The Sun.
London, England, 1864-09-05 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, SEPTEMBER 5, 1864.

Granger and myself.—Very respectfully your obe-
dient servant,
" D. G. FARRAGIIT, Rear-Admiral.

" G. GRANGER, Major Gen. United States Army,
" Col. C. D. Anderson commanding Fort Gaines,

Inauguration of the Statue of Sir G. C.

Lewis.

On Saturday the memorial statue, recently erected in the
city of Hereford in honour of the late lamented Minister for
War, was publicly unveiled by Lord Palmerston, the poli-
tical chief under whom he had successively filled three of
the highest offices of the State, and a vast assemblage of the
citizens and inhabitants of the county.
The statue originated in the unanimous desire enter-
tained by men of all shades of opinion in the county of
Hereford, which the deceased statesman represented for
several years in Parliament, and with which he remained
locally connected till his untimely death, to unite in a com •
mon tribute of respect for the memory of one so distin-
guished alike for his profound scholarship and his eminent
public services, and so highly esteemed as a country gentle-
man and a neighbour. It was generally felt, also, that no
more fitting person could be chosen to inaugurate the
memorial raised to a colleague lost too early for his country
though not for his fame than the Minister who was the
first to recognise his varied abilities and rare aptitude for
public business. An invitation was accordingly sent by the
committee to the Premier, who promptly acceded to their
request, and Saturday was the day appointed for the cere•
mony. His lordship arrived on Friday afternoon at Here-
ford, where he was received by the Rev. Archer Clive, of
Whitfield, whose guest he was for the night. Great pre-
parations had been made for the coming ceremony, which
was looked forward to with much interest, not only by the
citizens of Hereford and the people of all parts of the
county, but by the visitors to the late musical festival,
many of whom prolonged their stay in the place in order
to witness an event regarded as a finale to the week's fes-
tivities.

Saturday is usually a busy day with the inhabitants of
Hereford, as well as with those of most other towns, but
for once thoughts of business gave place to holyday keeping.
Excursion trains from all the surrounding districts brought
in a large influx of strangers, who overflowed the hotels,
and even blocked up the principal streets. The churches
and other public buildings, all the inns, shops, and many
private houses exhibited flags, floral devices, and other
tokens of jubilation largely interspersed with complimen-
tary mottoes and words of hearty welcome to the Premier;
and this added to the crowds who perambulated the route
of the procession, admiring the varied display of bunting
or listening to the bands of the Volunteers, the Militia, and
the Odd Fellows, who were all mustering at different points
to form the escort, gave the whole city a most picturesque
aspect. The great centre of attraction, however, was the
front of the Shirehall, in St. Peter's-square, where the
statue stood, screened by a white cloth from the public gaze
until the right moment came for uncovering it. Here a
space had been enclosed, and a temporary platform erected
for the accommodation of the principal spectators, while the
open square beyond, from all parts of which a slight at least
of the proceedings could be commanded, was left available
for the multitude. Here, too, of course, the lags and tokens
of welcome to the Premier were thickest clustered, and the
fine old early English church of St. Peter's, which gives
its name to the square in which the statue is placed, was
dressed in the liveliest odours. At an early hour both of
these enclosed and unenclosed spaces were well filled with
persons who gave up the pleasure of taking part in the pro-
cession in order to make sure of good places for the more in-
teresting portion of the ceremonial, Meanwhile, the civic
authorities and other local bodies went a short distance from
the town to receive Lord Palmerston at Wye-bridge-gate.
Here his lordship arrived at 12 o'clock in an open carriage,
with the Rev. Mr. Clive, the chairman of the Memorial
Committee, and also accompanied by Lord Somers. The
procession was then formed in the following order :
Superintendent of Police on Horseback,
Police Constables.
Flag with Royal Arms of England.
Militia Brass Band.
Militia Staff and Flag.
Viz trite Securus Lodge of Odd Fellows, with Flag,
Victoria Lodge of Odd Fellows, with Flag.
Wolverhampton Lodge of Odd Fellows, with Flag.
Ancient Order of Foresters, with Flag.
Volunteer Brass Band.
Volunteer Rifle Corps, with Flag,
Subscribers to Statue and Citizens.
Officers of the Corporation and City Banner.
The Mayor (Mr E. Pateshall) and the ex-Mayor,
The City Magistrates.

