1856-81 GLADSTONE INSPECTS FOR HIMSELF 41 



thought to the subject than had been bestowed by 

 any of those, whether naturalist or administrator, 

 who testified adversely thereon — the Right Hon. 

 William Ewart Gladstone, an elected Trustee of 

 the British Museum. From Mr. Gladstone Owen 

 received the following letter : — 



Penmaenmawr, Conway : August 24, 1861. 



1 Dear Professor Owen, — I do not know whether 

 it is to you that I am indebted for a copy of your 

 lecture on a Museum of Natural History con- 

 tained in some numbers of the " Athenaeum ; " but 

 I have read it with great interest, and I shall be 

 very happy to enter upon the subject with you in 

 the course of the autumn. Indeed, the main 

 purpose of this note is to intimate to you that, so 

 far at least as my opinion goes, the time has 

 arrived when the question of space, for this and 

 other cognate purposes, together with that of 

 union or severance of the collections at the 

 Museum, should be not only seriously but de- 

 finitely considered by the Government. 

 ' I remain, my dear Sir, 



' With much respect, 



' Very faithfully yours, 



'W. E. Gladstone.' 



Accordingly, on October 21, 1861, Mr. Glad- 

 stone made an appointment with Owen to inspect 

 the Museum. On Mr. Gladstone's arrival at the 



