The Press.
London, England, 1857-10-03 00:00:00

954

somehow or other, the title of " Bedford "
came upon us with novel effect. We had
almost forgotten the fact that a Duko of
Bedford is the titular chief of the " House of
Russell."

Some years since a quack medicine was
constantly advertised with a letter from the
" Earl of A—," and people used to ask in
consequence "Is there an Earl of A— ?"
For the benefit of Lord ABERDEan, we may
observe, in passing, that the patron of the
quack medicine was an Irish and not a Scotch
earl. Seeing what takes place before our
eyes in relation to the present Ministry, and
recollecting that there is no Russell in the
Cabinet, and remembering what Dukes of
Bedford were in other days, we now are
almost tempted to raise a doubt on the ques-
tion " Is there a Duke of Bedford ?"
The first Duke of BEDFORD was the father of
Lord WituArd RUSSELL, and, pro kw causd, is
a great man in the Woburn annals. He took
the Parliamentary side in the Civil War, and
then he rallied with King CHARLES, and dis-
tinguished himself at the battle of Edgehill,
but afterwards wavered, and subsided into
political neutrality. The second and third
Dukes of BEDFORD duly married, had off-
springs, and continued the " House of Rus-
sell," if they did nothing more. Then came a
succession of dukes, noisy themselves, and the
cause of noise in others. There was Jose,
fourth Duke of BEDFORD, who was Lord Lieu-
tenant of Ireland, and who actively patronised
what one of his descendants would call " the
mummeries of superstition." He fell under
the lash of JUNIUS, and his successor, Duke
FRANCIS (the fifth Duke), had his democratical
folly immortalised by BURKE in the greatest
invective in the language. Mr. Fox endea-
voured vainly to efface the effects of BURKE'S
terrible attack, but the great Whig orator did
not succeed. The only speech that Fox ever
wrote out, and got by heart, was his funeral
oration on FRANCIS, Duke of BEDFORD, and it
was the only time that Fox ever failed " on his
legs." Such a Duke of Bedford, associated
with a splendid literary triumph of BURKE,
and the solitary natural failure of Fox, cannot
soon be forgotten.

Then we had the sixth Duke of BEDFORD,
who was a great man in Woburn alma's,
because he was the father of Lord JOHN
RUSSELL! He, too, was Lord Lieutenant of
Ireland in 1806:

To his first levee crowded, in the levelling audacity of
their joy, persons of every rank except the highest—of
every description but the loyal. From their concealment
sullenly emerged the unexecuted patriots of 1798, in-
sulting the very magistrates before whom they had been
convicted.

In subsequent times the illustrious father of
Lord JOHN RUSSELL patronised Mr. O'CONNELL,
and was not displeased at the " Lichfield-house
Compact." But even Dukes of Bedford must
die, and now we have, if the correspondence
with Mr. Mum. be authentic, a seventh Duke
of BEDFORD actually living.
Yet there is room for doubt. " The Bedford
Whigs " were always a proud body ; it was
their boast that there was always a Russell in
the Cabinet; they took a great leading part.
and ruled the Whig connection. But we
rarely or ever hear of the Duke of BEDFORD
now. Perhaps, after all, there is no Duke of
Bedford. Who knows? Everybody hears of
the Duke of DEVONSHIRE and the glories of
Chatsworth, and his brilliant receptions, and
his magnificent improvements at Lismore
Castle. The popular Duke of RICHMOND and
the hospitalities of Goodwood are known to
everybody worth knowing. The Duke of
NORTHUMBERLAND, princely charities are
famous in the lend. The Duke of LEINSTER is
often heard of, and the Duke of ARGYLL is
positively in the Cabinet.
But where is the Lord of Woburn? Where
is the head of the " House of Russell?" The
correspondence with Mr. MIALL appears to be
authentic ; and the Newmarket Racing Calendar
of this week records the running of "The
" Dukt If BEDFORD'S gelding by Tadmor,"
Duke of BEDFORD'S Killigrew by
'." So, then, there is a Duke of
,nd the indefinite article is pro..
most appropriate. He flourishes,
les, in times when Mr. BERNAL
Nkes Lord John Roseau. under his

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