the
weight attaching to his counsel, is found in the fact that, in the
autumn of 1885, before Mr. Gladstone had announced his conversion
to Home Rule, Whitbread was one of the very few people (Goschen was
another) to whom he confided his change of view. Of the estimation
in which Whitbread was held by his neighbours, even after he had
ceased to represent them in Parliament, the present writer once heard
a ludicrous, but illuminating, instance. Among the men sentenced to
death after the Jameson Raid was one connected by ties of family
with Bedford. For a while his kinsfolk could not believe that he
was really in danger; but, when ominous rumours began to thicken,
one of his uncles said, with an air of grave resolve: "This is
becoming serious about my nephew. If it goes on much longer, I shall
have to write to Mr. Whitbread."

In the general course of politics Whitbread was a Whig, holding
to the great principles of Civil and Religious Liberty, Peace,
Retrenchment, and Reform; but he was a Whig with a difference. He
stuck to the party after it had been permeated by Gladstonianism,
advanced in Liberalism as he advanced in years, and became a convinced
Home Ruler. His political prescience, founded on long experience
and close observation, was remarkable. Soon after Lord Salisbury's
accession to power in the summer of 1895, he said to the present
writer: "I fancy that for two or three years the Government will
go on quietly enough; and then, when they find their popularity
waning, they will pick a quarrel with somebody, and go to war.
It is always difficult for an Opposition to attack a Government
which is conducting a war, and I think Chamberlain is just the
man to take advantage of that difficulty."

In religion Whitbread was an Evangelical of the more liberal type,
mistrusting extremes, and always on the friendliest terms with
Nonconformists. As regards the affairs of common life, he was a
most hospitable and courteous host; a thorough agriculturist, and
a keen sportsman. His size and weight debarred him from hunting,
but he was a first-rate shot, whether on the moor or in the stubble,
and a keen yachtsman. At home and abroad, everywhere and in all
things, he was a gentleman of the highest type, genial, dignified,
and unassuming. Probity, benevolence, and public spirit were embodied
in Samuel Whitbread.

VII

_HENRY MONTAGU BUTLER_

The loved and honoured friend whose name stands at the head of
this section