[Lord John Russell's share in carrying the Reform Act of 1832 was
celebrated by Lord Lyttleton in the following lines.]
In England's worst days, when her rights and her laws
Were spurned by a Prince of the fell Stuart line,
A Russell stood forth to assert her lost cause,
And perish'd a martyr at liberty's shrine.
The smell of that sacrifice mounted to heaven;
The cry of that blood rose not thither in vain;
The crime of the tyrant was never forgiven;
And a blessing was breathed on the race of the slain.
Dethroned and degraded, the Stuart took flight,
He fled to the land where the Bourbon bore sway,
A curse clung to his offspring, a curse and a blight,
And in exile and sorrow it wither'd away.
But there sprang from the blood of the martyr a race
Which for virtue and courage unrival'd has shone;
Its honors still worn with a patriot grace,
Still loved by the people, revered by the throne.
And see where in front of the battle again
A Russell, sweet liberty's champion, appears;
While myriads of freemen compose his bright train,
And the blessing still lives through the long lapse of years.
V