abuse. The subject is certainly not without its difficulties; these have often been felt and acknowledged, as well by those who make, as those who administer the laws. Whether the truth of the facts imputed, should be allowed in evidence, by way of defence, on a public prosecution for libel, has long been a subject of discussion and controversy amongst very distinguished statesmen and jurists. It is not my intention to enter upon this wide field of controversy, but rather to state for your information, that the rules of the common law have been recently altered by a statute of this Commonwealth (Stat. 1826, c. 107), by which it is now provided, that in all public prosecutions for libel, the truth may be given in evidence by way of defence; but with this limitation, that it shall not avail the accused as a justification, unless he can further show to the satisfaction of the jury, that the matter charged as libellous, was published with good motives, and for justifiable ends. How far this great alternation in the principles of the common law, may tend to accomplish the two great objects of just freedom of publication, and adequate security against abuse, and reconcile their conflicting claims, time and experience alone can determine.'

The charge concludes with a reference to the provisions of the constitution on the subject of education. All theory,' says the Chief Justice, and all experience concur in the conclusion, that the maintenance of a free representative government, amongst an ignorant and uneducated people, would be an anomaly in the history of society. By means of general education, the whole people are enabled to form a higher and more exact estimate of the value of their civil rights, the nature and extent of their social duties, and of the high and strong sanctions by which they are bound to perform them. They can form more correct views of the importance and necessity of good laws, to the peace, welfare and security of society, and the equal importance of a faithful and impartial administration of justice, both in its civil and criminal departments. More especially, does such a degree of general education qualify and enable those, who are 'invested by the Constitution with the invaluable right of suffrage, to form a just estimate of the virtues and talents of public men, who may be called to act, either as statesmen, legislators, or magistrates.'

MISCELLANY.

Sir Samuel Romilly. Samuel Romilly was born on the first of March, 1757, in Frith Street, Westminster. His grandfather was a native of France; and, on the revocation of the edict of Nantz, settled in England. His father, Peter Romilly, was a jeweller, and married a lady of the name of Garnault, the descendant of a French family. Samuel was the youngest child of this marriage who attained maturity. We have no account of his education, except the general statement that it was a liberal one. His acquirements were principally the result of his own exertions; but he possessed the advantage of the advice of the Rev. John Roget, who subsequently married his sister.

He commenced his professional life under articles to a gentleman in the Six Clerks' office. It does not appear when it was that it first occurred to the mind of Romilly, or was suggested to him by his friends, that he possessed talents suited for the bar. It is said by one of his biographers, that he manifested a strong predilection for the bar;' but the diffidence which he long afterwards continued to feel in his powers, renders it probable that he rather yielded to the flattering anticipations of others than any confident opinion of his own.

In May, 1778, when he was more than twenty-one years of age, he was entered a member of Gray's Inn, and became the pupil of Mr. Spranger. His habits and his mode of study, are described in a letter to Mr. Roget, in which we have an instance,-not uncommon with those who have afterwards risen to eminence-of the benefits of early rising, and the unchanging adherence to a regular plan of study and exercise. For those who seek to excel in any of the learned professions, and we should say, more especially in that of the Law,—such a course of preparation is indispensable. The following is an extract of the letter alluded to: At six or sooner, I rise to go into the cold bath, walk to Islington to drink a chalybeate water (from which I have found great benefit), return and write or read till ten; then go to Mr. Spranger's, where I study till three, dine in Frith street, and afterwards return to Mr. Spranger's, where I remain till nine. This

is the history of every day, with little other variation than that of my frequently attending the Courts of Justice in the morning, instead of going to Mr. Spranger's and of often passing my afternoons at one of the houses of parliament.

It may be observed, that the statement in the close of this letter indicates the interest which he felt in the public affairs, and in legislative as well as judicial proceedings, and proves that from the first he had a taste beyond the details of a Court of Justice, and his mind aimed at higher objects than eminence as a mere practical lawyer.

At an early period we also observe the manifestation of that enlarged spirit of philanthropy, by which he was afterwards so much distinguished. He thus writes to the same friend, and his language shews the fervor with which he admired in another that virtue which he was about, with almost equal eminence, to display in his own career. 'Have you heard of a book, published here some time since, by a Mr. Howard, on the state of prisons in England, and several other countries? You may conjecture from the subject, that it is not a book of great literary merit; but it has a merit infinitely superior: it is one of those works which have been rare in all ages of the world, being written with a view only to the good of mankind. The author was some time ago a sheriff in the country, in the execution of which office, numerous instances of abuses, practised in prisons, came under his observation. Shocked with what he saw, he began to inquire whether the prisons in the adjacent counties were on a better footing; and finding every where the same injustice prevail, he resolved, though a private individual, to attempt the reform of abuses which had become as general as they were shocking to humanity. Accordingly he made a visit to every prison and house of correction in England, with invincible perseverance and courage; for some of the prisons were so infected with diseases and putrid air, that he was obliged to hold a cloth steeped in vinegar to his nostrils during the whole time he remained in them, and to change his clothes the moment he returned. After having devoted so much time to this painful employment here, he set out on a tour through a great part of Holland, Germany, and Switzerland, to visit their prisons. What a singular journey! not to admire the wonders of art and nanot to visit courts and ape their manners; but to compare the misery of men in different countries, and to study the art of mitigating the torment of mankind! What a contrast might be drawn between the painful labor of this man, and the ostentatious sensibility which turns aside from scenes of misery, and, with the

ture

mocking of a few barren tears, leaves it to seek comfort in its own distress !'

