decorations for theatres. Having amassed a considerable fortune, he commenced building a handsome mansion, but had not proceeded far when he found his means to be inadequate, and he pretended that the Grand-Duke of Tuscany required his attendance at Florence, as an excuse for not proceeding with the edifice. The mortification of this disappointment is supposed to have hastened his death, which took place at Antwerp in 1637, according to Houbraken, and according to Weyermans in 1640.

RÖMER, OLAUS, a Danish astronomer, was born at Arhusen in Jutland, in 1644, of parents who, though not in affluent circumstances, were able to give their son the benefits of a scientific education by sending him to the University of Copenhagen, where he applied himself diligently to the study of astronomy under Erasmus Bartholinus. He was brought into notice by Picard, who, in 1671, was sent from France by Louis XIV. to make celestial observations in the north, and to verify the position of Uraniburg, once the residence of Tycho Brahé. The French astronomer conceived so great an esteem for the talents of the young Dane, that he engaged him to visit Paris, and when there procured for him the honour of being presented to the king. In consequence of this introduction, Römer was appointed to instruct the Dauphin in mathematics, a pension was settled on him, and the next year the Royal Academy of Sciences made him a member of their body. While in France, Römer was employed, together with Messrs. Cassini and Picard, in performing geodetical operations for the survey of the kingdom; he also assisted at the Royal Observatory at Paris, and from the observations which he had occasion to make on the immersions and emersions of Jupiter's first satellite, he was led to the discovery of certain inequalities in the times of the occurrence of these phenomena, which had not before been noticed. It was then first remarked, that between the times of the opposition of Jupiter to the sun and the next following conjunction, the emersions of the satellite from the shadow of the planet took place always later than the times indicated by calculation, and that the difference between the observed and the calculated times when the planet was near the points of opposition and conjunction was about fourteen minutes. A contrary circumstance was observed from the time of a conjunction of Jupiter with the sun to the next following opposition; for the immersions appeared to take place more early than the calculated times, the difference of the times, when near the points of conjunction and opposition, being also about fourteen minutes.

There appears however to be some uncertainty whether Römer or Cassini (J. D.) is the astronomer to whom the honour of being the first to perceive the inequality belongs; and Montucla asserts not only that the latter made the discovery, but that he gave an explanation of its cause. He states that Cassini published in 1675 a paper in which it is shown that the phenomena result from the difference between the times during which the particles of light are passing from the satellite to the earth (the planet being, when in opposition, nearer to the earth than when in conjunction, by the whole diameter of the earth's orbit), and in which it is inferred that the velocity of light must consequently be such as to allow it to pass from the sun to the earth in about eight or ten minutes. On the other hand, it is well known that Cassini at first objected to the transmission of light through a part of space in a certain time as a cause of the observed inequality, on the ground that similar inequalities were not observed in the immersions or emersions of the other satellites. Now it is more probable that the French astronomer should have made objections to the hypothesis of another man, than that he should have abandoned one which himself had formed; and even if such abandonment had taken place, Römer ought in justice to be considered as the real discoverer of this important element in astronomical science, since it is admitted that he took up the subject and gave a precise explanation of the circumstances. The reason why the like retardation or acceleration of the times was not, then, observed in the second and the remaining satellites is, that the theory of the motions of those bodies was in that age so imperfect, that the times of the phenomena could not be determined by computation within the number of minutes to which the optical inequality amounts. It is now well known that the latter takes place similarly in the phenomena of all the satellites.

Römer was as good a mechanician as an astronomer. It is to him we owe the application of the epicycloidal curve in the formation of the teeth of wheels, by which the movement is rendered uniform; and an account of the invention was sent to the Academy of Sciences in 1675. De la Hire afterwards claimed the honour of having first discovered the advantage of teeth so formed; but Leibnitz, in a letter to John Bernoulli, states that Römer had communicated the invention to him twenty years before the date of De la Hire's publication. Römer is said to have designed several machines for representing the motions of the planets, and particularly one which exhibited the revolutions of Jupiter's satellites: by this machine it is said that the immersions and the emersions might be determined with great precision.

Having remained ten years in France, Römer returned to Copenhagen, where the king, Christian V., made him professor of astronomy. He was at the same time employed in reforming the coin, in regulating te weights and measures, and in making or repairing the public roads. Having acquitted himself in the performance of these scientific

commissions to the satisfaction of his sovereign, he was named chancellor of the Danish exchequer, and assessor of the supreme tribunal of justice. At length, under Frederic IV., he became burgomaster of Copenhagen, in which city he died, September 19, 1702, having suffered at intervals from the stone during the three last years of his life.

