§ Lord Colchestersaid:—My Lords; I beg leave to lay upon your table, a bill for giving effect to a splendid bequest which has been recently made to the British Museum. The late 1166 Mr. Payne Knight, a gentleman whose attainments in ancient literature, and whose knowledge in the fine arts were well known, not only in this country, but throughout Europe, had, during the course of a long life, and by means of his ample fortune, formed a rich and rare collection of coins, medals, gems, and bronzes, and of original drawings by the most eminent masters of the Italian, French, Flemish, and other schools of painting. His Greek coins, with those already in the British Museum, will far surpass the celebrated collection of the king of France; and his bronzes, though less numerous, and of smaller dimensions than many of those rescued heretofore from the ruins of Pompeii and Herculaneum, yet for beauty of sculpture and their admirable state of preservation, greatly excel any that are to be seen in the museum of the king of Naples.—-Mr. Knight himself, had been for several years, a trustee of the British Museum, upon the nomination of one of those distinguished families which enjoy the privilege of conferring that appointment; and having witnessed the anxious care of his co-trustees and their excellent officers, in the superintendence and preservation of the various treasures committed to their charge, and having seen the courtesy with which all learned persons, and foreigners more especially, are received, and enabled to take advantage of the contents of that noble repository, and also the general facility of admission given to visitors of all descriptions, he determined to add to the same national stock his own treasures; the pecuniary value of which has been rated, according to the lowest estimate, at 30,000l. and the most competent judges have pronounced, that if brought into the market, they would in all probability realize the double of that amount. But Mr. Knight having deemed it a high honour to himself to be associated in this Trust, was desirous also of transmitting the same honour to his own family; and he therefore has annexed it as a condition to his bequest, that this distinguished privilege should be conferred upon his heirs in successive descent, which can only be effected by the authority of parliament.—The general body of trustees, is, no doubt, sufficiently numerous at present for the useful discharge of the duties imposed upon them. They consist, as your lordships will recollect, of twenty-five trustees by office, of whom several very frequently attend: also 1167 of twenty-three others, eight of whom are appointed by the families of former benefactors, and fifteen more are elected by the two classes already mentioned, making in the whole a body of forty-eight, whose constant attention to the business of their trust is most exemplary. And I am authorised by the trustees assembled at a general meeting upon this subject to declare, that, in their opinion, it is undesirable that their number should be augmented, except upon some specia land extraordinary occasion. Such an occasion, however, they now conceive to have arisen; and they presume, therefore, to hope that parliament will not hesitate to fulfil the condition annexed by the testator to this bequest, and will establish the hereditary right of trusteeship in his family, as a just tribute of honour to the memory of the donor, and a testimony of the high sense which parliament entertains of the liberality of such a gift.—I shall therefore move, That this bill be now read a first time, and that it be read a second time to-morrow, dispensing with the standing orders of this House, so that it may pass forthwith, and be transmitted to the Commons, and receive the royal assent before the close of the present session.
The bill was read a first time. [It received the royal assent 17 June. Stat. 5 Geo. 4th. c. 60.—"An act to carry into effect the will of Richard Payne Knight, esquire, so far as the same relates to a bequest by the said Richard Payne Knight, of a collection of coins, medals, and other valuable articles, to the British Museum; and to vest the said collection in the trustees of the said British Museum, for the use of the Public.]