e as noble by nature as by name; and I
am now more happily convinced of it than ever. Your whole speech
was plain and excellent, but the part that I dwell upon with the
greatest pleasure is that about Lord Grey.... I generally think
your speeches a curious contrast to Sir Robert's, and it does not
fail on this occasion. His humble confession of former errors, his
appeal to our sympathies, and his heroic tone at the close, all got
rather the better of my reason while I read; but the more I think
over his conduct, the less becomes the effect of his words. Yours,
on the contrary, as usual, only gain in force the more they are
reflected on, simply because they are true. And now, having
congratulated you quite as much as is good for your vanity, I must
praise myself a little for the way in which I have hitherto borne
your absence. What with its present pain, the uncertainty as to
when it may end, and my varying and wearying state of health, I
have many a time been inclined to lie and cry; and if ever I
allowed myself to dwell in thought on the happy days which sad
memory brings to light, I _should_ lie and cry; those days
when neither night nor day could take me from your side, and when
it was as difficult to look forward to sickness or sorrow as it now
is to believe that health and happiness--such happiness as
that--are in store for us. But I do _not_ dwell upon past
enjoyments, but upon present blessings, and I _do_ lie and
talk and read and write and think cheerfully and gratefully.

Dearest, I know you cannot see much of the children, but when you
do, pray be both Papa and Mama to them. Do not let their little
minds grow reserved towards you, or your _great_ mind towards
them. Help them to apply what they hear you read from the Bible to
their own little daily pleasures and cares, and you will find how
delightfully they take it all in.

God bless you, my dearest. Pray go out every day, and take Isabel
and Bessy or one of the small ones with you sometimes to enliven
you.

_Lady John to Lord John Russell_

EDINBURGH, _January_ 26, 1846

Your mention of the dreams which you had had of happiness for
Ireland made me sad, and you know how I shared in those dreams....
I like the way in which politics are talked here, it is far enough
from the scene of action for them to l