pect, however, that the Editor is mistaken in regard to some of the documents, in respect of a first appearance in print. For example, that passionate letter of "Sir Walter Rawleigh to his Wife, after he had hurt himself in the Tower," (an attempt at self-destruction) we think was published in an early number of the "Retrospective Review." At least we have a clear recollection of a passage in one of the letters that was published in that journal, of the following sorrowful sentiment, nay, the identical words. Thou art a young woman, and forbear not to marry again; it is now nothing to me; thou art no more mine, nor I thine." But be this as it may, the document deserves to be preserved and deeply meditated upon. We quote portions of it :

"Recieve from thy unfortunate husband these his last lines, these the last words that ever thou shalt receive from him. That I can live to think never to see thee and my child more, I cannot. I have desired God and disputed with my reason, but nature and compassion hath the victory. That I can live to think how you are both left a spoil to my enemies, and that my name shall be a dishonour to my child, I cannot, I cannot endure the memory thereof: unfortunate woman, unfortunate child, comfort yourselves, trust God, and be contented with your poor estate; I would have bettered it if I had enjoyed a few years. Thou art a young woman, and forbear not to marry again; it is now nothing to me; thou art no more mine, nor I thine. To witness that thou didst love me once, take care that thou marry not to please sense, but to avoid poverty, and to preserve thy child. That thou didst also love me living, witness it to others; to my poor daughter, to whom I have given nothing; for his sake, who will be cruel to himself to preserve thee. Be charitable to her, and teach thy son to love her for his father's sake. For myself, I am left of all men, that have done good to many. All my good turns forgotten, all my errors revived and expounded to all extremity of ill; all my services, hazards, and expenses for my country, plantings, discoveries, fights, councils, and whatsoever else, malice hath now covered over. I am now made an enemy and traitor by the word of an unworthy man; he hath proclaimed me to be a partaker of his vain imaginations, notwithstanding the whole course of my life hath approved the contrary, as my death shall approve it. Woe, woe, woe be unto him by whose falsehood we are lost! he hath separated us asunder; he hath slain my honour, my fortune; he hath robbed thee of thy husband, thy child of his father, and me of you both. Oh, God! thou dost know my wrongs: know then, thou my wife and child; know then thou, my Lord and King, that I ever thought them too honest to betray, and too good to conspire against. But my wife, forgive thou all as I do; live humble, for thou hast but a time also. God forgive my Lord Harry [Cobham], for he was my heavy enemy. And for my Lord Cecill, I thought he would never forsake me in extremity; I would not have done it him, God knows. But do not thou know it, for he must be master of thy child, and may have compassion of him. Be not dismayed that I died in despair of God's mercies; strive not to dispute it; but assure thyself that

God hath not left me, nor Satan tempted me. Hope and despair live not together; I know it is forbidden to destroy ourselves, but I trust it is forbidden in this sort, that we destroy not ourselves despairing of God's mercy. The mercy of God is immeasurable, the cogitations of men comprehend it not. In the Lord I have ever trusted, and I know that my Redeemer liveth: far is it from me to be tempted with Satan; I am only tempted with sorrow, whose sharp teeth devour my heart. Oh, what will my poor servants think at their return, when they hear I am accused to be Spanish, who sent them, to my great charge, to plant and discover upon his territory! Oh, intolerable infamy! Oh, God! I cannot resist these thoughts; I cannot live to think how I am derided, to think of the expectation of my enemies, the scorns I shall receive, the cruel words of lawyers, the infamous taunts, and despites, to be made a wonder and a spectacle! Oh, death! hasten thee unto me, that thou mayest destroy the memory of these, and lay me up in dark forgetfulness. Oh, death! destroy my memory, which is tormentor; my thoughts and my life cannot dwell in one body. But do thou forget me, poor wife, that thou mayest live to bring up thy poor child. I recommend unto you my poor brother, A. Gilbert. The lease of Sanding is his, and none of mine; let him have it for God's cause; he knows what is due to me upon it. And be good to Kemis, for he is a perfect honest man, and hath much wrong for my sake. For the rest, I commend me to them, and them to God. And the Lord knows my sorrow to part from thee and my poor child; but part I must by enemies and injuries, part with shame, and triumph of my detractors; and therefore be contented with this work of God,and forget me in all things but thine own honour, and the love of mine. I bless my poor child, and let him know his father was no traitor. Be bold of my innocence. for God, to whom I offer life and soul, knows it. And whosoever thou choose again after me, let him be but thy politique husband; but let my son be thy beloved, for he is part of me, and I live in him, and the difference is but in the number, and not in the kind. And the Lord for ever keep thee and them, and give thee comfort in both worlds!"

