talents and enterprise. In 1580, he was knighted for his services in Ireland. He afterwards went with the Earl of Leicester to the assistance of the Dutch. His conduct at the battle of Zutphen is thus quaintly described by Stowe. "He charged so terribly, that after he had broke his lance, he so played his part with his cuttle-axe, that the enemy reported him to be a devil, and not a man ; for where he saw six or seven of the enemies together, thither would he, and so behave with his cuttle-axe, that he would separate their friendship."

He was afterwards Lord Deputy of Ireland, where he made himself very conspicuous for prudence as well as valour.

He took great pains to prevent the excesses of the army. He directed, by his general orders, that the soldiers should give money or a ticket for their diet; that there should be no charge on the country for more men than there really were; that they should not ask for more than a breakfast and supper; and that their quarters should be assigned by the civil magistrate. These regulations were well calculated to conciliate the lower orders. Had the court taken his advice, another measure which he recommended, would probably have gained over the nobility. He proposed that the lands of the church which had been confiscated, should be given equally to the leading men of both religions. Had the catholics accepted the spoils of their own church, it is evident they would have become attached to the government from which they had obtained them. On the accession of James, he was created Baron Russell of Thornhaugh. He died in 1613, leaving an only son, Francis, who, fourteen years afterwards, succeeded to the title of Earl of Bedford.

Francis, Earl of Bedford, engaged, in 1630, in the great work of draining the fens, in the counties of Northampton, Cambridge, Huntingdon, Norfolk, and Lincoln: these fens have since been called from him the Bedford Level.

He was the first of the peers who signed the famous petition in 1640, setting forth "the apprehensions they had of the dangers of the church and state, and to his person, and the means to prevent them; and advised the King to call a parliament, whereby the causes

of their grievances may be taken away, and the authors and counsellors punished.”*

When parliament met he was the leader, in the House of Peers, of those who were for asserting the liberty of the subject; but at the same time, he would not consent to many of the violent measures proposed. Mr. Pym, who was member for the borough of Tavistock, followed a similar line in the Commons.

When the King admitted some of the popular leaders to his councils, he resolved to make the Earl of Bedford Lord High Treasurer, and Mr. Pym Chancellor of the Exchequer; but Lord Clarendon says the Earl was determined not to enter into the Treasury, till the bill for tonnage and poundage was granted for life; and he, with the rest of those who were first offered places, declined to take them, till the rest of their party should also be admitted to the confidence of the King.

When a discovery was made to the Earl of Bedford, Lord Say, and Lord Kimbolton, of a design, real or pretended, to bring the army from the North to London, such was their temper and moderation that they did not publish it; but contenting themselves with preventing its execution, the whole plot was kept secret till long after the Earl of Bedford's death.

And when Lord Strafford was tried, the Earl of Bedford told Lord Clarendon, that it was the rock upon which they should all split: that he had in vain endeavoured to prevail upon his friends to accept the King's offer, that Lord Strafford should be banished for life: and that he did not see how the King, who was firmly convinced of the injustice of the condemnation, could ever give the royal assent to the act of attainder. The Earl of Bedford died on the 9th of May, 1641. His character is thus drawn by Clarendon, a political enemy, at a time when these enmities were sharpest.

"The other accident that fell out during the time that the business of the Earl of Strafford was agitated, and by which he received much

• Whitelocke, p. 35.

prejudice, was the death of the Earl of Bedford. This lord was the greatest person of interest in all the popular party, being of the best estate, and best understanding, of the whole number; and therefore most like to govern the rest. He was besides of great civility, and of much more good-nature than any of the other. And therefore the King, resolving to do his business with that party by him, resolved to make him Lord High Treasurer of England, in the place of the Bishop of London; who was as willing to lay down the office, as any body was to take it up. And to gratify him the more, at his desire, intended to make Mr. Pym Chancellor of the Exchequer, as he had done Mr. Saint-John his Solicitor-general; as also, that Mr. Hollis was to be Secretary of State, the Lord Say Master of the Wards, and the Lord Kimbolton to be Lord Privy Seal after the death of his father, who then held that place. Others were to be placed about the prince, and to have offices when they fell.

