Page 60 - Hampdens Monument Unveiled

very good authority, to have been worn on Hampden's breast, on
which the following quaint couplet was engraven :-

"Not against my King I fight;
But for my King, and England's right.”

For the monarch of England was bound up with public liberty and
public safety. (Hear, hear.) That person must have read history
to little purpose who saw cause to upbraid that House of
Parliament whose boldly opposed the corrupted judges of the
17th century in their attempt to trample on the liberties of
the people. (Hear.) His Lordship then proceeded to detail the
historical circumstances connected with the period of Hampden's
death, his opposition on principle to the impost called ship
money, the first assessment of which on his large property only
amounted to 31s. 6d, and gave a succinct account of the events
of that interesting period of English history, closing with the
death of the patriot on Chalgrove field, while engaged with a
small force of 300 men in endeavouring to prevent the Royalist
army, numbering 2,000, under Prince Rupert, from forming a
junction with the King's troops at Oxford. The noble lord
concluded with an eloquent description of the death -bed of the
patriot, stating that his last prayer had been fulfilled, and
the blood of their civil martyrs, the seed of public liberty,
had grown up into public blessings, which had secured them
privileges they now enjoyed. (Hear.) His Lordship then gave
“The Memory of John Hampden, and the Cause in which he shed his
blood."

The toast was drunk in silence.

The Chairman next gave" The Liberty of the Press."
Drank with three times three, and one cheer more.

Sir J. Easthope in rising to acknowledge the toast, did not
feel at all entitled to present himself to the company as the
representative of the press of England. He was, however, proud
of his connexion with it; and it might well be the boast of
every Englishman that their liberties at the present day were
not wholly based on the fiery spirit of those giant patriots,
the memory of one of whom they had that day met to celebrate;
public liberty was now secured by equally certain and more
specific methods. No sooner were the liberties of the people
invaded than the public press was called on to advocate the
cause of the oppressed. (Hear, hear.) The hon. member concluded
by reminding those present that they ought not to forget to
whose primary exertions the enjoyment of their liberties was to
be attributed.

The Chairman next proposed, in a brief eulogistic speech,
the health of Professor Hampden, a descendant of the patriot.