g very
dramatic. His conversation was too delightful, full of anecdote; but
then his anecdotes were not like those told by the ordinary _raconteur_,
and were simple reminiscences of his own personal experience and
intercourse with other distinguished men. Again, his stories were told
in such an unpretending way that, though you were delighted with what
you had heard, you were still more delighted with the speaker himself.'

The closing years of Lord Russell's career were marked by settled peace,
the consciousness of great tasks worthily accomplished, the unfaltering
devotion of household love, the friendship of the Queen, the confidence
of a younger race of statesmen, and the respect of the nation.
Deputations of working men found their way to Pembroke Lodge to greet
the old leader of the party of progress, and school children gathered
about him in summer on the lawn, and were gladdened by his kindly smile
and passing word. In good report and in evil report, in days of power
and in days of weakness, the Countess Russell cheered, helped, and
solaced him, and brought not only rare womanly devotion, but unusual
intellectual gifts to his aid at the critical moments of his life, when
bearing the strain of public responsibility, and in the simple round of
common duty. The nation may recognise the services of its great men, but
can never gauge to the full extent the influences which sustained them.
The uplifting associations of a singularly happy domestic life must be
taken into account in any estimate of the forces which shaped Lord John
Russell's career. It is enough to say--indeed, more cannot with
propriety be added--that through the political stress and strain of
nearly forty years Lady Russell proved herself to be a loyal and
noble-hearted wife.

There is another subject, which cannot be paraded on the printed page,
and yet, since religion was the central principle of Lord John Russell's
life, some allusion to his position on the highest of all subjects
becomes imperative. His religion was thorough; it ran right through his
nature. It was practical, and revealed itself in deeds which spoke
louder than words. 'I rest in the faith of Jeremy Taylor,' were his
words, 'Barrow, Tillotson, Hoadly, Samuel Clarke, Middleton, Warburton,
and Arnold, without attempting to reconcile points of difference between
these great men. I prefer the simple words of Christ to any dogmatic
interpretation of them.' Dean Stanley, whom he used to