"The Earl of Bedford secretly undertook to His Majesty, that the Earl of Strafford's life should be preserved; and to procure his revenue to be settled, as amply as any of his progenitors; the which he intended so really, that, to my knowledge, he had it in design to endeavour to obtain an act for the setting up the excise in England, as the only natural means to advance the King's profit. He fell sick within a week after the bill of attainder was sent up to the Lords' House; and died shortly after, much afflicted with the passion and fury which he perceived his party inclined to: insomuch as he declared, to some of near trust to him, "that he feared the rage and "madness of this Parliament would bring more prejudice and mis"chief to the kingdom, than it had ever sustained by the long inter“mission of parliaments." He was a wise man, and would have proposed and advised moderate courses; but was not incapable, for want of resolution, of being carried into violent ones, if his advice were not submitted to: and therefore many, who knew him well, thought his death not unseasonable, as well to his fame, as his fortune; and that it rescued him as well from some possible guilt, as from those visible misfortunes, which men of all conditions have since undergone."

William, the father of Lord Russell, succeeded to the earldom. The situation of affairs at this time might have disturbed the resolutions of the wisest heads. On the one hand, the King had provoked a civil war, and had he gained the victory, would undoubtedly have crushed for ever the rights and privileges of the people. On the other side, the parliament was becoming more and more averse to the kingly form of government. Between the two dangers with which the constitution was threatened, the Earl of Bedford seems to have steered a wavering and unsteady course.

He was at first Master of the Horse to the Parliament, and was greatly instrumental in gaining the battle of Edgehill, where he commanded the reserve.

But in 1643, being desirous of peace, he agreed with the Earl of Essex, the Earl of Clare, and the Earl of Holland, to make an effort for that purpose. They obtained a vote of the House of Lords, desiring a conference with the Commons, and declaring they were resolved to send propositions to the King. But the Commons refused to agree to their propositions, and such tumults were raised, that they did not consider it safe to remain in London. Upon this, the Earls of Bedford and Holland went to the King's garrison at Hollingford, but it was some time before they were allowed to go to Oxford. The Earl of Bedford then joined the army, and fought in the King's regiment of horse at the battle of Newbury. Being disgusted, however, with the treatment he received at Court, he returned with Lord Clare to the Earl of Essex, on Christmas-day 1643, having been only four months with the King's army. He was ordered into custody by the Parliament, and his estate sequestered. The estate was restored to him, however, after a few months, when the success of the Parliament had put them in good humour. He never afterwards sat in the Long Parliament, or concurred in any of their councils. He assisted in the conferences previous to the restoration, and at the coronation of Charles II., bore St. Edward's sceptre.

1

In early life he formed an attachment to Lady Anne Carr, daughter of the Countess of Somerset, so well known in history for her participation in the infamous murder of Sir Thomas Overbury.

The daughter, it is said, never heard of her mother's crime, till she read of it by chance in a pamphlet, and was then so affected with horror, that she fell down, and was found senseless with the book open before her. But though the guilt of her mother was not likely to influence her conduct in any other way, than by inspiring her with a more serious attention to the duties of morality, the Earl of Bedford with a natural feeling opposed their union, and it was said, that his son had leave and liberty to choose in any family but that. But as a strong mutual attachment subsisted, and Lord Somerset made great sacrifices to promote the marriage, every obstacle was finally vanquished, and Lord Russell, in the summer of 1637, received the hand of Lady Anne Carr. *

By her he had seven sons, and three daughters: viz.

1. John, who died an infant.

2. Francis Lord Russell, who seems to have been affected all his life with hypochondriacal malady, and never took any active interest in life. He died in 1678.

3. William, who became Lord Russell after his brother's death. 4. Edward, who lived to the age of seventy-two. He represented the county of Bedford in seven successive parliaments, and in the year 1700 was appointed Lord Lieutenant of the county of Middlesex, during the minority of Wriothesly Duke of Bedford.

5. Robert.

6. James.

7. George.

The daughters were:

1. Lady Anne, who died unmarried.

2. Lady Diana, married at the age of fifteen to Sir Grevil Verney, of Compton Verney, in the county of Warwick, and secondly to William Lord Allington, Constable of the Tower.

3. Lady Margaret, who married Edward Russell, Earl of Orford, her first cousin.

* Strafford's State Papers, v. ii. p. 2. 58. 86.