Amongst the numerous manifestations at this time, not the least gratifying was the meeting at Birmingham, at which it was determined to raise subscriptions for the purpose of erecting a statue to me in some public part of that town, in which I had passed so many of my early years. My pleasure at this movement was not a little enhanced by the fact that the originator of the project, the late Mr. James Lloyd, had been, some forty years before, my pupil. A few days after the meeting at Birmingham I received, through my steady and valued friend the late Mr. Matthew Forster, the following communication from the late Mr. Joseph Parkes, whom I had known almost from boyhood, and to whom I could not but feel much indebted for his spontaneous and earnest efforts in my behalf:-- "10th March, 1864. R. C. 5-1/2 P.M. "DEAR MR. FORSTER,--I could not leave my office till 5. I thought my interview with Sir F. Baring so good a chapter in Hill's life, and so important a testimony to his public services, that I penned the written minute in a note to you before I left Staple Inn. In fact, Sir Francis is the best, and a willing, witness of Hill's deserts. "Yours truly, "JOSEPH PARKES." "_Sir Francis Baring's opinion of Rowland Hill._ "Staple Inn, 10th March, 1864. "DEAR MR. FORSTER,--I found Sir Francis Baring at his rooms after breakfast this morning, and I sat an hour with him on the subject of our friend Sir Rowland Hill's deserts and claims on his country. No one could be more kind or sensible in all his views of the subject, and on the proper course for Sir Rowland Hill's friends to pursue in the matter. "I detailed to him the particulars of my interview with Moffatt yesterday, and who, Sir Francis thinks, has not injudiciously broken ground with Mr. Gladstone; and Sir Francis cheerfully agrees to be one of three, _i.e._, with Mr. Wilson Patten and Moffatt, in a deputation to the Chancellor of the Exchequer.