high place in the regard of all her many friends. She had a manly robustness of intellect, without, however, anything masculine, for she had genuine womanly grace and much delicacy and tenderness. Her strong will and natural force of character were blended with true consideration and sympathy shown in an earnest desire to promote the happiness of others. The strong love in her heart for those whom she knew and esteemed was not marred by that over-weening fondness which is so often a dangerous source of weakness. Her large heartedness, and the generosity which her position enabled her to exercise, was accompanied by shrewdness and a keenness of perception which kept her from being often imposed upon. To a large extent she followed the principle of the old Patriarch who said: "The cause which I knew not I searched out." Her habitual unselfishness was one of her most marked characteristics, and nowhere was this more beautifully shown than in her own home. With all her round of varied duties, she always contrived to have a little leisure for whomsoever claimed her attention. She valued her many friends of high and low degree, and took a genuine delight in their concerns. Those who enjoyed her hospitalities in Liverpool, or Orchill, or London, must have noted how much she thought of her guests, and how little of herself. With large companies under her roof, she gave herself with kindly wisdom and unfailing tact to planning and arranging for their comfort, fitting and adapting the engagements and amusements of each so as to maintain the harmony and promote the happiness of all whom she and her husband delighted to receive. Our dear friend had a brave heart. For years, unknown to any but herself, she must have suffered from the disease which has ultimately taken her from among us, but her brightness of spirit concealed it even from those who were most frequently with her. During her prolonged illness there was no approach to repining, no murmur ever fell from her lips, but with quietness and resignation she passed peacefully to the end of her earthly career. It would be an impertinent intrusion were I to allude to the chief among the mourners here to-day, further than to say that she was his true helpmate all through their long married life. Her sound judgment, her wise counsel, her unfailing interest and sympathy and her loyal support of all the good work in which he has long taken an active interest, were of no small value to him in the important sphere he is called to occupy; whilst attending to a thousand things that she might save him, towards him her attitude was ever that of one who had nothing to attend to but himself. Deeply do we sympathize with him in the loss he has sustained, and it will be no small consolation to know that vast numbers tenderly mourn with him and his at this trying time. The qualities I have thus imperfectly sketched, all rooted down into and sprang from her true love to the Lord Jesus Christ as a personal Saviour. She knew and believed that The Blood of Jesus Christ," God's Son, her Saviour, "cleanseth us from all sin." There was always with her a certain reticence in speaking of her own experience, but frequently, and especially of late, there has come from her the calm, clear, confident expression of her sole hope being in her Saviour, who died for her and rose again. We part to-day from all that is mortal of our beloved friend, assured of her eternal well being, and in no mere formal use of words do we commit her body to the ground, in the sure and certain hope of the resurrection to eternal life through our Lord Jesus Christ." I do not wish you to think that I paint a perfect character. Nothing would be less in harmony with the feelings of the departed; neither do I indulge in a mere eulogy of the dead, but I know these things to be true, as do many of those around me, having had the privilege of friendship with Mrs. Smith for about thirty years. Dr. Johnstone and Dr. Lundie also took part, and large numbers of the poor whom she had succoured stood round her grave. A band of children from Mrs. Birt's sheltering Home sang that sweet hymn : Peace, perfect peace, in this dark world of sin, Amid all the sorrow a deep feeling of peace was diffused among the mourners. I never was so conscious of the nearness and reality of the future life. I may say that at this time I was much impressed by the argument from the fifteenth chapter of the Ist Corinthians, the great Resurrection chapter, and it was a consolatory occupation to set down some reflections on that great argument, which grew into a booklet published by Elliot Stock, entitled The Resurrection Glory, and there I ventured to expound what I believe to be the true foundation of our hope of immortality, viz., union with our risen and glorified Redeemer. "As in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive, but every one in his own order, Christ the firstfruits, afterwards they that are Christ's at His coming." I found at this time great comfort in reading "In Memoriam." It was my constant companion. It put in words the dim halfconscious communion we cherish with the departed. How many souls have felt with Tennyson : This truth came home with bier and pall, I felt it when I sorrowed most: 'Tis better to have loved and lost Than never to have loved at all. Yet in these ears till hearing dies, One set slow bell will seem to toll I hear it now, and o'er and o'er, Adieu, adieu, for evermore. When we are called to pass through these deep waters it seems difficult to take up again the threads of common life. Yet it has to be done, and one of my dear wife's last words was