On the completion of Panizzi’s work Mr. Hosking, probably wroth at his own ill success, and aggrieved at the favour lavished on the other, proceeded to open his attack on the alleged pirate, firing his first shot direct at that individual:— “Athenæum, 30th April, 1857. “Sir, As the credit of suggesting the site and originating the work recently built in the quadrangular court of the British Museum is popularly assigned to you, whilst I claim to have devised and made known the scheme in the first instance, I hope you will hold me excused for asking you to be so good as to give me the means of placing the matter rightly before the public by informing me whether the project to the same effect which I laid before Lord Ellesmere’s Commission in 1848, and communicated to the Trustees of the Museum in 1849, had been seen by you before you devised the present work. My plan, with an abstract of the description which accompanied it, was, after the drawing which presented it came back from the Trustees, published in the _Builder_, as you know; for I sent you a copy of the print, and that was two years before the scheme lately carried out was made known to the public. I am, yours, &c., WILLIAM HOSKING.” To this Panizzi lost no time in replying:— “British Museum, May 1st, 1857. “Sir, I have to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of yesterday’s date requesting me to inform you whether a certain project of yours of building in the inner quadrangle of the Museum, and which, as you state, you laid before Lord Ellesmere’s Commission in 1848, and communicated to the Trustees in 1849 (as I have just now ascertained for the first time) had been seen by me before I designed the present work, that is the Reading-Room and Libraries recently built on that site. I beg in answer to state that I had never seen your project or the scheme to which you allude before I suggested the work which is now completed. I saw, when published, in the _Builder_, a separately printed copy of it which was sent to me, I suppose by you, without any accompanying note or letter, long after the works for carrying out my suggestion had been commenced. The concluding part of your letter must mean, of course, that that publication took place two years before the scheme lately carried out had been made known, _not_ that you sent me the copy of your plan two years before my suggestion had been made known to the public. It is desirable that there should be no ambiguity on this point.