaceable), accepted the office of -British Vice-Consul at Mitylene. In 1857, he discovered -<span class='pageno' id='Page_664'>664</span>four additional slabs (similar to those received from the -Ambassador), on the site of the world-famous mausoleum -itself; several colossal statues, and portions of such; -together with a multitude of architectural fragments of -almost every conceivable kind; columns—mostly broken -into many portions—with their bases, capitals, and entablatures, -in sufficient quantity and diversity to warrant a -faithful restoration of the ancient building by a competent -hand.</p> - -<p class='c011'>From Didyme (near Miletus), from Cnidus, and from -Branchidæ, many fine archaic figures in the round; some -colossal lions; and an enormous number of fragments both -of sculpture and of architecture; with many minor antiquities, -various in character and in material, were successively -sent to England. Mr. Charles <span class='sc'>Newton’s</span> narrative of -his adventures at Budrum, and at several of the other places -of his sojourn and excavations, is very graphic. Some portions -of it are worthy to be placed side by side with the -best chapters of the earlier narrative of the explorations and -travelling experiences of <span class='sc'>Layard</span>.</p> - -<p class='c011'>Of the most famous trophy of Mr. <span class='sc'>Newton’s</span> first mission -to the East—the mausoleum built by Queen <span class='sc'>Artemisia</span>—the -discoverer has himself more recently given this brief -and striking descriptive account:—</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>The tomb of Mausolus at Halicarnassus.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>This monument, writes Mr. <span class='sc'>Newton</span>, in 1869, was -erected ‘to contain the remains of <span class='sc'>Mausolus</span>, Prince of -Caria, about <em>B.C.</em> 352. It consisted of a lofty basement, -on which stood an oblong Ionic edifice, surrounded by -thirty-six Ionic columns, and surmounted by a pyramid of -twenty-four steps. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><cite>Guide to the -Department -of Antiquities</cite>, -&c., -pp. 74, 75.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -The whole structure, a hundred and -forty feet in height, was crowned by a chariot-group in -white marble, in which probably stood <span class='sc'>Mausolus</span> himself, -represented after his translation to the world of demigods -<span class='pageno' id='Page_665'>665</span>and heroes. The peristyle edifice which supported the -pyramids was encircled by a frieze, richly sculptured in high-relief,’ -and so on. The frieze thus mentioned is that of -which the twelve slabs were, as already mentioned, given -by Lord <span class='sc'>Stratford de Redcliffe</span> in 1846, four exhumed -by <span class='sc'>Newton</span> himself in 1857, and one more purchased from -the Marchese <span class='sc'>Serra</span>, of Genoa, in 1865. This piecemeal -acquisition of the principal frieze, by dint of researches -spread over twenty years, is not the least curious of the facts -pertaining to the story. But the annals of the Museum -comprise ten or twelve similar instances of ultimate reunion, -after long scattering, of the parts of one whole. They tell of -manuscripts (made perfect after the lapse of a century, it -may be) as well as of sculptures, thus toilsomely recovered.</p> - -<p class='c011'>But the Greco-Amazonian battle-frieze was not the only -frieze of the famous mausoleum. The external walls of the -‘cella’ had two other friezes, of which Mr. <span class='sc'>Newton</span> succeeded -in recovering several fragments, some of them of -much interest. And the mausoleum was profusely adorned -with sculptures in the round as well as with the richly -carved figures in relief, both high and low, which encircled -(in all probability) the very basement, as well as the peristyle -and the cella portions of this marvellous structure. -Lions in watchful attitudes (‘lions guardant,’ in heraldic -phrase) stood here and there, and the fragments of these -which have been recovered testify to their variety of scale, -as well as to their number. The names of five famous -sculptors of the later Athenian school—<span class='sc'>Scopas</span>, <span class='sc'>Leochares</span>, -<span class='sc'>Bryaxis</span>, <span class='sc'>Timotheus</span>, <span class='sc'>Pythios</span>—who were employed upon -the decoration of the tomb itself, or upon the chariot-group, -have been recorded, and it would seem that each of four of -these had one side of the tomb specially assigned to him. -‘The material of the sculpture was Parian marble, and the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_666'>666</span>whole structure was richly ornamented with colour. <span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>Newton, -in <cite>Guide</cite>, -as above, -p. 74; and -<cite>Travels and -Discoveries in -the Levant</cite>, -vol. ii, -pp. 108–137; -and passim.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -The -tomb of <span class='sc'>Mausolus</span> was of the class called by the Greeks -<em>heröon</em>, and so greatly excelled all other sepulchral monuments -in size, beauty of design, and richness of decoration, -that it was reckoned one of the “Seven Wonders of the -World.”’</p> - -<p class='c011'>While <span class='sc'>Layard</span> was unearthing Nineveh; <span class='sc'>Fellows</span> -bringing into the light of day the long-lost cities of Lycia; -and Charles <span class='sc'>Newton</span> restoring, before men’s eyes, this -funereal marvel of the ancient world, which had long been -known (in effect) only by dim memories and traditions; -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><span class='sc'>The explorations of Nathan Davis at Carthage and Utica.</span><span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -Dr. Nathan <span class='sc'>Davis</span>, in his turn, was exhuming Carthage -and Utica. All these distinguished men were labouring, -in common, for the enrichment of our National Museum, -within a period of some twenty years. Three of them may -be said to have been busied (in one way or other) with -their self-denying tasks contemporaneously.<a id='r42'></a><a href='#f42' class='c013'><sup>[42]</sup></a> If we take -into the account the variety, as well as the intrinsic worth, -of the additions thus made to human knowledge; above all, -if we duly estimate the value of those links of connection -<span class='pageno' id='Page_667'>667</span>between things human and things divine, which are the -most essential characteristic of some of the best of these -acquisitions, it may well be said that the annals of no -museum in the world can boast of such an enrichment as -this, by the efforts of the travellers and the archæologists -of one generation. And all of these explorers are—in one -sense or other—Britons.</p> - -<p class='c011'>On one incidental point, I have to express a hope that the -reader will pardon what he may be momentarily inclined to -think an over-iteration of remark. If I have really adverted -somewhat too frequently to the connection which many of -these rich archæological acquisitions, of 1842–1861, present -between the annals of man and the Book of <span class='sc'>God</span>, I have -this to plead, in extenuation: Certain writers pass over that -connection so hurriedly as almost to lose sight of it. And we -live in an age in which some of our own countrymen—some -of those among us to whom the Creator has been most -bounteous in the bestowal of the glorious gifts of mind and -genius—have even spoken of our best of all literary possessions -as ‘Jew-Records,’ and ‘Hebrew old-clothes.’ Those -particular expressions, indeed, were employed long before -the arrival of the Assyrian Marbles. But I think I have -seen them quoted since.</p> - -<div class='c002'></div> -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>The spoils of Carthage and Utica.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>Among the spoils of Carthage and of Utica which we owe -to Dr. Nathan <span class='sc'>Davis</span>, are many rich mosaic pavements, of -the second and third centuries of our era, and a multitude -of Phœnician and Carthaginian inscriptions, extending in -date over several centuries. And it must be added that -many of the antiquities, and more especially of the mosaics, -excavated under Dr. <span class='sc'>Davis’s</span> instructions at Utica, were -found to possess greater beauty, and a more varied interest, -than most of those which were disinterred by him -<span class='pageno' id='Page_668'>668</span>from amidst the ruins of Carthage. Many of these, like -some of the choice treasures of Nineveh, are, in a sense, still -buried—for want of room at the British Museum adequately -to display them. The reader may yet, but too -fitly, conceive of some of them as piteously crying out -(in 1870, as in 1860)—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c012'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>‘Here have ye piled us together, and left us in cruel confusion,</div> - <div class='line'>Each one pressing his fellow, and each one shading his brother;</div> - <div class='line'>None in a fitting abode, in the life-giving play of the sunshine;</div> - <div class='line'>Here in disorder we lie, like desolate bones in a charnel.’</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='c002'></div> -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Other conspicuous augmentors of the Galleries of Antiquities.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>Many other liberal benefactors to the several Archæological -Departments of the Museum deserve record in this chapter. -But the record must needs be a mere catalogue, not a -narrative; and even the catalogue will be an abridged -one.</p> - -<p class='c011'>Foremost among the discoverers of valuable remains of -Greek antiquity, subsequent to most of those which have -now been detailed, are to be mentioned Mr. George <span class='sc'>Dennis</span>, -who explored Sicily in 1862 and subsequent years; and -Captain T. A. B. <span class='sc'>Spratt</span>, who travelled over Lycia and the -adjacent countries, following in the footsteps of Sir Charles -<span class='sc'>Fellows</span>, -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>Spratt and -Forbes’ -<cite>Travels in -Lycia, Mityas, -and the -Cibyrates</cite> -(2 vols; 1847), -passim.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -and who enjoyed the advantage of the company -and co-operation of two able and estimable fellow-travellers, -Edward <span class='sc'>Forbes</span> and Edward Thomas <span class='sc'>Daniell</span>, both of -whom, like their honoured precursor in Lycian exploration, -have been many years lost to us.</p> - -<p class='c011'>The antiquities collected in Sicily by <span class='sc'>Dennis</span>, at the -national cost, were chiefly from the tombs. They included -very many beautiful Greek vases, a collection of archaic -terracottas, and other minor antiquities.<a id='r43'></a><a href='#f43' class='c013'><sup>[43]</sup></a> Some of the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_669'>669</span>marbles discovered by <span class='sc'>Spratt</span> are of the Macedonian period, -and probably productions of the school of Pergamus.</p> - -<p class='c011'>At Camerus and elsewhere, in the island of Rhodes, important -excavations were carried on by Messrs. <span class='sc'>Biliotti</span> -and <span class='sc'>Salzmann</span>. These also were effected at the public -charge. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><cite>Reports of -British -Museum</cite>; -1864, and -subsequent -years.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -In the course of them nearly three hundred tombs -were opened, and many choicely painted fictile vases of the -best period of Greek ceramography were found. Those -researches at Rhodes were the work of the years 1862, -1863, and 1864. In 1865, the excavations at Halicarnassus -were resumed by order of the Trustees, and under -the direction of the same explorers, and with valuable -results. In 1864, an important purchase of Greek and -Roman statues, and of the sculptures from the Farnese Collection -at Rome, was made. In the following year came an -extensive series of antiquities from the famous Collection of -the late Count <span class='sc'>Pourtalès</span>. Of the precious objects obtained -by the researches of Mr. Consul <span class='sc'>Wood</span>, at Ephesus, -in the same and subsequent years, a brief notice will be -found in Chapter VI.</p> - -<div> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_670'>670</span> - <div class='section'><h4 class='c005'>CHAPTER V.<br /> <span class='large'>THE FOUNDER OF THE GRENVILLE LIBRARY.</span></h4></div> -</div> -<div class='lg-container-b c012'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in2'>‘He was a scholar, and a ripe and good one,</div> - <div class='line'>Exceeding wise, fairspoken, and persuading;</div> - <div class='line'>Crabbed, mayhap, to them that loved him not;</div> - <div class='line'>But to those men that sought him, sweet as Summer.’—</div> - <div class='line in44'><cite>Henry VIII.</cite></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c007'>‘If a man be not permitted to change his political -opinions—when he has arrived at years of discretion—he -must be born a <span class='sc'>Solomon</span>.’—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-r c008'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'><span class='sc'>W. F. Hook</span>, <cite>Lives of the Archbishops of Canterbury</cite>, (vol. viii, p. 237).</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c009'><em>The</em> <span class='sc'>Grenvilles</span> <em>and their Influence on the Political Aspect -of the Georgian Reigns.—The Public and Literary -Life of the Right Honourable Thomas</em> <span class='sc'>Grenville</span>.—<em>History -of the</em> <span class='sc'>Grenville</span> <em>Library</em>.</p> - -<p class='c010'>It was the singular fortune of Thomas <span class='sc'>Grenville</span> to -belong to a family which has given almost half a score of -ministers to England; to possess in himself large diplomatic -ability; and to have been gifted—his political opponents -themselves being judges—with considerable talents -for administration; and yet, in the course of a life protracted -to more than ninety years, to have been an <em>active</em> -diplomatist during less than one year, and to have been a -Minister of State less than half a year. It is true that he was -of that happy temperament which both enables and tempts -a man to carve out delightful occupation for himself. He -had, too, those rarely combined gifts of taste, fortune, and -public spirit, which inspire their possessor with the will, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_671'>671</span>and confer upon him the power, to make his personal enjoyments -largely contribute (both in his own time and after it) -to the enjoyments of his fellow-countrymen. It might be -true, therefore, to say that Thomas <span class='sc'>Grenville</span> was the -happier and the better for his exclusion, during almost -forty-nine-fiftieths of his long life, from the public service. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><span class='sc'>What was -it that -kept -Thomas -Grenville -aloof from -political -office?</span><span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -But it can hardly be rash to say that England must needs -have been somewhat the worse for that exclusion.</p> - -<p class='c011'>Nor was it altogether a self-imposed exclusion. There -was among its causes a curious conjunction of outward -accidents and of philosophic self-resignation to their results. -Untoward chances abroad twice broke off the foreign embassies -of this eminent man. Unforeseen political complications -amongst Whigs and semi-Whigs twice deprived him -of cabinet office at home. But, no doubt, neither shipwreck -at sea nor party intrigue on land would have been potent -enough to keep Thomas <span class='sc'>Grenville</span> out of high State employment, -but for the personal fastidiousness which withheld -him from stretching out his hand, with any eagerness, to -grasp it.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>The political influence of the Grenville Family; its duration and its peculiar characteristics.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>It would, perhaps, be hard to lay the finger on any one -family recorded in the ‘<cite>British Peerage</cite>’ which so long and -so largely influenced our political history, in the Georgian -era of it, as did that of <span class='sc'>Grenville</span>. During the century -(speaking roundly) which began with the suppression of the -Jacobite Rebellion of 1745, and ended with the Repeal of the -Corn Laws, <span class='sc'>Grenvilles</span> are continually prominent in every -important political struggle. The personal influence and -(for lack of a plainer word) the characteristic ‘idiosyncrasy’ -of individual <span class='sc'>Grenvilles</span> notoriously shaped, or materially -helped to shape, several measures that have had world-wide -results. But perhaps the most curious feature in their -political history as a family is this: At almost every great -<span class='pageno' id='Page_672'>672</span>crisis in affairs one <span class='sc'>Grenville</span>, of ability and prominence, -is seen in tolerably active opposition to the rest of the -<span class='sc'>Grenvilles</span>. In the political history of the man who -forms the subject of this brief memoir the family peculiarity, -it will be seen, came out saliently.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The political <span class='sc'>Grenvilles</span> were offshoots of an old stock -which, in the days of eld, were richer in gallant soldiers than -in peace-loving publicists. The old <span class='sc'>Grenvilles</span> dealt many -a shrewd swordthrust for England by land and by sea, in -the Tudor times, and earlier. The younger branch has been -rich in statesmen and rich in scholars. Not a few of them -have shone equally and at once in either path of labour.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Parentage and early life of Thomas Grenville.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>Thomas <span class='sc'>Grenville</span> was the second son of the Minister -of <span class='sc'>George the Third</span>, George <span class='sc'>Grenville</span>,—himself the -second son of Richard <span class='sc'>Grenville</span>, of Wotton, and of Hester -<span class='sc'>Temple</span> (co-heiress of Richard <span class='sc'>Temple</span>, Lord Cobham, and -herself created Countess <span class='sc'>Temple</span> in 1749). He was born -on the thirty-first of December, 1755, and entered Parliament -soon after attaining his majority. In the House of -Commons he voted and acted as a follower of Lord <span class='sc'>Rockingham</span> -and a comrade of Charles <span class='sc'>Fox</span>, in opposition to the -other <span class='sc'>Grenvilles</span> and the ‘Grenvillite’ party. Had the -famous India Bill of <span class='sc'>Fox’s</span> ministry been carried into a law, -Thomas <span class='sc'>Grenville</span>, it was understood, would have been -the first Governor-General of India under its rule.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>His short diplomatic career.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>His first entrance into the diplomatic service was made in -1782. His mission was to Paris. Its purpose, to negotiate -with Benjamin <span class='sc'>Franklin</span> a treaty of peace with -America. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>See above, -Book II, -Chap. III, -page 431.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -The circumstances beneath the influence of -which it was undertaken I have had occasion to advert to, -already, in the notice of Lord <span class='sc'>Shelburne</span>. It is needless -to return to them now.</p> - -<p class='c011'><span class='pageno' id='Page_673'>673</span>Thomas <span class='sc'>Grenville’s</span> union in the double negotiation -with Mr. <span class='sc'>Oswald</span> (instructed by <span class='sc'>Shelburne</span>, it will be remembered, -as <span class='sc'>Grenville</span> was by <span class='sc'>Fox</span>) proved to be very -distasteful to him. From the beginning it boded ill to the -success of the mission. As early as the 4th of June, 1782, -we find Mr. <span class='sc'>Grenville</span> writing to <span class='sc'>Fox</span> -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><span class='sc'>The Mission -to -Paris, -1782–3.</span><span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -thus:—‘I entreat -you earnestly to see the impossibility of my assisting you -under this contrariety.... I cannot fight a daily battle -with Mr. <span class='sc'>Oswald</span> and his Secretary.<a id='r44'></a><a href='#f44' class='c013'><sup>[44]</sup></a> -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>T. Grenville -to Fox; -4th June, -1782.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -It would be neither -for the advantage of the business, for your interest, or for -your credit or mine; and, even if it was, <em>I</em> could not do it.’</p> - -<p class='c011'>The then existing arrangements of the Secretaryship of -State gave the control of a negotiation with <em>France</em> to one -Secretary, and of a negotiation with <em>America</em> to the other. -The reader has but to call to mind the well-known political -relationship between <span class='sc'>Fox</span> and <span class='sc'>Shelburne</span> in 1782, to gain -a fully sufficient key to the consequent diplomatic relationship -between <span class='sc'>Oswald</span> and Thomas <span class='sc'>Grenville</span>, when thus -engaged in carrying on, abreast, a double mission at the -Court of Paris. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>Comp. also -same to -same, -June 16. -(<cite>Court and -Cabinets</cite> of -Geo. III, -pp. 36–51.)<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -To add to the obvious embroilment, <span class='sc'>Oswald</span> -had shortly before received from Benjamin <span class='sc'>Franklin</span> -a suggestion that Britain should ‘spontaneously’ cede -Canada, in order to enable his astute countrymen at home -the better to compensate both the plundered Royalists and -those among the victorious opponents of those Royalists -who had, from time to time, sustained any damage at the -hands of the British armies.</p> - -<p class='c011'>The most earnest entreaties, from many quarters, were -used to induce <span class='sc'>Grenville</span> to remain at Paris. His political -friends, and his family connections, were, on that point, -alike urgent. But all entreaties were in vain. When the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_674'>674</span>news reached him of Lord <span class='sc'>Rockingham’s</span> death, and of -the break-up in the Cabinet which followed, his decision -was, if possible, more decided. He still clave to <span class='sc'>Fox</span>, while -his brother, Lord <span class='sc'>Temple</span>, accepted from <span class='sc'>Shelburne</span> the -Lieutenancy of Ireland. A Lordship of the Treasury or -the Irish Secretaryship was by turns pressed upon Mr. -<span class='sc'>Grenville</span> by Lord <span class='sc'>Temple</span> with an earnestness which -may be called passionate. <span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>Lord Temple -to T. Grenville, -12th -July.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -‘Let me hope,’ said he, ‘that -you will feel that satisfaction that every [other] member of -my family most earnestly feels at my acceptance of the -Lieutenancy of Ireland.... I conjure you, by everything -that you prize nearest and dearest to your heart; by the -joy I have ever felt in your welfare; by the interest I have -ever taken in your uneasiness; weigh well your determination; -it decides the complexion of my future hours.... -I have staked my happiness upon this cast.’ The resolve -of Thomas <span class='sc'>Grenville</span> to adhere to the position he had -taken was the cause of a family estrangement which endured -for many years. But the more a reader, familiar -with the annals of the time (and especially if he be also -familiar with the personal history of Lord <span class='sc'>Temple</span> before -and after), may study Lord <span class='sc'>Temple’s</span> letters of 1782, the -less he is likely to wonder that the peculiar line of argument -they develope failed to attain the aim they had in -view. The vein that runs through them is plainly that of -personal ambition; not of an adherence—at any cost—to a -sincere conviction, whether right or wrong, of public duty. -Such a line of argument was, at no time, the line likely to -commend itself to Thomas <span class='sc'>Grenville</span>. Both his virtues, -and what by many politicians will be regarded as his weaknesses, -alike armed him against obvious appeals to mere -self-interest or self-aggrandisement.</p> - -<p class='c011'><span class='pageno' id='Page_675'>675</span>One result—and the not unanticipated result—of the -family estrangement of 1782 was that, two years later, Mr. -<span class='sc'>Grenville</span> found himself to have no longer the command -of a seat in Parliament. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><span class='sc'>The withdrawal -from Parliament, -1784–90.</span><span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -For four years to come he gave -most of his leisure to a pursuit which he loved much better—as -far as personal taste was concerned—namely, to the -resumption of his systematic studies in classical literature. -But in 1790 he was elected a burgess for the town of Aldborough. -Thenceforward, and for a good many years, -politics again shared his time with literature, and with -those social claims and duties to which no man of his day -was more keenly alive.</p> - -<p class='c011'>In 1795 a second diplomatic mission was offered to him, -and it was accepted. In the interval, another and more -lasting change had come across his career in Parliament. -He was one of the many ‘Foxites’ who utterly disapproved -the course which their old leader adopted in regard to the -French Revolution and to the rising passion to glorify and -to imitate it at home. To the ‘Man of the People’ (as he -was very fancifully called), the English countershock to the -French overturn was, in one sense, specially fatal. It -ripened peculiar, though hitherto in some degree latent, -weaknesses. And with these, when they became salient, -Thomas <span class='sc'>Grenville</span> had really as little fellow-feeling as had -Edmund <span class='sc'>Burke</span>. Alike both men now supported <span class='sc'>Pitt</span>, -with whom, as experience increased and judgment matured, -they both had always had intrinsically far more in -common. And among the results of the new political -relationships came a restoration of family harmony. -George <span class='sc'>Grenville</span> became <span class='sc'>Pitt’s</span> Foreign Secretary; -Thomas <span class='sc'>Grenville</span> became <span class='sc'>Pitt’s</span> Minister to the Court -of Berlin. One year later, he again sat in Parliament for -Buckingham.</p> - -<p class='c011'><span class='pageno' id='Page_676'>676</span>The mission to Berlin was first impeded by a threatened -shipwreck among icebergs at sea, and, when that impediment -had been with difficulty overcome, the journey was -again and more seriously obstructed by an actual shipwreck -upon the coast of Flanders. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><span class='sc'>The Mission -to -Berlin, -1795.</span><span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -Mr. <span class='sc'>Grenville’s</span> life was exposed -to imminent danger. After a desperate effort, he -succeeded in saving his despatches and in scrambling to -land. But he saved nothing else; and the inevitable delay -enabled the French Directory to send <span class='sc'>Sièyes</span> to Berlin, in -advance of the ambassador of Britain. The able and -versatile Frenchman made the best of his priority. Mr. -<span class='sc'>Grenville</span> was not found wanting in exertion, any more -than in ability. But in the then posture of affairs the -advantage in point of time, proved to be an advantage -which no skill of fence could afterwards recover. Hence -it was that the mission of 1795 became practically an abortive -mission. With it ended the ambassador’s diplomatic -career.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>The Cabinet of 1806.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>Almost equally brief was his subsequent actively official -career in England. On the formation of Lord <span class='sc'>Grenville’s</span> -Cabinet (February, 1806), no office was taken by the Premier’s -next brother. But on the death of <span class='sc'>Fox</span>, six months -later, he became First Lord of the Admiralty. That office -he held until the formation of the Tory Government, in the -month of April, 1807. It was too brief a term to give him -any adequate opportunity of really evincing his administrative -powers. And during almost forty remaining years -of life he never took office again, contenting himself with -that now nominal function (conferred on him in the year -1800), -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><span class='sc'>The ‘Chief-Justiceship -in -Eyre,’ -south of -Trent. -1800–1845.</span><span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -the ‘Chief-Justiceship in Eyre, to the south of the -river Trent,’ of the profits of which, as will be seen presently, -he made a noble use. That office in Eyre had once -been a function of real gravity and potency. It was still -<span class='pageno' id='Page_677'>677</span>a surviving link between the feudal England of the Henrys -and the Edwards, on the one hand, and the industrial -England of the Georges on the other. Under a king who -could govern, as well as reign, the ‘Chief-Justiceship in -Eyre’ might have shown itself, in one particular, to possess -a real and precious vitality still. By possibility, the sports -of twelfth century and chase-loving monarchs might have -been made to alleviate the toils, to brighten the leisure, and -to lengthen the lives, of nineteenth-century and hard-toiling -artisans. <span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><span class='sc'>The Chief-Justiceship -in Eyre, -and what -might have -come of its -perpetuation.</span><span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -For in exerting the still <em>legal</em> powers (long -dormant, but not abolished) of the forest justiceship, a -potent check might have been provided against the profligate, -although now common, abuse of the powers entrusted -by Parliament to the Board of Woods and Forests. No new -legislation was wanted to save many splendid tracts of forest -land (over which the Crown then—and as well in 1845, as -in 1800—possessed what might have been indestructible -‘forestal rights’), for public enjoyment for ever. Existing -laws would have sufficed. But no blame on this score lies -at the charge of the then Chief Justice in Eyre. Had -Mr. <span class='sc'>Grenville</span>, for example, ever conceived the idea of -using the Forest Laws to preserve for the English people, -we will say, Epping Forest, or any other like sylvan tract -on this side of Trent, as a ‘People’s Park’ for ever, he -would have been laughed at as a Quixote. If Parliament -in 1870 is fast becoming alive to the misconduct of those -‘Commissioners’ who have dealt with the Forestal rights -of the Crown exactly in the spirit of the pettiest of village -shopkeepers, rather than in the spirit of Ministers of State, -there was in Mr. <span class='sc'>Grenville’s</span> time scarcely the faintest -whisper of any such conviction of public duty in regard to -that matter. Not one Member of Parliament, I think, had -ever (at that time) pointed out the gross hypocrisy, as well -<span class='pageno' id='Page_678'>678</span>as the folly, of <em>selling</em> by the hands of one public board and -for a few pounds hundreds of acres of ancient and lovely -woodlands, and then presently <em>buying</em>, by the hands of -another public board, acres of dreary and almost unimprovable -barrenness by the expenditure of several thousands -of pounds, in order to provide new recreation grounds -for ‘public enjoyment!’</p> - -<p class='c011'>Of that forestal Chief-Justiceship Mr. <span class='sc'>Grenville</span> was -the last holder. The office had been established by <span class='sc'>William -the Conqueror</span>. It was abolished by Queen -<span class='sc'>Victoria</span>. One of the chief pursuits of those forty years -of retirement which ensued to the founder of the Grenville -Library, upon the breaking up of the Grenville -Administration of 1806, was book-buying and book-reading. -‘A great part of my Library’—so wrote Mr. <span class='sc'>Grenville</span>, -in 1845—‘has been purchased by the profits of a -sinecure office given me by the Public.’ If that sinecure -was not and, under the then circumstances, could not have -been by its holder’s action or foresight, made the means of -preserving for public enjoyment such of the ancient forests -as, early in this century, were still intact in beauty, and -also lay near to crowded and more or less unhealthy towns, -it was at least made the means of giving to the nation a -garden for the mind. ‘I feel it,’ continued Mr. <span class='sc'>Grenville</span>, -in his document of 1845, -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><cite>Will of the -Rt. Hon. -T. Grenville</cite>; -Oct., 1845.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -‘to be a debt and a duty that I -should acknowledge my obligation by giving the Library -so acquired to the <span class='sc'>British Museum</span> for the use of the -Public.’</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Mr. T. Grenville’s intercourse with, and esteem for, Sir A. Panizzi.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>I have had occasion, already, to mention that many years -before his death Mr. <span class='sc'>Grenville</span> formed a very high -estimate of the eminent attainments and still more eminent -public services of Sir A. <span class='sc'>Panizzi</span>. No man had a better -opportunity of knowing, intimately, the merits of the then -<span class='pageno' id='Page_679'>679</span>Assistant-Keeper of the printed portion of our National -Library. Mr. <span class='sc'>Grenville</span> showed his estimate in a conclusive -and very characteristic way. <span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><cite>Minutes of -Inquiry</cite>, &c., -1848, and -subsequent -years, pp. 141, -seqq.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -He had earnestly -supported (in the year 1835) the proposal of a Sub-committee -of Trustees that Mr. <span class='sc'>Panizzi’s</span> early services—more -especially in relation to the cataloguing of what are known, -at the Museum, as ‘the French Tracts,’ but also as to other -labours—should be substantially recognised by an improvement -of his salary. At a larger meeting, the recommendation -of the smaller sub-committee was cordially -adopted in the honorary point of view, but was set virtually -aside, in respect to the ‘honorarium,’ That latter step -Mr. <span class='sc'>Grenville</span> so resented that he rose from the table, -and never sat at a Trustee meeting again. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><cite>Minutes -of Evidence</cite>, -as above.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -He many times -afterwards visited the Museum; and I well remember the -impression made upon my own mind by his noble appearance, -at almost ninety years of age, on one of the latest of -those visits—not very long before his death. But in the -Committee Room he never once sat, during the last eleven -years of his life.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Circumstances which marked the Gift to the Nation of the Grenville Library.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>The fact being so, Readers unfamiliar with the ‘blue-books’ -will learn without surprise that a conversation -between Mr. <span class='sc'>Grenville</span> and Mr. <span class='sc'>Panizzi</span>, in Hamilton -Place, was the prelude to his noble public gift of 1846. -That conversation took place in the autumn of 1845. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>Ibid.; and -comp. p. 780 -of the -<cite>Minutes</cite> -of 1849.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -He, -in the course of it, assured Mr. <span class='sc'>Panizzi</span> (by that time at -the head of the Printed Book Department) of his settled -purpose, and evinced a desire that his Library should be -preserved apart from the mass of the National Collection. -He then remarked, ‘You will have a great many duplicate -books, and you will sell them,’ speaking in a tone of inquiry. -‘No,’ replied <span class='sc'>Panizzi</span>, the ‘Trustees will never sell books -that are given to them.’ Mr. <span class='sc'>Grenville</span> rejoined with an -<span class='pageno' id='Page_680'>680</span>evident relief of mind, ‘Well, so much the better.’ Long -afterwards, when visiting Mr. <span class='sc'>Panizzi</span> in his private study, -he asked the question—‘Where are you going to put my -books? I see your rooms are already full.’ He was taken -to the long, capacious, but certainly not very sightly, ‘slip,’ -contrived by Sir R. <span class='sc'>Smirke</span> on the eastern outskirt of the -noble King’s Library. <span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>See the -Plan, hereafter.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -‘Well,’ was the Keeper’s reply, -‘if we can’t do better, we will put them <em>here</em>; and, as you -see, my room is close by. Here, for a time, they will at -least be under my own eye,’ The good and generous book-lover -went away with a smile on his genial face, well assured -that his books would be gratefully cared for.</p> - -<div class='c002'></div> -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>The reception at the Museum of the Grenville Collection.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>Mr. <span class='sc'>Grenville</span> died on the 17th of December, 1846. -On the day of his death it chanced that the present writer -was engaged on a review-article about the history of the -Museum Library. Ere many days were past it was his -pleasant task to add a paragraph—the first that was written -on the subject—respecting the new gift to the Public. -But an accident delayed the publication of that article -until the following summer.</p> - -<p class='c011'>Meanwhile, the final day of the reception of the books—a -dreary, snowy day of the close of February—was, to us -of the Museum Library, a sort of holiday within-doors. -Very little work was done that day; but many choice -rarities in literature, and some in art, were eagerly examined. -All who survive will remember it as I do. To -lovers of books, such a day was like a glimpse of summer -sunshine interposed in the thick of winter.</p> - -<p class='c010'>To tell what little can here be told of the history and -character of the Grenville Library in other words than in -those well-considered and appropriate words which were -<span class='pageno' id='Page_681'>681</span>employed by the man who had had so much delightful -intercourse with the Collector himself, and to whom belongs -a part of the merit of the gift, would be an impertinence. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><span class='sc'>Panizzi’s -account of -some of the -choicest -books -in the -Grenville -Library.</span><span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -In his report on the accessions of the year 1847, Mr. -<span class='sc'>Panizzi</span> wrote thus:—‘It would naturally be expected that -one of the editors of the “Adelphi <cite>Homer</cite>” would lose no -opportunity of collecting the best and rarest editions of the -Prince of Poets. <span class='sc'>Æsop</span>, a favourite author of Mr. <span class='sc'>Grenville</span>, -occurs in his Library in its rarest forms; there is no -doubt that the series of editions of this author in that -Library is unrivalled. The great admiration which Mr. -<span class='sc'>Grenville</span> felt for Cardinal <span class='sc'>Ximenes</span>, even more on account -of the splendid edition of the Polyglot <cite>Bible</cite> which that -prelate caused to be printed at Alcala, than of his public -character, made him look upon the acquisition of the <cite>Moschus</cite>, -a book of extreme rarity, as a piece of good fortune. -Among the extremely rare editions of the Latin Classics, in -which the Grenville Library abounds, the unique complete -copy of <span class='sc'>Azzoguidi’s</span> first edition of <cite>Ovid</cite> is a gem well -deserving particular notice, and was considered on the -whole, by Mr. <span class='sc'>Grenville</span> himself, the boast of his collection. -The Aldine <cite>Virgil</cite> of 1505, the rarest of the Aldine -editions of this poet, is the more welcome to the Museum -as it serves to supply a lacuna; the copy mentioned in the -Catalogue of the Royal Collection not having been transferred -to the National Library.</p> - -<p class='c011'>‘The rarest editions of English Poets claimed and obtained -the special attention of Mr. <span class='sc'>Grenville</span>. Hence we find -him possessing not only the first and second edition of -<span class='sc'>Chaucer’s</span> <cite>Canterbury Tales</cite> by <span class='sc'>Caxton</span>, but the only -copy known of an hitherto undiscovered edition of the same -work printed in 1498, by <span class='sc'>Wynkyn de Worde</span>. Of -<span class='sc'>Shakespeare’s</span> collected Dramatic Works, the Grenville -<span class='pageno' id='Page_682'>682</span>Library contains a copy of the first edition, which, if not -the finest known, is at all events surpassed by none. His -strong religious feelings and his sincere attachment to the -Established Church, as well as his knowledge and mastery -of the English language, concurred in making him eager to -possess the earliest as well as the rarest editions of the -translations of the Scriptures in the vernacular tongue. <span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>Panizzi’s -<cite>Report</cite>, in -the <cite>Annual -Returns</cite> of -1847, passim.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -He -succeeded to a great extent; but what deserves particular -mention is the only known fragment of the <cite>New Testament</cite> -in English, translated by <span class='sc'>Tyndale</span> and <span class='sc'>Roy</span>, which was in -the press of <span class='sc'>Quentell</span>, at Cologne, in 1525, when the translators -were obliged to interrupt the printing, and fly to -escape persecution.</p> - -<p class='c011'>‘The History of the British Empire, and whatever could -illustrate any of its different portions, were the subject of -Mr. <span class='sc'>Grenville’s</span> unremitting research, and he allowed -nothing to escape him deserving to be preserved, however -rare and expensive. Hence his collection of works on the -Divorce of <span class='sc'>Henry VIII</span>; that of Voyages and Travels, either -by Englishmen, or to countries at some time more or less -connected with England, or possessed by her; that of contemporary -works on the gathering, advance, and defeat of -the “Invincible Armada;” and that of writings on Ireland;—are -more numerous, more valuable, and more -interesting, than in any other collection ever made by any -person on the same subjects. Among the Voyages and -Travels, the collections of <span class='sc'>De Bry</span> and <span class='sc'>Hulsius</span> are the -finest in the world; no other Library can boast of four such -fine books as the copies of <span class='sc'>Hariot’s</span> <cite>Virginia</cite>, in Latin, -German, French, and English, of the <span class='sc'>De Bry</span> series. And -it was fitting that in Mr. <span class='sc'>Grenville’s</span> Library should be -found one of the only two copies known of the first edition -of this work, printed in London in 1588, wherein an -<span class='pageno' id='Page_683'>683</span>account is given of a colony which had been founded by his -family namesake. Sir Richard <span class='sc'>Grenville</span>.</p> - -<p class='c011'>‘Conversant with the Language and Literature of Spain, -as well as with that of Italy, the works of imagination by -writers of those two countries are better represented in his -Library than in any other out of Spain and Italy; in some -branches better even than in any single Library in the -countries themselves. No Italian collection can boast of -such a splendid series of early editions of <span class='sc'>Ariosto’s</span> <cite>Orlando</cite>, -one of Mr. <span class='sc'>Grenville’s</span> favourite authors, nor, indeed, of -such choice Romance Poems. The copy of the first edition -of <span class='sc'>Ariosto</span> is not to be matched for beauty; of that of Rome, -1533, even the existence was hitherto unknown. A perfect -copy of the first complete edition of the <cite>Morgante -Maggiore</cite>, of 1482, was also not known to exist before Mr. -<span class='sc'>Grenville</span> succeeded in procuring his. Among the -Spanish Romances, the copy of that of <cite>Tirant lo Blanch</cite>, -printed at Valencia, in 1490, is as fine, as clean, and as -white, as when it first issued from the press; and no second -copy of this edition of a work professedly translated from -English into Portuguese, and thence into Valencian, is -known to exist except in the Library of the Sapienza, at -Rome.</p> - -<p class='c011'>‘But where there is nothing common, it is almost depreciating -a collection to enumerate a few articles as rare. It -is a marked feature of this Library, that Mr. <span class='sc'>Grenville</span> -did not collect mere bibliographical rarities. He never -aimed at having a complete set of the editions from the -press of <span class='sc'>Caxton</span> or <span class='sc'>Aldus</span>; but <cite>Chaucer</cite> and <cite>Gower</cite> by -<span class='sc'>Caxton</span> were readily purchased, as well as other works -which were desirable on other accounts, besides that of -having issued from the press of that printer; and, when -possible, select copies were procured. Some of the rarest, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_684'>684</span>and these the finest, Aldine editions were purchased by him, -for the same reasons. The <cite>Horæ</cite> in Greek, printed by -<span class='sc'>Aldus</span> in 16º, in 1497, is a volume which, from its language, -size, and rarity, is of the greatest importance for the -literary and religious history of the time when it was -printed. It is therefore in Mr. <span class='sc'>Grenville’s</span> Library. The -<cite>Virgil</cite> of 1501 is not only an elegant book, but it is the first -book printed with that peculiar <em>Italic</em>, known as Aldine, -and the first volume which <span class='sc'>Aldus</span> printed, “<i><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">forma enchiridii</span></i>,” -as he called it, being expressly adapted to give poor -scholars the means of purchasing for a small sum the works -of the classical writers. This also is, therefore, among -Mr. <span class='sc'>Grenville’s</span> books; and of one of the two editions of -<cite>Virgil</cite>, both dated the same year, 1514, he purchased a -large paper copy, because it was the more correct of the -two.</p> - -<p class='c011'>‘It was the merit of the work, the elegance of the volume, -the “genuine” condition of the copy, &c., which together -determined Mr. <span class='sc'>Grenville</span> to purchase books printed on -vellum, of which he collected nearly a hundred. He paid -a very large sum for a copy of the Furioso of 1532, not -because it was “on ugly vellum,” as he very properly designated -it, but because, knowing the importance of such an -edition of such a work, and never having succeeded in procuring -it on paper, he would rather have it on expensive -terms and “ugly vellum,” than not at all.</p> - -<p class='c011'>‘By the bequest of Mr. <span class='sc'>Grenville’s</span> Library, the collection -of books printed on vellum now at the Museum, and comprising -those formerly presented by <span class='sc'>George II</span>, <span class='sc'>George III</span>, -and Mr. <span class='sc'>Cracherode</span>, is believed to surpass that of any other -National Library, except the King’s Library at Paris, of which -<span class='sc'>Van Praet</span> justly speaks with pride, and all foreign competent -and intelligent judges with envy and admiration. In justice -<span class='pageno' id='Page_685'>685</span>to the Grenville Library, the list of all its vellum books -ought to be here inserted. As this cannot be done, some -only of the most remarkable shall be mentioned. These -are—the Greek <cite>Anthology</cite> of 1494; the <cite>Book of Hawking</cite> -of <span class='sc'>Juliana Berners</span> of 1496; the first edition of the <cite>Bible</cite>, -known as the “Mazarine Bible,” printed at Mentz about -1454; the Aldine <cite>Dante</cite> of 1502; the first <cite>Rationale</cite> of <span class='sc'>Durandus</span> -of 1459; the first edition of <span class='sc'>Fisher</span> <cite>On the Psalms</cite>, -of 1508; the Aldine <cite>Horace</cite>, <cite>Juvenal</cite>, <cite>Martial</cite>, and <cite>Petrarca</cite>, -of 1501; the <cite>Livy</cite> of 1469; the <cite>Primer of Salisbury</cite>, -printed in Paris in 1531; the <cite>Psalter</cite> of 1457, which -supplies the place of the one now at Windsor, which belonged -to the Royal Collection before it was transferred to -the British Museum; the <cite>Sforziada</cite>, by <span class='sc'>Simoneta</span>, of 1490, -a most splendid volume even in so splendid a Library; the -<cite>Theuerdank</cite> of 1517; the <cite>Aulus Gellius</cite> and the <cite>Vitruvius</cite> -of Giunta, printed in 1515, &c. &c. Of this identical copy -of <cite>Vitruvius</cite>, formerly Mr. <span class='sc'>Dent’s</span>, the author of the <cite>Bibliographical -Decameron</cite> wrote, “Let the enthusiastic admirers -of a genuine vellum Junta—of the amplest size and in spotless -condition—resort to the choice cabinet of Mr. <span class='sc'>Dent</span> -for such a copy of this edition of Vitruvius and Frontinus.” -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>Panizzi’s -<cite>Report to -Parliament</cite>, -as above.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -The <cite>Aulus Gellius</cite> is in its original state, exactly as it was -when presented to <span class='sc'>Lorenzo de’ Medici</span>, afterwards Duke -of Urbino, to whom the edition was dedicated.’</p> - -<div> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_686'>686</span> - <div class='section'><h4 class='c005'>CHAPTER VI.<br /> <span class='large'>OTHER BENEFACTORS OF RECENT DAYS.—CREATION OF THE NEW DEPARTMENT OF BRITISH AND MEDIÆVAL ANTIQUITIES AND ETHNOGRAPHY.</span></h4></div> -</div> - -<p class='c006'>‘Amidst tablets and stones, inscribed with the straight -and angular characters of the Runic alphabet, and similar -articles which the vulgar might have connected with the -exercise of the forbidden arts, ... were disposed, in -great order, several of those curious stone axes, formed of -green granite, which are often found in these Islands.... -There were, moreover, to be seen amid the strange -collection stone sacrificial knives ... and the brazen -implements called Celts, the purpose of which has troubled -the repose of so many antiquaries.’—<cite>The Pirate</cite>, c. xxviii.</p> - -<p class='c007'>‘A Museum of Antiquities—not of one People or period -only, but of all races and all times—exhibits a vast comparative -scheme of the material productions of man. We -are thus enabled to follow the progress of the Fine and -Useful Arts, contemporaneously through a long period of -time, tracing their several lines backwards till they converge -at one vanishing point of the unknown Past.’—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-r c008'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'><span class='sc'>C. T. Newton</span> (<cite>Letter to Col. Mure</cite>, 1853).</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c009'><em>Scantiness of the Notices of some Contributors to the Natural-History -Collections, and its cause.—The Duke of</em> -<span class='sc'>Blacas</span> <em>and his Museum of Greek and Roman Antiquities.—Hugh</em> -<span class='sc'>Cuming</span> <em>and his Travels and Collections -in South America.—John</em> <span class='sc'>Rutter Chorley</span>, <em>and his -Collection of Spanish Plays and Spanish Poetry.—George</em> -<span class='sc'>Witt</span> <em>and his Collections illustrative of the -History of Obscure Superstitions.—The Ethnographical -Museum of Henry</em> <span class='sc'>Christy</span>, <em>and its History.—Colonial -Archæologists and British Consuls: The History of the</em> -<span class='sc'>Woodhouse</span> <em>Collection, and of its transmittal to the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_687'>687</span>British Museum.