It might be interesting to inquire into the motives of the Committee, in taking the adequacy of the remuneration in question into their consideration. Was the concession made to the office or to the man who held it? But we need not pursue this.
The minute of the General Meeting produced an unprecedented event. Mr. Grenville, one of the Committee present, when he saw what was taking place, rose, left the room, and never attended a meeting of the Trustees again. The increase was not granted. To preserve the correctness of our chronology, it is necessary to reserve an account of Mr. Grenville till much later on. It is fair to state that Lord Lansdowne and Lord Ashburton were not present on this occasion; but the Board considered it necessary to instruct the Secretary (then Mr. J. Forshall) to forward to Mr. Grenville a copy of the minute which he sent to Panizzi, with the following note:—
“I do not lose a moment in transmitting to you, for your own custody, the minute made by the Trustees: it is at least an honourable testimony of the sense which they entertain of the value of your services in the British Museum, and as such I send you the original minute as I received it, and I beg you to keep it.—Yours, &c., &c., T. Grenville.”
In March, 1837, the Keeper, Mr. Baber, gave notice that he intended to resign his post at midsummer. Mr. Cary, the celebrated translator of Dante, who was then an Assistant-Librarian, would have been the natural successor; but on account of his infirmities the Principal Trustees raised an objection to such an appointment.
Now it is of great importance to us that these statements should be made known, for much controversy, angry discussion, amounting to personal vituperation, and many letters ensued on the appointment of Panizzi as Keeper of the Printed Books, which, notwithstanding, took place on the 15th of July of the same year.
Meetings were held against the “Foreigner;” and one of the speakers made an open statement that Panizzi had been seen in the streets of London selling white mice: had it been a few years later, possibly the distinctive title of organ-grinder would have been added. The infirmities of Mr. Cary were well known, and Panizzi, out of regard and in fairness to him, never asked for the place, nor took any decided step for the purpose of obtaining it. On the 13th of March, 1837, he addressed a letter to the Archbishop of Canterbury and the other Principal Trustees, soliciting in general terms that if any appointment was to take place they would bear his past services in mind.
The letter was to the following effect:—
“British Museum, March 13, 1837.
“My Lord Archbishop,
It is reported, that, in consequence of the new arrangements which are going to be introduced into this establishment, some vacancies are likely to occur in the offices of the several departments. Having been so fortunate as to be honoured with the approbation of the Trustees for (as they were pleased to say in July, 1835), ‘the zeal and ability’ with which I have (during a period of nearly six years), discharged the duties of the office which I now hold in the British Museum, I venture to beg of your Grace, and the other Principal Trustees, to keep my humble services in view should any place become vacant for which I should be deemed qualified. I take the liberty of appealing to my past as an earnest of my future conduct, should the Principal Trustees deem it expedient to promote me to any higher situation than that which I now hold, and in which I might humbly but warmly second the views and wishes of the Trustees in extending the public utility of this Institution.
In the hope that this application may receive the favourable consideration of your Grace and the other Principal Trustees,
I have the honour to be, &c.,
A. Panizzi.”
The letters to the Lord Chancellor and Speaker were in the same terms.
It was a common opinion that Mr. Cary had been ill-treated and passed over in favour of Panizzi. However, Samuel Rogers, the poet, a friend of Cary’s, after having strongly recommended the latter, thought that, considering his ill-health it would scarcely be acting fairly to the Principal Trustees, or to the public to press his claims. Mr. Cary saw the Speaker, who, in the course of conversation, said: “I heard of a Mr. Panizzi, who is next: What do you know of him?” What Cary’s answer was is not known; but it is certain that, when the post was declared vacant, the gentleman went to the Archbishop of Canterbury on the 24th of June, 1837, and again solicited the appointment, which, as might have been expected, was withheld. Panizzi, having heard of it directly from Gary, asked, in the presence of Mr. Baber, whether he would object to his applying for it, when he answered, “Not at all.” There and then Panizzi sat down and wrote this letter to the Archbishop:—
“My Lord Archbishop,
Since I had the honour of addressing your Grace, Mr. Baber has resigned the Keepership of the Printed Books in this establishment. I hope your Grace will not deem it presumptuous in me, to beg respectfully of your Grace and the other Principal Trustees to take my case into consideration, should they think it requisite to depart from the usual system of regular promotion, on appointing his successor. I venture to say this much, having been informed by Mr. Cary of the conversation he has had the honour to have the morning before last with your Grace, and beg to subscribe myself with the greatest respect, &c., &c.
A. Panizzi.”
No sooner was the promotion made known than the controversy began. It was a piece of favouritism, to a Foreigner, and an injustice to Mr. Cary.
As to the first point, Panizzi was at the time personally unknown to the Principal Trustees. Of this there was sufficient evidence.
There was ample precedent for the appointment of a Foreigner, and, if so, objections could not be made, especially to a naturalized Foreigner, and there was plenty of time for a better qualified person to come forward, as quite four months elapsed between Mr. Baber’s announced resignation and the appointment of a successor. If there was a semblance of injustice, it was because the claims of an individual had been postponed to the necessities of the Institution.
Mr. Cary then thought fit to write the following letter to the Lord Chancellor Cottenham, which was published in the “Times” of July 18th, 1837.
“The following letter has been sent to the Lord Chancellor by the Rev. H. F. Cary, the Translator of Dante, who seems to have been treated with extraordinary injustice:—
‘British Museum, July 17,
‘My Lord,
I cannot suffer the communication yesterday made to me by our Secretary, of your having passed me by in the nomination to the vacant office of Librarian, and appointed a subordinate Officer over my head, to reach me without an immediate remonstrance against this disposal of your patronage. I have for the course of eleven years been constant in the discharge of irksome duties in this establishment; and at a moment when I was told to expect the reward never yet denied in this place to such claims, I find it snatched from me by yourself and the Speaker of the House of Commons, in the face of a recommendationrecommendation from the other Principal Trustee, the Archbishop of Canterbury, the only one of the three who has been in the habit of attending here, and making himself acquainted with our proceedings. My repeated requests for a personal interview with your Lordship were met by refusal, and a desire to communicate whatever I had to say by letter. Three letters which I addressed to you were met by silence. In the last of these letters I endeavoured to answer the objections which the Archbishop with his usual humanity and consideration for the humblest of those who have any claim on his attention, had apprised me of, as existing on the part of the other Trustees. The objections were my age and the general state of my health. My age, between 64 and 65 years, it was plain, might rather ask for me that alleviation of labour which, in this as in many other public offices is gained by promotion to a superior place, than call for a continuance of the same laborious employment. My health for the last four years has been such as to allow me, with the interval of one fortnight only, to attend closely through every day to the business of my department. Before that time (and it was the only