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raging an example? I am fully sensible, that the portrait of Mr. REEVES ought to be delineated by a much more masterly pencil. A ROBERTSON or a HOME would have found such a subject worthy their genius. But though I cannot paint his virtues with all the glowing tints of eloquence, I can shew them in a less suspected light, the genuine lustre of truth. I am animated, therefore, in the attempt by the strongest conviction, that the best method of praising him is to describe his actions with fidelity.

MR. REEVES was born about the year 1752, and received his education on the foundation at Eton; but failing in his expectation of succeeding to King's College, Cambridge, he entered himself of Merton College, Oxford, where he took the degree of Batchelor of Arts. From thence he was elected to a scholarship at Queen's, became a Fellow there, and took the degree of Master of Arts May 21, 1778.

In writing the memoirs of great and good men, all the trifling incidents of their youth are usually sought after with laborious research, and are supposed to derive importance from the higher scenes to which they serve as a prelude. Such anecdotes may indeed amuse idle curiosity, but they more frequently incite impatience and disgust in readers of another class, whose sole wish is to be made acquainted with the history of accomplished manhood. Few facts deserving of record are to be found during minority in the lives of the most illustrious characters; and with respect to Mr. Reeves, it would be particularly unpardonable to divert the attention of the public from the signal events of his riper years, by any detail, however entertaining, of his juvenile occurrences. The only remark on the early part of his life, which can with propriety be introduced here, is, that in the course of his academical pursuits at Eton, and at Oxford, he impressed upon the minds of all who knew him a very high opinion of both his heart and his head:-an opinion which the uniform tenor of his conduct since has fully justified and confirmed.

it was an observation often made by the late Judge BLACKSTONE, and which he always expressed with great concern, that too many of the Members of our Inns of Court kept regular terms, and put on the gown before they seriously

applied to such studies as could alone enable them to wear it with credit; that is to say, they were first called to the bar, and afterwards bethought themselves of the qualifications necessary to make a figure there. Mr. REEVES is a striking exception to the general justuess and severity of this remark. He did not appear in the professional robe till he had given proofs of his professional knowledge. About the year previous to his introduction at Westminster Hall, he published a Chart of Penal Law, and a small Tract on the Nature of Estates; both of which pieces obtained, what they certainly deserved, a considerable share of approbation. When, therefore, he solicited, according to form, the rank and privileges of a Barrister, the benchers who granted his request might very properly say to him, in the words of the old Roman,

Sume superbiam quæsitam merilis : Assume the honours due to just desert.

Mr. Reeves was called to the bar in the year 1780, and no doubt was then entertained of his proving one of its most distinguished ornaments. But he soon found, the wrangle of altercation very little suited either to the natural turn of his temper, or to the calm and unruffled dignity of his mind. Endowed with the happiest talents for investigating truth, and for displaying it with force and evidence, he felt an unconquerable antipathy to the indiscriminate defence of right and wrong. After exerting himself, therefore, with ability and success, upon several signal occasions, he gradually withdrew from a scene where the fire of genius is not always kindled by the love of justice, but by the spirit of venality, by the ardour of revenge, by the clash or collision of contending interests.

But in discontinuing his attendance at Westminster-hall, Mr. Reeves did not forget the duties of his profession, nor the services which every man of science. owes to the great body of society. He did not sink into the lap of indolence: he did not suffer his faculties to be tarnished or impaired by the rust of inaction. His retirement from the sphere of business was quickly productive of more valuable fruits than the unceasing bustle of many who continued in the field. He published in 1783, the first volume, in 4to. of his HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH LAW, ending with the wise

establishments of EDWARD the First; and in the course of the next year, the second volume appeared, continuing the narrative to the close of HENRY the Seventh's reign.

Several treatises had before been written to elucidate different parts of so interesting a subject; but Mr. Reeves's discussion of it was perfectly new, accurate, and satisfactory. He did not carry his readers back into the dark mist of Saxon antiquities; nor did he vainly endeavour to fill up the chasms of authentic record by ingenious, but useless, conjectures. He saw the exact point of departure whence the candid historian should set out, and contented himself with giving a sketch of the system of jurisprudence that sub sisted at a more distant period. The clearest opinion, as he justly observed, that could be formed respecting such obscure times, was not worth defend ing with much obstinacy; and he might have added, that notwithstanding all the labour and the learning that have been idly wasted in dissertations on the manners and the customs of the Saxons, on the nature of their tenures, and the constitution of their legislative assemblies, the few traces which now remain of those institutions are capable of very little application or inference. Be therefore wisely began his historic details at the time of the Norman Invasion, when a new order of things arose,-when something like a regular system first took place, and from which period the writer is frequently more incumbered by the multitude, than distressed for want of genuine materials.

