HL Deb 25 April 1944 vol 131 cc479-82
THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR DOMINION AFFAIRS (VISCOUNT CRANBORNE) (Lord Cecil)

My Lords, your Lordships will have heard with a sense of deep personal grief of the death of Lord Snell, the Deputy Leader of your Lordships' House, which has occurred since we last met. Lord Snell had been ill for some months, and during the last part of his illness he had been absent from your Lordships' House: but I know we had all of us hoped that we should see him back in his accustomed place. Fate has, however, willed it otherwise, and we shall see that sturdy, kindly figure no more.

Lord Snell's career is one, I think, of which any man might be proud. To have started as an agricultural labourer and then, after a long apprenticeship in many walks of life, to have occupied in turn the positions of Chairman of the London County Council, Under-Secretary for India and, finally, Deputy Leader of your Lordships' House shows a wide range of activities and interests which can rarely have been equalled. But if he was a great man—and I think he certainly was a great man—it was not merely on account of his abilities, pre-eminent though those were. His greatness, as I see it, was a greatness of spirit. He irradiated an essential goodness, which is all too rare in this world. There can be none of us who does not feel the better for having known Lord Snell. He had an innate simplicity of mind and an absolute moral integrity, which never allowed him to compromise with his convictions, never allowed him to turn aside from the highroad of principle into the squalid byways of political controversy. A speech by Lord Snell was always a speech at the highest level. We shall miss those speeches, with their flashes of gentle yet penetrating humour, and we shall greatly miss Lord Snell himself. The House will not seem the same place without him. He has left us, but he will not be easily forgotten. I should like to quote to the House the concluding words of Lord Snell's own autobiography. This is what he wrote: I look to the future with a complete serenity. If what I have believed and sought to do has been in the way of truth and righteousness it is well; if in spite of all, I have been mistaken, both in thought and in deed, who shall say that it is not also well? I think those words may well serve as his epitaph. Your Lordships, I am sure, will wish to send a message of sincere sympathy to his relatives in their deep sorrow, which is indeed ours almost as much as theirs.

LORD ADDISON

My Lords, the Leader of the House has paid, as we knew he would, an appropriate and moving tribute to our departed friend, and it is my privilege as the Leader of the small Party in this House to which he belonged to be associated with him. Those of us who had years of close association with Lord Snell, as I had, know what a consistent, wise and kindly friend he always was. But he inspired more than friendship; he inspired affection, and we loved him every one of us. This is no Party tribute, it is a tribute of the whole House and I do not think there is any one among us who knew Lord Snell who did not honour him. He had that quiet, unostentatious integrity that inspired respect in all those with whom he was associated. I know that it was the same in the House of Commons as it has been in your Lordships' House, and I have no doubt it was in the London County Council.

I do not remember that he ever took part in our discussions without making a contribution worthy of the occasion. His speeches were enriched by wide reading, fortified by a most retentive memory. As the noble Viscount has reminded us, he had, too, a delightful humour that was entirely disarming, and many of us often recalled with pleasure afterwards the neat repartees, which were never harsh and never inconsiderate. He had, as the noble Viscount has said, a hard life and he bore the marks of it upon him. He had known what it was to endure hunger, but I think it can be truly said of him that he was never bitter, he scorned envy and every form of un-charitableness. His spirit indeed was as kindly as it was indomitable, and I can never remember that his deeply-rooted convictions moved him, when we were in council, to recommend any course of action that was not coupled with wisdom and forbearance. It was right that he should be made a Peer for he was indeed a noble man. Somehow also Lord Snell rendered a special service in promoting a better understanding of one another by men of different political opinions—a feature of British public life that is of great importance. I can think of no better description of him than that of Chaucer's Knight: … A worthy man, That from the time that he first began To riden out, he loved chivalrie, Truth and honour, freedom and courtesie,

VISCOUNT SAMUEL

My Lords, we on these Benches would desire to associate ourselves with the tributes paid to Lord Snell. My noble friend Lord Crewe writes to me: I am grieved to hear that Snell has gone. In sixty years' political life I cannot recall a prominent figure in whom a difference of opinion less affected relations of regard and confidence with those of other Parties. If you pay tribute to him in the House, please say how completely I share in the distress felt by all our friends. He was indeed a man of exceptional qualities. His own story, admirably written, shows how great were the handicaps that beset him and how strenuous were the efforts needed to overcome them. His schooling was little and short, but his self-education was wide and life-long. He developed a remarkable power of speech and writing, with much distinction of style which was the expression of a thoughtful and cultured mind. I knew him best about ten years ago when he and I were members of a group delegated by the Royal Institute of International Affairs to attend at Banff in Canada a conference of the Institute of Pacific Relations. Among the speeches there delivered by many able men, representatives of many countries, it was generally agreed that those of Lord Snell were the best. We in this House admired his character, appreciated his speeches with their excellent diction and that touch of original and kindly humour to which reference has been made, delivered as they were with much charm of manner. I sometimes think that the world is like a mirror. Frown at it and it frowns at you, smile and it will smile in return. Lord Snell had everyone's good will for the reason that he himself felt good will for everyone. It is with much sorrow that we bid him farewell.

VISCOUNT BLEDISLOE

My Lords, may I be allowed to add my humble tribute to one whom I may describe as a true son of the soil, one who was a splendid example of the best type of product of our English countryside, one whom sheer grit, impeccable character, and outstanding capacity for leadership carried to the forefront of our public life in many directions? His charm of manner, his courtesy, his transparent integrity, and a natural eloquence vibrant with spiritual conviction endeared him to us all. We shall miss him greatly. May I add this one word in regard to Lord Snell as a social reformer? He followed me in 1927 as President of the National Council of Social Service and, in that capacity, inspired and stimulated all connected with that great national movement. Like Abou ben Adhem, he might well have addressed the Recording Angel: "Write me as one who loved his fellowmen."

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