MR HUME^S SPEECHES. 



charitable contempt for those who have deemed it right 

 ttj become raj enemies and persecutors. I owe much 

 to my feiendB ; and any pain I Jjave suffered from • these 

 attacks has beea ti thousand- fold overbalanced by the 

 kindness of those who have stepped forward to advocate 

 mj cause, and the cause of truth and humanity. These 

 friends are dear to me, and my sense of obligation is 

 equal to their kindness, T owe them a debt of 

 gratitude ; but I owe it with pride, and witli the feeling 

 that I would repay it at any time that they needed a 

 similar service, or any service that equal friendsliip (and 

 there is no other) can render. 



" By the last mail I received the approval of Govern- 

 ment; and I suppose that^ when the battle has been 

 fought on the lloor of the Houae of Commons, this 

 calumay mil pass awaj; that it will be forgottea bj 

 the mass ; regretted by the conscientious^ who have 

 joined in it from good motives; and fed only by 

 the few who have been actuated by malice, bj 

 spite, by jealousy, disappointment, or some other vile 

 passion/' 



I have read attentively, einee my return to England, 

 the debates in the House of Commons of July, 1850, 

 and July, 1851, on the subje^^t which is conspicuously 

 entitled " The' charges against Sir James Brooke " Mi\ 

 Hume liaving been the mover for inquiry " on both these 

 occasions, I purpose to found my observations principally 

 on Iiis spceehes ; this will admit a fair and full 



