Background
John Russell was born on August 18, 1792, in London. He was the third son of the 6th Duke of Bedford.
(However gratifying it must be to the feelings of a descen...)
However gratifying it must be to the feelings of a descendant of Lord Russell to record the actions of so worthy an ancestor, I should hardly have undertaken the task without some view of general utility. The fame of Lord Russell might be safely left to the historians of all parties, who concur in his praise ;nor have the endeavours which have been lately made to detract from his merits, obtained sufficient notice from the public to require an answer. But in these times, when love of liberty is too generally supposed to be allied with rash innovation, impiety, and anarchy, it seems to me desirable to exhibit to the world, at full length, the portrait of a man who, heir to wealth and title, was foremost in defending the privileges of the people: who, when busily occupied in the affairs of public life, was revered in his own family as the best of husbands and of fathers :who joined the truest sense of religion with the unqualified assertion of freedom :who, after an honest perseverance in a good cause, at length attested, on the scaffold, his attachment to the ancient principles of the constitution, and the unalienable right of resistance. Nor does it take away from the usefulness of such an attempt, that Lord Russell was sometimes led into error by credulity or party zeal: let others attempt, if they can, to avoid such mis Burnet, Temple, Hume, (Typographical errors above are due to OCR software and don't occur in the book.) About the Publisher Forgotten Books is a publisher of historical writings, such as: Philosophy, Classics, Science, Religion, History, Folklore and Mythology. Forgotten Books' Classic Reprint Series utilizes the latest technology to regenerate facsimiles of historically important writings. Careful attention has been made to accurately preserve the original format of each page whilst digitally enhancing the aged text.
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(Excerpt from Essays, and Sketches of Life and Character ...)
Excerpt from Essays, and Sketches of Life and Character Than I had ever heard of: some few were in English; and one called, On the State of the Constitution, in a totally difierent hand. I suspect it was written by the gentleman, for there was only one, 'who used sometimes to pay my lodger a visit. With these papers in my hand, I 3went off directly to Mr. Longman; and he has given me some 'hopes that I may recover a part of my rent by their means. Who the author may be, I do not pre tend to say; or whether the last paper relates at all to himself: I leave that to the courteous reader; and I beg him to recollect, that I am not answerable for the opinions of a gentleman who has left his lodgings. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
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(Excerpt from Don Carlos, or Persecution: A Tragedy, in Fi...)
Excerpt from Don Carlos, or Persecution: A Tragedy, in Five Acts I trust, however, I shall not be severely cen sured for these large deviations from true story. It is surely somewhat unreasonable, on the part of the reader, to require from the author of a professed work of fiction, a strict adherence to fact; and to confine the writer of a novel or a play to the same rules which are rightly imposed upon an historian. We may. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
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(This is a pre-1923 historical reproduction that was curat...)
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(Full Title:A Letter to Mr. Wilberforce, and a Petition to...)
Full Title:A Letter to Mr. Wilberforce, and a Petition to the King; with a Preface Description: The Making of the Modern Law: Trials, 1600-1926 collection provides descriptions of the major trials from over 300 years, with official trial documents, unofficially published accounts of the trials, briefs and arguments and more. Readers can delve into sensational trials as well as those precedent-setting trials associated with key constitutional and historical issues and discover, including the Amistad Slavery case, the Dred Scott case and Scopes "monkey" trial.Trials provides unfiltered narrative into the lives of the trial participants as well as everyday people, providing an unparalleled source for the historical study of sex, gender, class, marriage and divorce. ++++ The below data was compiled from various identification fields in the bibliographic record of this title. This data is provided as an additional tool in helping to insure edition identification: ++++ Monograph Harvard Law School Library London: Printed for James Ridgway, Piccadilly. 1820
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(This book was originally published prior to 1923, and rep...)
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John Russell was born on August 18, 1792, in London. He was the third son of the 6th Duke of Bedford.
Russell was educated primarily by private tutors and at Edinburgh University.
Russell's parliamentary career began in 1813, when he was elected Whig member of Parliament for Tavistock. In poor health during his early parliamentary career, Russell rarely spoke in the Commons. In the 1820s he emerged as a champion of parliamentary reform and religious toleration. He worked for repeal of the Test and Corporation Acts and supported Catholic emancipation in 1829.
Russell was largely responsible for preparing the first Reform Bill and introduced it in the Commons in March 1831; the bill passed the Lords in June 1832. Russell was a member of the Whig Cabinets of Lords Grey and Melbourne in the 1830s, first as home secretary and then as secretary for war and the colonies (1839-1841). The Municipal Corporation Act of 1835, which expanded the electorate for town councils, was one of his contributions.
