The Life of Sir James Fitzjames Stephen, Bart., K.C.S.I Part 1

The Life of Sir James Fitzjames Stephen, Bart., K.C.S.I.

by Sir Leslie Stephen.

PREFACE

In writing the following pages I have felt very strongly one disqualification for my task. The life of my brother, Sir J. F. STEPHEN, was chiefly devoted to work which requires some legal knowledge for its full appreciation. I am no lawyer; and I should have considered this fact to be a sufficient reason for silence, had it been essential to give any adequate estimate of the labours in question. My purpose, however, is a different one. I have wished to describe the man rather than to give any history of what he did. What I have said of the value of his performances must be taken as mainly a judgment at second hand.

But in writing of the man himself I have advantages which, from the nature of the case, are not shared by others. For more than sixty years he was my elder brother; and a brother in whose character and fortunes I took the strongest interest from the earliest period at which I was capable of reflection or observation. I think that brothers have generally certain a.n.a.logies of temperament, intellectual and moral, which enable them, however widely they may differ in many respects, to place themselves at each other's point of view, and to be so far capable of that sympathetic appreciation which is essential to satisfactory biography. I believe that this is true of my brother and myself. Moreover, as we were brought up under the same roof, I have an intimate knowledge--now, alas! almost peculiar to myself--of the little home circle whose characteristics had a profound influence upon his development. I have thought it desirable to give a fuller account of those characteristics, and of their origin in previous circ.u.mstances, than can well be given by any one but myself. This is partly because I recognise the importance of the influence exerted upon him; and partly, I will admit, for another reason. My brother took a great interest, and, I may add, an interest not unmixed with pride, in our little family history. I confess that I share his feelings, and think, at any rate, that two or three of the persons of whom I have spoken deserve a fuller notice than has as yet been made public. What I have said may, I hope, serve as a small contribution to the history of one of the rivulets which helped to compose the great current of national life in the earlier part of this century.

I could not have attempted to write the life of my brother without the approval and the help of my sister-in-law, Lady Stephen. She has provided me with materials essential to the narrative, and has kindly read what I have written. I am, of course, entirely responsible for everything that is here said; and I feel the responsibility all the more because I have had the advantage of her suggestions throughout. I have also to thank my brother's children, who have been in various ways very helpful. My nephews, in particular, have helped me in regard to various legal matters. To my sister, Miss Stephen, I owe a debt of grat.i.tude which--for reasons which she will understand--I shall not attempt to discharge by any full acknowledgment.

I have especially to thank Sir H. S. Cunningham and Lady Egerton, Lady Stephen's brother and sister, for permitting me to read my brother's letters to them, and for various suggestions. Some other correspondence has been placed in my hands, and especially two important collections.

Lady Grant Duff has been good enough to show me a number of letters written to her, and Lady Lytton has communicated letters written to the late Lord Lytton. I have spoken of these letters in the text, and have in the last chapter given my reasons for confining my use of them to occasional extracts. They have been of material service.

I have acknowledged help received from other persons at the points where it has been turned to account. I will, however, offer my best thanks to them in this place, and a.s.sure them of my sincere grat.i.tude. Mr. Arthur Coleridge, the Rev. Dr. Kitchin, dean of Durham, the Rev. H. W. Watson, rector of Berkeswell, Coventry, the Rev. J. Llewelyn Davies, vicar of Kirkby Lonsdale, Prof. Sidgwick and Mr. Montagu S. D. Butler, of Pembroke College, Cambridge, have given me information in regard to early years. Mr. Franklin Lus.h.i.+ngton, Mr. Justice Wills, Lord Field, Mr.

Justice Vaughan Williams, Sir Francis Jeune, Sir Theodore Martin, the Right Hon. Joseph Chamberlain, Mr. H. F. d.i.c.kens, and the late Captain Parker Snow have given me information of various kinds as to the legal career. Sir John Strachey, Sir Robert Egerton, and Sir H. S. Cunningham have given me information as to the Indian career. Mr. George Murray Smith, Mr. James Knowles, Mr. Frederick Greenwood, and Mr. Longman have given me information as to various literary matters. I have also to thank Mrs. Charles Simpson, Mr. F. W. Gibbs, Mrs. Russell Gurney, Mr.

