But sairly did she rue,

When he thought that she spak' true,
And the teardrop it blinded her ee.

His heart it was sair,

And he lo'ed her mair and mair,

For her spirit was noble and free.
'Oh! lassie dear, relent,

Nor let a heart be rent

That lives but for its countrie and thee.'

And did she say him nay?

Oh no, he won the day,

Could an Elliot a Russell disdain?

And he's ta'en awa' his bride
Frae the bonny Teviot side,
And has left me sae eerie alane.

Oh where's now the smile
Used to cheer me ilk morn
Like a blink o' the sun's ain light;
And where's the voice sae sweet
That aye gar'd my bosom beat
When sae softly she bade me gude night?

Now lang lang are the nights

And dowie are the days

That sae cheerie were ance for me;

And oh, the thought is sair

That she 'll mine be nevermair:

I'm alane in the north countrie.

Lord and Lady John remained at Bowhill till Saturday, July 31, when they returned to Minto; the people of Selkirk receiving them on their way with great demonstrations, and presenting Lord John with the freedom of the borough. They left Minto on August 10, were received at Hawick by an 'immense crowd, tremendous cheering, bells ringing, banners waving;' and, after passing a day or two on the lakes--which Lady John had never seen-drove on to Lancaster, at that time the northern terminus of the railway, which carried them the next day to London. They reached London on Saturday, August 14; gave their first little dinner to Lord and Lady

Minto and the Duke of Bedford on the following Wednesday, Lord John's forty-ninth birthday; and on the Thursday the new Parliament met to choose a Speaker. It fell to Lord John's lot, as still the nominal leader of the House, to congratulate Mr. Lefevre on his re-election to the Chair. Except for Mr. Lefevre's sake, he would himself have preferred that the debate should have taken another course, and that the election of a Tory Speaker should have given the Ministry an excuse for retirement. But, when Sir Robert Peel decided on Mr. Lefevre's re-election, the Ministry behaved in a manner which was eminently creditable. Lord John, who had for some time been in communication with Lord Stanley on colonial matters of importance, sent the speech which it was proposed that the Queen should deliver to Sir Robert Peel in order that he should have ample time to prepare the necessary amendment. He thus facilitated by his conduct the preparation. of the great debate which preceded his own fall. He himself, as leader of the House, wound up the discussion on the last of the four nights over which it was protracted. Nothing, of course, that he could say could affect the inevitable issue: the Whigs were beaten by a decisive majority of ninety-one; and Lord. John at once announced the defeat to the Queen. This was the Queen's answer :

Windsor Castle: August 28, 1841.

The Queen has received Lord John Russell's letter of this morning, containing the account of the division in the House of Commons.

Long as the Queen was prepared for this event, she does not for that feel it the less painful. She is deeply grieved to have to part from those she has such confidence in; she trusts, however, that at no very distant period she will again see Lord John Russell in the office which he has filled so much to the satisfaction of both his sovereign and his country.

The Queen feels very grateful for Lord John's kind wishes for herself, and cannot conclude without expressing the lively interest she will ever feel in his personal welfare and happiness, as well as in his career in public life.

On the same evening Lord John announced the resignation of the Government in the House of Commons.

We began, on the commencement of Lord Grey's Administration, with the Reform Act. We ended by proposing measures for the freedom of commerce. With large and important measures we commenced; with large and important measures we conclude.

The change of Administration necessarily involved the adjournment of the House of Commons; and no material business was proposed till September 16. Lord John passed the intervening fortnight at Woburn; and, as after the resumption of business Sir R. Peel decided on merely dealing with matters which it was impossible to postpone, Lord John did not consider his own presence in London necessary. On September 26 he set out for Endsleigh, where he remained with wife, children, and step-children, till the latter half of November. At Endsleigh he learned the death of two old colleagues, both successively Governors-General of CanadaLord Durham and Lord Sydenham. Writing to Lord John on March 26, 1840, Lord Durham said

I sincerely rejoice in Thomson's success. He will have already told you that I contributed to it to the utmost of my ability.

He is a fortunate person in having at the Colonial Office one who has the ability to comprehend the intricate subject and the spirit to support him in his efforts to unravel it.

During his last illness Lord Sydenham dictated his will to Mr. Dowling, one of his suite, bequeathing to Lord Johnthe sum of 500l., of which I beg his acceptance as a remembrance of my friendship.

And he added-so Mr. Dowling wrote to Mr. Poulett Scrope, Lord Sydenham's elder brother

Dowling, Lord John is the noblest man it has ever tune to follow.1

been my for

On leaving Endsleigh Lord John went to London. But he did not return to the old house in Wilton Crescent which he had occupied since the date of his first marriage. He

The late Sir B. Hawes, on leaving the House of Commons in 1851 to become Deputy Secretary of War, wrote to Lord John, I have had the privilege of holding office under one whom for years I looked up to, and whom I never dreamed of knowing or serving; but whom, having known and served under, I can join in Lord Sydenham's admiration of in almost the same words.'

entered the house at the corner of Chesham Place, which he had himself built, which was just completed, and which is now the property of his great-nephew, Lord Tavistock. After a few days' stay in London, Lord and Lady John proceeded to Bowood, joining a party which has already been commemorated both in the memoirs of Mr. Moore and in the diary of Mr. Greville. The greater part of January they passed at Woburn, returning to London towards the end of the month to meet the King of Prussia at a series of entertainments, and to prepare for the session of 1842.

CHAPTER XV.

IN OPPOSITION.

It is not necessary to follow Lord John Russell's career during the first four years of the Parliament of 1841 with the care with which it seemed desirable to describe his conduct during the Parliaments of 1835 and 1837. In the one case he was the statesman who both framed and expounded the policy of the Administration; in the other he was only the leader of a disorganised Opposition, unable always to command the obedience of his nominal supporters.

At the commencement of 1842 Lord John did not venture on calling his political followers together. He was afraid that their meeting might disclose, and perhaps emphasise, the differences which existed among them; and he had to content himself with the private counsel of his own immediate friends instead of large gatherings of the various sections of the Liberal party.

His difficulties were increased by the conduct of his great opponent. The work which Sir Robert Peel had to do in 1842 was exactly suited to his knowledge and his capacity. The financial and commercial measures of his Administration were, indeed, open to the reproach that they were inconsistent with the principles which had usually been associated with the Conservative party. Discontented Tories could complain that Sir Robert had caught the Whigs bathing and walked away with their clothes. But the measures of the Minister were framed with a breadth, and propounded with a skill, which no preceding financier, since the death of Mr. Pitt, had displayed; and, in consequence, if they elicited murmurs from the Conservative back benches, commended. themselves to the good sense of the country.