You will, I am sure, feel that till I know who are the candidates for the office, I should do very wrong to say more. Believe me, &c., CRANWORTH.” The Home Secretary, at that time Sir George Grey, received, without Panizzi’s knowledge, several letters from eminent personages, strongly recommending him for the vacant post; to quote one of these will be sufficient evidence of their tendency:— “Bridgewater House, February 18th, 1856. “My dear Sir George, Having served as Chairman of the British Museum Commission, I have thought myself justified in writing to the Archbishop of Canterbury on the subject of the selection of a successor to Sir Henry Ellis. His Grace, who has received this intrusion with indulgence, seems to desire that I should repeat to you and Sir G. Lewis what I have ventured to state to him. Without troubling you at length, I may briefly state that, on the assumption that Mr. Panizzi’s qualifications for the vacant post would not fail to receive His Grace’s consideration, should that consideration be favourable, my voice would be at His Grace’s disposal to defend, if need were, Mr. Panizzi’s appointment, as, in my opinion, the best that could be made. I also adverted to some knowledge I happen to possess of the considerate and benevolent character of Mr. Panizzi’s dealings with a very interesting class of men, his subordinates in the library. This feature in his merits being necessarily less under public notice than others which are too notorious to require my testimony, I considered it deserving of mention, co-existing, as I believe it does, with an assiduous exaction of duty, and an energetic exercise of authority. Ever yours, EGERTON ELLESMERE.” This letter was sent, together with others, to Panizzi, on the 26th of February, 1870, by Sir George Grey himself:— “37, Eaton Place. “Dear Sir A. Panizzi, I have been employing my leisure in looking over many letters and papers which accumulated during my tenure of the Home Office. Among them are some relating to your appointment as Principal Librarian to the Museum in 1856. I send you three letters which I think you may like to possess. When your life comes to be written, which I hope will not be for a long time it is right that letters such as those should be among the papers which will form materials for it. Of the appointments with which I had anything to do while in office, there is none which I can look back upon with greater satisfaction than yours.