erence of the population of the two countries
into consideration, at all behind the English in the production of
treason, murder, and other interesting forms of crime; and their
misdeeds were in many respects the more picturesque of the two. I had
hoped to place before my readers the true account, or what passes for
such, of that murder of Colin Roy Campbell of Glenure which, as we now
know, produced such romantic consequences for David Balfour. The
'Forty-five should have been represented, and Lord Lovat's adventures
ought to have served my purpose to a turn. But, alas! the lawyers on
these occasions have been hopelessly beaten by the professed
story-tellers; and the reports of the trials of Lord Lovat and James
Stewart are as dull as the romances of _Waverley_ and _Catriona_ are
entrancing. Why this should be so I do not know. I can ascribe it only
to the inferiority of the Scots criminal procedure to our own; and
ignorance prevents me from proving that inferiority by any other fact
than the one which I am anxious to account for.

After diligent and minute inquiry, I am pleased, though not surprised,
to find that Ireland was perfectly free from serious crime during the
whole of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

Since making my selection of trials I have become aware that Mr. Leslie
Stephen, in his _Hours in a Library_, has chosen for notice precisely
those trials which I have reported. I must disclaim any merit in having
made the same selection as such an eminent critic; but at the same time
I can confidently affirm that my choice was made before I had read the
essay in question. Whether I have been guilty of the crime of plagiarism
in this particular I cannot say; neither, as far as that goes, do I
care. My readers at least have no reason to complain, and I can count on
you, Gerald, to join with me in deprecating the wrath of the outraged
author.

Trusting confidently in your co-operation to secure for this little
collection as favourable a reception as may be from that public for
whose taste we both have so much respect,--I remain, yours to command,

H. L. STEPHEN.

THE INNER TEMPLE,
_31st December 1898._

SIR WALTER RALEIGH[1]

Raleigh's trial is so closely connected with the politics of the time
that it cannot be properly understood without reference to them. James
owed his succession to the throne, at all events the undisputed
rec