Horace Smith, Sir F. Pollock, Prof. Maitland, Mr. Voysey, and Mr. A. H.

Millar, of Dundee, for help on various points.

LESLIE STEPHEN.

1 MAY, 1895.

CHAPTER I

_FAMILY HISTORY_

I. JAMES STEPHEN, WRITER ON IMPRISONMENT FOR DEBT

During the first half of the eighteenth century a James Stephen, the first of the family of whom I have any knowledge, was tenant of a small farm in Aberdeens.h.i.+re, on the borders of Buchan.[1] He was also engaged in trade, and, though it is stated that smuggler would be too harsh a name to apply to him, he had no insuperable objection to dealing in contraband articles. He was considered to belong to the respectable cla.s.s, and gave his sons a good education. He had nine children by his wife, Mary Brown. Seven of these were sons, and were said to be the finest young men in the country. Alexander, the eldest, was in business at Glasgow; he died when nearly seventy, after falling into distress.

William, the second son, studied medicine, and ultimately settled at St.

Christopher's, in the West Indies, where he was both a physician and a planter. He probably began life as a 'surgeon to a Guineaman,' and he afterwards made money by buying 'refuse' (that is, sickly) negroes from slave s.h.i.+ps, and, after curing them of their diseases, selling them at an advanced price. He engaged in various speculations, and had made money when he died in 1781, in his fiftieth year. His career, as will be seen, was of great importance to his relations. The other sons all took to trade, but all died before William. The two sisters, Mrs. Nuccoll and Mrs. Calder, married respectably, and lived to a great age. They were able to be of some service to nephews and nieces.

My story is chiefly concerned with the third son, James, born about 1733. After studying law for a short time at Aberdeen, he was sent abroad, when eighteen years old, to Holland, and afterwards to France, with a view to some mercantile business. He was six feet three inches in height, and a man of great muscular power. Family traditions tell of his being attacked by two footpads, and knocking their heads together till they cried for mercy. Another legend a.s.serts that when a friend offered him a pony to carry him home after dinner, he made and won a bet that he would carry the pony. In the year 1752 this young giant was sailing as supercargo of a s.h.i.+p bound from Bordeaux to Scotland, with wine destined, no doubt, to replenish the 'blessed bear of Bradwardine,' and its like. The s.h.i.+p had neared the race of Portland, when a storm arose, and she was driven upon the cliffs of Purbeck Island. James Stephen, with four of the crew, escaped to the rocks, the rest being drowned.

Stephen roped his companions to himself, and scaled the rocks in the dark, as Lovel, in the 'Antiquary,' leads the Wardours and Edie Ochiltree up the crags of the Halket Head. Next day, the outcasts were hospitably received by Mr. Milner, Collector of Customs at Poole.

Stephen had to remain for some time on the spot to look after the salvage of the cargo. The drowned captain had left some valuable papers in a chest. He appeared in a dream to Stephen, and gave information which led to their recovery. The news that his ghost was on the look-out had, it is said, a wholesome effect in deterring wreckers from interference with the cargo.

Mr. Milner had six children, the youngest of whom, Sibella, was a lovely girl of fifteen. She had a fine voice, and had received more than the usual education of the times. She fell in love with the gallant young stranger, and before long they were privately married. This event was hastened by their desire to antic.i.p.ate the pa.s.sage of the Marriage Act (June 1753), which was expected to make the consent of parents necessary. The poor girl, however, yielded with much compunction, and regarded the evils which afterwards befell her as providential punishments for her neglect of filial duty.

James Stephen was a man of many prepossessing qualities, and soon became reconciled to his wife's family. He was taken into partners.h.i.+p by one of his brothers-in-law, a William Milner, then a merchant at Poole. Here his two eldest children were born, William on October 27, 1756, and James on June 30, 1758. Unfortunately the firm became bankrupt; and the bankruptcy led to a lifelong quarrel between James Stephen and his elder brother, William, who had taken some share in the business. James then managed to start in business in London, and for some time was fairly prosperous. Unluckily, while at Poole he had made a great impression upon Sir John Webbe, a Roman Catholic baronet, who had large estates in the neighbourhood. Sir John had taken up a grand scheme for developing his property at Hamworthy, close to Poole. Stephen, it seems, had discovered that there were not only brick earth and pipeclay but mineral springs and coal under the barren soil. A town was to be built; a trade started with London; Sir John's timber was to be turned into s.h.i.+ps; a colliery was to be opened--and, in short, a second Bristol was to arise in Dorsets.h.i.+re. Sir John was to supply the funds, and Stephen's energy and ability marked him out as the heaven-sent manager. Stephen accepted the proposals, gave up his London business, and set to work with energy.

