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

" My notion was that Mr . Lemon ' s sou , the present head of the family , had copied the paper for me ; but I have since understood that such ivas not the case . Even now , after the lapse of so many years , if it hacl been of any consequence , I might have been able to decide the point , had I not , when I quitted London in the spring of 1850 , for the sake of putting everything into as small a compass as I could , sent away or destroyed all my proof

sheets and the manuscript belonging to them . Until then it hacl been my constant habit to tie in bundles the proofs and ' copy ' of every separate work in which I hacl been concerned from 1820 to 1850 . A large parcel of old , useless letters , shared the same fate , as I coulcl not carry them with me into the country , and as the Pantechnicon would have charged heavily for the space they would have occupied .

"That this petition existed in the State Paper Office before I knew where that office was , is quite clear . It was found for , and pointed out to mc by Mr . Lemon , senior . Mr . Lemon , junior , still in that department , bears witness that it was known , both to himself ancl to his father , before I had been admitted into the State Paper Office : of this fact there exists the best possible evidence ; for the editor of the Athenccnm having learned that such was the case , very recently wrote the subsequent note to Mr . Lemon , making the inquiry whether what he had heard were true : —

" 'Athenccnm Office , Feb . 13 , 1800 . " ' The editor of the Athcnwiun presents his compliments to Mr . Lemon , and referring to the "Petition of the Players , " contained iu the bundle of papers iu the State Paper Office marked Bundle Xo . 222 , Elizabeth , 159 ( 5 , a copy of which has been jirinted in text by Mr . Collier , and iu fao simile by Mr . Halliwell , takes the liberty of inquiring whether , within Mr . Lemon ' s knowledge , that petition of the players was in the State Paper Office before Mr . Collier began his researches in that office ? An early answer will oblige . '

" The inquiry was , of course , very material ; not merely with reference to the authenticity of the petition , but with reference to the impossibility oi my being concerned iu ' the surreptitious introduction of it , ' to use Mr . Hamilton's words . Tho answer , forwarded by return of post , was entirely satisfactory , and in these terms : —

" ' State Paper Office , Feb . 11 , I 860 . "' JD EAU SUI , —Iu reply to your question , I beg to state that the petition of the players of the Blackfriars Theatre , alluded to in your note , was well known to my father and myself , before Mr . Payne Collier began his researches in this office . I am pretty confident that my father himself brought it under the notice of Mr . Collier , in whose researches he took great interest .

" 'I am very faithfully yours , "' The Editor of the Athencewm . " ' K . LEMOX . ' " I am not aware , therefore , that it is necessary for me to say more upon this part of the subject . Mr . Lemon , senior , undoubtedl y did bring the players' petition under my notice , and very much obliged to him I was that he took so much trouble to assist me in my literary investigationsTiie genuineness of the

. memorial , to which the petition is obviousl y an answer , has , I believe , not been questioned ; and as it is dated 1590 , it may be said to ascertain that the petition , which has no date , was of the same period . "

Much twaddle has been Avritten about the foregoing ' •' Player ' s Petition , "' particularly as toils appearance ^ and Ave have very great pleasure in being able to lay before our readers the result of a , gentleman ' s examination of the document in question , assuring them his opinion is most valuable , as he has had great experience in these kinds of manuscripts .

He states that the paper upon which the draught of this petition is written is of the kind called " ribbed , " and that it is rather soiled and spotted from damp . It measures eleven indies and a half by seven and a half inches , having its edges clipped , or trimmed , excepting on a portion of one of its sides . In the left hand corner the paper has been scraped

, as if a date had ori ginally been Avritten , and afterwards erased , and some other portions appear to have been submitted to the process of abrasion , most likely for the rectification of clerical errors at the period of ivriting it . Much capital has been made out of the quality of the ink used in writing this petitionbut it ivould be a very unsafe course to

, denounce any MS . as spurious because it appears not to have been Avritten ivith the ordinary gallate of iron . Our informant testifies to having seen a document ofthe reign of Queen Elizabeth , on parchment , aud about its date there

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

coulcl be no question , which must have been written ivith a bluish pigment , and that it was no uncommon practice to use Indian ink , as its charcoal basis rendered the colour more intense and permanent . He also says that it is futile to attach any importance to Avhat is called " painting" the tails of the y ' s , and other letters ; such a process is understood

to improve the appearance of the caligraphy , as many a schoolboy knows to his back ' s cost . But he suggests that the language of the document is a much more reliable test , and sees no reason to disbelieve 'it , although there is this peculiarity , Avhich is not common , but may be exceptional in the Avordiug . Iu it the p layers call themselves " scrvauntes

to the rig ht honourable the L . Chamberlane to her Ma " . " Our expert also adds , that under ' the scrutiny of a poAverful g lass , the Avhole is so apparently genuine , that no one can feel surprised at the absence of the names of any of the officers iu the State Paper Office , in whose custody it remains , and Avhose experience is above suspicion , to the verdict of tho four gentlemen AVIIO have signed a declaration of its being a forgery ; Avhich declaration , Ave think very unfairly , the Master of the Rolls has ordered to be attached to the

orig inal paper , enhanced as the latter is b y the addition of a fifth name—no less than that of Nicolas Esterhazy Stephen Armytage Hamilton . These are the plain unvarnished facts of the case , upon which it has been the will and pleasure of the officers of the Manuscript Department of the British Museum to strive , through their mouth p iece , Mr . Hamilton , to prefer the grave

charge of forgery against Bro . Collier ; and which he has triumphantly refuted , and proved to be a wilful , malicious slander on his fair fame , by a man reckless of the means b y which he can attain a temporary notoriety . Having gone through the whole case , who , ive now ask , stands convicted of fraud aud falsehood ? To our thinking ,

both these imputations much better fit the resplendent talents of Mr . Nicolas Esterhazy Stephen Armytage Hamilton , than apply , in the most remote degree , to Bro . Payne Collier ; ancl so damaging to the reputation of the former is the manly denial of Bro . Collier , that the accuser of our brother , if he has one spark of shame in his composition , will evermore hide himself from the well merited scorn and contempt , that every lover of truth must feel , Avhen coming iu contact Avith him or his Avonderful initials .

Having clone Avith the " mouthpiece , " we have one or two pertinent questions to put , as to the abuse of the public time ivhich has taken place in the Manuscript Department . For eight months its officers have been daily closeted to produce these charges . By Avhom ivere they instructed to AA'astc this long period of time that the heavily taxed nation pays for ? Was it an order from superior authorit y that they should

examine the " Perkins folio 1 ' or that- one of their number should be travelling from Dulwich to Cambridge , to the State Paper Office , and other of the public record offices , to test the handwriting in a book , ivhich their principal officer had borrowed ( as a personal favour ) in his own name ? - Ancl is the Manuscript Department of the British Museum , for the

future , to send one of their assistants to gallop over the country , ancl trace ivherever a man , who publishes a book , has set his foot during a period of thirty years , and all this at the expense of the public i If so , the sooner the stali ^ IIO can find so little to do for their pay , is reduced , the better for the country , as there are too many drones already employed ,

ivho are battening upon the hard earned gains of the community . And further , if the officers of the Manuscript Department aim at regaining tho lost opinion of the British public , they Avill never rest until the purity of their department is restored by the summary expulsion ofthe delinquent , for which end , those AVIIO are honest men among them will

see the propriety of memorializing the trustees . For the future , let us hope they will busy themselves in attending to their respectiA'e duties , and not , out of pique or resentment , suffer their names ancl position to be called iu question , for