The Sun.
London, England, 1854-08-07 00:00:00

TESTIMONIAL TO MR. HUME.

On Saturday, at one o'clock, a number of friends and
admirers of Mr. Hume, including four Cabinet Mini-
sters, assembled at his residence, Bryanstone-square, to
witness the presentation of his portrait by Lord John
Russell, on behalf of the subscribers, as an acknowledg-
ment of his long public services, and a testimony of re-
spect for his personal character. Among those present
were :—Sir Joshua Walmsley, M.P., Sir James Duke,
M.P., Mr. Thornely, M.P., Mr. Harrison, Lord Dudley
Stuart, M.P., Mr. Taylor, Dr. Arnott, Mr. Cobden,
M.P., Mr. W. Williams, M.P., Mr. Glyn, M.P., Mr.
Harris, Mr. Macgregor, M.P., Mr. Greaves, Sir W.
Molesworth, M.P., Mr. Peto, M.P., Mr. Morris, Mr.
Heyworth, M.P., Mr. Duncan, M.P., Lord John Rus-
sell, M.P., Sir Charles Wood, M.P., Mr. A. Stevenson,
M.P., Lord Palmerston, M.P., Mr. R. Gardner, M.P.,
Mr. J. B. Hume, Mr. W. Ewart, M.P., &c.
A deputation attended to represent the Council of
University College, of which Mr. Hume is an active
member. It comprised Earl Fortescue, vice-president,
Mr. H. C. Robinson, Mr. G. Grote, Mr. E. Rotnilly,
and Mr. Atkinson, secretary.
The members of the family having assembled with the
visitors in the drawing-room, and the portrait—which
is a good characteristic likeness as well as a finished
work of art—being placed in the room,
Lord J. RUSSELL read the following address to Mrs.
Hume :
" Madam, —I have the honour to present to you a full-
length portrait of Mr. Hume. This portrait has been
painted by that distinguished artist, Mr. Lucas, at the re-
quest of a large body cf subscribers, among whom are 75
members of the legislature. I will mention a few of those
who have held conspicuous situations in the councils of the
Crown, or who have guided in critical moments the deli-
berations of Parliament. Among the former are Lord
palmerston, Lord Broughton, Lord Panmure, Mr. Disraeli,
Sir George Grey, Sir Charles Wood, and Sir W. Moles-
Worth ; among the latter are Mr. Cobden, and many others
whose opinions have great weight both in Parliament and
in the country. The list of those who share in the senti-
ments of the subscribers, but whose names do not appear,
would indeed be a long one. It would comprise the whole
Liberal party, and many whose views do not agree with
those of that numerous party. The sentiments to which I
here allude are those of respect and affectionate regard for
one whose services to his country have been able, indefati-
gable, and disinterested ; who, through a long career, has
never been turned aside from his path by the calculations
of selfishness. or the animosities of political strife ; who has
supported without forfeiting his independence, and opposed
withoutprovoking personal hostility. To the members of the
Liberal party long engaged, though with various modifica-
tions, in the same task of political improvement, other re-
collections will occur. They will recal the time when dis-
ability on account of religious difference was the rule and
not the exception • when the green mounds of Old Sarum
had their representatives, and the thriving community of
Manchester had none ; when by prohibition and by duties
the common food of the people was restricted in its pas-
sage, and burdened on its entrance ; when the popular
cause was prostrate, and men of liberal views proscribed.
"Mr. Hume has laboured long, with perseverance, with
courage, with energy, to change this state of our laws and
of our legislature. More especially in the cause of economy
and retrenchment his untiring efforts have been conspicu-
ous and successful. The voice of the people has encouraged
his efforts, and a spotless reputation is a part of his reward.
The consciousness that he has served his country as an
honest and disinterested patriot will, we all trust, brighten
his remaining course, and after the heat of the day give
calmness and serenity to the evening of his honourable
life."

