Ten Englishmen of the Nineteenth CenturyJoy, James Richard
History
Ten Englishmen of the Nineteenth Century
Joy, James Richard
England -- Biography
close friend of Thomas Moore; he knew Byron. Lord John Russell
had tastes for literature, for art, for philosophy, for history,
for politics, and his aestheticism had the advantage that it made
him seek the society and appreciate the worth of men of genius
and letters. Thus he never remained a mere politician like Pitt
or Palmerston."
No one will now claim that Earl Russell--he was raised to the
peerage with this title--is to be ranked with the few greatest of
English statesmen, but that he served his country devotedly,
honorably, and courageously will not be denied. His contemporary,
Lord Shaftesbury, noted his death in his own journal with this
just comment: "To have begun with disapprobation, to have fought
through many difficulties, to have announced and acted on
principles new to the day in which he lived, to have filled many
important offices, to have made many speeches and written many
books, and in his whole course to have done much with credit and
nothing with dishonor, and so to have sustained and advanced his
reputation to the very end, is a mighty commendation." And the
Queen, in a letter to his widow, wrote: "You will believe that I
truly regret an old friend of forty years' standing, and whose
personal kindness in trying and anxious times I shall ever
remember. 'Lord John,' as I knew him best, was one of my first
and most distinguished ministers, and his departure recalls many
eventful times."
QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW
1. In what ways did Parliament fail to be "representative"
at the opening of the nineteenth century?
2. What circumstances favored agitation of this condition?
3. What was the "Peterloo Massacre"?
4. Who was Lord Russell, and what his early relation to the
reform movement?
5. What was the Test and Corporation Act, and when repealed?
6. Describe the first Reform Bill, and its effect upon the
House of Commons?
7. How was the second bill treated by the Commons and by the
Lords?
8. What circumstances attended the passage of the third bill?
9. How was the principle of reform extended in later years?
10. What peculiar privileges did Lord John Russell enjoy?
11. How is his character shown in the use which he made of them?
BIBLIOGRAPHY
LIFE OF EARL RUSSELL. S. J. Reid.
RECOLLECTIONS AND SUGGESTIONS. Lord John Russell.
THE EPOCH OF REFORM. Justin McCarthy.
HISTORY OF THE REFORM BILL. W. N. Molesworth.
VI
COBDEN AND FREE TRADE
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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