e members of
Parliament without taking an oath which implied a belief in a
Supreme Being. But it was not till 1883 that the Bill was taken up.
On April 26th Gladstone made one of his most lofty and fervid
speeches in support of the Bill, which, however, was lost by a
majority of three.

_Lady Russell to Lady Agatha Russell_

PEMBROKE LODGE, _June,_ 1883

... I have been regaling myself on Sydney Smith's Life and
Letters--the wisdom and the wit, the large-hearted and wide-minded
piety, the love of God and man set forth in word and deed, and the
unlikeness to anybody else, make it delightful companionship.... I
long to talk of things deep and high with you, but if I once began
I should go on and on, and "of writing of letters there would be no
end." That is a grand passage of Hinton's [on music]. I always feel
that music means much more than just music, born of earth--joy and
sorrow, agony and rapture, are so mysteriously blended in its
glorious magic.

_Lady Russell's Recollections_

In July, 1883, I went with Agatha to see Dunrozel for the first
time ... I was simply enchanted--it was love at first sight, which
only deepened year after year.... We had a good many pleasant
neighbours; the Tennysons were more than pleasant, and welcomed us
with the utmost cordiality, and we loved them all.

At that time Professor Tyndall and Louisa [103] were almost the
only inhabitants of Hindhead. They were not yet in their house, but
till it was built and furnished lived in their "hut," where they
used to receive us with the most cheering, as well as cheerful,
friendliness.

[103] Mrs. Tyndall.

_Lady Russell to Miss Lilian Blyth_ [104] _[Mrs. Wilfred
Praeger]_

DUNROZEL, HASLEMERE, _November_ 16, 1883

Your letter is just like you, and that means all that is dear and
good and loving.... Indeed, past years are full of happy memories
of you all, not on marked days only, but on all days. At my age,
however, it is better to look forward to the renewal of all earthly
ties and all earth's best joys in an enduring home, than to look
back to the past--to the days before the blanks were left in the
earthly home which nothing here below can ever fill, and this it is
my prayer and my constant endeavour to do. We go home to dear
Pembroke Lodge next Tuesday ... going there must always be a