The Mirror Of Literature, Amusement, And Instruction | Page 2

be lost, the game is gone.
Sterne, who delighted in large type and blanks, would probably call this,
as he did all life, "a mingled yarn;" and so we have done.
143, Strand, June 27, 1831.
* * * * *

MEMOIR
OF
BARON BROUGHAM AND VAUX,
LORD HIGH CHANCELLOR OF GREAT BRITAIN, &C.
* * * * *
His purpose chose, he forward pressed outright, Nor turned aside for
danger or delight.--COWLEY.
* * * * *
The illustrious subject of this Memoir is the eldest son of a gentleman
of small fortune, but ancient family, in Cumberland,[1] His mother was
the daughter of a Scotch clergyman; in the mansion of whose widow,
on the Castle Hill of Edinburgh, the father of Lord Brougham lodged
when prosecuting his studies at the University there. Chambers, the
laborious topographical historian of the Modern Athens, says that Lord
Brougham was born in St. Andrew's Square, in that city, though this
has been disputed. The family of the late Mr. Brougham consisted of
four sons:--Henry John, an extensive wine-merchant in Edinburgh, who
died at Boulogne, about two years since; James, the Chancery Barrister,
who formerly sat with Baron Abercromby in parliament, for Tregony,
and sits at present for Downton, Wilts; and William, who has recently
been appointed a Master in Chancery, and elected Member for the
Borough of Southwark.

In early life Mr. Brougham was called to the bar of the Supreme Court
of Edinburgh, where he practised for some time, and with considerable
success, if we may judge from his frequent employment in Scotch
appeals. His selection, too, on the part of persons charged with political
offences to conduct their defence, would imply him to be well read in
the institutions of his country. It was while at the Scotch Bar that, in
conjunction with the late Mr. Francis Homer and Mr. Jeffrey, he
planned and established the _Edinburgh Review_, of which he was for
many years a most able and constant supporter. About this time also he
became a member of the celebrated Debating Society at Edinburgh.
Although professionally a lawyer, Mr. Brougham's ambition soon
became directed to the senate; and, observes a clever contemporary, "it
is an instructive example of the working of our admirable system of
representation, that, up to the 16th of October last, Henry Brougham,
the greatest orator and statesman that perhaps ever enlightened
Parliament, was indebted for his seat to the patronage of a
borough-holding Peer." He first took his seat for Camelford, a borough
in the interest of the Duke of Bedford. In 1812, he contested Liverpool
with Mr. Canning, and failed; and, in the same year, he was nominated
for the Inverkeithing district of Boroughs, and failed there also. He was,
however, subsequently returned for Winchelsea, in Sussex. During the
discussions in parliament respecting the Princess of Wales, Mr.
Brougham, we believe, was honoured with the confidence of her Royal
Highness, and espoused her cause with much effect. His earliest efforts
as a British senator were likewise distinguished by the same regard to
the rights of individuals, and the liberties of the country, which he has
uniformly manifested to the present time. Nor was he then less firm in
opposition to what he deemed the encroachments of the crown, and the
extravagances and abuses of the government, than he has since proved.
His bold denial of the sovereign's right to the droits of the Admiralty, in
1812, will not soon be forgotten.
In the early part of 1816, Mr. Brougham brought forward a motion for
preserving and extending the liberty of the press, for which the
ministers, particularly Lord Castlereagh (who knew well how to use
"the delicious essence,") passed on him the highest encomiums; and
miscalculating the firmness of the bepraised, some persons thought the
minister's eulogy a lure for the member's vote; but the result proved

that Mr. Brougham was above all temptation. In the same year he made
a tour on the continent: in France he was the object of much attention;
and he afterwards visited the residence of the Princess of Wales, in
Italy, as was supposed, on a mission of some importance.
In this year also, Mr. Brougham delivered two speeches in parliament,
which are memorable for the truth of their prospective results. In one of
them, on the treaty of the Holy Alliance, occurs the following almost
prophetic passage: "I always think there is something suspicious in
what a French writer calls, 'les abouchemens des rois.' When crowned
heads meet, the result of their united councils is not always favourable
to the interest of humanity. It is not the first time that Austria, Russia,
and Prussia have laid their heads together. On a former occasion, after
professing a vast regard for truth, religion and justice, they adopted a
course