Peter Horrebow, one of his pupils and his successor in the chair of astronomy, published (1735), under the title of Basis Astronomiæ,' the series of celestial observations made by Römer, with a description of the observatory at Copenhagen, and an account of the manner in which the instruments were used.

In determining the apparent places of celestial bodies, it had, previously to the time of Römer, been the practice to observe their altitudes and azimuths, and also their distances from one another or from some body whose place was already found. The trouble of computing the right ascensions and declinations from these elements was considerable, and the Danish astronomer made an important change in the practice of observing, by which this trouble was avoided. He used what is called a transit telescope, with a clock, and also a mural quadrant; with these he observed directly the differences between the right-ascensions (in time) and between the declinations of the sun and the planets or the fixed stars. It is right to remark however that Picard had somewhat earlier fixed in the plane of the meridian a telescope, by which he could, it is said, obtain altitudes between 56° and 61°. Now a space equal in extent to five degrees cannot be seen at once in a telescope, and therefore it is probable that this was moveable in altitude to that extent; and if Römer was at any time a witness to the performance of the instrument, he may have taken from it the idea of making a telescope turn on a horizontal axis through 360 degrees in the plane of the meridian. It appears also that De la Hire contended with Römer for the honour of having been the first to fix a quadrantal instrument in that plane.

ROMILLY, SIR SAMUEL, was born in London, on the 1st of March 1757. His grandfather, a French Protestant, quitted France in consequence of the persecutions which succeeded the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, and established himself in the business of a waxbleacher, in the neighbourhood of London. His youngest son, Peter, the father of Sir Samuel Romilly, was brought up to the trade of a jeweller, in which he became successful and eminent. Of the numerous family of Peter Romilly, two sons and a daughter alone survived their infancy, of whom Samuel was the youngest. The early education of Samuel Romilly was extremely defective. He was sent with his brother to a day-school, frequented by the children of the French refugees in London, the master of which was ignorant and tyrannical, and incompetent to instruct his pupils in anything beyond reading, writing, and the rudiments of the French language. The elder brother being intended for his father's trade, it was attempted to lead Samuel's inclination to the business of a solicitor; but a disgust implanted in his mind by a view of the discouraging apparatus of an attorney's office in the city, caused the abandonment of this scheme. then proposed to place him in the commercial house of the Fludyers, who were near relations of his family, and one of whom, Sir Samuel Fludyer, was his godfather. With a view to this employment he received instruction in book-keeping and mercantile accounts, but the death of both the partners in the house of Fludyer put an end to this promising project, and his father, having failed in several other schemes respecting him, eventually employed him in his own trade, at first simply for the purpose of furnishing him with occupation, and afterwards with the intention that the two brothers should succeed to the business in partnership upon their father's retirement.

It was

During the intervals of leisure which were abundantly afforded him for several years after he left school, at the age of fourteen, Samuel Romilly applied himself assiduously to literary studies, which were more suitable to his serious and somewhat melancholy disposition than the usual exercises and amusements of youth. Ancient history, English poetry, and works of criticism were at this period his favourite objects of pursuit. When he was between fifteen and sixteen years of age he determined to become acquainted with the Latin language, and by means of hard study, and with the assistance of a master, he acquired so much proficiency as enabled him, in the course of three or four years, to read through almost all the classical writers of Rome. He also applied himself to Greek, but, discouraged by the difficulties of self-instruction, he abandoned the attempt, and contented himself with studying the Greek authors by means of Latin versions. In addition to classical studies, he read travels, and acquired a competent knowledge of geography, and some acquaintance with natural history; and he also attended private lectures on natural philosophy, and the lectures on painting, architecture, and anatomy delivered at the Royal Academy.

