The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-06-11
OF HILLIARD HERE Daughter Sends Life-Sized
 Painting 'OF MONTGoMERY's FAMED Is Now Held by Archives and History Department. Was Probably Painted While MT. Hilliard Was Minister to Belgium-Is Given Con-
 spicuous Position.

Director Thomas M. Owen of the State Department of Archives and History, has just received from Atlanta nfe-sized oil portrait of the late Hon. Henry w. Hilliard. statesman, orator. diplomat, teacher. preacher. author. soldier and one of the most distinguished of Alabamians during the period just before and after the war between the States.
 E Mir. Hilliard was contemporary of William Lowndes Yancey, and was one of his bitterest public opponents. He died in Atlanta in recent years and Is buried in beautiful Oakwood Cemetery tn Mont gomery. His stately monument, which is just to the right of the main entrance to the cemetery bears an inscription which was written by Mir. Hilliard him. self.
 The portrait of Mir. Hilliard was pre- scented to the Department of Archives and History by a daughter of Mir. Hil- Hard. Mrs. Eugene Spalding. of Atlanta. It represents MT. Hilliard standing and shows the figure to the knees. Evidently it was taken when MT. Hilliard was Min ister to Belgium. as he is represented as young man. The painting may have been made in a foreign country There
 is nothing to show the date of the work or the name of the artist. The canvas Is extra large and framed in gold. The
  scape from an open window.
 Mir. Hilliard was born in Fayette, N. C., Aug. 4, 1908. In his youth his parents re-
 moved to Columbia, s. C. In 1926, while but IS years of age, he was graduated from the South Carolina College. He first begun a course of reading in the law un- der Hon. William C. Preston in Colum- bia, s. C.. which he later completed un- der Hon. A. M. Clayton in Athens. Ga. xtxz l.,,. s,z h< load two years in Athe ,s Ga. In the mean time, having been admitted to preach in the Methodist Ep pscopal Church, in 1881, few months after tie University of Alabama was opened, he was selected as the first incumbent of the chair ofEnglish | literature This position he resigned in | 1854. At his death he was the last survi- vor of the first faculty of the institution In 1884 MT. Hilliard opened his law of- | fee in Montgomery, and this city remain 1 ed his residence until the close of the war. In 1858 he represented Montgomery 1 County in the Legislature, and in 1SD was Harrison elector. In 1S42 he was appointed Minister to Belgium. but he | returned after two years service. Again | entering active political life. in 1S45 he was elected to Congress over John Coch-
 ran of Barbour County; in 1S47 he was | reelected without opposition; and In 1s47 he defeated James l.. Pugh of Bar | bour County. After this term he decline l further Congressional service and re- stunned his law practice.
 | He was a Fillmore elector in 1856, and | in 1860 was an elector on the Bell and l Everett ticket. In 1861 he was commits sfoner of the Confederate States to treat | with Tennessee preparatory to it's adnlis- sion, a mission he accomplished success fully.
 Entering the military service of his country, he recruited Hilliards Legion which was organized about 5000 strong June 25, 1862, but he resigned before the close of the war.
 About 1865 he removed to Augusta, Ga,
 but soon went to Atlanta. Ga. In 1872 he advocated Horace Greeley's election. From 1877 to 1881 he served as Unite l States Minister to Brazil. receiving the appointment from President Hayes While MT Hilliard was lawyer and political leader, he was an author and
 writer of note He was one of the orig
 inaI regents of the Smithsonian Institu- tion. In 1859 he delivered the annual ora ton before the University of Virginia.
 His principal published works are "Ro- man Nights" uS4s): Speeches and Ad-
 ii esses'' uS55); 'Devane' dS65-fs66); and
 Politics and Pen Pictures Qs92o.
 writer in the National Cyclopedia of American GlcBTdpHy, NOl IT, Y. HI. says
 Tn Congress he took high rank. He made a great speech on the Oregon dues- ton; wrote the report that secured mail steam facilities to Europe; ably fought slave exclusion from the territories; on the Foreign Relations Committee made an elaborate review of the whole subject of foreign missions: and delivered num- ber of masterly speeches on the vital matters before the country. It was in Brazil that the most illustrious and mo- mentous service of Mir. Hilliard's public career. was done. The emancipation or the million and halt of her slaves was pending He was applied to for the re- suits of American emancipation. With magnificent ability. he wrote letter that was the turning point of the colossal movement, and hastened the reform. great banquet was given in his honor. and he made a speech as remarkable as his letter. and both have been published in the official blue book of Great Britain by Lord Granville
 The same writer says further:
 As orator. statesman. diplomat and author. he has had long public career of unusual distinction, marked by large utility, and crowned with intellectual lustre He is a natural orator, with every grace of eloquence; a musical voice, and a diction classic, facile and fervent"
 The painting of Mr. Hilliard has been given 2 conspicuous place in the gallery of the department, and it is highly prized by Mir owen.