with them and thought them right he would back them through thick and thin, and if he thought their views unsound he would with equal candour tell them so and oppose them. Odger had shown the same liking for plain speaking when he was present at the extraordinary meeting held during Mill’s election for Westminster. In an essay in which he compared the working classes in different countries, Mill had said that in England the working classes were generally liars. At this meeting Mill was publicly asked if he had made the statement. Mill replied, ‘I did.’ His courage was received with a great burst of applause, and Odger, who spoke next, said that the working classes wanted friends not flatterers, and were truly obliged to any one who could treat them so straightforwardly. [Sidenote: Friendship till Death.] When, years later, Odger lay dying in the slums of St. Giles, Fawcett went to his bedside, giving what comfort he could, and an unfailing sympathy. When the old man died, Fawcett went to his funeral in Brompton Cemetery. His secretary, who accompanied him, gives this description, it was ‘a long walk in a procession of many thousands, with trade bands playing funeral marches, alternating with the Marseillaise, and the banners of working-class organisations flying. We joined the procession in Knightsbridge and walked all the way to Brompton, and the throng at the cemetery was immense. Mr. Fawcett and I were dragged through the crowd to the grave, where the leader who had arranged the procession insisted on his making a short speech in eulogy of their dead comrade.’ A characteristic glimpse of Fawcett and his surroundings at this time is given to us by one of his sympathisers, who says: ‘The first time I saw Mr. Fawcett was at a meeting summoned, as I understood, by himself, for the purpose of hearing an address from him on some subject connected with political economy and the interests of the working class. I was introduced to Mr. Fawcett after the lecture. Neither he nor anybody else had ever heard of my name at that time, but he was as frank and friendly as if we had met before and had known each other. He told me he was determined to try for a seat in the House of Commons, and he added cheerily, “I know I shall get a seat there some time.”