The method pursued by Mr. Reeves, in arranging and moulding those materials, was equally original and judicious. "I found," says he, in the prefatory dedication to Lord THURLOW, "that modern writers, in discoursing of the ancient law, were too apt to speak in modern terms, and always with reference to some modern usage: hence it followed, that what they adduced was strangely distorted and misrepresented, with a view of displaying, and accounting for certain coincidences of the law at different times. As this produced very great mistakes, it appeared to me, that in order to have a right conception of our old jurisprudence, it would be necessary to forget, for a while, every alteration which has been made since, to enter upon it with a mind wholly

unprejudiced, and peruse it with the same attention that is bestowed on a system of modern law. The law of the time would then be learned in the language of the time, unadulterated with new opinions; and when that was clearly understood, the alterations made therein in subsequent periods might be deduced, and exhibited to the mind of a modern reader in as simple and intelligible a form as they were to persons who lived in those periods. Further, if our statutes, and the interpretations of them, with the changes that have hap pened in the maxims, rules, and doctrines of the law, were related in the order in which they severally took place, such a history, from the begin ning of our oldest memorials down to the present time, would convey to the reader a tolerably just and complete account of our whole law, as it stands at this day, with that advantage which an arrangement, conformable to the nature of the subject, enjoys over one that is merely artificial." It is impossible to speak of his plan with greater modesty and truth.

But if the design was well formed, the execution was not less masterly. All the revolutions in our laws are traced with the utmost clearness and precision. Before any changes in the general system are described, before any particular acts or statutes are men tioned, the reader is always supplied with such a degree of previous informa tion, as always enables him to compre hend their import, on a bare statement of their contents. The author's style is manly and perspicuous. Full of the importance of his subject, he ever expresses himself with dignity and purity. His language is neither alloyed with ancient inelegance, nor set off by the false graces of modern affec tation.

The example of prostituted talent, in a few eminent lawyers, has afforded illiberal criticism some pretence for asserting, that the writings of men of that profession are rather favourable to the influence of the crown than to the freedom of the subject. But no part of this obloquy can, with the least shadow of truth or justice, be thrown on Mr. REEVES. He every where appears a zealous friend to a well-regulated government, and a warm advocate for civil and religious liberty. He points out, with the generous rapture of an Englishman, the sacred barrier that se

eures, on one side, the privileges of the Crown against the fury of popular licentiousness; and guards, on the other, the rights of the people from the encroachments of arbitrary power. He places the origin of the trial by jury, and its inestimable advantages, in the strongest light. He enlarges on the history of those famous charters, obtained at different periods, which form the foundations and key-stones of our grand constitutional arch,-au arch that has been compacted and strengthened by the pressure of time, and by the balleries of its frantic assailanis. Even at the opening of his work, the dispute about the term conquest, as applied to the Duke of Normandy, gives him occasion to introduce the following sentiment, "that the tyranny of a prince, who lived seven hundred years ago, cannot be a precedent for the oppressions of his successors, nor can any length of time establish a prescription against the unalienable rights of inankind."

A minuter exposition of the merit of Mr. Reeves's History would lead us too far from our present purpose. Besides, the nation at large has already decided on its excellence; and the warmest expressions of private approbation would only be the echo of the public voice. It is enough to add, that the second edition, in four volumes, octavo, which appeared in 1787, extends to the reign of Philip and Mary; and that the continually increasing demand for it is the best proof, that not only the student and the lawyer, but the statesman and the patriot, look forward with eagerness to the completion of a work, all the preceding parts of which contain such a fand of legal and political knowledge.

It might be reasonably presumed, that a work of such maguitude and intricacy as the History of the English Law might have engrossed any author's whole time and attention. The collection and arrangement of so great a diversity of materials; the removal of that cumbrous load of diction, that immense mass of phraseology, in which the spirit of our statutes is frequently buried, and the discovery of a clue to lead the rational inquirer, without confusion or perplexity, through all the meanders of our civil and criminal jurisprudence, were tasks which seemed to require the full exertions of the most active genius, united with the most indefatigable industry. Yet in the midst

of those laborious efforts, Mr. Reeves cast a frequent glance at what was passing on the great theatre of life; and was always ready to take up any new subject that seemed likely to promote the immediate welfare or tranquillity of his country. The Police Bill which he produced in 1785, evidently shews that the short intervals or temporary relaxation of his intense studies were always made subservient to the public good.