—Lord</em> <span class='sc'>Napier</span> <em>and the acquisition of -the Abyssinian MSS. added in 1868.—The Travels of</em> -<span class='sc'>Von Siebold</span> <em>in Japan, and the gathering of his -Japanese Library.—Felix</em> <span class='sc'>Slade</span> <em>and his Bequests, -Artistic and Archæological</em>.</p> - -<p class='c010'>No reader of this volume will, in the course of its -perusal, have become more sensible than is its author of a -want of due <em>proportion</em>, in those notices which have occasionally -been given of some eminent naturalists who have -conspicuously contributed to the public collections, as -compared with the notices of those many archæologists and -book-gatherers who, in common with the naturalists, have -been fellow-workers towards the building up of our National -Museum. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><span class='sc'>The inadequacy -of -the notices -of naturalists -in this -volume, -and its -cause.</span><span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -I feel, too, that my own ignorance of natural -history is no excuse at all for so imperfect a filling-out of -the plan which the title-page itself of this volume implies. -I feel this all the more strongly, because I dissent entirely -from those views which tend to depreciate the importance of -the scientific collections, in order (very superfluously) to -enhance that of the literary and artistic collections. Far -from looking at the splendid Galleries of mammals, or of -birds, or of plants, as mere collections of ‘book-plates,’ -gathered for the ‘illustration’ of the National Library, or -from sharing the opinion that the books and the antiquities, -alone, are ‘what may be called the permanent departments -of the British Museum’ (to quote, literally, the words of a -publication<a id='r45'></a><a href='#f45' class='c013'><sup>[45]</sup></a> issued whilst this sheet is going to press, -words which seem somewhat rashly—considering whence -they come—to prejudge a question of national scope, and -one which it assuredly belongs alone <em>to Parliament</em> to settle), -<span class='pageno' id='Page_688'>688</span>I regard these scientific collections as possessing, in common -with the others, the highest educational value, and as also -possessing, even a little beyond some of the others, a special -claim, it may be, upon the respect of Englishmen.</p> - -<p class='c011'>That speciality of claim seems to me to accrue from the -fact, that two of the early <span class='sc'>Founders</span>, and one of the most -conspicuous subsequent <span class='sc'>Benefactors</span> of the Museum, were -pre-eminently Naturalists. Such was <span class='sc'>Courten</span>. Such was -<span class='sc'>Sloane</span>. Such was Sir Joseph <span class='sc'>Banks</span>. I shall have erred -greatly in my estimate of the regard habitually paid by a -British Parliament to the memory of the eminent benefactors -of Britain, if, in the issue, it do not become apparent -that such a consideration as this will weigh heavily with -those who will shortly—and after due deliberation and -debate—have to decide pending questions in relation to -the enlargement and to the still further improvement of the -British Museum.</p> - -<p class='c011'>Be that however as it ultimately shall prove to be, if the -Public should honour this volume with a favourable reception, -it will be its author’s endeavour (in a second -edition) to supplement, by the knowledge and co-operation -of others, the ignorance and the deficiencies of which he is -very conscious in himself.</p> - -<div class='c002'></div> -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>The formation of the new department of British and Mediæval Antiquities.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>In resuming the notices connected with the now truly -magnificent Collection of Antiquities, we have to glance -at the organizing of a new ‘Department’ in the Museum. -During at least two generations it has been, from time -to time, remarked—with some surprise as well as censure—that -the ‘British’ Museum contained no ‘British’ -Antiquities. Sometimes this criticism has been put much -too strongly, as when, for example, one of the recent -biographers of <span class='sc'>Wedgwood</span> thus wrote (in 1866, but referring -<span class='pageno' id='Page_689'>689</span>also to a period then ninety years distant). ‘At that -date, <em>as at present</em>, everything native to the soil, or produced -by the races who had lived and died upon it, was -repudiated by those who were the rulers of the National -Collection.’ <span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>Meteyard, -<cite>Life of Josiah -Wedgwood</cite>, -vol. ii, p. 162.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -At that time, assuredly, there were already in -the Museum a good many British beasts, British birds, and -British books;—no inconsiderable part of the ‘productions’ -of our soil and of the races born and nurtured -upon it.</p> - -<p class='c011'>But, within a few months after the appearance of the -criticism I have quoted, all ground for its repetition was -removed by the formation of the ‘Department of British -and Mediæval Antiquities and Ethnography.’ It is thus -organized, in six separate sections:—</p> - - <dl class='dl_1'> - <dt>§ I.</dt> - <dd>British Antiquities anterior to the Roman period. - </dd> - <dt>II.</dt> - <dd>Roman Antiquities found in Britain. - </dd> - <dt>III.</dt> - <dd>Anglo-Saxon Antiquities. - </dd> - <dt>IV.</dt> - <dd>Mediæval sculpture, carving, paintings, metal work, enamels, pottery, glass, stone ware; - and implements of various kinds, and of various material. - </dd> - <dt>V.</dt> - <dd>Costumes, weapons, accoutrements, tools, furniture, industrial productions, &c.—both - ancient and modern—of non-European races. - </dd> - <dt>VI.</dt> - <dd>Pre-historic Antiquities.<a id='r46'></a><a href='#f46' style='text-decoration: none; - '><sup>[46]</sup></a> - </dd> - </dl> - -<p class='c011'>To the enrichment of the fourth section of this new -department of the Museum (in a small degree), as well as -(much more largely) to that of the Classical Collections, the -choice treasures gathered in France during two generations -by successive Dukes of <span class='sc'>Blacas</span> largely contributed.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>The Blacas Museum and its founders, 1815–1860.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>The first of these Dukes, Peter Lewis John Casimir de -<span class='sc'>Blacas</span>, was born at Aulps in the year 1770. He was of a -family which has been conspicuous in Provence from the beginning -of the Crusades. Attaining manhood just at the eve -of the Revolution, the Duke followed the French princes into -<span class='pageno' id='Page_690'>690</span>exile, and warmly attached himself to <span class='sc'>Lewis the Eighteenth</span>, -to whom, in after years, he became the minister of -predilection, as distinguished from that monarch’s many -ministers of constraint. He had, in his own day, the -reputation of being a courtier; but seems to have been, in -truth, an honest, frank, and outspeaking adviser. One -saying of his depicts quite plainly the nature of the man, -and also the nature of the work he had to do:—“If you want -to defend your Crown, you musn’t run away from your -Kingdom.” Those words were spoken in 1815; and, as we -all know, were spoken in vain.</p> - -<p class='c011'>A statesman of that stamp—one who does <em>not</em> watch and -chronicle the shiftings of popular opinion, in order to know -with certainty what are his own opinions, or in order to -shape his own political ‘principles’—rarely enjoys popularity. -<span class='sc'>De Blacas</span> became so little popular at home, that -the King was forced to send him, for many years, abroad. -At Rome, he negotiated the Concordat (1817–19); at -Naples, he advised an amnesty (1822), together with other -measures, some of which were too wise for the latitude. In -the interval between his two residences at the Court of -Naples, he took part in the Congress of Laybach.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Formation of the Blacas Museum.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>The opportunities afforded by diplomacy in Italy and in -other countries were turned to intellectual and archæological, -as well as to political, account. He imitated the -example of <span class='sc'>Hamilton</span> and of <span class='sc'>Elgin</span>, and that of a crowd -of his own countrymen, long anterior to either. Since his -son’s death, the British Museum has, by purchase, entered -into his archæological labours almost as largely—in their -way and measure—as it has inherited the treasures of its -own enlightened ambassadors at Naples and at Constantinople.</p> - -<p class='c011'>The Duke died at Goeritz in 1839. Nine years earlier, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_691'>691</span>he had advised <span class='sc'>Charles X</span> against the measures which -precipitated that king into ruin; and when the obstinate -monarch had to pay the sure penalty of neglecting good -advice, the giver of it voluntarily took his share of the -infliction. He offered to attend <span class='sc'>Charles</span> into exile in -1830, as he had attended him forty years before, when in -the flush of youth. He lies buried at the King’s feet, in -the Church of the Franciscans at Goeritz—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c012'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in7'>‘He that can endure</div> - <div class='line'>To follow, in exile, his fallen Lord,</div> - <div class='line'>Doth conquer them that did his master conquer,</div> - <div class='line'>And earns his place i’ the story.’</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Character of the Blacas Collection.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>The late Duke of <span class='sc'>Blacas</span> augmented his father’s collections -by many purchases of great extent and value. His -special predilection was for coins and gems. In that -department the combined museum of father and son soon -came to rank as the finest known collection, belonging to -an individual possessor. It includes seven hundred and -forty-eight ancient and classical cameos and intaglios, and -two hundred and three others which are either mediæval, -oriental, or modern. The most precious portion of the -<span class='sc'>Strozzi</span> cabinet passed into it, as did also a choice part of -the collections, respectively, of <span class='sc'>Barth</span> and of <span class='sc'>De la Turbie</span>. -The Blacas Museum is also eminently rich in vases and -paintings of various kinds; in sculptures, on every variety -of material; in terracottas, and in ancient glass. Its ‘silver -toilet service’ of a Christian Roman lady of the fifth century, -named <span class='sc'>Projecta</span>, has been made famous throughout -Europe by the descriptive accounts which have appeared -from the pen of <span class='sc'>Visconti</span> and from that of <span class='sc'>Labarte</span>. The -casket is richly chased with figure-subjects. Among them -are seen figures of Venus and Cupid; of the lady herself -and of her bridegroom, <span class='sc'>Secundus</span>. Roman bridesmaids, of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_692'>692</span>indubitable flesh and blood, are mingled with the more -unsubstantial forms of Nereids, riding upon Tritons.</p> - -<div class='c002'></div> -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Hugh Cuming; his travels and his collections, in America and elsewhere, 1791.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>Of the men devoted, in our own day, to the enchaining -pursuits of Natural History, few better deserve a competent -biographer than does Hugh <span class='sc'>Cuming</span>, whose career, in -its relation to the Museum history, has an additional interest -for us from the circumstance that his course in life was -partly shaped by his having attracted, in childhood, the -notice of another worthy naturalist and public benefactor, -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>See page 376.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -Colonel George <span class='sc'>Montagu</span>, of Lackham.</p> - -<p class='c011'>Young <span class='sc'>Cuming’s</span> childish fondness for picking up shells -and gathering plants attracted Colonel <span class='sc'>Montagu’s</span> notice -about the time that the boy was apprenticed to a sailmaker, -living not far from the boy’s native village, West Alvington, -in Devon. The elder naturalist fostered the nascent passion -of his young and humble imitator, and the trade of -sailmaking brought <span class='sc'>Cuming</span>, whilst still a boy, into contact -with sailors. The benevolent and Nature-loving Colonel -told the youngster some of the fairy tales of science; the -tars spun yarns for him about the marvels of foreign parts. -A few, and very few, years of work at his trade at home -were followed by a voyage to South America. At Valparaiso -he resumed his handicraft, but only as a step (by aid -of frugality and foresight) towards saving enough of money -to enable him to devote his whole being to conchology and -to botany. Seven years of work under this inspiring -ambition, seem to have enabled the man of five-and-thirty -to retire from business, and to build himself a yacht. But -his was to be no lounging yachtman’s life; it was rather -to resemble the life of an A.B. before the mast. The year -1827 was spent in toiling and dredging, to good purpose, -amongst the islands of the South Pacific. When he returned -<span class='pageno' id='Page_693'>693</span>to Valparaiso, the retired sailmaker found that he -had won fame, as well as many precious rarities in conchology -and botany. The Chilian Government gave him -special privileges and useful credentials. He then devoted -two years to the thorough exploration of the coasts extending -from Chiloë to the Gulf of Conchagua. <span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><cite>Athenæum</cite> -of 1865; -<cite>Returns presented -to -Parliament</cite>, -v. y.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -He botanized -in plains, marshes and woods; he turned over shingle, and -explored the crannies of the cliffs, with the patient endurance -of a Californian gold-digger, and was much happier -in his companions. In 1831, he returned to England, with -a modest but assured livelihood, and with inexhaustible -treasures in shells and plants, of which multitudes were -theretofore unseen and unknown in Europe.</p> - -<p class='c011'>The year 1831 was a happy epoch for a conchologist. -The Zoological Society had just gained a firm footing. -<span class='sc'>Broderip</span> and <span class='sc'>Sowerby</span> were ready to exhibit and to -describe the rich shells of the Pacific. Richard <span class='sc'>Owen</span> was -eager to anatomize the molluscs, and to write their biography. -Some of the novelties brought over by <span class='sc'>Cuming</span> -in 1831 were still yielding new information thirty years -afterwards; probably are yielding it still.</p> - -<p class='c011'>In 1835, Mr. <span class='sc'>Cuming</span> returned to America. He devoted -four years to an exhaustive survey of the natural history—more -especially, but far from exclusively, the conchology -and the botany—of the Philippine group of islands, of -Malacca, Singapore, and St. Helena.</p> - -<p class='c011'><span class='sc'>Cuming</span> was fitted for his work not more by his scientific -ardour and his patient toil-bearing, than by his amiable -character. He loved children. His manner was so attractive -to them that in some places to which he travelled a -schoolful of children were extemporised into botanic missionaries. -The joyous band would turn out for a holiday, -and would spend the whole of it in searching for the plants, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_694'>694</span>the shells, and the insects, with the general forms and -appearances of which the promoter and rewarder of their -voluntary labours had previously familiarised them. He -returned to England with such a collection of shells as no -previous investigator had brought home; and with about -one hundred and thirty thousand specimens of dried plants, -besides many curious specimens in other departments.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'>R. Owen, <cite>On a National Museum of Natural History</cite>, pp. 53, seqq.</div> - -<p class='c011'>His collections had been a London marvel before he set -out on his third voyage of discovery. He then possessed, -I believe, almost sixteen thousand <em>species</em>, and they were -regarded as a near approximation to a perfect collection, -according to the knowledge of the time. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>Comp. <cite>Athenæum</cite> -as -above, and -the Museum -returns of -1865 and -subsequent -years.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -If the writer of -the able notice of him which the <cite>Athenæum</cite> published -immediately after his death was rightly informed, <span class='sc'>Cuming</span> -nearly doubled that number by the results of his final voyage, -and by those of subsequent purchases made in Europe.</p> - -<p class='c011'>Very naturally, strenuous efforts were made to ensure -the perpetuity of this noble collection during its owner’s -lifetime. The history of those efforts still deserves to be -told, and for more than one reason. But it cannot be told -here. This inadequate notice of a most estimable man -must close with the few words which, three years ago, -closed Professor <span class='sc'>Owen’s</span> annual <cite>Report on the Progress of -the Zoological Portion of the British Museum</cite>. ‘The discoveries -and labours of Mr. Hugh <span class='sc'>Cuming</span>,’ he then wrote, -‘do honour to his country; the fruition of them by Naturalists -of all countries now depends mainly <em>on the acquisition -of the space required for the due arrangement, exhibition—facility -of access and comparison—of the rarities -which the Nation has acquired</em>.’ And then he adds a small -individual instance, as a passing illustration of the value of -Mr. <span class='sc'>Cuming’s</span> life-long pursuit—‘Among the choicer rarities, ... brought from the Philippines in 1840, was a specimen -<span class='pageno' id='Page_695'>695</span>of siliceous sponge (described and figured in the <cite>Transactions -of the Zoological Society</cite>), known as <cite>Euplectella Aspergillum</cite>.’ -Up to the date of Mr. <span class='sc'>Cuming’s</span> death (tenth -August, 1865), this specimen—of what, for non-zoological -readers, may be likened to a sort of coral of rare beauty—brought -over in 1840, was unique. <span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><cite>Transactions</cite>, -&c., vol. iii, -p. 203.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -In the year next after -the discoverer’s death, <em>many</em> fine and curious specimens -were sent from the Philippines. The solitary explorer of -1839 had at length been followed by a school of explorers. -Such men as <span class='sc'>Cuming</span> live after their death, and hence the -marvellous increase, within a very few years, in our knowledge -of Nature, and of <span class='sc'>God’s</span> bounty to the world he made.</p> - -<div class='c002'></div> -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>J. R. Chorley and his collection of the Spanish Poets and Dramatists.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>By a man who did but little in literature, although he -possessed attainments which, in some respects, seem to -have surpassed those of a good many men whose lucubrations -have had much publicity and vogue, a valuable addition -was made a few years ago, by bequest, to the Museum -Library, both in the printed and manuscript departments. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><cite>Will of -Mr. Rutter -Chorley</cite>, 1866.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -Mr. John Rutter <span class='sc'>Chorley</span> had collected about two hundred -volumes of the Spanish poetry and drama, and had enriched -them with manuscript notes, bibliographical and critical. -He had also prepared chronological tables of the dramatists—writing -them in Spanish, of which he was a master—together -with an account of their respective works. He -had, I think, contemplated, at some future time, the preparation -of some such book on the Spanish theatre as that -published by Mr. <span class='sc'>Ticknor</span>, many years ago, on Spanish -literature at large. Whether the appearance of <span class='sc'>Ticknor’s</span> -valuable book deterred Mr. <span class='sc'>Chorley</span> from prosecuting his -purpose, I know not. Probably he was one of the many -men the very extent of whose knowledge inspires a fastidiousness -which prompts them to keep on increasing their -<span class='pageno' id='Page_696'>696</span>private store, and to defer, almost until death overtakes -them, the drawing from that store for the Public. If there -may really, by some dim possibility, have been here and -there an inglorious <span class='sc'>Hampden</span>, or a mute <span class='sc'>Shakespeare</span>, it is -very certain that there have been, in literary history and in -like departments of human study, many an unknown -<span class='sc'>Disraeli</span>, many a Tom <span class='sc'>Warton</span>, brimful of knowledge -about poets and poetry, who never could have lived long -enough to put to public use the materials he had laboriously -brought together.</p> - -<div class='c002'></div> -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>George Witt and his collections illustrative of the History of Superstitions.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>Of another Collector, whose pursuits lay at an opposite -pole to those of Mr. <span class='sc'>Chorley</span>, it would not be edifying to -say very much in these pages. Some among the collections -illustrative of the history of obscure superstitions (to quote -the polite euphuism of one of the Museum <cite>Returns</cite> to -Parliament) partake, in a degree, of the peculiar associations -which connect themselves with the bare name of a place at -which some few of them were really found—that too famous -retreat of the Emperor <span class='sc'>Tiberius</span>. Others of them, however, -possess a real archæological value from a different -point of view. All, no doubt, are characteristically illustrative, -more or less, of the doings ‘in the dark places of the earth,’ -and may point a moral, howsoever little fitted to adorn a tale.</p> - -<p class='c011'>Mr. George <span class='sc'>Witt</span>, F.R.S., the collector of these curiosities -of human error, was a surgeon who had lived much in -Australia, and who, on his return from the Colonies, had -retired to a provincial town in England, where, at first, he -amused his leisure by gathering a small museum of natural -history. Of that collection I remember to have seen a -printed catalogue, but I imagine that he sold it in his lifetime, -as no part of his objects of natural history came, with -his other and much more eccentric museum, to the augmentation -<span class='pageno' id='Page_697'>697</span>of the public stores. Towards the close of his -life he lived in London, and used to amuse himself by -exhibiting, and by lecturing upon, what he regarded as the -more racy portion of his later collections. He chose (I am -told) the hour of eleven o’clock on Sunday morning for -such peculiar expositions, but I do not think that <em>these</em> -‘Sunday Lectures’ were regarded, either by the man who -gave them or by his auditors, as especially fitted for ‘the instruction -of the working classes.’</p> - -<div class='c002'></div> -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>The Christy Museum and its founder’s history.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>Of a very different calibre to Mr. George <span class='sc'>Witt</span> was the -donor of the noble Museum of Ethnography which, <em>for -want of room at Bloomsbury</em>, still occupies the late donor’s -dwelling-house, almost two miles off. It is not too much -to say of Henry <span class='sc'>Christy</span>, that he was both an illustrious -man of science and an eminent Christian. The man whose -fame as a searcher into antiquity is spread alike over Europe -and America, is also remembered in many Irish cabins as -one who was willing to spend, lavishly, his health and -strength, as well as his money, in lifting up, from squalid -beds of straw and filth, poor creatures stricken at once with -famine and with fever, and so stricken as sometimes to have -almost lost the semblance of humanity. He is also remembered -by Algerian peasants, by West African negroes, and -by Canadian Indians for like deeds of beneficence. When -Prussian insolence and Prussian barbarity struck down -Danes who were defending hearth and home, <span class='sc'>Christy</span> was -again the open-handed benefactor of the oppressed. When -Turks were, in like manner, beating down by sheer brute -force the Druses of Syria, Henry <span class='sc'>Christy</span> was relieving the -distressed and the down-trodden in the East, with no less -liberality than he had evinced a little while before in relieving -them in the North of Europe.</p> - -<p class='c011'><span class='pageno' id='Page_698'>698</span>The time which works of good-samaritanism such as -these left unoccupied was given to a vast series—or rather -to a succession of series—of explorations which have had -already a noble result, and which will yield more and more -fruit for many a year to come. The scene of them embraced -Mexico, the United States, British America, Denmark, and -several Departments of Southern and Western France. -Their period reached from 1860—when he had just -entered the fiftieth year of his age—almost to the day of -his lamented and sudden death in the May of 1865. His -able and beloved friend and fellow-worker <span class='sc'>Lartet</span> was with -him in the Allier, when the fatal illness struck him, at the -age of fifty-four. It will be pardoned me, I trust, if in this -connection I quote, once again, those thoughtful words, -out of the private note-book of Lord <span class='sc'>Bacon</span>, which I applied -in a former chapter to another and more recent public -loss—‘Princes, ... when men deserve crowns for their -performances, do not crown them below, where the deeds -are performed, but call them up. So doth <span class='sc'>God</span>, by death.’</p> - -<div class='c002'></div> -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Character of the Christy Museum.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>The little that need here be added as to the nature and -extent of Mr. <span class='sc'>Christy’s</span> gift to the Public, will be best -said in the words of the present able Curator of the Collection, -Mr. A. W. <span class='sc'>Franks</span>. But it should be first premised -that the posthumous gift was only the continuation -of a long series of gifts, which embraced the Museums, not -of England alone, but those of Northern and of Southern -Europe, and (as I think) some of those of America:—</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Ancient Europe and part of North America.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>Among the most important contents of the <span class='sc'>Christy</span> -Museum is a collection of stone implements from the Drift. -They are the most ancient remains of human industry -hitherto discovered; they include a remarkably fine series -from St. Acheul, near Amiens. Antiquities found in the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_699'>699</span>Caves of Dordogne, were excavated by Mr. <span class='sc'>Christy</span> and M. -<span class='sc'>Lartet</span>, at the expense of the former. This collection is -very extensive, and includes a number of drawings on reindeer -bone and horn, probably some of the most ancient works -of art that have been preserved. <span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>Franks’ -<cite>Report on -Christy -Museum</cite> -(abridged).<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -It would have been still -more extensive, had it not been known that Mr. <span class='sc'>Christy</span> -intended to present the unique specimens to the French -Museum, an intention which the Trustees under his Will have -felt bound to fulfil. The Museum includes many ancient -stone implements found on the surface, in England and -Ireland, France, Belgium, and Denmark. The last of these -is a remarkable collection, and includes a good series from -the Danish Kitchenmiddens. A few specimens from Italy -are also to be found; a valuable collection from the caves at -Gibraltar; and specimens from the Swiss Lakes. For convenience, -a case of ancient stone implements from Asia has -been placed in this room, as well as the more modern -implements, dresses, and weapons of the Esquimaux of -America and Asia, and of the maritime tribes of the North-West -Coast of America. These furnish striking illustrations -of the remains found in the Caves of Dordogne, and prove -that, while the climate was similar to that of the northern -countries in question, the inhabitants of that part of France -must have resembled the Esquimaux in their habits and -implements.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Africa and Asia.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>The African Collection is very extensive, and supplies a -lacuna in the collections of the British Museum, where -there are few objects from this continent. The same may -be said of the series from the Asiatic Islands. The collection -from Asia proper is not very numerous; the races -now occupying that continent being generally in a more -advanced state of civilization than that which especially -interested Mr. <span class='sc'>Christy</span>. Attention should, however, be -<span class='pageno' id='Page_700'>700</span>called to two valuable relics from China; an Imperial State -Seal carved in jade, and a set of tablets of the same material, -on which has been engraved a poem by the Emperor -<span class='sc'>Kien-Lung</span>.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Melanesia and Polynesia.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>The Polynesian Room contains a valuable collection of -weapons, ornaments, and dresses, both from the islands -inhabited by the black races of the Pacific, and from those -of Polynesia proper. Many of the specimens are of interest, -as belonging to a state of culture which has now -completely changed, and as illustrating manners and customs -that have disappeared before the commerce and the -teaching of Europeans.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Asia.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>In the ‘Asian Room’ are placed the larger objects from -the Pacific, such as spears, clubs, and paddles. The collection -of spears is very large and interesting.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Australia and part of North America.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>The Australian Collection is very complete, and it would -not be easy to replace it, inasmuch as the native races are -dwindling in most parts of that continent.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>North and South America.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>The American department in chief includes antiquities -and recent implements and dresses from the North American -Indians; ancient Carib implements; and recent collections -from British Guiana, and other parts of South America. -The most valuable part of the contents of this room -is the collection of Mexican antiquities, which is not only -extensive, but includes some specimens of great rarity. -Among them should be especially mentioned the following:—An -axe of Avanturine jade, carved into the form of -a human figure; a remarkable knife of white chalcedony; -a sacrificial collar formed of a hard green stone; a squatting -figure, of good execution, sculptured out of a volcanic -rock; and three remarkable specimens coated with polished -stones. The latter consist of a wooden mask covered with -a mosaic of blue stones, presumed to be turquoises, but -<span class='pageno' id='Page_701'>701</span>more probably a rare form of amazon-stone; a human skull -made into a mask, and coated with obsidian and the blue -stone mentioned above; and a knife with a blade of flint, -and with a wooden handle, sculptured to represent a -Mexican divinity, and encrusted with obsidian, coral, -malachite, and other precious materials. <span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>Franks’ -<cite>Report</cite>, -as above.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -There is also a -small but choice collection of Peruvian pottery.</p> - -<p class='c011'>A catalogue of the collection was privately printed by -Mr. <span class='sc'>Christy</span> in 1862; but it embraces only a small part -of the present collection. A more extended catalogue is in -preparation.</p> - -<p class='c011'>It is due to accuracy to add that the aspect of the rooms -devoted to the <span class='sc'>Christy</span> Museum in Victoria Street, and -the facilities of study which they afford, are utterly unsatisfactory -to real students. They are adapted only to holiday -sightseers, who look and go, and but to very small groups, -indeed, even of them.</p> - -<p class='c011'>Every praise is due both to the Trustees and to their -officer, for having done their best, under strait and lamentable -limitations, the <em>removal</em> of which is the duty of Parliament -and of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, not that -of the Trustees. Under the Premiership of such an eminent -scholar and writer as Mr. <span class='sc'>Gladstone</span>, humbler students -of history and of literature would fain hope that a -long-standing reproach will speedily be removed; but his -ministerial surroundings are unfriendly to such anticipations. -After words which we have recently heard, <em>from -the Treasury Bench itself</em>, about Public Parks, there is only -scanty ground for hope that much improvement can, under -existing circumstances, be looked for in respect to Public -Museums.</p> - -<p class='c011'>At all events, the condition, as to space, of the <span class='sc'>Christy</span> -Museum in Victoria Street, no less than the condition, in -<span class='pageno' id='Page_702'>702</span>that respect, of portions of the general Museum of Antiquities -at Bloomsbury itself—and of nearly all our splendid -national collections in Natural History—gives tenfold importance -to that question of speedy enlargement or efficient -reconstruction which it will be my duty rather to state, -than to discuss, in the next chapter. <span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><span class='sc'>The state -of the -Christy -Collection -viewed -in its -bearings -upon the -question of -Museum -reconstruction.</span><span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -It will be my earnest -aim to state it with impartiality, and, for the most part, in -better words than my own.</p> - -<div class='c002'></div> -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>The archæological bequest of James Woodhouse, of Corfu.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>Next in importance—but next at a long interval—to -the accessions which the Nation owes to the munificence of -Henry <span class='sc'>Christy</span>, comes the bequest of Mr. James <span class='sc'>Woodhouse</span>, -of Corfu, the circumstances attendant upon which -have much singularity.</p> - -<p class='c011'>It is only of late years (speaking comparatively) that -British Consuls have become at all notable as collectors of -antiquities. But when once the new fashion was set, it -spread rapidly, and it may now be hoped that there will be -as little lack of continuance as of speed. In Chapter V, I -had to mention (though very inadequately to the worth of -their labours) several Consuls in the Levant, who have -eminently distinguished themselves in augmenting our -National Museum. But in this chapter the reader must be -introduced to a Consul who rather obstructed than promoted -a worthy public object.</p> - -<p class='c011'>James <span class='sc'>Woodhouse</span> was a British subject engaged in -commerce, who had resided for many years at Corfu (where -for a time he had filled the office of Government Secretary), -and who consoled his self-imposed exile by collecting a -cabinet of coins, which eventually became one of great -value, and also an extensive museum of miscellaneous, but -chiefly of Greek, antiquities. Repeatedly, during his lifetime, -he announced his desire and purpose to perpetuate -<span class='pageno' id='Page_703'>703</span>his collection by giving it to the British Museum. When -his health failed, he began to superintend in person the -packing up of the most valuable portions of his museum; -but illness grew upon him, and he was forced to leave off -his preparations abruptly.</p> - -<p class='c011'>A delicate circumstance connected with his family circle -seems to have combined with this regretted interruption, -by increasing illness, of his precautionary measures and -intentions (the secure fulfilling of which lay near his heart), -to make him uneasy and anxious. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><span class='sc'>The circumstances -of the -Woodhouse -bequest.</span><span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -He sent for a legal -friend, Dr. <span class='sc'>Zambelli</span>; told him of his plans, and also of -his fears that they might be—in the event of his sudden -death, and he felt that death was fast coming—obstructed. -<span class='sc'>Zambelli</span> told him that the person to whom his purpose -and wishes ought to be communicated, without delay, was -undoubtedly the British Consul-General, Mr. <span class='sc'>Saunders</span>. -In joint communication with both of them, a deed of gift -was prepared. ‘Having been engaged,’ said the donor, -‘in numismatic pursuits, ... and being desirous that -the Collection of Coins <em>and other Antiquities</em> so formed by -me, should be dedicated to national purposes, I give,’ and -so on. No inventory, however, had been made when the -donor died, on the twenty-sixth of February, 1866. Before -<span class='sc'>Woodhouse’s</span> death, Mr. Consul-General <span class='sc'>Saunders</span> put a -guard round the house; and, immediately after the event, -sent away all the household, taking official possession of -the whole of the effects, in the manner usual in cases of -undoubted <em>intestacy</em>.<a id='r47'></a><a href='#f47' class='c013'><sup>[47]</sup></a> He then, according to his own statement, -set about ‘selecting such portions’ of Mr. <span class='sc'>Woodhouse’s</span> -<span class='pageno' id='Page_704'>704</span>property as ‘seemed’ (to him and to a clerical -friend of the collector) ‘<em>suitable</em> for the British Museum.’</p> - -<p class='c011'>Most naturally, when the intelligence came to the Museum, -it was thought by the Trustees that Mr. <span class='sc'>Saunders</span> had both -very seriously exceeded, and very gravely fallen short of, -his obvious official duty. ‘Selection’ was felt to have been -superfluous in respect to any and every item, of every kind, -belonging to the donor’s museum. Just as plainly, the -instant forwarding of the whole, on the other hand, was a -peremptory obligation upon the British Consul.</p> - -<p class='c011'>Eventually (and by the zealous exertions of Sir A. -<span class='sc'>Panizzi</span> and of Mr. Charles <span class='sc'>Newton</span>, respectively, on behalf -of the Trustees) conclusive evidence was placed before Lord -<span class='sc'>Stanley</span> (the now Earl of <span class='sc'>Derby</span>, and then, it will be -remembered, Foreign Secretary of State) that Mr. Consul-General -<span class='sc'>Saunders</span> had divided the Woodhouse antiquities -into <em>two</em> portions, and had then proceeded to allot the -smaller portion to the British Museum, and the larger to -the ‘heirs-at-law’ of the deceased. Nor is it yet quite -certain that such division was <em>all</em> the division that occurred.</p> - -<p class='c011'>After long inquiries and much correspondence—as well -between the Foreign Office and the Queen’s Advocate, as -between the Trustees and their officers on the one hand, and -various persons at Corfu, including, of course, the Consul-General -himself, on the other—Lord <span class='sc'>Stanley</span> touched -the point of the affair with characteristic keenness when he -wrote, in his despatch to Mr. <span class='sc'>Saunders</span> of the seventh of -January, 1867: ‘Your neglect to <em>make an Inventory</em> of the -effects of the deceased has been the main cause of the doubts -which have been felt as to the propriety of your conduct in -this matter, and of the inquiry which has been the consequence -of those doubts.’</p> - -<p class='c011'>But that neglect was then incurable. And, subsequently -<span class='pageno' id='Page_705'>705</span>to the despatch thus worded, further inquiry has but made -the omission more regrettable. The making of the Inventory -had been pressed on Mr. <span class='sc'>Saunders’</span> attention at -the time of the Collector’s death.</p> - -<div class='c002'></div> -<div class='sidenote'>Newton; in <cite>Returns to Parliament</cite>, of the year 1866.</div> - -<p class='c011'>That part of the <span class='sc'>Woodhouse</span> Museum which came to -England in 1866 included a very interesting Collection of -Greek Coins, chiefly from Corcyra, Western Greece, and -the Greek islands; an extensive series of rings and other -personal ornaments; some ancient glass; a few medallions; -a few sculptures, in marble, of doubtful antiquity; and last, -but far indeed from being least acceptable, a most beautiful -head of Athené in cameo, cut on a sardonyx. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>Vischer, -<cite><span lang="de" xml:lang="de">Archaeologische -Beiträge -aus Griechenland</span></cite>, -p. 2.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -It was -thought by the antiquary <span class='sc'>Vischer</span>—who saw this fine -cameo about the year 1854—that it represents the head of -<span class='sc'>Phidias’</span> famous statue in gold and ivory, and therefore -had a common origin with the jasper intaglio so often praised -by archæologists who have seen the Imperial Cabinet at -Vienna.</p> - -<div class='c002'></div> -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Lord Napier of Magdala, and the additions to the Museum of the Antiquities and MSS. of Abyssinia, 1867–8.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>Some of my readers will remember that although war, -and the calamities which commonly accompany it, have -often devastated museums and libraries, it has occasionally -enriched them. Sometimes by sheer plunder, as under -<span class='sc'>Catharine</span> of Russia and the marshals of her predatory -armies. Sometimes by acts of genuine beneficence and -public spirit, as in Ireland under <span class='sc'>Blount</span> (afterwards Earl -of Devonshire); and, again, under the great Protector. Lord -<span class='sc'>Napier</span> adds his honoured name to the small category of -the soldiers who have justifiably turned victorious arms to -the profit of learning, and the enrichment of honestly built-up -national collections. I cannot, however, but regard as -utterly unworthy of the British arms and name certain -<span class='pageno' id='Page_706'>706</span>acquisitions which were incidental to that campaign. ‘Mr. -<span class='sc'>Holmes</span>, the officer attached to the Abyssinian Expedition -by the Trustees of the British Museum’—I quote exactly -and literally from the ‘<cite>Accounts and Estimates</cite>’ of last year -(1869)—‘collected ... among other objects, a silver chalice -and a paten bearing Æthiopic inscriptions, showing them to -have been given to various churches by King <span class='sc'>Theodore</span>.’</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>The collection of Sacramental Plate in Abyssinia.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>I am certain to be uncontradicted when I assert, that -neither the Trustees of the British Museum, nor Lord -<span class='sc'>Napier</span> of Magdala, instructed Mr. <span class='sc'>Holmes</span> to take from -Christian churches in Abyssinia their sacramental plate, or -their processional crosses.</p> - -<p class='c011'>It is a far pleasanter task to praise the diligence with -which Mr. <span class='sc'>Holmes</span> executed the Commission really given -him by the Trustees. He collected many specimens of -Abyssinian art and industry which were fit contributions to -the National Museum. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><span class='sc'>The collection -of -Abyssinian -MSS.</span><span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -In like manner, Lord <span class='sc'>Napier</span> -authorised the collection, partly by officers under his command, -and partly by the researches of Mr. <span class='sc'>Holmes</span>, of a -series of Abyssinian Manuscripts, extending to three hundred -and thirty-nine volumes. These were given to the -Museum by the then Secretary of State for India.</p> - -<div class='c002'></div> -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>The Slade bequest.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>In the same year with the Abyssinian spoils, came a -noble addition to the Art Collections of the Museum by the -bequest of the late Felix <span class='sc'>Slade</span>, and a rich addition to the -Library, by the purchase of the Japanese books collected -by the late Dr. <span class='sc'>Von Siebold</span>, during the later of his two -visits to Japan, a country which he so largely contributed to -make well known to the rest of the world.</p> - -<p class='c011'>Felix <span class='sc'>Slade</span> was the younger son of Robert <span class='sc'>Slade</span>, in -his day a well-known Proctor in Doctors’ Commons. Mr. -William <span class='sc'>Slade</span>, elder brother of Felix, had inherited the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_707'>707</span>valuable estate of Halsteads in Lonsdale (Yorkshire), under -the will of the last male-heir of that family, and on his early -death he was succeeded by his brother, the benefactor.</p> - -<p class='c011'>Truly a ‘benefactor.’ To purposes of public charity he -bequeathed not less than seven thousand pounds, and -bequeathed that sum with wise forethought, and with -Christian generality of view. He founded and munificently -endowed Professorships of Art at each of the ancient Universities, -and at University College in London. To the -British Museum he gave the splendid bequest about to be -described, which had been selected with exquisite taste, -knowledge and judgment, and which, under such rare conditions -of purchase, had cost him more than twenty-five -thousand pounds. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><span class='sc'>The Slade -Museum of -Antiquities. -1869.</span><span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -I describe it in the precise words—chiefly -from the pen of one of his Executors—which are used in -the Return to Parliament of 1869:—‘The collection of glass -and other antiquities bequeathed to the Nation by the late -Felix <span class='sc'>Slade</span>, Esq., <span class='fss'>F.S.A.</span>, includes about nine hundred and -fifty specimens of ancient glass, selected with care, so as to -represent most of the phases through which the art of glass-working -has passed. Collected in the first instance with a -view to artistic beauty alone, the series has been since gradually -enriched with historical specimens, as well as with -curiosities of manufacture, so as to illustrate the history of -glass in all its branches.</p> - -<p class='c011'>‘Of early Egyptian glass there are not many examples in -the collection; one of some interest is a case for holding -the <em>stibium</em>, used by the Egyptian ladies for the eye, and -which is in the form of a papyrus sceptre. The later productions -of Egypt are represented by some very minute -specimens of mosaic glass, formed of slender filaments -of various colours fused together, and cut into transverse -sections.</p> - -<p class='c011'><span class='pageno' id='Page_708'>708</span>‘To the Phœnicians have been attributed the making of -many little vases of peculiar form and ornamentation that -are met with, not unfrequently, in tombs on the shores of -the Mediterranean. They are of brilliant colours, with zigzag -decoration, and exhibit the same technical peculiarities, -so that they must have been derived from one centre of -fabrication. Of these vases there is a considerable series, -showing most of the varieties of form and colour that are -known.</p> - -<p class='c011'>‘The collection is especially rich in vessels moulded into -singular shapes, found principally in Syria and the neighbouring -islands, and which were probably produced in the -workshops of Sidon, but at a later time; possibly as late as -the Roman dominion. The Museum Collections were previously -very ill provided with such specimens. To the -same date must belong a vase handle, stamped with the -name of <span class='sc'>Artas</span> the Sidonian, in Greek and Latin characters.</p> - -<p class='c011'>‘Of Roman glass there is a great variety, as might be -expected from the skill shown in glass-making during the -Imperial times of Rome. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>A. W. Franks, -<cite>Account of -Slade -Museum</cite>, in -the Parliamentary -Returns of -1869.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -Large vases were not especially -sought after by Mr. <span class='sc'>Slade</span>, but two fine cinerary urns may -be noticed, remarkable not only for their form, but for the -beautiful iridescent colours with which time has clothed -them. There is also a very fine amber-coloured ewer, with -blue filaments round the neck, which was found in the -Greek Archipelago; an elegant jug or bottle with diagonal -flutings, found at Barnwell, near Cambridge, and a brown -bottle, splashed with opaque white, from Germany. Of -cut glass, an art which it was formerly denied that the -Romans possessed, there are good examples; such, for -instance, is a boat-shaped vase of deep emerald hue, and of -the same make apparently as the Sacro Catino of Genoa; a -<span class='pageno' id='Page_709'>709</span>bowl cut into facets, found near Merseburg, in Germany; -and a cup, similarly decorated, found near Cambridge. -The last two specimens are of a brilliant clear white, imitating -rock crystal, a variety of glass much esteemed by the -Romans. Several vessels found in Germany are remarkable -for having patterns in coloured glass, trailed as it were over -the surface. There are two very fine bowls of millefiori -glass, one of them with patches of gold, and very numerous -polished fragments illustrating the great variety and taste -shown by the ancients in such vessels. Two vases exhibit -designs in intaglio; one of them, a subject with figures; the -other, a bowl found near Merseburg, exhibits the story of -Diana and Actæon; the goddess is kneeling at a pool of -water in a grotto; Actæon is looking on, and a reflection of -his head with sprouting horns may be distinguished in the -water at the goddess’s feet; to prevent any mistake, the -names of the personages, in Greek, are added. This bowl -may be of a late date, probably early Byzantine. Of vases -decorated in cameo, fragments alone are to be found in the -collection; but as only four entire vases are known, this is -not surprising. One of the fragments seems to be part of -a large panel which has represented buildings, &c., and has -on it remains of a Greek inscription. There are several -glass cameos and intaglios, the representatives of original -gems that have long since been lost; one of the cameos is a -head of <span class='sc'>Augustus</span>; another represents an Egyptian princess; -whilst among the intaglios are several of great -excellence; of these should particularly be noticed a blue -paste representing Achilles wounded in the heel, and crouching -down behind his rich shield, a gem worthy of the best -period of Greek art. One of the rarest specimens in the -collection is a circular medallion of glass, on which is -painted a gryphon; the colours appear to be burnt in, and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_710'>710</span>it is therefore a genuine specimen of ancient painting -on glass, of which but three other instances are known.</p> - -<p class='c011'>‘In the fourth and fifth century it was the habit to ornament -the bottoms of bowls and cups with designs in gold, -either fixed to the surface or enclosed between two layers of -glass. These specimens have generally been found in the -Catacombs of Rome; but two or three have been found at -Cologne, one of which is in the collection. It is the remains -of a disc of considerable size, with a central design, -now destroyed; around are eight compartments, with subjects -from the Old and New Testaments: Moses striking -the Rock, the History of Jonah, Daniel in the Lions’ Den, -the Fiery Furnace, the Sacrifice of Isaac, the Nativity, and -the Paralytic Man; of these, the Nativity is a very rare -representation.