Under the old rules of Procedure, as the Session
advanced, we were kept up night after night till 5 a.m. Some
Members, notably the late Henry Labouchere, took a sort of impish
delight in keeping the House sitting late. Many Front-Bench men
had their lives shortened by the strain these late hours imposed
on them, notably Edward Stanhope and Mr. W. H. Smith. Mr. W. H.
Smith occupied a very extraordinary position. This plain-faced
man, who could hardly string two words together, was regarded by
all his friends with deep respect, almost with affection. My
brother George has told me that, were there any disputes in the
Cabinet of which he was a member, the invariable advice of the
older men was to "go and take Smith's advice about it." Men
carried their private, domestic, and even financial troubles to
this wise counsellor, confident that the advice given would be
sound. Mr. Smith had none of the more ornamental qualities, but
his fund of common sense was inexhaustible, he never spared
himself in his friends' service, and his high sense of honour and
strength of character earned him the genuine regard of all those
who really knew him.
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