The Aldermen. The Town Councillors. The Town Clerk,
The Chaplain of the City Gaol.
The Coroner.
The Magistrates' Clerk.
The Governer of the City Gaol.
The City Surveyor.
The Right lion. Viscount Palmerston, K.G.
The Fire Brigade.

Thus escorted, Lord Palmerston proceeded through the
city amid the enthusiastic acclamations of the crowds who
lined the entire route and filled every available window or
balcony. the bands at the same time playing lively airs, and
the church bells ringing out their merry peals. At length
the procession slowly threaded its way into St. Peter's-
square, where the cheering was vehemently renewed, and
then passed within the barriers in front of the statue. The
company here assembled comprised Lord and Lady Saye
and Sole, Lady Emily Foley, Lady Langdale, the Bishop
of Hereford, Colonel Clifford, M.P., Sir Gilbert Lewis
and Sir V. Cornewall (the brother and the nephew of the
lamented stitesman), Mr King King, M.P., and many
other principal inhabitants both of Herefordshire and
Radnorshirt.

The first business was the presentation of an address from
the Corporation to the Premier. This took place under the
spacious Doric portico of the Shirehall, in the presence,
though certainly not in the hearing, of the vast concourse.
The Town Clerk read the address as follows :

"TO THE RIGHT HON. VISCOUNT PALMEHSTON, B.G.

0.C.R., FIRST LORD OF THE TREASURY'.
"My Lord,--We, the Mayor, Aldermen, and Citizens o,
the city of Hereford, desire to express the gratification we
feel at the honour conferred upon us by your lordship's
presence in our ancient city, and gladly avail ourselves of
this opportunity to acknowledge the debt of gratitude we
owe to your lordship in having for so many years aided
our beloved Sovereign, by your wise and prudent counsel,
in maintaining the high position which she holds among
the nations of the world.

" Permit us also to express our admiration of that exalted
feeling which has prompted your lordship Ito appropriate a
portion of your valuable time towards paying a just tribute
of respect to the memory of the late Sir G. C. Lewis, whose
loss we all so greatly deplore, and who sedulously devoted
talents of no common order to the service of his country.
" We refrain from dilating upon the merits of this emi
nent statesman, being well aware that he long enjoyed the
regard and friendship of your lordship,
"We shall ever esteem it an honour that his name stands
recorded among the chief stewards of this ancient city, and
congratulate ourselves that, under your kind auspices, the
inhabitants of the city and county of Hereford will this day
dedicate a suitable testimonial to his memory.
" We fervently hope that you may lung be spared to par-
ticipate in the councils of this nation, and to see our munh-
loved country increase in prosperity under the administra-
tion ane government of her most gracious Majesty."
, " Given under our corporate common seal, this 3d day of
September, 1364."
In responding,
Lord PALMERSTON said,--Mr Mayor and gentlemen of
the corporation of the city of Hereford, I beg to thank you
most sincerely for the address which you have been kind