</p> - -<p class='c011'>‘Of glass of a Teutonic origin there is but one specimen in -the collection, a tumbler of peculiar form, from a cemetery -at Selzen, in Rhenish Hesse. Like other glasses of the time, -it is so made that it cannot be put down until it has -been emptied, and thus testifies to the convivial habits of -the Teutons.</p> - -<p class='c011'>‘Of early Byzantine glass but little is known; the bowl -with Diana and Actæon, already noticed, is very probably of -that period; and a Byzantine cameo with the head of <span class='sc'>Christ</span> -should be mentioned.</p> - -<p class='c011'>‘Of glass of the middle ages, from the West of Europe, -but little or nothing has been preserved save the exquisite -painted glass in cathedrals and churches. Of the Eastern -glass of the same period several specimens are in the collection. -Among these is a very beautiful bottle, probably -of the thirteenth century, decorated with a minute pattern -of birds; a lamp of large size, made in Syria to hang in a -mosque, bears the name of <span class='sc'>Sheikhoo</span>, a man of great wealth -<span class='pageno' id='Page_711'>711</span>and importance in Egypt and Syria, who died in 1356, after -building a mosque at Cairo.</p> - -<p class='c011'>‘To a later period of the Eastern glass works may be -referred an ewer of a sapphire blue, resplendent with gold -arabesques, and several other richly decorated pieces, all -made in Persia.</p> - -<p class='c011'>‘Venice for many centuries held the foremost place among -the makers of glass. Enriched, to begin with, by her very -extensive trade in beads, she received gladly the Byzantine -workers in glass, who had been driven out of Constantinople -by the Turks. Henceforward the variety of her glass wares -increased, and must have brought much profit. The earliest -glass vases which can with certainty be referred to Venice -are of the fifteenth century; of these, a large covered cup -with gilt ribs is remarkable for its early date and size. The -two finest specimens are, however, two goblets richly enameled; -one of them is blue, with a triumph of Venus; the -other green, with two portraits. These were the choicest -specimens in the <span class='sc'>Debruge</span> and <span class='sc'>Soltykoff</span> Collections successively, -and were obtained by Mr. <span class='sc'>Slade</span>, for upwards of -four hundred pounds, at the sale of the latter collection. -Among other enameled specimens may be noticed three -shallow bowls, or dishes, with heraldic devices: one has the -arms of Pope <span class='sc'>Leo X</span>, 1513–1521; another those of <span class='sc'>Leonardo -Loredano</span>, Doge of Venice, 1501–1521; and the -third the arms of <span class='sc'>Fabrizio Caretto</span>, Grand Master of the -Order of St. John of Jerusalem, 1513–1521.</p> - -<p class='c011'>‘The blown glasses of Venice are numerous and well -selected, exhibiting great beauty of outline and variety of -design. Among them should be especially remarked, a very -tall covered cup, surmounted with a winged serpent, from -the <span class='sc'>Bernal</span> Collection; and two drinking glasses, with enameled -flowers forming the stems.</p> - -<p class='c011'><span class='pageno' id='Page_712'>712</span>‘The coloured vases display most of the hues made at -Venice; ruby, purple, green, and blue, as well as an opalescent -white and an opaque white, the latter often diversified -with splashes of other colours. To these may be added -various imitations of agate, avanturine, &c. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>Franks, as -above.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -Another peculiar -fabric of Venice is well illustrated, the frosted glass -belonging generally to an early period.</p> - -<p class='c011'>‘In the production of millefiori glass the Venetians did not -equal the ancients, either in harmony of colour or variety of -design. The rosettes were formed of sections of canes, such -as were employed in making beads. The specimens of -this glass are rare, but there are not less than seven pieces -so ornamented in the collection.</p> - -<p class='c011'>‘Of lace glass, one of the most remarkable productions of -Venice, and which nowhere has been carried to such perfection, -there are many fine specimens, both in form and -delicacy of pattern, as there are likewise of the variety called -reticelle. Among the latter is a tall covered cup with -snakes on the cover and in the stem; there should also be -noticed a drinking glass, in the stem of which is enclosed a -half sequin of the Doge <span class='sc'>Francesco Molino</span>, 1647.</p> - -<p class='c011'>‘Of unquestionably ancient French glass but few specimens -are known. This adds much to the value of a goblet -in the collection, with enameled portrait of Jehan <span class='sc'>Boucau</span> -and his wife Antoinette, made about 1530.</p> - -<p class='c011'>‘German glass is fully represented: the earlier specimens -are richly decorated with enamel, chiefly heraldic devices; -they are dated 1571, 1572, &c. A few are painted like -window glass, and among them is a cylindrical cup, dated -1662, on which is depicted the procession at the christening -of <span class='sc'>Maximilian Emmanuel</span>, afterwards Elector of Bavaria. -The later German specimens are engraved, and some of -them by artists of note. Of ruby glass, another production -<span class='pageno' id='Page_713'>713</span>for which Germany was famed, there are good specimens; -one bears the cypher of <span class='sc'>John George IV</span>, Elector of -Saxony, another that of <span class='sc'>Frederick the First</span>. <span class='sc'>Kunckel</span>, -to whom these glasses are attributed, was successively in -the service of both princes.</p> - -<p class='c011'>‘Though glass was early made in Flanders, the most -ancient specimens in the collection under this head have -been regarded as Venetian glasses decorated in the Low -Countries. If made at Venice, they must, from certain -peculiarities of form, have been designed for the Flemish -and Dutch markets. The ornaments are etched, and contain -allusions to the political events of the country: for -instance, the arms of the seventeen provinces chained to -those of Spain, and dated 1655; a portrait of <span class='sc'>Philip IV</span>; -<span class='sc'>William II</span> of Orange; his wife, <span class='sc'>Mary of England</span>; -<span class='sc'>Olden Barneveldt</span>, &c. Some of the later specimens are -engraved on the lathe in a very ornamental manner, and -others delicately stippled. One of the latter bears the -name of F. <span class='sc'>Greenwood</span>, and others are attributed to -<span class='sc'>Wolf</span>.</p> - -<p class='c011'>‘In English glass the collection is not rich, the difficulty -of identifying such specimens being very great; some of -them are referred to the works at Bristol, which produced -ornamental glass about a century ago.</p> - -<p class='c011'>‘Some valuable additions to the collection of glass have -been received from the Executors of Mr. <span class='sc'>Slade</span>, purchased -by them out of funds set aside for the purpose. They are -nineteen in number, and among them may be especially -noticed a very fine Oriental bottle with elaborate patterns -in gold and enamel, together with figures of huntsmen, &c. -It may be referred to the fourteenth century, and was formerly -in the possession of a noble family at Wurzburg. Two -specimens of Chinese glass, dated in the reign of the Emperor -<span class='pageno' id='Page_714'>714</span><span class='sc'>Kien-Lung</span>, 1736–1796; and several ancient Flemish -and Dutch glasses.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'>Franks, as above.</div> - -<p class='c011'>‘By the acquisition of the <span class='sc'>Slade</span> Collection the series of -ancient and more recent glass in the British Museum has -probably become more extensive, as well as more instructive, -than any other public collection of the kind, and it -will afford ample materials for study both to the artist and -the antiquary.</p> - -<p class='c011'>‘In addition to his collection of glass, Mr. <span class='sc'>Slade</span> has -bequeathed to the Museum a small series of carvings in -ivory and metal work, from Japan, which are full of the -humour and quaintness which characterise the art of that -country.</p> - -<p class='c011'>‘He has likewise bequeathed to the Museum such of the -miscellaneous works of art in his possession as should be -selected by one of his Executors, Mr. <span class='sc'>Franks</span>. The objects -so selected are not numerous, but include some valuable -additions to the National Collection.</p> - -<p class='c011'>‘Among them may be noticed the following:—Two very -beautiful Greek painted vases, œnochoæ with red figures of -a fine style; these were two of the gems of the <span class='sc'>Durand</span> and -<span class='sc'>Hope</span> Collections successively; also a fine tazza, with red -figures very well drawn, formerly in the <span class='sc'>Rogers</span> Collection. -Two red bowls of the so-called Samian ware, with ornaments -in relief; one of them was discovered near Capua, -the other is believed to have been found in Germany; an -antique hand, in rock crystal, of which a drawing by Santo -<span class='sc'>Bartoli</span> is preserved in the Royal Library at Windsor, and -a small Roman vase of onyx; a panel, probably from a -book cover, a fine example of German enamel of the twelfth -century, from the <span class='sc'>Preaux</span> Collection; a very fine flask-shaped -vase of Italian majolica, probably of Urbino ware, -and representing battle scenes; three elegant ewers, one of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_715'>715</span>them made at Nevers, another of Avignon ware, and the -third probably Venetian—all three are rare specimens; an -oval plate of niello work on silver, and a silver plate engraved -in the style of <span class='sc'>Crispin de Passe</span>; three early specimens -of stamped leather work, commonly termed cuirbouilli; -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>Franks, as -above.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -a tile from the Alhambra, but probably belonging -to the restorations made to that building in the sixteenth -century.</p> - -<p class='c011'>‘The value of Mr. <span class='sc'>Slade’s</span> bequest is considerably -increased by a very detailed and profusely illustrated -catalogue of the Collection which, having been prepared -during his lifetime, will be completed and distributed, -according to his directions.</p> - -<p class='c011'>‘Since the <span class='sc'>Cracherode</span> bequest, which formed the -nucleus of the British Museum Print Collections, no -acquisition of the kind approaches the bequest of Mr. -<span class='sc'>Slade</span> in rare and choice specimens of etchings and -engravings, wherein nearly every artist of distinction is -represented. The collection comprises rare specimens of -impressions from Nielli and prints of the School of Baldini; -fine examples of some of the best productions of Andrea -Mantegna, Zoan Andrea Vavassori, Girolamo Mocetto, -Giovanni Battista del Porto, Jean Duvet, Marc Antonio, -with his scholars and followers, the master of the year 1466; -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>G. W. Reid, -in Parliamentary -Returns of -1869.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -Martin Schongauer, Israel van Meckenen, Albert Dürer, -Lucas van Leyden, Hans Burgmair, Lucas Cranach, Matheus -Zazinger, the Behams, Rembrandt, Vandyck, Adrian -Ostade, Paul Potter, Karl du Jardin, Jan Both, N. Berghem, -Agostino Caracci, Wenceslaus Hollar, Cornelius Visscher, -Crispin and Simon de Passe, S. à Bolswert, Houbraken, -L. Vorsterman, Jacques Callot, Claude Mellan, Nanteuil, -George Wille, Faithorne, Hogarth, L. A. B. Desnoyers, F. -Forster, Sir R. Strange, William Woollett, Porporati, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_716'>716</span>Pefetti, Pietro Anderloni, Raphael Morghen, Giuseppe -Longhi, Garavaglio, and others. There are also some rare -English portraits and book-illustrations.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>The specimens of printing and binding in the Slade Collection.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>‘The specimens of binding from the <span class='sc'>Slade</span> Collection -(now placed in the Printed Book Department), continues -the Report of 1869, are twenty-three in number, chiefly of -foreign execution, and afford examples of the style of -<span class='sc'>Padeloup</span>, <span class='sc'>Dusseuil</span>, <span class='sc'>Derome</span>, and other eminent binders. -One of the volumes, an edition of <span class='sc'>Paulus Æmylius</span>, <cite><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">De -gestis Francorum</span></cite> (Paris, 1555, 8vo), is a beautiful specimen -of the French style of the period, with the sides and -back richly ornamented in the Grolier manner. An Italian -translation of the works of Horace (Venice, 1581, 4to), -is of French execution, richly tooled, and bears the arms of -<span class='sc'>Henry III</span> of France. A folio volume of the <cite><span lang="de" xml:lang="de">Reformation -der Stadt Nürnberg</span></cite> (Frankfort, 1566), which is a magnificent -specimen of contemporary German binding, formerly -belonged to the Emperor <span class='sc'>Maximilian the Second</span>, whose -arms are painted on the elegantly goffered gilt edges. An -edition of <span class='sc'>Ptolemy’s</span> <cite><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">Geographicæ Narrationis libri octo</span></cite> -(Lyons, 1541, fol.) affords a fine illustration of the Italian -style of about that date. The copy of a French translation -of <span class='sc'>Xenophon’s</span> <cite>Cyropædia</cite>, by Jacques de <span class='sc'>Vintemille</span> -(Paris, 1547, 4to), appears to have been bound for King -<span class='sc'>Edward VI</span>, of England, whose arms and cypher are on -the sides, while the rose is five times worked in gold on -the back. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>T. Watts, -in <cite>Returns</cite>, -as above.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -A volume of Bishop <span class='sc'>Hall’s</span> <cite>Contemplations on -the Old Testament</cite> (London, 1626, 8vo), in olive morocco -contemporary English binding, has the Royal arms in the -centre of the sides, and appears to have been the dedication -copy of King <span class='sc'>Charles the First</span>.’ It is proposed, concludes -the <cite>Report</cite>, to exhibit some of the most beautiful -specimens comprised in Mr. <span class='sc'>Slade’s</span> valuable donation, in -one of the select cases in the King’s Library.</p> - -<p class='c011'><span class='pageno' id='Page_717'>717</span>Mr. <span class='sc'>Slade</span> also bequeathed three thousand pounds for -the augmentation, by his Executors, of his Collection of -Ancient Glass, and five thousand pounds to be by them -expended in the restoration of the parish church of Thornton-in-Lonsdale.</p> - -<div class='c002'></div> -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Von Siebold and his Japanese Collections of 1823–8.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>Philip <span class='sc'>Von Siebold</span> was born at Wurtzburg, in February, -1796, and in the university of that town he received his -education. He adopted the profession of medicine, but -devoted himself largely to the study of natural history. In -the joint capacity of physician and naturalist, he accompanied -the Dutch Embassy to Japan in the year 1823. He -was a true lover of humanity, as well as a lover of science. -Many Japanese students were taught by him both the -curative arts, and the passion for doing good to their fellow-men, -which ought to be the condition of their exercise -and practice. He won the respect of the Japanese, but -his ardent pursuit of knowledge brought him into great -peril.</p> - -<p class='c011'>In 1828 he was about to return to Europe, laden with -scientific treasures, when he was suddenly seized and imprisoned -for having procured access to an official map of -the Empire, in order to improve his knowledge of its topography. -His imprisonment lasted thirteen months. At -last he was liberated, and ordered to do what he was just -about to do when arrested. (<span class='sc'>Siebold</span>, says his biographer, -<em>kam mit der Verbannung davon</em>.) But his banishment was -not perpetual. In 1859, he returned. He won favour -and employment from the then Tycoon. He returned -to his birthplace in 1862, and died there in October, -1866.</p> - -<p class='c011'>Of his second library, Mr. <span class='sc'>Watts</span> wrote thus:—‘The -collection of Japanese books was one of two formed by Dr. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_718'>718</span><span class='sc'>Von Siebold</span> during his residence in, and visits to, Japan. -The first of these collections, which is now at Leyden, and -of which a catalogue was published in 1845, was long -considered as beyond comparison the finest of its kind out -of Japan and China; but the second, now in the Museum, -is much superior. That at Leyden comprises five hundred -and twenty-five works, that in London one thousand and -eighty-eight works, in three thousand four hundred and -forty-one volumes. It contains specimens of every class of -literature: cyclopædias, histories, law-books, political pamphlets, -novels, plays, poetry, works on science, on antiquities, -on female costume, on cookery, on carpentry, and on -dancing. It abounds in works illustrative of the topography -of Japan, as, for instance, one, in twenty volumes, -on the secular capital Yeddo, and two, in eleven volumes, -on the religious capital Miaco; collections of views of -Yeddo and of the volcano Fusiyama, &c. &c. There are -also several dictionaries of European languages, testifying -to the eagerness with which the Japanese now pursue that -study. The Museum was already in possession of a second -edition of an English dictionary published at Yeddo in -1866, in which the lexicographer, <span class='sc'>Hori Tatsnoskay</span>, observes -in the preface, “As the study of the English language -is now becoming general in our country, we have -had for some time the desire to publish a pocket dictionary -of the English and Japanese languages, as an assistance to -our scholars,” and adds that the first edition is “entirely -sold out.” These dictionaries may now assist Europeans -to study the language of Japan, and it is believed that the -Japanese Library now in the Museum will afford unequalled -opportunities for the study of its literature.’</p> - -<p class='c011'>This was the last sentence in the last official report -which Mr. <span class='sc'>Watts</span> lived to write, for the purpose of being -<span class='pageno' id='Page_719'>719</span>laid before Parliament. He died on the ninth of September, -1869, at the age of fifty-nine. His post was not -filled up until the end of December, when he was succeeded -by Mr. William Brenchley <span class='sc'>Rye</span>, who was then Senior -Assistant-Keeper in the Department of Printed Books. -Mr. <span class='sc'>Rye</span> is well known in literature. He has edited, -with great ability, several works of early travel for the useful -‘Hakluyt Society,’—an employment which he has often -shared with his friends and Museum colleagues Messrs. -Winter <span class='sc'>Jones</span> and Richard Henry <span class='sc'>Major</span>, and with like -honourable distinction in its performance. More recently, -he has increased his reputation by a book which has -been largely read, and which well deserves its popularity—<cite>England -as seen by Foreigners</cite>. This work was published -in 1865.</p> - -<div> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_720'>720</span> - <div class='section'><h4 class='c005'>CHAPTER VII.<br /> <span class='large'>RECONSTRUCTORS AND PROJECTORS.</span></h4></div> -</div> -<p class='c006'>‘What do we, as a nation, care about books? How -much do you think we spend altogether on our Libraries, -public or private, as compared with what we spend on our -horses? If a man spends lavishly on his Library, you call -him mad,—a Bibliomaniac. But you never call any one a -Horse-maniac, though men ruin themselves every day by -their losses, and you do not hear of people ruining themselves -by their books. Or, to go lower still, how much do -you think the contents of the bookshelves of the United -Kingdom, public and private, would fetch, as compared -with the contents of its wine-cellars.’—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-r c008'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'><span class='sc'>Ruskin</span>, <cite>Sesame and Lilies</cite>, pp. 75–77.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c009'><em>The various Projects and Plans proposed, at different times, -for the Severance, the Partial Dispersion, and the Rearrangement, -of the several integral Collections which -at present form</em> ‘The British Museum.’</p> - -<div class='c002'></div> -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Grosley’s idea of severing the Museum Collections, 1765.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>The first reconstructor, in imagination, of the British -Museum on the plan of severing the literature from the -scientific collections, was a speculative and clever Frenchman, -Peter John <span class='sc'>Grosley</span>, who visited it within less -than six years of its being first opened to public inspection. -<span class='sc'>Grosley</span> expressed great admiration for much that he saw, -and he also criticised some of the arrangements that seemed -to him defective, with freedom but with courtesy. Some of -my readers will probably think that he hit a real blot, at -that time, when he said: ‘The Printed Books are the -weakest part of this immense collection. The building -cannot contain such a Library as England can form and -ought to form for the ornament of its capital. It has a -building quite ready in the “Banquetting-House” [at -Whitehall], and that building could be enlarged from time -to time as occasion might require.’</p> - -<p class='c011'><span class='pageno' id='Page_721'>721</span>Other writers, at various periods, have advocated -the severance of collections which seemed to them -too multifarious to admit of full, natural, and equable -development, in common. There is perhaps no apparent -reason, on the surface, why a great Nation should not be -able to enlarge the most varied public collections as effectively, -and as impartially, within one building, as within half -a dozen buildings. Nor does there seem to be any necessary -connection between the wise and liberal government of -public collections, and their severance or division into many -buildings, rather than their combination within a single -structure. Nevertheless it is certain that many thinkers -have, by some process or other, reached the conclusion that -severance would favour improvement.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Mr. Watts’ proposition for the severance of the Museum Collections, 1837.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>Seventy years after <span class='sc'>Grosley</span> wrote, Thomas <span class='sc'>Watts</span> revived -the proposition of dividing the contents of the British -Museum, but he revived it in a new form. His idea was to -remove the Antiquities and to retain at Montagu House -both the Libraries and the Natural History Collections. -‘The pictures have been removed,’ wrote Mr. <span class='sc'>Watts</span> in -1837, ‘why should not the statues follow? The collections -at the Museum would then remain of an entirely homogeneous -character. It would be exclusively devoted to conveying -literary information; while the collection at the -National Gallery would have for its object to refine and -cultivate the taste.’</p> - -<p class='c011'>It was not by any oversight that Mr. <span class='sc'>Watts</span> spoke of -the ‘homogeneity’ of Manuscripts, Printed Books, and -Natural-History Collections. He (at the time) meant -what he said. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>Watts, in -<cite>Mechanics’ -Magazine</cite>, -vol. xxvi, -pp. 295, seqq.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -But I doubt if the naturalists would feel -flattered by the reason which he gives in illustration of his -opinion. ‘The various curiosities accumulated at the -Museum might be considered,’ he continues, ‘as a vast -<span class='pageno' id='Page_722'>722</span>assemblage of <em>book-plates</em>, serving to illustrate and elucidate -the literature of the Library.’</p> - -<p class='c011'>Be that as it may, the idea of removing either the -Antiquities or the Printed Books has long ceased to be -mooted. All who now advocate severance advise, I think, -that the Natural History Collections should be removed, -and none other than those. But hitherto the idea of severance, -in any shape, has been uniformly repudiated both -by Royal Commissions of Inquiry, and by Parliamentary -Committees. The question, however, is sure to be revived, -and that speedily. Ere long it must needs receive a final -parliamentary solution—aye or no.</p> - -<p class='c010'>In this chapter I shall endeavour to state,—and as I hope -with impartiality,—the main reasons which have been severally -adduced, both by those who advocate a severance, and -by those who recommend the continuance of the existing -union of all the varied and vast Collections now at Bloomsbury. -There can be no better introduction of the subject than -that which will be afforded by putting before the reader, on -the one hand, a detailed and well-considered plan which contemplated -the maintenance of the Museum as it is; and, on -the other, the elaborate report in favour of transferring the -scientific collections to a new site,—in order to gain ample -space at Bloomsbury for a great Museum of Literature and -Archæology, such as should be in every point of view worthy -of the British Empire,—which was approved of by a -Treasury Minute more than eight years ago.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Of the several schemes and projects of extension which -rest on the twofold basis of (1) the retention at Bloomsbury -of nearly all the existing collections, with ample space for -their prospective increase, and (2) such an effective internal -<span class='pageno' id='Page_723'>723</span>re-arrangement of the collections themselves as would greatly -increase the public facilities of access and study, none -better deserves the attention of the reader than that which -was submitted in the first instance to the Trustees of the -British Museum, and subsequently to Parliament (in 1860) -by Mr. Edmund <span class='sc'>Oldfield</span>, then a Senior Assistant in the -Department of Antiquities, entrusted (in succession to Mr. -C. T. <span class='sc'>Newton</span>, on his proceeding to Greece) with the charge -of the Greek and Roman Galleries. By this plan it is proposed -to erect on the west side of the Museum a new range -of Galleries for Greek and Roman Antiquities. The façade -in Charlotte Street—prolonged to the house No. 4 in -Bedford Square—would extend to about 440 feet in length, -with an usual depth of 140, increased at the southern extremity -to 190 feet. This new range would provide for -the whole of the present Greek, Roman, Phœnician, and -Etruscan Antiquities, and for considerable augmentations. -To Assyrian Antiquities would be assigned the present -Elgin Gallery, the ‘Mausoleum Room,’ and the ‘Hellenic -Room,’ together with two other rooms—gained in part by -new adaptations of space comprised within the existing -buildings. <span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><span class='sc'>Mr. -Oldfield’s -Project of -Reconstruction -of the -Galleries -of Antiquities -(1858–1860).</span><span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -The rooms now devoted to the Antiquities of -Kouyunjik and Nimroud would then be applied to the -reception of Egyptian Antiquities, together with a room to -be constructed on the site of the present principal staircase. -The Lycian Gallery would retain its site, with an enlargement -westward. I quote Mr. <span class='sc'>Oldfield’s</span> own descriptive -account of his project, in full, from the Appendix to the -<cite>Minutes of Evidence</cite> of 1860.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Entrance Hall.</span></div> - -<p class='c007'>I. <em>Entrance Hall.</em>—On the north side is a staircase, such as suggested -by Mr. <span class='sc'>Panizzi</span>, forming the access to the galleries of Natural History.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Private Room for Sculptures.</span></div> - -<p class='c007'>II. Room for the first reception, unpacking, and examination of sculptures, -the consideration of such as are offered for purchase, the cleaning -<span class='pageno' id='Page_724'>724</span>and repairing of marbles and mosaics, and storing of pedestals, mason’s -apparatus, and machinery, &c.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>First Egyptian Room.</span></div> - -<p class='c007'>III. <em>First Egyptian Room.</em>—The present two staircases, and the wall -at the east end of the Assyrian Transept being removed, a handsome -entrance would be obtained to the galleries of Antiquities. The room -would be about seventy-six feet by thirty-five, and though not very well -lighted, might suffice for the monuments of the first twelve dynasties of -Egypt, at present in the northern vestibule and lobby, which have no -very artistic character.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Second Egyptian Room.</span></div> - -<p class='c007'>IV. <em>Second Egyptian Room.</em>—The monuments of the Eighteenth -Dynasty would here commence. Terminating the vista from the north -would be the head of Thothmes III, more advantageously seen than in its -present position, where it stands in front of a doorway, and exposed to -a cross light.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Third Egyptian Room.</span></div> - -<p class='c007'>V. <em>Third Egyptian Room.</em>—For smaller remains of the same period. -The alcoves should be removed, and a door opened on the north side.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Fourth Egyptian Room.</span></div> - -<p class='c007'>VI. <em>Fourth Egyptian Room.</em>—To remedy the darkness of this room, -an opening should be made in the ceiling, inclosed by a balustrade in -the room above (<em>v.</em> Plan of Upper Floor), and covered with glass; -whilst the roof of this upper room should be lightened, at least in the -central compartment, by substituting glass for its present heavy ceiling. -The small space thus sacrificed in the floor of the upper room would be -a less serious loss than the virtual uselessness of so large an apartment -below. With the proposed improvement in the lighting, the Fourth -Egyptian Room would be well adapted for the colossal monuments of -Amenophis III; without it, the room could hardly serve for any purpose -but a passage.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Fifth Egyptian Room.</span></div> - -<p class='c007'>VII. <em>Fifth Egyptian Room.</em>—In the middle would be arranged, in two -rows, the remaining sculptures of the Eighteenth and part of those of -the Nineteenth Dynasty. In the recesses between the pilasters might -be fixed wall-cases, which would rather improve than impair the architectural -effect of the room, and for which the light is well adapted, the -rays from the opposite windows striking sufficiently low to obviate the -shadow occasioned by shelves in rooms lighted from above. Such cases -would contain small objects from the Egyptian collection now on the -Upper Floor.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Sixth Egyptian Room.</span></div> - -<p class='c007'>VIII. <em>Sixth Egyptian Room.</em>—This room, originally ill lighted, has -been further darkened by the new Reading-Room, erected within a few -yards of its windows. If, however, an opening were made in the -ceiling (as proposed for Room VI), and if the roof of the room above -were somewhat modified, light might be thrown both on the magnificent -bust of Rameses II and on the east wall of the room. The middle -window in that wall, which furnishes no available light, might then be -blocked up; and before it might stand the cast from the head of the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_725'>725</span>colossus at Abousimbul, now placed over a door in the northern vestibule, -but which ought, in any re-arrangement, to be united with the -other monuments of Rameses II, and which would finely terminate the -vista, looking from the west.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Seventh Egyptian Room.</span></div> - -<p class='c007'>IX. <em>Seventh Egyptian Room.</em>—Here would be the sculptures, both of -the native dynasties posterior to the Nineteenth, and of the Ptolemaic -and Roman periods, which at present occupy the southern Egyptian -Gallery. In the recesses between the pilasters might be wall-cases.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Eighth Egyptian Room.</span></div> - -<p class='c007'>X. <em>Eighth Egyptian Room.</em>—This, and the two succeeding rooms, -would be appropriated to smaller Egyptian remains. The light on the -western side of these rooms falls so nearly vertically, from the overshadowing -mass of building adjoining, that wall-cases would have their -contents completely thrown into shade by the shelves, or by the tops of -the cases. Objects in the middle of the room, on the other hand, would -be in uninterrupted light. It is, therefore, proposed to place against -the walls inscribed tablets, which are best seen under an acutely striking -light; painted plaster friezes, which, from their strong colours and -coarse execution, do not require much light; and framed papyri, which -are liable to injury from exposure to powerful light. Along the centre -of the room would be arranged mummies, and mummy cases, in glass -frames, with table-cases for scarabæi, and other small objects, which are -most conveniently exhibited on flat or sloping surfaces.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Ninth Egyptian Room.</span></div> - -<p class='c007'>XI. <em>Ninth Egyptian Room.</em>—The thoroughfare is here too great for -objects to be conveniently arranged in the centre; but the walls might -be occupied as in the preceding room.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Tenth Egyptian Room.</span></div> - -<p class='c007'>XII. <em>Tenth Egyptian Room.</em>—To be arranged similarly to the -Eighth.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Summary of accommodation for Egyptian Antiquities.</span></div> - -<p class='c007'><span class='sc'>Summary</span> of the Accommodation provided in the plan for <span class='sc'>Egyptian -Antiquities</span>:—</p> - -<p class='c007'>1. The large sculptures would gain Rooms III, IV, and VI, in lieu -of the northern vestibule.</p> - -<p class='c007'>2. The inscribed tablets, which at present occupy the recesses of -Rooms VII, VIII, IX, containing four hundred and twenty-two linear -feet of wall-space, and the walls of the northern vestibule, containing -about eighty feet, or altogether about five hundred and two feet, would -share with the framed papyri and painted plaster friezes the walls of -Rooms III, IV, V, VI, VIII, X, XI, XII, containing altogether -about nine hundred and sixty feet.</p> - -<p class='c007'>3. The mummies, overcrowded in a room containing two thousand and -fourteen square feet of available open space, and the coffins in the -present ‘Egyptian Ante-room,’ would be arranged, with several table -cases, in Rooms X and XII, containing altogether about four thousand -and eighty square feet.</p> - -<p class='c007'>4. The small objects, now in wall-cases extending to two hundred and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_726'>726</span>thirty-seven feet of linear measurement, and in three table-cases, would -be arranged in wall-cases, extending to three hundred and eighty-three -feet, and in several table-cases, of which the exact extent cannot be -fixed.</p> - -<p class='c007'>The additional space here provided for large Egyptian sculptures is -not so much needed for the present as is the case in some other series; -but the greater comparative difficulty of moving objects so bulky makes -it advisable to secure, as far as possible, the permanence of any re-arrangement, -by leaving room for the probable incorporations of future -years. The accommodation provided for smaller objects is little more -than they already require for advantageous display.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>First Assyrian Room.</span></div> - -<p class='c007'>XIII. <em>First Assyrian or Nimroud Room.</em>—This room, on the site of -the basement room, would be formed by demolishing the small room, -with the adjoining students’ room and staircase; by extending over -their site the glass roof of room; by throwing a floor, on a continuous -level with those of the adjoining galleries, and supported upon iron -pillars, over so much of room as is coloured brown in the plan; and by -carrying up thin partitions from this floor to the glass roof, so as to -inclose a new apartment. This apartment would, at the south end, -extend across the whole breadth of room, but elsewhere it would be -limited to a central space, nineteen feet wide, corresponding to the -present central compartment of room, so as to leave open an area of ten -feet wide on each side. The open areas would serve to light both the -whole room below, of which the central portion would be partially -obscured by the new structure, and also the rooms in the adjoining basements, -which, though no longer used for exhibition, might be serviceable -for other subordinate purposes. In one of the open areas might be a -private staircase to the basement. Room XIII would be considerably -loftier than the present ‘Nimroud Side Gallery,’ and it would contain -two thousand nine hundred and seventy superficial feet, and three hundred -and fourteen linear feet of wall-space, instead of two thousand one -hundred and seventy-six superficial feet, and two hundred and seventy-eight -feet of wall-space. In this new room would be placed the earliest -of the Assyrian monuments, those of Sardanapalus I; at the south -end those found in the two small temples at Nimroud, including the -colossal lion, the arched monolith and altar, and the mythological -figures from a doorway; in the northern portion, the sculptures from -the North-west Palace at Nimroud, including the small winged lion and -bull, now in room.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Second Assyrian Room.</span></div> - -<p class='c007'>XIV. <em>Second Assyrian Room.</em>—This would contain a continuation of -the series from Nimroud. On the west side the colossal winged lions -now in the western compartment of the Assyrian Transept, which would -complete the monuments of Sardanapalus I; in other parts of the -room, the few but important sculptures of Divanubara, Shammaz-Phal, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_727'>727</span>and Pul, now somewhat scattered for want of the requisite accommodation -in room, but for which there would here be ample space, and an -advantageous light.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Third Assyrian Room.</span></div> - -<p class='c007'>XV. A proposed new room, to be entitled the <em>Third Assyrian or -Khorsabad Room</em>, the Assistant-Keeper’s study being removed, and -accommodation being provided for him elsewhere. The room might be -forty-seven feet by forty, about the same height as XIV, and similarly -lighted by a central skylight; beneath it would be a basement -room for the uses of the establishment. Room XV would contain, first, -the bas-reliefs of Tiglathpileser II from the South-west edifice of Nimroud; -and secondly, the Khorsabad collection, or monuments of Sargina, -which is next in chronological order to the Nimroud collection. The -two colossal bulls of Sargina are marked in the plan as facing each -other, an arrangement common at Khorsabad. Deducting space for -the bulls, upwards of eighty linear feet of wall-surface would remain in -the room, which is considerably more than the bas-reliefs of Tiglathpileser -and Sargina require. The new building would necessarily -obscure some of the windows of the adjoining basement, but this is of -minor importance; and the evil might be diminished on the western -and southern side, by leaving open spaces in the floor behind each of -the colossal bulls. Between the bulls would be a passage to</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Fourth Assyrian Room.</span></div> - -<p class='c007'>XVI. <em>Fourth Assyrian or Sennacherib Room.</em>—Here would be the -first part of the collection discovered at Koyunjik, the monuments of -Sennacherib, now inconveniently divided, and arranged partly in the -‘Koyunjik Gallery,’ and partly in the ‘Assyrian Basement Room.’ -These monuments consist, almost entirely, of bas-reliefs, extending -as at present arranged, to about three hundred and fifty-one feet -(two hundred and eight on the ground floor, and one hundred and -forty-three in the basement). In a lofty and wide room, however, such -as XVI, an upper row of bas-reliefs might be introduced over many of -the smaller slabs, now arranged in a single row only; by this means -the sculptures of Sennacherib might all be included on the east, west, -and north sides of the room, containing three hundred and seventeen -linear feet of wall-space, leaving the south side, or twenty-seven feet, -for sculptures of Sardanapalus III, the last monarch of the Assyrian -series. In the centre of the room would be glass cases for the numerous -tablets, cylinders, and other small objects of this collection, which -it is most instructive to exhibit in connection with the sculptures. The -only architectural alteration desirable in the room would be to open -skylights in the lateral portion of the roof, and to close those in the -central, in order to obtain a sharper light, upon the principle so successfully -adopted in the present ‘Nimroud Side Gallery.’</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Fifth Assyrian Room.</span></div> - -<p class='c007'>XVII. <em>Fifth Assyrian Room.</em>—Here would be the continuation -of the monuments of Sardanapalus III, which conclude the Assyrian -<span class='pageno' id='Page_728'>728</span>department; they are at present divided like those of Sennacherib, and -part exhibited in the ‘Koyunjik Gallery,’ part in the basement room; -altogether they now extend to three hundred and seventy-three feet; -but as the greater part might, in Room XVII, be very well arranged in -double rows, and some of those in single rows might, without injury, be -less widely spread, two hundred and twenty-five feet would suffice for -their exhibition; of this space twenty-seven feet would be supplied by -Room XVI, and the remainder by XVII. The centre of the room -should be appropriated as the preceding, and the lighting similarly -modified.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Summary of accommodation for Assyrian Antiquities.</span></div> - -<table class='table0'> - <tr> - <th class='btt bbt blt brt c018' colspan='4'><span class='sc'>Summary of the Accommodation provided in the Plan for Assyrian Antiquities.</span></th> - </tr> - <tr> - <th class='blt brt c018' colspan='2'><em>Amount of Wall-space now in use for Assyrian Bas-reliefs.</em></th> - <th class='brt c018' colspan='2'><em>Amount of Wall-space in the Plan for Assyrian Bas-reliefs.</em></th> - </tr> - <tr> - <th class='blt c016'></th> - <th class='blt brt c019'>Linear feet.</th> - <th class='c016'> </th> - <th class='blt brt c019'>Linear feet.</th> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c016'>Nimroud Side Gallery</td> - <td class='blt brt c020'>278</td> - <td class='c016'>Room XIII</td> - <td class='blt brt c020'>314</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c016'>Nimroud Central Saloon</td> - <td class='blt brt c020'>82</td> - <td class='c016'>Room XIV</td> - <td class='blt brt c020'>95</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c016'>Assyrian Transept</td> - <td class='blt brt c020'>125</td> - <td class='c016'>Room XV</td> - <td class='blt brt c020'>145</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c016'>Koyunjik Gallery</td> - <td class='blt brt c020'>242</td> - <td class='c016'>Room XVI</td> - <td class='blt brt c020'>344</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c016'>Assyrian Basement Room</td> - <td class='blt brt c020'>243</td> - <td class='c016'>Room XVII</td> - <td class='blt brt c020'>199</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c016'> </td> - <td class='blt brt c020'><hr /></td> - <td class='c016'> </td> - <td class='blt brt c020'><hr /></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c016'> </td> - <td class='blt brt c020'>970</td> - <td class='c016'> </td> - <td class='blt brt c020'>1,097</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c016'>Bas-reliefs in the middle of Basement Room</td> - <td class='blt brt c020'>254</td> - <td class='c016'> </td> - <td class='blt brt c020'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c016'> </td> - <td class='blt brt c020'><hr /></td> - <td class='c016'> </td> - <td class='blt brt c020'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='bbt blt c016'> </td> - <td class='bbt blt brt c020'>1,224</td> - <td class='bbt c016'> </td> - <td class='bbt blt brt c020'> </td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p class='c007'>It thus appears that the wall-space provided in the plan, though one -hundred and twenty-seven feet more than the wall-space in the existing -rooms, falls short by one hundred and twenty-seven feet of the total -linear extent of the bas-reliefs, as now arranged. In lieu, however, of -placing slabs in the middle of a gallery, as is done in the basement -room, and as it would likewise be possible to do in XVI or XVII, it is -thought better, in these last rooms, to provide the additional space by -simply carrying up the slabs to a greater height.</p> - -<p class='c007'>The space for central cases for small objects, which is at present four -thousand and eighty square feet in rooms would be eight thousand one -hundred and seventy square feet in Rooms XVI and XVII, an amount -so abundant as to supersede the necessity for any wall-cases.</p> - -<p class='c007'>The accommodation here provided for Assyrian antiquities is little -more in quantity, though much better in quality, than the present. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_729'>729</span>But this is nearly the only branch of the archæological collections to -which there seems little probability of future additions. If, contrary to -expectation, any such should be made, a supplemental room might be -built on the vacant space to the north of the Assyrian galleries.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Persian Room.</span></div> - -<p class='c007'>XVIII. <em>Persian Room.</em>—The sculptures to be here exhibited, which -are all bas-reliefs, would probably not occupy more than half the wall-space, -which is forty-seven linear feet. They belong chiefly to the sixth -century, <span class='fss'>B.C.</span>, and properly therefore succeed the Assyrian, which range -from the tenth to the seventh century, <span class='fss'>B.C.</span></p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Lycian Gallery.</span></div> - -<p class='c007'>XIX. <em>Lycian Gallery.</em>—It is intended to reserve this room for the -monuments peculiarly characteristic of Lycia, and to transfer to the -Greek galleries those in which the Greek element is predominant; such -as, particularly, the sculptures of the Ionic trophy monument or <em>heroum</em> -from Xanthus, now scattered over the room, and, if necessary, the casts -from the rock tomb at Myra. This would leave abundant space for the -purely Lycian remains. The harpy tomb, of which the bas-reliefs furnish -a very important illustration of archaic Greek art, might best be -placed in an isolated position near the entrance to the Greek galleries, -where it would be favourably lighted and conspicuously seen. Its present -place might be filled by the rude sarcophagus with sculptures of -lions. The lighting of the Lycian room, which is very defective, should -be improved by an alteration in the roof; but it is thought better not -to enter into the details of such alteration in the present paper.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>First Greek Room.</span></div> - -<p class='c007'>XX. <em>First Greek or Inscription Room.</em>—The room beneath this being -supposed to be withdrawn from exhibition, the staircase at the west end -should be separated by a partition, and entered through a private door. -All Greek inscriptions, except the sepulchral, and such as are engraved -on architectural or sculptural monuments, would be here collected.</p> - -<p class='c007'>At this point the new buildings commence with—</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Second Greek Room.</span></div> - -<p class='c007'>XXI. <em>Second Greek or Branchidæ Room</em>, thirty feet by twenty-four.—The -height both of this and the four succeeding rooms should be about -twenty feet. This would contain the earliest Greek sculptures, of which -the principal are those procured by Mr. <span class='sc'>Newton</span> from Branchidæ. The -ten seated statues would be arranged on each side, as in the ‘Sacred -Way’ at that place, and the recumbent inscribed lion and the sphinx -placed at the end of the room.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Third Greek Room.</span></div> - -<p class='c007'>XXII. <em>Third Greek Room</em>, twenty-four feet by seventeen.—This would -contain other archaic works, including the casts from Selinus.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Fourth Greek Room.</span></div> - -<p class='c007'>XXIII. <em>Fourth Greek or Æginetan Room</em>, thirty-eight feet by twenty-four.—Here -would be fixed, in two recesses, the restorations of the two -pedimental groups from Ægina, which are exactly of the length of this -room, and which might be placed at a more convenient level for examination -than their present elevated position in room.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Fifth Greek Room.</span></div> - -<p class='c007'>XXIV. <em>Fifth Greek Room</em>, seventeen feet by twenty-four.—On a pedestal, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_730'>730</span>facing the great Greek gallery, might stand the semi-archaic Apollo, -from Byzantium.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Sixth Greek Room.</span></div> - -<p class='c007'>XXV. <em>Sixth Greek or Phigaleian Room</em>, thirty-eight feet by twenty-four.—Here -would be the casts from the Temple of Theseus, and the -sculptures and casts from the Temple of Wingless Victory, both of the -middle of the fifth century, <span class='fss'>B.C.</span>; also the Phigaleian collection, which -is a somewhat later production of the same school. The friezes, arranged -in two rows, would just fill the room.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Seventh Greek Room.</span></div> - -<p class='c007'>XXVI. <em>Seventh Greek or Parthenon Room.</em>—Here would commence -the grand suite of galleries for large sculptures, of which the general -breadth would be forty-two feet, and the height from thirty to thirty-five -feet. By its side would run a secondary suite, twenty feet wide, -and from fifteen to twenty feet high, for minor specimens, of which the -interest generally is rather archæological than artistic. These latter -objects are both more conveniently classified, and more favourably seen, -in small rooms; if placed in large galleries, beside grand monumental -works, they lose importance themselves, whilst they fritter away the -effect of what is really more valuable. The Seventh Greek Room, which -is two hundred and forty-one feet long, would contain only the remains -of the Parthenon; which might be arranged as indicated in the Plan, so -as at once to keep the pedimental groups and the frieze from interfering -with each other, and to distinguish, more accurately than is now done, -the original connection or disconnection of the several slabs of the frieze. -As we possess the entire frieze from the east end of the temple, and -casts of the entire frieze from the west, these two are here arranged -opposite each other, towards the middle of the two side walls of the -room. On either side are the slabs from the north and south flanks of -the temple, which are mostly disconnected. In front of the casts from -the west is a proposed full-sized model of part of the entablature, supported -by one original and five restored capitals, with the upper parts of -their shafts, and incorporating ten of the metopes, so as to explain their -original combination with the architecture. The total height of this -model might be about eighteen feet. The metopes not included in it -should be attached to the wall opposite, over the frieze. The finest of -the pedimental groups would face the grand entrance from the Lycian -Gallery, through which the whole might be seen in one view, from any -distance less than forty-eight feet. If it were desired to retain the two -small models of the Parthenon in the room, they might stand near the -south end.