Parliament might, perhaps, be induced to vote an annual grant for so
important a work till it was accomplished; albeit, when we think of their
niggardly denial of any thing to the printing, or{3} even the conservation
of the public records, sanguine hopes from that quarter can hardly be
indulged.
To insure correctness, without which the scheme would be utterly valueless,
I would propose that a certain number of competent transcribers be
appointed for each county, either at a given salary, or at a remuneration
of so much per entry, to copy the registers of those parishes the ministers
of which are unwilling to do it, or feel themselves unequal to the task.
The option, however, should always, in the first instance, be given to the
minister, as the natural custos of the registers, and as one, from local
knowledge, likely to do the work correctly. To each county there should
also be appointed one or more competent persons as collators, to correct
the errors of the transcribers.
I throw out these rough hints in the hope that some of your correspondents
will furnish their ideas on the subject, till we at last arrive at a fully
practicable plan of carrying out Mr. Wyatt Edgell's suggestions, and, at
all events, obtain transcripts, if not printed copies, of every register in
the kingdom.
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