The Sun.
London, England, 1842-08-10 00:00:00

striking if it stood upon that ground than if it were the
result of a motion brought forward by way .of a set-(e
to a similar resolution.—(Hear, hear.) lie wished to
say nothing adverse to the principle of the me-
don .of the Right Honourable Gentleman—nothing •
which could prevent him from bringing forward
a motion to the same effect upon some future occasion.
He (Sir R. Peel) ehould not directly pledge himself to
take that subject into his own hands ; but if the Hon.
Gentleman should find that her Majesty's Government
were not prepared to deal with it, he might himself
bring it under the notice of the House in the course of
the next session. He begged to remind the House that
the subject of the claims which he had brought forward had
been under the consideration of Parliament upon former
occaeions. He did not say one word which could show
a desire to undervalue the high services of Herschel,
Davy, or Watt. With respect to the last of those dis-
tinguished men. the spontaneous burst of public gratitude
had already anticipated the motion of the Hon. Gentle-
man, and monuments had been raised to his memory
snore splendid than any which that Hotise could decree.
But the selection of the names Of persons distinguished
for civil services was a subject for consideration ; and if
they determined ou erecting monuments to those who
deserved them, they should take care that they ex-
"eluded none who were entitled to the honour.
He trusted the Hon. Gentleman would voluntarily with-
draw his motion for the present, and would not prevent
a unanimous acquiescence in the motion which he (Sir
R. Peel) had submitted for their adoption. Without
wishing to disparage the services of others, he hoped he
might be permitted to say that there were distinguished
claims on the part of the three great men he had men-
tioned for the honour which he sought to confer on their
memory. By assenting to his motion the House would
not, he felt assured, incur the reproach of a want of gra-
titude for the services of other distinguished characters.
Mr. HAWES said be could assure the House and the
Right Hon. Gentleman that it never entered into his mind
to disparage the services of the distinguished men whose
memories the Right Hon. Gentleman proposed to honour.
But he felt that while we had time after time erected
gorgeous monuments to the memory of our military and
naval heroes, we had nearly altogether overlooked those
great men whose services were not perhaps so striking
—were more unobtrusive—but perhaps not less import-
ant in their consequences to the country and to mankind.
He thought they had too long overlooked the services of
those who had distinguished themselves in a civil
capacity. He had endeavoured to select three contem-
poraries of the great men mentioned in the resolution of
the Right Hon. Baronet, who had been distinguished for
great original discoveries, conferring on their country - -
not only scientific glory but great practical benefits. He
contended that in associating the names of Herschel,
Watt, and Davy with those of military and naval
commanders, he had only raised the latter into a
higher class out of the class of mere warriors.
The Right Hon. Gentleman, however, had said enough
to melte him (Mr. Hawes) _pause in pressing his motion
on that occasion. His only regret was that the Right
Hon. Baronet had not distinctly stated a determination
to take into his consideration and that of the Govern-
ment during the recess, the propriety of erecting monu-
ments to men distinguished for civil services, and of
selecting the names to be so honoured. He was sure
the subject could not be in better hands than that of the
Right Hon. Baronet. In looking back at the list of
names to whose memory public monuments had been
erected, he (Mr. Hawes) was surprised to find hew
small was the number among them of those distinguished
for civil and scientific services. Out of 132,000/. the entire
SUM devoted to the erection of public monuments to the
memory •of illustrious characters, he found that only
114,000/, were applied to commemorate civil eervices•
Again, out of forty public monuments only four could
be said to have been erected for civil services ; the first
of these being that erected to Lord Chatham ; the se-
cond to William Pitt ; the third that erected to Spencer
Percival ; and the fourth that erected to Captain Cook,
who had been so honoured entirely on account of his
scientific discoveries. Now he had selected names eusi-
nent in science--Herschel!, Watt, and Davy. Herschel'
had added considerably to our knowledge of the solar
system ; Watt had brought into practical operation the
great and original discovery of Dr. Black ; and the name
of Davy was known throughout Europe. He had taken
these names because of their eminence, and because they
were contemporary with the names proposed ; but after
what had fallen from the Right Hon. Gentleman, he would
leave the subject entirely in his hands, • and he re-
peated his conviction that no one was more competent to
deal with it.
Sir R. H. INGLIS said that the Right Hon. Baronet,
the First Lord of the Treasury, in endeavouring to
honour the illustrious dead. had done an honour to
himself ; and he hoped his proposal would ineet
with the cordial assent of that House. It appeared to
him, however, that it would be advisable not to pledge
the House that St. Paul's should be selected as the place
where the monuments were to be raised, but that that
question should be left open for future consideration.
It was well-known that Westminster Abbey was
crowded with monuments, and that a very large number.
had already been erected in St. Paul's. Ile (Sir
would throw out a suggestion that monuments to those
whose memory 'Parliament wished to honour, sully, or
hereafter have their monuments in 'Westminster
that a sort of carnpo sttncto should be formed in its Barry
diate vicinity for the purpose. It was the wish of Mr.
