LIFE OF LORD REDESDALE
Preliminary work was carried out during the reigns of
Anne and George I. In 1731 the fire in the Cottonian
Library drew public attention again to the matter. The
House of Commons started another and a wider inquiry
and, as a result, presented a report, with an address to the
King, and some of their recommendations were adopted.
By 1800 the country's records had relapsed into some-
thing like their former state of neglect and a large increase
of papers in every State department had made matters
worse. Since the previous inquiry the Nation had acquired
valuable collections and the difficulties had thereby greatly
increased. The House of Commons possessed a vast mass
of documents, the contents of which were unknown, and
no one had the authority to give leave to examine or to
remove them. The Courts of Common Law contained
valuable papers so carelessly housed that they ran the
risk of being destroyed by fire; those of the Common
Pleas were perishing from damp; the records in the office
of the Lord Treasurer's Remembrancer were in such a
state of confusion that it was impossible to find papers
known to be there and important cases could not be settled
in consequence. The Exchequer of Equity contained many
documents relating to tithes, landmarks, boundaries and
other matters of great concern to the people which were so
carelessly guarded that they could easily be falsified or
even removed. The vast stores hidden in cathedral and
university libraries had not been investigated and no one
knew their condition or what treasures they contained.
The parochial registers, which were of vital importance to
all classes of the community, were kept in a slovenly
manner, usually in the house of the parish clerk, and
treated accordingly; it was therefore often impossible to
prove marriages. In Scotland affairs were even worse. It
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