The Sun.
London, England, 1866-01-25 00:00:00

NICE
•
‘eicit.!;'Z• 11-4t7AiWr;::
arrangement and classificatioD, and kie • -
j4resente d and rublished in 1858, 7-t;.
:pine d Sir Charles Eastlake attached qt ;
although eight years had elapsed, they were still
hidden away in the cellars of Trafalgar-square.
Mr. Ruskin's report stated that " five or six col-
lections, each completely illustrative of Turner's
mode of study and succession of practice, might
easily be prepared for the academies of Edinburgh,
Dublin, and the principal English towns ;" but yet
they were still entombed. The state of the British
Muselm was worse than that of the National Gal-
lery. There were hundreds of specimens of Egyp-
tian, Greek, and Rothan art and antiquity, of which
the keepers would only be too glad to get the room,
heaped away where they could be seen by nobody.
The indictment was well put by a writer in the
Edinburgh Revic2r:--" Year after year in Parlia-
ment Mr. Gregory, like a Jeremiah, lifts up his
voice at the present state of the arrangements and
neglect in the British Museum, so that xve ilecd not
draw up, as might be done, a long indictment
against the trustees for their miserable treatment
of the noble collections confided to their charge.
The state of our national collections is a national
disgrace. An overcrowded building, most unsuit-
able fur exhibition, most unhealthy to visitors, and
destructive to many objects from insufficient veal-
tilation ; ill-cared for and ill-lighted ; specimens of
sculpture disfigured with dirt ; specimens of natural
history crowded in cases which are not dust-tight,
and sluttishly neglected ; labels wanting—there is
throughout an air of sleepy, slatternly shabbiness,
except in the libraries and in a few other portions,
which renders it imperative that Parliament should
transfer the annual vote of £lOO,OOO from the hands
of the irresponsible trustees to a more- competent
and sensible management. So long as Parliament
continues the folly of entrusting 48 trustees with
this
_immense annual expenditure, so long as this
fons malontin remains untouched, it is useless to
preach other reforms." The explanation of
-the whole evil was the- Leet that; •Oie trustowi were
wholly and entirely irresponsible. The noble
lord therefore proposed to place oil the national
collections under the immediate authority of a Minis-
ter of the Crown, directly responsible to Parliament
for all that is ill done, or undone in these collec-
tions. At the British Museum he would adopt the
suggestion tendered by several committees, and
would abolish the post of Secretary Librarian, and
give to the museum as head an officer of rank and.
consideration, with a remuneration worthy of so
distinguished a post, and of sufficient magnitude to
tempt a distinguished man to accept it. In abolish-
ing the post of Secretary Librarian, he inferred no
slight to him who had lately retired from that post.
On the contrary, he believed Mr. Panizzi to have
been the moving spirit, as far as he was able to move
at all under the incubus that lay upon him. A
debt of gratitude was due to him for the great
ability, zeal, tact, and energy with which he ma-
naged to grease the wheels of the old coach, and
screw it along at all for so many years ; but that
was no reason why they should renew so anomalous
a state of things or impose such incongruous duties
upon another. After quoting a speech of Mr. Glad-
stone's, which admitted that it was desirable to sub-
mit the constitution of the administrative body to
revision and reconsideration, the noble lord con-
cluded by expressing a hope that the discussion
would strengthen the hands of the Chancel-
lor of the Exchequer, and nerve him to
add this to the many achievements of his political
career—the breaking .up the antediluvian system of
irresponsible boards, and the placing under a re-
sponsible Illinister of the Crown the control and
government of our vast national collections, so that
they may be managed in consonance with the wants
of the age, and be made as available as possible for
the education and recreation of the people, not only
of the metropolis, but of the United Kingdom at
large. The noble lord, on resuming his seat, was
greeted with loud cheers.
The C,IAIRMAN invited discussion ; and, after a
considerable pause,

Profes.,or TENNANT, who said he had only just
entered the room, and therefore could say nothing
on the subject of the paper, gave several instances
in which the arrangement of the minerals (of which
there vas in the British Aluscum the finest collec-
tion in the world) was so defective a 3 to be utterly
useless to t he stuaent.

Mr. LAy.kun took great interest in this question,
and if he made one or two remarks, it must be dix-
tlnctly understood that he spoke as an individual
only and not at all on the part of the Government.
Ile did not agree with Mr. Chester that they should
discard from their attention the subject of manage-.
meat. The great question was based on manage-
ment, and until that was settled the British Museum
could not be turned to the greatest possible public
advantage. There was nothing to be said disre-
spectful of the trustees. He did not speak of them
as individuals. Many of them were his personal
friends, men of the highest attainments and the
highest rank socially, in science and in arts, men like
I Mr. Grote and Mr. Lowe, men of the greatest abi-
lities. lie spoke of the system, it was essentially
I bad. Management by trustees was bad in theory
and in practice. The thing could not possibly sue=
seal. NO doubt it was the spirit of the day to have
affairs managed by boards; bat there was no analogy
between boards which Were elective, paid for their
work, and responsible to shareholders, and the trus-
tees of the British Museum and the National Gallery,
who were not responsible to the public. It was an
anomaly that the administration of so large a sum
of public money—above £lOO,OOO, should be in the
hands of those not responsible to Parliament, and
that the vote for the British Museum should be
moved by an independent member. There ought
• to be a member of the Government responsible to
the country, and able to speak to Parliament in the
name of that institution. As regards British
m an
as
Museum, the administration by trustees had been to
a certain
remarkable
extent
successful,
because they had had a
very secretary to the trustees,
Mr. Panizzi—(hear, hear)--a a man of
great ability,
-extensive knowledge, great soc. 1 *t.
posi ion, and, more
than all, indomitable will and firmness. (Hear.) It
would be very difficult indeed to replace him. With
respect to opening the Museums by night, he did
not think such a desire did prevail as was represented
among the working classes in the metropolis. He
belonged to a society which had discussed the ques-
tion among working men, and he had himself put the
question to them whether museums should be open
in gas light, subject to the risk of fire, and whether
the national treasures of art should be sent abuut
the country to provincial Exhibitions. A goodmany
working men spoke, some in favour and others
against those proposals, but when the matter was
fully and fairly explained to them, a resolution was
carried in the negative. Could they make a build-
ing perfectly proof against fire? At all events, the
British Museum had not been constructed with that
view. Something might be done to enlarge the
utility of the Museum with respect to duplicates of
natural history and art ; but the trustees were un-
able to sell or exchange without an act of Parlia-
ment. The whole question would probably be
brought under the notice of the Government, and
the present discussion, he hoped, would be of use in
guiding public opinion on the subject. He did not
think there would be one dissentient voice when .he
proposed a vote of thanks to his noble friend for
his very able paper.

This was carried by acclamation, and the meeting
then separated.

THE WINDBOUND FLEET —FAL3IOI.:TII, Jan. 21.
—The wind and weather having considerably moderated
ou Tuesday afternoon, with north and north-west breezes
prevailing, and which continued throughout the night,
followed by a clear sky and genial sunshine on thQ Wed-
nesday, the greater part of the long-detained fleet in the
roads, harbour, and the creeks of the nil got under way,
and proceeded, to the number of 130 sail and upwards,
bound for various English, Irish, and foreign ports. About
120 vessels remain.
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