Mr. Lewis Llewelyn Dillwyn, who had represented Swansea in the
House of Commons for thirty-seven years without a break, and who would, we believe, but for Mr. C. P. Villiers and Sir Rainsld Knightley, have been the father of the House of Commons, died at Swansea on Sunday morning, from the failure apparently of the heart's action. He had attended a crowded meeting and delivered a speech on Saturday night on behalf of the candidature of Mr. D. Randell, M.P., after which he spoke twice to his own constituents. He was seized with a fainting-fit, was removed to the Royal Hotel, and on Sunday morning appeared to have rallied, and talked of speaking for Mr. Abraham, M.P., at the Rhondda on Monday, but imme- diately after taking this hopeful view of his own case, a second fainting-fit came on, in which he expired. He had just completed his seventy-eighth year, and yet bore the fag and the late sittings of the House of Commons with far less appearance of fatigue than much younger men. Indeed, he never spared himself, or made any sort of allow- ance for his increasing years. We have sketched slightly his Parliamentary character in another column, but may add here that Wales was singularly proud of her senior Member, for his absolute independence of character was well understood, and his Radicalism was as genuine as it was genial. Indeed, there were few Members of the House of Commons who had more cordial friends in all the various parties than Mr. Dillwyn. He was a very strong partisan, but he never allowed politics to embitter his personal feelings, or to poison the amenities of private life.
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