concerns of a future and distant state, let them remember that the day and hour must come when all the power, riches, or influence of the whole world could not purchase back one second of misspent time, and that it is solemnly and distinctly told us, we shall give an account of every idle word.” Mr. Lefroy took much delight in keeping his fine garden, at the rear of his house in Leeson-street, in order, in pruning his fruit-trees, and looking to the perfection of his flowers. Probably the attraction which agriculture had for him had its share in inducing him to forego the circuit work for equity practice in the Four Courts. His son thus speaks of the family enjoyment on the half-acre estate in Leeson-street: "I have still vividly before me our whole merry-hearted group, parents and children, sallying forth into the garden after dinner, the youngest as well as the eldest taking part in weeding borders, watering flowers, cutting shreds, or sitting at his side while he pruned the fruit-trees, and reading the pretty story-book which he had bought on his way from Court, in order that the evening might not pass without profit as well as pleasure. He soon acquired such a practical knowledge and skill in gardening that he more than once carried off prizes at the horticultural shows, from the proprietors of all the suburban villas, many of whom were admittedly among the first class of practical amateur horticulturists." His gardening formed a pleasant relaxation from reporting the judgments of Lord Redesdale, that poor banished nobleman from the comforts of London. The cases which he reported in conjunction with Mr. Schoales, Chairman of the Queen's County, have been long popular with the English as well as the Irish bar. The dates of Mr. Lefroy's advancement to the offices of King's Counsel and King's Serjeant have been already noted. The most disagreeable portion of our Serjeant's existence must have been that spent on the Munster Circuit, as Judge of Assizes. In 1822 he entered on that duty, and gave the best possible advice to the country gentlemen called on juries, and to the unfortunate culprits before passing sentence on them. These advices and expostulations were as effective as such things usually are. It is to be feared that the good judge did not, in his horror of the crimes submitted to his condemnation, give sufficient weight to the evil workings of long misgovernment, of the penal laws, and of the bitterness which these things fostered between the professors of the dominant and subjected religions of the country. It might naturally be expected, from the benevolent disposition of Mr. Lefroy, that he would have taken a lively interest in the rise and progress of the Kildare Place Society, which was founded in 1811. Roman Catholic noblemen and clergymen entered cordially into the plans of the new society: they evidently gave mere toleration to the reading of the Scriptures in the schools; they saw no evil in the exercise when practised under the eye of a sincere Catholic or a non-interfering Protestant teacher; they would make sacrifices in order to obtain the blessing of education for the poor of their persuasion. However, in some cases, the local patrons, and their wives and daughters, and an over-zealous clergyman, would cross the line of non-interference, and Protestant meanings would be attached to scriptural passages; and appeals were consequently made to the chiefs of the society to let the obnoxious exercise fall out of their discipline. The society could not or would not dispense with the practice; pressure was brought on Parliament, Catholic emancipation having been obtained, and the government grant was withdrawn. If Mr. Lefroy had had the opportunities which more than once occurred to the present writer, to witness the irreverent treatment given to the Sacred Volume by little boys under the charge of a negligent monitor, he would never, as far as his influence went, allow the Gospels or Acts to be male the subject of a mere reading - lesson, except under the eye of a God-fearing teacher or monitor of advanced age. Whatever might or did happen in provincial schools, no charge could be made against the mode in which country schoolmasters were trained in Kildare Place. Religious discussions were strictly prohibited, and every one went to his respective place of worship on Sundays. All of the Catholic party who pleased attended first mass in one of the near churches or chapels on weekdays. The only semblance of common worship consisted in the reading of a chapter of the Bible by one of the community on Sunday evenings after supper. The attendance at this exercise was completely voluntary, and no notice whatever was taken of the absence of individuals. As a rule, the Catholics sat and listened with their fellow-Protestants. From the period of Mr. Lefroy's election by our University as its representative in Parliament (1830), he continued to accomplish his parliamentary duty with the same diligence and conscientiousness which distinguished his judicial functions. He continued to obtain and preserve the personal respect of his political opponents; but as it is only at times that the populace make a distinction between the political tendency and personal character of a public man, his name was not then, nor is now popular with the middle and lower classes of the Irish people. How could they be partial to one of O'Connell's strenuous opponents? Whatever faults might be attributed to the Government, for eleven years after the triumph of the Reform Bill in 1832, want of variety was not of the number. Our biographer thus remarks on the rapid shifting of the political scenes of the epoch: "It may serve to give some idea of the precarious tenure by which any minister of the Crown held his office, or any