Lord John Russell having presented the address to
Mr. Hume,

Mr. HUME said—My lords and gentlemen, I assure
you on behalf of Mrs. Hume, that she is deeply sensible
the great and unexpected compliment which you have
thun paid to us. No person has been more desirous
than h,srself to see this country prosper ; or, at the same
time, less- inclined to meddle in political affairs. It has
been otherw:`se with me. I have for a long period been
actively engaged in public life ; and a stern sense of
duty has often cordyelled me to differ from those with
whom I was desirous of co-operating ; hut, my lord, I
can assure you, that no ;Tian can have more regretted
the necessity of such difference than myself. It is, how-
ever, a great consolation to me to look back to the
period to which your lordship has alluded ; for I recol-
lect with pleasure that an humble subaltern in the maks
has aided in bringing about the changes which have
taken place in civil and religious liberty. In all
matters I have been guided by one general prin-
ciple—the interest of the many. (Cheers.) Before
I entered Parliament I adopted the principle—not
at that time very much in favour—known as Ben-
tham's principle, that, namely, of securing for the
greatest possible number the greatest possible ad-
vantages which good government could . afford.
From the hour that I first entered Parliament that has
been my leading principle. I have always been anxious
to promote economy and retrenchment as a means of les-
sening the burdens of the people, and of making the
administration of public affairs honest and pure ; and had
that system been more fully carried out, we should have
been spared many of those scenes which have recently
disfigured the aspect of our representative institutions.
My lord, lam now an old man. It is forty-three years
since I first entered Parliament, and for the last thirty-
six years my political lie has been uninterrupted. I
have undoubtedly committed many errors in its course,
but my faults have not been those of intention ; and it is
most gratifying to me, towards the close of my political
career, to see around me on this occasion not only those
with whom I have acted, but many also who formerly
differed, and still continue to differ from me, but who
no doubt feel that we had the:sarne object in view, though
our means of attaining it may be different. It is pleasing
to me, however, to b2lieve that we are all gradually
approximating towards the same views as to the mea-
sures and principles best calculated to secure the future
welfare of our country. Nothing, soy lord, could give
me greater satisfaction than to see so many friends as-
sembled around me, to pay me a compliment so unex-
pected, and so far beyond anything to which I am en-
titled. Numerous as are the marks of approbation which
I have at different times received from different parts of
the country, I reckon none equal in value to that which
you have now conferred upon me. I can only sayfurther,
that this portrait having been originally designed to
be placed in some public institution, Mrs. Hume and
myself having consulted together on the subject ; and
as no public question has engaged my attention more con-
stantly than that of education—(cheers)--ever since the
year 1811, when I was a member of the Lancasterian
School Society, at a time when we had still to dispute
the question whether education for the masses was a
good or an evil, it has appeared to us that, more espe-
cially as I had the honour of being a member of the first
council of University College, that nothing could be
more gratifying to us both than to see my portrait placed
in that institution. (Cheers.) Having been fur years a
member of its council, I know how much that institution
has done to raise the standard of education and the qua-
lifications of instructors throughout the country, and I
hope the council will accept ta6 offer which Mrs. Hume
desires to make of placing this portrait under their care
and at their disposal. My lords and gentlemen I have
only to thank you for the kindness which you have shown
me, and to assure you that nothing can efface the im-
pression it has made, and I trust that no act of mine,
while I continue my labours, will tend in any degree to
forfeit the feelings of friendship and esteem which you
have honoured me by thus manifesting towards me.
Earl FORTESCUE said, on behalf of the deputation
which attended there that day to represent the council,
and, he might add, all the members of the London Uni-
versity, he begged to return their grateful thanks for
this valuable gift. Connected as he had been with that
institution from the commencement down to the present
time, he could truly say that there was no individual
to whom it was more indebted for constant and ener-
getic support than to his excellent friend Mr. Hume.
He knew no place in which a portrait of one who had so
persevering advocated the cause of civil and religious
liberty could be more appropriately deposited than in
a conspicuous part of that institution—an institution
founded, as his noble friend near him (Lord John Russell)
knew, amidst much difficulty and much detraction, to
extend the benefits and rewards of education in arts,
in mechanics, and in general science, at a time
when a great majority of the upper classes were
of opinion that all collegiate education should be wholly
dependent on the Church, and consequently should
be confined to members of the Church. But, great as
was the value of the gift on this account, he must say it
acquired a far higher and nobler value as a monument of
the affection and- esteem of that assembly in which Mr.
Hume's voice had been so often heard. He entirely
concurred in what his noble friend had said with regard
to the disinterested services of Mr. Hume in the promo-
tion of measures connected with civil, religious, and
commercial freedom ; measures which, in the course of
his long and useful life, he had happily seen carried out
to an extent which could hardly have been anticipated,
and he had now the satisfaction of seeing his country
reaping the fruits of those measures. He need not, in
the presence of his honoured and excellent friend, say
all that he might otherwise be tempted to say in the ex-
pression of his own opinion of his character ; but this he
might say, that he could himself testify from observation,
that his friend's object throughout the whole of his poli-
tical life had been, as he himself had stated, to secure,
by means of good government, the greatest amount of
happiness to the greatest portion of the people. He
was happy to think that this portrait would be preserved
in University College as a memorial of his useful career,
and as an example to the youth who might be brought
in that establishment, for their guidance and imita-
tion. (Cheers.) " Long, however, continued the
noble earl, "may he still five to raise his voice in the
House of Commons, in support of the same principles,
and in advocacy of the same cause ; and long, madam,
may you enjoy the happiness of witnessing the grateful
estimation in which he is held, I may say generally, by
the people of this country." The noble earl added that
lie had an apology to make for Lord Brougham, who
very much regretted that be could not be present, and
to whose lot, if he had been present, it would have fallen,
instead of his own, to acknowledge the gift which had
been presented to the college.
T:ie company then partook of lunch, and shortly after-
wards retired.

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