spoke much of the noble spirit
of her whom he had so loved, and who had been to him so great a
blessing. He said, "What a misery it would have been to him if she had
not that magnanimit of spirit, joined to her tenderness, as never to
have desired him to do a base thing for the saving of his life. There
was a signal providence of God in giving him such a wife, where there
was birth, fortune, great understanding, true religion, and great
kindness to him; but her carriage in his extremity was beyond all. He
was glad she and his children were to lose nothing by his death; and it
was a great comfort to him that he left his children in the hands of
such a mother, and that she had promised to him to take care of herself
for their sakes."

[Illustration: PARTING OF LORD AND LADY RUSSELL. _Copied, by permission,
from the fresco in the Palace of Westminster_.]

It should be stated that when they partook of the Communion together for
the last time, she so controlled her feelings, for his sake, as not to
shed a tear; although afterwards she wept so much that it was feared she
would lose her sight.

The scene of the parting in prison is not only memorable in history, but
has been a favourite theme in art, and one of the frescoes in the new
Houses of Parliament commemorates it. Many poets have written about the
death of Lord Russell, among them Canning, in a supposed letter to his
friend Lord Cavendish, in which the noble character of his wife is
celebrated as well as the virtues of her husband.

The execution took place not on Tower Hill, as usual with persons of
high rank, but in Lincoln's Inn Fields, in order that the citizens of
London might be humbled and terrified by the sight, as he was carried in
a coach to the scaffold through the City. The effect was very different
from what was intended. The death of this one man made many enemies to
the king, and though the triumph of liberty and religion was delayed for
a few years, the execution of Lord Russell did much to secure the
overthrow of arbitrary power, and the defeat of Popery in England at no
distant time. The trial took place July 13 and 14, and the execution on
July 21, 1683.

VII.

Lord Russell died for the civil and religious liberties of his country.
All men, even those who were far from agreeing with his political
principles, agreed in regarding him as a man of probity and virtue, and
the model of a patriot. He passed through this world with as great and