His features were characteristically those of the House of Cavendish, as may be seen by comparing his portrait with that of his mother.  His expression was placid, benign, but very far from inert; for his half-closed eyes twinkled with quiet mirth.  His voice was soft and harmonious, with just a trace of a lisp, or rather of that peculiar intonation which is commonly described as “short-tongued.”  His bearing was the very perfection of courteous ease, equally remote from stiffness and from familiarity.  His manners it would be impertinent to eulogize, and the only dislikes which I ever heard him express were directed against rudeness, violence, indifference to other people’s feelings, and breaches of social decorum.  If by such offences as these it was easy to displease him, it was no less easy to obtain his forgiveness, for he was as amiable as he was refined.  In old age he wrote, with reference to the wish which some people express for sudden death:  “It is a feeling I cannot understand, as I myself shall feel anxious before I die to take an affectionate leave of those I love.”  His desire was granted, and there my story ends.  I have never known a kinder heart; I could not imagine a more perfect gentleman.

VI

SAMUEL WHITBREAD

The family of Whitbread enjoyed for several generations substantial possessions in North Bedfordshire.  They were of the upper middle class, and were connected by marriage with John Howard the Prison-Reformer, whose property near Bedford they inherited.  As years went on, their wealth and station increased.  Samuel Whitbread, who died in 1796, founded the brewery in Chiswell Street, E.C., which still bears his name, was Member for the Borough of Bedford, and purchased from the fourth Lord Torrington a fine place near Biggleswade, called Southill, of which the wooded uplands supplied John Bunyan, dwelling on the flats of Elstow, with his idea of the Delectable Mountains.

This Samuel Whitbread was succeeded as M.P. for Bedford by a more famous Samuel, his eldest son, who was born in 1758, and married Lady Elizabeth Grey; sister of

 “That Earl who taught his compeers to be just,
  And wrought in brave old age what youth had planned.”

Samuel Whitbread became one of the most active and influential members of the Whig party, a staunch ally of Fox and a coadjutor of Wilberforce in his attack on the Slave Trade.  He was closely and unfortunately involved in the affairs of Drury Lane Theatre, and, for that reason, figures frequently in Rejected Addresses.  He died before his time in 1815, and his eldest son, William Henry Whitbread, became M.P. for Bedford.  This William Henry died without issue, and his nephew and heir was the admirable man and distinguished Parliamentarian who is here commemorated.