BOOK III Chapter XXII. The Minor Libraries of London. called a Library had, in 1830 (when a Committee of Inquiry on the subject was appointed), existed for more than twelve years; and the whole sum expended on its formation amounted to little more than £2000.1 .... .... The Committee (to which these facts had been given in evidence) reported its belief that "the selection of books, so far as it goes, has been very judicious;" and then proceeded to add the opinion .... that the collection on English Law is at present defective; and that the works on English History, as well as books of 'reference' might also, with advantage, be made more complete; that measures should be adopted for obtaining the valuable statistical Reports printed for the French Chamber of Deputies, as well as the collection of Acts of Congress, and Reports of Committees to Congress, in the United States." It was also recommended that certain plans (prepared by the late Sir John Soane), for increased accommodation should be carried into effect; and that the Library (which theretofore had been kept open during the entire year) should be for the future kept open during ten months only, care of course being used that it should always be accessible during the sittings of Parliament. In 1832, another Committee reported that the number of volumes had increased to 5,650 (inclusive of a duplicate set of certain portions of the Journals and Papers of Parliament). But deficiencies still graver than Library in 1832, those previously stated-because, in some instances, dations for its without remedy, from the lapse of time, and carelessness Progress of the and recommen enlargement. 1 Report of Select Committee on the Library of the House of Commons, 7 June 1830 (Sessional papers, No. 496). BOOK 111. Chapter XXII. ries of London. of preceding functionaries, long departed from the public stage, were pointed out to the attention of the The Minor LibraHouse. Thus, for example, it was shewn that "the Library of the House of Commons is not only without any collection of the Cases heard and determined by the House of Lords, or by the Privy Council, but does not contain a complete collection of the papers printed by their own order; and not even a complete series of Private Acts of Parliament. "This is not mentioned," continues the Report, "as a matter in which the existing generation is culpable, but as a defect now, too probably, irremediable, and the mention of which is of no other present use than as a warning lest the same neglect of the current papers of the House should ever hereafter be brought as a reproach to the present day. It is less wonderful, that the Library contains no collection of the Proceedings of the Scotch or Irish Parliaments, distinct from the Acts of the one, and the Acts and Journals of the other; the earliest Volume of the Votes of the English House is of 1690." It was also stated that of the London Gazette the Library possessed no portion of earlier date than 1792. Discovery of an As some compensation for the deficiencies which closer investigation had thus ascertained, it fell to the lot of the Committee of 1832 to report the discovery of a curious collection of historical and political pamphlets, extending from the reign of Elizabeth to that of old Collection George II., which had for at least a generation or two, existed in the Speaker's Gallery, utterly unknown to the House and to all its officers, although the successive "Clerks of the Journals" had carefully handed down a of Historical Tracts. BOOK 111. Catalogue of it (forming three bound volumes). The then The Minor Libra- Clerk of Journals (John Bull, Esq.) produced the Cata Chapter XXII. ries of London. The destructive fire of 1834. logue he had received from his Predecessor, but was unacquainted with the history of the collection it described: "Your Committee", says the Report (framed by the late Sir R. H. Inglis), "could learn nothing of the history of the collection thus discovered, by whom formed, or by whom placed where it was found." But the frequent occurence of the letters "S. G." in the catalogue, led, it seems, to the felicitous idea of searching the old "Speaker's Gallery" (which is now a thing of the past). Sir Henry Ellis added his opinion that this collection contains the best of the smaller publications of State interest, between the two periods of the Reformation and of the South Sea Bubble." The unfortunate fire of 1834 destroyed a large portion of the contents of the Library, but a part of this Tract collection was amongst the salvage. The throwing out from the windows of the books and documents that could be got at, amidst the glare and crackling of the flames, the noise of the engines, the intense excitement caused by the imminent peril of the old memorycrowded Westminster Hall (an excitement which was visibly shared in by artisans as well as by senators), and the marvellous effect of that sea of upturned faces which seemed to fill Palace Yard and the adjacent avenues, under the full moon of a splendid October night, was a scene that will long dwell in the minds of thousands of other spectators, as it does in mine. Liberal grants by the House, and strenuous exertions on the part of the Officers, soon did all that could be BOOK III. Chapter XXII. ries of London. done to repair the loss. During the period (almost a quarter of a century), which has since elapsed, a fine The Minor Libracollection of books has been amassed, and arranged in admirable order. It is, of course, mainly intended for the use of Legislators and of those otherwise occupied in the business of law-making, but the courteous attention of the Librarians to applications (usually addressed at the outset to the Speaker, who has the special control of the collection), having a literary object, is exemplary. The last Report of the Standing Committee states the number of volumes, in 1857, as upwards of 30,000, and adds that the recent increase has "principally taken place in Dictionaries, History, Diplomacy, Voyages and Travels, as well as all works of authority connected with the East Indies and Colonial Possessions."1 ..... 1 Report of the Standing Committee on the Library of the House of Commons, 17 March, 1857. CHAPTER XXIII. BRITISH PRIVATE LIBRARIES, WHICH HAVE As one, who destined from his friends to part, BOOK III. To a mind of the true antiquarian temper, the sight Dispersed Pri- of a noble and historic ruin, however plainly it Chapter XXIII. vate Libraries. may bear the marks of violence or of neglect, will often bring thoughts akin to pleasure, as well as feelings of pain and regret. The reflection will arise that amidst those massive walls, the very fragments of which are yet strong in their decay, many a generation of gallant men was nurtured to do, each in his day, his fair spell of work towards the building up of the Old England |