Sir Walter Gilhey, Bart. 145 



there was to learn about the building ; the fruit of his industry 

 remains in the shape of a great scrap-book wherefrom the 

 historj' of the Pantheon from its inception as a public assembly 

 room might be written. 



With the head of a statesman he had, literally, the hand of 

 a lady artist ; it was small, beautifully shaped, with tapering 

 fingers, and it betrayed one of his most conspicuous and 

 abiding tastes — love of art. He began collecting pictures and 

 engravings as soon as he had money to spare, and continued to 

 do so till his last years. His taste in art reflected, to a great 

 extent, his ruling passion — the horse. The works of George 

 Stubbs and George Morland — of both of whom he wrote a 

 "Life" — were his favourites, but be also attached high value 

 to the paintings of such men as Aiken, Herring, Abraham 

 Cooper, Pollard, Cooper Henderson, Reinagle, and Frederick 

 Taylor, among others. It did not suffice that a painter should 

 satisfy with his portrayal of the horse, he must display all 

 those merits in his work demanded by the professional critic, 

 grace of composition, skill as a colourist, and the rest. He had 

 a natural eye for good work on canvas, and this he had 

 educated by long study, A± the same time he exhibited the 

 indulgence of a broad mind ; it was an axiom with him that a 

 picture of any given period must be judged by contemporary 

 standards ; hence what may appear a certain leniency in the 

 choice of paintings used to illustrate his numerous books on 

 the horse and other topics. 



He took a keen interest in animal and bird life, more 

 especially the latter, and while his outdoor aviaries containing 

 birds from all parts of the world were a joy to him, he had 

 usually some particular favourite as his constant companion. 

 The place of honour was held for many years by a bullfinch. 



Turning to more serious matters : after he took up his 

 residence at Elsenham he was often urged to stand for Par- 

 liament, but consistently refused, " I thought I could do 

 more good outside," he would say. Despite his avowed 

 antagonism to " Tories " — he would use the word as a term 

 of reproach — it may be doubted whether he had any strong 

 political bias ; he was too judicially minded to be a partisan. 

 He regarded it as a compliment when told, in banter, that his 

 radicalism was redeemed by feudalism. It expressed a truth ; 

 his attitude towards his poorer neighbours was that of the 

 benevolent autocrat, and they adored him. In later years he 

 professed leanings towards the extreme, but his conception of 

 socialism was unorthodox, " I am a socialist, but I believe a 

 man must help himself before he can help others," He had 

 heli)ed himself, and largely, but from the hour success made 

 the thing possible he helpeil others with the most generous 



