It would relieve the Establishment from persons who were worn out or nearly so, and raise the general standard of activity; and by clearing off an arrear of superannuation, would make room for the early introduction of a considerable number of officers and attendants of a superior class.
This step was ultimately carried out by Panizzi two years afterwards, much to the satisfaction of the whole Museum staff, as the following letter which they addressed to him testifies:—
“British Museum,
February 25th, 1861.
“Dear Sir,
We beg individually and collectively to offer to you in a more explicit manner than we were able to do on Saturday, our most sincere and grateful thanks for the highly gratifying intelligence which you so kindly conveyed to us on that day. We feel assured that the very important improvement in our position which you then announced to us, has not been obtained without the most persevering and energetic exertions on your part; and we earnestly hope, by our zealous attention to the performance of our several duties, to merit the continued approbation of the Trustees, and thereby to justify this your crowning effort on our behalf.”
It will be remembered that in 1845, Panizzi, after having obtained permission to visit his native town, was, when on the eve of reaching it, stopped by the Duke of Modena. Things had somewhat changed, perhaps, for the better; or at any rate the time was fast approaching when the foreign yoke was about, once for all, to disappear from Italy, and tyranny cease to exist in the land which had given birth to so many eminent men. On the 15th of June, 1857, Panizzi wrote to Lord Clarendon to obtain for him, through Count Apponyi, an Austrian passport; his Lordship at once set to work, and on the 17th of June communicated to Panizzi the welcome tidings that his Excellency, although he could not grant him the desired passport because he had never been an Austrian, still would not for an instant hesitate to affix his signature to his English passport. Accordingly he started by the end of August for Brescello, and actually reached that place without molestation. He thus wrote to Mr. Haywood from Milan:—
“September 9th.
“My reception has been all I could wish on the part of the Government, and beyond belief on that of my few remaining friends; for I find the majority of them dead. But those who still live, and their families—I had left many of them children, and I find them now married with children of the same age that they themselves were when I left Italy—have received me with a cordiality and warmth of affection that has often and often moved me to tears. And then this country—and those monuments—and this sky! Oh my dear Haywood, what poor things are all those that are admired elsewhere! What nature has done and what the old generations did for Italy is unique; but I shall be very glad to be once more at the British Museum.”
Whilst at Brescello, the biographer, who had the satisfaction of visiting that place in November, 1879, was told that Panizzi spent the entire day going from house to house seeing and embracing his relations and friends, making researches in the archives, and taking notes of all he saw; but nothing can be more touching than a letter which he wrote on the 22nd of October, 1857, to Dr. Minzi, and of which we place a translation intact before our readers:—