It is not surprising that a devotion to such pursuits as these should excite aspirations for an occupation more congenial to them than the trade of a jeweller; and his indulgent father, whose pecuniary means had been about this time increased by considerable legacies to his family, and among them a bequest of 2000l. to Samuel Romilly, readily yielded to his son's wishes in this respect, and articled him for five years to one of the sworn clerks in chancery. The object of serving a clerkship of this kind was the purchase of a seat in the Six Clerks'

Office at the expiration of his articles, and the intended retirement of
his master was likely to offer a favourable opportunity for the attain-
ment of this object; but Romilly's dislike to the business, and his
disinclination to embarrass his father by withdrawing from his hands
the amount of the bequest above mentioned, which would have been
necessary in order to purchase the seat, determined him to renounce
his prospects in the Six Clerks' Office entirely, and to qualify himself
for the bar. Accordingly, in May 1778, having served his clerkship,
and completed his twenty-first year, he entered himself at Gray's-inn,
placed himself in the chamber of an equity draughtsman, and com-
menced with great ardour the study of the law. He still however
pursued his literary studies and exercises, employing much of his time
in reading and translating the Latin historians and orators, occasionally
writing political essays for the newspapers, and sometimes attending
the houses of parliament for the purpose of exercising his own powers
of abstraction, argument, and expression, by composing imaginary
answers to the speeches which he had heard there.
Not long after he commenced his legal reading, he was attacked by
serious illness, which compelled him to lay aside all severe studies,
and threatened wholly to interrupt his professional prospects. For
tunately a family incident induced him to undertake a journey to
Switzerland, where he remained several weeks in the society of his
brother-in-law and most intimate friend the Rev. John Roget, and,
returning by way of Paris, he became acquainted in that capital with
D'Alembert and Diderot, and formed intimate friendships with several
of the most eminent political philosophers of that day, whose conver-
sation and correspondence produced a marked effect upon his character
and opinions. He arrived in London after an absence of several months,
with his health entirely restored.

In Easter term, 1783, Romilly was called to the bar; but his entrance upon the practice of the profession was postponed for several months in consequence of a second journey to Switzerland, which he undertook for the purpose of attending his sister to England, upon the death of Mr. Roget. In Michaelmas term, 1783, however, he began his attendance upon the courts, and opened his practice with a very inconsiderable amount of employment in drawing chancery pleadings. In the following spring he joined the Midland circuit; but being unknown and without connections of any kind, no encouraging prospect of business appeared for several years. Success at sessions however led to employment on the circuit; and though his progress was by no means rapid, we have his own authority for stating that when the extent of his practice in the Court of Chancery compelled him to restrict himself to London, he had attained to a larger amount of leading nisi prius' business than was possessed by any other counsel upon the circuit. (Memoirs of Sir Samuel Romilly,' vol. i., p. 94.) In the year after that in which he was called to the bar, Romilly, through his connections in Paris, became acquainted with Mirabeau. By his means he was introduced to the late Marquis of Lansdowne, who had become desirous of his acquaintance upon learning that he was the writer of an anonymous tract, entitled A Fragment on the Constitutional Power and Duties of Juries;' and who, having from the first conceived a high opinion of Romilly's talents, continued to be for many years his steady friend and patron. So high was Lord Lansdowne's estimate of his character, and his anticipation of his eventual success, that in the first years of their acquaintance he was twice offered a seat in parliament by that nobleman, which he declined from a feeling of independence. Soon after his first introduction to Lord Lansdowne, his attention was directed by that nobleman to Madan's Thoughts on Executive Justice,' a tract which about that time excited much notice. The author of this tract relied upon the well-known principle, that as the object of judicial punishment is to deter from crime, the effect of penal laws is in a great measure lost unless execution follows the sentence with certainty. The principle is true in the abstract; but it was absurd to attempt to apply it in practice to laws so severe as at that time existed in England. In answer to Madan's tract, Romilly published some sensible observations in an anonymous pamphlet, his composition of which was probably the first occasion on which he was induced to consider with attention the principles of criminal law.

Romilly's practice, both on the circuit and in the Court of Chancery, within ten years after he was called to the bar, became considerable. The precise period at which he quitted the circuit is not mentioned in any published account of his life; but it must have been subsequent to 1797, in which year he successfully defended at Warwick a delegate of the London Corresponding Society, prosecuted by the government for sedition (Howell's State Trials,' vol. xxvi., p. 595), and was probably previous to the summer of the year 1800, when he was made king's counsel. After obtaining rank in the profession as king's counsel, his business in the Court of Chancery rapidly increased; and by 1805, he had the most practice of any of the barristers who attended the Court of Chancery. About this time the Bishop of Durham gave him the office of Chancellor of the County Palatine of Durham, which he held for many years. In the autumn of the year 1805 he was offered a seat in parliament by the Prince of Wales (afterwards George IV.), who at that time adhered to the Whig party, and whose attention had been particularly drawn to Romilly from the circumstance of his being retained in a cause in Chancery, in which the prince was much interested. This offer was declined from the same independent BIOG. DIV. VOL. V.

