Editing Samuel Smiles (section)

==Later life, death and descendants==
[[George Reid (Scottish artist)|Sir George Reid]] was commissioned to paint Smiles's portrait, completed in 1877 and now in the collection of the [[National Gallery, London]]. Copies of his handwriting can be found in the archives of East Lothian Council.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.johngraycentre.org/index.php?|title=Search results|website=John Gray Centre|language=en-GB|access-date=2020-03-12}}</ref>

When, in 1892, [[William Ewart Gladstone|William Gladstone]] returned to power and, as prime minister, introduced his [[Second Irish Home Rule Bill]], Smiles wrote to his son in [[Ulster]]: "Don't you rebel. Keep quiet, though I see your name among the agitators&nbsp;... Your letter is frightfully alarming&nbsp;... Gladstone has come into power and we are threatened with Civil War. This cannot be the result of good statesmanship. Yet there are Liberal members to cheer on the maniac. Alas, alas for Liberalism!&nbsp;... Must I give you six months notice to withdraw my loans to the B.R. Co., for I want to keep the little money I have for wife and bairns, not for arming the Ulstermen".<ref>Smiles, pp. 184–185.</ref> Smiles wrote to Lucy Smiles in 1893, "This Home Rule Bill is horrid&nbsp;&nbsp;... I am quite appalled at that wretched hound, miscalled statesman, throwing the country into a state of turmoil. I cannot understand how so many persons in this part of Britain follow that maniac, just like a flock of sheep. He is simply bursting with self-conceit. Alas! Alas for Liberalism!"<ref>Smiles, p. 185.</ref>

On 16 April 1904, Samuel Smiles died in [[Kensington]] in his 92nd year, London and was buried in [[Brompton Cemetery]]. Shortly before his death, he was reportedly offered a knighthood, which he declined to accept.

Smiles's grandchildren include [[Walter Dorling Smiles|Sir Walter Smiles]], an [[Ulster Unionist Party]] MP. Through that branch of the family, Smiles is also the great-great-grandfather of [[Bear Grylls]], a well-known adventurer.