he
abolition of purchase in the Army. The conflict which arose in the
autumn of 1872 between the Emperor of Germany and Pius IX. was a matter
which appealed to all lovers of liberty of conscience. Lord John, though
now in his eighty second year, rose promptly to the occasion, and
promised to preside at a great public meeting in London, called to
protest against the claims of the Vatican. At the last moment, though
the spirit was willing, the flesh was weak, and yielding to medical
advice, he contented himself with a written expression of sympathy. This
was read to the meeting, and brought him the thanks of the Kaiser and
Prince Bismarck. Lord John's letters, declared Mr. Kinglake seem to
carry with them the very ring of his voice; and the one which was
written from Pembroke Lodge on January 19, 1874, was full of the old
fire of enthusiasm and the resolution which springs from clean-cut
convictions:--'I hasten to declare with all friends of freedom, and I
trust with the great majority of the English nation, that I could no
longer call myself a lover of civil and religious liberty were I not to
proclaim my sympathy with the Emperor of Germany in the noble struggle
in which he is engaged.'

Lord John Russell's pamphlets, published in 1868-9--in the shape of
letters to Mr. Chichester Fortescue--show that in old age and out of
office he was still anxious to see justice done to the legitimate
demands of Ireland. He declared that he witnessed with alarm the attempt
to involve the whole Irish nation in a charge of disaffection,
conspiracy, and treason. He contended that Englishmen ought to seek to
rid their minds of exaggerated fears and national animosities, so that
they might be in a position to consider patiently all the facts of the
case. 'We ought to weigh with care the complaints that are made, and
examine with still more care and circumspection the remedies that are
proposed, lest in our attempts to cure the disease we give the patient a
new and more dangerous disorder.' In his 'Life of Fox' Lord John Russell
maintained that the wisest system that could be devised for the
conciliation of Ireland had yet to be discovered; and in his third
letter to Mr. Chichester Fortescue, published in January 1869, he made a
remarkable allusion to Mr. Gladstone as a statesman who might yet seek
to 'perform a permanent and immortal service to his country' by
endeavouring to reconcile England and Ireland. If, added Lord John, Mr.
Gladsto