Page 42 - Hampdens Monument Unveiled

Lord Nugent’s Speech

After the toasts of the Queen and constitution, Lord Nugent
said, He wished to draw their attention to the occasion which
called them together, to do honor to the memory of him who, 200
years ago, shed his blood in this field -and also to do honor
to the cause in which he spent his life and met his death -that
cause which he served and embellished during his illustrious
life, and which in his glorious death he bequeathed to the
affections and honor of all who cherish in their hearts a love
of English Liberty and a reverence for the memory of those who
had lived and died in its defence! (cheers). And what was the
cause in which Hampden spent his life and met his death? It was
their fortune to live in times when it was no offence to the
authorities which ruled over them to speak freely of the
tyranny from which they had been redeemed by their forefathers
(cheers). They lived in times when that great problem of free
monarchy had been solved and acknowledged -that problem, the
solution of which, says Tactius, asking of the government of
Nerva Caesar, "hath joined together things a foretime at
variance, sovereignty and freedom." The throne was now built on
the rock of public liberty -the sceptre guarded by the hands
which gave it power. Principles acknowledged now, and made one
with sovereignty, under which, however divided on the practical
questions of practical politics which must daily arise in every
free state, all Englishmen may now meet upon this memorable
ground of Chalgrove to do thankful homage to the cause in which
Hampden died (cheers).

Defence of Free Speech and Liberties of England

Upon the monument which they had seen were written these words
;-"In the defence of the free monarchy and the ancient
liberties of England." He (Lord N.) wished to justify to them
the propriety of these words. He must have considered the
constitution of England to little purpose, he must have read
her history most carelessly, and formed his conclusions most
unjustly, who sees in the cause to which Hampden devoted
himself in Parliament, and before the corrupted judges of the
seventeenth century, and for which he first took arms in this
field, and afterwards made its name immortal by his death, a
petulant resistance to authority, or a rebellious outbreak
against the person and just prerogative of his sovereign.
"There was in the Ashmolean collection in Oxford, and still in
good preservation, a medallion locket, which it was said that
Hampden wore upon his breast, and upon which was inscribed the
following quaint lines :-

"Not against my king I fight,
But for my king and England's right."

For the free monarchy, as bound up with public liberty for
public liberty, as an essential element of the system of free