what purpose, we are not told; but so it was, that the Queen took alarm; and, while the two deputies were in consultation or correspondence upon the business in which they were concerned, the royal personage put an end to their labours, by setting off for Dover without taking leave of either one or the other.. Mortifying as this was, Mr. Brougham had too much sympathizing feeling not to make allowance for the irritability of a mind ill at ease, and liable to be imposed upon by bad advisers. He hastened back to London, where, on his arrival, he found that the door of hope was closed against that adjustment which it had been his earnest wish to accomplish. The contracted space to which we are confined precludes any further detail on a subject that belongs to general history; and to do justice to which, would call for amplification in the narrative, incompatible with biography. Nor can we even descant upon the eloquence displayed by the Queen's advocate, without injuring the force of the reasoning, and the elegance of the language. It cannot be expected that we should attempt to enumerate the speeches or motions made by this great orator and statesman, while a member of the lower house of parliament. We shall, therefore, confine ourselves to a few of the most important, and such as relate to subjects of permanent interest. ་ On the eleventh of February, 1822, we find Mr. Brougham bringing forward, at the close of a very elaborate speech, the following resolution-"That it is the bounden duty of this house, well considering the pressure of the public burdens on all classes of the community, and particularly on the agricultural classes, to pledge itself to obtain, for a suffering people, such a reduction of taxation, as would afford them effectual relief." The proposition was strenuously opposed by ministers, as leading to no practical purpose. The motion was negatived by a considerable majority. In the course of his speech, on this occasion, Mr. Brougham passed an encomium upon Mr. Pitt's great financial measure of the sinking fund, though he hinted the necessity of reducing the interest of the public debt. On the twenty-fourth of June, in the same year, Mr. Brougham proposed a resolution"That the influence of the Crown is unnecessary to the maintenance of its due prerogatives, destructive of the independence of Parliament, and inconsistent with the well government of the State." This resolution was introduced by a long speech; in the course of which, the honourable and learned mover displayed his peculiar talents for irony with singular brilliancy and success. It need scarcely be observed, that the motion was lost. The parliamentary history of the following year was remarkable for a schism in the opposition, occasioned by the Catholic question, then brought in by Mr. Plunket; and though supported by Mr. Canning, it was evident that the weight of the cabinet was on the other side. This produced a violent attack on Mr. Canning by Mr. Brougham, who charged the secretary with tergiversation, and truckling to the Lord Chancellor. At this Mr. Canning took fire, and, turning to the speaker, said, "I rise to declare that the accusation is false." Upon this he was called to order; and, no explanation being given, a motion was made that Mr. Canning and Mr. Brougham be committed to the custody of the Serjeant at Arms. The friends of the parties here interfered, and with no little difficulty succeeded in bringing about, if not a reconciliation, yet a suspension of hostilities. When the question for the order of the day was read, all the opposition members left the house, and Mr. Plunkett's motion was lost. On the 1st of June 1824, Mr. Brougham introduced a motion for an address to the king relative to the proceedings at Demerara against Mr. Smith the Missionary. This produced a long debate, and an adjournment, at the end of which the motion was negatived by the small majority of forty-six only. The second day of the discussion was marked by an extraordinary occurrence. Just as Mr. Brougham was entering the house, he was assaulted in the lobby by a man named Gourlay, who had been lying in wait for the purpose. The offender was taken into custody, and com mitted to the House of Correction in Cold Bath Fields, where he remained a long time, to prevent his doing more serious mischief, being pronounced insane by the faculty. On the 15th of May 1826, Mr. Brougham, after a long and impressive speech, moved a resolution to the effect, that the Colonial Legislatures having obstinately resisted the declared wishes of Parliament, and of his majesty's government, the House of Commons would early in the next session take the subject of West India slavery into consideration. The motion was rejected by an overwhelming majority. We now come to the most splendid period in the life of Mr. Brougham, as a lawyer and legislator. In pursuance of a notice which he had given in the preceding session, he brought forward on the 7th of February, 1828, a motion "touching the state of the law, and its administration in the courts of justice, with a view to such reform as time may have rendered necessary, and experience may have shewn to be expedient." The speech which introduced this motion was as remarkable for its length, as its luminousness; and