for $30,000, and a guarantee for a similar amount is required of the librarian.
THE GOVERNING BODY OF THE LIBRARY
In obedience to the accepted maxim that those who pay the piper should call the tune, every chief librarian is subjected to some external control, and, on the other hand, his authority is of necessity delegated in various ways to his subordinates. In the United Kingdom, as might be expected, the methods of this control and delegation are extremely various.
The British Museum occupies a unique position, being a national institution in which the authority of the Government is coexistent with that of a body of Trustees. These are in part representatives of the families descended from the great collectors whose hoards have enriched the Museum, and in part are nominated by the Crown. Their functions are thus set forth in the Act of 1753, by which the Museum was called into being :
"The said Trustees hereby appointed shall be a Body Politick and Corporate, in Deed and Name, and have succession for ever, by the name of the Trustees of the British Museum, and by that Name shall sue and be sued, implead and be impleaded, in all Courts and Places within this Realm ; and shall have power ... to make Bye-laws and Ordinances for the Purposes of this Act; and to assemble together, when, where, and as often, and upon such notice, as to them shall seem meet, for the Execution of the Trust hereby in them reposed. . . . The Trustees
