I send you these flying remarks, as I dare say you will see nothing at Minto except perhaps the Times, and any news in the country goes a great way....  London is very cold and painfully dull without 24 Chester Square, and you must write to me very often.  You see I have begun very well....

Lord John, however, insisted on bringing forward his Bill in spite of opposition from his colleagues and many of the Government’s supporters.  He felt that the party was bound to keep its promise to the country, while his colleagues urged that the House of Commons was so much occupied by the war that they had no time to consider such a Bill.  As the House of Commons was not conducting the war itself the excuse was shallow.  Lord John threatened to resign unless he was allowed to introduce his measure, for he considered the honour of the Ministry and his own honour at stake.  From the following letters it will be seen how hard he fought for this measure, and with what poignant regret he found himself compelled at last to choose between letting it drop and resignation.  His resignation would have meant a serious shock to a Ministry already in disgrace through their mismanagement of the war; rather than embarrass them further at such a crisis he chose the lesser evil of abandoning his Bill.  But by yielding to the urgent appeals of his colleagues and continuing in office, his position became from day to day increasingly difficult.  Finally, he resigned abruptly, for reasons which have been interpreted unfavourably by almost every historian who has written upon this period.

    Lady John Russell to Lady Mary Abercromby

    LONDON, February 14, 1854

I remember almost crying in Minto days, when you were twelve, because I thought it past the prime of life.  What shall I do now that you are striking forty-three?  I believe you have long ago made up your mind to the changing and fading and ending of all things here below, joys as well as sorrows, childhood, youth and age, hope and fear and doubt, and that you have learnt to look forward rather than back; but to me this is often a struggle still; and when the struggle ends the wrong way, how much there is to make my heart sink within me!  Chiefly, as you may guess, the deepening lines on the face of the dearest husband that ever blessed a home, and the comparison of him as he now is with him as he was when we married.

Yesterday was a great day to us; the Reform Bill was brought in.  I suppose I should be better pleased if there was more enthusiasm.  I should certainly have a better opinion of human nature, if those who have cried out most loudly for Reform did not set their cowardly faces against it now; but at the same time there is a happy pride in seeing John’s honest and patriotic perseverance in what he is convinced is right, through evil report and good report, in season and out of season.

    Lady John Russell to Lady Elizabeth Romilly