Page:The Complete Peerage Ed 2 Vol 2.djvu/356

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340 BROUGHAM her Attorney Gen.() He defended her in her trial before the House of Lords in the autumn of that year. K.C., 1827. For many years he took a prominent part as a " Reformer," being M.P. (Whig) C") for Camel- ford, 1810-12; for Winchelsea 1815-30; for Knaresborough Feb. to Aug., and subsequently for co. York, Aug.("') to Nov. 1 830. In that same year, on the formation of Earl Grey's ministry, he was {per saltum) made, Nov. 1830, for his political rather than his forensic ability. Lord Chancellor, and cr., 22 Nov. 1830, P.C, and BARON BROUGHAM C^) ANDVAUXC) OF BROUGHAM, Westmorland. He held office for 4 years, resigning it in Nov. 1834, on the change of Ministry, at the restoration of which (within six months) he was not re-instatedjO the Great Seal, which was for a short while in commission, being conferred on Pepys, Master of the Rolls. He was Lord Rector of the Univ. of Glasgow, 1824-26; Foreign Assoc, of the Institute of France, 1833; President of Univ. Coll., London, 1836 till his death; Rector of Marischal Coll. Aberdeen, 1838-39 ; Chan- cellor of the Univ. of Edinburgh 1859 till his death; D.C.L. Oxford i860; LL.D. Cambridge 1862. From 1834 to i860 he was probably the most active and best-known member of the House of Lords,(s) both in "Appeal " if) " A few days before, he [had] received a proposal from Lord Liverpool offering the Queen ;/^50,ooo a year on the same conditions [that he himself had] named the year before [for a life annuity of only ;{^35,ooo, i.e."], that she should reside permanently abroad, should consent to a separation and not use her husband's title. This propo- sal he did not make known to the Queen, nor did Lord Liverpool become aware that his proposal had been withheld from her until 10 June. Had Brougham delivered the message with which he was entrusted, the whole scandal of the Queen's trial would probably have been avoided. In that case, however, he would have lost the opportu- nity of playing the most conspicuous part in a famous scene. He never gave any satisfactory explanation of his conduct." [Diet. Nat. Biog.). See note sub Denman for some account of the 11 Counsel engaged in this memorable trial. C') He was, however, a bitter opponent of Melbourne's Govt., 1835-41. V.G. ("=) At this date he was also re-elected for Knaresborough. V.G. (^) " He claimed to be descended from the De Burghams, the ancient Lords of Brougham Castle, and from the Barons of Fau/x, [but] his pedigree cannot be traced with certainty beyond Henry Brougham, described in 1665 as of Scales Hall, Cum- berland, Gent., whose eldest son, John, in 1726, purchased a portion of the manor of Brougham, Westmorland." [Did. Nat. Biog.). Lord Brougham's grandfather, Henry, was a yr. br. of this John B., and sue. to his estate at his death, s.p., in 1 756. See Quarterly Rev., vol. clxxvii, p. 403, Oct. 1893, referring to Gent. Mag. for 1848. (^) His well-known cacoethes loquendi caused it to be said of this elaborate title that it should have been " Vox et praterea nihil," V.G. (*) The good-natured Melbourne's verdict on him is damning. " You domineered too much, you interfered with other departments, you encroached upon the province of the Prime Minister, you worked, as I believe, with the Press, in a manner unbe- coming the dignity of your station, and you formed political views of your own, and pursued them by means which were unfair towards your colleagues." V.G. (f) In 1848, indeed, he desired to become a deputy in the French National Assembly, but understanding that if he became a French citizen he must give up his English rank and emoluments, he wisely withdrew his request. — Punch had a good