that she hoped I would go on with my Parliamentary work. She was a great admirer of Mr. Gladstone, and it may interest her friends, who still survive, to read a letter she wrote to a dear friend, describing a visit the great statesman paid to us some years before. (See Appendix XII.) I visited my sister at Bournemouth, my friend Edward White at Mill Hill, and spent two week-ends with my son at Oxford, meeting some fine young men of his acquaintance, and my dear friend, Dr. Fairbairn, of Mansfield College, whose friendship has been a true solace in time of trial. The season was the earliest I remember. We had great heat even in March. In April the country was covered with verdure, and by the beginning of May the hawthorn, laburnum and horse chestnuts were in full bloom. The second reading debate on the Home Rule Bill was finished on April 21, after a fortnight of oratory, and was carried by 43 majority in a House of 656 members. It went into Committee on May 8, and then commenced a long period of confusion and uproar and scenes of violence, which almost turned the House of Commons into a bear garden. I spent the Whitsuntide recess at Orchill, feeling the desolation of the home where for the first time in all those years the companion of my life was absent. "Oh, for the touch of a vanished hand, and the sound of a voice that is still!" But the sympathy of dear friends did something to abate the desolation, and I came back resolved to seek relief in the performance of public duty. CHAPTER XXXIV Session of 1893-The " May Meetings" at Exeter HallA Hot Season-The "Free Fight" in the House of Commons-The Home Rule Bill-Death of W. P. Lockhart-Retirement of Mr. Gladstone I FOUND much refreshment this year by frequently attending the anniversary meetings at Exeter Hall. Indeed, all the time. I was in London I usually attended the principal "May meetings," and often found it acted as an anodyne to the strain on the nerves caused by the heated debates in Parliament. The change of atmosphere is so complete. You pass in a moment from a feverish arena of party strife and irritating personalities to a climate of Christian love and unselfish devotion. The effect upon me was sometimes magical. The high-strung nerves were soothed, the tension of brain relaxed, and a feeling of calm stole over the wearied mind. I often spent the "dinner-hour," as it was called, say from 7.30 or 8 up to 9 or 10 p.m., at the great missionary or other philanthropic meetings that go on for two months or so, almost without interruption. Nothing like these is seen elsewhere in the world. The vastness of the British Empire is demonstrated as impressively there as in Westminster itself. I avoided speaking in the large hall as much as possible, for I found it was beyond the compass of my voice; but I frequently took part in the lower hall, of which the capacity is moderate. Exeter Hall has but poor acoustics, is badly ventilated, suffers from draughts, and is hardly worthy of our metropolis. Another point I may note this year was the extraordinary season: It was one of the dryest and hottest on record. Even in March we had a spell of heat, and in April it was scorching; in July 95° in the shade was marked in London. Vegetation was a month earlier than usual. By the beginning of May the hawthorn, the chestnut and laburnum were in full flower. Scarcely any rain fell for four months. The earth was parched up, and the hay crop S.S. 305 20 was an entire failure. Indeed, all the crops were very poor, and this tended to deepen the commercial depression which lay heavily on this country. The Session was mainly occupied by the Irish Home Rule Bill. It was opposed with the most bitter and persistent obstruction. The committee stage was prolonged so much. that at last the Government carried through the House a time limit, fixing July 27 for the end of the debate, and requiring all the clauses then to be put from the Chair without discussion. That night was memorable in the proceedings of the House. A scene of violence occurred unequalled since Cromwell expelled "the Rump" of the Long Parliament. A tumult broke out on the Opposition benches along the gangway between the Ulster (Orange) members and some of the Irish Nationalists. Blows were interchanged and several of the English members joined in the fray, till there was a confused mêlée which lasted for several minutes. I happened to be in the gallery above, and could only observe a crowd of disorderly men pushing and hustling one another. The voice of the Chairman, Mr. Mellor, could scarcely be heard. Mr. Gladstone sat stupefied at what must have seemed to him a deathblow to Parliamentary decorum. At last it occurred to the Chairman to send for Speaker Peel, when a wonderful change took place. His majestic mien, his commanding voice and accent of authority, at once produced a calm. An explanation was tendered to him of the cause of this fraças, and he restored order to the assembly in an incredibly short time, like the "vir gravis " of Virgil: Ac veluti magno in populo cum saepe coorta est The Bill was automatically put through its committee stages. The last fifteen clauses were passed without discussion. It was in one sense an abuse of the power of a majority: in another sense it was the refusal of the House of Commons to commit suicide; but it cannot be doubted that it added to the unpopularity which attached to the Home Rule policy. The Bill passed its final stage by a majority of thirty-four, but was promptly thrown out in the Lords by an immense majority. According to usual Constitutional precedent, Mr. Gladstone might have dissolved Parliament |