enough to present to me. I can assure you it affords m e
infinite satisfaction to be present on this occasion. With
regard to what you have been pleased to say respecting my
public services, I would only observe that the greatest re-
ward which any man engaged in public life can hope to meet
with is the approbation and confidence of his fellow citizens.
It is most gratifying to think that, at all events by the
people of Hereford who are so well entitled to form an opi-
nion on the conduct of those who are charged with the
adminis ration of public affairs, the share which I have had
in the management of those affairs is viewed with approval.
I feel, gentlemen, particularly
interested in the ceremony of
to-day, because, independently of the great value to be
attached to the services rendered to the country by the man
whose loss we all deplore, I had the happiness of enjoying
the private friendship of the late Sir G. Lewis. Indeed, I
may say that I had a hereditary
because I had the good fortune to possess the friendship of
right to that
.friendship,
his distinguished father. Between his family and. mine
there has always subsisted the most intimate acquaintance,
rou.ch credit.. on the
Therefore, upon every ground, both public. and private, it is
to• day, and to take part in a ceremony which not only in-
terestingmost gratifying to me to have been inanvditepdubtlo.iclayttceonndneheteerde
with
ith
Sir
Q.
thos
Lewis, who wsevrhei
which
reflectsprivately
so
town which has erected this memorial of his distinguished
services. (Cheers.)
Lord Palmerston, having again thanked the corporation
for their address, then advanced to the platform on the left
ofeh cheering.
The statue, which was the signal for another burst of
The Rev. ARCHER CLIVE, speaking on behalf the com-
mittee, said, —My Lord Palmerston, it natty be known to
your lordship that the friends and neighbours of the late
Sir George Cornewall Lewis have endeavoured to com-
mutate the great services which he rendered to this county,
and to England in general, by his distinguished public con-
duct, by perpetuating the recollection of them, as far as they
can, by means of a public memorial and tribute. As chair-
man of the committee of subscribers I have been requested
to ask your lordship to do us the honour to he present at
the inauguration of this statue. I will not say that I thank
your lerdstip for attending, for I feel sure that the esteem
and regard you had fur our late departed friend invest this'
duty with sincere, though melancholy, satisfaction to your
lordship. (Hear, hear.) I hope and trust the welcome you
have received this day from a crowd such as neither I
nor
I believe the oldest man in Herefordshire, ever witnessed
before, will show your lordship that we are happy to see you
here, and to give you a sincere greeting with all our hearts.
(Cheers.) It has been the object of the subscribers to this
memorial to raise for our departed friend a monument
formed of materials the most imperishable which the quar-
ries and mines of our country can produce. We have endea-
voured that in soma respects it should, like him whom it
commemorates, be simple and unpretending. We have not