After the fall of Sir Robert Peel's second ministry in 1846 Russell became prime minister. He held this office for the next 6 years (1846-1852). During this period he faced the Great Famine in Ireland, but his relief measures were too cautious to succeed. The Ten Hours Act of 1847 was a turning point in the history of labor legislation. Russell sympathized with the popular outcry against the papal bull that restored a Roman Catholic hierarchy in England in 1850, and he sponsored the Ecclesiastical Titles Bill (1851), which forbade the assumption by Roman Catholic clergy of titles within the United Kingdom. A more liberal attitude characterized his actions in imperial affairs. The Australian Colonies Act of 1850 extended self-government to New South Wales.
Lord Palmerston was the most controversial figure in the Russell Cabinet, and relations between the two were frequently strained. Palmerston was dismissed by Russell in December 1851 for having conveyed to the French ambassador Russell's approval of Louis Napoleon's coup d'etat. Two months later, however, Palmerston had his revenge when he successfully led the opposition in defeating the government's Militia Bill, and Russell resigned in 1852.
Russell served as foreign secretary for a few months in 1852-1853 in Lord Aberdeen's coalition and as colonial secretary for 5 months in Palmerston's Cabinet in 1855. He returned to the Foreign Office 4 years later in the second Palmerston ministry (1859-1865) and did much to preserve British neutrality during the American Civil War. Russell became prime minister for a second time in 1865, but he resigned the following year in a dispute over the specifics of a second Reform Bill. He then retired to a private life of writing, and he died on May 28, 1878.
Russell was known as "Finality Jack" to the British working classes, as one who opposed all further reform after 1832. This, however, was not true.
He died on May 28, 1878 in Richmond Park, Surrey.
John Russell, 1st Earl Russell of Kingston Russell was the author of the Great Reform Bill of 1832 and one of the founders of the British Liberal party.
He was succeeded as Liberal leader by former Peelite William Gladstone, and was thus the last true Whig to serve as Prime Minister.
(However gratifying it must be to the feelings of a descen...)
(Excerpt from Essays, and Sketches of Life and Character ...)
(This book was originally published prior to 1923, and rep...)
(Excerpt from Don Carlos, or Persecution: A Tragedy, in Fi...)
(This is a pre-1923 historical reproduction that was curat...)
(Full Title:A Letter to Mr. Wilberforce, and a Petition to...)
He was active in the reform movement to the end of his life, and he helped to move the Whigs toward the new Liberal party under his immediate successor as party leader, William Gladstone.
Russell led his Whig party into support for reform; he was the principal architect of the great Reform Act of 1832. As Prime Minister his luck ran out. He headed a government that failed to deal with a famine in Ireland that caused the loss of a quarter of its population.
As Prime Minister, he was not a success. Indeed, his ministry of 1846 to 1852 was the ruin of the Whig party: it never composed a Government again, and his ministry of 1865 to 1866 was very nearly the ruin of the Liberal Party also.
Quotations:
"It is impossible that the whisper of a faction should prevail against the voice of a nation. "
"I cannot think of a greater blessing than to die in one's own bed, without warning or discomfort, on the last page of a new book that we most wanted to read. "
"A proverb is the wisdom of many and the wit of one. "
"If peace cannot be maintained with honour, it is no longer peace. "
"Among the defects of the bill (Lord Derby's) which are numerous, one provision is conspicuous by its presence and another by its absence. "
He was a Fellow of the Royal Society.
His vanity was great, and he was easily disturbed by criticism. But he was a man of courage and conviction.
On 11 April 1835, Russell married Adelaide, Lady Ribblesdale, the eldest daughter of Thomas Lister Esq. and the widow of Thomas Lister, 2nd Baron Ribblesdale, who had died in 1832. Her death in 1838 cut the marriage short after three years. They had two daughters, Lady Georgiana Adelaide Russell (1836–1922), who married Archibald Peel and had a daughter, Grace (1878–1973); and Lady Victoria Russell (1838–1880), who married the Rev. Henry Montagu Villiers, and left many descendants.
On 20 July 1841 Russell married his second wife, Lady Frances Anna-Maria Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, daughter of Gilbert Elliot, 2nd Earl of Minto. Their children were John Russell, Viscount Amberley (1842–1876), George Gilbert William Russell (1848–1933); Francis Albert Rollo Russell (1849–1914) and Mary Augusta Russell (1853–1933). They lived at Pembroke Lodge, Richmond Park.
Russell and his second wife brought up the children of his eldest son Lord Amberley, orphaned by the deaths of their mother Katharine Russell, Viscountess Amberley in 1874 and their father two years later. These included philosopher Bertrand Russell, who recalled his grandfather in his later life as "a kindly old man in a wheelchair. "
(6 July 1766 – 20 October 1839)
(1838–1880)
(1853–1933)
(1836–1922)
(1849–1914)
(1842–1876)
(1848–1933)
(m. 1841)
(m. 1835; d. 1838)
The Right Honourable The Earl Russell, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
