The duke was no politician, and fourteen years in the House of Commons had given him a profound dislike for public life. It was only at the earnest solicitation of the Prime Minister, Grenville, that he accepted the post of Viceroy of Ireland, and when the Duke of Portland began his second ministry Bedford gladly vacated Dublin Castle. It was an undistinguished year in Irish affairs, but it is worth noting that amongst the duke's family at the time was a boy of fourteen, {212} who, as Lord John Russell, had in later years a great deal to do with Irish affairs. He was at the head of the Government when the Irish famine of 1847-48 ravaged the country, and it was to Russell that Gladstone owed his first acquaintance with Irish life. He never had a very flattering opinion of the viceroyalty, regarding it as a useless encumbrance now that the country was controlled from London, and more than once he pressed upon his Cabinet colleagues a proposal for its abolition and the substitution for it of a Secretary of State for Ireland, ranking with the Home Secretary and conducting all Irish business. His father retired into private life after leaving Dublin, and earned the gratitude of subsequent holders of the dukedom by building Covent Garden at a cost of L40,000 and otherwise improving the great Russell estates. Agriculture also owes a great deal to the sixth Duke of Bedford, who was one of the first to cultivate the subject scientifically, and for many years of his life he was Vice-President of the Agricultural Society, which he helped to found and guide into prosperity. Although Catholic Emancipation was very much to the fore now, and the speeches of Catholic orators were embarrassing the Government, it was not considered essential that the Lord-Lieutenant should be something more than a man of fashion. Dukes were plentiful, and to succeed Bedford, another one in the person of Charles Lennox, fourth Duke of Richmond and Lennox, was chosen. The Duke of Richmond was forty-three years of age, and had gained the {213} reputation of a sportsman. He was a keen cricketer and a patron of the 'noble art' of boxing. In his early years he had distinguished himself in a duel with the Duke of York, and altogether was a typical man of the world, to whom the world was very kind. He was assured that the Government of Ireland was a simple matter--no work to do and plenty of opportunities for cultivating those social arts so dear to him and to his duchess, who was a sister of the outgoing viceroy's wife, the Duchess of Bedford. [Sidenote: Colonel Arthur Wellesley]