Coal was found, it is said, 'though of too sulphureous a kind for use;'

but deeper diggings would, no doubt, lay bare a superior seam. After a year or two, however, affairs began to look black; Sir John Webbe became cool and then fell out with his manager; and the result was that, about 1769, James Stephen found himself confined for debt in the King's Bench prison.[2]

Stephen, however, was not a man to submit without knowing the reason why. He rubbed up his old legal knowledge, looked into the law-books, and discovered that imprisonment for debt was contrary to Magna Charta.

This doctrine soon made converts in the King's Bench. Three of his fellow prisoners enjoy such immortality as is conferred by admission to biographical dictionaries. The best known was the crazy poet, Christopher Smart, famous for having leased himself for ninety-nine years to a bookseller, and for the fine 'Song of David,' which Browning made the text of one of his later poems.[3] Another was William Jackson, an Irish clergyman, afterwards known as a journalist on the popular side, who was convicted of high treason at Dublin in 1795, and poisoned himself in the dock.[4] A third was William Thompson, known as 'Blarney,' a painter, who had married a rich wife in 1767, but had apparently spent her money by this time.[5] Mrs. Stephen condescended to enliven the little society by her musical talents. The prisoners in general welcomed Stephen as a champion of liberty. A writ of 'Habeas Corpus' was obtained, and Stephen argued his case before Lord Mansfield.

The great lawyer was naturally less amenable to reason than the prisoners. He was, however, impressed, it is reported, by the manliness and energy of the applicant. 'It is a great pity,' he said, 'but the prisoner must be remanded.' James Stephen's son, James, a boy of twelve, was by his side in court, and a bystander slipped five s.h.i.+llings into his hand; but the father had to go back to his prison. He stuck to his point obstinately. He published a pamphlet, setting forth his case. He wrote letters to the 'Public Advertiser,' to which Junius was then contributing. He again appealed to the courts, and finally called a meeting of his fellow prisoners. They resolved to break out in a body, and march to Westminster, to remonstrate with the judges. Stephen seized a turnkey, and took the keys by force; but, finding his followers unruly, was wise enough to submit. He was sent with three others to the 'New Jail.' The prisoners in the King's Bench hereupon rose, and attacked the wall with a pickaxe. Soldiers were called in, and the riot finally suppressed.[6]

Stephen, in spite of these proceedings, was treated with great humanity at the 'New Jail;' and apparently without much severity at the King's Bench to which he presently returned. 'Blarney' Thompson painted his portrait, and I possess an engraving with the inscription, 'Veritas a quocunque dicitur a Deo est.' Not long ago a copy of this engraving was given to my brother by a friend who had seen it in a shop and recognised the very strong family likeness between James and his great-grandson, James Fitzjames.

Stephen soon got out of prison. Sir John Webbe, at whose suit he had been arrested, agreed to pay the debts, gave him 500_l._ and settled an annuity of 40_l._ upon Mrs. Stephen. I hope that I may infer that Sir John felt that his debtor had something to say for himself. The question of making a living, however, became pressing. Stephen, on the strength, I presume, of his legal studies, resolved to be called to the bar. He entered at the Middle Temple; but had scarcely begun to keep his terms when the authorities interfered. His letters to the papers and attacks upon Lord Mansfield at the very time when Junius was at the height of his power (I do not, I may observe, claim the authors.h.i.+p of the letters for James Stephen) had, no doubt, made him a suspicious character. The benchers accordingly informed him that they would not call him to the bar, giving as their reasons his 'want of birth, want of fortune, want of education, and want of temper.' His friend, William Jackson, hereupon printed a letter,[7] addressing the benchers in the true Junius style.

