Memoirs of the Life Sir Samuel Romilly

This is a reproduction of a library book that was digitized by Google as part of an ongoing effort to preserve the information in books and make it universally accessible. https://books.google.com ; c ; ay. / .(*/ nA. •*£. 08 ;f; ; c : ay /»(*/ nA. ^L MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL ROMILLY, WRITTEN BY HIMSELF; WITH A SELECTION FROM HIS CORRESPONDENCE. EDITED BY HIS SONS. IN THREE VOLUMES. VOL. 1. LONDON: JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET. MDCCCXL. London : Printed by A. Stottiswoode, New- Street- Square. PREFACE. THE publication of the " Memoirs of Sir Samuel Romilly edited by his Sons" requires some ex planation of what is included under this title, and of the motives which have led to this undertaking. From the -great mass of papers left by Sir S. Romilly, those have been selected which furnish, in some measure, a connected history of his life. They begin with a narrative, in two parts, of the events of his earliest years, from 17^7 to the close of 1789. The former of these bears date 1796, two years previous to his marriage : it appears to have been carefully revised and corrected, and a fail- copy was made of it, of which no other instance is to be found amongst these papers. The latter part, dated in 1813, seems to have been more hastily written ; the rough draft, consisting of loose sheets, is the only copy ; and the alterations and corrections which are to be found in it appear to have been made when it was originally written. With the exception of two passages, both parts have been published entire. A 2 IV PREFACE. This narrative is followed by a series of letters written to his brother-in-law, the Rev. Mr. Roget, who was then residing at Lausanne: they commence in 1780, and continue till the death of Mr. Roget in 1783. Besides many domestic details, most of which are omitted, these letters contain an account of the principal events which took place in England during those years, and much criticism on the books he was then reading. Such of them have been selected as present the most faithful picture of his mind and disposition at that period of his life. No original materials exist from which alone it would have been possible to continue the history of Sir Samuel Romilly's life during the sixteen years which elapsed from 1789 to the beginning of 1806. This interval has been filled up with a selection from such letters, either from his cor respondents or himself, as seemed best calculated to supply this deficiency. To this correspondence has been added the diary of a visit to Paris in 1802, and an unfinished narrative of certain events be longing to the history of his life which took place in 1805. The next and principal part of this work is a journal of his parliamentary life, extending from the beginning of the year 1806 to the close of it in 1818. The original manuscript is contained in three small quarto volumes. Except a few references to subsequent passages, and some pages inserted in the middle of the second volume, containing letters relating to the Bristol election, no addition appears to have been made to any part of it after it was first written ; and, except two lines which we effaced PREFACE. v in the second volume, no passage is erased, and very few corrections are to be found, throughout this manuscript. The Editors have added several notes, some to furnish explanations and references, ami some for the purpose of introducing at the proper dates a few contemporaneous letters : all the other notes and the marginal abstracts which appear here, together with a copious index, exist in the original. A few passages have been omitted, but no attempt has been made to remove any of those marks of haste which show the manner in which this journal was written from day to day, as the occasion prompted. Four papers, which are entitled " Letters to C.," to which is prefixed a separate explanatory introduc tion, constitute the last portion of these Memoirs. Such is a short. account of the papers which com pose this work. The reader must not expect to find in them any connected history of the times in which they were written, and scarcely any but an incidental reference to the great events which were then taking place on the continent of Europe. But to record public events did not enter into the views with which these Memoirs were written, neither does it consti tute any part of those with which they are published. It should be borne in mind, throughout, that to give such a history of Sir Samuel Romilly's life, as will illustrate his character, by describing his feel ings and opinions as far as the production of original documents will accomplish it, is the exclusive ob ject of this work. The Editors have accordingly strictly confined themselves to the task of selection and arrangement. They have sedulously abstained A 3 VI PREFACE. from comment or remark ; and, with the exception of the few notes and references, not a word will be found in these volumes which has not been written by their father, or by one of his corre spondents. They have, however, availed them selves, although very sparingly*, of the power of suppression ; but in no case has any passage been omitted which would have given a different colour to the observations in the text. Some passages will be found in the parliamentary diary in which the conduct of various persons is animadverted upon ; but wherever these have been retained they have been considered to relate ex clusively to public character or public conduct, and to be such as the terms in which they are expressed, and the object for which they were writ ten, entitled the Editors to publish, and would not have justified them in suppressing. There are, however,. many deficiencies in these Memoirs which, consistently with the plan adopted, the Editors are unable to supply. Of one part, and that a most material one, of their father's life, they regret to say that no account is to be found in these pages. Of his labours in the study of the law, of his gradual rise and ultimate success in his profession, to which he owed the opportunities of doing all that is here recorded, these pages contain scarcely any mention. Although abundant materials re main which testify the intensity of his labours in his profession, he has left none which show the • The passages omitted from the parliamentary journal amount, in the whole, to eight pages, of which five are a mere catalogue of places passed through in travelling. PREFACE. Vll mode by which he rose, or the eminence which he reached. The Editors have not sought for in formation to supply this omission, being anxious that his character should appear as it is displayed by himself. If, in truth, they had departed from this course, it would have been, not to record his triumphs in his profession, or to relate the influence of his eloquence, but to describe some few of those scenes which live in the memories of them all, when, in the intervals of relaxation from his labours and in the midst of his children, he sympathised with their pursuits, partook of their enjoyments, added by his gaiety to their mirth, and to each, in his dif ferent way, was scarcely less a companion than a father. This gratification, however, they have not ventured to allow themselves ; and, as they neither pretend to write his life, nor affect to possess the impartiality which should belong to those who un dertake that task, they have deemed it necessary, with whatever reluctance, to confine themselves strictly to the course they had laid down for their conduct, and to which alone they felt themselves to be equal. The portrait they present must, they are aware, be in many respects unfinished, and in some scarcely more than an outline ; but many con siderations, amongst which the following have had the greatest weight, have induced them to offer it, imperfect as it is, to the observation of the public : — In a codicil to Sir Samuel Romilly's will, after stating that he had prepared materials for a work on Criminal Law*, he proceeds to say, " What I « The papers here referred to are mentioned subsequently in a note to the introduction to the Letters to C., Vol. III. p. 372. A 4 Vlll PREFACE. have written is not by any means in a state fit for publication ; but I should be glad if some friend of mine would look over it ; and if he thought that there were any extracts or detached parts of it which it might be useful to publish, either as fur nishing good observations, or affording hints which might be serviceable to others who may treat on the subject, that so much of them should be printed with my name. That such a publication may be injurious to my reputation as an author or a lawyer I am quite indifferent about ; if it can be any way useful, that is all I desire." Every perusal of their father's manuscripts im pressed the Editors with the belief that the publi cation of another portion of them, that which forms the principal part of these volumes, would, though in a different way, fulfil the spirit of his wishes, and accomplish the objects he had in view, without di minishing or impeding any benefit which might flow from a compliance with the request he had expressed.

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