entertain any doubt or any jealousy with respect to appointments to the judicial bench. I hope my noble and learned friend will allow me to take this opportunity of congratulating him on his elevation-on his having attained everything that he has ever looked forward to. We may say of him, in the words of the poet

'Thou hast it now, King, Cawdor, Glamis, all

As the weird women promised.'

Without being a countryman of my noble and learned friend, I may take credit to myself for a species of foresight, having on a former occasion predicted the advancement of my noble and learned friend."

In the following year (1860) his strength seemed rather to increase than to diminish. On the 1st of May he spoke for nearly an hour on the subject of the Naval Reserve, and on the 21st of May, the day on which he completed his 88th year, he poured forth eloquent strains on the danger of repealing the Paper Duty.

The last time he came to Stratheden House was on June 20th, when he joined a dinner-party at which my father had gathered together the greatest lawyers of the day. Lord Lyndhurst was too infirm to walk upstairs; but going straight into the dining-room the rest of the company joined him there, and he delighted them all with his wit and good-humor. One of those who were present on that occasion writes thus of it, more than eight years afterwards: "It was a very remarkable party, from the distinction and age of many of those present, and the vivacity and interest of the conversation. I remember well that Lord Lyndhurst was unusually lively and agreeable. That which dwells on my memory is his leavetaking. He rose to leave the room before the rest of the party-but all the rest rose too-and there was something like a cheer from the others as he went out. I thought that the old man was fatigued and was retiring early, but it turned out he was going on to a party at Apsley House. The scene and the events of the evening generally made a strong impression on me, even before they received an additional although sad interest by subsequent events. There was something almost affecting in the deference and respect, as to one entitled to the reverence due to age, paid by men like Lord Campbell, Lord Wensleydale, and Lord Cranworth-all of whom were far advanced in lite.

I wish I could paint the scene as vividly as it impressed

In the Session of 1861, Lord Lyndhurst again appeared in the House of Lords, and on the 7th of May spoke on the law of domicile at considerable length, and with much of his wonted brilliancy and vigor. But this was his last speech. His name does not appear in the debates again.

He lived for two years longer, seeing his friends and retaining his cheerfulness and composure. But his public life was over, and his strength gradually decaying, he breathed his last on the 13th of October, 1863, in the 92nd year of his age.

H

CHAPTER CCXXIII.

LORD BROUGHAM'S EARLY LIFE.

AVING lived familiarly with the subject of this Memoir for more than forty years, and having had ample opportunities of observing all his merits and defects, I may be supposed to be peculiarly well qualified to be his biographer. On the other hand, as we have often been in collision, and as keen rivalry has produced private as well as public quarrels betwixt us, I must have misgivings with respect to my impartiality, and the reader may reasonably regard my narrative with suspicion. I am quieted, however, by the consideration that we are now on a friendly footing, and that, from our respective positions, nothing is likely to occur which can again embroil us. I am sure that I entertain no resentment against him for past injuries, and while mindful of kindness occasionally received from him, I trust that I am not in danger of proving too encomiastic, from the dread of being suspected of an inclination to disparage or to censure him.

The chief difficulty to be encountered in this undertaking is to determine the scale upon which the "Life of

Letter from the Right Honorable James Moncreiff (then Lord Advocate). Amongst my father's papers I find a memorandum showing that he intended to give an account of this dinner, as well as of Lord Lyndhurst's speech of the 1st of July, 1859, quoted in the preceding pages.

This memoir was begun in April, 1853, when the author had for two years been Lord Chief Justice of England -Ed.

Lord Brougham" is to be composed. Volumes to load many camels might be filled with detailed accounts of all the doings, writings, and speeches, by which he has excited the passing interest of his contemporaries. If these were read posterity might consider him a myth, like the Grecian Hercules, to whom the exaggerated exploits of many different individuals are ascribed. But notwithstanding the very large space which, while living, he has occupied in the public eye, a considerate man may doubt whether his permanent fame will be great in proportion. By secking distinction in almost every department of genius, he has failed to establish a great name in any. He accomplished nothing as a statesman; he can not be said to have extended the bounds of human knowledge by philosophical discovery; his writings, although displaying marvelous fertility, are already falling into neglect; his speeches, which when delivered nearly set the world on fire, when in print cause disappointment and weariness; and he must chiefly be remembered by the professional and party struggles in which he was engaged, and by the juridical improvements which he assisted to introduce. The narrative of his biographer ought to be proportioned to the curiosity respecting him which is likely to be felt in after times. Let me crave indulgence proportioned to the difficulty of the task.

