Page:Notes on the Present and Future of the Archaeological Collections of the University of Oxford.djvu/11

 have been exhibited there also. But no such thing. It seemed good to some learned persons in authority to separate what a common origin, epoch, and locality had joined together, and so the second portion is placed in the Taylor Buildings, where, at the end of a vapid vista of plaster casts, it can only be seen from afar off, in an un-arranged condition, and through a glass door! When I mentioned this circumstance to Cavalliere Castellani he appeared much surprised. Well he might; probably nothing more stupid exists in Europe. Some fine Cyprian vases, presented I believe by Mr. Ruskin, are, with other objects, actually placed higgledy-piggledy on the floor of the same unworthy and obscure place, into which, on the occasion of a recent visit, the rain was dropping freely through the skylight. This act of vandalism, I confess, makes me afraid as to the ultimate fate of another collection of vases, now on its way from Cyprus, as a gift to the University from Mr. Roland Michell, H.M. Commissioner at Limassol, and myself. Lastly, there are a certain number of antiquities, scarcely suited to a Library, but which, with the almost inaccessible cabinet of coins, are preserved in the Bodleian. Besides the above, which are the property of the University there is in Oxford a secret and rapidly-perishing collection of Egyptian Antiquities in the Library of Queen's, and a cabinet of ancient coins exists in New College, which last, however, can only be seen in the august presence of the Warden himself, and consequently are of no more use for purposes of study and education than they would be if buried in the mud of the Tiber or Isis. With regard to these College as distinguished from University Collections, it is hard to see why, if they cannot be given to the University outright, they should not be deposited for exhibition to the public under proper restrictions as loans. Where