56 ECHOES OF OLD COUNTY LIFE. 



he considered to be the typical dress of the British farmer 

 — he must have been surprised to find many of the real 

 article dressed in the best modern style, and several with 

 coats by the well-known Mr. Poole, of Savile Row. These 

 little idiosyncrasies of his rather showed in reality how 

 much he w^ished to identify himself with his own country 

 people. His speeches at these meetings were half 

 political, and half social and agricultural, and were as 

 well scrutinized by the Press the next clay as a Ministerial 

 speech at a Ninth of November Lord Mayor's dinner. 

 One of his most effective hits was made at a political 

 dinner at Newport Pagnell, where he attacked ]\Ir. Bob 

 Lowe (Lord Sherbrooke), who had made a severe 

 harangue against him the previous week. He spoke some- 

 thing like these words: ''I now come to the right hon. 

 member for the University of London. Why, this gentle- 

 man entirely owes his seat in the House to me! For 

 you may remember that he dared not show his face to 

 any constituency of working-men in the kingdom, for he 

 would assuredly be kicked off any hustings, as he w^as 

 at Kidderminster ; and when we were completing our 

 Reform Bill, we said. What is to be done with the member 

 for Kidderminster .? And at last the thought struck me, 

 so that he would not have to face a crowd of voters, we 

 would give a member to the London University, and this 

 would suit him. You may now ask me why we were so 

 anxious to keep the right hon. gentleman in the House? 

 Well, for this reason. We knew that no Liberal Minis- 

 try could be complete w^itbout Mr. Lowe, and we knew 

 perfectly well that any Ministry of which he formed a 

 part he would inevitably wreck." It is impossible to de- 



