proceedings should be kept, in such a form as to make a strict superintendence possible, and even easy; and for this purpose attendance-books and journals must be kept in each office or place of deposit; every person charged with the execution of any duty should keep a strict account of all his proceedings, and regularly return a copy thereof to the General Office; and at the General Office should be kept books in which the accounts of all works and transactions are to be consolidated and methodized, so that the exact state of the proceedings, and the state of the expenditure, may be at all times known or ascertainable upon a very short investigation; and these books are, from time to time, to be laid before the Master of the Rolls, so as to enable him to know at all times what is the state of the accounts, what progress has been made in the works, and what has been the conduct of every individual engaged in the service.

32. In order that the journals and minutes of the proceedings of the office may be duly entered, that all accounts may be duly and regularly kept and methodized, that such fees as are to be continued should be duly collected and accounted for, and for the making of small cash payments and various other services, it will be necessary to appoint an officer who, under the name of Secretary, or some other appropriate name, may perform the duties of Secretary, Book-keeper, and Cashier. The duties to be imposed on this officer are of a confidential nature, and of great importance.

33. And in order that the Records may be cleaned, repaired, sorted, covered, ticketed, and bound, or placed in boxes on an uniform and systematic plan, and as

economically as may be, and that all removals may be made with due care and attention, it will be expedient to charge an Assistant Record-Keeper, or one of the superior officers of the establishment, with the duty of superintending all such operations under the directions of the Deputy Record-Keeper.

34. I do not at present make any suggestion to your Lordship as to the amount of money which ought to be allowed for this service. The extent of the work required to make the Records properly accessible to the public is extremely great, and any sum that may be allowed may be usefully expended upon it. It will be for the Government to consider what can be properly afforded for this department; but I submit to your Lordship, that whatever sums may be allowed, ought to be carried to an account to be called "The Public Records Account," at the Bank of England, and that the Deputy Record-Keeper ought to be authorized to draw upon that account by his drafts, countersigned by the Secretary; and that, as far as convenience will permit, all payments ought to be made by means of such drafts.

35. It does not on this occasion appear to me to be necessary to trouble your Lordship, by entering into any further details. It must, I conceive, be obvious that, by acting upon the above suggestions, the use of the Public Records would be very greatly facilitated; and that, during the preparation of the General Repository, and prior to its completion, very substantial benefits would be secured to the public, without incurring any great additional expense; and that, at the same time, great progress would be made in preparing the Records

for their arrangement in the General Repository when provided.

36. In order that authentic copies of Records may be prepared for the purposes of evidence, I shall, under the 11th section of the Act, give directions for the making of a seal; but, until Assistant Keepers shall be appointed, the Deputy Keeper is the only officer authorized to certify the copies; and the public cannot have the benefit of the 13th clause, without very materially interfering with the other duties of the Deputy.

37. If your Lordship should approve of the suggestion which I have had the honour to submit to your consideration, it will, I presume, be proper to form an estimate of the expense which will be incurred; and as this will, in a great measure, depend upon the salaries which may be allowed to the different officers who may be employed, and the extent of the annual work which your Lordship may be disposed to authorise, I shall not be able to direct such estimate to be framed without some further communication with your Lordship or the Treasury on the subject; and, for the purpose of affording time for the requisite consideration and preparation, I submit to your Lordship that it would be proper to continue all the officers on their present footing till the 31st of March. I shall be prepared to submit to your Lordship an estimate of the appropriation of the sum of 12507. (the residue of the grant of 5000l. for the current year) to the service for that time; and I submit to your Lordship that, from the end of the present quarter, the business of the Records should be conducted under the provisions of the Act.

38. In the meantime I have the honour to propose— 1. That such rooms as can for the present be spared

in the Rolls House, be prepared for the accommodation of Sir F. Palgrave, the Deputy Record-Keeper, and for Mr. Thomas, who, with the approbation of the Treasury, acts provisionally as Secretary.

2. That the Rolls House and the late Cursitor's Office be surveyed, for the purpose of ascertaining whether they are proper places for the reception of such Records as have been before referred to as proper to be removed thither.

3. That the general plan for the future manage

ment of the Records, when the same shall have been approved by your Lordship, may be communicated to the several officers of Records who have such interests in their offices as may entitle them to compensation, for the purpose of enabling them to consider what course it may be expedient for them to adopt, or what compensations they may claim in consequence of the great changes which will be made in their situations.

4. That a Secretary and a competent number of Assistant Record-Keepers and Clerks may be appointed by the Treasury, pursuant to the 6th and 18th clauses of the Act.

I have, &c.

LANGDALE."

CHAPTER X.

STATE OF THE RECORD SERVICE BEFORE THE PASSING OF THE ACT.ENORMOUS FEES.-DEFECTIVE CALENDAR.-LORD LANGDALE REDUCES THE FEES, AND FORWARDS THE FORMATION OF NEW CALENDARS.GENERAL INDEX IN PROGRESS.-DIFFICULTIES AND OBSTRUCTIONS.

To properly understand the foregoing letter it is necessary to take a cursory view of the actual state of the Public Records anterior to the passing of the Act of the 14th of August, 1838; and of the expenses attendant on searches and copies of the national muniments for legal or historical purposes.

The Public Records were dispersed in upwards of sixty different places of deposit, all more or less under different management, and having as many various rules and regulations for their governance, as well as for the opening and closing of the Repositories.

Some of the officers were paid by a salary from the Government, and by fees from the applicants; others were remunerated by fees only; consequently, this tax upon litigation and literature was constantly the cause of complaint and indignation. The fees were different in all offices; exorbitant in most, and in some, amounting almost to a denial of justice to the poor litigant, while the literary student was shut out from the use of Records, except under a favour to himself from the