[About the year 1816 Lord Russell's health being delicate he was rarely in his seat in the House of Commons, and even expressed his determination to withdraw from public life altogether. This "Remonstrance" from the poet Thomas Moore is valuable at least for the view which it gives of the considerations which impelled the scion of the great Whig house to serve his country.] What! thou, with thy genius, thy youth, and thy name! Thou, born of a Russell, whose instinct to run The accustom'd career of thy sires is the same As the eaglet's to soar with his eyes on the sun; Whose nobility comes to thee, stamp'd with a seal Far, far more ennobling than monarch e'er set; With the blood of thy race offer'd up for the weal Of a nation that swears by that martyrdom yet! Shalt thou be faint-hearted, and turn from the strife, From the mighty arena, where all that is grand, And devoted, and pure, and adorning in life Is for high-thoughted spirits like thine to command? Oh no! never dream it; while good men despair Between tyrants and traitors, and timid men bow, Never think for an instant thy country can spare Such a light from her dark'ning horizon as thou! With a spirit as meek as the gentlest of those Who in life's sunny valley lie shelter'd and warm, Yet bold and heroic as ever yet rose To the top cliffs of Fortune, and breasted her storm; With an ardour for liberty, fresh as in youth It first kindles the bard and gives light to his lyre, Yet mellow'd e'en now by that mildness of truth, Which tempers, but chills not, the patriot fire; With an eloquence, not like those rills from a height, Which sparkle and foam, and in vapour are o'er, But a current that works out its way into light Through the filt'ring recesses of thought and of lore: Thus gifted, thou never canst sleep in the shade; If the stirring of genius, the music of fame, And the charm of thy cause have not power to persuade, Yet think how to freedom thou'rt pledged by thy name. Like the boughs of that laurel, by Delphi's decree, Set apart for the fame and its service divine, All the branches that spring from the old Russell tree Are by liberty claim'd for the use of her shrine. ON BRIBERY AT ELECTIONS [After his unsuccessful contest for a seat in the House of Commons for Huntingdon in 1826, Lord John Russell drafted a measure for the prevention of bribing and sent it to Lord Althorp with a letter which was published in "The Times " and attracted much notice. The following passages are extracted.] Bribery is clearly forbidden by the law, and it is competent for every British subject to petition the House of Commons, praying them to inquire into any particular instance of that offense which may have occurred under his own observation. The House may, if it thinks fit, refer such a petition to the Committee of Privileges, or to any other committee it may choose to appoint for the purpose.