Session of 1823; during which he also took a prominent part in the Debates on the negociations relative to Spain, Ex-Officio Informations in Ireland, Delays in the Court of Chancery, Catholic Emancipation,* the Abolition of Slavery, and the Scottish Law Commission Bill; and made a motion for referring a Petition of the Roman Catholics of Ireland, complaining of the Administration of the Law, to the Grand Committee for Courts of Justice; but although this motion was supported by the most powerful arguments, and its necessity shewn by reference to numerous indisputable facts, it was lost by a majority of 139 against 59.

Mr. Brougham, in conjunction with Dr. Birkbeck, had a great share in the formation of the London Mechanics Institution, which was esta

In the course of this Debate, Mr. Brougham charged Mr. Canning with having exhibited " a specimen, the most "incredible specimen, of monstrous truckling, for the pur

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pose of obtaining office, that the whole history of politi"cal tergiversation could furnish." Upon which Mr. Canning immediately rose, and declared the accusation to be false; and although called on by the Speaker to retract his assertion, it was a long time before the parties were brought to a satisfactory explanation.

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blished in the latter end of 1823; and shortly afterwards published an excellent pamphlet for the benefit of the Institution, entitled, "Prac❝tical Observations upon the Education of the People, addressed to the working classes and "their employers." This work had a very extensive sale, (having gone through at least twenty editions,) and led to the establishment of numerous Societies of the same nature in other places.

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During the Parliamentary Session of 1824, he was one of the principal speakers in several of the most important debates; particularly those in the Address in reply to the Speech from the Throne, on the Financial Affairs of the country, on the Delays the Delays in and Expencess of the Court of Chancery, and on Mr. Abercromby's Complaint against Lord Chancellor Eldon. He also, on the 1st of June, moved an Address to the King, respecting the trial and condemnation of Mr. Smith, a Missionary at Demarara. This motion, which was prefaced by a Speech of amazing power and eloquence, produced an animated debate, which lasted two nights; and although the Address

was negatived in the House by a majority of 47, his exertions on this occasion added considerably to his reputation and popularity; the opinion of a large and influential class of the community being by no means in accordance with the decision of the House on this subject, which had, for some time previously, attracted the notice of the public in an extraordinary degree.

In the early part of 1825, Mr. Brougham was elected Lord Rector of the University of Glasgow, by the casting vote of Sir James Macintosh, having for a competitor no less illustrious an individual than Sir Walter Scott; and on the 5th of April, one of the largest public dinners ever provided in Edinburgh, was given at the Assembly Rooms of that city, to celebrate his arrival in Scotland, in order to be installed in the before-mentioned office. The chair was taken by Mr. Cockburn, a very eminent member of the Scottish Bar, and now Solicitor General for Scotland, who proposed Mr. Brougham's health, in an eloquent and appropriate speech; in the course of which, after alluding to his departure from Edinburgh,

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nearly twenty years previously, and his having in that city first displayed those great natural and highly cultivated and acquired powers, which his friends then foresaw must inevitably place him as the highest in any walk of ambition, to which his duty or inclination should lead him. He observed, that "from that day to this, their "accomplished friend had gone on in the display of successive achievements, of such brilliancy, that the preceding one seemed so great, that it was deemed impossible to be surpassed, until the succeeding one eclipsed "it with its glory; until, at last, he exhibited, " in his pregnant history of mental progress, one "of the noblest and most cheering spectacles "which a free country could present in her "annals-the spectacle of a young man going forth into public life, supported by his prin

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66.

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ciples and talents alone, and triumphing in "their independent success. So advancing, "too, without the advantages of a great private fortune, or hereditary connections, but merely by innate worth-by a sagacious selection of "his objects, and the abilities with which he pursued and enforced them, acquiring, in this pure and gratifying way, an influence over "his countrymen, greater, far greater, than was

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"ever obtained on any previous occasion,

merely by the single aid of the intellectual resources of a single man."

At his Installation, which took place at Glasgow on the following day, Mr. Brougham delivered to the Students of that University a most powerful inaugural discourse, which, although one of the most exquisite and finished orations ever composed, was entirely written during the bustle and fatigue of the Northern Circuit !!

The principal Parliamentary debates, during the Session of 1825, in which he took a part, were those on the Address in reply to the King's Speech, the Catholic Claims, the Judges Salaries, the suppression of the Catholic Association, the Duke of Cumberland's Annuity Bill, the delays in the Court of Chancery, and the expulsion of Mr. Shrewsbury, a Missionary, from Barbadoes. He also introduced a Bill (which was ultimately abandoned) for incorporating the London University, then recently established, and in the foundation of which he had a principal share.