feeling which had induced him to decline two offers of a similar kind previously made by Lord Lansdowne. Romilly's early association with some of the most distinguished persons interested in the French revolution, and, above all, perhaps his intimacy with Mirabeau, had given him in the outset of life a decided bias towards what are termed popular or liberal opinions in politics. In consistency with his general principles, he became a decided adherent of the Whigs, and, long before he obtained a seat in the House of Commons, was in the habit of confidential communication with the leaders of that party. On the formation of the Grenville administration, at the commencement of the year 1806, he received the appointment of solicitor-general, and the honour of knighthood, and was brought into parliament by the government for the borough of Queenborough. He was appointed one of the managers for the Commons on the trial and impeachment of Lord Melville, and summed up the evidence in support of the charge. In the course of his first session in parliament he introduced a bill for the amendment of the bankrupt laws (46 Geo. III., c. 135), which passed both houses with very little objection or observation, and constituted a material improvement of that which was then an extremely defective branch of the law of England. After the dissolution of parliament, which took place at the close of the year 1806, he was re-elected for the government borough of Queenborough; and in the early part of 1807, and while in office as solicitor-general, he introduced a bill for the purpose of making real property in all cases assets for the payment of simple contract debts. This just and reasonable measure, although approved by Lord Ellenborough, was strongly opposed in the House of Commons by the Master of the Rolls, Sir William Grant, and rejected by a considerable majority. The opposition offered to this measure by the Master of the Rolls was personally resented by Sir Samuel Romilly with a degree of acrimony scarcely justified by the occasion. A measure founded upon a more limited application of the same principle, by confining it to the freehold property of traders, was, during the next session of parliament, proposed by Romilly and carried (stat. 47 Geo. III., c. 74). At subsequent periods he made several attempts to carry his proposition into execution to its full extent, but without success. His reply to the Master of the Rolls in the first debate on this bill, and his speech about the same time in favour of the abolition of the slave-trade, established his reputation as a parliamentary speaker of the highest character. In March 1807 the Whig ministers were displaced, and with their removal ended the short official employment of Romilly. He retained however his seat in parliament, and continued until the end of his life a zealous and leading member of the opposition party. On the dissolution of parliament, which took place after the change of ministers, he purchased his return for the borough of Horsham from the Duke of Norfolk-a mode of entering the House of Commons which he characterised as "detestable" (Memoirs,' vol. ii., p. 201), but which he justified in his own case as being at that time the only mode by which he could hope to obtain a seat in parliament consistently with that entire independence of action which alone made it valuable to him. In the session of 1807 he opposed the several harsh measures which were passed for the suppression of disturbances in Ireland, and warmly supported Mr. Whitbread's bill for establishing parochial schools; and besides the measures respecting the freehold estates of traders above alluded to, he introduced an important practical improvement in the administration of justice, by abolishing an unfair and useless privilege of members of the House of Commons as defendants in equity.

In the early part of the session of 1808, Sir Samuel Romilly lost his seat in parliament for Horsham upon a petition; but after the interval of about a month, he was returned for the borough of Wareham, having purchased his election for 3000.

In the autumn vacation of 1807, Romilly had applied himself to the consideration of the criminal law of England, with a view to remove some of its glaring evils and defects. His attention had been called to the subject at an earlier period, when he composed his observations on Madan's treatise; and he now found himself in a situation, with respect to influence and authority, which justified the hope that he might be enabled to carry into practical operation the doctrines which experience and reflection, together with his acquaintance with foreign laws and the writings of foreign jurists, had long before impressed upon his mind. At the time when Sir Samuel Romilly began to apply his mind to the subject, the penal laws of England were far more severe than those of any other European country-nearly three hundred crimes of various degrees and qualities of moral guilt being then indiscriminately punishable with death. The necessary consequence was a great uncertainty in the execution of criminal justice, proportionately impairing its effectiveness; for, as Lord Coke long ago observed, "too severe laws are never duly executed" (3 Inst., 163). To the removal or mitigation of this great evil Sir Samuel Romilly devoted himself with uncommon energy and perseverance during the last ten years of his life. At first his views of practical improvement were limited, and the only measures which he originally contemplated were, first, a provision by which acquitted criminals should be allowed compensation out of some public fund; and, secondly, an enactment raising the amount of the value of property to the stealing of which capital punishment should be annexed.