member of Parliament his seat in the House of Commons, when I mention that, during the eleven years for which Mr. Lefroy represented Trinity College in Parliament, he saw no fewer than eleven changes in the occupants of the office of prime minister of England, and he was himself involved in no fewer than twelve contested elections, six for the University, and six for the county of Longford (the latter on his son's account)." While the Duke of Wellington was daily expecting Sir Robert Peel to return from the Continent, and assume the leadership of the House of Commons, Mr. Lefroy had the pleasure of an interview with the great Captain. He thus all..des to it in a letter to Mrs. Lefroy, dated 28th November, 1834: "I have just been sitting with that most wonderful of men, the Duke of Wellington, as much at his ease and as gay, joking about their attacks on the Great Dictator' as if he had nothing to do or to think of; and yet this is not the result of levity, for every particle of arrear in his office was cleared off. Every man who has business gets his answer and is despatched; and there is the Duke, having done all that was o do, ready to do anything more that may occur." Sir Robert became, on his return, the fourth prime minister gazetted within six months, to give way to Lord Melbourne, a few months later. Mr. Lefroy ceased to be a member of the Imperial Parliament in 1841, having vigorously opposed Government measures for most of the time of his public career. He never neglected attendance while Irish measures were discussed. The motives must be very imperative which oblige gentlemen, circumstanced as Mr. Lefroy was, to resign a large yearly income, and all social and domestic comforts, for a life of struggle and annoyance in the arena of St. Stephen's. It would be unjust to omit the following trait, exhibiting his innate love of justice : "His keen sense of injustice was often shown by the indignation with which he reproved the habit, too often indulged in by some members of the House of Commons, of attacking absent persons without any reasonable grounds for the charges brought forward, and without even giving any notice to the accused. It made no difference in such cases with him from what quarter of the house such attacks proceeded, to what party the accused belonged, or in what rank of life they stood. He was always ready and willing to expose the evils of such a practice, and to vindicate the characters of those who had no means of defending themselves." The Whig ministry of 1841 executed a slight job, well-disposed as they professed to be to the claims of Ireland. Sir John Campbell was appointed Lord Chancellor of Ireland, instead of Lord Plunket; and he seemed to love a residence in Dublin as little as Lord Redesdale. We prefer quoting from the text the mighty labours of this Hercules of the Exchequer, when cleansing the legal stable on the north bank of the Liffey: "Sir John Campbell was appointed Lord Chancellor of Ireland on the 23rd of June 1841. The Dublin Journals of that period record, 'that he took his seat for the first time in the Court of Chancery on the 2nd of July, that he set in court the following day to hear motions, and gave notice that he would not hear long causes till November.' And the only other record I can trace of his lordship's discharge of the duties of his high office is the following caustic article taken from the Dublin Evening Mail, of Monday, 26th July, 1841: "Lord Campbell, the Lord High Chancellor of Ireland, took his final departure from this country on Saturday last, having, during a short sojourn of three weeks, and after sitting without intermission for the protracted space of three entire days, earned a retiring pension of £4000 a year. His lordship's outlay in money, independently of his waste of time and labour of mind in qualifying himself for the enjoyment of this trifling annuity for life, consisted in the expense of a ten days' sojourn at the Bilton Hotel, and one dinner to some half a dozen officers of the Court, over which he presided with such zeal, talent, and application. 'Plain Jock Campbell is a lucky man!'” But very unlucky is the Government which allows the money levied on its subjects to be so squandered. Such instances of prodigality at the expense of the people furnish the hands of Messrs. Bradlaugh and Odger, and their partisans, with destructive weapons in their detestable attempts to subvert religion and the Government under which its subjects enjoy all rational liberty, and eat their bread in peace. Mr. Lefroy's friends, and probably he himself, considered that he deserved to occupy the Lord Chancellor's seat as much as lucky John Campbell. However, he contented himself with the office of Baron of the Exchequer, conferred on him in the end of 1841. Mr. Shiel would have been satisfied to see Judge Lefroy raised to the peerage and to a seat in the House of Lords; but he feared, from his strong political bias, that his selection for the office conferred was not a happy one, and spoke in his place in Parliament againt it. However, the outcry was an idle one. None. were more forward than Roman Catholics themselves, in bearing testimony to the judicial rectitude and freedom from prejudice of the learned judge in discharg ing the onerous duties of his office: "This well-known trait in his judicial character frequently elicited from Roman Catholics of various classes the gratifying testimony that there was no judge on the Irish Bench they would sooner select for the trial of any case affecting their property, their liberty, or their lives." In 1852, Baron Lefroy, after sitting in judgment on John Mitchell, and obtaining much approbation for his temperate and sound - judging charge, was appointed Lord ChiefJustice of the Common Pleas, by the Earl