The Sun.
London, England, 1868-07-22 00:00:00

THE .POMSEY MEMORIALS TO LORD

PALMERSTON.

The ceremony of unveiling a statue to Lord Palmerston
n the market-place of Romsey, and of uncovering a
nemorial window at the west end of the Abbey Church,
pook place on Tuesday. The proceedings of the day were
)f a double character. At half-past one the mayor and
nembers of the corporation in their robes, the borough
magistrates, the executive committee and subscribers,
ncluding the Broadlands tenantry, assembled at the
town Hall, and proceeded thence, escorted by. the 11th
Hants Rifle Volunteers and their band, and the Band of
:he Royal Marine Artillery, to Broadlands Park.
The procession next went to the Abbey Church, where
there was a special service. Just before the commencement
a memorial window erected to the memory of Lord
Palmerston in the west end of the Abbey Church was
uncovered. The window has been designed by Messrs.
Clayton and Bell, to exemplify the idea of government
descending from heaven to earth. After the window had
been uncovered a sermon was preached by the Bishop of
London, from the 3rd chapter of Ecclesiastes, verse 8 and
part of verses 13 and 14 : " What profit hath he that
worketh in that wherein he laboureth ?" " I know that
whatsoever God doeth it shall be for ever."
At the conclusion of the sermon a procession was
re-formed to the market-place, where the ceremony of
unveiling the statue was performed. The statue, which is
by Mr. Noble, is of bronze, and it represents the deceased
statesman in his usual attitude whilst addressing the
House of Commons. The statue, including the bronze
plinth, is Bft. 10in., and the pedestal 9ft. 6in. in
height. The latter is formed of Aberdeen granite, and is
about 6ft. 3in. square at the base, with a polished
shaft, on the front of which, in letters of gold, is inscribed
"Palmerston," and at the back " Born 1784. Died 1865."
The proceedings having been briefly opened by the Mayor,
Lord Granville, at the request of Lord Eversley, unveiled
the statue amid loud cheers.

In a few well-chosen sentences, Lord Eversley, as chair-
man of the Memorial Committee, desired Lord Granville tc
inaugurate the statue.
Earl GRANVILLE : I feel it a very great privilege to be
allowed to take a part in the ceremony which we have
just witnessed in honour of that great statesman who
within so short a time was your neighbour and your friend.
It is with great sorrow for your sake, for the sake
of Lord Russell, and for the sake of Mr. Gladstone,
and specially for my own, that I find they are prevented
from being here on this occasion. One is prevented by a
severe domestic calamity, and the other by the stern
requirements of parliamentary duty. (Hear, hear.) For
some years before Lord Palmerston's death, as Lord
Eversley has been good enough to say, I had the honour
of holding political service under him. More than
twenty-five years earlier I entered into official life under
his auspices and under his personal superintendence.
Kindness received during that long period of more than
a quarter of a century unfits me to give anything like
a judicial opinion of Lord Palmerston, but I think it
will be with you some claim why I may make a few
observations with regard to Lord Palmerston as a friend,
as a political chief, and as one of the most sagacious and
certainly the most popular Prime Minister that eves
ruled over this great country. (Cheers.) It is a fashion
among some to say that political contests and public life
weaken and deaden the feelings of the heart and the
warmer affections. I ask you whether they had such an
effect upon Lord Palmerston— (cries of " No ")—whether
such was the case with regard to his affections or to
the constancy of his friendships. There is hardly one
of us who, even in his business hours, has not received
from him timely and considerate advice on matters
of a purely private and personal character to our-
selves. Well do I remember, at a time when he
delighted the House of Commons, at the age of nearly
fourscore years, by giving an attendance to his parliamen-
tary duties which had never been given before by any
1 leader of that House—at a time when he was fulfilling all
the duties of his high office—he found time for weeks
daily to write sheets of political and social news to relieve
the hours of sickness of a dear young colleague who was
sinking under disease in a far and foreign land. Gentle-
men, it is impossible not to connect those private virtues
and personal qualities with the public character of
this great man. I had the honour of serving under
him in the Foreign Office. I feel some difficulty
in saying what I could wish with regard to the political
character of Lord Palmerston. If I were to pretend to

you that in a life of devotion for more than half a century
to the affairs of the nation, taking in most important ses-
sions a leading part, that Lord Palmerston had never
committed a fault in Parliament or an error of judgment,
that he was never mistaken at any time with regard to
home or foreign policy, I should be saying that he
was more or less than a man, and should be substi-
tuting fulsome flattery for that language of respectful ad-
miration with which I wish to speak of that great man.
.But this I will say of Lord Palmerston, that if ever he had
faults, those faults came from the overflowing of the great
qualities he possessed, and the exciting patriotism which
animated every movement of his heart and mind. Lord
Palmerston knew how to make concessions to change and
circumstances, as all wise men know. He knew how to
move in the spirit of the age, but there were some
great principles he never deserted through life—
namely, his passionate attachment to civil and religious
liberty all over the world, his detestation of anything like
religious persecution or injustice, his horror of oppression,
and his perfect abhorrence of slavery in all its forms.
(Cheers.) His great stimulus was that patriotic feeling to
which I have already alluded, and to it he added an
unbounded belief in the destinies of the country to which
he belonged, and a wish to place every Englishman,
collectively and individually, on a pinnacle of glory, of
honour, and of advantage. (Cheers.) On that sad day
when all that was great and distinguished in England met
in that old and historical abbey on the banks of the
Thames to pay a last mark of respect to the statesman
who had gone, in the midst of the gloom, moral and
physical, which was in that great abbey, a gleam of sun-
shine appeared at the very moment his body was being
lowered into its last abode, which for a time dispelled
that gloom. That slight and accidental coincidence gave
rise to a most beautiful expression by another great
and eloquent clergyman, who, alluding to the event,
said that when human minds, gifted beyond their fellows,
left the world, they left something of a light behind
them ; and I believe that at this moment, after uncover-
ing this magnificent statue, so like and so characteristic of
Lord Palmerston, when we saw the simple and touching
ceremony which attended its unveiling, I believe there was
not one of us, whatever might be our sphere, whatsoever

might be our opportunities, who would wish to go away
without determining to follow his bright example, in a
lesser degree, but with the same wish to devote our lives
in simplicity and under a sense of duty to the common
country. (Cheers.)
Mr. LOWE, on being loudly called for, also testified his
admiration of Lord Palmerston's character. The noble
lord was not only a great political leader and a great
statesman, but he was a great Englishman, and an example
to the highest and lowest, because when he undertook a
duty he did it, and did it thoroughly.
The company then dispersed, but the principal visitors
were entertained by Mr. Cowper at a luncheon in a
marquee erected at the west end of the Abbey Church.
The Duke of Argyll responded to the tcast of " The
House of Lords," and Mr. Cardwell to that of " The
House of Commons."
The day's proceedings terminated with an illumination
of the Abbey Church.