§ Lord John Russellbegged to know whether it was true, that his majesty meant to make a gift of the late king's library to the public. If such were the case, it was a proceeding well calculated to strengthen the attachment of the people to the House of Brunswick; and he wished that the high utility of the present might be preserved, by its being placed in such a situation as should make it generally accessible. It was a general complaint, that the metropolis had no sufficient public library; for that of the British Museum 93 could scarcely be deemed public. He wished much to see a collection so thrown open as to afford, universally, encouragement to literature. If the country could not, in its present state, afford such an expense, he trusted that the object would be kept in view; and that the magnificent donation now made would form the basis upon which a future establishment might be raised.
§ Mr. Peelsaid, that the report was well-founded. No particular arrangement as to the disposal of the gift had yet been made; but he doubted not that the object aimed at by the noble lord would be duly attended to.