He contrasts Stephen with his persecutors. Stephen might not know Law Latin, but he had read Bracton and Glanville and c.o.ke; he knew French and had read Latin at Aberdeen; he had been educated, it was true, in some 'paltry principles of honour and honesty,' while the benchers had learnt 'more useful lessons;' he had written letters to Wilkes copied in all the papers; he had read Locke, could 'harangue for hours upon social feelings, friends.h.i.+p, and benevolence,' and would trudge miles to save a family from prison, not considering that he was thereby robbing the lawyers and jailors of their fees. The benchers, it seems, had sworn the peace against him before Sir John Fielding, because he had made a friendly call upon a member of the society. They mistook a card of introduction for a challenge. Jackson signs himself 'with the profoundest sense of your Masters.h.i.+ps' demerits, your Masters.h.i.+ps'

inflexible detestor,' and probably did not improve his friend's position.

Stephen, thus rejected, entered the legal profession by a back door, which, if not reputable, was not absolutely closed. He entered into a kind of partners.h.i.+p with a solicitor who was the ostensible manager of the business, and could be put forward when personal appearance was necessary. Stephen's imposing looks and manner, his acquaintance with commercial circles and his reputation as a victim of Mansfield brought him a certain amount of business. He had, however, to undertake such business as did not commend itself to the reputable members of the profession. He had a hard struggle and was playing a losing game. He became allied with unfortunate adventurers prosecuting obscure claims against Government, which, even when admitted, did not repay the costs incurred. He had to frequent taverns in order to meet his clients, and took to smoking tobacco and possibly to other indulgences. His wife, who was a delicate woman, was put to grievous s.h.i.+fts to make both ends meet.

Her health broke down, and she died at last on March 21, 1775. She had brought him six children, of whom the eldest was nineteen and the youngest still under four.[8] I shall speak directly of the two eldest.

Two daughters were taken in charge by their grandmother Stephen, who was still living in Scotland; while the two little ones remained with their father at Stoke Newington, where he now lived, ran about the common and learnt to ride pigs. James Stephen himself lived four years more, sinking into deeper difficulties; an execution was threatened during his last illness, and he died in 1779, leaving hardly enough to pay his debts.[9]

II. JAMES STEPHEN, MASTER IN CHANCERY

I have now to tell the story of the second son, James, my grandfather, born in 1758. His education, as may be antic.i.p.ated, was desultory. When four or five years old, he was sent to a school at Vauxhall kept by Peter Annet (1693-1769), the last of the Deists who (in 1763) was imprisoned for a blasphemous libel. The elder Stephen was then living at Lambeth, and the choice of a schoolmaster seems to show that his opinions were of the free-thinking type. About 1767 the boy was sent to a school near his mother's family at Poole. There at the early age of ten he fell desperately in love with his schoolmaster's daughter, aged fifteen, and was hurt by the levity with which his pa.s.sion was treated.

At the same period he became a poet, composed hymns, and wrote an epigram upon one of his father's creditors. He accompanied his father to the King's Bench Prison, and there Christopher Smart and others petted the lad, lent him books, and encouraged his literary aspirations. During his father's later troubles he managed to keep up a subscription to a circulating library and would read two volumes a day, chiefly plays and novels, and, above all, the 'Grand Cyrus' and other old-fas.h.i.+oned romances. His mother tried to direct him to such solid works as Rapin's History, and he learnt her favourite Young's 'Night Thoughts' by heart.

He had no schooling after leaving Poole, until, about 1772, he was sent to a day school on Kennington Green, kept by a cheesemonger who had failed in business, and whose sole qualifications for teaching were a clerical wig and a black coat. Here occurred events which profoundly affected his career. A schoolfellow named Thomas Stent, son of a stockbroker, became his warm friend. The parent Stents forbade the intimacy with the son of a broken merchant. Young Stephen boldly called upon Mrs. Stent to protest against the sentence. She took a liking to the lad and invited him to her house, where the precocious youth fell desperately in love with Anne Stent, his schoolfellow's sister, who was four months his senior. The attachment was discovered and treated with ridicule. The girl, however, returned the boy's affection and the pa.s.sion ran its course after the most approved fas.h.i.+on. The hero was forbidden the house and the heroine confined to her room. There were clandestine meetings and clandestine correspondence, in which the schoolboy found the advantage of his studies in the 'Grand Cyrus.' At last in 1773 the affair was broken off for the time by the despatch of James Stephen to Winchester, where one of his Milner uncles boarded him and sent him to the school. His want of preparation prevented him from profiting by the teaching, and after the first half year his parents'