to ask your lordship to sanction the exaggerated praise of a
lying epitaph, for we have placed nothing on the base of
that statue but that which every person here who is quali-
fied to judge can say is the truth, and nothing but the truth.
(Hear,:hear.) We have said upon the base of the statue that
he was a wise and honest statesman; and for confiimation
of that part of our epitaph we may appeal to your lordship
who first called him to the very important office of Chan-
cellor of the Exchequer of this great country. Your lord-
ship's political experience discovered in the man, who had
worked with unremitting attention and with great ability in
the somewhat subordinate but still important office of Com-
missioner of Poor Laws, those talents which afterwards
shone forth more brilliantly in the high position of Minister
of finance, and which secured to him from the greatest com-
mercial population of the world, the city of London, a degree
of ccnfidence and respect which I will not say no other Chan-
cellor of the Exchequer has equalled, but which certainly no
other man in that situation has ever yet exceeded. (Cheers.)
We have, therefore, your lordship's testimony that he was
a wise and honest Minister. We know him ourselves to
have been honest, because we are well aware that he might
have continued until his dying day in that position which
he so ardently struggled to obtain—the position of a repre-
sentative of the county of Hertford, had he been a less
honest man—had he chosen to disguise the opinions which
he held, and which were then unpopular, (Hear.) But he
was an honest man, and he asserted his opinions. I don't
blame those who rejected him—not at all. They acted ac •
cording to their opinions, and he acted according to his,
All I claim for him is the merit of thorough- going honesty
of purpose. (Cheers.) Our inscription next declares that
he was a most profound scholar, Now, in all this vast
assembly I believe there is perhaps but one man who is able
to judge of the extent and depth of his scholarship—only
one man who can tell how deeply learned he was in the
philosophy and literature of ancient and modern times ; and
that man I rejoice to see present on this occasion—l refer to
the excellent bishop who presides over this diocess. (Hear.)
The next quality that we have ascribed to Sir G. Lewis is
that he was a true and firm friend. There are hundreds
here who can bear testimony to the truth of that assertion,
there are hundreds here who have known him in private life
and have seen him as a successful and as an unsuccessful
candidate, who have witnessed his total freedom from
rancour towards a political opponent. They have witnessed
that course of life which never made him a single enemy in
the whole of his career; and having witnessed these things
and Enjoyed the pleasure of his society, having known the
simpleness of his life, the unpretending goodness of his
heart, the kindness and courtesy of his manner to high and
low, gentle and simple, I say there is not one of those per-
sons who will not testify to the fact that ho was a firm and
true friend. (Hear, hear.) Gentlemen, you do not want to
hear me any longer. There is one here who is far worthier
to address you, But I beg you to remember that we are
assembled to-day not to do honour to any living person or
statesman, however great his talents or however great the
confidence we repose in him. We are here to honour the
dead, and over that grave, for one day at least, I would say
let every feeling of political asperity be hushed. Let us re-
member, as we do remember, because this statue is raised by
contributions from political-opponents as well as from poli-
tical friends, that he who never made a single enemy would
regret most deeply and bitterly, if he were permitted to be
conscious of what we are doing, that any other sentiment
than good feeling, peace, and love should prevail among
those who met to honour his memory. Lot us do all we can
to hand down to posterity the knowledge that one great and
eminent statesman has risen up among us—that among the
gentry of England one was found, as I believe many more
will be found whenever they are wanted, to serve his coun-
try well and fill the highest and most important offices of
the State. (Cheers.) My Lord Palmerston, I have now
to request you to uncover the statue of your former col-
league, and kindly express to us your sentiments on this
subject. iCheers.)
Lord Palmerston then drew aside the curtain which had
hidden the statue from view amid the deafening cheers of the
multitude, the troops simultaneously presenting arms,
salutes being also fired, and the militia band playing a slow
and solemn march. Meanwhile all eyes were fixed upon
the statue, which was at once instinctively pronounced by
all who knew the deceased to be a striking likeness. The
calm and mild features of the original are faithfully repro-
duced, and the artist, Baron Marochetti, has also been
singularly happy in catching his characteristic expression.
Sir George is represented standing with his arms folded,
as if in the act of addressing a public assembly, and his
whole bearing and attitude is pleasing and life-like. The
dress is not that of an ancient classical orator or statesman,
but the plain frock coat and trousers worn by an English
gentleman—a costume which, if it in any degree impairs
artistic effect, has at least the redeeming merit of truthful-
ness. The figure is cast in bronze, and is 7ft. Gin, high.
The plinth which supports it consists of a block of un-
polished Penrhyn granite, upon which rests a moulded
polished pedestal—the total height of the memorial being
lift. On the pedestal there is this appropriate inscription :
—" Sir George Cornewall Lewis, a wise and honest ates-
man, a profound scholar, a kind and firm friend ; M.P. for
the county of Hereford from 1847 to 1882 ; chief steward of
the city ; Jhancellor of the Exchequer from 1855 to 1858 ;
Home Secretary from 1859 to 1860; Secretary for War from
1860 to 1863. Born 1806, died, 1863."
After a brief interval spent in examining this admirable
work of art.