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Eighth Greek Room.</span></div> - -<p class='c007'>XXVII. <em>Eighth Greek or Erechtheum Room</em>, sixty-five feet by twenty-six, -for monuments of the era between Phidias and Scopas, of which the -principal are the remains of the Erechtheum.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Ninth Greek Room.</span></div> - -<p class='c007'>XXVIII. <em>Ninth Greek, or Mausoleum Room</em>, one hundred and twenty -feet in length, forty-two in breadth, and eighty across the transept.—Here -<span class='pageno' id='Page_731'>731</span>would be, 1. The marbles procured by Lord <span class='sc'>Stratford</span> and Mr. -<span class='sc'>Newton</span>, from the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus; in the west transept, -the group from the <em>quadriga</em>, and in the southern part of the room the -other important sculptural and architectural remains of the building, -including the frieze. 2. In the east transept, the colossal lion from -Cnidus, with a few other sculptures of the same school. 3. In the -northern part of the room, the Xanthian Ionic monument, here placed for -comparison with the remains of the Mausoleum. The whole upper portion -of this monument, commencing with the higher of the two friezes which -surrounded the original base, might be reconstructed, though not -restored, and would form a striking termination to the vista through -the galleries. The lower frieze might be arranged against the adjoining -walls of the room.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Tenth Greek Room.</span></div> - -<p class='c007'>XXIX. <em>Tenth Greek Room.</em>—Having thus passed through the great -monumental series of Greek sculptures in chronological order, the -visitor would return south by the side rooms, containing minor remains -of the same school. The Tenth Greek Room would be forty-two feet -by twenty, and would contain the latest of the smaller sculptures.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Eleventh Greek Room.</span></div> - -<p class='c007'>XXX. <em>Eleventh Greek Room</em>, thirty-three feet by twenty.—This should -be appropriated to the small fragments from the Mausoleum, which would -thus be in immediate connection with its larger sculptures, without -impairing their grandeur of effect.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Twelfth and Thirteenth Greek Rooms.</span></div> - -<p class='c007'>XXXI, XXXII. <em>Twelfth and Thirteenth Greek Rooms</em>, together one -hundred and thirty-five feet in length and twenty in breadth.—The -exact position of the wall separating these rooms might be reserved till -the arrangement of their contents was settled. In one might be architectural -fragments, from buildings not represented in the large galleries; -in the other, small tablets, votive offerings, altars, and other minor -sculptures.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Fourteenth Greek Room.</span></div> - -<p class='c007'>XXXIII. <em>Fourteenth Greek or Sepulchral Room</em>, ninety-three feet by -eighteen.—Here would be all the Greek sepulchral monuments now in -the basement. The casts from the sculptured tomb at Myra, of which -the style is more Greek than Lycian, might also be here placed, as indicated -in the plan, in case it should be thought desirable to remove them -from the Lycian Room, though the expediency of this transfer may -perhaps be doubted. Wherever placed, these casts ought to be so put -together as to explain the true arrangement of the originals.</p> - -<p class='c007'>[Then follows a Summary of the Accommodation provided in the Plan -for Greek Sculptures, amounting to a superficial area of twenty-seven -thousand four hundred and ten square feet, and to two thousand one -hundred and ninety-one lineal feet of wall-space.]</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Etruscan Room.</span></div> - -<p class='c007'>XXXIV. <em>Etruscan Room.</em>—The next parallel on the ground floor -would be devoted to the monuments of ancient Italy. The earliest are -the Etruscan, which, being altogether taken from tombs, would properly -<span class='pageno' id='Page_732'>732</span>be placed adjacent, on the one side to the Greek, on the other to the -Roman, sepulchral collections. The principal portion of the Etruscan -Room would be fifty-five feet by forty, with additional recesses at the -south end, the whole about twenty feet high. Two rows of pilasters -would divide the room into three compartments, the central for the -gangway, the other two to be fitted up as a series of tombs, of which the -sides would be formed of the mural restorations, with fac-similes of -paintings from Corneto and Vulci. Within these restored tombs would -be such sarcophagi as we possess, found in the tombs themselves. The -fac-similes of the painted roofs of two of the tombs might be fixed above -them, at such a height as not to obstruct the light. In the central compartment, -which contains six shallow recesses between the pilasters, -might be monuments from various tombs other than those here -restored.</p> - -<p class='c007'>XXXV. <em>Staircase Room</em>, forty feet by thirty, and of the same height -as the three united stories of the western galleries.—Four successive -flights of steps would be required to reach each floor. The landings -between the first and second, and between the third and fourth flights, -might each be supported by Caryatid or Atlantic figures, which would -give the whole composition an ornamental effect, as seen from the east -side. Beneath one side of this staircase might be a private one leading -to the western basement.</p> - -<p class='c007'>To the north is another private staircase, conducting to the basement -under the Greek galleries. The adjoining passage leads to—</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>First Græco-Roman Room.</span></div> - -<p class='c007'>XXXVI. <em>First Græco-Roman Room.</em>—The Etruscan monuments are -succeeded chronologically by the Græco-Roman, here placed so as to -adjoin the galleries both of Greek and of Roman art. In accordance -with the character of Græco-Roman sculpture, the apartments containing -it should be somewhat ornamentally constructed and arranged, -as in the great continental museums, where works of this class form the -staple of the collections. The position of the principal objects in all this -series of rooms is marked in the plan, without distinguishing them individually, -as none are of such a character as to require any special architectural -provision. The first room is one hundred and six feet by -twenty-six, exclusive of the alcoves. Its height need not, for the display -of statuary, exceed twenty feet; but if, for architectural effect, a vaulted -ceiling is preferred, the height must be increased. In the Braccio -Nuovo, in the Vatican Museum, which is probably the finest gallery of -this kind in Europe, and has a cylindrical vault, with a central skylight, -the proportion of height to breadth is about thirty-seven feet to twenty-seven; -but in the darker climate of London the height should not, if -possible, exceed the breadth.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Second Græco-Roman Room.</span></div> - -<p class='c007'>XXXVII. <em>Second Græco-Roman Room, or Rotunda</em>, sixty feet in -diameter, and about sixty feet high in the centre, being surmounted by -<span class='pageno' id='Page_733'>733</span>a hemispherical dome.—This room is, with slight variations, and on a -somewhat smaller scale, a copy of the Rotunda in the Museum of Berlin, -an apartment universally admired for its architectural beauty, and only -defective as a hall for sculpture from the unnecessary smallness of the -central skylight. The entablature over the columns would support a -gallery, opening into the first floor of the western buildings.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Third Græco-Roman Room.</span></div> - -<p class='c007'>XXXVIII. <em>Third Græco-Roman Room</em>, similar to the first, but only -one hundred and one feet long, exclusive of the northern alcove.</p> - -<p class='c007'>The spaces between the lateral alcoves on the east side of the First -and Third Græco-Roman Rooms might either be covered with glass, or -left open for ventilation, though the second arrangement would involve -a provision for the drainage below.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Summary of accommodation for Græco-Roman Sculptures.</span></div> - -<p class='c007'>The amount of accommodation for Græco-Roman sculptures cannot, -from the form of the rooms, be stated with the same exactness -as that for the Greek. Exclusive of the alcoves, there would be in -the—</p> - -<table class='table0'> - <tr> - <th class='btt blt c021'></th> - <th class='btt blt c018' colspan='2'>Superficial Area.</th> - <th class='btt blt brt c018' colspan='2'>Length of Wall-space.</th> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c021'>First Galley</td> - <td class='blt c017'>2,756</td> - <td class='c018'>square feet.</td> - <td class='blt c017'>180</td> - <td class='brt c018'>linear feet.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c021'>Third Gallery</td> - <td class='blt c017'>2,626</td> - <td class='c018'>„</td> - <td class='blt c017'>152</td> - <td class='brt c018'>„</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c021'> </td> - <td class='blt c017'><hr /></td> - <td class='c018'> </td> - <td class='blt c017'><hr /></td> - <td class='brt c018'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='bbt blt c021'> </td> - <td class='bbt blt c017'>5,382</td> - <td class='bbt c018'>„</td> - <td class='bbt blt c017'>332</td> - <td class='bbt brt c018'>„</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p class='c007'>The Rotunda would not have available space in proportion to its size. -Twelve statues or busts between the columns, and perhaps a large -sculpture in the centre, would be the natural complement of the room. -The wall-space behind the columns would not be available for sculpture. -The total accommodation in the three rooms would amply suffice for our -present collection, even somewhat enlarged. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><span class='sc'>Means of -future enlargement.</span><span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -As it increased, however, -further space might be obtained by erecting in the first and third rooms -transverse walls, opposite the alcoves in the Roman galleries, thus subdividing -the first room into three principal compartments, with a small -lobby at each end, and the third into three compartments (of which the -most northern would need some modification), with a lobby at the south -end. The doorways through these walls might be twelve feet wide, so -as to preserve the continuous appearance of the suite; and they would -still leave one hundred and twelve feet of additional wall-space in the -first room, and eighty-four in the third. The lighting would be somewhat -improved by such an alteration.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Western Galleries.</span></div> - -<p class='c007'>The last suite of galleries on the ground floor would contain the -Roman and Phœnician remains. To avoid any obscuration from the -houses on the west side of Charlotte Street, the windows should be as -high in the wall as possible, and as broad as architectural propriety -<span class='pageno' id='Page_734'>734</span>would admit, whilst the rooms should be not less than twenty-five feet -high.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>First Roman Room.</span></div> - -<p class='c007'>XXXIX. <em>First Roman Room</em>, one hundred and ten feet by twenty-eight, -exclusive of the alcoves.—It would contain mosaics, including -those from Carthage, and miscellaneous sculptures, altars, architectural -fragments, &c.; the mosaics indifferently placed on all sides of the -room, the sculptures on the east side and against the two end walls.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Hall.</span></div> - -<p class='c007'>XL. <em>Hall</em>, fifty-six feet by seventeen.—Here might be an entrance -from Charlotte Street, which on many occasions would furnish a convenient -relief to the principal entrance to the Museum. It would open -immediately into the Rotunda, and through the vista beyond would be -seen, in the distance, the cast of the colossal head from Abousimbul. -Within the two abutments of the Rotunda would be recesses for the -attendants to sell catalogues, receive umbrellas, &c.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Second Roman Room.</span></div> - -<p class='c007'>XLI. <em>Second Roman or Iconographical Room</em>, fifty-four feet by twenty-eight, -without the alcoves.—This would contain the series of portrait -statues and busts, in chronological order. The west, or dark side of the -room, could only be used for very inferior sculptures.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Third Roman Room.</span></div> - -<p class='c007'>XLII. <em>Third (or Anglo-) Roman Room</em>, the same size as the preceding, -for Roman monuments found in this country. The rude character of -many would admit of placing them on the west side.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Fourth Roman Room.</span></div> - -<p class='c007'>XLIII. <em>Fourth Roman or Sepulchral Room</em>, eighty-two feet by twenty-six, -containing Roman sarcophagi for which the west side might be -partially available, and sepulchral cippi, and inscriptions. At the -north-east angle would be a Columbarium, twenty-three feet by fourteen, -fitted up like that in the present Sepulchral Basement Room, but with -the advantage of a skylight.</p> - -<p class='c007'>[Then follows a Summary of Accommodation provided in the plan for -Roman Sculptures, amounting to a superficial area (without alcoves) of -eight thousand five hundred and fifty-eight square feet, and seven hundred -and seventeen linear feet of wall-space.]</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Means of future enlargement.</span></div> - -<p class='c007'>The first three rooms, when their contents sufficiently increased, -would admit of an easy alteration, which would not merely increase the -wall-space, but much improve the lighting, by simply inserting transverse -walls between each window. Against these walls the sculptures -would have a true side light, whilst those against the east wall would -be protected from double lights. It may even be doubted whether such -an arrangement should not be adopted in the first instance, without -waiting till the additional accommodation is actually required.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Phœnician Room.</span></div> - -<p class='c007'>XLIV. <em>Phœnician Room</em>, twenty-six feet square.—Here would be the -<em>stelæ</em> and bas-reliefs from Carthage and its vicinity, with the few Punic -inscriptions which we possess. The room contains six hundred and -seventy-six superficial feet, and eighty-eight of wall-space.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Supplemental Room.</span></div> - -<p class='c007'>XLV. A similar room to the preceding, which, in case of necessity, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_735'>735</span>might serve for extending the Phœnician collection. In the mean time -it might perhaps be used for exhibiting such miscellaneous inferior -sculptures as could be advantageously weeded from the regular series, -though circumstances might temporarily prevent their removal from -the Museum. In such case it might be entitled ‘Supplemental Room.’</p> - -<p class='c007'>In accordance with a suggestion made in the Committee now sitting, -the writer has added to the new buildings proposed in his plan another -story, or second floor, over the first. The advantage of this is, that it -would provide for objects which it might be more costly or inconvenient -to accommodate elsewhere. But it involves necessarily two evils: -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><span class='sc'>Plan of -Upper -Floors. -Advantages -and evils -of a second -story.</span><span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -1. That the height of the second floor, involving an ascent of perhaps -nearly one hundred steps (though this is not more than is common in -continental museums), might excite complaint in English visitors. 2. -That so lofty a building, by excluding all oblique rays from the east side -of the Græco-Roman galleries, would make the light on the statues and -busts there placed somewhat too vertical.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Collections retained or removed.</span></div> - -<p class='c007'>With regard to the collections to be provided for on the upper floors, -it is here assumed, though of course without any express authority, that -Ethnography and Oriental Antiquities would be removed from the -Museum, and better accommodated elsewhere. The British and Mediæval -Collections, however, are supposed to be retained; if they are -removed, a modification of this plan must in consequence be made.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>First Floor or New Buildings for Antiquities; its construction.</span></div> - -<p class='c007'>The apartments should all be about eighteen feet high, the windows of -the same breadth as those below, but, except in the Terracotta Room, -only about eight feet high, and as near the ceiling as possible. On the -east side should be corresponding windows, so that each wall would be -illuminated; for cross lights, though so injurious to sculptures, are -generally desirable for galleries filled with wall-cases. All the windows -should have ground glass, to prevent injury to the collections from the -sun.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Vase Gallery.</span></div> - -<p class='c007'>1. <em>Vase Gallery.</em>—Two hundred and twenty-two feet long, the southern -half twenty-six feet wide, and the northern twenty-eight feet. The -wall-cases should be about eight feet high, like those in our First Vase -Room; and the transverse projections, flanked by pilasters, would be -only of the same height, so as not to shut out the view of the upper -part of the gallery; having glass on each side, they would serve for -vases with double paintings, such as we now exhibit only in dwarf -central cases. The most important vases should stand isolated on -tables, or pedestals, on each side the gangway; as in the present arrangement -of the Temple Collection. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><span class='sc'>Its accommodation.</span><span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -Although the superficial area of this -gallery (five thousand nine hundred and ninety-two feet) is little more -than a third greater than that occupied by vases in the present buildings -(four thousand three hundred and twenty-one feet), the amount of -accommodation it would afford is nearly double. For the present wall-cases, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_736'>736</span>eight feet high, extend to one hundred and forty-six feet of linear -measurement; those ten feet high will, when the collection is fully -arranged, extend to eighty-four feet; the whole therefore may be reckoned -as equivalent to two hundred and fifty-one feet of cases, eight feet -high. The total extent, however, of such wall-cases in the proposed -gallery is four hundred and fifty-five feet. The projections also, with -the tables and pedestals, may safely be estimated as providing twice the -accommodation for vases painted on both sides which is now furnished -by the dwarf central cases, besides exhibiting them much more conveniently. -It should be added that the vases would be better lighted than -at present; whilst the length and comparative openness of the gallery -would produce a more striking impression on the passing visitor.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Proposed Etruscan apartment.</span></div> - -<p class='c007'>The accommodation here provided being so ample, it might be desirable -to appropriate one compartment of the gallery to an exclusively -Etruscan Collection, comprising not merely the pottery of the Etruscans, -properly so called, but that for which they were really more distinguished -in ancient times, their bronze and other metal work.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Terracotta Room.</span></div> - -<p class='c007'>2. <em>Terracotta Room.</em>—Fifty-six feet by seventeen. As no windows -could be made on the east side, there should be no cases on the west; -but the western windows, which do not correspond with the others of -this story, should extend from near the ceiling to four or five feet from -the floor. A sloping case might then be placed in each window, for -lamps and other small objects, requiring a strong light. Against the -east wall should be cases for vases, and other large objects.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Gallery of Rotunda.</span></div> - -<p class='c007'>3. <em>Gallery of the Rotunda.</em>—From one hundred and eighty to one hundred -and ninety feet in circumference, and about nine feet wide. The -powerful light from the centre of the dome would be favourable to terracotta -statuettes and bas-reliefs, which could all be contained in shallow -wall-cases, that would not materially narrow the gangway.<a id='r48'></a><a href='#f48' class='c013'><sup>[48]</sup></a> The -Townley Collection of bas-reliefs, now in the Second Vase Room, might -be arranged in panels all round, so as to produce a decorative effect, -agreeable to their original destination.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Accommodation for Terracottas.</span></div> - -<p class='c007'>The entire space provided in these two rooms is much more than our -terracottas can absolutely require; but this will facilitate an ornamental -arrangement of the collection, appropriate to the character of the -larger room. The small spaces between the Rotunda and the main -building would serve for closets.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Glass Room.</span></div> - -<p class='c007'>4. <em>Glass Room</em>, twenty-eight feet by twenty-six.—The fittings proper -for glass being different from those of terracottas, it is desirable to give -<span class='pageno' id='Page_737'>737</span>it a separate room. This should be similarly arranged to the Vase -Gallery, with wall-cases eight feet high, and table-cases in the centre.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Bronze Gallery. Its accommodation.</span></div> - -<p class='c007'>5. <em>Bronze Gallery</em>, three apartments united; together eighty-two feet -by twenty-eight.—As the advantage of a skylight for the bronze statuettes -is necessarily sacrificed by the adoption of an upper floor, it -would be best to place them, as far as possible, against each side of the -transverse projections, separating those sides by internal partitions, and -employing some contrivance to protect the bronzes from the cross light -of the further windows, an arrangement possible with small objects in -glass cases, though not with large statuary. In the middle of the -gallery might be table-cases, placed longitudinally, or important objects -on pedestals. The increase of accommodation in the Bronze Gallery, -as in the Vase Gallery, is more than proportionate to the increase of -space. Though the superficial area is only two thousand two hundred -and ninety-six feet, in lieu of our present quantity, two thousand and -twenty-one, the extent of wall-cases, which now is only one hundred and -thirty-eight feet, would, even allowing doorways of twelve feet wide -between each of these compartments, be increased to two hundred and -fifty feet, equivalent, after allowing for the difference in height of the -cases, to two hundred feet. This, if the Etruscan bronzes were transferred -as already suggested, would liberally provide for the Greek and -Roman Collection.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Second Floor of New Buildings for Antiquities.</span></div> - -<p class='c007'>Each room should be fifteen to eighteen feet high; the windows exclusively -on the east side, and extending from the ceiling to four or five -feet from the floor. As the aspect is nearly N.E., the sun could not be -injurious, and the glass of the windows, therefore, had better be unground.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>British Rooms.</span></div> - -<p class='c007'>1. <em>British Rooms</em>, each twenty-seven feet by twenty-six.—That which -adjoins the staircase (and, if necessary, those on each side), should be -lighted from the roof, and have wall-cases all round, with a separate case -in the centre. The other rooms should have wall-cases on the west side, -and shallower cases against the transverse walls. Two long table-cases -in each room might extend from the windows to a line with the -doorway.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Mediæval Rooms.</span></div> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Summary of accommodation for British and Mediæval.</span></div> - -<p class='c007'>2. <em>Mediæval Rooms</em>, each twenty-eight feet by twenty-seven, and similarly -arranged to the British.—Though the entire superficial area in the -British and Mediæval Rooms is only five thousand and seventy-two feet, -in lieu of four thousand and forty-six, the amount in the present building, -yet the wall-space is four hundred and sixty-six feet, instead of only -two hundred and ninety-seven, and the cases, having no windows above, -might, if necessary, be made ten feet high, like the present. The gain -in table-cases would be much greater. In lieu of six, there would be -twelve, each sixteen or eighteen feet long, instead of ten; whilst the -central case in the room adjoining the staircase might be at least as -<span class='pageno' id='Page_738'>738</span>capacious as the large separate case in the present British and Mediæval -Room. The lighting would throughout be more advantageous for these -collections than at present; and the rooms, from the character of the -windows, might be bright instead of gloomy.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Gem Room.</span></div> - -<p class='c007'>3. <em>Gem Room.</em>—As the contents of this and the succeeding room have -more or less intrinsic value, an iron door might be placed at the end of -the Mediæval Gallery, to be open only when the public are admitted to -the Museum. The Gem Room, twenty-eight feet by twenty-seven, would -be fitted like the preceding. The gems would occupy the table-cases, -which would accommodate a far larger collection than ours, and would -exhibit them in the best possible light for such objects. In the wall-cases -might be displayed the gold and silver ornaments, which would -have much more space than as now arranged, though in a room only of -the same size.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Coin and Medal Gallery.</span></div> - -<p class='c007'>4. <em>Coin and Medal Gallery</em>, fifty-six feet by seventeen.—As the dome -of the Rotunda would only rise a few feet above the floor of this gallery, -and would, from its curvature, recede to a distance of several feet, windows -on the east side would be quite unobstructed. In each might stand -a table-case, six or seven feet long, on which would be exhibited, under -glass, a series of coins and medals which, though not the most valuable -of our collection in the eyes of a numismatist, would suffice to give the -public an interesting and instructive view of the monetary art. In the -drawers of these cases might be kept the moulds and casts of the Coin -Collection. Against the side walls might be upright cases, or frames, -for extending the exhibition; but the walls facing the windows, having -a front light, would be unsuitable for coins or medals, and must be employed -for some other purpose.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Private Rooms of Coin Department.</span></div> - -<p class='c007'>5. The rooms which remain would be a private suite for the Coin -Department. The present rooms of that department are arranged in -an order the reverse of what is best for security and convenience, the -coins being kept in an outer room, which must be passed in going either -to the Keeper’s study, or to the Ornament Room, a room open to all -persons merely on application. In the accompanying plan the contents -of the Ornament Room have been transferred to the Gem Room; -and the Keeper’s study is placed near the beginning of the private -suite.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Outer Coin Room.</span></div> - -<p class='c007'><em>Outer Coin Room</em>, twenty-eight feet by twenty-seven, for the freer -exhibition of coins to properly introduced persons, for the use of artists -copying coins or other minute objects, and all other purposes now served -by the Medal Room, except the custody of the collection, and work of -the department.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Inner Coin Room.</span></div> - -<p class='c007'><em>Inner Coin Room</em>, fifty-five feet by twenty-eight, secured by a strong -iron door, of which the Keeper, Assistant-Keeper, and Principal-Librarian, -would alone have keys.—In this room, to which none but the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_739'>739</span>departmental staff would be admitted, the coins and medals would be -preserved, arranged, and catalogued; they would be carried hence by -the officers into the Outer Room when required for inspection. The -room is somewhat more than half as large again as the present Medal -Room; and as the absence of visitors, and of the barriers their presence -now requires, would leave the whole space free, there would be ample -accommodation for any probable enlargement of the collection. The -library of the department might be arranged partly in this, partly in -the Outer Room.</p> - -<p class='c007'>Of the apartments reserved as private, two are placed at the south -end of the first and second floors, and each of these might, if necessary, -be subdivided into two small studies, each twenty-six feet by thirteen, -for the use either of officers or students. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><span class='sc'>Private -Rooms in -Plan. -Others -suggested.</span><span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -Private rooms are, however, -required on the ground floor, to replace the female students’ room, and -the Assistant-Keeper’s study, proposed to be removed for the new Nimroud -and Khorsabad Galleries. The most effectual provision for these -and other wants would be one which has been suggested during the -present inquiry, namely, to transfer to the Department of Antiquities -the several rooms now occupied as the Trustees’ Room and adjoining -offices, and to remove the official establishment to new rooms to be -erected on the east side of the Museum. Should this be found impracticable, -the present Insect Room, and adjoining studies, might, in the -event of the transfer of this part of the Zoological Department to the -upper floor, furnish the required accommodation. In default of both these -alternatives, rooms might be constructed north of the new Assyrian -Galleries, though, in the opinion of the writer, this ground should only -be built over as a last resort.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Use of basement.</span></div> - -<p class='c007'>The basement, both of the old and new buildings, would, though -unfitted for exhibition, and shut up from the public, be more or less -available for workshops, storing-places, retiring-rooms, &c. No part of -the existing basement would be made altogether useless, though the -rooms under the present Greek Galleries would all be somewhat darkened. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><span class='sc'>Lighting of -basement.</span><span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -The basement under the new buildings may, with reference to -lighting, be divided into three classes:—1. The rooms under the first six -or small Greek Rooms, the south end of the Etruscan Room, and the -north end of the Greek Galleries, would all have ordinary windows, and -be better lighted than any part of the basement now used for the -purposes mentioned. 2. The rooms under the Roman Galleries, which -would also have windows, would be less well lighted than the preceding, -being some feet below the level of Charlotte Street, and being -further somewhat obscured by the grating over the area, and the -parapet to screen it from passengers in the street, which would both -probably be thought necessary. 3. The basement under the Græco-Roman, -and greater part of the small Greek Galleries, would receive -<span class='pageno' id='Page_740'>740</span>a partial light from the openings between them. To increase this, however, -and to furnish the only light to the basement under the Fourteenth -Greek Room, and the apartments adjoining its west side, panels -of strong glass or open metal work might be inserted at convenient -places in the various floors, and serve rather as an ornament to them. -With the aid of some such arrangement, the last-mentioned portions of -the basement would serve as storing-rooms; in default of it, they could -merely be available for any apparatus used in heating or ventilation.</p> - -<p class='c007'>[Then follows a General Summary of Additional Space provided for the -Collections of Antiquities, amounting to a net addition of forty-one -thousand nine hundred and fifty-six square feet of superficial area.]</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Summary of space for Antiquities.</span></div> - -<p class='c007'>This is somewhat less than the additional space demanded in the -estimate supplied to the Committee by Mr. <span class='sc'>Hawkins</span>; but it supposes -the removal of the Oriental and Ethnographical Collections, which -Mr. <span class='sc'>Hawkins</span>, when considering only the existing department, and -not the question of its modification, included in its contents.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Extra space.</span></div> - -<p class='c007'>In addition, however, to the space provided for the collections, the -new buildings would comprise about eight thousand six hundred feet -on the three principal floors, for studies, closets, staircases, &c.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Space in basement.</span></div> - -<p class='c007'>The space in the basement it is unnecessary to estimate in detail, -being manifestly superabundant for its purpose.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Space transferred to Natural History.</span></div> - -<p class='c007'>The Plan of the Upper Floors shows the accommodation which might -be provided, upon the present scheme, for the Departments of Natural -History, by transferring to them the galleries and studies on that floor -now occupied by Antiquities, and constructing an upper room on the -site of the staircase, to unite the Central Saloon (Return 379, Plan 18, -No. 1), into which the new principal staircase would conduct, with the -galleries so transferred. The apportionment of the space amongst the -different collections of Natural History must be left to more competent -authorities than the present writer. He may, however, add a few words -on the general character of the apartments comprehended in the transfer. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><span class='sc'>Public -Galleries.</span><span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -The public galleries are similar to the present Zoological Galleries, not -merely in their structure, but in their fittings. The wall-cases, therefore, -might be available, without alteration, for the new collections; and the -central cases might either be retained for Natural History, or removed -to the new upper floors for Antiquities, as was found more convenient. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><span class='sc'>Studies for -officers -and students.</span><span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -The present Medal and Ornament Rooms might serve for the use of -students, whilst the four private studies numbered 6, 7, 10, and 10 in -Plan 18, would be used by the officers. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><span class='sc'>Suggestion -for increasing -those for -students.</span><span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -The rooms for students might, -if necessary, be further increased by a trifling alteration, in the event of -the official establishment being transferred to the east of the Museum. -In place of the closet adjoining the Medal Room, a private staircase -might descend by a few steps to the entresol below, the whole of which -might then be made an appendage to the upper, instead of the lower -<span class='pageno' id='Page_741'>741</span>floor, and would furnish two convenient rooms for students, over those -numbered 4 and 6 in Plan 17. The same staircase, falling in with one -already existing between the entresol and Secretary’s Office, would supply -a private communication between the upper and lower floors, in lieu of -that abolished for the construction of the First Egyptian Room (III, 69).</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Summary of space for Natural History.</span></div> - -<p class='c007'>The total area of the apartments transferred to Natural History may -be summarily stated thus:—</p> - -<table class='table0'> - <tr> - <th class='btt bbt blt c016'></th> - <th class='btt bbt blt c017'> </th> - <th class='btt bbt blt c018'>Without<br />Entresol.</th> - <th class='btt bbt blt brt c018'>With<br />Entresol.</th> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c016'>Public Galleries:</td> - <td class='blt c017'> </td> - <td class='blt c017'> </td> - <td class='blt brt c017'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c016'>  Present Galleries of Antiquities</td> - <td class='blt c017'>19,185</td> - <td class='blt c017'> </td> - <td class='blt brt c017'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='bbt blt c016'>  Proposed room over III (69)</td> - <td class='bbt blt c017'>2,660</td> - <td class='bbt blt c017'> </td> - <td class='bbt blt brt c017'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c016'> </td> - <td class='blt c017'> </td> - <td class='blt c017'>21,845</td> - <td class='blt brt c017'>21,845</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c016'>Students’ Working Rooms</td> - <td class='blt c017'> </td> - <td class='blt c017'>1,749</td> - <td class='blt brt c017'>3,168</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c016'>Officers’ Studies</td> - <td class='blt c017'> </td> - <td class='blt c017'>868</td> - <td class='blt brt c017'>868</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='bbt blt c016'>Closets, Passages, and Staircase</td> - <td class='bbt blt c017'> </td> - <td class='bbt blt c017'>936</td> - <td class='bbt blt brt c017'>1,557</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='bbt blt c018'>Total addition</td> - <td class='bbt blt c017'> </td> - <td class='bbt blt c017'>25,398</td> - <td class='bbt blt brt c017'>27,438</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Convenience of giving it a distinct floor.</span></div> - -<p class='c007'>Independently of the increased accommodation, the advantage of -acquiring for Natural History the exclusive possession of the upper floor -is obvious and unquestionable, though the gain is not limited to that -department. By separating its galleries entirely from those of Antiquities, -the practical superintendence of each would be simplified; one department -would no longer be a necessary thoroughfare to another; the -confusion of ideas experienced by ordinary visitors from the juxtaposition -of collections so incongruous would be avoided; and as each department -would have a separate entrance, a facility would be given for -varying their periods or regulations of admission, as the circumstances -of each might at any time require; considerations which must hereafter -acquire increasing weight in proportion to the increasing magnitude of -the Museum.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Estimate of approximate expense.</span></div> - -<p class='c007'>The ground immediately round the Museum, on the average of its -three sides, is valued in the Report of the Special Committee of Trustees -(twenty-sixth November, 1859), at about forty-three thousand five -hundred pounds per acre. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><span class='sc'>Expense of -ground.</span><span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -The houses in Charlotte Street are inferior -in character to those on the other two sides, and might doubtless be -purchased at a proportionately less price; but the writer, being anxious -to err only on the safe side, assumes the average price as necessary. -The ground proposed to be taken is about four hundred and fifty feet -long, by a breadth generally of one hundred and fifty feet, but at the -south end not exceeding one hundred and ten feet; so that the total area -is about sixty-four thousand seven hundred square feet, or somewhat -<span class='pageno' id='Page_742'>742</span>less than an acre and a half. The price, therefore, may be set down at -sixty-five thousand pounds.</p> - -<p class='c007'>Buildings are estimated in the same report to cost about two pounds -per square foot, reckoned upon the total internal area of the principal -floors, without the basement. This calculation is founded on buildings -consisting of a basement, a ground floor, and one upper floor. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><span class='sc'>Of buildings.</span><span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -The -buildings proposed by the writer are in one respect more costly than -these, as their basements bear a larger proportion to those floors on -which the cost is calculated. But in two other respects they are more -economical:—1. Because they include, in one part, a second floor, which -swells the space from which the expense is calculated, without involving -any addition to the basement. 2. Because some of the galleries on the -ground floor are not really separate buildings, but parts of a single block -of buildings, subdivided merely by partition walls. On the whole, therefore, -the estimate of two pounds per foot seems the safest basis of -calculation.</p> - -<p class='c007'>Now the quantity of internal area or floor space in the proposed new -buildings is—</p> - -<table class='table0'> - <tr> - <td class='btt blt c016'>For the collections</td> - <td class='btt c017'>71,760</td> - <td class='btt brt c018'>square feet.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c016'>For studies, staircases, &c.</td> - <td class='c017'>8,600</td> - <td class='brt c018'>„</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c016'> </td> - <td class='c017'>______</td> - <td class='brt c018'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='bbt blt c016'>Total</td> - <td class='bbt c017'>80,360</td> - <td class='bbt brt c018'>„</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p class='c007'>This gives, therefore, one hundred and sixty thousand seven hundred -and twenty pounds for buildings, which, added to sixty-five thousand -pounds for ground, would amount to two hundred and twenty-five -thousand seven hundred and twenty pounds. A further sum must be -added for alterations of the existing building, particularly for the removal -and reconstruction of the staircase, and the formation of the two -rooms described as III (69) and XIII (15). Assuming the expense of -these alterations, quite conjecturally, at ten thousand pounds, the total -cost would be two hundred and thirty-five thousand seven hundred and -twenty pounds. The largeness of the valuation allowed for the ground -gives reason to believe that the actual expense of ground and buildings -would not exceed, and might probably fall short of, this estimate.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Means of future extension.</span></div> - -<p class='c007'>[In concluding his remarks on this plan of reconstruction, Mr. <span class='sc'>Oldfield</span> -points out that if ever hereafter further extensions should be required, -they might be obtained without material disturbance of the proposed -galleries. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><cite>Appendix to -Minutes of -Evidence</cite>, -1860, pp. 245, -<i><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">ad fin</span></i>.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -For Antiquities, one or more additional houses might be purchased -either in Bedford Square, commencing with No. 4, or in Charlotte -Street, commencing with No. 3. The former would be required for the -prolongation of the Greek, Græco-Roman, or Roman Galleries; the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_743'>743</span>latter for the Etruscan or Phœnician. For the minor collections on the -upper floors either side would be equally appropriate. If further space -were needed for Natural History, galleries might be built as suggested -by Professor <span class='sc'>Maskelyne</span>, extending either northwards to Montague -Place, or eastwards to Montague Street, as found convenient.]</p> - -<p class='c011'>To the clear and forcible exposition of his plan, thus given -by its framer in the paper submitted to the Committee of -1860, many further elucidations were added in evidence. -But enough has already been quoted for the perfect intelligibility -of the plans so proposed for the sanction of the -Trustees and of Parliament. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><cite>Minutes of -Evidence</cite>, -June, 1860, -Q. 2034, p. -143.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -‘I think,’ said Mr. <span class='sc'>Oldfield</span>, -when questioned, in the Committee, as to the extent of provision -<em>for the probable future</em> requirements of the Museum, -‘the proper mode is to secure so much space as will at least -meet those demands which are likely to occur during the -construction of the building; and then, above all, to adopt -a system of construction which would at any future time -admit of an extension, without derangement of that which -now exists, and so would obviate the very great expense -and inconvenience which has hitherto occurred from alterations -and reconstructions.’</p> - -<p class='c011'>In reporting upon this plan, originally framed in 1858, -the Committee of 1860, after comparing with it two other -but only partial plans of extension and re-arrangement, prepared -respectively by Mr. Sydney <span class='sc'>Smirke</span> and by Mr. -Nevil <span class='sc'>Story-Maskelyne</span>, observe: ‘Your Committee have -reason to think that if any of these plans were adopted—involving -the [immediate] purchase of not more than two -acres of land, with the [immediately] requisite buildings -and alterations—the cost would not exceed three hundred -thousand pounds. If, however, only this limited portion of -land should be at once acquired, it is probable that the price -of what remains would be enhanced. If the whole were to -<span class='pageno' id='Page_744'>744</span>be purchased, as your Committee have already recommended, -the cost above stated would be, of course, increased.’</p> - -<p class='c011'>The recommendation here referred to has been already -quoted in a preceding chapter, together with a statement of -the grounds on which it was based.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'>See Chap. III of Book III.</div> - -<p class='c011'>The only additional elucidation, on this head, which it -seems necessary to give may be found in a passage of the -evidence of one of the Trustees, Sir Roderick <span class='sc'>Murchison</span>, -who, in 1858, with other eminent men of science, presented -a Memorial to the then Chancellor of the Exchequer, praying -that the British Museum might <em>not</em> be dismembered by -any transference of the Natural History Collections to -another locality. After saying: ‘I entirely coincide still in -every opinion that was expressed in that Memorial, and I -have since seen additional and stronger reasons for wishing -that [its prayer] should be supported,’ Sir Roderick added: -‘When it was brought before us [that is, before a Sub-Committee -of Trustees] in evidence, that if we were largely -to extend the British Museum at once <em>in sitû</em>, and that as -large a building were to be made <em>in sitû</em> as might be made -at Kensington, we then learned that the expense would be -greater. But I have since seen good grounds to believe -that by purchasing the ground rents or the land, to north, -east, or west, of the Museum, according to a plan which I -believe has now been prepared and laid before the members -of the Committee [referring to that of Mr. <span class='sc'>Oldfield</span>, just -described], and availing ourselves of the gradual<a id='r49'></a><a href='#f49' class='c013'><sup>[49]</sup></a> power of -enlargement ... -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><cite>Minutes of -Evidence</cite>, -1860, Q. 1243–1250, -pp. 102, -103.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -the Nation would be put to a much less -expense for several years to come, and would in the end -realise all those objects which it is the aim<a id='r50'></a><a href='#f50' class='c013'><sup>[50]</sup></a> of men of -science to obtain.’</p> - -<p class='c011'><span class='pageno' id='Page_745'>745</span>The chief alternative plan is based on the transference of -the Natural History Collections to an entirely new site, and -on the devotion to the uses of the Literary and Archæological -Departments of the Museum of the whole of the space so -freed from the scientific departments.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Plan for the transference of the Natural History Collections to Kensington (or elsewhere). 1861–62.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>The Committee of 1860 condemned this plan in the -main (but only, as it seems, by a single voice upon a -division), but what that Committee had under consideration -was only the first form into which the plan of separation -had been shaped. At the end of the year 1861 and -beginning of 1862, that plan was again brought before a -Sub-Committee of the Trustees, at the express instance of -the Lords of Her Majesty’s Treasury, and it was thus -reported upon:—</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Report of Sub-Committee of Trustees</span>, Jan., 1862.</div> - -<p class='c007'>Your Committee, to whom it has been referred to consider the best -manner of carrying into effect the Treasury Minute of the thirteenth of -November, 1861, and the Resolution passed at the special general -meeting of the third of December of the same year, have unanimously -agreed to the following report:<a id='r51'></a><a href='#f51' class='c013'><sup>[51]</sup></a>—</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Minute of Treasury.</span></div> - -<p class='c007'>The Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty’s Treasury state in that -Minute, ‘That, in their judgment, some of the collections ought to be -removed from the present buildings, and that they will be prepared to -make proposals at the proper time to the Royal Commissioners of the -Exhibition of 1851, with a view to the provision, on the estate of the -Commissioners, of space and buildings, which shall be adequate to -receive in particular, at first the Mineralogical, Geological, and Palæontological -Collections, and ultimately, in case it shall be thought -desirable, all those of the Natural History Departments.’ Their Lordships, -after having invited the Trustees to prosecute the further examination -of the question, continue as follows:—‘It will have to be -considered what other or minor branches of the collections may, with -propriety or advantage, be removed to other sites, or even made over, if -in any case it might seem proper, to other establishments.’</p> - -<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_746'>746</span>Your Committee have, therefore, thought it their duty at the outset -to examine whether all the Natural History Collections, viz. the Zoological -and Botanical, in addition to the Geological, Palæontological, -and Mineralogical, specified in the Treasury Minute, might with -propriety and advantage be removed from the present British Museum -buildings. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><span class='sc'>All Collections -of -Natural -History to -be removed.