"A General View of the Criminal Law," which was published in 1863. It was in 1869 that he was appointed to succeed Sir Henry Maine as Legal Member of the Council of the Governor-General of India, and he remained in India some three years, during which his labors as a law re former were sufficient to secure for his name an enduring place in the annals of the coun try. His activity knew no bounds, and doubtless the severe strain he imposed upon his mental and physical powers at this time was not unconnected with the sorrowful events that preceded the comparatively early death which every member of the legal pro fession now deplores. Taking up the work of codification begun by his predecessors, he prepared and passed through the council a code of criminal procedure and the Indian Evidence Act, 1872, both of which, though not beyond criticism in several respects, conferred lasting benefits upon the country, and in the preparation and passing of which Sir James Fitzjames Stephen exerted all the strength of which his massive frame and mind were capable. Having achieved such great success in his work of codification in India, he devoted himself to somewhat simi lar tasks in England on his return in 1872, At the instance of Lord Coleridge, then Attorney-General, he drafted a bill codify ing the English law of evidence, and later on he prepared a bill for the codification of criminal law; but neither of his efforts, though each had involved an enormous amount of labor, met with success. The latter bill was submitted to a select com mittee consisting of Lord Blackburn, Lord Justice Lush, and Mr. Justice Barry, and a report was published; but, despite many promises that the matter should be dealt with in Parliament, the Government allowed it to disappear from their programme. Henceforward, until his promotion to the Bench, his time was chiefly occupied with
literary labors. He resumed with renewed energy his contributions to newspapers and magazines, and increased his reputation as an author by " Liberty, Equality and Fra ternity," a powerfully reasoned reply to Mill's "Liberty." He was appointed to the Bench in 1879; but his literary labors did not cease with his promotion. Some of his most important works were written as relax ation from his judicial duties. Among them are his " History of the Criminal Law of England " and his " Digest of the Law of Criminal Procedure." His letters to the "Times " on Mr. Gladstone's Home Rule Bill of 1886 will be remembered for the masterly manner in which he presented his case against that measure. It must not be supposed, however, that the literary interests of the distinguished jurist were confined to legal, political and philosophic questions. He was thoroughly familiar with all the standard novelists of England and France, his favorite works of fiction being those of Victor Hugo, upon which he was ever ready to discourse. Among the lighter works from his own pen may be mentioned published addresses on "The Right Use of Books," "The Relation of Novels to Life" and "Desultory and Sys tematic Reading." He occupied a seat on the Bench for twelve years, during which period he was distinguished, both in civil and criminal trials, for the conscientiousness with which he discharged his duties and for the profound learning which marked his judgments. He retired in April, 1891, in consequence of certain statements that were made regarding his health. He bade the Bar "good-bye" in the Lord Chief Justice's Court, which was crowded with members of both branches of the profession eager to witness his last appearance on the Bench, and to hear his pathetic words of farewell. In recognition of his eminent services he was created a baronet.
