year, he persuaded Parliament to repeal the Act of Elizabeth, by which soldiers and mariners wandering about the realm without a pass were doomed to death. A pamphlet on the "Criminal Law," which he had published, produced a great impression on the mind of the public, and helped to create a feeling in favour of further reform. The esteem in which he was held for his high character, scrupulous integrity, and great powers was agreeably manifested by an invitation from a number of respectable citizens of Bristol to become a candidate for the representation of their city. Two of his opponents, however, formed a strong coalition against him, and as he refused to sanction any lavish expenditure for corrupt purposes, he was defeated. Through the kindness of the Duke of Norfolk, he was afterwards elected for the borough of Arundel.

In the new Parliament our undaunted reformer once more proposed the abolition of capital punishment in cases of shop-lifting. The Commons passed the measure, but it was again rejected by the Lords. Sir Samuel then rested for a while from a crusade which seemed almost hopeless. But he was not idle. I have carefully examined the votes he gave in successive sessions on the various questions brought before Parliament, and I am prepared to say that he on no occasion flinched from his duty, and on no occasion gave a vote contrary to the principles of truth, justice, and freedom. Few of his contemporaries can show a record so unstained.

He was

a reformer before the day of reform, and on all subjects of foreign and domestic policy his views were in favour of enlightenment and progress. His efforts to promote the abolition of the slave trade never slackened, and Wilberforce had no more earnest or eloquent supporter. The

persecutions to which the French Protestants were exposed, the disabilities imposed upon aliens, the iniquitous severities of the game laws: against these he strenuously protested, while he opposed the measures taken by Lord Liverpool's Government for restricting the liberty of the subject, such as the suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act, and the bill against so-called seditious meetings. The employment of spies and informers, who incriminated innocent men by their fictitious evidence; the imprisonment for libels, urged on by a Government which was tyrannical because it was weak, he denounced with a just indignation. But what is noticeable is, that though thus opposing the policy of a powerful majority, he secured and preserved the esteem of his opponents no less than of his friends. There was a charm about that fine nature, in its simplicity, its unselfishness, its profound truthfulness, its purity, which everybody felt. It is impossible for some men not to make enemies; it was impossible for Romilly not to make friends. His career is a proof of the instinctive deference which the world pays to goodness. For Romilly was not a man of genius, though gifted with considerable talents; his intellect was not of that high order which compels instant and universal acknowledgement. His influence was the influence of character; and it was himself, and not his gifts, which was loved and admired.

His efforts for the amelioration of the Criminal Code were resumed in 1816, when, after the downfall of Napoleon, he probably thought the country would have leisure for the consideration of legal reforms. On the 16th of February he obtained leave to bring in a bill repealing William III.'s shop-lifting statute. He justly described it as the severest and most sanguinary in our

statute-book; as inconsistent with the spirit of a later age; and as repugnant to the law of nature, which could inflict no severer punishment upon the most atrocious of crimes. As recently as 1785, no fewer than ninety-five persons were executed in London for this offence alone; and on one occasion the hideous spectacle was exhibited of twenty hanging from the same gibbet. The result of such barbarity was, that, in order to evade the capital sentence, juries committed a pious fraud, and found the property of less value than the statute required. But if severe laws were never executed, the consequence was that crimes constantly increased, and more particularly the crimes of juvenile offenders.

On moving the third reading of the bill, on the 15th of March, Sir Samuel called attention to the great number of persons of tender age who had recently been sentenced to death for petty larency. At that very moment, he said, a boy, not ten years of age, was lying in Newgate with this doom recorded against him; and the Recorder of London was reported to have declared that it was intended to enforce the law strictly in future, to interpose some check, if possible, to the increase of youthful depravity. The bill passed the Commons, but was again thrown out by the Lords, though supported by the Dukes of Sussex and Gloucester. Nor was it until 1821 that the peers could be persuaded to assent to this humane measure. Other reforms initiated by Sir Samuel Romilly have long since been carried out. The system of raising money by State lotteries,-a singularly demoralising practice; the use of spring guns for the protection of game; the penalties inflicted on insolvent debtors, have all been abolished. A general and, on

the whole, a thorough revision of our criminal law has

been accomplished. The slave trade has for half-a-century ceased to be a reproach on the name and fame of England; and for even a longer period Catholics have ceased to suffer the disabilities imposed upon them by the tyranny of bigotry. These were objects which Sir Samuel had deeply at heart, for which he laboured with admirable disinterestedness and splendid energy; and his efforts must not be the less cordially acknowledged because he did not live to share in the joy of victory.

A great tribute to his public services and high character was paid him in 1818, when, on the dissolution of Parliament, he was put in nomination as one of the candidates for Westminster. Though he took no personal part in the election, he was returned at the head of the poll with 5339 votes. Sir Francis Burdett, his colleague, polled 5328, against the 4808 of the Tory candidate, Sir Murray Maxwell, who was defeated. The spirit in which he accepted this honour will best be understood from the following passage in one of his private memoranda:

"The honour which has lately been conferred on me, that of being elected to represent the city of Westminster in Parliament, has in some respects added to my means of being useful. It has drawn upon me an additional portion of public attention; it has placed me, as it were, in a more conspicuous theatre; and has given some importance to my actions, and even to my speeches. It has, however, at the same time, brought with it some difficulties to which I was not before exposed. I seem to be not quite so much the master of my own conduct as I used to be. Chosen by popular election to represent the metropolis, which on all great questions of public interest has, of late years, taken the lead in supporting the claims and pretensions of the

* Memoirs, iii. 411-13.

people, it will be expected of me that I shall maintain such pretensions more strenuously than I have ever done before; that I should pay my court to the people, and be ever ready to attend the call of those who shall think proper, as they have been accustomed to do, to summon popular meetings on great public questions as they may occur.

"I feel, however, no inclination to act any such part. I am the servant of the people, but I am determined not to be their slave; and I should think the proud distinction which has been conferred on me had lost half its value if it had been obtained, or was to be preserved, by acting the part of a factious demagogue. I do not say that I will attend no popular meetings, but I will attend them only on extraordinary occasions, and when these occur I will endeavour to temper the violence and to remove the prejudices which I may find prevailing there. No conduct can, in my eyes, be more criminal than that of availing one's self of the prejudiced clamours of the ignorant or misinformed to accomplish any political purpose, however good or desirable in itself. If I use strong language, and take a bold part for the people, it shall be in the House of Commons, not in Palace Yard. If I cannot serve those of my fellow-citizens who are in the humblest situations of life, at least I will not injure them. I will be careful, not by inflaming their passions, and encouraging them to enter upon courses of which the danger would exclusively be theirs, to draw ruin upon their heads."

Sir Samuel Romilly was exceptionally happy in his domestic relations. His wife was a woman of many graces, with a refined taste and an accomplished mind; in every way a suitable helpmate, sympathising with her husband's objects, sharing his aspirations, and by her thoughtful partnership lightening the burden of his labours. He loved her with the devotedness of a passionate lover and the confidence of an attached husband. It is something of the irony of fate that she who made