The British Musrum Slander And Bro. John Payne Collier.*

been attempted or committed , one department , or even all the departments , of our great national institution should step forward to guard the public against the delusion . I look upon it , in fact , as part of their duty ; but they are bound to discharge that duty with as much expedition as is compatible Avith a proper sifting of the case ; ancl they are bound , moreover , not only to limit themselves , in the execution of their task , to what necessity may

require , but to proceed with due regard to the character and dignity of their own position . A dispassionate sobriety ought to be observed , if merely for the sake of the effect to be produced ; ancl the whole inquiry ought to be conducted with the utmost temper and moderation . Above all , no personal animosity or individual antipathy ought to be indulged , much less to be apparent . A spirit of judicial impartiality ought to pervade the proceedings of

those who take upon themselves at ouce to accuse , to investigate , to g ive evidence , and to decide . " In this estimate of the ri ght of the authorities of the British Museum to neglect the customary duties of their appointments , Ave cannot agree with Bro . Collier ; for it Avould be a monstrous abuse if they had such powers entrusted to their keeping , ivhilst the jrarity of their verdict

may be pretty readily imagined , seeing IIOAV ivell it has been illustrated in this case . Therefore , Ave say , let them be confined to their own legitimate sphere , and evince more readiness to assist all whose wants it is their province to supply ; ancl not treat the literary man as their natural enemy , or as one poaching upon their exclusive manors , Avhen consulting the books placed under their control , and totall y overlooking

the fact of their being the servants , rather than the masters , of the public . Ancl Ave would also strongl y point out that their duty is to facilitate the requisitions of all students using the library of the British Museum , instead of impeding their progress b y every petty impediment art can devise ancl insolence invent , Avhile the power , conceded b y Bro . Collier ,

making them the irresponsible hunters up of scandal , Avitnesses , accusers , and judges , in their OAVU cause , would create such an imperium in imperio that every literary man would have reason to tremble at its bare possibility . Eor these reasons Ave decline to endorse the opinion of Bro . Collier , and totally object to the Museum officials being regarded in any other li ght than that of public servants b y far too ivell paid for the niggardly duties they render .

And here AVC may as well point out another error into Avhich Bro . Collier has fallen . He estimates the time wasted in . producing the fifty pages of UOAV matter contained in the "inquiry " of Mr . Hamilton , at tivo hundred and tAveut y days , or less than a quarter of a page per day of composition , in Avhich the Avhole strength of the MS . department were engaged ,

to say nothing of the mineral assistants ivho came to the rescue ; and he says that he always thought the MS . department to be one ofthe most industrious in the museum . Now , such is not the case , except iu one or two instances , where men , AVIIO do the labour , tlo not reap the credit ; for the officers of the house in general take their ease , attend to

their OAVU private avocations , and when not so employed are known to loll for hours in front of a stoA r e totall y regardless of the interests of the public . Their object is to take a vastly overpaid , rather than an underpaid stipend , use the Museum as their freehold , ancl the books as their inheritance ; and to all comers , who are not of their clique , know nothing

cf what a reader may stand iu need . Bro . Collier also alludes to the tact of the heads of the MS . department specially inviting gentlemen to see the " Perkins folio , " and so , hearing the comments made thereon , acquire a fund of conjecture their own shallow brains could not realize . But , perhaps , he Avas not aware that though

this invitation AVUS paraded , as made to the public , yet , upon application , several Avere met ivith the inquiry , "Are you going to take part in the controversy ? " Upon the visitor i-epl ying that his present object was merely to obtain a si ght ot the disputed tome , and not to enter into the squabble , lie was flatly refused ; though , as one of the public , he hacl been particularl y invited to inspect the volume ! Returning to Bro . Payne Collier ' s pamphlet , he accounts