of Derby. His biographer quotes most gratifying congratulations from the dignitaries of the Bar; but the tribute paid by Catholic papers to his unswerving rectitude and display of even-handed justice, whether to Protestants or Catholics, must have afforded greater and purer gratification to his relatives and friends. Equally warm and friendly addresses continued to be presented to him by the Sheriffs and Grand Juries of the various counties in which he distributed justice, these juries consisting indifferently of members of the Established Church, Roman Catholics, and Dissenters. In 1858, after a joyful and numerous family re-union, this good husband and father had to lament the removal of the loved companion who had been his chief comfort and solace for upwards of sixty years. He continued to exercise judicial functious till the year 1866, though in that year he had reached the very advanced age of ninety-two. Many hints were given, in and out of Parliament, that it was more than time to give himself rest. However, he However, he heeded them not, being convinced of no diminution of mental powers. However, on Lord Derby's accession to office, in the year named, he voluntarily tendered resignation of office into the same hands which had conferred it. On the 4th of May, 1869, he calmly expired at his country residence, Newcourt, Bray, surrounded by his sorrowing children and grandchildren. Few readers of this article, as we hope, will require more words to prove that the subject of it faithfully discharged, during his long career, the duties of son, husband, and father; that he was possessed of a devout spirit, and faithfully did the work of an upright and unprejudiced judge. Whatever eulogies are passed on him by his biographer are fully borne out by the narrative, which displays mastery of composition and simplicity of style. Much information concerning the history and policy of the long period of Judge Lefroy's life is connected with the biography. The views and opinions which pervade the work are all what used to be called Conservative and Evangelical; but the tone is moderate throughout. The author is a stout partisan for his party, but he uses none but the recognised and loyal arms of political warfare. The volume is a valuable acquisition to Irish biography, a possession in which our country is not affluent, and it is produced in a style which would do credit to any publishing house in London. Indeed, the house of Hodges and Co. has long been noted for the richness and finish of its publications, and the care bestowed on their production. PARIS UNDER THE EMPIRE. UNDER the Empire the city of Paris was the brilliant flower of modern civilisation; to its shrines wended pilgrims in crowds, from Europe, from Asia, from Africa, and from America more than all. It was the paradise of women. Here were gathered and here were spent the taxes of all France; here came the intellect of all France; here was exhibited the art of France aud the world; here was amusement in a thousand shapes, and here was—a single religion. Society was never brought to so thorough a system as here, and never was the art of preying upon man so completely organised. If the end of civilisation is to perfect mankind; to educate and develope a healthy, handsome, happy people; to promote good fellowship and kindness; to bring man into harmony with God-if this is so, how miserably has the civilisation of Paris failed to effect any such object! For twenty years the central figure in France, and in Europe, too, was Louis Napoleon. In the city, and in all the empire, his will was law. He was the child of accident, but he had had the audacity to seize and the talent to use all the people and all the production of France, and to make them work out his purposes. It was a remarkable success, and it was the result of a belief nursed until it had become a fanaticismcold-blooded, it is true, but still a fanaticism-a belief that he was to be Master of France. To serve France was not his dream, but to make France serve him. Cæsar was the model he studied, and he saw long ago that the Master of France must make the army of France his, as the Master of Rome had made it his twenty centuries ago. This he did, and since the 21st day of December, 1851, that army of five hundred thousand men had made a nation of more than thirty millions pay tribute. In brief, each one man in the army was absolute master of more than sixty of the people of France out of the army; and nearly all the earnings of France, beyond a bare subsistence, went to support this army and the machinery which controlled it. Some have fancied that so vast a body of armed men was kept up to operate upon the fields of Europe, to control empires, and enlarge boundaries. It may be so used, but it had other uses. It centred in Paris. and was useful there. Spacious barracks, filled with thirty thousand men, dominated the most. important centres of the city. The great sewers were constructed with railways in them for the speedy and secret moving of troops. There was not a pavement left in the city with which an outraged populace can build a barricade. The master of Paris thus guarded himself against his loving people, and an army was a most useful thing in his great housekeeping. But it had to be soothed and placated; it had to be made to feel and to know that the soldier was better off than the civilian; that there were praise and pudding for him. Espionage. So thorough was the system, that this army itself could not unseat an Emperor except by a convulsion involving fearful risks and untold woes. The police of Paris was perfect. Five men could not stop on the corner of the street to have a little talk or to hatch a little conspiracy; nor could they meet in a room, privately or publicly, except |