Lord PALMERSTON stood forward, when he was again
enthusiastically cheered. He said—Ladies and gentlemen,
I must, before I make any observations upon the occasion
which has brought us all together, thank you from the bot-
tom of my heart for the kind and flattering reception which
I have met with from the people of Hereford, (Cheers.) I
know well that the multitude which I now see before me has
assembled for the same ob)ect which has brought me also
among you. As my friend Mr Clive has truly said, that
object is not so much connected with the living as to do
honour to one whom we have lost. And indeed
you must
all feel that there seldom, if ever, has been an occasion upon
which it is more natural, more befitting, and more becoming
for the citizens of a great community like the people of
Hereford to assemble to do honour to the memory of one of
their departed members. The practice of celebrating by
posthumous honours the distinguished services of men en-
gaged in the cause of their country is one which has
.been
observed by all civilised nations and in all historical times,
and it is founded upon two principles equally
is an
of
recognition and resprct. In the first place it an expres-
sion grateful and agreeable to those from whomit proceeds,
of their personal attachment and public esteem for the per-
son in whose memory such honours are conferred. Such
acts tend to invigorate in the living those feelings of
affection and regard which are the most ennobling senti-
ments that can animate the human breast. (Hear, hear.)
But in the next place, the motive of such acts is that of
holding out to the living generation, and to those who
may succeed the hope that those who render great and
distinguished services to their country will live, through
memorials raised to perpetuate their memory, in the recol-
lection and esteem of their countrymen for centuries to
come. We all remember a most remarkable instance of the
way in which this feeling operates to stimulate men to great
enterprises. History records that when the great Nelson
was about to engage in his first famous battle he said, " I
am going for the House of Lords or 'Westminster Abbey."
That 13 to say, he was conscious that what he was about to
do would secure for him respect and distinction during his
life if he lived, or, if the end was different, such posthu-
mous honours as his country might bestow. (Hear, hear.)
Well, you are now assembled to confer posthumous honour
on a great and distinguished statesman, who by the inscrut-
able decrees of Providence was taken away from us prema-
turely and at a moment when, in the full vigour of his age,
we mightiaave expected from him the continuance of long
and useful public labours. (Hear, hear.) All you can do
now is that which you have met here to perform—via., to
commemorate by a lasting memorial the respect and esteem
which his contemporaries felt for him, and to hold out to
future ages an instructive and inspiring example to induce
them to emulate that career which he so honourably and
usefully followed. There has seldom been any man in a great
public career who so entitled himself to the respect and ad-
miration of his fellow countrymen as the late Sir G. Lewis.
(Cheers.) I may say that the whole active part of his life
was devoted, in ono way or another, to the service of his
country, During the latter part of his life he filled some of
the most arduous and most important offices in the State.
He was, as my friend Mr Clive has observed, at one time
Chancellor of the Exchequer, and managed during the Cri-
mean war—a period of great anxiety and great difficulty—
the financial concerns of the kingdom ; and it is perfectly
true that there never was a Finance Minister who acquired
and retained to a greater degree than Sir G. Lewis did the
confidence of all that commercial community who are so
much interested in the accurate and efficient discharge of
the functions of that Minister, (Hear hear.) He then after-
wards took charge of the internal affairs of the country as
Secretary of State for the Homo Department, and there,
in that perpetual intercourse which he had with the gentry,
the nobility, the corporations, and the different communities
connected with our domestic administration, be conciliated
their esteem, acquired their confidence, and so, with great
advantage, fulfilled the duties of that important cost.
(Hear, hear.) A vacancy unfortunately happened, through
an event much to be deplored, in the office of minister for
the War Department; and Sir George Lewis, not according
to his own inclination—because ho would have preferred
remaining at the post which he then occupied—but at the
earnest re quest of myself and others connected with the Go-
vernment—undertook the more arduous duties of the War
Minister of this country. Those duties he admirably per-
formed, and I cannot charge myself with the belief that,
however heavy their pressure was upon him, they tended in
any degree to shorten his valuable life. Thereupon, in all
those great and important public positions, he fulfilled his
duties in a manner which won for him the respect, the
esteem, and the approbation of all concerned in those several
departments, exhibiting at the same time a versatility of
talent which perhaps few men in an equal degree possessed.
In his Parliamentary labours he was an able and efficient
debater. He stood up manfully against all opponents in
defence of his own opinions, but with a calmness, a forbear-
ance, a power of cool logical argument, which, although
convinced many who had previously differed from him
in opinion, and although he confuted his political
antagonists, yet prevented him, even in the warmth of
debate, from ever moking a personal political enemy.
(Hear, hear.) And those who know, in any sphere of life,
how much the passions are apt to be excited by finding

