PREFACE.

IN preparing these Memoirs, there has been present to me the difficulty besetting every one who attempts to deal with political events during the lifetime of many who have borne a part in them. There is much that cannot be alluded to without reviving slumbering controversy, or reflecting on the actions of public men, until the charitable finger of Time shall have touched the harshness out of recent events, and brought them into right perspective with the history of the country.

Yet I am not without the courage to hope that in recording the chief incidents in the career of one with whom it was my privilege to be associated, and to follow as leader during some anxious and eventful years, I may have succeeded in

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avoiding obvious errors, and giving a true account of a life nobly led and purely ended. In whatever measure that hope may be realised, it is owing to the abundance of material placed at my disposal by the family and friends of Mr Smith, and to the assistance willingly given by many who had been associated with him in commercial, philanthropic, and political affairs. It is possible that in the attempt to give a true impression of the course steered by Mr Smith in politics, I have found it necessary to refer to the actions of those opposed to him in terms, which their friends may consider unfavourable. They will, however, be slow to suspect me of any intention of serving the ends of party, or indeed of any motive other than that of giving a faithful narrative.

In requesting me to undertake the compilation of these volumes, Lady Hambleden has reposed a degree of confidence in me which I am not likely to undervalue. She has put at my disposal the private papers and correspondence of her husband, and her daughters have greatly lightened my labours by arranging these, and copying some which were least easy to decipher.