Anniversary Address of H. R. H. the late President. 61 



fifty years of his life: and lie Avas at all times, both by his co-operation 

 and patronage, ready to aid other labourers in the same field which 

 he had himself cultivated with so nmch success and industry. 



Sir Richard Hoai'e was a very voluminous original author, and on 

 a great variety of subjects ; he printed a catalogue of his unique 

 collection of books relating to the history and topography of Italy, 

 the whole of ^^hich he presented to the British Museum, to M'hich 

 he was, on other occasions, a liberal benefactor. He likewise pub- 

 lished editions of many of our ancient chronicles ; and it is onlj' 

 to be lamented that one who has contributed under so many forms 

 to our knowledge of antiquity, and who presents so many claims 

 to the grateful commemoration of the friends of literature and the 

 arts, should have been influenced so much, and so frequently, by 

 the very unhappy ambition, of which some well-known and di- 

 stinguished literary bodies of our own time have set so unworthy 

 an example, of giving an artificial value to their publications, by the 

 extreme smallness of the number of copies which they allow to be 

 printed or circulated ; thus defeating the very objects of that great 

 invention, whose triumphs were pretended to be the very ground- 

 work of their association. 



Mr. George Hibbert was one of the most distinguished of those 

 princely merchants, whose knowledge of literature, patronage of the 

 arts, and extensive intercourse with the world have contributed so 

 much, in a great commercial country like our own, to elevate the 

 rank and character of the class to Avliich they belong, and to give to 

 the pursuits of wealth an enlarged and liberalizing spirit. Mr. Hib- 

 bert possessed, during the most active period of his life, an uncom- 

 mon influence amongst the great commercial bodies of the me- 

 tropolis, and more particulai'ly amongst those connected with the 

 West India trade, from his integrity and high character, his great 

 knowledge of business, his excellent sense and judgement, and his 

 clearness and readiness in public speaking. He was an excellent bo- 

 tanist, and the collection of plants which he had formed at his resi- 

 dence at Clapham, was remarkable not merely for its great extent, but 

 likewise for the great number of extremely rare plants which it con- 

 tained. He was well known also as a very extensive and judicious 

 collector of books, prints, drawings and paintings, and was endeared 

 to a large circle of private friends, amongst the most cultivated classes 

 of society in this country, by his refined yet simple manners, his 

 happy temper, and his many social and domestic virtues. 



Sir Aljraham Hume, who had attained at the time of his death 

 the venerable age of ninety years, was the lather of the Royal So- 

 ciety ; he was a man of cultivated taste and very extensive ac- 

 quirements, and througliout iiis life a liberal patron and encourager 

 of the fine arts. 



Lord Farid)orough was the son-in-law of Sir Abraham Hume, 

 whom he greatly resembled in his tastes and accomplishments ; for 

 more than thirty years of his lii'e he held various jjublic! situations 

 in the successive administrations of this country, but {j\>itt(!d his 

 official employnieuts on ids elevation to the peerage in 182(): 