opinions adverse to their own supported by able antagonists.
and how much the human mind is impatient of contradic-
tion, must know what a fund of good nature, what a fund
of calm forbearance, what a fund of substantiat reasoning
there must have existed in a mind which could pass through
debates in the House of Commons night after night and
year atter year, repelling attacks on some occasions, urging
opinions on others, and yet, although distinguished as an
able speaker, never by any lapse or yielding to any impulse
converting a political antagonist into a personal ,enemy.
(Cheers.) But not only was Sir G. Lewis most distinguished
as a public man. As was well observed by Mr Clive, he
contrived, in a way which excited not only the admiration,
but the astonishment of those who krew him—ho contrived,
while engaged alm6st all the active part of his life in
the performance of public duties of greater or less import-
ance, and all requiring great devotion and time, to acquire
more varied, more extensive and deeper knowledge
of all kinds than has often fallen to the lot even of those
who have nothing else to do but apply their minds to its
acquisition. He was one of the most learned men in private
life as well as one of the most active in public duties. Mr
Clive has well stated that there is one here who can bear
testimony to the fact that, however great was his learning,
there was in him withal an unpretending singleness and
simplicity of mind—that he was not given to any unneces-
sary display of his knowledge—that a man might have
passed hours in his society, and unless the conversation
turned by itself upon subjects with which Sir G. Lewis was
so much better acquainted than most of those with whom
he came in contact, he might have gone away ignorant of
what a vast store of infoto:ation he had heaped up in his
active and industrious mind. (Cheers.) But that know•
ledge was not merely useful, as all intellectual acquisitions
are, but the habit of mind formed in acquiring it
enabled him better to perform the public duties with which
he was from time to time charged. The great, and, I may
say, the leading quality of his mind was a thirsting after
truth. (Hear.) His great object was to ascertain truth.
He was not impatient of contradiction or of opposition:
his aim was, by comparing his own ideas with those of
others, whether living or dead, whether in conversation or
in books, to get at the truth and test the correctness or in-
correctness of particular opinions. That quality he pos-
sessed in a greater degree than almost any one whom I have
had the good fortune to meet. It was that quality which
endeared him as a public man to those with whom he had
to enter into communion. But in his private relations of
life there was a warmth of heart, a steadiness of affection, a
total unselfishness of feeling which rendered him dear to all
his friends, which made him invaluable to all his family
connections, and which inspired in those who came near
him in the exchange of domestic intercourse sentiments
deeper even than those which can be entertained by any
now assembled to do honour to his memory. It is there-
fore, I say, a becoming act on the part of the people of this
town and county to erect the statue which we have now
uncovered, which, being the work of one of the most dis-
tinguished artists of the present day, does give us as accu-
rate a resemblance as possible of the features of him in
whose honour it has been raised. (Hear, hear.) And I hope
that those whom I am addressing, and those who may fol-
low them, generation after generation, when they pass this
statue, will say, " This is the statue of a man dear to his
country, who rendered important services to his country,
who served his sovereign and his fellowcountrymen with
honesty of purpose, and with successful results:l His
career was a career to be imitated by all, even by those
who may not possess those qualities which enabled him
to arrive at that summit to which he attained. Every man
in his way may make such progress as his intellectual en-
dowments and his natural disposition may permit ; and be
assured that the imitation of great excellence, although it
may not result in equal distinction, is the certain course to
fit every man, whatever may be his talents, to be a use-
ful member of the community and to earn the goodwill
and esteem of his companions and friends in life. (Hear,
hear.) I therefore, trust, gentlemen, that this memorial
will not only prove in the present day the respect and ad-
miration which the people of Hereford felt for Sir George
Lewis, but will be a perpetual lesson to them and their
posterity, teaching them the course they ought to follow
in order to benefit those among whom their lot is oast, and
secure for themselves the esteem and approbation of their
fellowmen. Gentlemen, I beg again to thank you for
having been allowed to take part in this most interesting
ceremony, and to congratulate you on having brought it
to so successful an issue. (Cheers.)
The concourse then dispersed, and Lord Palmerston im-
mediately drove off amid vociferous cheering with the
Bishop of Hereford, to partake of luncheon at the palace.
The weather throughout the early part of the day was
bright and beautiful; but the ceremony was hardly con-
cluded before the sky began to lower, and a heavy thunder-
storm, accompanied by torrents of rain, speedily followed.
The thousands of holiday folks who had been leisurely pa-
rading the streets, or loitering round the statue were com-
pelled precipitately to seek for shelter, and so keen was the
competition, and so limited the accommodation that many
of them sought it in vain. The storm had but slightly
abated when the 2 55 p.m. train by which Lord Palmerston
was to travel to London, was preparing for its journey, and
his lordship drove up to the Hereford station in the midst
of a heavy shower. He was accompanied thither by the
Rev. Mr Clive, and a considerable number of the towns-
people had congregated on the platform to witness his de.
parture. Here he remained for some time engaged in con-
versation with all and sundry who pressed forward to shake
him by the hand—a privilege which some enthusiastic pa-
rents not only coveted for themselves, but sought to have
extended to their tender offspring. One ardent mother in-
troduced herself and her hopeful to the great statesman, and
seemed immensely gratified when he kindly patted her on
the head. This good lady's example was likely to prove
contagious, and the distinguished visitor might, on very
short notice, have formed an extensive acquaintance with
the juvenile population of Hereford had not the starting of
the train abruptly terminated the scene. Lord Palmerston
was loudly cheered as he left the station, and at various
points along the line, where it was known that the train
would stop, similar demonstrations greeted him.