though it occupied six hours and a half in the delivery, the attention of the auditory was riveted in a fixed admiration during the whole time. On its conclusion, an adjournment of the question took place until the 20th, when the motion, with some amendments, was carried. In the same session Mr. Brougham spoke with powerful effect in support of the motion of Lord John Russell, for the Repeal of the Test and Corporation Acts. The success with which this was attended, prepared the people to expect what followed. At the commencement of the next session, Mr. Peel, who had hitherto been the zealous opponent of Catholic Emancipation, actually proposed it as a cabinet measure, on the ground of political expediency. The bill was carried triumphantly through both houses, and on the 13th of April received the royal assent. In the following year, Mr. Brougham moved for leave to bring in a bill to establish local jurisdictions in certain districts in England. The learned member took a very comprehensive view of the expenses attendant upon legal process. What, therefore, he intended to propose was, that a barrister, of practical experience, should be appointed in every county, before whom any person might cite another, who was indebted to him ten pounds or less, and that the judge should decide on the merits of the case by hearing the parties, and appointing payment by instalments, if he should think proper. If the debt should exceed ten pounds, but not one hundred, the parties to be allowed to employ a legal advocate to plead their cause. But this judge should in no instance be allowed to decide in cases of freehold, copyhold, or leasehold. From his decision an appeal should be made to the judges of the assize, or the courts of Westminster. The bill was accordingly brought in; but its further progress was impeded by the demise of the crown, the commencement of a new reign, and the dissolution of parliament. Mr. Brougham was now invited to the representation of the county of York. He acceded of course to so flattering a proposal, and his election was secured without any expense. The first parliament of William the Fourth assembled on the 26th of October, and in less than a month the Wellington administration terminated. In the new arrangement which was soon formed, Henry Brougham received the Great Seal, with the dignity of Baron Brougham and Vaux, to which last title he is said to have had an hereditary claim. Here we shall close the public history, properly so termed, of this illustrious personage; for the circumstances which connect his name with passing events are too fresh in remembrance, to require our feeble notice and observation. We shall, therefore, wind up this sketch with stating, that, in 1824, his Lordship took an efficient part in promoting and estalishing the London Mechanics' Institution; that in the same year he published "Practical Observations upon the Education of the Poor;" that in 1825, he was elected Lord Rector of the University of Glasgow, when he delivered an admirable speech at his installation, which was printed; that, soon after, he assisted his friend Campbell in founding the London University; and that, in 1827, he became President of the "Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge." To enumerate the literary productions of his Lordship, is beyond our means of information; but there is one which particularly merits notice, namely, "A Vindication of the Inquiry into Charitable Abuses, in answer to the Quarterly Review:" printed in 1819. Lord Brougham, in 1816, married Mary Anne, the widow of John Slade, Esq., and a distant relative of the Auckland family. By this lady he has had two daughters, one of whom died in infancy. The following characteristic sketch of his Lordship, before his elevation, was drawn up by the late William Hazlitt; and, in the main, is a correct delineation : "Mr. Brougham speaks in a loud and unmitigated tone of voice; sometimes almost approaching to a scream. He is fluent, rapid, vehement, full of his subject, with evidently a great deal to say, and very regardless of the manner of saying it. As a lawyer, he has not hitherto been remarkably successful. He is not profound in cases and reports, nor does he take much interest in the peculiar features of a particular cause, or shew much adroitness in the management of it. He carries too much weight of metal for ordinary and petty occasions: he must have a pretty large question to discuss, and must make thorough-stitch work of it. Mr. Brougham writes almost, if not quite, as well as he speaks. In the midst of an election contest, he comes out to address the populace, and goes back to his study to finish an article for the Edinburgh Review. Such indeed is the activity of his mind, that it appears to require neither repose, nor any other stimulus than a delight in its own exercise. He can turn his hand to any thing, but he cannot be idle. Mr. Brougham is, in fact, a striking instance of the versatility and strength of the human mind, and also, in one sense, of the length of human life; for if we make a good use of our time, there is room enough to crowd almost every art and science into it. Mr. Brougham, among other means of strengthening and enlarging his views, has visited, we believe, most