Page:The life and letters of Sir John Henniker Heaton bt. (IA lifelettersofsi00port).pdf/53

 spoke, yet his views and opinions privately expressed carried considerable weight.

An amusing incident happened to H. H. one day. He was hurrying through the Lobby when he was stopped by one of the Junior Whips, Lord Balcarres, who asked him to oblige him by putting a blocking motion. H. H. read the paper and exclaimed: "Well, this beats everything! yY [sic]ou are asking me to block my own amendment!"

Lord Balcarres had merely been given the slip of paper by a member of the Government and asked to find a private member to put the motion. Unfortunately, the first person he met had been H. H. When Lord Balcarres realized what he had done he could not help laughing, and it ever afterwards remained an excellent jest between them.

Not the least notable of H. H.'s contemporaries was Henry Labouchère, the famous editor and proprietor of "Truth." Most stories of Labouchère have achieved a world-wide reputation, but H. H. never forgot one night when Labouchère kept every one enthralled with his reminiscences. Labouchère was popularly supposed to be a hard man—a reputation that was perhaps one secret of his success. He related an experience he had had in Russia when playing cards with some Russian friends. An officer present lost a considerable sum of money to Labouchère, and he called on him the next morning in a great state of emotion to explain that he was absolutely at the end of his resources and could not possibly pay. Would Labouchère take pity on a young officer whose whole career was threatened with ruin and let him off the debt? Labouchère replied politely that he would do nothing of the sort. In vain the