</span><span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -The importance, as regards science, of preserving together -all objects of Natural History, was forcibly urged by Sir R. <span class='sc'>Murchison</span>, -at the special general meeting of the third of December. In a Memorial -laid before the Chancellor of the Exchequer in 1858, and signed by more -than one hundred and twenty eminent promoters and cultivators of -science,<a id='r52'></a><a href='#f52' class='c013'><sup>[52]</sup></a> it was represented ‘that as the chief end and aim of natural -history is to demonstrate the harmony which pervades the whole, and -the unity of principle, which bespeaks the unity of the Creative Cause, -it is essential that the different classes of natural objects should be -preserved in juxtaposition under the roof of one great building.’ Your -Committee concur in this opinion, and they have come to the conclusion -that it is essential to the advantage of science and of the collections -which are to remain in Bloomsbury, that the removal of all the objects -of Natural History should take place, and, as far as practicable, should -be simultaneously effected.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Botany.</span></div> - -<p class='c007'>With regard to Botany, it is a question whether the existence of the -Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew does not suggest an exception as to -the place to which the British Museum Botanical Collection should be -removed, reserving a small series for the illustration of fossil Botany, in -connexion with Palæontology.</p> - -<p class='c007'>It is to be kept in view that the removal of the Palæontology, Geology, -and Mineralogy, would leave unoccupied only two very inconveniently -placed rooms in the basement, besides the north half of the north -gallery on the upper floor (about four hundred feet in length, by thirty-six -in width); whereas the recently imported marbles from Halicarnassus, -Cnidus, Geronta, and Cyrene, fill completely the space under the -colonnade, extending to about five hundred and forty feet in length. -Nor can your Committee omit to add, that should the removal of the -Botany and Zoology be delayed, the final and systematic arrangement -of the collections which are to remain must be equally delayed; while, -if any portions of these were removed to other situations in the Museum, -or their final transfer postponed, many of the objects retained would -have again to be shifted for the sake of congruity and economy of -space.</p> - -<p class='c007'>It is, therefore, recommended by your Committee, that all the Natural -History Collections be speedily and simultaneously removed.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Ethnological Collection to be removed.</span></div> - -<p class='c007'>Together with these the Ethnological Collection ought to be provided -<span class='pageno' id='Page_747'>747</span>for elsewhere. Most of the objects which it contains have no affinity -with those which are contained in the other parts of the Museum, nor is -the collection worthy of this country for its extent, nor yet, owing to its -exceptional character, is it brought together in a methodical and -instructive manner. Occupying but a secondary place in the British -Museum, it cannot obtain either the space or the attention which it -might obtain, were it not surrounded and cast into the shade by a vast -number of splendid and interesting objects which have irresistible -claims to preference. Mr. <span class='sc'>Hawkins</span> was of opinion, ‘that if Ethnography -be retained,’ it would be necessary to quadruple the space for its exhibition. -The Select Committee in their report (p. vii), state that ‘they -have received evidence from every witness examined on this subject in -favour of the removal of the Ethnographical Collection.’ If it were to -be retained, an area of ten thousand feet (same report, p. xi) would be -required. Your Committee cannot, therefore, hesitate to recommend -the removal of the Ethnographical Collection to a fitter place. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><span class='sc'>Portraits.</span><span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -Nor can -they hesitate in proposing the removal, from the present Ornithological -Gallery, of the Collection of Portraits hanging on the walls above the -presses containing the stuffed birds. Those paintings having no -connexion with the objects for the preservation of which the Museum -was founded, would never have been placed there had there been a -National Portrait Gallery in existence for their reception.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Space left vacant.</span></div> - -<p class='c007'>The following is a detailed statement of the space which would be left -vacant in various parts of the Museum by the removal of the above -collections....</p> - -<p class='c011'>Then follows an enumeration, first, of the space left -vacant by the removal of the Geological, Palæontological, -and Mineralogical Collections, amounting in the whole to -an area of twenty thousand one hundred and thirty-five -feet; secondly, of the space left vacant by the removal of -the Zoological Collection, amounting to an area of thirty-five -thousand four hundred and twenty-eight feet; thirdly, -of the space left vacant by the removal of the Botanical -Collection, amounting to five thousand nine hundred feet; -and, finally, of the space left vacant by the removal of the -Ethnological Collection, namely, a room on the south side -of the upper floor, marked ‘3’ on the plan, ninety-four feet -by twenty-four, giving an area of two thousand two hundred -<span class='pageno' id='Page_748'>748</span>and fifty-six feet; and giving, in the whole, an aggregate -area of sixty-five thousand and seventy-nine feet.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Treasury Minute; alteration of present building.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>Having enumerated the collections which might, with -propriety and advantage, be removed from the British -Museum, and stated the extent of new accommodation -which would consequently be gained for other collections, -the Committee proceeded to consider, in the words of the -Treasury Minute, ‘the two important questions—first, of -such final enlargement and alterations of the present buildings -as the site may still admit, and as may be conducive -to the best arrangement of the interior; secondly, of the -redistribution of the augmented space among the several -collections that are to remain permanently at the Museum, -among which, of course, my Lords give the chief place to -the Library Departments and the Antiquities.’</p> - -<p class='c011'>The Committee, agreeing with their Lordships that the -chief claims in the redistribution of the augmented space -are those of the Antiquities and of the Library Departments, -then proceed to say that—</p> - -<p class='c007'>They have thought themselves bound also to pay attention to certain -other important purposes, to which a portion of the space to be obtained -by alterations within and by building on some remaining spots of unoccupied -ground, might be beneficially applied.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Trustees’ Offices.</span></div> - -<p class='c007'>Your Committee have, in the first place, had their attention drawn to -that part of the existing buildings appropriated to the administrative -department of the Museum. The want of space for clerks, for Museum -publications, for stationery, for the archives of the Trust, for papers of -all descriptions, for the transaction of business with officers and servants -of the Trustees, and with tradesmen, as well as the want of a waiting-room -for strangers of all ranks who have to attend on the Trustees, or -wish to have interviews with their chief officer or any of the persons -attached to his office, is the cause of great embarrassment and discomfort. -To which is to be added the inconvenience caused by the unsuitable -arrangement of the rooms, which renders those who occupy them -liable to perpetual interruptions. Moreover, by the strict rule forbidding -the admission of artificial light into the Museum, the period of -available working time is occasionally much abridged. Another site -<span class='pageno' id='Page_749'>749</span>must be found for this department; there are no means of providing on -its present site against the evils above mentioned.</p> - -<p class='c007'>In the next place, your Committee have taken into consideration the -absolute necessity of providing for the exhibition of specimens of coins -and medals, always intended by the Trustees, but never carried into -effect for want of space. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><span class='sc'>Exhibition -of Coins -and -Medals.</span><span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -And not only a selection of coins and medals, -but also one of gems, cameos, and valuable ornaments, should be exhibited -to Museum visitors. The want of room for such a purpose is the -source of great trouble and inconvenience. The present Medal Room is -much too confined even for the arrangement and preservation of its -contents, and for such accommodation of its officers as is necessary to -enable them to perform properly their duties. Moreover, as visitors -cannot be indiscriminately admitted to the Ornament Room, still less -to the Medal Room, such of them as do not take the proper steps for -gaining access to those rooms are debarred from seeing even specimens -of objects which acquire a peculiar interest in proportion to the strictness -with which they are guarded. The general visitors should have an -opportunity of satisfying their laudable curiosity by seeing a good selection -of coins, just as they can at the present time see interesting specimens -of manuscripts and printed books; scholars and persons who have -special reasons for examining coins leisurely and minutely, ought to -have the means of doing so comfortably under proper regulations, and -in a separate room, in the same manner as readers are allowed to use -books; but no stranger should be admitted into the room where the -Collection of Coins and Medals is preserved unless in rare and exceptional -cases, and always in the presence of the Principal-Librarian, or the keeper -of the department.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Exhibition or Prints and Drawings.</span></div> - -<p class='c007'>In the third place, your Committee, being aware of the importance of -space for the due exhibition of prints and drawings, and of the repeated -complaints of the keeper of that department, who cannot find room -wherein to arrange the collection so as to have it safely preserved as well -as readily accessible, have given their best attention to those complaints. -Most of the inconveniences which are felt by visitors, as well as by -Museum officers, in the existing Medal Room, are equally felt in the -existing Print Room; and many of the wants which it is suggested -should be provided for to make the Collection of Coins and Medals as -useful and instructive as it ought to be in a great national institution, -are wants against which provision must be made in order to render -equally useful and instructive the Collection of Prints and Drawings. -These wants are ample space for classing, arranging, and preserving the -bulk of the collection, as well as ample space wherein to exhibit, for the -amusement and instruction of the public generally, such a selection of -prints and drawings as may be calculated to give a general notion of -both arts from their infancy to comparatively modern times, in various -<span class='pageno' id='Page_750'>750</span>countries, and according to the style of the most celebrated masters. -Studies should likewise be provided for the keeper, and also for an assistant-keeper, -in this department, as well as accommodation for artists -who come to copy or study critically any of the objects, or classes of -objects, forming part of this collection, and for those who come for the -purpose of researches requiring less minute attention, and who desire to -see a variety of prints and drawings in succession.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Binders’ Shops.</span></div> - -<p class='c007'>In the fourth place, your Committee have taken into consideration -the want of space for carrying on the binding of the Museum books. -The Collection of Manuscripts, and, much more, that of Printed Books, -have of late years been increasing with unexampled rapidity; but the -bookbinders’ accommodation has not been increased in a corresponding -ratio. The damage caused, particularly to new books, placed unbound -in the readers’ hands, may well be conceived; and the Trustees were -compelled, by the necessity of the case, to sanction an expedient of -doubtful legality, by allowing a large number of books, which in case of -misfortune might be easily replaced at a comparatively small outlay, to -be taken out of the Museum to be bound in a house immediately opposite -to it, hired by the bookbinder. Your Committee think that such an -arrangement, avowedly a temporary one, ought not to continue a -moment longer than is unavoidable; and that adequate provision should -be made as speedily as possible within the Museum premises for binding -all books belonging to the Trust.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Alterations and redistribution of space generally.</span></div> - -<p class='c007'>Your Committee will now proceed to consider the questions of the -final enlargement and alterations of the present buildings, and of the -redistribution of the augmented space for the several purposes above -mentioned. In making the following proposals, your Committee have -kept in view the principle that it would not be advisable for the Trustees -to appropriate specifically to particular objects any particular -space. They will, therefore, as much as possible, confine themselves to -stating how the augmented space should be generally redistributed -among the remaining collections, giving the chief place to the Antiquities -and Library; the arrangement of the particular objects or classes -of objects should rest on the responsibility of the head of each department, -who would in due time submit his views to the Trustees. Your -Committee also wish it to be clearly understood that the structural -details herein suggested or implied, must be considered liable to such -modifications as the farther development of the scheme may require.</p> -<div class='figcenter id002'> -<img src='images/i_750fp.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic001'> -<p>BRITISH MUSEUM.<br /><br />PLAN OF THE GROUND FLOOR.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>New staircases.</span></div> - -<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_751'>751</span>In the building as now arranged, the principal staircase (No. 69 on -the plan of the ground floor) is situated on the left in the Entrance -Hall (No. 2); opposite to the entrance is the corridor (No. 80) leading -to the Reading-Room; east and west of that corridor, between the main -building and the new Library, there is an area (No. 70 and 79) about -thirty feet wide unoccupied. It has long been suggested that the principal staircase should be removed from No. 69, and that two staircases -be erected on the area 70 and 79, one on each side of No. 80. The hall -entrance (No. 2) would be lighted by the skylight already existing in -the roof, and by a corresponding opening to be made in the upper floor. -The site of the principal staircase, No. 69, would be occupied by a large -room, seventy-five feet by thirty-five, giving an area of two thousand -six hundred and twenty-five feet, exactly like the one opposite to it (No. -58) in height as in every other respect, with a floor on a level with the -rest of the building.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Present Roman Gallery.</span></div> - -<p class='c007'>There are blank windows on the north side of the principal staircase -that would have to be cut through to light the new room, and additional -light could be admitted if necessary. On the south of the projected -new room is a narrow room, ninety-four feet by twenty-four (No. 3), -designated as the Roman Gallery, the light of which is very defective, -especially on the side of the windows opening under the front colonnade. -The Collections of Antiquities contain some large objects, more -interesting archæologically than artistically, for which light on each -side of them is very desirable. If the wall now separating the staircase -from No. 3 were removed, and pilasters or columns substituted (the -upper part of that wall in the floor above might likewise be removed if -desirable), a room ninety-four feet by sixty, giving an area of five thousand -six hundred and forty feet, admirably adapted for antiquities of -this kind, would be obtained.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Trustees’ present Offices.</span></div> - -<p class='c007'>At the western extremity of the Roman Gallery (No. 3), and turning -southward, are the Trustees’ room (No. 4), two rooms for clerks (No. 5 -and 6), and the study of the Principal-Librarian (No. 7). It is proposed -to remove all the partition walls inside the space occupied by No. 4, 6, -and 5, and by the corridor on the east of No. 4, and to open windows on -the west side at the same height, and uniform with those in the gallery -No. 17, of which this part of the building would then be a continuation, -opening a communication like that on the corresponding side on the -east (between No. 56 and 63). The Egyptian Gallery might thus be -extended to the total length of four hundred and sixty-five feet.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>New buildings on No. 11.</span></div> - -<p class='c007'>By removing the corridor and study No. 7, as well as the projection -on the north side of the house now occupied by Mr. <span class='sc'>Carpenter</span>, so far -west as the point at which it would intersect a prolongation to the south -of the west wall of the first Elgin Room, a plot of unoccupied ground, -one hundred feet by seventy-five, might be turned to great advantage. -The interior arrangement of this newly acquired space would depend on -the purposes to which the Trustees should think fit to apply it: whether, -for instance, it might be advisable to throw into it the third Græco-Roman -Saloon (No. 10), which is now by common consent too narrow, -or whether the western part of that plot of ground had not better be -set out as a continuation of the Elgin Room, which should be carried -<span class='pageno' id='Page_752'>752</span>through the end of the above room (No. 10) and of the Lycian Room -(No. 13). Before finally deciding this point it would be imperative to -determine what is to be done with the Lycian Room, which is in an -unfinished state, because it neither is nor ever was large enough for the -collection for which it was intended; whilst, on the other hand, it contains -objects which ought never to have been placed there, and which -ought to be removed. <span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><span class='sc'>Space -acquired -(No. 4, 5, 6, 7, -10, 11, 13).</span><span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -Until the keeper of the department has before -him a correct plan of all the space which he may eventually have at his -disposal, and until he has well considered how the objects to be placed -ought to be arranged, he cannot give a decided opinion upon any scheme -for building on the plot now under consideration. For the present purpose -it is enough to say that the Trustees’ room and those annexed -(No. 4, 5, and 6), giving an area of about two thousand nine hundred -and fifty feet on the ground floor, and a large piece of ground, one -hundred feet by seventy-five, may be beneficially applied to the Department -of Antiquities.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Buildings on No. 31 and 32, and alteration of present Print Room.</span></div> - -<p class='c007'>No. 14 and 18 are the two Elgin Rooms, containing the finest reliques -of Greek art in existence, which have remained unarranged for years, -owing to the difficulties which the space hitherto available presented for -their definitive arrangement, and to the uncertainty of the final appropriation -of the space No. 31. It seems, however, to be generally -admitted that on the unoccupied plot of ground, No. 31, a continuation -of the second Elgin Room should be erected of the same width, to -include the Print Room, the floor of which should be lowered to the -general level of the Museum ground floor, and its width extended westward -about seven feet. Another gallery might thus be formed altogether -four hundred and seventy-five feet long and thirty-seven wide. Should -it not extend farther than the southern extremity of the first Elgin Room -(No. 14), its length would be three hundred and thirty feet. The plot -of ground, No. 32, ought also to be applied to the accommodation of -Antiquities. The study No. 23 should be done away with. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><span class='sc'>Alteration -of staircase, -No. 27.</span><span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -The two -lower flights of the N.W. staircase, No. 27, should be taken down and -reconstructed in No. 26 and 36, with the necessary alterations to reconnect -them with the two upper flights, which would remain as they are -now. The studies No. 28, and passage No. 29, should be cleared away, -as well as those above them, together with the lower part of the western -wall of No. 27, the southern wall of that space being continued to -No. 30, thus forming a passage or gallery, about twenty-two feet wide, -for communication between the Northern Egyptian Gallery and the -new gallery to be erected at the north of the Elgin Rooms. From -the new passage thus formed there should be an opening on the south -side, and a flight of steps to descend to the gallery which is to be built -on No. 32. There would be room under the new staircase, in the -space No. 36, to form an additional study for the Printed Book -Department, where it is much wanted. Upon No. 32, a gallery should -be erected from the basement, like the Assyrian Gallery, No. 15, to both -of which access might be had by two handsome staircases, descending -north and south of No. 19, from which it is taken for granted the -Phigaleian Marbles and other objects, now there, would be removed, the -central space being applied to better purposes.</p> -<div class='figcenter id002'> -<img src='images/i_752fp.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic001'> -<p>BRITISH MUSEUM.<br /><br />PLAN OF THE GROUND FLOOR.<br />WITH THE<br />PROPOSED ALTERATIONS.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_753'>753</span>It does not appear to your Committee that any farther accommodation -for Antiquities can be procured on the ground floor, without interfering -with rooms now appropriated to the Library.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>New gallery on No. 32, like one now on No. 13.</span></div> - -<p class='c007'>On the north side of the upper floor, all that portion marked 21, 32, -31, 30, 29, 33, 28, and 27, on the plan of that floor, now occupied by -Geology, Palæontology, and Mineralogy, should be transferred to the -Antiquities. It would be desirable to remove the two studies, marked -21, at the western extremity of that floor, and to add so much more -space to the gallery for exhibition.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Space for Antiquities on north upper floor.</span></div> - -<p class='c007'>But before proceeding farther, your Committee wish to make one or -two remarks on the advantages which all the galleries on the upper -floor offer for the exhibition of Antiquities, even of considerable size -and weight, were any of the space on this floor wanted for such objects. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><span class='sc'>Fitness of -upper floor -for such -purposes.</span><span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -With respect to light, as all these galleries may, if requisite, be lighted -by skylights (those on the east and west being so already), they will so -far meet with the approbation of those who are considered judges of the -kind of light peculiarly required for the exhibition of sculptures. The -size of the rooms gives ample space for the public exhibition of Antiquities, -including statues, not much less than life-size, if necessary; -whilst the galleries, though lofty, will not dwarf them. Competent -critics have pronounced that it is a mistake to suppose that all sculptures -look better in magnificent rooms. The solidity of the Museum -building, throughout, leaves no doubt of its upper floor being strong -enough to receive ordinary marble statues, not to speak of busts and -smaller objects. The floor of the western end of the northern gallery, -marked No. 21 and 32 on the plan, offers extra solidity, as it rests -on substantial walls at intervals of twelve feet from each other. -Your Committee have been assured by their architect that a mass of -marble, weighing several tons, might be safely deposited on any part of -that floor.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Studies.</span></div> - -<p class='c007'>With respect to the northernmost central portion (No. 33) of the -gallery now under consideration, it could not be better applied than to -studies for the officers of the Department of Antiquities. Five such -studies might be formed therein, each eighteen feet by sixteen, opening -on a corridor six feet wide and eighty-four long, in which might be -kept the Departmental Collection of Books for the common daily use -of the occupiers of those studies.</p> - -<p class='c007'>The whole of the eastern side of the upper floor, including rooms 35 to -<span class='pageno' id='Page_754'>754</span>40 (all Zoology), together with the rooms marked 41 (Zoology), 42, 43 -(Botany), 1 (Zoology), 2 (the site of the principal staircase, as well as -the smaller staircase on the west of it), and finally No. 3 (Ethnography), -should be transferred to the Departments of Antiquities; subject to the -consideration whether the rooms No. 42 and 43 might not be reserved -for the Department of Manuscripts, if at any time required. Space is -wanted, not only for Antiquities now unprovided with any accommodation, -but also for the display of future additions, and for the better -arrangement of what is now unsatisfactorily exhibited, either too far from -the eye or in dark corners. <span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><span class='sc'>Space for -Antiquities -on the -east and -south upper -floors.</span><span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -A large number of objects, to be seen as -they ought to be, must be spread over twice the space which they fill at -present; a great many more, now placed where they cannot be seen at -all, ought to be removed to more suitable situations. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><span class='sc'>West side -of upper -floor to -remain for -Antiquities.</span><span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -The whole of the -west side—that is, rooms 9 to 15—would continue to be applied to the -exhibition of Antiquities; it is not, however, to be assumed that the -objects now there would necessarily be left where they are, nor yet that, -for instance, Egyptian Antiquities should necessarily occupy the same -galleries which they occupy at present. From room No. 14 must be -removed either the Egyptian Antiquities now in it, or the Temple -Collection, which was placed there from absolute necessity, there being -no other space whatever where it could be exhibited. The British and -Mediæval Collections would probably have to be removed to some other -part of the upper floor, now occupied, or which it is now proposed should -be occupied, by Antiquities, where the transition would be less abrupt -than from Egyptian to Mediæval.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Exhibition of Coins and Medals.</span></div> - -<p class='c007'>As before suggested, space should be set apart for the exhibition of -Coins and Medals, besides that which is required for their safe custody, -arrangement, and study. Your Committee will presently state how the -latter ought to be provided for. As to the public exhibition of coins, the -three rooms, 8, 5, and 4, in which the coins, medals, gems, &c., are now -kept, would be admirably adapted for the purpose, after the internal -partition walls are removed. It would be desirable to preserve the two -rooms, 6 and 7, the one as a study for an assistant, who should be always -at hand to give information connected with the coins exhibited close -by, and to answer such questions as would not require reference to the -general collection; the other as a waiting-room, to which a stranger -might be more safely and freely admitted, on the understanding that -nothing valuable be kept in it, whilst admission to the assistant’s room -should be much more sparingly granted. An obvious reason for applying -this part of the premises to the above purpose is, that it is provided -with special doors, windows, and locks, for the safety of the present -contents. And as the objects which it is proposed should be therein -exhibited would be of some considerable value, advantage should be -taken of the existing arrangements for their security. It is to be noted -that this exhibition would not interfere with the arrangement of any -Collection of Antiquities, with none of which could the coins and -medals properly mix, although so nearly allied to them.</p> -<div class='figcenter id002'> -<img src='images/i_754fp.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic001'> -<p>BRITISH MUSEUM.<br /><br />PLAN OF THE UPPER FLOOR.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_755'>755</span>The corresponding part of the upper floor on the south-east corner, -No. 44 and 45, is perfectly well adapted for the exhibition of prints and -drawings. As to space for the arrangement and preservation of the -prints and drawings, for the tranquil examination and study of them, -for the studies of the officers, &c., your Committee will presently lay -before you their views.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Exhibition of Prints and Drawings.</span></div> - -<p class='c007'>Your Committee have endeavoured to show how far a portion of the -new accommodation to be gained by removing the Natural History and -Ethnographical Collections, by alterations within the now existing -buildings, and by building on some remaining spots of unoccupied -ground, may with propriety and advantage be applied to the Departments -of Oriental, Mediæval, and Classical Antiquities, of the Coins and -Medals, and of the Prints and Drawings; your Committee will now -show what part of that accommodation might be made available for -Printed Books and Manuscripts.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Printed Books.</span></div> - -<p class='c007'>When the erection of the new Library and Reading-Room was suggested, -it was stated that that Library would hold eight hundred -thousand volumes; that is, the annual increase for forty years, calculating -that increase at twenty thousand volumes. But the annual increase -has been, during the last five years, at the rate of upwards of thirty -thousand volumes, and during the last four years at the rate of about -thirty-five thousand, which number, however, is ultimately reduced by -the practice of binding two or more volumes of the same work in one; -while, on the other hand, the new building will certainly contain two -hundred thousand volumes more than it was originally estimated to -hold; so that if the present rate of increase continues, as it ought, the -new Library will be full in about twenty-five years from this date. It -was necessary to say thus much, as a notion seems prevalent that a -great deal more was promised when that building was suggested, and -that the number of books, which that new Library can hold, may -reach an almost fabulous quantity, and the space be sufficient for an -extravagant number of years.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Rooms in basement transferred to Printed Books.</span></div> - -<p class='c007'>The rooms on the basement floor of the north side, both marked 15 -on the plan of that floor, and now occupied by Geology, cannot be -otherwise appropriated than to the Department of Printed Books; the -same is to be said of the seven small rooms, marked 17, now used for -Geology, as well as of rooms 18 and 19 on the east side, now used for -Zoology; all these rooms are immediately under the Department of -Printed Books, and naturally belong to it. The rooms marked 13, 14, -and 16, from west to east, were formerly appropriated to the Department -of Printed Books, to which they should now be restored. When -<span class='pageno' id='Page_756'>756</span>the first importation of Halicarnassian Antiquities took place, they were -deposited temporarily in these rooms, as no other space whatever could -be found in which to shelter and unpack them. In this space are now -arranged the Inscriptions, which have had to be removed from under -the colonnade to make room for the Marbles recently arrived from -Cyrene. Appropriate space for the Inscriptions will be found without -difficulty in the Department of Antiquities, enlarged according to the -foregoing suggestions, or, at all events, in the basement, either now -existing or to be built under the galleries for Antiquities on the west side -of the Museum, where sufficient light may be procured for objects like -these, which are of no great interest to sightseers, and therefore need -not be publicly exhibited; enough that they be easily accessible to the -small number of antiquarians and scholars who may wish to examine -them.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Part of North Gallery in upper floor to Printed Books.</span></div> - -<p class='c007'>The north galleries on the upper floor are divided lengthways, from -east to west, into two portions; that now containing Zoological Collections -(No. 22 to 26) can be advantageously appropriated to the Department -of Printed Books when required. The volumes placed there can -be easily lowered down and returned through a hoisting apparatus to be -placed at either the south-east or south-west corner of No. 24, immediately -above No. 41 on the ground floor—the nearest point of any in -the main Library to the Reading-Room. By these various alterations -space would be provided for about two hundred and fifty thousand -printed volumes, in addition to that which still remains available in -that department, from which, however, space for about fifty thousand -volumes would have to be deducted, as will be presently shown.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Want of space in Department of Manuscripts.</span></div> - -<p class='c007'>Although there is now space remaining in the Department of Manuscripts -for the accommodation of twelve thousand volumes, and although -the annual average increase of manuscript volumes may be safely -reckoned at less than six hundred and fifty, your Committee have, nevertheless, -felt that prospective increased accommodation should now be -provided, not only for the Collection of Manuscripts, but still more for -artists and readers who have occasion to refer to select manuscripts, as -well as for assistants, of whom two, together with one attendant and -eight readers, are pent up in a space of thirty feet by twenty-three, -crowded with tables, chairs, &c., which scarcely allow room for moving -from one place to another or for access to the officers’ study on each -side. The Head of the Department of Manuscripts has recently represented -to the Trustees his want of six assistants; but he has, at the -same time, been obliged to state that, if appointed, he should not know -where to place them. The Trustees have complied with his request, to -the extent of granting two new assistants; and he will experience great -difficulty in placing the two who are to be appointed. Add to this, the -interruption to which each of these persons is unavoidably liable from -each of the others in the performance of his duties and occupations, -owing chiefly to the narrow space in which they are confined.</p> -<div class='figcenter id002'> -<img src='images/i_756fp.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic001'> -<p>BRITISH MUSEUM.<br /><br /><span class='sc'>Plan of the UPPER FLOOR with the PROPOSED ALTERATIONS.</span></p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_757'>757</span>On account of its locality, the Department of Manuscripts cannot -derive any direct advantage from the removal of the Natural History -Collections; no space which will thus become vacant can be rendered -available for the purpose of remedying the inconveniences here stated. -As, however, the Department of Printed Books obtains the additional -accommodation before mentioned, a portion of the space now occupied -by Printed Books, very conveniently situated to supply the wants of the -Department of Manuscripts, ought to be transferred to this department.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Space to be transferred from Printed Books to Manuscripts.</span></div> - -<p class='c007'>It is, therefore, proposed that the study, marked No. 57 on the ground floor -plan, be removed to the north end of No. 55, now occupied by -Printed Books, and that the site of No. 55 be attached to the Department -of Manuscripts. In that gallery, one hundred and fifteen by eighteen, -excellent accommodation, with abundance of light, would be found for -twenty thousand manuscript volumes—for fifteen students at least (this -number is ample if admission be strictly and <em>bonâ fide</em> limited to the -class of persons for whom it is intended) at separate seats, each having -a table space of two feet and a half in depth and four in length,—and -for ten assistants or more, admirably placed for superintendence. The -area of the eastern recess of No. 56 would then be quite clear, and available -for the exhibition of manuscripts, like the western recess in the -same room. And when as large an exhibition of manuscripts as the -space permits is accessible to the public (and still more accommodation -for this exhibition might be found in the present Department of Manuscripts), -the same restrictions as have been suggested with respect to -coins and to prints ought to be imposed on the handling of select -manuscripts.</p> - -<p class='c007'>It now remains to find space wherein to provide proper accommodation -for the binder, as well as for the Trustees’ offices, for the Collection -of Prints and for the Collection of Coins.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Buildings in the garden attached to Principal-Librarian’s house.</span></div> - -<p class='c007'>On the east side of the roadway parallel to the Department of Manuscripts, -there is a piece of ground extending to Montague Street on the -east, to the house No. 30, in that same street towards the north, and to -the Principal-Librarian’s house on the south. On a portion of this -ground stands an old building, now partly appropriated to the binder -and partly used as a guard-house; the remainder forms the garden -attached to the residence of the Principal-Librarian. It appears to your -Committee that by substituting a new building for the one existing, and -by building on the greater part of the garden, ample accommodation -will be found for what is wanted. Your Committee cannot abstain from -mentioning that this great sacrifice of personal convenience on the part -of the Principal-Librarian was suggested and brought under their notice -by that officer himself.</p> - -<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_758'>758</span>It was some years ago suggested by the Government that the military -guard might be dispensed with at the Museum; at times when the -services of the army were pressingly required, it was felt that soldiers -might be more usefully employed than in being kept for mere show at -the Museum. It was, however, thought that on removing the military -guard, better provision should be made for the safety of the Museum.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Military guard discontinued.</span></div> - -<p class='c011'>Then follow various details of minor consequence; to -which succeed an enumeration of the additional space -gained for the Collections of Printed Books, Manuscripts, -Prints and Drawings, Antiquities, Coins and Medals, as -well as for offices, store-rooms, bookbinders’ shops, &c., -by the proposed alterations, as respects each of the -several Departments of Printed Books, Manuscripts, and -Antiquities; and a summary of the whole, from which it -appears that the additional space gained by the Department -of Printed Books amounts to an area of seventeen thousand -eight hundred and three square feet; that the additional -space gained by the Department of Antiquities -amounts to sixty-seven thousand six hundred and ninety-two -square feet; and, finally, that the additional space -gained by the Department of Manuscripts amounts to three -thousand four hundred and thirty square feet.</p> - -<table class='table0'> - <tr><td class='c015' colspan='6'><span class='pageno' id='Page_759'>759</span></td></tr> - <tr> - <th class='btt bbt blt brt c018' colspan='6'><span class='sc'>Recapitulation.</span></th> - </tr> - <tr> - <th class='bbt blt c016'></th> - <th class='bbt c017'> </th> - <th class='bbt blt c018'>Present Space.</th> - <th class='bbt blt c018'>Proposed Addition.</th> - <th class='bbt blt c018'>Proposed Deduction.</th> - <th class='bbt blt brt c018'>Proposed Total.</th> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c018' colspan='2'><span class='sc'>Printed Books.</span></td> - <td class='blt c017'> </td> - <td class='blt c017'> </td> - <td class='blt c017'> </td> - <td class='blt brt c017'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c016' colspan='2'>Basement</td> - <td class='blt c017'>33,998</td> - <td class='blt c017'>14,667</td> - <td class='blt c017'> </td> - <td class='blt brt c017'>48,665</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c016' colspan='2'>Ground floor</td> - <td class='blt c017'>83,748</td> - <td class='blt c017'> </td> - <td class='blt c017'>2,070</td> - <td class='blt brt c017'>81,678</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='bbt blt c016' colspan='2'>Upper floor</td> - <td class='bbt blt c017'> </td> - <td class='bbt blt c017'>5,206</td> - <td class='bbt blt c017'> </td> - <td class='bbt blt brt c017'>5,206</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='bbt blt c016'> </td> - <td class='bbt c017'> </td> - <td class='bbt blt c017'>117,746</td> - <td class='bbt blt c017'>19,873</td> - <td class='bbt blt c017'>2,070</td> - <td class='bbt blt brt c017'>135,549</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c018' colspan='2'><span class='sc'>Manuscripts.</span></td> - <td class='blt c017'> </td> - <td class='blt c017'> </td> - <td class='blt c017'> </td> - <td class='blt brt c017'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c016' colspan='2'>Basement</td> - <td class='blt c017'>210</td> - <td class='blt c017'>1,360</td> - <td class='blt c017'> </td> - <td class='blt brt c017'>1,570</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='bbt blt c016' colspan='2'>Ground floor</td> - <td class='bbt blt c017'>12,968</td> - <td class='bbt blt c017'>2,070</td> - <td class='bbt blt c017'> </td> - <td class='bbt blt brt c017'>15,038</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='bbt blt c016'> </td> - <td class='bbt c017'> </td> - <td class='bbt blt c017'>13,178</td> - <td class='bbt blt c017'>3,430</td> - <td class='bbt blt c017'> </td> - <td class='bbt blt brt c017'>16,608</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c018' colspan='2'><span class='sc'>Antiquities.</span></td> - <td class='blt c017'> </td> - <td class='blt c017'> </td> - <td class='blt c017'> </td> - <td class='blt brt c017'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c016' colspan='2'>Basement</td> - <td class='blt c017'>33,868</td> - <td class='blt c017'>16,036</td> - <td class='blt c017'>6,767</td> - <td class='blt brt c017'>43,137</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c016' colspan='2'>Ground floor</td> - <td class='blt c017'>39,334</td> - <td class='blt c017'>13,775</td> - <td class='blt c017'> </td> - <td class='blt brt c017'>53,109</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c016'>Upper floor</td> - <td class='c017'>21,532</td> - <td class='blt c017'> </td> - <td class='blt c017'> </td> - <td class='blt c017'> </td> - <td class='blt brt c017'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c017'>Less Coins and Medals</td> - <td class='c017'>2,950</td> - <td class='blt c017'> </td> - <td class='blt c017'> </td> - <td class='blt c017'> </td> - <td class='blt brt c017'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='bbt blt c016'> </td> - <td class='bbt c017'><hr /></td> - <td class='bbt blt c017'>18,582</td> - <td class='bbt blt c017'>44,648</td> - <td class='bbt blt c017'> </td> - <td class='bbt blt brt c017'>63,230</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='bbt blt c016'> </td> - <td class='bbt c017'> </td> - <td class='bbt blt c017'>91,784</td> - <td class='bbt blt c017'>74,459</td> - <td class='bbt blt c017'>6,767</td> - <td class='bbt blt brt c017'>159,476</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c018' colspan='2'><span class='sc'>Coins and Medals.</span></td> - <td class='blt c017'> </td> - <td class='blt c017'> </td> - <td class='blt c017'> </td> - <td class='blt brt c017'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c016' colspan='2'>Upper floor</td> - <td class='blt c017'>2,950</td> - <td class='blt c017'> </td> - <td class='blt c017'> </td> - <td class='blt brt c017'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='bbt blt c016' colspan='2'>New building</td> - <td class='bbt blt c017'> </td> - <td class='bbt blt c017'>4,950</td> - <td class='bbt blt c017'> </td> - <td class='bbt blt brt c017'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='bbt blt c016'> </td> - <td class='bbt c017'> </td> - <td class='bbt blt c017'>2,950</td> - <td class='bbt blt c017'>4,950</td> - <td class='bbt blt c017'> </td> - <td class='bbt blt brt c017'>7,900</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c018' colspan='2'><span class='sc'>Prints and Drawings.</span></td> - <td class='blt c017'> </td> - <td class='blt c017'> </td> - <td class='blt c017'> </td> - <td class='blt brt c017'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c016' colspan='2'>Upper floor</td> - <td class='blt c017'>2,600</td> - <td class='blt c017'>3,204</td> - <td class='blt c017'>2,600</td> - <td class='blt brt c017'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='bbt blt c016' colspan='2'>New building</td> - <td class='bbt blt c017'> </td> - <td class='bbt blt c017'>4,950</td> - <td class='bbt blt c017'> </td> - <td class='bbt blt brt c017'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='bbt blt c016'> </td> - <td class='bbt c017'> </td> - <td class='bbt blt c017'>2,600</td> - <td class='bbt blt c017'>8,154</td> - <td class='bbt blt c017'>2,600</td> - <td class='bbt blt brt c017'>8,154</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c018' colspan='2'><span class='sc'>Committee Room, Offices, Stores, &c.</span></td> - <td class='blt c017'> </td> - <td class='blt c017'> </td> - <td class='blt c017'> </td> - <td class='blt brt c017'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c016' colspan='2'>Basement</td> - <td class='blt c017'>1,290</td> - <td class='blt c017'> </td> - <td class='blt c017'>1,290</td> - <td class='blt brt c017'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c016' colspan='2'>Ground floor</td> - <td class='blt c017'>3,565</td> - <td class='blt c017'> </td> - <td class='blt c017'>3,565</td> - <td class='blt brt c017'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c016' colspan='2'>Upper floor</td> - <td class='blt c017'>1,869</td> - <td class='blt c017'> </td> - <td class='blt c017'>1,869</td> - <td class='blt brt c017'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c016' colspan='2'>New Building (Basement)</td> - <td class='blt c017'> </td> - <td class='blt c017'>5,400</td> - <td class='blt c017'> </td> - <td class='blt brt c017'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='bbt blt c016' colspan='2'>New Building (Ground)</td> - <td class='bbt blt c017'> </td> - <td class='bbt blt c017'>4,950</td> - <td class='bbt blt c017'> </td> - <td class='bbt blt brt c017'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='bbt blt c016'> </td> - <td class='bbt c017'> </td> - <td class='bbt blt c017'>6,724</td> - <td class='bbt blt c017'>10,350</td> - <td class='bbt blt c017'>6,724</td> - <td class='bbt blt brt c017'>10,350</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c018' colspan='2'><span class='sc'>Binders.</span></td> - <td class='blt c017'> </td> - <td class='blt c017'> </td> - <td class='blt c017'> </td> - <td class='blt brt c017'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c016' colspan='2'>Basement</td> - <td class='blt c017'>1,360</td> - <td class='blt c017'> </td> - <td class='blt c017'>1,360</td> - <td class='blt brt c017'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c016' colspan='2'>Detached building</td> - <td class='blt c017'>3,179</td> - <td class='blt c017'> </td> - <td class='blt c017'>3,179</td> - <td class='blt brt c017'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='bbt blt c016' colspan='2'>New building</td> - <td class='bbt blt c017'> </td> - <td class='bbt blt c017'>7,760</td> - <td class='bbt blt c017'> </td> - <td class='bbt blt brt c017'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='bbt blt c016'> </td> - <td class='bbt c017'> </td> - <td class='bbt blt c017'>4,539</td> - <td class='bbt blt c017'>7,760</td> - <td class='bbt blt c017'>4,539</td> - <td class='bbt blt brt c017'>7,760</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_760'>760</span>Your Committee, proceeds the Report, do not think it necessary to -give the particulars of the accommodation which the unappropriated -portions of the basement floor would afford for the preservation of moulds, -as well as for the formatore, for making and preserving casts of statues -and other large objects, as well as of gems and seals, and also for providing -such decent and suitable conveniences as the health and comfort of -the thousands who visit the Museum absolutely require.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Future use of basement.</span></div> - -<p class='c007'>It is, perhaps, unnecessary to do more than simply to remind the -Trustees that the want of space at the Museum has been felt and has -been urged on the Government for several years past, and that during -the last four or five years the additions to the Collections of Antiquities -have been so rapid and so numerous, as to render it impossible to do -more than provide for them temporary shelter at a considerable expense, -and to the great disfigurement of the noble façade which entitles the -Museum to claim rank among the most classical buildings of modern -times. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><span class='sc'>Urgency of -building at -once.</span><span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -Should the above proposals of your Committee meet with the -approbation of the Trustees and the sanction of the Government, they -ought to be carried into effect without delay. The Government would, -doubtless, lose no time in providing a proper building for the reception -of such collections as are to be removed from the Museum; until this -removal has taken place, no redistribution of the vacated space can -be undertaken; but the new structures proposed to be erected on ground -now unoccupied ought to be proceeded with at once, that they might be -rendered available as speedily as possible.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>What to be first put in hand.</span></div> - -<p class='c007'>Your Committee are of opinion that the new building facing Montague -Street, the building for the bookbinder, the building intended to be -erected on the ground now vacant between the Elgin Room and the -Print Room, and the construction of the new principal staircases, should -be commenced immediately. The building intended to be erected on -the vacant ground on the west of the Trustees’ Room (No. 11 on the -plan), must, necessarily, be postponed for awhile. The alterations -which might and ought to be rapidly completed, are those which -will be required on the east side of the King’s Library (No. 55 and 57), -to transfer the gallery to the Department of MSS. from that of Printed -Books.</p> - -<div class='sidenote'><span class='sc'>Committee of Trustees to be appointed.</span></div> - -<p class='c007'>The Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty’s Treasury state that ‘they -will be prepared to enter upon the details of these questions in communication -with the Trustees, and even, if it should be desired, to offer -suggestions upon them.’ Your Committee are of opinion that the -proffered assistance should be at once accepted; and that in order to -derive all possible advantage from that assistance a small Committee -of Trustees should be appointed to carry on the necessary communications -with the Treasury, either verbally or otherwise, and to consider -with their Lordships all suggestions that might be offered respecting the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_761'>761</span>points touched upon in this Report, and their details. This Committee -would be similar to that which the Trustees requested the Treasury to -appoint, by letter of the twentieth of June, 1829, and which was afterwards -appointed by the Trustees themselves, with the approbation of -their Lordships, to direct and superintend, not only the works then in -progress, but those to be afterwards undertaken.</p> - -<p class='c011'>On the tenth of February, 1862—after the communication -of this Report to each of the Trustees individually—the -recommendations of the Sub-Committee were unanimously -approved, at a Special General Meeting of the -Trustees, at which twenty-four members of the Board -were present. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><cite>Correspondence -Relating -to the British -Museum</cite>, No. -97 of Session -1862.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -After the adoption of the plans thus -accepted, another Sub-Committee of Trustees was appointed -to confer with the Treasury in order to their realisation.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Before Parliament, this plan of severance and of re-arrangement—after -some modifications of detail which are -too unimportant for remark—was supported, in 1862, with -the whole influence of the Government. But it failed to -win any adequate amount either of parliamentary or of -public favour. Some men doubted if the estimated saving, -as between building at Bloomsbury and building at Kensington, -would or could be realized. Others denied that -the evils or inconveniences attendant upon severance would -be compensated by any adequate gain on other points. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span><span class='sc'>The Parliamentary -Debate of -1862.</span><span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -The popularity of the Natural History Collections; the -facilities of access to Great Russell Street; the weighty—though -far from unanimous—expressions of opinion from -eminent men of science in favour of continuance and -enlargement, rather than of severance and removal; all -these and other objections were raised, and were more or -less dwelt upon, both in the House of Commons and in -scientific circles out of doors, scarcely less entitled to discuss -a national question of this kind. The Commons -<span class='pageno' id='Page_762'>762</span>eventually decided against the project by their vote of the -19th May, 1862.</p> - -<p class='c011'>Substantially,—and in spite of small subsequent additions -from time to time to the buildings at Bloomsbury—the -question of 1862 is still the question of 1870. As I -have said, it has been my object to state that question -rather than to discuss it.</p> - -<p class='c011'>Should it seem, after full examination, that good -government may be better maintained, and adequate -space for growth be efficiently provided, by enlarging the -existing Museum, would it be worthy of Britain to allow -the additional expenditure of a few scores of thousands of -pounds—an expenditure which would be spread over the -taxation of many years—to preponderate in the final vote of -Parliament over larger and more enduring considerations?</p> - -<p class='c011'>In the session of 1866 Mr. Spencer <span class='sc'>Walpole</span> spoke -thus: ‘You must either determine to separate the Collections -now in the Museum, or buy more land in Bloomsbury.... -I have always been for keeping them together. -I am, however, perfectly willing to take either course, -provided you do not heap those stores one on another—as -at present,’ (July, 1866)—‘in such a manner as to render -them really not so available as they ought to be to those -who wish to make them objects of study.’ Few men are -so well entitled to speak, authoritatively, on the question—because -few have given such an amount of time and labour -to its consideration.</p> - -<p class='c011'>By every available and legitimate expression of opinion -the Trustees have acted in the spirit of this remark, made -almost four years since, by one of the most eminent of -their number. The words are, unfortunately, as apposite -in March, 1870, as they were in July, 1866.</p> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c002'> - <div><span class='small'>THE END.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_763'>763</span> - <h2 class='c003'>GENERAL INDEX.</h2> -</div> - -<ul class='index c002'> - <li class='c022'>Abbot, George, Archbishop of Canterbury, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>66</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>70</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Abercorn, Earl of. <em>See</em> Hamilton</li> - <li class='c022'>Abercromby, Sir Ralph, <a href='#Page_548'>548</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Abyssinia, MSS., brought from, <a href='#Page_707'>707</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Accessibility, Public, of the British Museum, Successive changes in the Regulations and Statistics of the, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>323</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>336</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>338</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>339</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>341</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>368</a>, <a href='#Page_520'>520</a>, <a href='#Page_599'>599</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Adair, Sir Robert, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>373</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Æginæ, Vases and other Antiquities brought from, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>386</a> <em>seqq.</em></li> - <li class='c022'>Africa, Pre-historic and Ethnographical Collections from, <a href='#Page_699'>699</a> <em>seqq.</em></li> - <li class='c022'>Agarde, Arthur, and Sir Robert Cotton, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>85</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>86</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Albemarle, Duchess of. <em>See</em> Monk</li> - <li class='c022'>Albums, Series of German, <a href='#Page_457'>457</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Alexandria, Sarcophagus from, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>365</a> <em>seqq.</em></li> - <li class='c022'>Allan-Greg Cabinet of Minerals, <a href='#Page_606'>606</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Almanzi, Joseph, Hebrew Library of, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>42</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Amadei, Victor, Marbles from the Collection of, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>372</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Amba-Bichoi, Biblical MSS. from the Monastery of, <a href='#Page_615'>615</a> <em>seqq.</em></li> - <li class='c022'>America, Pre-historic and Ethnographical Collections from, <a href='#Page_699'>699</a> <em>seqq.</em></li> - <li class='c022'>Anadhouly, Exploration by Sir Charles Fellows of, <a href='#Page_644'>644</a></li> - <li class='c022'><cite>Ancient Marbles in the British Museum, Description of the</cite>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>372</a> <em>seqq.</em></li> - <li class='c022'>Anderson, Edmund (of Eyworth and Stratton), <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>132</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Andréossi, Anthony Francis, Count, Researches in the Monasteries of Nitria of, <a href='#Page_610'>610</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Angouleme, Duke of, <a href='#Page_539'>539</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Anne, Queen of England, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>207</a> <em>seqq.</em></li> - <li class='c022'>Anne of Denmark, Queen Consort of James I, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>153</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>156</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>166</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Ansse de Villoisin, John Baptist, G. d’, <a href='#Page_455'>455</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Antiphellus, Researches of Sir Charles Fellows at, <a href='#Page_644'>644</a></li> - <li class='c022'><em>Antiquités Étrusques, &c.</em>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>352</a> <em>seqq.</em></li> - <li class='c022'>Apotheosis of Homer, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>401</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Arcadia, Archæological Explorations in, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>397</a> <em>seqq.</em></li> - <li class='c022'>Argos, Vases and other Antiquities from, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>386</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Artas of Sidon, Ancient glasswork of, <a href='#Page_709'>709</a> <em>seqq.</em></li> - <li class='c022'>Artemisia, Ancient Sculptures from the Mausoleum built by, <a href='#Page_664'>664</a> <em>seqq.</em></li> - <li class='c022'>Arundel, Earl of. <em>See</em> Fitzalan</li> - <li class='c022'>Arundel, Earl of. <em>See</em> Howard</li> - <li class='c022'>Arundelian Library, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>198</a> <em>seqq.</em></li> - <li class='c022'>Arundelian Marbles, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>197</a> <em>seqq.</em></li> - <li class='c022'>Ashburnham House, Fire at, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>140</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Askew, Anthony, <a href='#Page_472'>472</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Assemani, Joseph Simon, and Stephen Evode, obtain, for the Vatican, Syriac MSS. from the Monastery of the Syrians, <a href='#Page_617'>617</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Assyrian Antiquities, First beginning of the Collection of, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>401</a>; - <ul> - <li>Account of the Discoveries by Mr. Layard and his successors of, <a href='#Page_629'>629</a> <em>seqq.</em></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c022'>Athanasius, Saint, Syriac Version of the Festal Letters of, <a href='#Page_623'>623</a></li> - <li class='c022'><span class='pageno' id='Page_764'>764</span>Athens, Researches of Lord Elgin at, their History and Results, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>381</a> <em>seqq.</em></li> - <li class='c022'>Aublet, John Baptist Christopher Fusée d’, Botanical Collection of, <a href='#Page_509'>509</a></li> - <li class='center'>B.</li> - <li class='c022'>Baber, Rev. Henry Hervey, M.A., Services of, in the Department of Printed Books, <a href='#Page_532'>532</a>, <em>seqq.</em>, <a href='#Page_542'>542</a>; - <ul> - <li>Death of, <a href='#Page_553'>553</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c022'>Bacon, Francis, Viscount St. Alban’s, is assisted by Sir R. Cotton in his endeavour to frame an acceptable measure for a union with Scotland, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>57</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Bankes, George, <a href='#Page_441'>441</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Banks-Hodgkenson, J., <a href='#Page_488'>488</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Banks, Sir Joseph, Bart., P.R.S., Notices of the Life, Travels, Labours, and Benefactions of, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>335</a>, <a href='#Page_480'>480</a>–489, <a href='#Page_497'>497</a>–501, <a href='#Page_509'>509</a>; - <ul> - <li>His Correspondence with Sir William Hamilton on Volcanic Eruptions, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>354</a> <em>seqq.</em></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c022'>Banks, Mrs. S. S., Bequest of, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>27</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Barbadoes, Notices of the Early History of the Island of, and of the attempts at plantation there made by William Courten and others, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>251</a> <em>seqq.</em>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>261</a> <em>seqq.</em>; - <ul> - <li>Botanizing Expedition of Sir Hans Sloane at, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>278</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c022'>Barberini (or Portland) Vase, History of the, <a href='#Page_461'>461</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Barbier, Anthony Alexander, <a href='#Page_455'>455</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Barbier, Eugene Auguste, <a href='#Page_452'>452</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Barlow, Hugh, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>349</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Barnard, Sir Frederick Augusta, Labours of, as Royal Librarian, <a href='#Page_468'>468</a>, <a href='#Page_472'>472</a>; - <ul> - <li>Johnson’s Letter to him on the Collection of Books, <em>ib.</em></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c022'>Barrington, Shute, Bishop of Durham, <a href='#Page_420'>420</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Barth Cabinet of Gems, <a href='#Page_691'>691</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Battely, William, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>240</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Bean, Rev. James, M.A., <a href='#Page_544'>544</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Beattie, James, LL.D., Conversation with King George III of, <a href='#Page_475'>475</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Beauclerc, Topham, <a href='#Page_425'>425</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Beaumont, Sir George, Bart., Bequest of a Gallery of Pictures to the British Museum by, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>30</a>, <a href='#Page_460'>460</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Bentinck Papers, <a href='#Page_457'>457</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Bentley, Richard, D.D., Royal Librarianship of, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>140</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>169</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Berkeley, Mary, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>345</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Berlin Museum, <a href='#Page_579'>579</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Bernard, Sir John, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>299</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Beroldingen Fossils, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>26</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Bethel, Slingsby, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>299</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Biblical MSS. of the Nitrian Monasteries, <a href='#Page_610'>610</a> <em>seqq.</em></li> - <li class='c022'>Biliotti and Salzmann, Messrs., Archæological Researches of, in the Island of Rhodes, <a href='#Page_669'>669</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Birch, Thos., D.D., Services of, as an early Trustee, <a href='#Page_415'>415</a> <em>seqq.</em>; - <ul> - <li>his bequests, <a href='#Page_415'>415</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c022'>Blacas, P. L. J. Casimir de, Duke of Blacas, Museum of, <a href='#Page_689'>689</a> <em>seqq.</em></li> - <li class='c022'>Blagrove, Major, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>408</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Blois, Earls of, Archives, now at Pomard, of the, <a href='#Page_536'>536</a> <em>seqq.</em></li> - <li class='c022'>Bodley, Sir Thomas, and Sir R. Cotton, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>332</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Bolingbroke, Henry, Viscount. <em>See</em> St. John</li> - <li class='c022'>Bolton, Edmund, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>84</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Bonaparte, Lucien, Prince of Canino, Acquisition of part of the Collection of Vases formed by, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>35</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Bond, Edward Augustus, <a href='#Page_600'>600</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Bonpland, M., <a href='#Page_455'>455</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Borell, H. P., Collection of Greek and Roman Coins made by, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>34</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Borough, Sir John, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>195</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Bosset, Colonel de, Collection of Greek Coins made by, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>25</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>400</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Botanical Collections, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>267</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>269</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>277</a> <em>seqq.</em>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>283</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>295</a>, <a href='#Page_492'>492</a> <em>seqq.</em>, <a href='#Page_507'>507</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Botanical Collections in France, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>260</a> <em>seqq.</em>, <a href='#Page_500'>500</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Botanical Collections in Germany and Italy, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>267</a></li> - <li class='c022'><span class='pageno' id='Page_765'>765</span>Botanical Studies in England, Notice of the rise and progress of, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>259</a> <em>seqq.</em></li> - <li class='c022'>Botanic Gardens at Chelsea, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>275</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>293</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>297</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Botanic Garden at Paris, <a href='#Page_500'>500</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Botta, P. E., Assyrian Researches of, <a href='#Page_616'>616</a>; - <ul> - <li>his first and brilliant discoveries at Khorsabad, <a href='#Page_629'>629</a>;</li> - <li>his genial and liberal co-operation with Layard, <a href='#Page_631'>631</a>, <em>foot-note</em></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c022'>Boudaen, Peter, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>255</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Bourchier, Sir William, <a href='#Page_539'>539</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Bowood in Wiltshire, Lord Shelburne’s improvements at, <a href='#Page_428'>428</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Bowring, J., Entomological Collection of, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>51</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Boyle, Robert, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>275</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Branchidæ, Ancient Sculpture brought by C. T. Newton from, <a href='#Page_664'>664</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Brander, Gustavus, Gift of the ‘Solander Fossils,’ by, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>21</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>333</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Briasson’s Correspondence with Sir H. Sloane respecting a French version of the <em>Natural History of Jamaica</em>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>289</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Bridges’ Zoological Collections made in South America, <a href='#Page_581'>581</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Bridgewater, Francis Henry, Earl of. <em>See</em> Egerton</li> - <li class='c022'>Brienne, Henry Lewis de Lomenie de, Count. <em>See</em> Lomenie</li> - <li class='c022'>Brindley, James, <a href='#Page_447'>447</a></li> - <li class='c022'>British and Mediæval Antiquities and Ethnography, Formation of the new Department of, <a href='#Page_688'>688</a></li> - <li class='c022'>British Museum, Chronological Epitome of the principal incidents in the formation, enlargement, and growth of the successive Collections which constitute the, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>6</a>–47</li> - <li class='c022'>Brocas, Elizabeth, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>52</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Brocas, William, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>52</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Bröndsted, Peter Olave, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>399</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Brougham, Henry, Lord Brougham and Vaux, <a href='#Page_547'>547</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Brown, Robert, F.R.S., Keeper of Botany, Services of, <a href='#Page_507'>507</a>, <a href='#Page_508'>508</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Browne, William George, Researches in the Nitrian Monasteries of, <a href='#Page_610'>610</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Bruce, Agnes, of Conington in Huntingdonshire, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>49</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Bruce, Thomas, Earl of Elgin and Kincardine, Archæological Explorations at Athens and in various other parts of Greece, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>381</a>–396; - <ul> - <li>Notices of his Life and Public Career, <em>ib.</em>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>400</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>411</a>;</li> - <li>the controversy as to the archæological and artistical value of the Elgin Marbles, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>411</a> <em>seqq.</em>;</li> - <li>other national results of Lord Elgin’s Embassy and Public Spirit, <a href='#Page_439'>439</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c022'>Bruchmann’s Fossils, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>39</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Bruni d’Entrecasteaux, Joseph Anthony, <a href='#Page_500'>500</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Bryant, Jacob, <a href='#Page_479'>479</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Bryaxis, Ancient Sculptures by, <a href='#Page_665'>665</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Buchan, Mr., a Naturalist engaged in the Voyage of Banks and Cook, <a href='#Page_493'>493</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Buckingham House and its History, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>318</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Buckland, William, D.D., <a href='#Page_449'>449</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Budrum (the ancient Halicarnassus), Explorations of C. T. Newton and other Archæologists at, <a href='#Page_663'>663</a> <em>seqq.</em></li> - <li class='c022'>Burckhardt, John Lewis, Travels and Researches in Africa of, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>404</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Burlamachi, Philip, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>250</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Burnet, Gilbert, Bishop of Salisbury, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>133</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>211</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Burney, Charles, D.D., Notices of the Life, Labours, and Literary Character of, with Notices of his Manuscript and Printed Collections, <a href='#Page_435'>435</a>–438; 440 <em>seqq.</em></li> - <li class='c022'>Burney, Frances (afterwards Mme. d’Arblay), <a href='#Page_475'>475</a>, <a href='#Page_503'>503</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Burnouf, M., Researches on Assyrian Palæography of, <a href='#Page_641'>641</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Bute, Earl of. <em>See</em> Stuart</li> - <li class='c022'>Byres, James, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>372</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Byron, George Gordon, Lord Byron, Autograph MSS. of, <a href='#Page_458'>458</a>; - <ul> - <li>Notice of the recent slander on the fame of, <em>ib.</em></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='center'>C.</li> - <li class='c022'><span class='pageno' id='Page_766'>766</span>Cadogan, Charles Sloane, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>297</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Cadogan, Lord, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>300</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>304</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Cadyanda, Casts of Rock-Tombs at, <a href='#Page_660'>660</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Cæsar Papers, <a href='#Page_426'>426</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Calah (of <em>Genesis</em>) Conjectural identification of, <a href='#Page_629'>629</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Calvert, Sir William, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>299</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Camden, William, Friendship of Sir Robert Cotton, and, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>52</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>53</a>; - <ul> - <li>their joint labours on the <em>Britannia</em>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>54</a>;</li> - <li>their archæological tour in the north of England, <em>ib.</em>;</li> - <li>other joint labours and friendly intercourse, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>87</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>98</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c022'><em>Campi Phlegræi</em>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>350</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Canino, Lucien Bonaparte, Prince of, and his Collection of Greek Vases, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>35</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Canning, Stratford, Lord Stratford de Redcliffe, encourages liberally the researches of Layard, <a href='#Page_632'>632</a>; - <ul> - <li>procures from Halicarnassus the primary specimens of the sculptures of the Mausoleum and presents them to the Nation, <a href='#Page_663'>663</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c022'>Canova, Anthony, Opinion on the Elgin Marbles of, <a href='#Page_455'>455</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Caraffa, Carlo, MSS. of, <a href='#Page_457'>457</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Carew, George, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>261</a> <em>seqq.</em></li> - <li class='c022'>Carleton, Dudley, Lord Dorchester, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>65</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>176</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Carlisle, James, Earl of. <em>See</em> Hay.</li> - <li class='c022'><em>Carmina Quadragesimalia</em> of 1748, Oxford, <a href='#Page_418'>418</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Carr, Robert, Earl of Somerset, Political connection between Sir Robert Cotton and, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>66</a> <em>seqq.</em>; - <ul> - <li>Somerset’s intercourse with the Court of Spain, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>69</a>;</li> - <li>His alleged complicity in the murder of Sir Thomas Overbury, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>31</a> <em>seqq.</em></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c022'>Carr, Frances, Countess of Somerset, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>66</a> <em>seqq.</em></li> - <li class='c022'>Carteret, Lady Sophia, <a href='#Page_424'>424</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Carthage, Explorations on the site of ancient, and their results, <a href='#Page_666'>666</a> <em>seqq.</em></li> - <li class='c022'>Cary, Henry Francis, Notice of the Literary Life and Museum Service of, <a href='#Page_532'>532</a>; - <ul> - <li>circumstances attendant on his Candidature for the Keepership of Printed Books in 1837, <a href='#Page_543'>543</a> <em>seqq.</em></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c022'>Casaubon, Isaac, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>167</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Casier, Margaret, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>249</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Casley, David, Services of, as Deputy Royal Librarian, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>140</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>144</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Castile, Earls of, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>56</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Catharine, Empress of Russia, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>407</a></li> - <li class='c022'><em>Catalogue of the Anglo-Gallic Coins</em>, <a href='#Page_522'>522</a></li> - <li class='c022'><em>Catalogue of the Printed Books</em>, <a href='#Page_523'>523</a>, <a href='#Page_533'>533</a>, <a href='#Page_566'>566</a> <em>seqq.</em></li> - <li class='c022'>Cautley, Major, Fossils collected in the Himalayas, by, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>39</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Cavendish, Mary, Duchess of Portland, <a href='#Page_462'>462</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Caxton, William, Series of the productions of the press of, <a href='#Page_476'>476</a>–478, <a href='#Page_681'>681</a>–683</li> - <li class='c022'>Cecil, William, Lord Burghley, <a href='#Page_427'>427</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Cecil, Robert, Earl of Salisbury, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>88</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>162</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Chaloner, Sir Thomas, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>158</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>159</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Chamberlain, John, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>176</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Charles I, King of England, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>68</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>91</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>94</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>98</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>101</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>124</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>331</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Charles II, King of England, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>260</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Charles X, King of France, <a href='#Page_691'>691</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Charlett, Arthur, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>236</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>283</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Chelsea, Botanic Garden at, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>275</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>293</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>297</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Chelsea, Manor House of, and its History, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>294</a> <em>seqq.</em></li> - <li class='c022'>Children, John George, <a href='#Page_532'>532</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Chimæra-Tomb from Lycia, <a href='#Page_658'>658</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Chinese Books, Hull’s Collection of, <a href='#Page_461'>461</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Chinese Antiquities and Curiosities, <a href='#Page_700'>700</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Choiseul Gouffier, M. G. A. L. de, Count, Archæological Researches in Greece of, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>384</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Chorley, J. Rutter, Collection of Spanish Dramatic Poetry formed and bequeathed by, <a href='#Page_695'>695</a> <em>seqq.</em></li> - <li class='c022'><span class='pageno' id='Page_767'>767</span>Christy, Henry, Notices of the Life, Beneficence, and Archæological explorations of, <a href='#Page_697'>697</a> <em>seqq.</em>; - <ul> - <li>his Collections and their bequest to the Public, <a href='#Page_699'>699</a> <em>seqq.</em>, <a href='#Page_701'>701</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c022'>Churchill, John, Duke of Marlborough, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>209</a> <em>seqq.</em></li> - <li class='c022'>Clarke, Edward Daniel, LL.D., and the Sarcophagus from Alexandria, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>366</a>; - <ul> - <li>MS. of the Greek Orators obtained by him at Constantinople, <a href='#Page_439'>439</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c022'>Clayton’s Herbarium, <a href='#Page_509'>509</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Cnidus, Ancient Sculpture brought by C. T. Newton from, <a href='#Page_664'>664</a> <em>seqq.</em></li> - <li class='c022'>Cockerell, Charles Robert, Researches in Phigaleia of, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>397</a></li> - <li class='c022'><em>Codex Alexandrinus</em>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>167</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>170</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Coinage of the Realm, Collections by Sir Joseph Banks, on the, <a href='#Page_508'>508</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Coins, Medals, and Gems, Collection of, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>139</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>201</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>271</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>295</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>303</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>412</a>, <a href='#Page_417'>417</a>, <a href='#Page_421'>421</a>, <a href='#Page_443'>443</a>, <a href='#Page_705'>705</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Coke, Sir Edward, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>80</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>82</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>149</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Coke, Thomas, Earl of Leicester, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>372</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Coleridge, Samuel Taylor, <a href='#Page_545'>545</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Combe, Taylor, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>392</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>399</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Conington, in Huntingdonshire, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>49</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Constable, Alice, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>132</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Constantinople, Early Researches for Greek Marbles and MSS. at, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>191</a> <em>seqq.</em></li> - <li class='c022'>Conway, Sir Edward, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>184</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Conyers, John, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>259</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Cook, Captain James, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>334</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Corinth, Vases and other Antiquities brought from, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>386</a> <em>seqq.</em></li> - <li class='c022'>Cotton, Sir John, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>135</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>139</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Cotton, Sir John, Great-grandson of the Founder, Donor of the Cotton Library and Antiquities, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>134</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>306</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Cotton, John, Grandson of the Founder, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>133</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Cotton, Robert (of Gedding, Cambridgeshire), <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>139</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Cotton, Sir Robert (of Hatley St. George, in Cambridgeshire), <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>139</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Cotton, Sir Robert Bruce, Descent and Pedigree of, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>50</a> - <ul> - <li>1570–1585. His education and early friendships, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>52</a></li> - <li>1587–98. Commencement and growth of his library and museum, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>53</a></li> - <li>1599. His archæological tour in the North of England with Camden, and his share in the composition of the <em>Britannia</em>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>54</a>; - <ul> - <li>is employed by the Queen to prepare a tractate on the precedency of England over Spain, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>55</a>;</li> - <li>analysis of that treatise, <em>ib.</em></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li>1603. Writes a <em>Discourse on King James’ descent from the Saxon Kings</em>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>56</a>; - <ul> - <li>is knighted, <em>ib.</em>;</li> - <li>and returned to Parliament for Huntingdonshire, but takes little part in its debates, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>57</a>;</li> - <li>accepts a prominent share in the labour of Committees, <em>ib.</em>;</li> - <li>and carries on an extensive correspondence both literary and political, <em>ib.</em>;</li> - <li>acquires for his Library a mass of State Papers, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>58</a>;</li> - <li>petitions Queen Elizabeth for the establishment of a National and Public Library for England, <em>ib.</em>;</li> - <li>inference which is obviously deducible thence in relation to the charge that Sir R. Cotton was an embezzler of Public Records, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>59</a>.</li> - </ul> - </li> - <li>1607. Receives an address from the Corporation of London, praying him to restore certain documents alleged to belong to the City Chamber, <em>ib.</em></li> - <li>1608. Proposes to the King certain reforms in the naval administration of the country, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>62</a>; - <ul> - <li>and obtains Letters Patent, creating a commission of Naval Inquiry, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>63</a>;</li> - <li>takes a leading part in the labours of the Commission, and prepares its report, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>63</a>.</li> - </ul> - </li> - <li><span class='pageno' id='Page_768'>768</span>1609. His <em>Report on the Crown Revenues</em>, and his Memorials on the necessity for a reform in the royal expenditure, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>64</a>.</li> - <li>1611. Proposes to the King the creation of a new hereditary dignity—the Baronetage of England, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>65</a>; - <ul> - <li>receives that dignity, but is dissatisfied with the mode in which his idea is worked out, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>66</a>.</li> - </ul> - </li> - <li>1613–15. Nature of his political connection and intercourse with the Earl of Somerset, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>67</a>; - <ul> - <li>his alleged share in carrying on negotiations with Gondomar, in relation to the projected match with Spain, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>68</a>.</li> - </ul> - </li> - <li>1615. He receives a visit from Gondomar, in which that ambassador introduces himself as a lover of antiquities desirous to view the Cottonian Library, <em>ib.</em>; - <ul> - <li>is charged with the communication of State Papers to Gondomar, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>69</a>;</li> - <li>returns the Spanish ambassador’s visit, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>70</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>71</a>;</li> - <li>Gondomar’s account of what passed at their several interviews, <em>ib.</em>;</li> - <li>notices of Mr. S. R. Gardiner’s comments on and deductions from that account, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>72</a> <em>note</em>;</li> - <li>is entrusted by Somerset with the temporary care of certain jewels of the Crown, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>75</a>;</li> - <li>and is consulted by him with reference to the drafting of a royal pardon to be passed under the Great Seal, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>77</a>;</li> - <li>writes a Letter to Prince Charles (afterwards King Charles I), in relation to foreign affairs and in praise of warlike exercises, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>79</a>;</li> - <li>is accused of communicating papers and secrets of State to the Spanish Ambassador, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>79</a>;</li> - <li>proceedings taken against him thereupon, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>80</a> <em>seqq.</em></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li>1616, June. Is liberated, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>83</a>; - <ul> - <li>and receives a pardon under the Great Seal, <em>ib.</em>;</li> - <li>his conduct and his literary labours in retirement, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>84</a> <em>seqq.</em>;</li> - <li>instances of the liberality with which he communicates his knowledge and his manuscripts, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>87</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>88</a>.</li> - </ul> - </li> - <li>1616–23. His share in the labours which resulted in the ‘Petition of Right,’ 89.</li> - <li>1624, April. His <em>Remonstrance of the Treaties of Amity and Marriage with Austria and Spain</em> 91; - <ul> - <li>his advice on the prosecution of the Spanish Ambassadors, and Report addressed to Buckingham, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>92</a>.</li> - </ul> - </li> - <li>1625, August. Speech ascribed to him in the Parliament held at Oxford, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>93</a>; - <ul> - <li>its eulogy on the political conduct of Somerset, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>96</a>;</li> - <li>the friendly intercourse between Cotton and Sir Symonds d’Ewes, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>97</a> <em>seqq.</em>.</li> - </ul> - </li> - <li>1626. The scene at Cotton House on occasion of the Coronation of Charles I, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>99</a>; - <ul> - <li>his conduct in 1626 and subsequent years, as an unofficial adviser of the Crown, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>101</a> <em>seqq.</em>;</li> - <li>his opinions on Coinage, and on the management of the Royal Mint, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>103</a> <em>seqq.</em></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li>1628, Jan. Appears at the Privy Council Board, and delivers a Discourse advising the immediate calling of a Parliament, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>106</a>; - <ul> - <li>but has no seat in that Parliament, <em>ib.</em></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li>1629, November. Is accused of circulating a <em>Proposition to bridle Parliaments</em>, written by Sir Robert Dudley, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>107</a> <em>seqq.</em>; - <ul> - <li>History of that production, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>110</a> <em>seqq.</em>;</li> - <li>Sir Robert’s Library is placed under seal, and remains so until his death, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>107</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>117</a>, <em>seqq.</em>;</li> - <li><span class='pageno' id='Page_769'>769</span>intercourse between Ben Jonson and Cotton, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>116</a>.</li> - </ul> - </li> - <li>1630. Decline of Cotton’s health, and his correspondence with Dr. Frodsham, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>118</a>; - <ul> - <li>his visit to Amphyllis Ferrers, and the plot to obtain money from him, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>120</a> <em>seqq.</em>;</li> - <li>the proceedings in the Court of Star Chamber thereon, <em>ib.</em></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li>1631. Illness, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>123</a>; - <ul> - <li>Conferences with Dr. Oldisworth and with Bishop Williams, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>124</a>;</li> - <li>death, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>125</a>.</li> - </ul> - </li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c022'>Cotton, Sir Thomas, Bart., <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>125</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>127</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>129</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>131</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>161</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Cotton, Thomas, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>49</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>118</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Cotton, William, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>49</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>53</a></li> - <li class='c022'><em>Cottoni Posthuma</em>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>91</a> <em>seqq.</em> and <em>foot-note</em></li> - <li class='c022'>Courten, Peter, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>250</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Courten, Sir Peter, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>254</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Courten, Sir William, Bart., <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>251</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>256</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>260</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>267</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Courten, William (I), <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>249</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Courten, William (II), <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>257</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Courten, William, Founder of the Sloane Museum: - <ul> - <li>1642, March. Birth and Parentage, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>259</a></li> - <li>1656. Benefaction to the Tradescant Museum, <em>ib.</em></li> - <li>1657? Residence at Montpelier, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>260</a></li> - <li>1662. Contention with George Carew respecting the administration of the Estates of Sir William Courten, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>262</a> <em>seqq.</em></li> - <li>1663, July. Presents a petition to King Charles II, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>263</a>; - <ul> - <li>but subsequently enters into a compromise with Carew, <em>ib.</em>;</li> - <li>and retires to Fawsley, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>264</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li>1670. Relinquishes his family name and returns to Montpelier, whence he makes many Continental tours and extensive Collections both in Natural History and in Antiquities, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>267</a> <em>seqq.</em></li> - <li>1684? Returns to England, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>268</a>; - <ul> - <li>establishes his museum in the Middle Temple, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>269</a>;</li> - <li>his correspondence with Sloane, <em>ib.</em></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li>1686. Account of a Visit to Courten’s Museum by John Evelyn, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>270</a></li> - <li>1695. Another Account of a like visit by Ralph Thoresby, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>271</a></li> - <li>1695–1701. His closing years, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>272</a></li> - <li>1702, March. Death and monumental inscription, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>273</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c022'>Cracherode, Clayton Mordaunt, Notices of the Life and of the Literary and Archæological Collections of, <a href='#Page_417'>417</a>–421; - <ul> - <li>his Bequests to the Nation, <a href='#Page_421'>421</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c022'>Craven, Keppel, Bequest of, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>38</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Croft, Sir Thomas Elmsley, <a href='#Page_536'>536</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Croizet’s Fossil Mammalia collected in Auvergne, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>37</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Crommelinck, Peter, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>249</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Cromwell, Oliver, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>90</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Cromwell, Sir Oliver, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>56</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Cromwell, Thomas, Earl of Essex, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>370</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Cuming, Hugh, Notices of the Life, Travels, and Collections in Natural History of, <a href='#Page_692'>692</a> <em>seqq.</em></li> - <li class='c022'>Cureton, William, Early labours in Bodley’s Library of, <a href='#Page_619'>619</a>; - <ul> - <li>becomes Assistant-Keeper of MSS. in the British Museum, and devotes himself to the Oriental Department, <a href='#Page_620'>620</a>;</li> - <li>his labours on the MSS. from the Monasteries of Nitria, <a href='#Page_621'>621</a>;</li> - <li>and his account of the discoveries there made, given in the <em>Quarterly Review</em> of 1846, <a href='#Page_622'>622</a>;</li> - <li>publishes a Syriac version of the <em>Festal Letters</em> of St. Athanasius, <a href='#Page_623'>623</a>;</li> - <li>his <em>Spicilegium Syriacum</em>, <a href='#Page_624'>624</a>;</li> - <li>other publications and labours, literary and parochial, <em>ib.</em>;</li> - <li>is made a Royal Trustee, <em>ib.</em>;</li> - <li>publishes the <em>Martyrs in Palestine</em> of Eusebius, <a href='#Page_625'>625</a>;</li> - <li>his lamented death, <em>ib.</em></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c022'>Cuvier, George, <a href='#Page_455'>455</a></li> - <li class='c022'><span class='pageno' id='Page_770'>770</span>Cyrene, Archæological Researches at, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>40</a></li> - <li class='center'>D.</li> - <li class='c022'>Da Costa, Solomon, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>328</a> <em>seqq.</em></li> - <li class='c022'>Daniell, Edward Thomas, Researches in Lycia of, <a href='#Page_668'>668</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Davis, Nathan, Explorations on the site of Ancient Carthage made by, and their results, <a href='#Page_666'>666</a> <em>seqq.