call his
Pope--always playfully adding, 'but not an infallible one'--declared
shortly before Lord Russell's death that 'he was a man who was firmly
convinced that in Christianity, whether as held by the National Church
or Nonconformist, there was something greater and vaster than each of
the particular communions professed and advocated, something which made
it worth while to develop those universal principles of religion that
are common to all who accept in any real sense the fundamental truths of
Christianity.'

[Sidenote: MR. SPURGEON'S BLESSING]

Mr. Spurgeon, in conversation with the writer of these pages, related an
incident concerning Lord John which deserves at least passing record, as
an illustration of his swift appreciation of ability and the reality of
his recognition of religious equality. Lord John was upwards of sixty at
the time, and the famous Baptist preacher, though the rage of the town,
was scarcely more than twenty. The Metropolitan Tabernacle had as yet
not been built. Mr. Spurgeon was at the Surrey Music Hall, and there the
great congregation had gathered around this youthful master of
assemblies. One Sunday night, at the close of the service, Lord John
Russell came into the vestry to speak a kindly word of encouragement to
the young preacher. One of the children of the ex-Prime Minister was
with him, and before the interview ended Lord John asked the
Nonconformist minister to give his blessing to the child. Mr. Spurgeon
never forgot the incident, or the bearing of the man who came to him,
amid a crowd of others, on that Sunday night.

In opening the new buildings of Cheshunt College in 1871, Lord John
alluded to the foundress of that seat of theological learning, Lady
Huntingdon, as a woman who was far in advance of her times, since, a
century before the abolition of University tests, she made it possible
to divinity students to obtain academical training without binding
themselves at the outset to any religious community.

During the early months of 1878 Lord John's strength failed rapidly, and
it became more and more apparent that the plough was nearing the end of
the furrow. His old courage and calmness remained to the end. Mr. and
Mrs. Gladstone called at Pembroke Lodge on April 20, and he sent down
word that he wished to see them. 'I took them to him for a few minutes,'
relates Lady Russell. 'Happily, he was clear in his mind, and said to
Mr. Gladstone, "I am sorry you are not in the