I should much displease Lord Brougham if I did not begin with some account of his descent. He was very desirous of being considered a distinguished statesman, philosopher, orator, fine writer, and lawyer, but much more desirous of being believed to be "Brougham of that ilk," the representative of a great family, who derived their name from the name of the landed estate of which they had immemorially been in possession. His weakness upon this point was almost incredible, and I am afraid to repeat what I have heard him gravely state respecting the antiquity and splendor of his race. He asserts that Broacum, in the Itinerary of Antoninus, is the identical spot which he calls Brougham, and where he now lives, that it was the property of his ancestors when this ancient Handbook for Roman travelers was compiled; and that there they have lived in splendor ever since, except when campaigning in Palestine against the Saracens. He has told me that "Jockey of Norfolk," the democratic and

proud Duke who flourished in the reign of George III., used to say when he came to the North of England, "You talk of Percys and Greys in this country, but the only true gentleman among you is Mr. Brougham of Brougham. We Howards have sprung up only recently; but the Broughams were at Brougham in the time of Antoninus. They distinguished themselves in the Holy Wars, and in some of the most important events of early English History."

Lord Brougham was likewise in the habit of insisting that he was entitled to the Barony in fee of VAUX or DE VAULX, as heir-general of Ranulph de Vaulx, and William de Vaulx, who were summoned to sit in Parliament in the reign of Henry II. Nay, he has gone so far as to say in my hearing, that this barony formerly gave him great uneasiness, as he was afraid that, at the death of an old lady, who stood before him in the pedigree, it would devolve upon him, and disqualify him for practising at the Bar or sitting in the House of Commons. He alleged that it had come into his family by an ancestor of his having married the heiress of the De Vaulxes of Tremayne and Caterlin. The pedigree of the Chancellor in the popular peerages, of which he must be aware, takes no notice of the De Vaulxes, but represents that his ancestors were seated at Brougham in the time of Edward the Confessor, and that "John Brougham, of Scales Hall, came into possession of the ancient family demesne in the beginning of the last century." Let us come to History from Romance.

There certainly is a parish and manor called Brougham or Burgham, near Penrith, in the county of Westmorland, and, for anything I know, this may be the Broacum of Antoninus. Here, but at a distance from the Brougham of Lord Brougham, there stood in very ancient times, and still stands in ruins, a magnificent Norman castle, frowning over the River Eamont, with machicolated gateway, donjon, and towers, called Brougham Castle, the undoubted residence of the knightly family of Brougham or de Burgham. Walter de Burgham flourished here in the reign of Edward the Confessor, and his descendant, Odoard de Burgham, was heavily fined by Henry II. for having surrendered it, with Appleby Castle, to the Scots. In subsequent reigns the De Burghams recovered their reputation by fighting valiantly for the Cross of Christ in the Holy

Land; and one of these gallant crusaders reposed in the parish church of Brougham with his effigy on his tombstone, representing him in full armor, and a greyhound at his feet.

But in the fourteenth century the Lord of the Manor and Castle of Brougham died without male issue, leaving three daughters. Thenceforth Brougham Castle has been entirely dissevered from the name of Brougham, as in the division of the property among the co-heiresses it fell to the portion of the eldest, and by marriage came to the De Cliffords, Earls of Cumberland. Here Francis, Earl of Cumberland, entertained James I., in the year 1617. Afterwards the castle was inherited by the famous Anne, Countess of Pembroke, who repaired it, and placed the following inscription in capital letters over the principal gate:"This Brougham Castle was repaired by the Ladie Anne Clifford, Countesse Dowager of Pembroke, Dorsett, and Montgomery, Baronesse Clifford, Westmorland, and Vescie, Lady of the Honor of Skipton in Craven, and High Sheriffesse by inheritance of the countie of Westmorland in the years 1651 and 1652, after it had laven ruinous ever since August, 1617, when King James lay in it for a time. in his journie out of Skotland towards London, until this time.

"Isa. Chap. 58 Verse 12

God's name be praised."

As sheriffess, carrying her white wand, and attended by her javelin men, she here received the Judges of Assize, and conducted them to Appleby Castle, where their successors continued to be lodged and splendidly entertained by the hereditary sheriffs of Westmorland, till the death of the last Earl of Thanet a few years ago, when the office was abolished by Act of Parliament. Brougham Castle is now the property of Sir Richard Tufton, his natural son and devisee.

Another of the co-heiresses of the last "Brougham of Brougham Castle" was married to a collateral relation of the same name, and in their descendants one-third of the property remained till the fifth year of James I., when the last male of the old family of Brougham died without issue. A family of the name of Bird, who had inherited a portion. of the manor as early as the reign of Henry VI., now acquired this third also. Upon a wooded eminence, several