The Sun.
London, England, 1866-06-16 00:00:00

MORNING SITTINGS.

Tho CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said the
period of the session had now arrived at which it was de-
sirable that morning sittings should commence ; he there-
fore gave notice of his intention to move the sitting of the
house on Tuesday morning next at 12 o'clock. The business
he would mention later in the evening.
THE LATE JOSEPH HUME.

Mr. EWART moved that an humble address bo
presented to her Majesty, praying that she will be
graciously pleased to cause to be placed within the pre-
cincts of this house, a bust, offered by his widow,. of Cie
1 rte Joseph Hume, Esq. ; who for nearly 40 years ably,
laboriously, and disinterestedly served his country in the
House of Commons.

Col. SYKES, having had the good fortune to enjoy the
friendship of Mr. Hume for 25 years, rejoiced that at last
his labours had met with recognition in that house. His
native town had elected a statue in acknowledgment of
the distinction he had conferred upon that town. The
people, by a penny subscription, had placed a painting of
Mr. Hume in the University of London, and, with the
balance that remained, had founded a scholarship in politi-
cal economy. (" Hear, hear," by Mr. MILL.) Under these
circumstances it would have been discreditable to the
House of Commons if they had not taken an opportunity of
recording their sense of services which were so highly
valued elsewhere.

Mr. M'LAREN said that by agreeing to the motion the
house would b 3 paying a compliment to the Scottish na-
tion. For many years he had the friendship of Mr. Hume,
who, he was sure, had no selfishness, rancour, or party
feeling in his character. (Hear, hear.)
Mr. ICINNAIRD, who sat with Mr. Hume in that house,
added his testimony to that already given.
Mr. D. GRIFFITH would not say a word against what
had been said in eulogy of Mr. Hume, but if without in-
delicacy he might allule to other eminent members uow
lost to that house, ho would point out that Mr. Cobden
was entitled to equal consideration, and that the houso
might be establishing an inconvenient precedent by ac-
cepting a bust offered by the members of a distinguished
inmil3'.

The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER so far
agreed with what had fallen from the hon. gentleman op-
posite as to say that the acceptance of the bust would by
no means take place as a matter of course. •It was a ques-
tion in which the House of Commons would have to act
with a groat sense of responsibility. (Hear, hear.) No
department required nicer discrimination than the manner
in which they should pay honour to their distinguished
members after they had ceased to belong to the race of the
living, and there was no part of its duties in which that
house had shown greater capacity or had given more proof
of unison than in those which required so much delicacy
and care. He was nut the least afraid, in acceding to the
motion of his hon. friend, that they would be involving
themselves in future embarrassments, because he believed
the ability of the house would be able to judge any case
that arose according to its circumstances, and therefore,
though by no means as a matter of course, but after care-
ful consideration, he, for one, and he might say the Go-
vernment also, cheerfully assented to the motion. (Hear,
hear.) lie had listened with great pleasure to: the
speeches of his hon. friends. If any particular stamp of
character-was to be estimated according to the rarity of
its appearance that of Mr. Hume must stand very high.
The long series of public men of great influence in Par-
liament had never failed. Mr. Hume was down to this
hour without a successor. (Hear, bear.) It was, perhaps,
the highest tribute that could b 3 offered to him to record
that fact. That was in itself ample justification of the
motion, and it might serve to allay the apprehensions of
those who were afraid of the precedent. He would not
refer to another name different in ninny respects frcm
that of Mr. Hume. Both were illustrious, but each
had his own province and his own work, and each so
did that work that they who remained behind
might wish nothing better than to do likewise.
(Hear, hear.) Ho had rarely known, if he had ever
known, a character more remarkable than that of Mr.
Hume. Involved as he was for nearly forty years in the
wear and tear of political strife, and in the most worrying
and irritating details, he never departed from a cheerful
and genial spirit. He was an economist, but he never lost
sight of the necessity for maintaining the efficiency of the
establishments. In all that related to colonial government,
navigation, and the corn laws, he saw the truth at a mo-
ment when it had hardly dawned on the horizon, and yet
ho was content to forego notoriety, and the applause which
was the reward of public men, and to give the labours of
his long life to the working out of laborious details. His
sense of public duty enabled him, when ho had little else
to reward him, to reduce public expenditure by a few
hundreds or a few thougands, labours not seen when per-
formed; but time, which was the test of all characters, had
ensured his permanent fame. Although he had not tho
satisfaction of agreeing with Mr. Ilume, ho had felt his in-
fluence in the financial affairs of the country, and never
did he give an assent with greater gratification in that
house than when ho assented to this proposal.

Mr. HATFIELD regretted that the great merits of Mr.
Hume had not been earlier discovered.

Mr. WHITE also regretted that more of this respect
was not paid to Mr. Hume while ho was alive.

The motion was agreed to.
Mr. SYNAN called attention to the treatment of pri-
soners in the county gaol of Limerick under the Habeas
Corpus Suspension (Ireland) Act, and he moved that in
the opinion of the house such treatment had been unneces-
sarily sever© and unconstitutional, and that it was the duty
of the Government to prevent tke continuance of the same.
Dr. BLAKE seconded the motion.

Mr. C. FORTESCUE explained the system adopted by
the Government, and asserted that prisoners under the
Habeas Corpus Suspension Act wero no worse treated than
other criminals.

Mr. MAGUIRE urged that there had been unnecessary
severity in the treatment of Fenian prisoners in Irelaud.
He condemned the practice of solitary confinement pre-
vious to their conviction, and he moved for certain infor-
mation relative to prisoners confined in Belfast gaol.
This was promised by the AT TOItNEY-GENERAL
for IRELAND, and
Mr. SYNAN withdrew his motion.

Mr. T. CHAMBERS was moving an address to her
Majesty concerning the mismanagement of the Cape Rail-
way, when the house was counted, and there being only
thirty members present the house adjourned.

GALLANT ACT.—We take the following from an
East Canada paper, the St. Hyacinthe Courrier :
"As a train. of the Grand Trunk was passing through St
Liboire in the night, a young gentleman, Mr. Bachand,
noticed that a house was on fire while the people seemed
to be asleep. He urged the conductor to stop the train,
or at least to slacken it, but atet with a refusal. The cou-
rageous young man leaped, however, from the cars, broke
his leg, and yet crept to the burning house, which was
that of Mr. Urgelc Desmarais, merchant. Tho family were
all asleep, as Mr. Bachand had supposed, and he roused
them just in time to save their lives, with ono exception,
of a young lady, 22 years old, a niece of Mr. Desmarais.
She has perished in the names. gr. Bachand deserves a
medal."