L

The first of these measures, though just in principle, was liable to many serious difficulties in its application to practice, and being strongly opposed in the House of Commons, was early abandoned, and never afterwards resumed; and the second was modified at the recommendation of Mr. Scarlett, afterwards Lord Abinger, who sug. gested to Romilly, as a much more effectual improvement in the law, the total repeal of all statutes which punish with death mere thefts unaccompanied by any act of violence or other circumstances of aggravation. Though Romilly readily adopted this suggestion, he thought that a proposition for the simultaneous repeal of so large a number of statutes stood no chance of success in parliament, and for that reason he resolved to propose, in detail, the repeal of individual laws, by which punishments of disproportionate severity were enacted, and thus gradually to expunge the whole from the statute book. Accordingly immediately after he had taken his seat for Wareham, in 1808, he brought in a bill to repeal the stat. 8 Eliz., c. 4, which made it a capital offence to steal privately from the person of another; and this measure, after some objection and discussion in the House of Commons, was eventually passed (48 Geo. III., c. 129). His next step towards the attainment of his object was taken in the early part of the session of 1810, when he introduced three bills to repeal several statutes which punished with death the crimes of stealing privately in a shop goods of the value of five shillings, and of stealing to the amount of forty shillings in dwelling-houses or in vessels on navigable rivers; and in order that his views on the subject might be generally understood, he published the substance of the speech delivered by him on his first proposal of the bills, together with some further arguments, in the form of a pamphlet, entitled 'Observations on the Criminal Law as it relates to Capital Punishments, and on the Mode in which it is administered.' One of the bills introduced by him on this occasion was thrown out in the House of Commons by a majority of two voices, in a very thin house; a second reached the House of Lords, and was there thrown out by a large majority-the lord chancellor (Eldon) and Lord Ellenborough using reasons against it which at the present day cannot be perused without astonishment; and the third bill was withdrawn by Romilly, after having in vain attempted to make a house in order to have it read a third time. Notwithstanding this failure, his confidence in the justice of his principles, added to his characteristic firmness and perseverance, enabled him, in spite of all the discouragements arising from the apathy of friends, and the ignorance, prejudices, and partyspirit of enemies, to renew his endeavours to pass these measures in each succeeding session during the remainder of his life; but although several severe laws of a local and special nature were repealed, and although a considerable effect was produced on public opinion by the repeated discussions of the subject, it was not until several years after his death that any substantial improvement of the criminal law was effected.

In the anticipation of a dissolution of parliament on occasion of the king's illness, at the latter part of 1811, Sir Samuel Romilly was invited to allow himself to be put in nomination to represent the city of Bristol. Having accepted this invitation, he went down to Bristol upon the dissolution of parliament at the close of the year 1812, with the most encouraging prospect of success; but an opposition was excited in favour of a merchant of Bristol, whose personal influence and local connections gave him a much more efficient interest among the numerous constituency of that city than that which Romilly had acquired by means of his public character. The consequence was that, after a few days' struggle, he abandoned the contest as hopeless. Upon this failure, he was returned by the Duke of Norfolk for his borough of Arundel; and Sir Samuel considered that the objections which he had entertained in early life against accepting a seat in parliament from the proprietor of a borough no longer applied, inasmuch as his public character was now so fully established, that he could never be suspected of intending to speak or vote merely at the dictation of his patron; and because, since the law had declared the former practice of selling seats to be illegal, there was no other means of entering the House of Commons than by the nomination of a patron or a popular election.

In the interval between the dissolution of the former parliament and the meeting of the new one in 1813, he published a small pamphlet, entitled 'Objections to the Project of creating a Vice-Chancellor of England.' This unsatisfactory plan of reforming the evils of the Court of Chancery he in all its stages strenuously though unsuccessfully opposed.

It would exceed the proper limits of the present article to relate in detail the circumstances of the parliamentary career of Sir Samuel Romilly during the last five years of his life. In addition to his proposals for the improvement of the criminal law, he took an active part in all the political questions of the time, generally acting in zealous opposition to the ministers. He supported Mr. Whitbread's resolution against declaring war with France upon the return of Napoleon I. from Elba in 1815; he opposed the bills for suppressing Irish insurrections, and for the suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act in 1817; and moved resolutions condemning Lord Sidmouth's circular to magistrates respecting the prosecution of seditious libels. He also spoke and voted against the Alien Act, and in favour of an extension of the elective franchise, and of Roman Catholic emancipation.