The only other document which we can find room for, from the second of these volumes, is a letter from Prince Charles and Buckingham, written when they were in Paris, and on their journey to Spain. It will be borne in mind, that the sister of the "Yonge Qweene," viz., Henrietta Maria, was afterwards England's Queen, the wife of Charles :

"DERE DAD AND GOSSOPE.-Wee are sure, before this, you haue longd to haue some news from your boys; but before this time wee haue not bine able to send you it, and wee doe it with this confidence, that you will be as glad to reede it as wee to right, th... it be now our best intertainment. And that (wee) may giue the perfectter account, we will beg (in) this where my last ended, which was at... First about fiue or six a clocke on Wensday morn(ing,) wee w(ent to) say, the first that fell sicke was your (son,) and he that continued it longest was (my) selfe. In six owers wee gott ouer (with as) fare a passage as cuer

men had: we all (got) so perfectlye well, when wee but saw (land) that wee resolued to spend the rest of (the) day in rideing post; and lay at Mont(reuil) three post of a' Bullougne. The next (day) wee lay at Breteur, a leven post far(ther;) and the next to Paris, being Friday. (This day,) being Saterday, wee rest at Paris, though (there) be no greate need of itt; yet I had fore f(alls) by the way without anie hareme. Your sonnes horses stoumbles as fast as any (man's;) but he is so much more stronger before then he was,) he houlds them vp by maine strenkth of ma(nhood &) cries still On, on, on. This day we (went,) he and I alone, to a periwicke mak(er,) where we disgised our selves so artefic (ially) that wee aduentured to see the Kinge. (The) means how wee did compass it w(as this. We) addressed oure selues to the King's gouerner, Monsieur du Proes, and he courtiouslie caried us where wee saw him oure fill. Then wee desired Monsieur du Proes to make vs acquainted with his sonne, becaus wee would torouble the ould man no longer, which hee did; and then wee saw the Qweene mother at diner. This euening his sonne hath promised vs to see the yonge Qweene, with her sister and little Mounsieur. I ame sure now you fere we shall be discoured; but doe not fright your selfe, for I warrant you the contrarie; and, findeing this might bee done with saftie, we had a greate tickling to ad it to the historie of oure aduentures. To(morrow,) which will be Sonday, wee will be, God willing, vp so erlie, that wee make no question but to reach Orleans; and so eueri day after, wee meane to be gaineing (su)mthing till we reach Madride. I haue nothinge more to say, but to recommend my pour little wife and daughter to your care, (and) that you will bestow your blessing upon

"Your humble and obedient*

"

Your humble slaue and doge,

Sone and seruant,*

"CHARLES.*

"STEENIE."+

Mr. Brewer's Notes are judiciously introduced, but by no means very striking either as affording evidence of extensive research, nor for novelty of illustration. Still the work as a whole forms an acceptable collection of anecdotes and a picture of manners of a bygone eye, from which the historian may pick somethings that will enliven his pages.

*"These three lines in the Prince's hand."

†“Orig. Hol. Tan. lxxiii. 229. The margin and other parts of this letter are gone. The words in brackets are supplied by conjecture."

160

ART. II.

London:

1.-On the Present Unsettled Condition of the Law, and its Administration. By JOHN MILLER, Esq., of Lincoln.'-Inn. Murray. 1839.

