was always on the lookout for their weak point, and rarely missed an opportunity of inflicting upon them a serious political injury. Such are the rare qualities which have enabled him so long to maintain himself at the head of the liberal party. However his rivals may ridicule his shortcomings in comprehensive legislation; however intellectual radicals may sneer at his mental and literary deficiencies; however economists may object to his multiplication of places for proteges of his own family; whatever general exceptions may be taken to him; as a tactitian and party leader he had no rival in his day; hence in hours of disaster the liberals still instinctively turn to him. He never appears so well as when surrounded by obstacles, difficulties and impediments; is always greater in opposition than when in office at the head of a triumphant party. Notwithstanding his external frigidity and apathetic hauteur, there is about him, when you get to know him, and especially in his own home, a great deal of geniality and kindness of feeling. His adversaries declare that he is a politician in contradistinction to a statesman, the first belonging to that numerous class who are constantly thinking of what the country will do for them, while the latter belong to that class of patriots who are ever thinking of what they can do for the country. There is more satire than veracity in this witticism when applied to the Right Honorable Earl. A close examination into the history of his public career has satisfied us that there is little in Earl Russell's course to justify this severe judgment, nor do we believe it will be that of a non-partizan and passionless posterity.

At the early period of his life when he essayed to attain fame as a dramatic writer and poet, his personal friend, Tom Moore, dedicated to him some verses in which the immortal bard undertook to persuade his lordship to leave Parnassus and stick to Parliament; at the same time he reminded him of the responsibilities which attached to the house of Russell. It is not known whether Moore was envious of Lord John's frequent draughts at the fount of poesy, or whether he really believed his friend was never likely to become a favorite with the muses, and in kindness to his literary infirmities, tendered him gentle reproofs in poetry, on which he could not venture in person. The lines, however, had the effect of chastening down Lord John's exhuberant taste for metre-his poetic mantle was soon thrown aside and exchanged for the dignified robe of the legislator.

Earl Russell was born in 1792 and entered Parliament as a member for the "rotten borough" of Tavistock in 1814; in 1820 he was member for the Huntingdonshire; for the town of Bandon in Ireland in 1830, and for Devonshire in 1831, which seat he vacated in 1834, on his appointment to the office of Secretary for the Home

Department, and was the guiding spirit of Lord Melbourne's administration. From 1841 to 1846, whilst Sir Robert Peel was in power, Lord John Russell led the opposition, and on the defeat of Peel this year succeeded to the Premiership, which he held until 1852. In office, he showed an indisposition to take the initiative in any marked measure of progress and advancement. As a consequence, he could only depend on a small and uncertain majority in Parliament; and the inefficiency of his ecclesiastical titles bill, accompanied, nearly at the same time, by the secession of his colleague, Lord Palmerston, forced him into retirement. Under the administration of Lord Aberdeen, he was Foreign Secretary for a short time and then Lord President of the Council. Lord Palmerston now became Premier, and in 1855 appointed Lord John Colonial Secretary, and he represented England at the Vienna Conferences, and in consequence of the dissatisfaction caused by his diplomatic course, again resigned. In 1859 he resumed office under Palmerston as Minister for Foreign affairs, and bore a conspicuous part in the solution of the important questions which oc curred in political affairs in different parts of the world. Amongst these may be mentioned the protests made by the British government to that of Russia against the oppressions practiced on the Poles; its endeavors to deter the great German powers from pursuing an aggressive policy towards Denmark, and the disputes which arose between England and the United States during the civil war. It must be admitted, with reference to some of these yexed questions, that however unsuccessful the efforts of England may have been, through the backwardness of allles, in averting the evils it sought to counteract, the sincerity of its intentions, as evinced in its diplomatic action under the auspices of Earl Russell, has been clearly manifest. We, therefore, who felt at the time, or now feel, any bitterness towards the mother country for her course towards the South during the civil war - her apparent want of sympathy- should now, that the hour of passion has passed, be ready to unite in according to her the meed of praise for having been wiser in that great crisis than we ourselves were

During his active political life, such was his patient, persevering industry, that he contributed largely to the literature of the day. Among his best known works are his Life of Lord William Russell, his Miscellaneous Essays and "Memories of the Affairs of Europe," "A Concise History of the British Constitution," "The Num of Arvouca, a tale," and a tragic drama styled "Don Carlos." His most recent work composed during his retirement, is entitled The Rise and Progress of the Christian Religion in the West of Europe, from the reign of Tiberius to the end of the Council of Trent. This work illustrates how happily and usefully the even

ing of his days was passed, how far he was removed from those discontented, querulous, ill-conditioned, gouty old men, who ludicrously contend against the grave-a burden to themselves and a nuisance to all around. He did not indulge in the vain regrets of those who regard death as the “evil day.” Death, he knew, could not be staved off, however our energies may be economized, that in the end we are all brought to bay; there is no more thread on the reel; for the fates together have spun the whole web of our existence and there is an end. The ancients lamented old age and the grave, because not believing in the immortality of the soul, there was no hope beyond it nothing but everlasting night. When the flower of youth is passed, says one of the pagans, it is better to die at once, and he prayed that he might be struck dead at sixty. These unnatural pagan sentiments exaggerate the value of bodily strength and animal spirits, the joy of the wine cup and the delights of love. They evince an imperfect idea of the pleasures of matured intellect, of calm sagacity and of that tranquil wisdom which looks before and after without terror and without excessive regrets. Christianity corrects by its sublime teachings alike the pagan's morbid love of youth and his dread of old age. And Earl Russell lived and died an humble, sincere and pious Christian.

