light as compared to others in the same
position. He never made work and never was fussy, and even at the
busiest times never seemed in a hurry.... Large matters he never
neglected, but the difficulty of the private secretary was to get him to
attend to the trifling and unimportant ones with which he had chiefly
to deal.'

The Hon. Charles Gore, who was also private secretary to Lord John when
the latter held the Home Office in the Melbourne Administration, gives
in the following words his recollections: 'Often members of Parliament
and others used to come into my room adjoining, after their interview
with Lord John, looking, and seeming, much dissatisfied with their
reception. His manner was cold and shy, and, even when he intended to
comply with the request made, in his answer he rather implied no than
yes. He often used to say to me that he liked to hear the laugh which
came to him through the door which separated us, as proof that I had
been able to soothe the disappointed feelings with which his interviewer
had left him. As a companion, when not feeling shy, no one was more
agreeable or full of anecdote than Lord John--simple in his manner,
never assuming superiority, and always ready to listen to what others
had to say.' This impression is confirmed by Sir Villiers Lister, who
served under Lord John at the Foreign Office. He states that his old
chief, whilst always quick to seize great problems, was somewhat
inclined to treat the humdrum details of official life with fitful
attention.

FOOTNOTES:

[43] _Contemporary Review_, vol. 56, p. 814.

CHAPTER XVIII

PEMBROKE LODGE

1847-1878

Looking back--Society at Pembroke Lodge--Home life--The house and
its memories--Charles Dickens's speech at Liverpool--Literary
friendships--Lady Russell's description of her husband--A packet of
letters--His children's recollections--A glimpse of Carlyle--A
witty impromptu--Closing days--Mr. and Mrs. Gladstone--The jubilee
of the Repeal of the Test and Corporation Acts--'Punch' on the
'Golden Wedding'--Death--The Queen's letter--Lord Shaftesbury's
estimate of Lord John's career--His great qualities.

PEACE with honour--a phrase which Lord John used long before Lord
Beaconsfield made it famous--sums up the settled tranquillity and simple
dignity of the life at Pembroke Lodge. No man was more entitled to rest
on his laurels than Lord John Russell. He was in the House of Common