of the courts, and turned his attention to most of the constitutions, of the Continent. He is, no doubt, a very accomplished and admirable person." ON THE IMMEDIATE AND TOTAL ABOLITION OF COLONIAL SLAVERY, Ar the present crisis, when a very consider able number of the members of the house of commons stand pledged to their constituents to support this measure, it is the duty of every friend of the human race, to raise his voice in behalf of a legislative enactment for the IMMEDIATE and TOTAL abolition of colonial slavery, as being just and necessary; and although there are not a few who loudly declare that such a measure would be fraught with the grossest injustice, that those who advocate it are destitute of common honesty, and that by recommending such a measure to the Government, they are endeavouring to convert them into robbers, instead of protectors of the public; their arguments are but few and weak in support of such a declaration, and arise from mistaken views of the subject. It has been asserted, with some show of reason, that slaves being a marketable commodity, and fetching a definite price, to emancipate them, without giving their owners an adequate value, would subject those owners to a positive loss of real property. But this is a mistake; and I think it may be easily proved, that so far from the slaveowners suffering loss, they will eventually be gainers by the measure. The farmers of England and the planters of the Colonies are similarly situated thus far-they both have land to cultivate, and labourers to cultivate it, to whom they give a maintenance for their labour-free labourers getting little more, and slaves having no less. The difference between them is, in their manner of procuring labourers. The English farmer goes to a fair, and engages as many as he has occasion for, giving them board, lodging, and a trifle for clothes, or wages to procure those things for themselves; the planter, when he wants labourers, finds they all are the property of some one or other, and he cannot obtain their services unless he purchases them, after which he must board, lodge, and clothe them: whereby it is evident that the latter is just the purchasemoney worse off than the former, who, in that respect, gets his labourers for nothing. But many are possessed of slaves, and when a colonial estate is to be sold, the slaves upon it form an important article, and, if struck off, would reduce the value of the property. To place this case in a correct point of view, I will suppose two estates to be offered for sale, both of the same value, but one in a situation where free labour is to be got, and the other where it is not; that it requires one thousand pounds 2D SERIES, NO. 11.-VOL. I. worth of slaves to cultivate the latter, and that they are on the estate, and to be sold with it. Will any one presume to say that the estate with the slaves will be worth one thousand pounds more than the other? Both estates being of the same extent, equal in fertility, and requiring the same number of labourers to cultivate them, would produce alike at the same expense; and consequently the one with the slaves would be worth no more than the one without them, as what would be given for the slaves ought to be deducted from the value of the estate, to make it equal with the one which required no such outlay. Now, as the emancipation of the slaves will only change the condition of the estates from the latter to that of the former, no reduction in the value of the property will take place; and thus no injustice will be committed, and no compensation to slave-owners be required. Having thus disposed of this objection, I shall have an easy task with the remainder, as the advocates of slavery, in their anxiety to refute the charges of the abolitionists, have put forth such a variety of contradictory statements, as only require to be properly arranged, to present the most complete answer to all that has been advanced against immediate emancipation, that can be desired. For example-it has been asserted, That the negroes are at present in such a state of brutal ignorance, that if they were to be emancipated without waiting until, by their instruction and moral improvement, they are fitted to receive and benefit by it, the property of the planters would be endangered, if not destroyed, and their very lives put in jeopardy. But surely those who make this assertion have forgotten that instructions were sent out, and provision made, by Government, for the instruction and moral culture of the slaves, some years ago, with a view to fitting them for emancipation. Now, either the statement respecting the ignorance of the slaves is false, or the planters have neglected the instructions of Government. Some persons who delight in traducing the planters, would be ready to affirm that the latter was the case, and that the planters would not permit their slaves to be instructed, knowing that it would be a step towards their emancipation, and that their ignorance was an apology for continuing them in bondage; and that to delay the emancipation of the slaves until they are fitted for it by instruction and moral culture, while their owners are resolved to keep them in ignorance, would be to delay it for ever. But the planters assure us, on the word of gentlemen, that they have always listened 155.