Before leaving Richmond, where we had passed so many happy hours, and which we have since revisited many a time, with the old pleasure, a word more must be ventured as to its past.

In the early part of the last century it was much frequented as a watering place. A mineral spring in the park was supposed to possess valuable curative elements. Both pleasure seekers and invalids were attracted to its gay halls and life giving streams. Grand hotels, pump rooms, baths, squares, terraces and crescents were erected or laid out in eligible and commanding situations. The son of a dead baron, or some such sprig of nobility, was always installed as master of ceremonies, and an eminent rural M. D., the cousin of a living Viscount, if such could be had, as well doctor as an analytic chemist, was sure to receive from the managing committee the appointment of resident physician. Dowager whist players, half pay officers, old maids, fortune hunters, widows without fortunes, but ready for the matrimonial game, people of good family and questionable morals flocked to Richmond Spa.

This is now all changed. The spring still flows, but seems to have lost its virtues; and in Richmond's palmy days was probably more "doctored" with tinctures of iron and sulphur than were the shaky valetudinarians who here resorted for the tonic or aperient waters.

The grand houses of the past are now business places, and steady going people replace the Jackanaps and Jack-a-dandies, simpering maids and old blades of 1750.

No intelligent foreigner in London fails to visit Richmond, either to enjoy the scenic beauties of the park or dissipate the spleen by its water, which, if without mineral ingredients, are much purer than those of the Metropolis; or to enliven the imagination and improve the understanding by learning the associations of the place and reviving the instructive history of the past.

CHAPTER V.

WINDSOR CASTLE, PAST AND PRESENT-GEORGE IV-THE LAWLESS LORDS OF OTHER DAYS-THE ROYAL STABLES

THE PARKS, ETC.

A friend, who is ever ready to impart information in an agreeable way, has recently expressed the opinion, in our hearing, that we love pleasure. The innocent lamb may prefer work, but not the straying sheep. A man of nice perceptions, our fidus Achates, rarely fails in a diagnosis. We do not cousider it worth while, therefore, to deny the "soft impeachment." Yet we would not have our reader imagine that we love nothing but pleasure because, instead of returning to the dingy atmosphere of London, we shall penetrate forthwith deeper into the country, and possibly to the heart of the Royal county of Berks.

During the annual absences of the Queen, the State apartments in Windsor Castle are thrown open to the public, and joining the "madding crowd" of sight seers, we bade adieu to Richmond, and made the best of our way to this ancient seat of British Royalty. No season could have been more favorable for our excursion.

Pleas

The trees were in leaf and the country clothed in verdure. ant parks, well cultivated fields, quiet homesteads and patches of common and garden enlivened and beautified the landscapes on the entire route. The sky was of a sweet opaline blue-something one does not see every day in England. Looking out upon the Heavens and the earth, we came near startling our neighbors in the railway carriage, by exclaiming, how pleasant to live sometimes!

But the train stops. Our dream is fulfilled; there stands the Round Tower; in a moment we are hastening to the Palace gates. We stop to scan the exterior of the building, we run through it, we return and linger to study it, and feel when it is over a certain sense of disappointment.

The castle is an old stone edifice, with turrets and battlements more like an antique fortress in exterior appearance than a domestic habitation. Has somewhat the cold and sombre aspect of a prison, and its gaunt buttresses and dim archways, and high and broad ramparts plainly tell the history of its feudal origin. The narrow, meanly built streets of the town of Windsor extend on one side to the very gates, and the visitor emerges from them to pass immediately into the palace court. But for its situation on a lofty hill and the surrounding park and forest, with its wild and picturesque scenery, Windsor Castle would be the most cheerless and unattractive of homes, though it has been much modernized and has so many of the adjuncts of domestic life, that its appearance has ceased to create the idea of one of those rugged fortresses destined solely for war, whose gloomy towers suggest to the imagination only dungeons, chains and executions. Nevertheless, it carries us back to the time when anarchy and violence glowered over England, to the age of the Norman and of feudalism, when there was no distinction but that of soldier and serf. To the time when the fair-haired and blue-eyed Saxon crushed by his haughty Norman conqueror, and who, while biding his time, breathed against his oppressor curses not loud but deep. Windsor, as it now stands, and regarded as a simple specimen of its particular style of architecture, is unequalled in England for grandeur and magnificence.

was

This spot, we are told, was selected as a residence by William the Conqueror, who was drawn to the neighboring forest by his fondness for the chase. The country now embraced in the Royal county, was then as famous for wild boars, as it now is for Berkshire pigs. William I., built, according to tradition, a rude fortress on the spot occupied by the present edifice, and that or some other Royal building occupied the ground till the 14th century when the existing castle was erected. The old building had gone