LAYARD (Sir Austen Henry, 1817-1894, Archaeologist, M.P. & Diplomat, Excavator of Nineveh)

Long Autograph Letter Signed to"Dear Hunt" saying that "in consequence of your letter I have again read thro' the papers connected with Mr Finn's case. If evidence were required of his unfitness to be consul at Jerusalem and of the absolute necessity of removing him that evidence is amply furnished by Mr Finn's pamphlet. The fullest and most impartial enquiry was made by Sir E. Hornby into Mr Finn's conduct. The result was satisfactory to Mr Finn so far as his character and his honor were concerned, and proved that he had been very much maligned, but it confirmed the impression that it was absolutely necessary that he should go to another post. With regard to his pecuniary chums - they have been fully investigated Some of them have recently been allowed (it has taken some time to do this as there is a regular process thro' the Audit Office which must be gone thro') others have been disallowed. There has been every desire to do Mr Finn full justice - and I am, I can assure you, much grieved to hear of his unhappy state - but I really do not see what is to be done to assist him ...", 3 sides 8vo., Foreign Office, 21st December

In the 1840s Layard, supported by the British ambassador at Constantinople, made astonishing discoveries in ancient Assyria. Later, as M.P., he visited the Crimea and was an outspoken critic of the conduct of the war. Between 1857 and 1860 he was out of the Commons and devoted his energies to causes dear to his heart, the Risorgimento in Italy and the art of the unsophisticated early Renaissance, visiting Italy and buying pictures for himself and the National Gallery.
James Finn (1806–1872) was a British Consul in Jerusalem, in the then Ottoman Empire (1846–1863). He arrived in 1845 with his wife Elizabeth Anne Finn. Finn was a devout Christian, who belonged to the London Society for Promoting Christianity Amongst the Jews, but who did not engage in missionary work during his years in Jerusalem.


Item Date:  1862

Stock No:  39547      £275

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