,r.
h
and others that such a course should be adopted. a-,
Right Hon. Baronet had referred to the delay that ]tad
taken place in erecting monuments to the persons al-
luded to. Ho thought there was great advantage in such
a delay.. He bail looked over the list of those to whose
memories Parliament had erected monuments within the
last sixty years, and opt of the forty-one monuments
erected during that time, he would venture to say, that
to twenty-eight of those names they could not attach a
single claim to this distinction. It was a good test,
therefore, of the merits of an individual to allow some
time to elapse before they erected a monument to his
memory. He believed the House once. Ca= a resolu-
tion that every Mejor-General killed in action should
have a public monument.—(Hear, hear.) Did not the
House degrade the honour by making it as frequent and
as common as a class-honour. He begged to remind the
Right Hon. Baronet that a vote was once proposed for s
monument to Watteand he begged to tell the' Hon. Mem-
ber for Montrose that two months' taxes had been voted
in 1677 for a monument to King Charles 1., the
design by Sir Christopher Wren being now in
existence at Oxford. King Charles H., however,
had become possessed of the money, and the too:
nument was never erected.—(A laugh.) With
regard to the delay Which had taken place before Far;
liement had determined on erecting monuments to Lord
Exmouth, Lord De Saumarez, and Sir Sidney Smith. b°
confessed that for his part, he (lid not regret it. That
delay had only enabled the public more fully to appre;
ciate the services which those eminent men had renderea •
to their country. He hoped the House would give its
unanimous consent to the motion. The Hon. Member
far Lambeth had 'exercised a sound discretion in leaving
the subject of erecting monuments to civil merit in the
bands of the Government, and he trusted an opporter
nity would aeon occur for taking the subject into their
consideration.
Sir R. PEEL said, he did not see that any advantage
would be derived from fettering the motion with the stir
gestion of the Right Hon. Baronet. He would not Sag
that they should be erected in St. Paul's, but wo
uld
leave this point entirely to the discretion of the Cravat
In reference, then, to the opinion of the Hon. Meralf
for Oxford, he would omit the appropriation clause 0,!,
the address, and leave the matter to the discretion. 0'
the Crown.
On the question being put,
Sir GEORGE COCKBURN begged to assure' 1114
Right Hon. Friend and the House hew grateful and gry
tified the navy would feel at this handsome and sponle
neous mark of respect on the part of the House of coma.
mons to the services of some of the most distinguiebf
and meritorious naval officers of the last war.(Checre'i
It would be wrong for him to attempt to add anyel
to the elegant and beautiful speech which had been sei e
by the bead of her Majesty's Government, but the 11014
would excuse him for alluding to the feelings entertairr_,..
by the naval service in regard to these exploits tiPer
which his Right Hon. Friend had dilated, and to assure'
the House that when the account of the gallant defence' -
of Acre reached the fleet iu the Mediterranean, th°,
naval officers there—of whom he (Sir G. Cockburrei
had the honour to be one—were as much astonished
at the glorious achievement as any persons eel':
have beets who were not accustomed to 0°
template such valorous deeds.—(Hear.) The Hoesl3
would bear in mind that it was almost owing to the Per
sonal energy and valour of Sir Sidney Smith, aided oe'le
by two line-of-battle ships, that he defeated the efforts
Bonaparte, although that renowned General was
ported by the veteran troops that had attended him, °'
gained all his victories in the Italian war. Eight tie'e
the enemy stormed the breach, and eight times they wed.°
met by that gallant Admit al and his small band ofl3,r„i
tieh sailors, and every time repulsed.—(Cheers.) n.,
was a service, too, let it, be rembered, very differeet fro::
what naval officers were usually called upon to perfores.
therefore it became an exploit more singularly g. 1012,„,.
--(Cheers) It was an achievement which obtain . ire
and assured to Sir Sidney Smith the approbation
vice
British navy, and gave to him• a renown in that seeini7.
which never left him. But the fame of the gallant ek_d.
ral depended rot upon this one glorious action.
ou
found him afterwards leading the British fleet throce._":„
the Dardanelles, and upon that, and
everysion, showing himself' first in every deed of al
Majesty'so
aGtoo,vieuronsint
jeonsto
latHeer, yet nott bonoure
naval hero as one to whom monumental
name
should be paid.—(Cheers.) Then, again, in the
,ex
the British navy, he (Sir G. Cockburn) had to r
astlejecttehdertehfoarteliiviutshtoriougasil
had given to the selection of another eminent naval thanks for the unanimous approbation which the_i_ou_sO
e
brilliant
first
(Cheers.) That Gallant Officer fought the
as the object of national. regard—Lord Exmouth..
action of the first naval way as he fought the
of theavar, and one of unequal force. HecoFeir
Tisch, of
a frigate, and he met one of the enemy, the
—(Cheers.) His first battle was at the commence; e,oncti
superior
power. He engaged with the enemy,
One know the
great and brought her into pert. Every
blow.
fiest that was produced by the first decisive
great e e
It infused courage and energy in others to goa bow-
emulate the deed.--(Cheers.) His next action,dt Jew
red
herding of Algiers, was one of vast power.
-1 and
wore tho
great determination, and most extraordinary
sad to
efforts which, be made, because the batteries op%
hod,
him were almost terrific. But the gallant Pellewtertiour Fever
and by that one deed lie obtained the first vi y
t nett be
slavery. Another deed of this eminent hero raus
atlas mucn LL
left unmentioned, as it perhaps marked the m
eapturclo
s
anything could da One of our merchantmen we.s cum f_
home to the port of• Plymouth,
water it was wrecked.• Lord Exmouth, was at thu_
.P
at ro e
I'D • 11139
and hastened to the spot. Begot a ropeP th„
t!•rek,
and when near the 13,1:1,
tii
eatery gut on snure.--Leeer..)
Government had selected to lion:re:land be knew that,