INTRODUCTION, 



IN the following pages I have endeavoured to point out, 

 in as plain and straightforward language as I had at 

 my command, the principal abuses and diseases which 

 choke the life of the most glorious of English Institutions. 

 The plan of my proceeding has been : First, to point out 

 how I came to write on the subject ; next, the great 

 scandal of the Den which encouraged me to put my 

 remarks forward ; then, in their turns, the abuses of place 

 and patronage, the mismanagement, and the waste of 

 public money which disgrace the Museum. More time 

 and greater facilities for inquiry might have rendered the 

 work more perfect, but in matters of this kind much 

 depends on "striking while the iron is hot." Conscious 

 of my own lack of authority I have freely used the support 

 of others, and have to acknowledge with gratitude the 

 insight to be derived from a late article by the Rev. H. R. 

 Haweis in the Contemporary Review. 



STEFAN POLES. 



London, 



i $th February, 1875, 



