BROUGHAM, HENEY. 



83 



Chancellor of England 1830-1834, born in Edin- 

 burgh, September 19, 1778 ; died in Cannes, 

 France, May 9, 1868. His father, Henry 

 Brougham, was the descendant of an ancient 

 family in Westmoreland, and his mother, Eleo- 

 nora Syme, was a niece of Kobertson the his- 

 torian. Young Brougham was afforded excel- 

 lent advantages of education, receiving his 

 early training in the Edinburgh High School, 

 and being transferred at an early age to the 

 University. He was particularly fond of math- 

 ematical studies, and at the age of eighteen or 

 nineteen communicated to the Royal Society 

 of Edinburgh three mathematical papers which 

 possessed such merit as to be published in the 

 Society's Transactions. He was, even at that 

 age, a proficient in the highest branches of 

 mathematical science ; and late in life he often 

 avowed the opinion that he had mistaken his 

 calling ; that he should have devoted his life 

 to mathematical studies, and that in them he 

 might have surpassed all previous mathemati- 

 cians. After taking his first degree at the Uni- 

 versity, he spent some time in travelling on 

 the Continent, and in 1800 was admitted to the 

 Scotch bar. He became about this time a 

 member of the " Speculative Club," an associa- 

 tion for the discussion of metaphysical and 

 political questions, and was then brought into 

 intimacy with Jeffrey, Homer, and Sydney 

 Smith, with whom in 1802 he participated in 

 the establishment of the Edinburgh Review, to 

 which from its commencement he was a con- 

 stant contributor, and the writer of some of its 

 most powerful and caustic articles. So versa- 

 tile were his talents, and so wide the range of 

 his knowledge, that no subject came amiss to 

 him. He was equally at home in physical and 

 mathematical science, history, biography, lit- 

 erary criticism, and politics, and even plunged 

 into the more recondite investigations of the 

 medical and surgical professions. With two 

 classes of topics, however, he did not interfere, 

 theology and poetry. For neither of these had 

 he any predilection. He displayed marked 

 ability as an advocate, but his known liberal 

 opinions imbittered the Tories, who were 

 largely in the majority, against him, and the 

 character he had acquired for eccentricity and 

 indiscretion prevented his attaining a large 

 practice, except in the unremunerative work of 

 the criminal courts. In 1807, he was retained 

 as one of the counsel in the case of the disputed 

 succession of the dukedom of Roxburgh before 

 the House of Lords. His argument in this 

 case was one of his finest efforts, and attracted 

 the attention of the nation to the eloquent 

 young advocate, who. yet under thirty years 

 of age, could bring such learning, research, and 

 legal ability to such a cause. Encouraged by 

 the warmth of his reception in London, and 

 despairing of any speedy success in Scotland, 

 Brougham now resolved to remove to the me- 

 tropolis, and was called to the bar at Lincoln's 

 Inn in 1808. He rose rapidly in his profes- 

 sion, and soon acquired a large and lucrative 



practice in the common law courts, and in the 

 northern circuit. He was employed in the 

 winter of 1809-'10 by some Liverpool mer- 

 chants to bring their grievances before the 

 House of Commons, and ask for the repeal of 

 the Orders in Council, and in his advocacy of 

 their cause displayed such eloquence and legal 

 ability, that he attracted public notice, and be- 

 came a distinguished favorite of the leading 

 Whigs, who caused his election to Parliament 

 the same year for the pocket borough of Carn- 

 elford. In Parliament his vehemence in de- 

 bate, Ms aggressive zeal, his caustic wit, and 

 unsparing sarcasm, combined with a remarkable 

 and convincing eloquence, made him a wel- 

 come and valued addition to the Whig force, 

 and a formidable opponent to the Tories. He 

 associated himself with the most advanced 

 Whigs, and proved a valuable recruit to Wil- 

 berforce and Clarkson, who had been, for years, 

 struggling against the slave-trade. Within a 

 few months after entering Parliament, he had 

 carried the first public measure he proposed, 

 that of making the slave-trade a felony. He 

 was unceasing in his attacks upon the meas- 

 ures of the Tory Government, and in 1812 

 succeeded in carrying the repeal of the obnox- 

 ious Orders in Council. He had also success- 

 fully defended Leigh Hunt, the poet-editor, 

 against a libel prosecution instituted by the 

 Government. He had advocated Catholic 

 emancipation, reform in the government of 

 India, and the abolition of flogging in the army. 

 At the general election in 1812, he boldly con- 

 tested (in company with another Whig) the 

 membership for Liverpool, against Mr. Can- 

 ning and his Tory associate. But the great 

 Tory minister was too strong in Liverpool to 

 be beaten, and Brougham and his friend were 

 defeated. In a subsequent canvass for a seat 

 from Scotland, he was also defeated, and re- 

 mained out of Parliament till 1816, when he 

 was returned for Winchelsea, and again became 

 an opposition leader. He signalized his re- 

 turn to the House of Commons also by a move- 

 ment of inquiry into the state of education of 

 the poor in the metropolis, which he followed, 

 in 1818, by procuring the appointment of a 

 commission to inquire into the abuses of the 

 public charitable foundations of the kingdom 

 connected with education. These efforts for 

 the improvement of the schools and the estab- 

 lishment of a system of national education were 

 never intermitted until the end sought was 

 gained. He had acquired by this time also a 

 high reputation as an advocate in the defence 

 of persons prosecuted for libel or other offences 

 by the crown. His most famous appearance in 

 this capacity was in 1820 and 1821, when, as- 

 sociated with Lord Denman, he undertook the 

 defence of Queen Caroline against the charges 

 of the King, before the House of Lords. Both 

 the eminent counsel knew that the result 

 would be their exclusion for years to come 

 from all professional advancement; but 

 Brougham's defence was bold, able, eloquent, 