How painful it is to take even a retrospective view of the scenes of outrage and rapine, which prevailed at that time in Westminster, and in the suburbs of the metropolis! Numerous gangs of pickpockets, assuming almost the appearance of regular banditti, sallied forth at the approach of night, scouring the streets, and levying contributions on the passengers with impunity. Many of the latter, for fear of ill treatment, quietly surrendered their property; others were surrounded in defending it; and the accidental spectators of such attacks, intis midated by the number of the desperadoes, instead of interposing, thought only of their own escape. Though most of these daring robberies were committed before the hour of selling the watch; yet, even after that hour, the peaceful inhabitant did not enjoy much security. It has since been discovered, that several housebreakers had the address to get themselves hired as watchmen, and that they not only connived at, but often assisted, their private companions in the execution of their wicked designs.

The prevalence of these disorders naturally excited a general outcry, yet few persons were capable of tracing them to their various causes, and of prescribing proper and effectual remedies. There were some fundamental errors in the police of Westminster, which tended to defeat all the purposes of its institu, tion. The high steward, for instance, had the appointment of the constables, and was invested with a discretionary power of punishing them by fine; but he had no authority as a magistrate to manage or to direct them. justices were solely entrusted with the exercise of this latter power; but they had no corresponding right to punish, or to controul. Thus one jurisdiction had a right which it could never wish to exercise; and the other had not that right, which at every moment, perhaps, it was necessary to exert. Where the

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main springs of municipal government were thus weak and defective, it is no wonder that the subordinate wheels of the machine should often prove irregular, or be suspended in their motions.

The corruption and supineness of the magistrates of that district became almost proverbial: the inferior agents in the police-offices seemed to pay no regard to any crimes but those which immediately secured the forty pounds reward: it was even asserted, and probably with great truth, that the pick pocket and the constable shook hands on most eccasions, and that the robber and the runner very frequently shared the spoil. It was impossible for Mr. Reeves to behold the progress of such evils with indifference. His quick discernment laid open to him the sources whence they arose, and his wisdom suggested the best expedients for checking and correcting them. It is evident, he had as just a sense of the high prerogatives of English liberty as any man: he disliked its abridgement in the smallest particular: but, at the same time, he felt the necessity of imposing due restraints on the flagrant abuse of it. The industrious part of the community were to be guarded against the allurements of bad example, and the persons and property of individuals were to be secured from depredation and violence, Actuated by these motives, he finished the first sketch of his famous Police Bill, under the encouragement of Lord Sydney, then Secretary of State; and every man who examined it with judg. ment and candour, could not but confess, that it was the most admirable system of domestic regulation ever devised, to remedy the contagion of vitiated morals, and the inefficacy of a defective police.

A variety of accidental causes prevented the bill from receiving, at that time, the sanction of the legislature, As those causes have since ceased to operate, a detail of them would be equally tedious and useless. Such, however, was the intrinsic merit of the plan itself, that the Irish Government took up its leading principles, and adapted them to the city of Dublin. The bill thus modified was highly approved of by the Parliament of Ireland; and its salutary effects were soon demonstrated by the total suppression of abuses in the capital of that country. The British legislature did not remain long inattentive to the successful experiment made

in the sister kingdom; and Mr. Reeves had the satisfaction, in 1792, to see all the essential parts of his plan brought forward with a greater spirit than be fore, and by a very flattering majority. of bot Houses.

There is no need to enlarge on the wisdom of regulations which experience has so fully confirmed, and of which the happy influence is so widely diffused. It is not merely the inhabitants of Westminster, or its neigh bourhood, who enjoy the comforts of good order and security: the whole na tion is interested in such a system of reform; and looks up to the authors of it with admiration and gratitude. The blessings of an effective police, now so well established round the capital, flow hence, as from the fountain head, in an infinite number of channels throughout the kingdom. The clamour of drunkenness and riot is every-where suppressed. The idle and the dissolute are compelled to betake themselves to the pursuits of honest industry; the sons of midnight have learned the danger of trusting so their favourite hour, and our streets are no longer infested by beasts of prey in human shape. But can it be a matter of surprise, that these monsters should growl at the salutary discipline of the law? Will not the wolf or the tiger attempt to bite the chain that restrains its ferocity. If the coercive terrors of Mr. Reeyes's plan could admit of any stronger testimony in their favour than the applause of every good citizen, we must seek it in the invectives continually poured out against them by the profligate and the factious."