The British Musrum Slander And Bro. John Payne Collier.*

for his possession of the "Perkins folio" in the following way . In 184 : 9 , he went , as was his frequent custom , to the shop of the late Mr . Thomas Rodd , and was present ivheii a parcel of books , just arrived from the country , was opened . He became the purchaser of the folio iu question Avithout noticing that it contained many marginal notes , Avhich he has since been accused of having interpolated after the volume

came into his possession , but which Bro . Collier in the most unequivocal manner denies . In this denial he is fortunately borne out by the impartial testimony of the Rev . Dr . Wellesley , Principal of New Inn Hall , Oxford , Avho thus conclusively proves the marginal notes to have been in the volume at the time it was in Mr . Rodd ' s shop . Bro . Collier says : —

" Dr . Henry Wellesley happened to hear ( as who could avoid hearing' ?) in July last the imputations east upon me and my conduct by Mr . Hamilton ; ancl feeling certain that he had seen the Perkins folio , in its annotated state , in Eodcl's shop , before the volume arrived at my house , he said so to a mutual friend , AVIIO communicated the fact to me . Dr . Wellesley must have entered the shop just after I quitted it , and there saw the book in question . 8

He examined it more than Rodd , or I had clone , saAV , to use his own words , ' an abundance of manuscript notes in the margins , ' and wished to become the purchaser of the volume ; but Kodcl told Dr . Wellesley that it was already sold to a customer ( probably naming me ) , ancl the principal therefore looked at it no farther . Learning that Dr . AVellesley hacl so spoken of the transaction , I took the liberty of writing to him , although

personally unknown , and of requesting such particulars as he could readily furnish , impressing upon him their importance to me , in order to repel the calumnies Avith which I hacl been assailed . I ivas very soon favoured Avith the following reply , ivhich in every respect tallied , not merely with what I hacl heard , but with what I hacl myself seen : — ' ' IVoodmancolc Rectory , Hurstpierpoint , "August l ' dth , 1859 . ' ' SIR , —Although I do not recollect the precise date , I remember

some years ago being in the shop ot Thomas Rodd on one occasion when a case of books from the country had just been opened . One ot those books was an imperfect folio Shakespeare , ivith au abundance of manuscript notes in the margins . He observed to me that it was of little value to collectors as a copy , and that the price was thirty shillings . I should have taken it myself ; but , as he stated that he hacl put it by for another customer , I did not continue to examine it ; nor did I think any more about ituntil I heard afterwards that it had been found to

, possess great literary curiosity and value . In all probability , Mr . Eodd named you to me ; but whether he or others did so , the affair was generally spoken oi at the time , and f . never heard it doubted that you had become the possessor of the book . " I am , Sir , your faithful and obedient Servant , " To J . P . Collier , Esq . " "' H . WHLI . ESLEY . " "Dr . Wellesley , therefore , saw the Perkins folio , with "an

abundance of manuscript notes in the margins , " in 184-9 , for Rodd died in that year ; and it remained long in my possession before I became actpiainted with its " great literary curiosity and value . " As soon as I knew it , I proclaimed it without reserve everywhere . I wrote several letters on the subject in the Athew . eum .- I laid it before a council of the Shakespeare Society , specially summoned for the purpose , which Avas attended by nearly all the members :

I also produced it at the general meeting of the society . Besides showing it at two , if not three , evening meetings of the Society of Antiquaries , I published a letter stating that it would be upon their library table for four hours by daylight , when everybody interested Avas invited to inspect it . "f The next fact of importance in Bro . Collier ' s defence , is included in a letter from Mr . John Garrick Moore , uephew

of the illustrious General Sir John Moore , of Oortuma ,. ivhich SIIOAVS from ivhoin the " Perkins folio" orig inally came , and that the emendations ivere in it Avhen it Avas the property of a former possessor . The letter containing this intelligence is as follows : — " Hi / de Park Gate , Kensington , " - loth April , 1853 . " Sin , —You will , I trust , forgive one who has not the honour of knowing vou , for intruding oil your leisure , when I state that the sub-