During the past week three very generous and notable gifts
have been made to the public. To begin with, Mr. Pierpont Morgan has purchased the magnificent collection of prehistoric weapons formed by Canon Greenwell of Durham, and has presented them to the British Museum. Those who have had the privilege of seeing the collection in question will realise the splendid generosity of the gift. If Mr. Pierpont Morgan had chosen to make his gift to an American rather than to a British museum, no one here would have had the least right to feel hurt or to express the slightest surprise. Mr. Pierpont Morgan in presenting the weapons to the British Museum showed, however, a tact and a generosity which, without exaggeration, we can describe as princely. It was undoubtedly appropriate 'that weapons discovered in these islands should remain on British soil, and the fact that Mr. Morgan realised this shows that he is not a collector who uses his wealth merely to pile up collection upon collection, but that he understands how to " play the game" in the region of antiquities as well as of business. We wish there was some way of appropriately recognising such gifts when they come from persons who are not British citizens. Would it not be possible to make Mr. Morgan an honorary trustee of the British Museum?
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