-VOL. XIII. 3 R to the suggestions of Government, and that, anxious to promote the moral improvement of their slaves, they have done all that lay in their power; and therefore we are bound to believe that the objection is an impudent falsehood, and that the slaves are not in such a state of ignorance. Besides, it is an absurdity to suppose that granting to even an ignorant people, what they want, would drive them to insurrection: a continuance of slavery will, in all probability, do it, and emancipation alone will prevent it. The planters affirm, that this measure would cause the tragic deeds of St. Domingo to be repeated; but they must know, that it was not the abolition of slavery, but the continuance of it, which gave rise to that dreadful affair. And as to their lives and property being endangered by the measure we advocate, how long, we may ask, would they hold either, in the present state of things, if it were not for the powerful military force kept up in all the colonies? They are in danger now, and they know it: the dissension and the rejection of the measure daily increase their danger, and the adoption of it is the only means whereby they may avert an evil which, otherwise, will sooner or later certainly overtake them. But if we do not lose our property by insurrection, it will become valueless, says an advocate for slavery, as negroes will not work except by compulsion, and, as we cannot compel free labourers to work, no work will be done; our plantations will go uncultivated, we shall be ruined, the colonies abandoned, and then some other nation will obtain them, which has no such scruples about slavery; and thus an irreparable injury will be inflicted on our country. This would be a very serious complaint, and one extremely probable, provided that the negroes could manage to live on common atmospheric air; for I suppose, in the colonies, as in other places, this is the only thing to be procured for nothing. Perhaps that would not satisfy them, after having been used to the more substantial food served out by their old masters; and in that case they would be obliged to work, although they were free; for they would soon discover that freedom did not consist in an exemption from labour, but in choosing their own masters, and starving when they do not please to work. But this account of the lazy disposition of the negroes, ill accords with the many little stories told by West India gentlemen, about the savings and wealth of slaves, which must be acquired by extra and uncompulsory labour over and above their daily tasks; and the accounts of the wealth and finery of the free negroes all tend to refute this base calumny on the negro character. It is also asserted, that the abolitionists are no friends to the negroes, as that measure, so far from improving their condition, will make it much worse, since at present all their wants are provided for by their kind owners; but when they are no longer the property of their masters, they will be left to shift for themselves, and will be as bad, if not much worse off, than the agricultural labourers of this country. I will presume that the slaves are well provided for; but surely he is no friend to the planters, who would insinuate that their kindness arises from interested motives, and that when they cease to have a property in their labourers, they will no longer reward them with their present liberality, and thus cast an additional stain on characters which some people think are already sufficiently black. The refuse of the Newfoundland fishery is certainly not sumptuous fare; but as these good gentlemen can afford to deal it out in rations to their slaves, whom they purchase at a great expense, surely, when they get labourers for nothing, and thus save the purchase money, they will be able to give such wages as will enable the labourers to live as well as they do at present; and I hope better things of them than to believe they are so sordid as to allow their labourers to want, merely because they no longer have a property in them. If they have a predilection for serving out rations as they have been wont, they may follow the example of an amiable author at Kensington, who pays his labourers in food instead of money, and thus prevents their mispending their hard earnings, and secures their being well fed. In that case neither masters nor labourers would find much difference from the present state of things, and yet all the advantages of freedom would be secured. It has been asserted, that the planters will turn the negroes out of the little houses and gardens they at present occupy on the estates, and they will become houseless and homeless wanderers. In answer, I would ask-Will the planters have no occasion for their labour after they are emancipated; will they not still require them on their estates? If so, they must not, and will not, turn them adrift thus. The objection supposes, that the slaves have their houses and gardens for nothing, but that is a mistake. Labourers must be lodged, and it matters not whether masters lodge their labourers, or pay them such wages as will enable them to lodge themselves. One of the objectors wishes to know who will then maintain the sick, infirm, age, |