66 ECHOES OF OLD COUNTY LIFE. 



Soon after he became Earl of Beaconsfield, after his 

 return from his brilliant mission to Berlin, he was at 

 Aylesbury, and on seeing him I remarked he was looking" 

 very well. "Yes," he replied, "I am glad to say I am, 

 except for a slight attack of gout ; " to which I answered, 

 " But people say if you have an attack of that malady 

 you take a fresh lease of your life." He said, " Well, I 

 am not sure that I would not rather be a tenant-at-will 

 and give up the lease." This remark was in pleasant 

 reference to the many interviews I had had with him on 

 the Agricultural Holdings Act, especially as to tenants- 

 at-will and leaseholders. It was a trait in his character 

 that he invariably consulted those of his constituents 

 who were tolerably well informed on such subjects as 

 required his attention in Parliament, and always availed 

 himself of their practical knowledge in any department 

 which bore upon the subject under discussion. 



I had been appointed many years ago Chairman of the 

 "Home Cattle Defence Association," a society which 

 had its centre in London, for pressing on the Govern- 

 ment the necessity for stamping out cattle diseases^ 

 which are chiefly imported from abroad. This was a 

 subject in which Disraeli expressed considerable interest,, 

 and he brought his mind to bear on such details as were 

 necessary to frame such a Bill before Parliament as ta 

 ensure its successful career through the House of 

 Commons. One day, when' attending Quarter Sessions 

 at Aylesbury, he asked me to come up to Hughenden 

 and to bring with me three others well versed in the 

 subject, to consult with him on the best means of pro- 

 cedure. He said, " Pll only have four of you, as too 