In the summer of 1818 a dissolution of parliament took place, and Romilly, being solicited to appear as a candidate for the representation of Westminster, was returned at the head of the poll, though he declined to take any part in the canvass, and did not appear upon the hustings until the termination of the election. He died however before the meeting of parliament. Lady Romilly, to whom he was devotedly attached, and whose health had been for some months declining, died at Cowes in the Isle of Wight, on the 29th of October 1818; and this event occurring to a mind already dangerously excited by recent exertions and anxiety, produced a delirium, under the influence of which he put an end to his existence on the 2nd of November 1818. In his profession, Sir Samuel Romilly attained to greater success than had been enjoyed by any advocate since the time of Sir Edward Coke. Nor did his professional reputation at all exceed his merits. He had a familiar knowledge of the principles of English law as administered not only in courts of equity, but in common-law tribunals; an unusual perspicacity of thought and expression, strong power of reasoning, great earnestness in enforcing his arguments, entire devotion to the interests of his client, and singular prudence in the management of a cause. To these qualities were united a deep sonorous voice, and unequalled impressiveness of manner. On the other hand, he is related to have been stern in his deportment to juniors, and unnecessarily severe in forensic altercation. The tradition of the profession also ascribes to him much eagerness both in acquiring and retaining his practice.

As a politician, Romilly was inflexibly consistent in all his general views, and uniformly acted up to his principles. He displayed however more of the mere spirit of party than was in any sense defensible, or indeed than might have been expected from his enlarged mind and otherwise independent character. His public speaking was perhaps more deeply impressive than that of any speaker of modern times. He expressed himself with great readiness and fluency. Without aid from artificial means, and without the use of figurative language or ornament of any kind, his simple, correct, and nervous style, supported by his serious and dignified deportment and fine voice, often produced an effect equally surprising to the speaker and his hearers. Romilly's style in writing displays the same features as his manner of speakingclear, easy, forcible, and totally unadorned. In very early life he acquired the habits of reading with care and reflection, and of thinking clearly and closely; and hence arose the faculties of accurate reasoning, and of distinct and powerful expression, for which he was singularly remarkable. * THE RIGHT HON. JOHN, LORD ROMILLY, second son of Sir Samuel Romilly, after having, like his father, distinguished himself at the bar, was appointed Solicitor-General in April 1848, and in July 1850 Attorney-General. In March 1851 he was raised to the dignity of Master of the Rolls. For several years during which Sir John Romilly sat in parliament, first as member for Bridport, and afterwards for Devonport, he was a zealous law-reformer. Since he has held his present high office he has done much towards rendering the national records more accessible, and he has extended the boon by laying down a well-devised plan for the publication of the more generally important and interesting of the documents. He was created a baron in 1865. ROMNEY, GEORGE, was born at Dalton in Lancashire, December 15, 1734, and was the son of John Romney, a wealthy cabinetmaker of that town. As he showed a mechanical turn at a very early age, he was taken away from school in his eleventh year, and placed in his father's workshop. A watchmaker of the name of Williamson, an eccentric man, who was devoted to alchemy, exercised an influence over the mind of young Romney, which seems to have left a lasting impression; he endeavoured to initiate him in the mysteries of his favourite pursuits, and our young painter was not an unwilling disciple. He appears at a very early age to have had a passion for sketching people and taking likenesses, which he exercised by drawing his fellowworkmen in various attitudes upon the deals and boards in his father's workshop; and his taste was fostered by meeting with Leonardo da Vinci's treatise on painting, embellished with various illustrations. His first effort that attracted any notice was a drawing of Mrs. Gardiner, which induced his father, encouraged by the persuasion of several friends, to place him with a portrait-painter of the name of Steele, who painted heads at Kendal, to whom he was bound for four years, at the age of nineteen.

At Kendal, in 1756, Romney contracted an early marriage with Mary Abbot of Kirkland, by which he displeased his parents; and according to Hayley, although his son denies the fact, he himself shortly afterwards repented of his precipitate step. The result how. ever proved that his choice was eminently worthy of his affections. Having cancelled the indenture with his master, Romney, at the age of twenty-three, commenced painting on his own account. His first production was a hand holding a letter for the post-office window at Kendal, which continued there for many years. His first portraits were two half-lengths of Walter Strickland of Sizergh, and his lady, at whose house he saw a portrait of Sir Walter Strickland, by Lely, and two portraits, by Rigaud, the only pictures by other masters that he had any opportunity of studying previous to his arrival in London. His industry was indefatigable, and nature alone being his guide, he gradually formed for himself a simple and natural style, unblemished by those artificial or adventitious qualities which are so easily acquired