SIR JAMES STEPHEN, one of the noted essayists of the Edinburgh Review, was born in London, January 3d, 1789. He was a graduate of Cambridge University, and a successful lawyer, author of a volume of “Essays,” a “History of France,” and “Desultory and Systematic Reading,” a lecture published in 1853. He served for some time as Undersecretary for the Colonies, and on his retirement was made Knight Commander of the Bath. In 1849 he became Regius Professor of Modern History at Cambridge. The appointment is credited to the influence of his essays in the Edinburgh Review, which were collected and republished under the title of “Essays on Ecclesiastical Biography and Other Subjects.” He died at Coblenz, September 15th, 1859.