A. Panizzi.”
“Harpton, Radnor,
October 12th, 1858.
“My dear Panizzi,
I received your letter before Lord John went on to Liverpool, and had some conversation with him on the subject of it.
There are, as it seems to me, two questions respecting the enlargement of the British Museum. The first may be called the legal question, which is raised by Sir Philip Egerton and others—viz., whether Sir Hans Sloane made it a question of his gift that all his collections should be kept in one building, or whether, in dealing with these collections, there is a ‘will of the founder,’ which the legislature is bound to respect, and which is to be a law for all succeeding generations, whatever additions the different branches of the Museum may receive or require. If this view is to prevail, it is clear that we are prevented from even entertaining any plan for the division of the collections, whatever its intrinsic advantages may be. But if this restriction upon the operations of the present generation is not admitted to exist, then we come to the second question—whether it is more expedient to enlarge the Museum by adding to the present building, or by detaching some branches of it, and providing them with a fit repository elsewhere.
I do not pretend to have mastered the subject sufficiently to have formed a confident opinion upon it; but so far as I am at present informed, the inclination of my mind is to believe that the Natural History branches would be provided for in a separate building, and to a certain extent under a separate management.
At the same time, if the scientific men are to take up the question as one of personal feeling and party struggle, and if the cause of stuffed beasts is to be argued against that of antiques, as if it was Whig against Tory, or Catholic against Protestant, I am not prepared to say what are the advantages, if separation are worth the strife and animosity, which its accomplishment would create.
A private gentleman, in arranging his expenditure, may say—I allot so much for my kitchen, so much for my cellar, so much for the education of my children, so much for my garden, so much for my shooting, hunting, &c., &c., and each of his servants must be satisfied with what they get. But what sort of life would he lead, and how long would he remain out of the Queen’s Bench, if his gardeners wrote letters in the Times to complain that he starved his garden, and that his hot-houses were in a disgraceful state; if his governess persuaded Roebuck to bring the state of his daughters’ education before the House, and if his huntsman inserted articles in the Sporting Magazine in the style of Junius, displaying the scandalous defects in the management of his stables. Yet, with regard to luxuries, such as science and art, the Nation is practically in the same condition as a private individual. It must measure its expenditure by its means, and not, as in the case of the army and navy, consider its necessities first and its means afterwards. Yet the representative of each Department of Science and Art insists on having the largest possible building, in the best possible site, and each Department finds successively supporters and champions in Parliament.
I have no wish to volunteer advice where it is not asked; if the Government think they can settle the question themselves, I have no wish to interfere. My only fear is that they may find it more difficult, on coming to close quarters, than it appears at a distance. If the Government refer it to the Trustees for their opinion, I shall be quite ready to take part in any Committee which may be appointed to consider and investigate the subject. At present I don’t think the facts are well ascertained, nor do we know what are the precise objects which we should seek to obtain. I see, for example, a great difference between keeping a great exhibition of stuffed animals, &c., for all the nursery-maids and children to look at, and keeping a collection of Natural History for the use of men of science—like the Anatomical Collection at Surgeons’ Hall in Lincoln’s Inn Fields. I think that Lord John concurs generally in the view that I have expressed, as to the removal of the Natural History Collections.