It does great honour to his Majesty's ministers, and particularly to Mr. DUNDAS, that the person who devised, reduced into form, and laid before government, those patriotic measures, was not forgotten, but was appointed Receiver under the new bill as a just acknowledgment of his former endeavours. This, however, is not the first instance of a due regard paid by administration to Mr. Reeves's abilities and public spirit. Lord HAWKESBURY had promoted him to a law office at the Board of Trade in 1787; and he was soon after invited to go to Ireland, to take a part in a scheme dictated by the soundest, the most liberal, and be neficent policy, which had for its object the improvement of the system of education in that kingdom. No man was

better qualified to undertake the task; and happy would it have been for Ireland, had he continued there long enough to investigate all the errors and abuses of the established system, and to carry into execution such plans of reform, as he should find best adapted to the state of the country, and to the genius, the character, and the circumstances of the people. But, on the death of the DUKE of RUTLAND, under whose patronage he had engaged in so laudable a design, he returned to England, after a short stay of only three months.

The duties of Mr. Reeves's office, at the Board of Trade, became at this juncture, uncommonly pressing and important. Some of the most considerable objects of commercial policy were then before the board; and a reference to the voluminous reports on the SLAVE TRADE alone, will satisfy us of his astonishing assiduity and despatch. His health, however, could not continually hold out in seconding the efforts of his unabated zeal: it began to sink under incessant fatigue, and he found it necessary to forego the usual pleasures of literary retirement in the summers of 1788 and 1789, and to employ these intervals of official duty in two short excursions to the Continent. A new field soon opened for the exercise of his recovered vigour.

(To be continued.)

THE HIVE.
No. XXXIX.

EARLY RISING.

HE difference between rising every

to content himself with a hackney coach. On his way to Sir William's committee, he saw John yoked with a number of the mob to Mr. Waithman's coach. When his master returned, he sent for John into his study, and, after a few expostulatory admonitions to be more attentive to the duties of his station for the future, asked him, how he could think of degrading himself so low beneath the diguity of his nature, as to change condition with the brutes that he was in the habit of driving?— John stared; and twisting the side curl of his buckled wig, replied, that he was only doing honour to the man of the people.why John," said the gentleman, "what is it that this man of the people is to do for you more than the other candidates?"-" Do, Sir," answered John, he'll do a great deal, Sir, if he do as he promises—He is to obtain for us TRIANGULAR PARLIA MENTS and UNIVERSAL SUFFFERINGS."

ANECDOTE OF PETER THE GREAT.

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Peter the Great having directed the translation of Puffendorff's Introduction to the Knowledge of the States of Europe' into the Russian language, a Monk, to whom this translation was committed, presented it to the Emperor when finished, who turning over the leaves, exclaimed with an indignant air, "Fool! what did I order you to do? is this a translation ?" Then referring to the original, he shewed him a paragraph in which the author had spoken with great asperity of the Russians, but the translator bad omitted it. "Go instantly," said the Czar, "and execute my orders rigidly. It is not to flatter my subjects that I have this book translated and printed, but to instruct and reform them."

Tmornifty at siz and at eight, in the course of forty years, supposing a man retired to rest at the same time, amounts to 20,200 hours, or three years, one hundred and twenty-one days, and sixteen hours, which will afford eight bours a day for exactly ten years; so that it is the same as if ten years of life were added, in which we could command eight hours every day for the cultivation of our minds, or the desily College, for a waistcoat-piece, patch of business.

ELECTION ANECDOTE.

During the recent election for the City, a gentleman having ordered his carriage, for the purpose of proceeding upon a canvass in behalf of Sir William Curtis, was compelled, in consequence of his coachiman being out of the way,

Many years since, a French teacher, of Ducane, called on Mr. Wickham, resident in Oxford, of the name a mercer, who lived opposite Univer

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but could not recollect the name of the material be wished for. He said that he thought it was de English for de Diable." Mr. Wickham mentioned the several names of his infernal Highness, such as Old Nick, Belzebub, &c.-"No, no, it was not dat," was the reply. At last Mr. W. thought of Satan. "O dat is vat I vant," said Ducane, “I want a Satan vestcoat.”—Oxford Herald.

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