" In 1873 the office and its holder were
thus described by "Jehu Junior" in _Vanity Fair_:
"For the filling of so portentous an office, it is highly important
that one should be chosen who will, by personal mien and bearing
not less than by character, detract nothing from its dignity. Such
a one is Lord Charles Russell, who is a worthy representative of
the great house of Bedford from which he springs.
"For a quarter of a century he has borne the mace before successive
Speakers. From his chair he has listened to Peel, to Russell, to
Palmerston, to Disraeli, and to Gladstone, and he still survives
as a depository of their eloquence. He is himself popular beyond
the fair expectations of one who has so important a part to play
in the disciplinary arrangements of a popular assembly; for he
is exceptionally amiable and genial by nature, is an excellent
sportsman, and has cultivated a special taste for letters.[*] It is
rarely that in these times a man can be found so thoroughly fitted
to fill an office which could be easily invested with ridicule,
or so invariably to invest it, as he has, with dignity."
[Footnote *: He was the best Shakespearean I ever knew, and founded
the "Shakespeare Medal" at Harrow.
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