The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-11-18

with low tables and high backless forms.
which cramped the searcher's legs II re
were anything above dwarf in staur-c.
Nowadays II would be difficult to fluid
place where study and search can be car
ried on more easily and pleasantly than
at the Public Record Office. and certaialy
at NO place are the officials. from the
highest TO the lowest. more courteous CT
more willing to help. The b si.nar.
stumbling along. and only half Conscious
as to what he is looking for. is as well
trearcd and listened to as patiently as
the habitue; and, with the single sXcep-
ton of lunatics who want information
about unclaimed millions in chanesry
all searchers. however Indifferent their
objects, are made welcome"
In Chancery!' How the very phrase
reminds us of poor little mad Miss Elite in
BLEAK House!" And what is 1t that the
record searchers seek? Who are they?
1t would take months of study in the
Searchrooms-studyn not of the documents
but of those who consult them-to answer
the question: and none but Dickens
could answer it adequately. The search
rooms OF the record office is Dickensand;
his types are there still. The pedigree
hunter; the man with grievance; the ar
chaeologist: the copyist: the law-writer:
the military man, whose time hangs heavy
on his hands since the age-limit put him
on the shelf-a human document himself,
useless now and filed away: the clergy
man; the man weary of modern hubbub,
who loves quiet and the company Of the
voices OF the dead; the modern historian
keen. intelligent, cultivated: the man with
a bee in his bonnct-all are there; aye,
and poor little mad Miss Elite herself for
all we know! The record office and Chan
Gerry Lane still have their tragedies I'M
known and unwritten. The only habitue
who does not belong to the Dickens period
is the professional land sometimes dis
tinctly prepOssessing) lady searcher. She
is there, as record agent, as transcriber,
as indexer; she has invaded the Record
Office, as she has invaded the British Mu-
scum reading room. the newspaper office,
and many other institutions where of yore
only mere men were to be found.
1t is hardly possible to give an idea Of
the treasures stored in the Record Office.
Although the work of sorting and arrang-
ing the vast masses of documents has
gone on continuously for years. not even
the experts in the office know-they cam
not know-the full extent Of the mine OF
literary and historic wealth in which they
live. and into which they are forever
probing and delving. The principal docu-
ments, however, have probably all been
discovered.
Historians and antiquarians know, and
have long known. that, filed away among
the parchments are such documents as
the charter granted to London by William
the ConQuerer, the Domesday Book, the
enrolment of writs of summons of the
First House of Commons, the letter of
Henry Prince of Wales (Shakespeare's
"Hal') to his father. King Henry ".
about the latter's approaching marriage
with Princess Joan of Navarro. the letter
from King Richard III to his Lord Chan
cellor. vowing the destruction Of tie
Duke Of Buckingham and many Others
Take. for instance. as one of the most
interesting documents in English history,
the Charter Of the City of London, little
slip Of parchment with five lines of Saxon
thus translated into modern English:
William. King, greets William. Bishop.
and Godfrey Portreeves and all the Bur-
ghers within London. French and En-
glish friendly. And I make known unto
you that / will We be worthy all those
laws the which We were in King Edwards
day, and 1 will that each child be his
fathers heir after his fathers day, and
will not suffer that any man do you
any wrong. God give you health"
What a multum in parvo document Il
is. this little strip of Saxon lettering
with Its Il Will and Il Will not,
Passing over many other royal charters
and state documents by virtue of which
cities and castles. fleets and armies, mon
asteries and lands were built or held. we
can find in the Record Office many papers
and parchments which unlock the secrets
of the heart: love and hate, friendship |
and enmity, Joy and suffering, courage
and cowardice-all are there. set down in
black and white. the written letter"
which remains long after the hearts |
which conceived and the hands which |
wrote have fallen to dust and ashes. They |
are like voices from the tomb, these /
quaint slips from some dim and hidden |
in the vaults and corridors for |.
our nineteenth century eyes to gaze upon |
and our nineteenth century minds to be |;
amused at.
Wales writing to his dear friend Sir !
Hugh ie Dispenser:
1--WE thank you heartily for the grapes
which you sent US by your varlet who ar
rived betimes this Sunday morning very
early before We went to breakfast and who
could not have done SO at more fitting
season. And do not take it amiss that We
send you SO lean a deer. for We will send
Tou fatter as soon as we can take one
Dur Lord have you in His keeping"
In another letter to Adam the Poleter
4 Reading. he commands that -four tuns
II good wine" shall be lodged in the Abbey
Il Reading against the arrival of his SER
ants at the tournament about to be held
here. In another he entreats his dear
st Lady and Mother" the Queen, thank
ng her beforehand for what she had al
eady done, to ''labour still in our behalf.