</em></li> - <li class='c022'>Davy, Sir Humphrey, <a href='#Page_508'>508</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Debruge Collection, Specimens of Ancient Glass now in the British Museum formerly in the, <a href='#Page_712'>712</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Dee, John, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>58</a></li> - <li class='c022'>De Foe, Daniel, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>208</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Delessert, Benjamin, <a href='#Page_587'>587</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Dendy, Sergeant, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>131</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Dennis, George, Archæological Explorations in Sicily of, <a href='#Page_668'>668</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Denon, Vivant, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>362</a></li> - <li class='c022'><em>Description of the Ancient Marbles in the British Museum</em>, <a href='#Page_522'>522</a> <em>seqq.</em></li> - <li class='c022'><em>Description of the Terra Cottas in the British Museum</em>, <a href='#Page_522'>522</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Des Hayes, M., Tertiary Fossils collected in France by, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>38</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Dethick, William, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>52</a></li> - <li class='c022'>D’Ewes, Adrian, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>237</a></li> - <li class='c022'>D’Ewes, Sir Symonds, Notices of the Researches, the Political Career, and the Antiquarian Collections of, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>82</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>83</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>91</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>97</a>–99, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>133</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>237</a></li> - <li class='c022'>D’Hancarville, J. B., <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>372</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>375</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Didyme, Ancient Sculpture brought from, <a href='#Page_664'>664</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Digby, John, Earl of Bristol, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>69</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Dordogne, Exploration of the Caves of, and its results, <a href='#Page_699'>699</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Doubleday, John, <a href='#Page_463'>463</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Downing, Frances, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>134</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Downing, Sir George, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>134</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>262</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Drawings, Collections of, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>310</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>408</a>, <a href='#Page_421'>421</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Dreux, M. de, Researches on the site of Ancient Carthage carried on by, <a href='#Page_626'>626</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Dryander, Jonas, <a href='#Page_509'>509</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Dudley, Edmund, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>113</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Dudley, Sir Robert, and the <em>Proposition to bridle the Impertinency of Parliaments</em>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>110</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Dugdale, Sir William, <a href='#Page_435'>435</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Durand Collection of Vases, <a href='#Page_715'>715</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Dureau de La Malle, Researches on the site of Ancient Carthage of, <a href='#Page_626'>626</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Dutertre, M., <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>362</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Dyson, Mr., Zoological Collections made in Venezuela by, <a href='#Page_581'>581</a></li> - <li class='center'>E.</li> - <li class='c022'>Edmonds, Mr., <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>59</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Edward VI, King of England, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>64</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Edwards, Major Arthur, Bequest in augmentation of the Cottonian Library, made by, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>142</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>305</a>; - <ul> - <li>this Bequest was, for a long period after the foundation of the Museum, the mainstay of its Library, <a href='#Page_443'>443</a> and <em>foot-note</em></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c022'>Edwards, George, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>301</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Egerton, Francis, Earl of Ellesmere, <a href='#Page_597'>597</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Egerton, Francis Henry, Earl of Bridgewater, Notices of the Life, Character, and Testamentary Benefactions of, <a href='#Page_446'>446</a>–455</li> - <li class='c022'>Egerton, Francis, Duke of Bridgewater, K.G., <a href='#Page_446'>446</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Egerton, Lady Katharine, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>257</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Egyptian Antiquities, Early History of the Collection of, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>347</a> <em>seqq.</em>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>362</a> <em>seqq.</em></li> - <li class='c022'>Egyptian Glass in the Slade Collection, <a href='#Page_708'>708</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Elgin, Thomas, Earl of. <em>See</em> <span class='sc'>Bruce</span></li> - <li class='c022'>Eliot, Sir John, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>56</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>90</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>93</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>94</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>96</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>101</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Elizabeth, Queen of England, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>51</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>103</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>157</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Ellesmere, Francis, Earl of. <em>See</em> <span class='sc'>Egerton</span></li> - <li class='c022'>Ellis, Sir Henry, Notice of the Literary Labours and Public Services of, <a href='#Page_524'>524</a>–534, <a href='#Page_549'>549</a>, <a href='#Page_569'>569</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Elmsley, Thomas, <a href='#Page_419'>419</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Empson, James, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>304</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>322</a></li> - <li class='c022'><span class='pageno' id='Page_771'>771</span><em>Epistles of St. Ignatius</em>, Syriac Version of, <a href='#Page_609'>609</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Erskine, William, Oriental MSS. of, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>42</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Esquimaux Collections made and bequeathed by Henry Christy, <a href='#Page_699'>699</a> <em>seqq.</em></li> - <li class='c022'>Estcourt, T. B. Sotheron, <a href='#Page_541'>541</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Ethnography and British and Mediæval Antiquities, Organization of the Department of, <a href='#Page_688'>688</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Etruria in Staffordshire, Debt to the Hamilton Vases of the Porcelain Works established at, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>353</a></li> - <li class='c022'><em>Evangeliary of King Ethelstan</em>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>98</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Evelyn, John, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>196</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>201</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>270</a></li> - <li class='center'>F.</li> - <li class='c022'>Farmer, Richard, <a href='#Page_476'>476</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Fellows, Sir Charles, Early Life and Travels of, <a href='#Page_642'>642</a>; - <ul> - <li>his researches in Lycia and other parts of Asia, and his excavations of ancient marbles, <a href='#Page_644'>644</a> <em>seqq.</em>;</li> - <li>his death, <a href='#Page_653'>653</a>;</li> - <li>his views of the date and archæological character of the Lycian Marbles, <a href='#Page_654'>654</a> <em>seqq.</em></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c022'>Fenwick, Sir John, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>206</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Fermor, Sir William, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>199</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Ferrers, Amphyllis, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>120</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Fitzalan, Henry, Earl of Arundel, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>172</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Fleetwood, Sir Robert, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>254</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Forbes, Edward, Researches in Lycia, of, <a href='#Page_668'>668</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Forshall, Rev. Josiah, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>141</a>, <a href='#Page_532'>532</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Foscarini, Anthony, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>179</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Foscolo, Hugh, <a href='#Page_547'>547</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Fossils, Collections of, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>22</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>26</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>34</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>35</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>37</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>38</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>39</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>40</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>333</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Fox, Charles James, <a href='#Page_673'>673</a> <em>seqq.</em></li> - <li class='c022'>Fox, Henry, Lord Holland, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>310</a>, <a href='#Page_423'>423</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Foxe, John, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>325</a></li> - <li class='c022'><em>Fragmenta Scenica Græca</em>, <a href='#Page_441'>441</a> and <em>foot-note</em></li> - <li class='c022'>France, State Papers and other MSS. relating to the history of, <a href='#Page_456'>456</a>, <a href='#Page_572'>572</a></li> - <li class='c022'>France, Notice of the early and persistent efforts for the acquisition for public use of the treasures of Learning and Art made by the Statesmen of, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>348</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Franklin, Benjamin, <a href='#Page_672'>672</a>, <a href='#Page_673'>673</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Franks, A. W., Account of some of the choice specimens in the Christy Collection by, <a href='#Page_698'>698</a> <em>seqq.</em>; - <ul> - <li>and of those in the Slade Collection, <a href='#Page_708'>708</a> <em>seqq.</em></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c022'>Fraser, Mr., Zoological Collections made in Tunis by, <a href='#Page_581'>581</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Frattochi (the ancient Bovillæ), Discovery of Ancient Sculpture at, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>401</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Frederick, Prince of Wales, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>294</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Fusée d’Aublet, J. B. C., <a href='#Page_509'>509</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Fynes Clinton, Henry, Candidature for the Principal-Librarianship of the Museum of, <a href='#Page_533'>533</a></li> - <li class='center'>G.</li> - <li class='c022'>Gaisford, Thomas, <a href='#Page_620'>620</a>, <a href='#Page_624'>624</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Galloway, Patrick, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>155</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Gardiner, S. R., Notice of the account of the intercourse between Sir R. Cotton and the Count of Gondomar given by, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>52</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>72</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>146</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Gardiner, Mr., Zoological Collections made in Brazil by, <a href='#Page_581'>581</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Garnett, Rev. Richard, <a href='#Page_549'>549</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Garrick, David, <a href='#Page_415'>415</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Gaston, Duke of Orleans, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>270</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Gautier, Abbé, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>221</a></li> - <li class='c022'>George III, King of Great Britain, Gift to the Nation of the Thomason Library by, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>330</a>; - <ul> - <li>his Political Intercourse with Lord Shelburne, <a href='#Page_430'>430</a> <em>seqq.</em>;</li> - <li>his Literary tastes and Character, <a href='#Page_465'>465</a> <em>seqq.</em>;</li> - <li>Formation of his Library, <a href='#Page_469'>469</a>;</li> - <li>his Conversations with Johnson and with Beattie, <a href='#Page_474'>474</a> <em>seqq.</em>;</li> - <li>Pains taken by him in forming a series of the early productions of the English Press, <a href='#Page_477'>477</a> <em>seqq.</em>;</li> - <li>Circumstances which attended the Gift of his Library to the Nation, <a href='#Page_482'>482</a> <em>seqq.</em></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c022'><span class='pageno' id='Page_772'>772</span>George IV, King of Great Britain, <a href='#Page_465'>465</a>, <a href='#Page_482'>482</a> <em>seqq.</em></li> - <li class='c022'>German Albums, series of, <a href='#Page_457'>457</a></li> - <li class='c022'>German Glass in the Slade Collection, Early, <a href='#Page_713'>713</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Gibbons, Grinling, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>273</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Gibson, Benjamin, Remarks of, on the Lycian Marbles discovered by Sir C. Fellows, <a href='#Page_649'>649</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Gilbert, Mr., Zoological Collections made in Australia and New Zealand by, <a href='#Page_581'>581</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Ginguené, Peter Lewis, Library of, <a href='#Page_442'>442</a>, <a href='#Page_455'>455</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Glass, Slade Collection of Ancient, <a href='#Page_708'>708</a> <em>seqq.</em></li> - <li class='c022'>Goade, Dr., <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>193</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Godolphin, Sydney, Earl of Godolphin, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>211</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Goldsmith, Oliver, <a href='#Page_425'>425</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Gondomar, Diego de Sarmiento, Count of, Intercourse of Sir R. Cotton with, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>68</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>80</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>81</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>95</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>102</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>146</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Gorges, Ferdinando, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>187</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Gosse, P. H., Zoological Collections made in Jamaica by, <a href='#Page_581'>581</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Goudot, M., Zoological Collections made in Columbia by, <a href='#Page_581'>581</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Gough, Richard, <a href='#Page_529'>529</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Gould, John, Zoological Collections made in Australia and in New Zealand by, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>381</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Graves, Captain, <a href='#Page_651'>651</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Gray, John Edward, F.R.S., Public Services of, <a href='#Page_577'>577</a> <em>seqq.</em>; - <ul> - <li>his <em>Illustrations of Indian Zoology</em>, <em>ib.</em>;</li> - <li>Catalogues and Synopses of the Natural History Collections originated by, <a href='#Page_578'>578</a>;</li> - <li>Evidence on the comparative state of those Collections in 1836 and in 1849, <a href='#Page_579'>579</a> <em>seqq.</em></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c022'>Greek and Roman Marbles, History of the Collection of, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>372</a> <em>seqq.</em></li> - <li class='c022'>Greek Coins, Collection of, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>412</a>, <a href='#Page_705'>705</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Greek Manuscripts, Researches in the 17th century for the Collection of, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>199</a> <em>seqq.</em></li> - <li class='c022'>Greek Marbles, Early Researches in the Levant for the acquisition of, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>189</a> <em>seqq.</em></li> - <li class='c022'>Gregg, William, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>210</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Grenville, Thomas, Notices of the Political Life of, <a href='#Page_670'>670</a> <em>seqq.</em>; - <ul> - <li>on his retirement from politics he devotes himself to literary and social pursuits, and collects his Library, <a href='#Page_677'>677</a> <em>seqq.</em>;</li> - <li>its character, <a href='#Page_678'>678</a>, <a href='#Page_681'>681</a>;</li> - <li>his Conversation with Sir A. Panizzi as to its destination, <a href='#Page_679'>679</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c022'>Grenville, Richard, Marquess of Buckingham, <a href='#Page_674'>674</a> <em>seqq.</em></li> - <li class='c022'>Greville, Charles, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>356</a>, <a href='#Page_459'>459</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Grey, Lady Jane, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>113</a>, <a href='#Page_477'>477</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Grey, Henry, Earl of Kent, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>254</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Grey, Henry, Duke of Kent, <a href='#Page_446'>446</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Grey, Lady Anna Sophia, <a href='#Page_446'>446</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Grey, Thomas, Earl of Stamford, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>241</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Gronovius, John Frederick, Herbarium of, <a href='#Page_509'>509</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Grosley, Peter John, Account of the early condition and regulations of the British Museum by, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>337</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Grotefend, George Frederick, <a href='#Page_641'>641</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Guenther, Dr., <a href='#Page_603'>603</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Guiscard, Anthony de, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>217</a></li> - <li class='center'>H.</li> - <li class='c022'>Haeberlein Fossils, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>40</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Halicarnassian Marbles, <a href='#Page_663'>663</a> <em>seqq.</em></li> - <li class='c022'>Haller von Hallerstein, Charles, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>397</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Halley, Edmund, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>276</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Hamilton, Gavin, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>372</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>374</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>376</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>406</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Hamilton, Sir William, Notices of the Diplomatic Career, the scientific researches, the archæological and artistic Collections of, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>347</a>–360; - <ul> - <li>his promotion of the explorations of Lord Elgin, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>382</a>;</li> - <li>he brings to England the Barberini or Portland Vase, <a href='#Page_459'>459</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c022'><span class='pageno' id='Page_773'>773</span>Hamilton, Lady, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>356</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>358</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Hamilton, William Richard, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>399</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Hampden, John, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>300</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Hanbury, William, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>137</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>139</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Hancarville, J. B. d’, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>352</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Harcourt, Simon, Lord Chancellor of Great Britain, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>225</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Hardiman, John, <a href='#Page_456'>456</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Harding Prints and Drawings, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>36</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Hardy, Sir Thomas Duffus, <a href='#Page_529'>529</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Hardwicke, Major-General, Bequest of Zoological Collections by, <a href='#Page_580'>580</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Hargrave, Francis, Library of, <a href='#Page_435'>435</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Harley, Sir Edward, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>204</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>234</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Harley, Robert, Earl of Oxford, a Trustee of the Cotton Library under the Act of 1700, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>139</a>; - <ul> - <li>Parentage and Descent of, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>203</a>;</li> - <li>his first public appearance on occasion of the Revolution of 1688, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>204</a>;</li> - <li>his Parliamentary and Official Career, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>205</a> <em>seqq.</em>;</li> - <li>his Secretaryship of State, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>207</a>;</li> - <li>he protects De Foe, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>208</a>;</li> - <li>the crime of William Gregg and the use made of it by Harley’s enemies, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>210</a>;</li> - <li>his dismissal from the Secretaryship, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>211</a>;</li> - <li>he intrigues against the Godolphin Ministry, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>212</a>;</li> - <li>becomes Chancellor of the Exchequer, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>213</a>;</li> - <li>his friendship with Swift, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>214</a>;</li> - <li>Guiscard’s attempt on his life and its results, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>217</a>;</li> - <li>he becomes Lord High Treasurer, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>219</a>;</li> - <li>his intercourse with the ‘October Club,’ 220;</li> - <li>and with the Jacobite exiles, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>221</a> <em>seqq.</em>;</li> - <li>his intercourse with George the First, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>229</a>;</li> - <li>his impeachment, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>230</a>;</li> - <li>and trial, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>232</a>;</li> - <li>returns to Parliament, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>233</a>;</li> - <li>his Domestic Life, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>234</a>;</li> - <li>the History of his Library, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>235</a>, <a href='#Page_477'>477</a> <em>seqq.</em>;</li> - <li>its Acquisition by Parliament, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>242</a>;</li> - <li>extracts from the Stuart Papers illustrative of the intercourse of Lord Oxford with the Jacobites subsequently to the Accession of George I, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>242</a> <em>seqq.</em></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c022'>Harley, Edward, Earl of Oxford, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>241</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>307</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Harpagus, Monuments of the Conquest of Xanthus by, <a href='#Page_662'>662</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Harpy Tomb, or Pandarus-Tomb, brought from Xanthus, <a href='#Page_649'>649</a>, <a href='#Page_654'>654</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Hartweg, Mr., Zoological Collections made in Mexico by, <a href='#Page_581'>581</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Hawes, Sir Benjamin, <a href='#Page_544'>544</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Hawkins, Edward, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>43</a>, <a href='#Page_532'>532</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Hawkins, Ernest, <a href='#Page_549'>549</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Hawkins, Thomas, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>34</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Hawley, Sir Henry, <a href='#Page_507'>507</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Hays’ Egyptian Antiquities, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>45</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Heber, Richard, <a href='#Page_483'>483</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Hebrew Books, Collections of, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>42</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>329</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Henrietta Maria, Queen Consort of Charles I, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>186</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Henry III, King of England, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>79</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Henry V, King of England, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>79</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Henry VII, King of England, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>113</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Henry VIII, King of England, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>54</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Henry, Prince of Wales, Life and Character, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>153</a> <em>seqq.</em>; - <ul> - <li>his intercourse with Ralegh and his influence upon Naval Affairs, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>160</a>;</li> - <li>his purchase of Lord Lumley’s Library, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>162</a>;</li> - <li>the projects for his marriage, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>164</a>;</li> - <li>his death, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>166</a>;</li> - <li>union of his Library with that at Whitehall, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>167</a>;</li> - <li>subsequent history of the Royal Library until its incorporation with the British Museum, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>168</a> <em>seqq.</em></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c022'>Heralds’ College, Arundelian MSS. at the, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>202</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Herbert, Edward, Lord Herbert of Cherbury, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>235</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Herbert, Elizabeth, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>134</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Herbert, Lord Chief Justice, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>278</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Herculaneum, Explorations at, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>353</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Hickes, Sir Michael, <a href='#Page_426'>426</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Hickes, Sir William, <a href='#Page_426'>426</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Hill, Sir John, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>322</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Hoare, Sir Richard Colt, Benefactions of, <a href='#Page_459'>459</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Hoeck, J. van, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>240</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Holles Bentinck, Margaret, Duchess of Portland, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>242</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Holles, Thomas, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>347</a></li> - <li class='c022'><span class='pageno' id='Page_774'>774</span>Holwell Carr, William, Bequest of Pictures to the British Museum by, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>30</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Homer, Palimpsest Fragments of, found amongst the MSS. from the Nitrian Monasteries, <a href='#Page_624'>624</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Honeywood, Elizabeth, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>133</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Hope Collection of Vases, <a href='#Page_715'>715</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Hornemann, Frederick, <a href='#Page_504'>504</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Horsley, Samuel, Bishop of St. Asaph, <a href='#Page_506'>506</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Hosking, William, <a href='#Page_586'>586</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Howard, Henry, Earl of Northampton, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>64</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>66</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>81</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>113</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Howard, Margaret, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>132</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Howard, Lady Philippa, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>370</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Howard, Philip, Earl of Arundel and Surrey, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>163</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>174</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Howard, Thomas, Earl of Arundel, Surrey, and Norfolk, Correspondence with Sir R. Cotton of, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>87</a>; - <ul> - <li>his early life and his career at Court, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>174</a> <em>seqq.</em>;</li> - <li>beginnings of his extensive Collections in literature, art, and archæology, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>177</a>;</li> - <li>his quarrel with Lord Spencer, <em>ib.</em>;</li> - <li>the adventure of his wife at Venice and its consequences, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>179</a>;</li> - <li>his imprisonment by Charles I, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>183</a> <em>seqq.</em>;</li> - <li>his efforts in Colonization, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>186</a>;</li> - <li>his withdrawal from England, and death, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>188</a>;</li> - <li>character and history of the Arundelian Collections, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>189</a> <em>seqq.</em></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c022'>Howard, Henry, Duke of Norfolk, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>197</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>199</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Howell, James, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>52</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>94</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>101</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Hubert, Robert, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>259</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Hugessen, Dorothea, <a href='#Page_503'>503</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Hugessen, William Weston, <a href='#Page_503'>503</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Hull, John Fowler, <a href='#Page_460'>460</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Humboldt, William von, <a href='#Page_455'>455</a>, <a href='#Page_501'>501</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Huntington, Robert, Bishop of Raphoe, <a href='#Page_609'>609</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Hutchinson, General Lord, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>362</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>367</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Hutton, William, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>340</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Hyde, Edward, Earl of Clarendon, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>265</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Hyde, Lawrence, Earl of Rochester, <a href='#Page_572'>572</a></li> - <li class='center'>I.</li> - <li class='c022'>Icelandic Books, <a href='#Page_497'>497</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Ignatius, St., Nitrian MSS. of the Epistles of, <a href='#Page_609'>609</a> <em>seqq.</em></li> - <li class='c022'>Inglis, Sir Robert Harry, <a href='#Page_542'>542</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Institute of Egypt, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>362</a> <em>seqq.</em></li> - <li class='c022'>Institute of France, <a href='#Page_505'>505</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Irish Manuscripts, Collections of, <a href='#Page_456'>456</a>, <a href='#Page_457'>457</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Italian Topography, Collection of, <a href='#Page_460'>460</a></li> - <li class='center'>J.</li> - <li class='c022'>Jackson, Cyril, <a href='#Page_422'>422</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Jacquier, M., <a href='#Page_509'>509</a></li> - <li class='c022'>James I, King of England, &c., <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>49</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>65</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>69</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>73</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>85</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>86</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>87</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>103</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>111</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>131</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>154</a></li> - <li class='c022'>James Stuart, Prince of Wales (called ‘The Old Pretender’), <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>221</a> <em>seqq.</em>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>244</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>245</a></li> - <li class='c022'>James, Richard, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>114</a> <em>seqq.</em></li> - <li class='c022'>Japanese Books, <a href='#Page_718'>718</a> <em>seqq.</em></li> - <li class='c022'>Jenkins, Thomas, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>372</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>376</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>377</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Jenkinson, Robert Banks, Earl of Liverpool, <a href='#Page_483'>483</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Johnson, Samuel, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>242</a>, <a href='#Page_469'>469</a>, <a href='#Page_470'>470</a>, <a href='#Page_471'>471</a>, <a href='#Page_473'>473</a>, <a href='#Page_475'>475</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Jolles, Sir John, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>59</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Jones, John Winter, <a href='#Page_568'>568</a>, <a href='#Page_575'>575</a>, <a href='#Page_600'>600</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Jones, Inigo, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>163</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Jonson, Benjamin, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>116</a></li> - <li class='c022'><em>Journal Britannique</em>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>343</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Joursanvault, Baron de, <a href='#Page_536'>536</a> <em>seqq.</em></li> - <li class='c022'>Junius, Francis, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>199</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Jussieu, Bernard de, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>289</a></li> - <li class='center'>K.</li> - <li class='c022'>Kaye, John, Bishop of Lincoln, <a href='#Page_441'>441</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Kennet, White, Bishop of Peterborough, <a href='#Page_427'>427</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Khorsabad and Kouyunjik, Discoveries at, <a href='#Page_629'>629</a> <em>seqq.</em></li> - <li class='c022'>King, Dr. William, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>286</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Knatchbull, Sir Edward, <a href='#Page_507'>507</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Knight, Gowin, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>321</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>342</a></li> - <li class='c022'><span class='pageno' id='Page_775'>775</span>Knight, Richard Payne, Notices of the Public and Literary Life, the Collections, the Writings, and the Benefactions of, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>401</a>–412, <a href='#Page_460'>460</a>; - <ul> - <li>his opinions and his Parliamentary Evidence on the Elgin Marbles, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>389</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>411</a> <em>seqq.</em></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c022'>Knightley, Sir Richard, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>254</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Kokscharow Minerals, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>42</a></li> - <li class='c022'>König, Charles, <a href='#Page_532'>532</a>, <a href='#Page_575'>575</a></li> - <li class='center'>L.</li> - <li class='c022'>La Billardière, M. de, Botanical and other Collections of, <a href='#Page_500'>500</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Lambarde, William, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>52</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Lambe, Dr., <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>87</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Lansdowne Manuscripts, <a href='#Page_526'>526</a> <em>seqq.</em></li> - <li class='c022'>Lansdowne, William, Marquess of. <em>See</em> <span class='sc'>Petty-Fitzmaurice</span></li> - <li class='c022'>Lartet, M., <a href='#Page_699'>699</a> <em>seqq.</em></li> - <li class='c022'>La Turbie Gems, <a href='#Page_691'>691</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Laud, Archbishop, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>151</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Laurenzano Collection, Marbles formerly in the, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>373</a> <em>seqq.</em></li> - <li class='c022'>La Vallière, Duke of, <a href='#Page_472'>472</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Layard, Austen Henry, Notices of the Travels, the Archæological Researches and Collections of, <a href='#Page_627'>627</a> <em>seqq.</em></li> - <li class='c022'>Leach, Dr., <a href='#Page_573'>573</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Leheup, Peter, and his dealings with the Foundation-Lottery of the British Museum, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>309</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>340</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Lemery, Nicholas, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>275</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Le Neve, Peter, <a href='#Page_435'>435</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Lennox, Esme, Duke of. <em>See</em> <span class='sc'>Stuart</span></li> - <li class='c022'>Leochares, Sculptures of, <a href='#Page_665'>665</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Lerma, Duke of, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>71</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Lethieullier, Pitt, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>347</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Lethieullier, Smart, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>347</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Lethieullier, William, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>347</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Levant Manuscripts, Early Researches for the Acquisition of, <a href='#Page_609'>609</a> <em>seqq.</em></li> - <li class='c022'>Lever, Sir Ashton, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>339</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Ley, James, Earl of Marlborough, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>53</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Leyden, Natural History Museum of, <a href='#Page_579'>579</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Limyra, Tombs of, <a href='#Page_658'>658</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Linart, M., Visit to the Monasteries of the Nitrian Desert of, <a href='#Page_610'>610</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Lincolnshire, Collections for, <a href='#Page_435'>435</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Lind, Dr., <a href='#Page_495'>495</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Linkh, James, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>397</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Linnæus, Charles, <a href='#Page_509'>509</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Lisle, William, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>87</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Lloyd, William, Bishop of Lichfield, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>236</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Locke, John, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>267</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Lomenie, Henry de, Count of Brienne, Manuscripts of, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>235</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Long, Charles, Lord Farnborough, <a href='#Page_456'>456</a>, <a href='#Page_483'>483</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Loureiro, John de, Herbarium of, <a href='#Page_509'>509</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Lucar, Cyril, Patriarch of Constantinople, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>167</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Lumley, John, Lord Lumley, Library of, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>162</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Lusieri, John Baptist, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>382</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Lycian Marbles, <a href='#Page_645'>645</a> <em>seqq.</em></li> - <li class='c022'>Lyttelton, Sir Edward, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>254</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Lyttelton, Sir Thomas, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>206</a></li> - <li class='center'>M.</li> - <li class='c022'>Macclesfield, Earl of. <em>See</em> <span class='sc'>Parker</span></li> - <li class='c022'>Madden, Sir Frederick, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>122</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>141</a>, <a href='#Page_523'>523</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Magna Græcia, Antiquities from, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>351</a> <em>seqq.</em></li> - <li class='c022'>Major, Richard Henry, <a href='#Page_471'>471</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Manchester, Henry, Earl of. <em>See</em> <span class='sc'>Montagu</span></li> - <li class='c022'>Manuscript Collections, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>242</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>303</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>304</a>, <a href='#Page_426'>426</a>, <a href='#Page_455'>455</a>, <a href='#Page_460'>460</a>, <a href='#Page_461'>461</a>, <a href='#Page_485'>485</a>, <a href='#Page_523'>523</a>, <a href='#Page_616'>616</a>–624, <a href='#Page_707'>707</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Map and Chart Collections, <a href='#Page_471'>471</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Marsden’s Collections of Oriental Coins, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>35</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Maty, Matthew, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>322</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>342</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Mausoleum of Halicarnassus, Sculptures of the, <a href='#Page_664'>664</a> <em>seqq.</em></li> - <li class='c022'>Mausoleum and Cinerary Urns, <a href='#Page_522'>522</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Maynwaring, Roger, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>87</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Menou, General, and the Egyptian Antiquities collected by the French Explorers, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>363</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Menzies, Archibald, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>334</a></li> - <li class='c022'><span class='pageno' id='Page_776'>776</span>Merret, Christopher, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>290</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Mewtas, Thomas, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>117</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Millard, John, <a href='#Page_541'>541</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Mineralogical Collections, <a href='#Page_459'>459</a>, <a href='#Page_510'>510</a>, <a href='#Page_521'>521</a></li> - <li class='c022'><em>Minutes of Evidence before Select Committee on the British Museum</em> of 1835–36, <a href='#Page_555'>555</a>, <a href='#Page_558'>558</a>; - <ul> - <li>—<em>before the Royal Commissioners of 1848–50</em>, <a href='#Page_566'>566</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c022'>Moll, Baron von, <a href='#Page_413'>413</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Mommsen, Tycho, MSS. of, <a href='#Page_457'>457</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Monck Mason, Henry, MSS. of, <a href='#Page_457'>457</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Monk, Christopher, Duke of Albemarle, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>270</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Montagu, Colonel George, Collections in Zoology of, and his public benefaction, <a href='#Page_459'>459</a>, <a href='#Page_576'>576</a>, <a href='#Page_692'>692</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Montagu, John, Earl of Sandwich, <a href='#Page_489'>489</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Montagu, Ralph, Duke of Montagu, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>319</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Montagu House and its history, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>319</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>324</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Monticelli’s Minerals, <a href='#Page_521'>521</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Morghens, Raphael, Prints of, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>36</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Moritz, Charles, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>338</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Morrison, Robert, Chinese Library of, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>37</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Morton, Dr. Charles, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>322</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>344</a>, <a href='#Page_519'>519</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Mouncey, John, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>250</a></li> - <li class='c022'><em>Museum Tradescantianum</em>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>259</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Musgrave, Sir William, Benefactions of, <a href='#Page_416'>416</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Myra, Casts of Rock-Tombs at, <a href='#Page_660'>660</a></li> - <li class='center'>N.</li> - <li class='c022'>Napier of Magdala, Lord, Efforts for the collection of Abyssinian MSS. and Antiquities during the late Campaign made by, <a href='#Page_703'>703</a> <em>seqq.</em></li> - <li class='c022'>Napoleon and the Institute of Cairo, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>366</a>; - <ul> - <li>his plans for the acquisition of the Marbles of the Parthenon, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>384</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c022'>Natural History Collections, Propositions which have been made for the removal of the, <a href='#Page_513'>513</a>, <a href='#Page_594'>594</a> <em>seqq.</em>, <a href='#Page_744'>744</a> <em>seqq.</em></li> - <li class='c022'><em>Natural History of Jamaica</em>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>289</a> <em>seqq.</em></li> - <li class='c022'>Nelson, Horatio, Lord Nelson, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>356</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>359</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>361</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Neville, Sir Henry, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>55</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Newton, Adam, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>157</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Newton, Charles Thomas, Researches for Antiquities at Halicarnassus, Branchidæ, Cnidus, &c., of, <a href='#Page_663'>663</a> <em>seqq.</em>; - <ul> - <li>his labours in respect to the Woodhouse Collection, <a href='#Page_704'>704</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c022'>Newton, Sir Isaac, <a href='#Page_499'>499</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Nice, Daniel, Museum of, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>195</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Nicolas, Sir Harris, <a href='#Page_535'>535</a>, <a href='#Page_541'>541</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Nimeguen, Discovery of Ancient Bronzes near, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>409</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Nimroud, Excavations of Mr. Layard and his Successors at, <a href='#Page_629'>629</a> <em>seqq.