Star.
London, England, 1822-07-25 00:00:00

ANCIENT RECORDS.

The House having resolved itself into a Commit
tee of Supply,
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER rose
to call the attention of the House to the Records of
the History of the Country, which had lately been
carefully collected by order of Parliament. Being
now collected, it was evident that the work would be
only half done if they were not uniformly printed.
Ile rose, therefore, to make a motion to that effect.
He need not enlarge on the value of such a work,
which must be obvious, at the same time that it was
an inducement for them to adopt such a course, that
this country was, perhaps, behind all the other king-
doms in Europe in what it had publicly done in this
respect. Private enterprise and learning had no
doubt done tench, but the Government had no acts
of the kind to record. The whole of the ancient his-
tories which had been collected, would make, when
printed, about twelve folio volumes. These histories
were now scattered about, and not even in the Pub-
lic Libraries, he believed, was there a complete set.
I-le proposed that one or two volumes should be com-
pleted each year, and the expense of that, he con-
ceived, would be about £2,000 a year. A consider.
able part of this would be repaid by the sale, besides
the Public Libraries and the Crown being furnished
with sets. It was a work which •had hitherto been
much wanted, and the House, it appeared to him,
would not, by refusing his motion, chew themselves
disposed, as they grew old and passed away, to leave
the country without the knowledge of their ancient
history—(Hear, hear). The Right Hon. Gentleman
then moved an Address to his Majesty, representing
that the editions of the works of our ancient histo-
rians a. e very defective, many of them being still in
manuscryt, and that the collection of them now

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made by order Of Parliament, forms a body of
luable historical and ,constituttornal *llllWiftige, and
praying that his Majesty willnte be gratiously pleased
to order the same to be• pd, upon the House'
undertaking to provide for any expense arising from ,
SirJ AMES M ACKINTOSH seconded the motion.
He said, the statement of the Chancellor of the Ex-
chequer, had made the importance of the object in
view so clear, that nothing remained for him to add
On that subject. It had been said that no Government
had done so little for Literature as that of England.
This might be true, but perhips it was the result of
the happy state of our society, and the advantageous
itcation in which thecountry had been placed, which
had enabled individuals to accomplish in this coun-
try, what could not be effected elsewhere without the
interference of the Government. Highly approving
of the present undertaking, he did not presume to
recommend any person to superintend it, but he
begged to state that Mr. Petrie, the learned and re-
tire Keeper of the Records in the Tower, had devoted
a large portion of his life to labours connected with
our early history. Unless the House hastened to
enable him to give the nation the benefit of those la-
bours, it might soon be too late, and a long period
would perhaps elapse before another person equally
qualified to conduct such an undertaking as that now
to be commenced would be found. He ,mentioned
Lord Grenville, and other persons of high considera-
tion, who had borne testimony to the merits of Mr.
Petrie. The collection made of the histories ut*France
'under several reigns he thought the great model fors
imitation. Forty years ago Mr. Gibbon, in his great
work on the' Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire,'
had considered it a reproach to the country that it
possessed no complete collection of the works of Its
early historians. He considered money to be well
laid out which meant to advance knowledge, and
*specially that of the ancient laws and constitution
of the country ; and he was persuaded, that with the
materials which we possessed, when the work now
contemplated should be completed, we might calcu•
late on possessing a more complete history of our
early institutions than any other country in Europe
could boast. He had mentioned Mr. Petrie as a Gen-
tleman eminently qualified to conduct such an un-
dertaking, and he thought it right to say, having
beer. permitted by the liberality of the Right Hon.
Gentleman opposite to have access to the State Paper
Office. in Great George-street, that he had found in
the Deputy Keeper of the Records (Mr. Lemon) a
Gentleman of great ability and intelligence, who ap-
peared well qualified to fill a higher situation. He
had further to state, that the assiduity. and civility
with which that Gentleman (Mr. Lemon) exerted
himself to further the views of those who attend the
office for the purposes of study, enabled such person*
to pursue their inquiries in a very agreeable manner.
He thought it not impertinent on this occasion to no-
tice the meritorious conduct of that deserving officer.
Mr. HUME remarked on the expense incurred by
the Commission for inquiring into the Public Records
of Ireland, which had exceeded £70,000, one-fourth,
or one-fifth part of which, he should have thought,
would have been amply sufficient. He should not
oppose the motion, but he was of opinion that it
would be desirable that an annual Report from the
Commissioners should be required, that the House
might be acquainted with the progress made in each
year, so that according to circumstances they might
, increase or diminish the grant.
Mr. GOULBURN briefly explained the circum-
stances which had caused the expense incurred under
the Commission for inquiring into the Public Re-
cords of Ireland. Though as yet all the fruits had
not been reaped, which might be looked for from
that inquiry, enough, he thought, would be found
in the Report, to prove that the Commissioners had
not been idle in the business.

Mr. H. GURNEY approved of the motion, and
was of opinion that Mr. Petrie was eminently fitted
to conduct the contemplated historical work.
Mr. BENNET never felt more satisfaction in giving
a vote than he did on voting for this motion. He
hoped the work was not to be made unnecessarily
splendid, but that it would be got up in a way that
would fit it for general circulation.
Mr. C. W. WYNN begged to say, in answer to
what had been thrown out by the Hon. Member for
Montrose, that if the undertaking about to be com-
menced were placed under the Public Records Com- '
mission, the object of the Hon. Gentleman would be
accomplished, as that Commission had been regu-
larly in the habit of making an annual Report, which
could at any urns be brought before Parliament. He
had long wished to see such a work commenced, and
he was glad that he had lived till the day when it
was to be entered upon. It was intended that the
work should comprehend the writings of all the an-
cient historians, omitting only those which repeated
what had been stated by other writers who had pre-
ceded them.

Mr. H. BRIGHT thought, in getting up such a
work, expense ought not to be an object. He hoped'
the whole of the ancient historians would be pre-
served in their proper places.
Mr. WYNN stated some of the Monkish historians
to have copied verbatim a considerable portion of
what had been written by their predecessors. In such
cases it was intended to take that which was
fur-
nished by the earliest writers, and to omit such matter
when it occurred in the works of others.
The Resolution was then agreed to, the House re-
sumed, and the Report was ordered to be received
to-morrow.
SUPARANNVATION ACT AMINDIKENT BILL.
On the motion of the CHANCALLOR of the &cut-
out:a, the House resolved itself into a Committee on
the Superannuation Act Amendment Bill.
The CH ANC ELI.OR of the EXC H EQUER stated
it to be his intention to propose that the Bill should
come into operation from July, instead of from Ja-
nuary last.
Mr. CALCRAFT did not object to the principle
of the Bill, provided too low a scale were not adopted.
It provided that salaries of 501. should pay two and
a half per cent. This he objected to. He thought
incomes under 1001. per annum ought not to con-
tribute at all. Salaries from 1001. to 200/. per an-
num ought not to pay more than two and a half per
cent. and those from the last-mentioned sum up-
wards he was content should sustain the charge of
five per cent.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER very
cheerfully adopted she ideas of the Hon. Gentleman.
I He had thought th,e scale taken was too low ; but it