HUSKISSON, Right Honourable William, a distinguished statesman, was born at Birch Moreton, in Worcestershire, ou the 11th of March 1770. After receiving a liberal education, he was sent to Paris for instruction in physic, the profession to which he was originally destined. Whilst in the French capital, however, circumstances occurred which induced him entirely to alter his course of life. On the breaking out of the French revolution, he espoused the popular side, and became an active member of the London Corresponding Society, but not, as has been sometimes asserted, of the Jacobin Club of Paris. Through the influence of a friend he was introduced to Lord Gower, then British ambassador at Paris, and was afterwards appointed his private secretary. On his return to England, the talents of Mr Huskisson attracted the attention of Mr Pitt and Mr Dundas, and in 1795 he was appointed chief clerk in the office of the latter, at that time [7:11:761]secretary of state for the war department. In the following year he succeeded to the office of under secretary; and being found a valuable man of business, he was brought into parliament for the borough of Morpeth. In his subordinate connection with the ministry, Mr Huskisson shared the varying fortunes of those in power, retiring from office and returning to it with his superiors. During the early part of his parliamentary career he did not speak much, but he was exceedingly useful to the ministry in matters of business, particularly of a financial nature. On the return of Mr Pitt to power in 1804, he was appointed one of the joint secretaries to the treasury. During Mr Fox’s short administration he was in opposition, but he returned with Mr Percival, and resumed his secretaryship. As a politician Mr Huskisson belonged to that party of which Mr Canning was the head, and which first assumed a distinct character in 1809, when the latter statesman proclaimed his difference from Lord Castlereagh, and left the ministry. Mr Huskisson retired along with him, and continued to follow in that middle course which Mr Canning pursued, voting with ministers upon questions of general policy both foreign and domestic, but contending, with the opposition, for the necessity of retrenchment in the public expenditure. Being placed on the celebrated Bullion Committee, Mr Huskisson published an able pamphlet on the subject, entitled The Question concerning the Depreciation of our Currency stated and examined. In this tract Mr Huskisson defended the principles embodied in the report of the committee, and showed the necessity of the bank resuming cash payments. He afterwards took a prominent part in various debates on finance, in all of which he was listened to by the house with the greatest attention. In 1812 he obtained the lucrative situation of colonial agent for Ceylon; and in 1814 he was sworn a privy councillor, and appointed the first commissioner of woods and forests. His subsequent efforts in parliament were characterized by that middle course of policy which he had hitherto followed. On Mr Canning’s appointment as secretary of state in 1822, and his declining to be re-elected for Liverpool, Mr Huskisson was chosen as his successor. In the following year he was appointed treasurer of the navy, and afterwards president of the board of trade. The part which Mr Huskisson took in the great questions brought before parliament from the year 1820 till the close of his life, will be found fully detailed in the article Britain. In the ministry of Lord Goderich he became secretary for the colonies, which post he retained under that of the Duke of Wellington; but having voted against government on a question of importance, he placed his office at the duke’s disposal, and his resignation was accepted. His death took place on the 15th of September 1830. Being present at the opening of the Liverpool and Manchester railway, he came inadvertently in the line of one of the carriages, moving at a rapid rate, and the vehicle having passed over one of his legs, lacerated it in such a dreadful manner that he died soon after. The speeches of Mr Huskisson are characterized by little of that which in ordinary language is called eloquence. They are distinguished for clear, distinct statement, lucid arrangement, close adherence to the matter in hand, continuous reasoning, and a thorough knowledge of the subject discussed, in all its bearings and details. The strength of his oratory lay in the soundness and comprehensiveness of his views, particularly in all questions of political economy and commercial legislation. On such subjects he rose far above the majority of his parliamentary contemporaries, both in the extent of his information, and in the scientific character of his reasoning. He was, indeed, one of the few practical statesmen who could deal alike with matters of detail and the principles of the science by which they are illustrated. No debater ever came better prepared with facts and details bearing directly upon his subject, of which he always made himself completely master. His speeches are therefore exceedingly instructive, as well for their facts as for their reasonings. A collection of them was published in 1831, in three vols. 8vo. (r. r. r.)