</em></li> - <li class='c022'>Nitrian Monasteries, Account of the successive researches for MSS. in the Libraries of the, <a href='#Page_609'>609</a> <em>seqq.</em></li> - <li class='c022'>Norgate, Edward, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>195</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Northampton, Henry, Earl of. <em>See</em> <span class='sc'>Howard</span></li> - <li class='center'>O.</li> - <li class='c022'>Oldisworth, William, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>124</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Onslow, Arthur, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>306</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Orsini, Flavio, MSS. of, <a href='#Page_457'>457</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Osborne, Sir John, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>240</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Oswald, James, <a href='#Page_673'>673</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Ouseley, Sir Gore, <a href='#Page_461'>461</a>, <a href='#Page_509'>509</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Overbury, Sir Thomas, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>67</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>81</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>82</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>83</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Owen, Admiral Sir Edward, <a href='#Page_651'>651</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Owen, Richard, on the growth and progress of the Zoological Collections, <a href='#Page_602'>602</a>, <a href='#Page_694'>694</a>; - <ul> - <li>on the state, classification, and requirements of the Collection of Minerals, <a href='#Page_606'>606</a>.</li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='center'>P.</li> - <li class='c022'>Pacho, Mr., negotiates the transfer from the Monastery of St. Mary Deipara of a residuary Collection of Syrian MSS. previously withheld, <a href='#Page_618'>618</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Paiafa, Xanthian tomb of, <a href='#Page_652'>652</a>, <a href='#Page_658'>658</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Palmer, Sir Geoffrey, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>263</a></li> - <li class='c022'><span class='pageno' id='Page_777'>777</span>Pandarus, Lycian Marbles illustrative of the Legend of, <a href='#Page_654'>654</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Panizzi, Sir Antonio, <a href='#Page_485'>485</a>, <a href='#Page_523'>523</a>, <a href='#Page_543'>543</a>, <a href='#Page_546'>546</a>, <a href='#Page_552'>552</a>, <a href='#Page_558'>558</a>, <a href='#Page_559'>559</a>, <a href='#Page_560'>560</a>, <a href='#Page_563'>563</a>, <a href='#Page_567'>567</a>, <a href='#Page_570'>570</a>, <a href='#Page_704'>704</a>; - <ul> - <li>his influence on the bequest of the Grenville Library, <a href='#Page_678'>678</a> <em>seqq.</em>;</li> - <li>his designs and labours for the construction of the New Reading-Room, <a href='#Page_586'>586</a> <em>seqq.</em>;</li> - <li>his account of the choice books in the Grenville Collection, <a href='#Page_681'>681</a> <em>seqq.</em>;</li> - <li>testimony borne in Parliament in 1866 to his public services, <a href='#Page_583'>583</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c022'>Papin, Dionysius, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>276</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Paramythia (in Epirus), Discovery of ancient Bronzes at, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>407</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Paris and London Museums compared, <a href='#Page_579'>579</a>, <a href='#Page_581'>581</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Parker, George, Earl of Macclesfield, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>299</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>304</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Parker, Matthew, Archbishop of Canterbury, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>58</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Parry, John Humffreys, <a href='#Page_568'>568</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Paynell, Robert, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>241</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Pelham, Henry, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>307</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>309</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Pell, John, <a href='#Page_427'>427</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Pennant, Thomas, <a href='#Page_496'>496</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Percy, Algernon, Duke of Northumberland, <a href='#Page_610'>610</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Perez, Anthony, <a href='#Page_457'>457</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Persepolitan Marbles, <a href='#Page_461'>461</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Persian MSS., <a href='#Page_456'>456</a>, <a href='#Page_459'>459</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Peters, Hugh, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>168</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Petiver, James, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>290</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Pett, Phineas, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>161</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Petty, William, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>191</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>193</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Petty-Fitzmaurice, William, Marquess of Lansdowne, <a href='#Page_426'>426</a> <em>seqq.</em>, <a href='#Page_672'>672</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Petyt, William, <a href='#Page_435'>435</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Phigaleia, Marbles of, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>396</a> <em>seqq.</em></li> - <li class='c022'>Phœnician Glass, <a href='#Page_708'>708</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Piaggi, Anthony, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>358</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Pierre-Luisit (Pays-de-Bugey), Discovery of ancient Sculpture at, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>407</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Pindar, Sir Paul, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>260</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>267</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Pinelli Library, <a href='#Page_438'>438</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Pirckheimer Library, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>195</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Pitton de Tournefort, Joseph, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>267</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Planta, Andrew, <a href='#Page_517'>517</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Planta, Joseph, Notices of the Life, Literary Works, and Public Services of, <a href='#Page_517'>517</a> <em>seqq.</em></li> - <li class='c022'>Portland Vase, History of the, <a href='#Page_461'>461</a> <em>seqq.</em></li> - <li class='c022'>Pourtalès Collection of Antiquities, <a href='#Page_669'>669</a></li> - <li class='c022'><em>Proposition to bridle the Impertinency of Parliaments</em>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>100</a></li> - <li class='center'>R.</li> - <li class='c022'>Ralegh, Sir Walter, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>87</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>113</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>147</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>160</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>161</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>187</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Ratcliffe, John, <a href='#Page_476'>476</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Rawlinson, Sir Henry, <a href='#Page_641'>641</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Ray, John, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>275</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>282</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Reid, George William, on Prints in the Slade Collection, <a href='#Page_716'>716</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Rich, Claudius James, <a href='#Page_459'>459</a>, <a href='#Page_616'>616</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Robartes, John, Earl of Radnor, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>241</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Roberts, Edward, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>25</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Roe, Sir Thomas, Researches in the Levant of, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>167</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>192</a> <em>seqq.</em></li> - <li class='c022'>Rosetta Inscription, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>365</a> <em>seqq.</em></li> - <li class='c022'>Royal Academy of Arts, <a href='#Page_471'>471</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Royal Society, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>284</a> <em>seqq.</em>, <a href='#Page_498'>498</a> <em>seqq.</em></li> - <li class='c022'>Russell, John, Duke of Bedford, <a href='#Page_524'>524</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Rycaut, Sir Paul, <a href='#Page_427'>427</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Rye, William Brenchley, <a href='#Page_719'>719</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Rymer, Thomas, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>328</a></li> - <li class='center'>S.</li> - <li class='c022'>Saint-John, Henry, Viscount Bolingbroke, 212 <em>seqq.</em>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>309</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Saint-John, Oliver, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>110</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>114</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Salisbury, Earl of. <em>See</em> <span class='sc'>Cecil</span></li> - <li class='c022'>Salway, Richard, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>268</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Sancroft, William, Archbishop of Canterbury, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>235</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Saunders, Dr. Sedgwick, on certain MSS. in the Cotton Collection, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>151</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Saunders, William, <a href='#Page_703'>703</a> <em>seqq.</em></li> - <li class='c022'><span class='pageno' id='Page_778'>778</span>Scharf, George, <a href='#Page_645'>645</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Scopas, Sculptures of, <a href='#Page_665'>665</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Segar, Sir William, <a href='#Page_435'>435</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Seguier, Peter, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>235</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>240</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Selden, John, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>97</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>130</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>131</a>, <a href='#Page_419'>419</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Sennacherib, Sculptural Monuments of, <a href='#Page_633'>633</a>, <a href='#Page_640'>640</a> <em>seqq.</em></li> - <li class='c022'>Serra, Marquess (of Genoa), <a href='#Page_665'>665</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Seymour, Edward, Duke of Somerset, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>64</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>211</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Sheepshanks, John, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>35</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Sicily, Archæological Researches in, <a href='#Page_668'>668</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Siebold, Philip Francis von, Travels and Researches in Japan of, <a href='#Page_717'>717</a> <em>seqq.</em>; - <ul> - <li>his Japanese Libraries, <a href='#Page_718'>718</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c022'>Slade, Felix, Collections and Bequests of, <a href='#Page_707'>707</a> <em>seqq.</em></li> - <li class='c022'>Sloane, Sir Hans: - <ul> - <li>1660–1677–1683. Parentage, and early education in Ireland, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>274</a></li> - <li>1678. Studies Chemistry, Botany, and Medicine in London, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>275</a></li> - <li>1683. Goes to France to prosecute his professional and scientific education, <em>ib.</em></li> - <li>1684. Commences his medical career in London, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>276</a></li> - <li>1687. Proceeds to the West Indies as Physician to the Governor-General and to the Fleet, and during that Voyage begins the formation of his Museum, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>278</a> <em>seqq.</em></li> - <li>1689. Returns to England with extensive Collections, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>281</a></li> - <li>1693. Becomes Secretary of the Royal Society, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>282</a></li> - <li>1696. Publishes his first scientific work, <em>ib.</em></li> - <li>1690 to 1727. Resumes the publication of the suspended <em>Philosophical Transactions</em>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>284</a>; - <ul> - <li>Discussions between Sloane and Woodward, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>286</a>;</li> - <li>Enumeration of the honours and distinctions conferred upon him, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>287</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li>1708. Publishes the first volume of the <em>Natural History of Jamaica</em>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>288</a></li> - <li>1710–18. Incorporation of the Collections of Plukenet, Petiver, and others, with Sloane’s Museum, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>290</a>; - <ul> - <li>his extensive correspondence and charities, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>291</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li>1741. Retires to his Manor House at Chelsea, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>293</a></li> - <li>1748. Visit to the Sloane Museum of the Prince and Princess of Wales, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>294</a></li> - <li>1748–9. Last Will and Codicils, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>296</a> <em>seqq.</em>; - <ul> - <li>declining years and death, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>300</a>;</li> - <li>Comparative Synoptical Table of his Museum in 1725 and in 1753, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>303</a>;</li> - <li>its acquisition by Parliament and its public establishment, in 1753, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>304</a> <em>seqq.</em></li> - </ul> - </li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c022'>Smirke, Sir Robert, <a href='#Page_584'>584</a> <em>seqq.</em></li> - <li class='c022'>Smirke, Sydney, <a href='#Page_587'>587</a> <em>seqq.</em>, <a href='#Page_596'>596</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Smith and Porcher, Explorations at Cyrene of Messrs., <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>40</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Smith, Joseph, <a href='#Page_469'>469</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Smith, Robert, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>59</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Smith, Dr. Thomas, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>142</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Smith, Sir Thomas, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>235</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Solander, Daniel Charles, <a href='#Page_491'>491</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Soltikoff Collection, <a href='#Page_712'>712</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Somers, John, Lord Somers, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>139</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Somerset, Earl of. <em>See</em> <span class='sc'>Carr</span></li> - <li class='c022'>Somerville, Lord, <a href='#Page_480'>480</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Sonnini de Manoncourt, Charles N. S., Researches in the Nitrian Monasteries of, <a href='#Page_610'>610</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Spanish MSS., <a href='#Page_456'>456</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Spanish Poetry and Drama, Chorley Collection of, <a href='#Page_695'>695</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Spano (Canon), of Cagliari, <a href='#Page_626'>626</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Spencer, Charles, Earl of Sunderland, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>239</a></li> - <li class='c022'><em>Specimens of Ancient Sculpture</em>, <a href='#Page_735'>735</a> <em>seqq.</em>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>410</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Spelman, Sir Henry, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>124</a></li> - <li class='c022'><span class='pageno' id='Page_779'>779</span>Spratt, T. A. B., Researches in Lycia of, <a href='#Page_668'>668</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Stephen, James Francis, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>38</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Strozzi Gems, <a href='#Page_691'>691</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Stuart, Esme, Duke of Lennox, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>71</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>182</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Suffolk, Thomas, Earl of. <em>See</em> <span class='sc'>Howard</span></li> - <li class='c022'>Swift, Jonathan, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>214</a> <em>seqq.</em></li> - <li class='center'>T.</li> - <li class='c022'>Tattam, Henry, Researches in the Nitrian Monasteries of, <a href='#Page_613'>613</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Theyer, Charles and John, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>168</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Thomason, George, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>331</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Thoresby, John, Visit to Courten’s Museum of, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>270</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Tischendorf’s Visit to the Nitrian Monasteries, <a href='#Page_618'>618</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Towneley, Charles, Birth and Ancestry of, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>369</a>; - <ul> - <li>his Continental Education and Travels, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>370</a>;</li> - <li>History of his Collection of Ancient Sculpture, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>372</a> <em>seqq.</em>;</li> - <li>his return to Italy and further enlargement of his Gallery, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>377</a> <em>seqq.</em>;</li> - <li>its testamentary disposal, and subsequent acquisition by Parliament, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>379</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c022'>Tradescant’s Museum, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>259</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Tyrwhitt, Thomas, Benefactions of, <a href='#Page_417'>417</a></li> - <li class='center'>U.</li> - <li class='c022'>Utica, Archæological Researches at, <a href='#Page_666'>666</a> <em>seqq.</em></li> - <li class='center'>V.</li> - <li class='c022'>Vase Collections, Notices of the growth and extent of the, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>351</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>386</a> <em>seqq.</em></li> - <li class='c022'>Villiers, George, Duke of Buckingham, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>68</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>73</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>84</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>85</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>86</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>91</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>99</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>100</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>116</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Vincent, Augustine, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>87</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Vossius, Gerard John, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>235</a></li> - <li class='center'>W.</li> - <li class='c022'>Wake, Sir Isaac, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>195</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Walker, Sir Edward, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>176</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Walpole, Horace, Earl of Orford, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>309</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>310</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>322</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>405</a>, <a href='#Page_415'>415</a>, <a href='#Page_426'>426</a>, <a href='#Page_429'>429</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Wanley, Humphrey, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>143</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>235</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>236</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>238</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>240</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>241</a>, <a href='#Page_427'>427</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Warburton, John, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>240</a>, <a href='#Page_435'>435</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Warburton, William, Bishop of Gloucester, <a href='#Page_457'>457</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Ward, Dr. John, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>336</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>347</a>, <a href='#Page_519'>519</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Watts, Thomas, Notice of the Literary Life and Public Services of, <a href='#Page_554'>554</a> <em>seqq.</em>; - <ul> - <li>his remarks on the new buildings of the Museum, <a href='#Page_585'>585</a> <em>seqq.</em>;</li> - <li>his account of the specimens of Bookbinding in the Slade Collection, <a href='#Page_716'>716</a>;</li> - <li>and of the Japanese Library of P. F. von Siebold, <a href='#Page_719'>719</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c022'>Watson-Wentworth, Charles, Marquis of Rockingham, <a href='#Page_429'>429</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Webb, Philip Carteret, <a href='#Page_426'>426</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Wedgwood, Josiah, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>358</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Wendeborn, Frederick, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>338</a>, <a href='#Page_485'>485</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Wentworth, Thomas, Earl of Strafford, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>111</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>186</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Wesenham Family, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>49</a></li> - <li class='c022'>West, James, <a href='#Page_427'>427</a>, <a href='#Page_476'>476</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Whitaker, Lawrence, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>117</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Whitelocke, Bulstrode, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>168</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Wilbraham, Roger, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>409</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Williams, John, Archbishop of York, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>87</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>124</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Witt, George, <a href='#Page_696'>696</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Wood, Antiquarian explorations at Ephesus of Mr. Consul, <a href='#Page_669'>669</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Woodhouse, James, Museum of Antiquities formed at Corfu by, <a href='#Page_702'>702</a>; - <ul> - <li>its bequest to the Public, and the circumstances attendant thereon, <a href='#Page_703'>703</a> <em>seqq.</em></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c022'>Woodward, Dr. John, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>259</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>286</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Wotton, Sir Henry, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>179</a>, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>181</a></li> - <li class='center'>X.</li> - <li class='c022'><span class='pageno' id='Page_780'>780</span>Xanthus and its sculptured monuments, Discovery by Sir C. Fellows of, <a href='#Page_645'>645</a> <em>seqq.</em></li> - <li class='center'>Y.</li> - <li class='c022'>Yelverton, Sir Henry, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>178</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Young, Arthur, <a href='#Page_480'>480</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Young, Patrick, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>167</a></li> - <li class='c022'>Young, Thomas, <a href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>367</a></li> -</ul> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c002'> - <div><span class='small'>PRINTED BY J. E. ADLARD, BARTHOLOMEW CLOSE.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<hr class='c023' /> -<div class='footnote' id='f1'> -<p class='c011'><a href='#r1'>1</a>. </p> -<div class='lg-container-b c012'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“Or must I, as a wit, with learned air</div> - <div class='line'>Like Doctor Dibdin, to Tom Payne’s repair,</div> - <div class='line'>Meet Cyril Jackson and mild Cracherode there?</div> - <div class='line'>‘Hold!’ cries Tom Payne, ‘that margin let me measure,</div> - <div class='line'>And rate the separate value of the treasure’</div> - <div class='line'>Eager they gaze. ‘Well, Sirs, the feat is done.</div> - <div class='line'>Cracherode’s <cite>Poetæ Principes</cite> have won!’”</div> - <div class='line in20'>Mathias, <cite>Pursuits of Literature</cite>.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f2'> -<p class='c011'><a href='#r2'>2</a>. Loakes had been purchased from the last owner of the Archdall -family by Henry, Earl of Shelburne. Earl William (first Marquess of -Lansdowne) eventually sold it to the ancestor of the present Lord -Carrington.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f3'> -<p class='c011'><a href='#r3'>3</a>. See, hereafter, in life of T. Grenville, Book III, c. 2.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f4'> -<p class='c011'><a href='#r4'>4</a>. This famous speech was delivered on the 5th of March, 1778. ‘<em>Then</em>,’ -said Lord Shelburne, after denouncing measures which would sever the -Colonies from the Kingdom, ‘the sun of Great Britain is set. We shall -be no more a powerful or even a respectable people.’—<cite>Parliamentary -Debates</cite>, vol. xix, col. 850.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f5'> -<p class='c011'><a href='#r5'>5</a>. More than one of Burney’s scholars was accustomed to speak feelingly -on the topic of ancient school ‘discipline’ when any passing incident -led the talk in that direction in after life.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f6'> -<p class='c011'><a href='#r6'>6</a>. This small fact in classical bibliography is remarkable enough to -call for some particular exemplifications, beyond those given in the text, -on a former page. Of the three greatest Greek dramatists, Burney had -315 editions against 75 in the Library of the British Museum. Of -Homer he had 87 against 45; of Aristophanes, 74 against 23; of Demosthenes, -50 against 18; and of the <cite>Anthologia</cite>, 30 against 19.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f7'> -<p class='c011'><a href='#r7'>7</a>. It was also from the Edwards fund that the whole costs of the -Oriental MSS. of Halhed, and of the Minerals of Hatchett, together -with those of several other early and important acquisitions, were -defrayed. That fund, in truth, was the mainstay of the Museum during -the years of parliamentary parsimony.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f8'> -<p class='c011'><a href='#r8'>8</a>. Of these four thousand pounds, two thousand three hundred and -forty-five pounds seem to have been expended in Printed Books; the -remainder, probably, in Manuscripts.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f9'> -<p class='c011'><a href='#r9'>9</a>. To give but one example: Samuel Burder—the author of the excellent -work, so illustrative of Biblical literature, entitled <cite>Oriental Customs</cite>—states, -in his MS. correspondence now before me, that the <em>only</em> effective -reward given to him, in the course of his long labours, was given by Lord -Bridgewater. The book above mentioned was ‘successful,’ ‘but,’ he -says, ‘the booksellers, as usual, reaped the harvest,’ not the author. -It is—shall I say?—an amusing comment on this latter clause, to find -that in one of his letters to Lord Bridgewater, Burder states that -the person who took the most kindly notice of his literary labours, -next after Lord Bridgewater himself, was—the Emperor of Russia -(Alexander I).</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f10'> -<p class='c011'><a href='#r10'>10</a>. These form the Egerton MSS. 215 to 262 inclusive.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f11'> -<p class='c011'><a href='#r11'>11</a>. Horace Walpole, at this sale, purchased the fine MS., with drawings -by Julio Clovio, which was long an ornament of the villa at Strawberry -Hill, and also a choice cameo of Jupiter Serapis, for which he gave a -hundred and seventy-three pounds. He preferred, he said, either of -them to the vase. So, at least, he fancied when he found it unattainable. -‘I am glad,’ he wrote to Conway (18 June, 1786), ‘that Sir Joshua saw -no more excellence in the <em>Jupiter</em> than in the Clovio, or the Duke, I -suppose, would have purchased it as he did the Vase—for £1000. I told -Sir William and the late Duchess—when I never thought that it would -be mine—that I would rather have the head than the vase.’</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f12'> -<p class='c011'><a href='#r12'>12</a>. Lord Harcourt resigned his office of Governor to the Prince at the -beginning of December, 1752. Scott, then the Prince’s tutor, was -recommended to his office by Bolingbroke. The Bishop of Peterborough’s -appointment as Preceptor was made in January, 1753. -Among the books complained of, the <cite><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Histoire de la Grande Bretagne</span></cite> -of Father Orléans, and the <cite><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Introduction à la vie du Roi Henri IV</span></cite> of -another Jesuit, Father Péréfixe, are said to have been included. Another -and more famous book, which was much in Prince George’s hands in his -early years, was also obnoxious to the Whigs—Bolingbroke’s <cite>Idea of a -Patriot King</cite>. But it would scarcely have been prudent in the malcontents -to have put a work which (whatever its faults) ranks, to some extent, -among our English classics, in the same expurgatory, or prohibitory, -index with the books of Orléans and of Péréfixe. If George the Third -got some harm out of Lord Bolingbroke’s book, he probably obtained -also some good. Pure Whiggism—pure but not simple—has never been -noted for any discriminating tolerance of spirit. And, in 1752, it was -furious at the prospect that the continuance of its long domination was -imperilled.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f13'> -<p class='c011'><a href='#r13'>13</a>. The mansion for which the Trustees of the British Museum had -been asked to give £30,000 was sold, five years afterwards, to the King -for £20,000. It was purchased for the Queen as a jointure-house in lieu -of her proper mansion, Somerset House, then devoted to public purposes. -All the royal princes and princesses were born in Buckingham House, -except George IV, and one, perhaps, of the younger children.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f14'> -<p class='c011'><a href='#r14'>14</a>. The story, I observe, has been endorsed in Mr. Blades’ excellent <cite>Life -of Caxton</cite> (see part 2, p. 268), but it is undoubtedly a distortion or -exaggeration of some chance occurrence. No such series could have -been formed otherwise than, in the main, by systematic research.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f15'> -<p class='c011'><a href='#r15'>15</a>. <cite>Edinburgh Weekly Journal</cite>, Feb. 1820. The article is reprinted in -<cite>Miscellaneous Prose Works</cite>, Edition of 1841, vol. ii, p. 184.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f16'> -<p class='c011'><a href='#r16'>16</a>. ‘Ralph Robinson’ is the name signed to the communications to the -<cite>Annals of Agriculture</cite>, but they are dated from Windsor. (See <cite>Annals</cite>, -vol. vii, 1787.)</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f17'> -<p class='c011'><a href='#r17'>17</a>. Curiously enough, three volumes of the Georgian MSS. had belonged -to Sir Hans Sloane, and had, in some unexplained way, come to be -separated from the bulk of his Collection. They now rejoined their old -companions in Great Russell Street.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f18'> -<p class='c011'><a href='#r18'>18</a>. See, before, p. 339.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f19'> -<p class='c011'><a href='#r19'>19</a>. John Montagu, fourth Earl of Sandwich (1729–1792).</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f20'> -<p class='c011'><a href='#r20'>20</a>. Solander, who was afterwards to be so intimately connected with the -Banksian Collections, had been for some years in this country when he -was selected by Banks to be one of his companions in the voyage of <cite>The -Endeavour</cite>. He was born in Sweden, in the year 1736. He came to -England in July, 1760. He succeeded Dr. Maty, as Under-Librarian of -the British Museum, in 1773, when Maty was made Principal-Librarian. -At that date he had already served the Trustees for many years as one of -their Assistant-Librarians.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f21'> -<p class='c011'><a href='#r21'>21</a>. See Book I, c. 6.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f22'> -<p class='c011'><a href='#r22'>22</a>. Bishop Horsley certainly forgot the ever-memorable words which -he had so often read—Matt. v, 44—when he, a prelate, signed himself -‘Misogallus.’</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f23'> -<p class='c011'><a href='#r23'>23</a>. Morton died at eighty-three; Planta, at eighty-four; Ellis, at -ninety-two. Morton, as we have seen, was known to Sir Hans Sloane. -Sloane was already a noted man in the days of Charles the Second; -and he also lived to be ninety-two. The joint lives of Sloane, Morton, -and Ellis extended over nearly two hundred and ten years.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f24'> -<p class='c011'><a href='#r24'>24</a>. I do not make this statement without ample warrant. When preparing, -under Lord Romilly’s direction, my humble contribution of -the lost <cite>Liber de Hyda</cite> to the series of <cite>Chronicles and Memorials</cite>, I had -competent occasion to test the <cite>Monasticon</cite> of 1813–1824, and found it to -teem with errors and oversights in that part of it which I had then to -do with. I had had other occasions to study it somewhat closely twenty -years before, and with like result. At the interval of twenty years, one -could hardly stumble twice upon exceptionally ill-edited portions of such -a book. For the new ‘Dugdale,’ thus truthfully characterised, subscribers -paid a hundred and thirty pounds for small paper, two hundred -and sixty pounds for large paper, copies; and the number of subscribers -was considerable. So much for the ‘We must retrench’ of the -publishers.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f25'> -<p class='c011'><a href='#r25'>25</a>. After stating that Mr. Ellis had made needless proclamation at -Paris of the object of his journey, Sir Harris Nicolas proceeds thus:—‘Not -contented with this injudicious and useless development of the -objects in view, the learned gentleman himself pompously announced -wherever he went that he was the “Chief Librarian of the British -Museum,” sent specially to treat for these manuscripts, thus making a -public affair of what should have been kept private. The effect of this -folly may easily be imagined. Long before the “Chief Librarian” -reached Pomard, the French newspapers expressed their indignation -that historical muniments should be sold to the British Government, -inferring that England must be anxious to possess the records in -question, when the purchase of them was made an official business.</p> - -<p class='c011'>‘The effect of all this parade upon the owner of the manuscripts was a -natural one; he fancied he had erred in his estimate of their value, and -that, as they seemed to be objects of national importance to another -Government, he resolved to make that Government pay at a much -higher rate, for what they manifested such extraordinary anxiety to -obtain, than a private individual. On the “Chief Librarian’s” arrival at -Pomard, he discovered that the Baron could speak little English; and -the Baron, as he has since asserted, discovered that the “Chief -Librarian” could speak less French; hence it was with great difficulty -that the latter could understand that the Baron had become so enlightened -about his treasures as to expect, not merely double the price he -originally asked for them, but as our Government had interfered on the -subject, he wished it to advance one step further, by inducing his Most -Christian Majesty to raise his Barony into a Comté. Such terms were -out of the question; and after spending two or three hours only in examining -the Collection, but which required at least as many weeks, the -“Chief Librarian” returned to England <em>re infecta</em>, and made his report -to the Trustees, who refused to purchase the Collection, but offered to -buy a few documents, which the owner, of course, declined. Thus, highly -valuable documents are lost to the Museum and to the country, in consequence, -solely and entirely, of the absurd measures adopted for their -acquisition.’—<span class='sc'>Nicolas</span>, <cite>Observations on the State of Historical Literature -in England</cite>, pp. 78–80. My long and observant acquaintance with Sir -H. Nicolas justifies me in adding to this extract—in which there are -such obvious exaggerations of statement—that I am convinced he was -writing from insufficient and inaccurate information. He was incapable -of wilful misstatement.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f26'> -<p class='c011'><a href='#r26'>26</a>. I was myself present at an interview (in Lambeth), when the most -urgent influence was used with Mr. Hawes to induce him to attack -Mr. Panizzi’s original appointment as an ‘Assistant-Librarian’; and I -heard him express a strong approval of it, on the ground of the obvious -qualifications and abilities of the individual officer—though himself -sharing the opinion that in such appointments Englishmen should -have the preference.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f27'> -<p class='c011'><a href='#r27'>27</a>. It was in the old rooms in the Court-yard of Montagu House that -Charles Lamb enjoyed the last, I think, of his ‘dinings-out.’ A few -days after his final visit (November, 1834) the hand of Death was already -upon him. Cary, before writing the well-known epitaph, wrote some other -graceful and touching lines on his old friend. They were occasioned by -finding, in a volume lent to Lamb by Cary, Lamb’s bookmark, against -a page which told of the death of Sydney. They begin thus:—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c012'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in1'>‘So should it be, my gentle friend,</div> - <div class='line in2'>Thy leaf last closed at Sydney’s end;</div> - <div class='line in2'>Thou too, like Sydney, wouldst have given</div> - <div class='line in2'>The water, thirsting, and near Heaven.’</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f28'> -<p class='c011'><a href='#r28'>28</a>. It is necessary that I should state, with precision, the sources of the -information conveyed in the text. I rely, chiefly, on three several sources, -one of which is publicly accessible. My main knowledge of the matter -rests (first) upon the <cite>Minutes of Evidence</cite> taken by Lord Ellesmere’s -Commission of 1848–1850; (secondly) upon conversations with the late -Mr. Edward Hawkins, held in July and August, 1837, not long after -the appearance of Mr. Cary’s letter in <cite>The Times</cite>; (thirdly) upon a conversation, -on the same subject, with which I was honoured by Sir Henry -Ellis in 1839.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f29'> -<p class='c011'><a href='#r29'>29</a>. I believe that his earliest contribution consisted of some articles -entitled ‘Notes of a Reader,’ published in 1830, in a periodical (long -since defunct) called <cite>The Spirit of Literature</cite>. These were written and -printed long before Mr. Watts became a correspondent of the <cite>Mechanics’ -Magazine</cite>, as mentioned in the text.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f30'> -<p class='c011'><a href='#r30'>30</a>. In <cite>Minutes of Evidence</cite> (page 596) printed erroneously ‘<em>reasonable</em>.’ -To the brief extract, for which alone I can here afford space, were -appended, in the original Report, many pertinent amplifications and -illustrations. Some of these are given in the <cite>Minutes of Evidence</cite> above -referred to.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f31'> -<p class='c011'><a href='#r31'>31</a>. The ‘successor’ referred to is Mr. Winter Jones, then Keeper of -Printed Books, now Principal-Librarian of the British Museum.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f32'> -<p class='c011'><a href='#r32'>32</a>. Birch, <cite>Ancient Pottery</cite>, vol. i, pp. 209, 210.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f33'> -<p class='c011'><a href='#r33'>33</a>. If the question of mere hints and analogies in construction were to -be followed out to its issues, the result, I feel assured, would in no -degree tend to strengthen the contention of Mr. Hosking’s pamphlet. -Something like a first germ of the mere ground-plan of the new Reading-Room -may, perhaps, be found in M. Benjamin Delessert’s <cite><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Projet -d’une Bibliothèque circulaire</span></cite>, printed, at Paris, as far back as the year -1835, when the question of reconstructing the then ‘Royal,’ now -‘Imperial Library,’ was under discussion in the French Chambers. ‘I -propose,’ says Delessert, ‘to place the officers and the readers in the -centre of a vast rotunda, whence branch off eight principal galleries, the -walls of which form diverging radii ... and <em>have book-cases on both -sides</em>,’ &c. His plan may be thus shown, in small. The differences, it -will be seen, between this sketch and Mr. Panizzi’s sketch of 1854, are -greater than are the resemblances.</p> - -<div class='figcenter id001'> -<img src='images/i_587.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -</div> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f34'> -<p class='c011'><a href='#r34'>34</a>. Namely, two millions five hundred and twenty-seven thousand two -hundred and sixteen visits, which <em>included</em> seventy-eight thousand two -hundred and eleven visits to the Reading-Room for study.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f35'> -<p class='c011'><a href='#r35'>35</a>. In—unless a memory more than thirty years old deceive me—that -noble masterpiece of English prose, the ‘<cite>Citation of Shakespeare for -Deer-stealing</cite>’ (1835).</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f36'> -<p class='c011'><a href='#r36'>36</a>. The Oriental Translation Fund.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f37'> -<p class='c011'><a href='#r37'>37</a>. Comp. ‘Asshur builded Nineveh, and the city Rehoboth, and <em>Calah</em>.’—<cite>Gen.</cite> -x, 11. Mr. Layard quotes this passage, in <cite>Nineveh and its -Remains</cite> (vol. i, p. 4, edit. 1849), and seems to identify ‘Kalah Sherghat’ -as retaining its ancient name.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f38'> -<p class='c011'><a href='#r38'>38</a>. Nor was there any petty or unworthy jealousy in the distinguished -French explorer. ‘During the entire period of his excavations,’ writes -Mr. Layard, ‘M. Botta regularly sent me, not only his [own] descriptions, -but copies of the inscriptions, without exacting any promise as to the -use I might make of them. That there are few who would have acted -thus liberally, those who have been engaged in a search after Antiquities -in the East will not be inclined to deny.’—<cite>Nineveh and its Remains</cite>, -vol. i, p. 14.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f39'> -<p class='c011'><a href='#r39'>39</a>. It is a slight blemish in Mr. Layard’s otherwise admirable books -that they are loose in the handling of dates. It is sometimes necessary -to turn over hundreds of pages in order to be sure of the year in which -a particular excavation was made, or in which an interesting incident -occurred. Sometimes, again, there is an actual conflict of dates, <em>e. g.</em> -<cite>Discoveries in the Ruins</cite>, &c. (1853), p. 3, ‘After my departure from -Mósul in 1847,’ and again, p. 66, ‘On my return to Europe in 1847;’ but -at p. 162, we read: ‘Having been carefully covered up with earth, previous -to my departure in 1848, they [the lions] had been preserved,’ &c. -I mention this simply because it is possible that error may thus, once or -twice, have crept into the marginal dates given above, though pains has -been taken about these.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f40'> -<p class='c011'><a href='#r40'>40</a>. The Berodach-Baladan of 2 Kings, xx, 12, who ‘sent letters and -a present unto Hezekiah, when he had heard that Hezekiah had been -sick.’</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f41'> -<p class='c011'><a href='#r41'>41</a>. And in which not a few readers will be sure to feel all the more -interest, because of its sacred associations, when they call to mind those -first-century travels of certain famous travellers who, ‘after they had -passed throughout Pisidia, came to Pamphylia, and ... when they -had gone through Phrygia, ... and were come to Mysia, assayed to go -into Bythinia, but the Spirit suffered them not;’—having work for them -to do in another quarter.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f42'> -<p class='c011'><a href='#r42'>42</a>. I shall not, I trust, be suspected of a want of gratitude for the -eminent and most praiseworthy efforts of Mr. Davis—one of the many -Americans who have returned, with liberal profuseness, the reciprocal -obligations which <em>all</em> Americans owe to Britain (for their ancestry, and -also for the noble interchange of benefits between parent and offspring, -prior to 1776; if for nought else), if I venture to remark that the above-written -passage in the text has been inserted somewhat hesitatingly, as -far as it concerns the <em>date</em> of the Carthaginian explorations. No index; -no summary; no marginal dates; conflicting and obscure dates, when -any dates appear anywhere; no introduction, which introduces anything; -scarcely any divarication of personal knowledge and experiences, from -borrowed knowledge and experiences; such are some of the difficulties -which await the student of <cite>Carthage and her Remains</cite>. Yet the book is -full of deep interest; its author is, none the less, a benefactor to Britain, -and to the world.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f43'> -<p class='c011'><a href='#r43'>43</a>. These were given to the Museum by Lord Russell, as Secretary -of State for Foreign Affairs. Lord Russell was one of the earliest of -the Foreign Secretaries who began a new epoch, in this department of -public duty, by setting new official precedents of regard and forethought -for the augmentation of the national collections.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f44'> -<p class='c011'><a href='#r44'>44</a>. Meaning Lord Shelburne. See, heretofore, pp. 431–433.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f45'> -<p class='c011'><a href='#r45'>45</a>. ‘<cite>A Handy-Book of the British Museum, for Every-day Readers.</cite>’ 1870 -(Cassell and Co.).</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f46'> -<p class='c011'><a href='#r46'>46</a>. See the notice, hereafter, of the Christy Museum.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f47'> -<p class='c011'><a href='#r47'>47</a>. This, I think, has been clearly shown by the correspondence laid -before Parliament. The reader is referred to the papers of the session -of 1867, entitled <cite>Correspondence as to the Woodhouse Collection of Antiquities</cite>, -printed by order of Lord Derby, as Foreign Secretary.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f48'> -<p class='c011'><a href='#r48'>48</a>. In the accompanying Plan (of the Parliamentary Report, 1860), -pilasters of unnecessary size have been inadvertently introduced into -this gallery, reducing both the extent of the wall-cases, and the breadth -of the gangway, in a manner never intended.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f49'> -<p class='c011'><a href='#r49'>49</a>. Printed by oversight ‘general’ in the <cite>Minutes of Evidence</cite>.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f50'> -<p class='c011'><a href='#r50'>50</a>. Printed ‘object’ in <cite>Minutes of Evidence</cite>, as above.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f51'> -<p class='c011'><a href='#r51'>51</a>. It is to this Report of 1862 that the accompanying lithographic -fac-similes of the original illustrative plans belong. Two of them show -the then existing arrangements of the principal floors; the other two -show the then proposed alterations and re-arrangements.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f52'> -<p class='c011'><a href='#r52'>52</a>. Parliamentary Return, No. 456, of the Session 1858.</p> -</div> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c024' /> -</div> -<div class='tnotes x-ebookmaker'> - -<div class='chapter ph2'> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c004'> - <div>TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES</div> - </div> -</div> - -</div> - - <ol class='ol_1 c002'> - <li>The Table of Contents is in Part <a - href='https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67389'>I</a>. - - </li> - <li>Silently corrected obvious typographical errors and variations in spelling. - - </li> - <li>Retained archaic, non-standard, and uncertain spellings as printed. - </li> - </ol> - -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LIVES OF THE FOUNDERS OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM ***</div> -<div style='text-align:left'> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will -be renamed. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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