ness and force of the illustrations, the thickly strewed and happily selected facts. Nor can it ever escape observation, that the facts, far from being a mere bederoll of details unconnected with principle and with each other, derive all their interest from forming parts of a whole, and reflecting the general views which they are intended to exemplify or to support."

The only notice of a biographical character which has appeared of Mr. Deacon Hume is an article communicated by his successor in office, the late Mr. J. Macgregor, M.P. for Glasgow, to the columns of a daily journal. It is a record somewhat brief and bare, but accurate in its facts, and contains some very just observations. The author has fully availed himself of the contribution, and when he could do so with advantage, verbatim et literatim. He has consulted all the Parliamentary papers and Reports of Select Committees he could discover, with which Mr. Deacon Hume appeared to have had any concern. From these-and some may have escaped him-as well as from the debates in Parliament, he has derived much assistance. To the late President of the Board of Trade, Lord Stanley of Alderley, his best thanks are due for permission to inspect such papers preserved in the archives of that Board as could be produced without inconvenience to the public service, as also for the use of its library. With respect to the archives, however, he

regrets to say that he found nothing which could be of service to a biographer.

It is well known, as Mr. Macgregor observed in the year 1844, that Mr. Huskisson "relied implicitly on the knowledge, acuteness, judgment, and, above all, the uncompromising honesty of Mr. Deacon Hume." Nor did he omit to add, " And to Mr. Hume I certainly owe the confirmation of those principles and that ambition to labour through all the difficulties, at my sole expense, of collecting in Europe and America the materials of my work on Commercial Statistics."

*

The author has thought it right to make an especial acknowledgment in the last chapter, for this volume is not a family tribute or contribution. The writer has only attempted what, in the case of a public man, any one is at liberty to undertake; and with the exception referred to, he is responsible for the work. Its object is to set forth the public life, with portions of the writings, of Mr. Deacon Hume, with a view of affording, in a popular form, information upon economic subjects which is greatly needed; and, also, of doing justice to the services of one "whose memory," as an able judge recently remarked, "has not yet received the place in the respect of the country which it deserves."

The greatest care, as biographers rarely fail to plead,

* Page 331.

cannot always prevent mistakes. The author trusts that in the present instance they are few and unimportant, since he has given time and attention to the subject.

To the Right Honourable Lord Monteagle, the Right Honourable Lord John Russell, M. P., the Right Honourable Sir James Graham, Bart., M. P., the Right Honourable Sir James Stephen, K.C.B., the Right Honourable Henry Labouchere, M.P., the Right Honourable Edward Ellice, M.P., the Right Honourable W. E. Gladstone, M.P., Sir Denis Le Marchant, Bart., William Ewart, Esq., M.P., J. B. Smith, Esq., M.P., Richard Cobden, Esq., A. G. Stapleton, Esq., Thomas Doubleday, Esq., F. J. Hamel, Esq., and G. Plank, Esq., he is also indebted, and desires to express his thanks for very obliging communications, which either contained information, or afforded hints that were useful to him in his progress through the work.

Sudbury, Suffolk, December, 1858.

LIFE OF J. DEACON HUME.

CHAPTER I.

UNACKNOWLEDGED STATESMEN-BIRTH, EDUCATION, AND EARLY LIFE OF JAMES DEACON HUME.

It has been justly observed, that few persons have any idea what obligations this country lies under to those who may be termed her unacknowledged statesmen. They sit in their separate apartments in Downing Street, and Whitehall, the unseen sources of many a splendid reputation. They, not unfrequently, both suggest and prepare the particular measures, which are submitted to Parliament every session, by the Government, and it is to them that we are generally indebted for those judicious and timely provisions, which relieve the nation from some pressing distress, and lend éclat to the favourite of the hour. As the judges of the land are largely assisted in the cases or causes which come before them by the speeches of counsel, who have been giving their attention to every point at issue, so are Cabinets influenced, and Select Committees of the

B

House of Commons instructed and guided, by the advice and information which under-secretaries, especially if they should happen to be men of unusual sagacity and intelligence, are capable of affording. They also from time to time supply the Secretaries of State and the Chancellors of the Exchequer, with those telling facts which enable them, in debate, to silence opposition, and extricate Government from embarrassing positions. It may, nevertheless, be

doubted whether even the most valuable of the individuals referred to ever had justice done to them, or received their full reward. Their acquired powers of official suggestion are admitted; but strictly, they possess no real administrative power. They must not seek a seat in Parliament, or mix themselves up with the conflicts of party. Were they to do so, it would be impossible for them to continue in office, as many have done, from year to year, unaffected by the succession of Governments. If at every change of administration those who hold office in Downing Street were one and all to depart, the question, "How is the Queen's Government to be carried on?" would not only be asked, but it would also have to be answered.

It may be thought that the foregoing remarks are applicable only to persons who, though occupying a respectable position, never expect to fill the responsible office of secretary. But it is not so. With the excep

tion of the former being less known to the public, the observations are applicable to both.

James Deacon Hume was descended from an ancient