inability to pay the bills prevented him from returning. He wrote again to Miss Stent, but received a cold reply, signifying her obedience to parental authority. For the next two years he learnt nothing except from his studies at the circulating library. His mother, sinking under her burthens, did what she could to direct him, and he repaid her care by the tenderest devotion. Upon her death he thought for a moment of suicide. Things were looking black indeed. His elder brother William now took a bold step. His uncle and G.o.dfather, William, who had quarrelled with the family after the early bankruptcy at Poole, was understood to be prospering at St. Christopher's. The younger William, who had been employed in a mercantile office, managed to beg a pa.s.sage to the West Indies, and threw himself upon the uncle's protection. The uncle received the boy kindly, promised to take him into partners.h.i.+p as a physician, and sent him back by the same s.h.i.+p in order to obtain the necessary medical training at Aberdeen. He returned just in time. James had been thinking of volunteering under Was.h.i.+ngton, and had then accepted the offer of a 'book-keeper's' place in Jamaica. He afterwards discovered that a 'book-keeper' was an intermediate between the black slave-driver and the white overseer, and was doomed to a miserable and degrading life. It was now settled that he should go with William to Aberdeen, and study law. He entered at Lincoln's Inn, and looked forward to practising at St. Christopher's. The uncle refused to extend his liberality to James; but a student could live at Aberdeen for 20_l._ a year; the funds were somehow sc.r.a.ped together; and for the next two sessions, 1775-76 and 1776-77, James was a student at the Marischal College. The town, he says, was filthy and unwholesome; but his Scottish cousins were cordial and hospitable, the professors were kindly; and though his ignorance of Latin and inability even to read the Greek alphabet were hindrances, he picked up a little mathematics and heard the lectures of the great Dr. Beattie. His powers of talk and his knowledge of London life atoned for his imperfect education. He saw something of Aberdeen society; admired and danced with the daughters of baillies, and was even tempted at times to forget his pa.s.sion for Anne Stent, who had sent a chilling answer to a final appeal.

In 1777, Stephen returned to London, and had to take part of his father's dwindling business. He thus picked up some sc.r.a.ps of professional knowledge. On the father's death, kind Scottish relations took charge of the two youngest children, and his brother William soon sailed for St. Christopher's. James was left alone. He appealed to the uncle, George Milner, with whom he had lived at Winchester, and who, having married a rich wife, was living in comfort at Comberton, near Cambridge. The uncle promised to give him 50_l._ a year to enable him to finish his legal education. He took lodgings on the strength of this promise, and resolved to struggle on, though still giving an occasional thought to Was.h.i.+ngton's army.

Isolation and want of money naturally turn the thoughts of an energetic young man to marriage. James Stephen resolved once more to appeal to Anne Stent. Her father's doors were closed to him; but after long watching he managed to encounter her as she was walking. He declared his unaltered pa.s.sion, and she listened with apparent sympathy. She showed a reserve, however, which was presently explained. In obedience to her parents' wishes, she had promised to marry a young man who was on his return from the colonies. The avowal led to a pathetic scene: Anne Stent wept and fainted, and finally her feelings became so clear that the couple pledged themselves to each other; and the young gentleman from the colonies was rejected. Mr. Stent was indignant, and sent his daughter to live elsewhere.

The young couple, however, were not forbidden to meet, and found an ally in James Stephen's former schoolfellow, Thomas Stent. He was now a mids.h.i.+pman in the royal navy; and he managed to arrange meetings between his sister and her lover. Stent soon had to go to sea, but suggested an ingenious arrangement for the future. A lovely girl, spoken of as Maria, was known to both the Stents and pa.s.sionately admired by the sailor. She lived in a boarding-house, and Stent proposed that Stephen should lodge in the same house, where he would be able both to see Anne Stent and to plead his friend's cause with Maria. This judicious scheme led to difficulties. When, after a time, Stephen began to speak to Maria on behalf of Stent, the lady at last hinted that she had another attachment, and, on further pressure, it appeared that the object of the attachment was Stephen himself. He was not insensible, as he then discovered, to Maria's charms. 'I have been told,' he says, 'that no man can love two women at once; but I am confident that this is an error.'

