enneth Macaulay and
Fitzjames were counsel for the defence, but failed, and, as Fitzjames
thought, rightly failed, to make good their case. He was, however,
deeply moved by the whole affair--the most dramatic, he says, in which
he had been engaged. The convict's family were respectable people, and
behaved admirably. 'The poor mother sat by me in court and said, "I feel
as if I could cling to anyone who could help him," and she put her hand
on my arm and held it so that I could feel every beat of her pulse. Her
fingers clutched me every time her heart beat. The daughters, too, were
dreadfully moved, but behaved with the greatest natural dignity and
calmness.' After the conviction Fitzjames felt that the man deserved to
be hanged; but felt also bound to help the father in his attempts to get
the sentence commuted. He could not himself petition, but he did his
best to advise the unfortunate parents. He used to relate that the
murderer had written an account of the crime, which it was proposed to
produce as a proof of insanity. To Fitzjames it seemed to be a proof
only of cold-blooded malignity which would insure the execution of the
sentence. He was tormented by the conflict between his compassion and
his sense of justice. Ultimately the murderer was reprieved on the
ground that he had gone mad after the sentence. Fitzjames had then, he
says, an uncomfortable feeling as if he were partly responsible for the
blood of the murdered girl. The criminal soon afterwards committed
suicide, and so finished the affair.

VI. 'ESSAYS BY A BARRISTER'

I turn now to the literary work which filled every available interstice
of time. In the summer of 1862 Fitzjames published 'Essays by a
Barrister' (reprinted from the 'Saturday Review'). The essays had
appeared in that paper between the end of 1858 and the beginning of
1861. From February 9, 1861, to February 28, 1863, he did not write in
the 'Saturday Review.' A secession had taken place, the causes of which
I do not precisely know. I believe that the editor wished to put
restrictions, which some of his contributors, including Fitzjames,
resented, upon the services to be rendered by them to other periodicals.
The breach was eventually closed without leaving any ill-feeling behind
it. Fitzjames at first felt the relief of not having to write, and
resolved to devote himself more exclusively to his profession. But
before long he was as hard at work as ever. During 1862 he wrote a good
m