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One of the most praiseworthy efforts of Mr. Brougham's useful and brilliant Parliamentary career, was made on the 7th of February, 1828, when he concluded a Speech which occupied above six hours in the delivery, and embraced an immense variety of topics, relative to the constitution and practice of our Courts of Justice, and the state of the Law; by moving an Address to the King, for a Commission to inquire into the defects occasioned by time, or otherwise, in the laws of the realm. The debate on this motion was adjourned to the 29th of the same month, when the following Resolution, substituted by Mr. Brougham, in lieu of that formerly proposed, was unanimously agreed to:-" That an "humble Address be presented to his Majesty,

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respectfully requesting that his Majesty may "be pleased to take such measures as may seem most expedient for the purpose of

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causing due inquiry to be made into the origin, progress, and termination of actions in the superior Courts of Common Law in this

country, and matters connected therewith; "and into the state of the law regarding the "transfer of real property." Amongst other salutary legal Reforms which have been re

cently carried into effect, the increase in the number of Judges, the abolition of the great Sessions in Wales, the opening of the practice in the Court of Exchequer, the abridgment and simplification of pleadings in common actions, the alterations in the times of holding the Law Terms and Quarter Sessions, and the establishment of uniform rules of practice in the three superior Courts, owe their origin to this memorable motion.

In the course of the same Session, Mr. Brougham spoke upon the debates respecting the Address in reply to the Speech from the Throne, the change in the Administration, the repeal of the Test and Corporation Acts, the Slave Trade, delays in the Court of Chancery, the disfranchisement of East Retford, the Stamp Duties in India, the Catholic Claims, &c. ; and in the Session of 1829, he spoke in support of the Catholic Relief Bill, introduced by the Ministry, and explained the proceedings of the Commissioners appointed for enquiring into public charities, in pursuance of the Act introduced by him eleven years previously, and who, it appeared, had then

investigated no less than 19,000 charities, being more than half the number in the whole kingdom.

The Marquis of Cleveland, the patron of the Borough of Winchelsea, giving his support to the Duke of Wellington's Administration, to which Mr. Brougham was opposed; the latter deemed it expedient to vacate his seat; but in the beginning of 1830, he was again brought into Parliament for Knaresborough, a Borough in the patronage of his Grace the Duke of Devonshire.

During the Session of 1830, he introduced a Bill for the establishment of Local Courts for the administration of justice, in cases where debts under £100., or damages under £50., were sought to be recovered, proposing that the experiment should be first tried in the Counties of Kent, Durham, and Northumberland; but this Bill was not proceeded in. He also spoke against the Vote by Ballot; and on the 13th of July, delivered a most impassioned Speech on the subject of Colonial Slavery, concluded by proposing a Resolution, pledging the House,

early in the next Session, to "take into its "most serious consideration the state of

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slavery in the Colonies of this country, with "the view of mitigating, and finally abolishing "the same; and more especially with the view "of amending the administration of justice in "the said Colonies." After an animated discussion, the Resolution was negatived by 56 against 27.

On the death of George the Fourth, Mr. Brougham was invited, by a very large and highly respectable body of Freeholders of Yorkshire, to become a candidate for the representation of that great and important County. With this request he complied, and (together with Viscount Morpeth, the Honourable William Duncombe, and Richard Bethell, Esq.) was returned free of any expense, and almost without opposition, since Mr. Stapylton, the Tory Candidate, did not poll 100 votes during the two days the contest lasted.* Altogether

* The following was the state of the poll at the close:Viscount Morpeth, 1,464; Mr. Brougham, 1,295 ; Mr. Duncombe,

1,123; Mr. Bethell, Mr. Stapylton, 94.

1,064;

unconnected with the County, and totally unknown to the Freeholders, except as a public man, the election of Mr. Brougham, for this extensive, populous, and opulent County, must be considered as an event altogether unprecedented in the modern political history of the country, and marks a new and improving era in the annals of elections. That it added materially to his already extensive influence, there can be little doubt; he himself declared, "that "it would arm him with an extraordinary, and "vast, and important accession of power to "serve the people of England;"* and on a late great occasion, he referred to the event, " as the

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highest honour of his life, the pride and ex❝ultation of which could never be eradicated "from his mind but by death, nor in the least

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degree allayed by any lapse of time-the "most splendid distinction which any subjects "could confer upon a fellow citizen."†

As an instance of his extraordinary industry and energy, it may be here mentioned, that, during his canvas for Yorkshire, he in one day

• Volume of Miscellaneous Speeches.

+ Collection of Speeches.

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