The problem, however, remained as to the application of this principle to practice. The first consequence was a breach with the old love. Miss Stent and her lover were parted. Maria, however, was still under age, and Stephen was under the erroneous impression that a marriage with her would be illegal without the consent of her guardians, which was out of the question. While things were in this state, Thomas Stent came back from a cruise covered with glory. He hastened at once from Portsmouth to his father, and persuaded the delighted old gentleman to restore his daughter to her home and to receive James Stephen to the house as her acknowledged suitor. He then sent news of his achievement to his friend; and an interview became necessary, to which James Stephen repaired about as cheerfully, he says, as he would have gone to Tyburn tree. He had to confess that he had broken off the engagement to his friend's sister because he had transferred his affections to his friend's mistress.

Stent must have been a magnanimous man. He replied, after reflection, that the news would break his father's heart. The arrangement he had made must be ostensibly carried out. Stephen must come to the elder Stent's house and meet the daughter on apparently cordial terms. Young Stent's friends.h.i.+p was at an end; but Stephen felt bound to adopt the prescribed plan.

Meanwhile Stephen's finances were at a low ebb. His uncle, Milner, had heard a false report, that the nephew had misrepresented the amount of his father's debts. He declined to pay the promised allowance, and Stephen felt the insult so bitterly that, after disproving the story, he refused to take a penny from his uncle. He was once reduced to his last sixpence, and was only kept afloat by accepting small loans, amounting to about 5_l._, from an old clerk of his father's. At last, towards the end of 1780 a chance offered. The 'fighting parson,' Bate, afterwards Sir Henry Bate Dudley, then a part proprietor of the 'Morning Post,'

quarrelled with a fellow proprietor, Joseph Richardson, put a bullet into his adversary's shoulder and set up a rival paper, the 'Morning Herald.' A vacancy was thus created in the 'Morning Post,' and Richardson gave the place to Stephen, with a salary of two guineas a week. Stephen had to report debates on the old system, when paper and pen were still forbidden in the gallery. At the trial of Lord George Gordon (February 5 and 6, 1781) he had to be in Westminster Hall at four in the morning; and to stand wedged in the crowd till an early hour the next morning,[10] when the verdict was delivered. He had then to write his report while the press was at work. The reporters were employed at other times upon miscellaneous articles; and Stephen acquired some knowledge of journalism and of the queer world in which journalists then lived. They were a rough set of Bohemians, drinking, quarrelling, and duelling, and indulging in coa.r.s.e amus.e.m.e.nts. Fortunately Stephen's attendance upon the two ladies, for he still saw something of both, kept him from joining in some of his fellows' amus.e.m.e.nts.

In 1781 there came a prospect of relief. The uncle in St. Christopher's died and left all his property to his nephew William. William at once sent home supplies, which enabled his brother James to give up reporting, to be called to the bar (January 26, 1782) and in the next year to sail to St. Christopher's. His love affair had unravelled itself. He had been suspended between the two ladies, and only able to decide that if either of them married he was bound to marry the other.

Miss Stent seems to have been the superior of Maria in intellect and accomplishments, though inferior in beauty. She undoubtedly showed remarkable forbearance and good feeling. Ultimately she married James Stephen before he sailed for the West Indies. Maria not long afterwards married someone else, and, to the best of my belief, lived happily ever afterwards.

My grandfather's autobiography, written about forty years later, comes to an end at this point. It is a curious doc.u.ment, full of the strong religious sentiment by which he came to be distinguished; tracing the finger of Providence in all that happened to him, even in the good results brought out of actions for which he expresses contrition; and yet with an obvious pleasure in recalling the vivid impressions of his early and vigorous youth. I omit parts of what is at times a confession of error. This much I think it only right to say. Although he was guilty of some lapses from strict morality, for which he expresses sincere regret, it is also true that, in spite of his surroundings and the temptations to which a very young man thrown upon the London world of those days was exposed, he not only showed remarkable energy and independence and a strong sense of honour, but was to all appearance entirely free from degrading vices. His mother's influence seems to have impressed upon him a relatively high standard of morality, though he was a man of impetuous and ardent character, turned loose in anything but a pure moral atmosphere.

