The States and Union. [volume] (Ashland, Ohio) 1868-1872, 1869-03-10

: freer circulation of air, and, give tn
young trees a better chance. He &C
cordingfy ordered his gardener to thin
the plantation. The gardener, how
ever, had an opinion of his own upor
! the subject, and after some hesitation
addressed the Duke as follows:
1. "Your grace, must pardon me if
humbly rem onstrate against your or
ders, but I cannot possible do %has
you desire. It would at once destroy
the plantation, and, moreover, it would
be seriously injurious to my reputa
ton as planter"
To which the Duke replied
"Do as / desire you, and viii takt
care of your reputation. :"
The plantation was thinned accord
ing to the Dukes Instructions, and nc
doubt the first effect of the measure
was greatly to diminish its beauty.
To console the gardener, the Duke
caused board to be set up IN the
plantation facing the road, on which
was inscribed
"THIS PLANTATION HAS BEEN THIN
NED BY JOHN, DUKE OF BEDFORD,
CONTRARY TO THE ADVICE AND oPtN-
ION OF HIS GARDENER.
This plantation of evergreens may
still be seen in the park at Woburn
Abbey, and it attests, by the luxuriant
beauty and great magnitude of its
trees, that 81 ohm Duke of Bedford"
knew what he was about when he or
dered it to be thinned, hundred and
twenty four years ago. MIR. Forbes,
who was gardener at Woburn twenty
years ago, wrote work on this ever
green forest, in which he declares that
the Pines there are unequalled in
Great Britain, and he attributes it to
the plantation having been so judici-
ously thinned when it was young.
In this beautiful wood of ever
green's, Earl Russell rambled and play
ed, many time, when he was q boy.
He was not born, however, at the seat
of his ancestors, but first saw the light
in London, in 1892, seyenty-seven
years ago.
The education of few young noble
men has been conducted so sensibly
as his. After preparing for college
at Westminster school in London, his
father sent him, not to Oxford or
Cambridge, but to the University of
Edinburgh, and there placed him in
the house of Dugald Stewart, one of
the most Distinguished of its professors.
At this house he had the good fortune.
to meet such spirited and resolute
young wings as Brougham, Jefery,
Horner, and, occasionally, Sydney
Smith, when that prince of wits and
FVhies,svigsitcttl.ii l.iip aseiii1aburst frfivIds:
All of these were contributors to the
Edinburgh Review, then recently es-
tablished, and still fighting almost
single handed against Troy abuses.
"This PERIOD" as Sydney Smith af-
forwards said, twas an awful one for
those who ventured to maintain liberal
opinions, and who were too honest to
sell them for the ermine of the judge,
or the lawn of the prelate, *
and no more chance of Whig admin
istration than of thaw in Zembla."
1t was at such a time this scion of
an ancient aristocratic house delighted
to associate with the poor, unknown,
and brilliant young men of the Edin-
burg Review. He embraced liberal
opinions when it was kind of infamy
to profess them. He was then only a
lad of sixteen, but to this, hour he has
been, think, upon the whole, faith
full and consistent advocate of the prin-
ciples he imbibed,
Al seventeen, which was the year
1909, when Wellington was in full car
er IN Spain, he set out upon his upon
his travels, and made his way as far as
the British Army in the Peninsula,
Which he accompanied upon its march
es. 1t was while travelling in Spain
that be wrote his forgotten drama of
Don Carlos, which was played andcon-
demned in London in 1922. He saw
some of the principal battles of the
Peninsula, and conceived a high ad-
minration for the Duke of Yelling
ton.
In 1913 he was of age, and was of
course Immediately presented with a
seat in Parliament by his father, the
Duke of Bedford. On taking his
seat in 1914, fifty-four years ago, he
took his place among the most decid-
ed liberals, who were then in hope
less and despised minority. His first
speech in Parliament was against ad-
ding Norway to the dominions of Ber-
nadotte, King Of Sweden, who was at
the moment great fayorite with
the Tory party, because he had
Just forsaken Napoleon, his benefac-
tor. His next important speech was
delivered soon after Napoleoh's escape
from Elba, in which he denounced the
coalition against the Emperor. and
maintained that if the French people
wanted Napoleon for their ruler, no
one had right to prevent them.
After the final conquest of Buona-
parte, the Tories seemed so intrenched
in power, that Lord John Russell seri-
ously thought of giving up the strug-
gle, and devoting his life to the peace
full pursuit of literature, which would
naturally have been his choice. At
this time and for many years after he
was even an object of ridicule to the
invincible Tories, insolent from habitu-
al triumph. Lord John Russell, like
some others Of his family, is remark
ably short in stature, and somewhat
insignificant in appearance, and it
seemed ridiculous to the Tories that
this fussy little Lord should pop up,
session after session, to oppose aribita-
ry measures and propose reforms
thought to be impossible: He kept
4