This passage of natural and unostentatious eloquence may be placed beside that of Mr. Burke on the same subject, and the comparison will not be unfavorable to the subject of our memoir. Thus ran on a period of three years, when Mr. Romilly, in the year 1781, visited France, Switzerland, and Italy.

On the second of June, 1783, he was called to the Bar; and in a letter written at that period, he describes his feelings on entering the profession. The nearer (he says) I approach the term, which I formerly so often wished for, the more I dread it. I sometimes lose all courage, and wonder what fond opinion of my talents could ever have induced me to venture on so bold an undertaking: but it often happens (and I fear it has been my case), that men mistake the desire for the ability of acting some very distinguished part.' In a subsequent letter to Mr. Roget, he remarks, that his friend appeared to have thought that he had affected doubt of succeeding in the way of life on which he was about to enter, in order to draw such praises as might encourage him in his pursuit, and he thus continues; 'I assure you that I had no such wish, and that what I wrote to you was but a faithful transcript of what I felt. Could I but realize the partial hopes and expectations of my friends, there would be no doubt of my success, almost beyond my wishes; but in myself I have a much less indulgent censor, and in this, perhaps, alone, I cannot suffer their judgment to have equal weight with my own. I have taught myself, however, a very useful lesson of practical philosophy, which is, not to suffer my happiness to depend upon my success. Should my wishes be gratified, I promise myself to employ all the talents and all the authority I may acquire for the public good - Patriæ impendere vitam. Should I fail in my pursuit, I console myself with thinking that the humblest situation in life has its duties, which one must feel a satisfaction in discharging; that at least my conscience will bear me the pleasing testimony of having intended well; and that, after all, true happiness is much less likely to be found in the higher walks of ambition than in the secretum iter et fallentis semita vita. Were it not for these consolations, and did I consider my success at the Bar as decisive of my future happiness, my apprehensions would be such that I might truly say, Cum illus diei mihi venit in mentem, quo mihi dicendum sit, non solum commoveor animo, sed etiam toto corpore perhorresco.'

It appears that during the first four or five years after his call to the Bar, he attended the Courts of Equity at Westminster, the

Midland Circuit, and the Warwick Sessions; but derived little emolument. We have a statement of his diligence in this part of his life, when, in answer to the charge of being a mere theorist,' he replied, during a debate in the House of Commons, as follows:-Whatever might be the opinion entertained of his labors, he could scarcely think that his friend was serious in his opinion that all practical legislative wisdom had quitted that great city, that they in the Court of Chancery were a sort of easy speculative dilettanti lawyers, wholly incompetent to form any sound opinion upon criminal legislation. That he might be mistaken, he was very ready to admit; but if he was really ignorant, his ignorance must be most unpardonable. The subject of criminal law had always been most interesting to him: it had more or less through life been his particular study. For fifteen years he constantly attended the courts of criminal law; and although his researches might not have been very successful, he was in possession of notes by which this honorable friend might be convinced he was not wanting in diligence, and that his endeavors to collect information were not confined to the collection of a few scattered remarks in the Superior Courts upon the Circuit, but extended to the Courts of Quarter Sessions, where he had the honor for many years to practise.

He was at length rewarded by a moderate share of encouragement, and in 1791 had acquired considerable practice as a junior counsel. In 1797, he began to lead in several cases, and from that time his practice continued rapidly to increase. He had now entered his fortieth year, and from this period we may date the commencement of his public life. Lond. Leg. Obs. March 31.

American Law in England. It is gratifying to observe that the courts and still more the profession in England, begin to give up their prejudices on the subject of the jurisprudence of foreign countries. We very lately,' says the Legal Observer, 'congratulated our readers on the good understanding which appeared to subsist between the lawyers of this country and of America; but the strongest proof of it was given on Thursday, the 26th of Jan., when Lord Tenterden took occasion to inform the bar that he had received four volumes of reports of the Superior Courts of the United States, edited by Mr. Peters, and that it was his Lordship's intention to place them in the Library of the Court of King's Bench. He also stated, that although he had not been able to give much attention to the Reports, yet that as far as he had looked into them, they appeared to have been decided on sound and correct principles.