James Stephen had at this time democratic tendencies. He had sympathised with the rebellious colonists, and he had once covered himself with glory by a speech against slavery delivered in Coachmakers' Hall in presence of Maria and Miss Stent. He had then got up the subject for the occasion. He was now to make practical acquaintance with it. His s.h.i.+p touched at Barbadoes in December 1783; and out of curiosity he attended a trial for murder. Four squalid negroes, their hands tied by cords, were placed at the bar. A planter had been found dead with injuries to his head. A negro girl swore that she had seen them inflicted by the four prisoners. There was no jury, and the witnesses were warned in 'the most alarming terms' to conceal nothing that made against the accused.

Stephen, disgusted by the whole scene, was glad to leave the court. He learnt afterwards that the prisoners were convicted upon the unsupported evidence of the girl. The owner of two of them afterwards proved an _alibi_ conclusively, and they were pardoned; but the other two, convicted on precisely the same evidence, were burnt alive.[11] Stephen resolved never to have any connection with slavery. During his stay at St. Christopher's he had free servants, or, if he hired slaves, obtained their manumission. No one who had served him long remained in slavery, except one man, who was so good and faithful a servant that his owner refused to take even the full value when offered by his employer.[12]

Other facts strengthened his hatred of the system. In 1786 he was engaged in prosecuting a planter for gross cruelty to two little negroes of 6 and 7 years of age. After long proceedings, the planter was fined 40_s._

A lawyer's practice at St. Christopher's was supposed to be profitable.

The sugar colonies were flouris.h.i.+ng; and Nelson, then captain of the 'Boreas,' was giving proof of his character, and making work for the lawyers by enforcing the provisions of the Navigation Act upon recalcitrant American traders and their customers.

Stephen earned enough to be able to visit England in the winter of 1788-9. There he sought the acquaintance of Wilberforce, who was beginning his crusade against the slave trade. Information from a shrewd observer on the spot was, of course, of great value; and, although prudence forbade a public advocacy of the cause, Stephen supplied Wilberforce with facts and continued to correspond with him after returning to St. Christopher's. The outbreak of the great war brought business. During 1793-4 the harbour of St. Christopher's was crowded with American prizes, and Stephen was employed to defend most of them in the courts. His health suffered from the climate, and he now saved enough to return to England at the end of 1794. He then obtained employment in the Prize Appeal Court of the Privy Council, generally known as the 'c.o.c.kpit.' He divided the leading business with Dallas until his appointment to a Masters.h.i.+p in Chancery in 1811.

Stephen was now able to avow his anti-slavery principles and soon became one of Wilberforce's most trusted supporters. He was probably second only to Zachary Macaulay, who had also practical experience of the system. Stephen's wife died soon after his return, and was buried at Stoke Newington on December 10, 1796. He was thrown for a time into the deepest dejection. Wilberforce forced himself upon his solitude, and with the consolations of so dear a friend his spirits recovered their elasticity. Four years later the friends.h.i.+p was drawn still closer by Stephen's marriage to the only surviving sister of Wilberforce, widow of the Rev. Dr. Clarke, of Hull. She was a rather eccentric but very vigorous woman. She spent all her income, some 300_l._ or 400_l._ a year, on charity, reserving 10_l._ for her clothes. She was often to be seen parading Clapham in rags and tatters. Thomas Gisborne, a light of the sect, once tore her skirt from top to bottom at his house, Yoxall Lodge, saying 'Now, Mrs. Stephen, you _must_ buy a new dress.' She calmly st.i.tched it together and appeared in it next day. She made her stepchildren read Butler's 'a.n.a.logy' before they were seven.[13] But in spite of her oddities and severities, she seems to have been both respected and beloved by her nearest relations.

The marriage probably marked Stephen's final adhesion to the Evangelical party. He maintained till his death the closest and most affectionate alliance with his brother-in-law Wilberforce. The nature of their relations may be inferred from Wilberforce's 'Life and Letters.'