tion I had received before I entered Parliament. That education was in part broken and disturbed. After being at a private school at Sunbury, I went to Westminster, but was so ill there that, by the care and affection of my step-mother the Duchess of Bedford, my father was persuaded to remove me, and I was sent with several young men of riper age to receive private tuition from the Rev. Mr. Smith, of Woodnesbury, in Kent. There I formed relations of friendship with the Earl of Clare, the late Duke of Leinster, his brother Lord William Fitzgerald, and others. But I had not remained there long, when Lord and Lady Holland proposed that I should accompany them on a journey to Spain in the troubled year 1808. When I returned from Spain in 1810 I asked my father to allow me to go to the University of Cambridge. But he told me that in his opinion there was nothing to be learnt at English Universities, and procured for me admission to the house of Professor Playfair, at Edinburgh. There I had my studies directed and my character developed by one of the best and the noblest, the most upright, the most benevolent, and the most liberal of all philosophers. Some years afterwards I travelled again in Spain with my cousin, the late Earl of Bradford, and Robert Clive, the son of Lord Powis. In the course of these travels I became acquainted with the Duke of Wellington, and had occasion to admire the calmness, the directness, and the patriotism which distinguished his character. But I need not follow this narrative any further. I was about to accompany my companions to Constantinople and return home by way of Moscow and St. Petersburgh, when I was informed by a letter from my father that his old friend, the acute and witty Fitzpatrick, was dead, and that he intended to propose me as candidate for Tavistock. Thus I became a member of Parliament before I was of age, and from that time my political life begins. Before I conclude this Preface, I may mention that at Edinburgh a public dinner was sometimes held to commemorate the birthday of Mr. Fox. At one of these dinners, presided over by Lord Kinnaird, the following toast was given : The Houses of Russell and Cavendish. May they ever be united in the cause of freedom!' I was called upon by the chairman to acknowledge the toast. I then said: It gives me great pleasure to acknowledge the toast which has just been announced by the chairman. It is a satisfaction to me to reflect that your favour is obtained, not by the accidental qualities of talents and power, but by a steady adherence to those principles which animated Mr. Fox through life, and, holding it by that tenure, I trust that it will never be forfeited.' RUSSELL. ALDWORTH: October 30, 1874. |