2.-An Address to the Public, and more especially to the Members of the House of Commons, on the present unsatisfactory state of the Court of Chancery; with Suggestions for an immediate Remedy. By GEORGE SPENCE, Esq., one of her Majesty's Counsel. London: Ridgeway. 1839. Two remarkable facts are connected with the subject of Law Reform in England. The one is, that every man, suitor, and lawyer, or that may have turned the slightest attention to this paramount branch, is ready to declaim about it, and to adduce illustrations of its most confused, ineffective, mischievous, and absurd condition, theoretically as well as practically; especially when viewed in relation to present times. The other fact is, that a number of persons, lawyers, and legislators, who must be presumed to have been the most competent to reform such an anomalous mass, and reconstruct out of its innumerable parts a simpler, sounder, and more practical body, and who have set their hands and hearts to the work, have not only been generally much at variance concerning the proposed measure, but have never in the course of all their endeavours been able to reach the core of the evils alluded to; having, on the other hand, frequently added confusion, perplexity, and rubbish to that which before was inextricable or contradictory. There can be no doubt as to the honesty, the talent, and the industry which have directed many of these efforts. A Bentham, a Romilly, a Peel, a Brougham, &c., have addressed themselves to the task, some of them more speculatively than others; and yet, at this day, the evils of our laws are perhaps as multitudinous, oppressive, and deficientat least these evils are more sensitively felt than ever before by the entire community; the poor being without the benefit in very many instances of institutions intended for the support and enforcement of universal justice, and the rich exposed to a wholesale system of plundering under the very administration countenanced by these institutions.

We may safely conclude from the simple statement of these facts and circumstances that the evils complained of are of the most complicated and inveterate kind, so as hitherto to have baffled the exertions toward amendment of the minds to be presumed best calculated to grapple with the subject. Perhaps the only circumstances connected with the history of Law Reform, upon which the mind can rest with complacency is this, that many members of the higher grades of the legal profession have perseveringly and disinterestedly applied themselves in the work of ameliorating the laws, not

merely by legislative measures, but in the course of their daily practice. In illustration of this gratifying fact, we quote what Mr. Miller says, relative to the conduct of many eminent conveyancers:

"The law of real property has at last assumed a shape infinitely more subtle and intricate than any system which has ever before been allowed to have a place in the practical business of mankind. Let a private gentleman of the best education and understanding peruse part of any treatise on conveyancing with the greatest patience and attention, and he will scarcely comprehend the drift of a single page of what he has been reading. A foreign jurist, though well acquainted with the English language, will find himself in the same condition. It is a branch of the law which is comparatively unknown to a large part of our own barristers, and is understood but imperfectly by many even of the Masters in Chancery and Judges of the realm, whose duty it frequently becomes to decide upon it.

"The inherent and undeniable defects of the system have to a considerable degree been obviated by the honour and integrity which has so long distinguished the most eminent members of that branch of the profession to whom the business of conveyancing is intrusted. So little are they disposed to promote litigation or create unnecessary and merely technical difficulties, that they serve in fact as a domestic forum, for the amicable settlement of the interests of the parties for whom they severally act; and in most cases, no delay or expense is caused which as the law now stands could easily be avoided."

That the subject of Law Reform is one of such generally felt importance as that it cannot long be allowed to occupy merely the separate and uncombined attention of certain eminent individuals, is every day becoming more manifest. The publication of the two works mentioned at the head of this paper are of themselves significant intimations; for while they prove how strongly the evils of our laws have been pressed upon the minds of the profession, the able and earnest exposure of these evils will, unquestionably, arouse to a higher pitch than before the attention of the public, and especially of those whose duty it is to legislate on the subject. Mr. Miller happily expresses himself in reference to the urgency of Law Reform when he says," The symptoms which are presenting themselves from day to day, leave little doubt that the delay or denial of it will lead, at no distant date, to a loud and impatient call for a new and entire code, and a scheme for the cheap and speedy administration of justice;" and the spirit and purpose of his Essay will be apprehended from the announcement which immediately follows the above declaration of his opinion, viz., that "to avert at chance of so alarming a proposal, and to prompt those public servants upon whom the task devolves to lose no time in enlarging, shortening, and purifying the channels of law and equity, so as to fit