Baron Brougham And Vaux Brougham Henry, lord chancellor of England, born in Edinburgh, Sept. 19, 1779, died in Cannes, France, May 9,1868. He was descended from an ancient "Westmoreland family, and was through his mother the grand-nephew of William Robertson, the historian. He was educated at the high school and university of Edinburgh, where he was distinguished for his devotion to mathematics and physical science. Before he was 20 he wrote several papers which appeared in the "Transactions of the Royal Society." He subsequently travelled on the continent, and was admitted a member of the Edinburgh society of advocates in 1800. He was a member of the "Speculative Club," a debating society which brought him into contact with Horner, Jeffrey, and others, afterward distinguished; and in 1802 he helped to start the "Edinburgh Review," to which he was an assiduous and able contributor for a quarter of a century. In 1803 was published his " Inquiry into the Colonial Policy of the European Powers," which drew much attention. He was called to the bar at Lincoln's Inn in 1808, and chose the common law courts and the northern circuit.

In 1810 he entered parliament as member for Camelford, a rotten borough under the influence of the duke of Bedford. One of his first steps was to introduce a resolution requesting the king to take decisive measures for the suppression of the slave trade. During the next two years he spoke in favor of Roman Catholic emancipation and of reform in the government of India, and in condemnation of flogging in the army. He had previously acquired great popularity by opposing the "British orders in council," and in 1812 was efficient in procuring their repeal. In that year he offered himself as candidate for Liverpool, and was defeated by George Canning, and afterward failed as candidate for Inverkeithing. In 1816 he was returned for the borough of Winchelsea, of which the earl of Darlington was owner; he represented this borough until 1830. He commenced his efforts in the cause of popular education in 1816 by obtaining the appointment of a committee to inquire into the state of the education of the poor in the metropolis. In 1818 he succeeded in getting a commission appointed to inquire into the abuses of the public charitable foundations of the kingdom connected with education, which resulted in the nomination of a permanent commission to supervise the administration of such charities.

His "Letter to Sir Samuel Romilly, upon the Abuse of Public Charities," which was published in 1818, ran through ten editions. In 1820 and 1821 he was engaged as counsel of Queen Caroline in her contest with George IV., and gained great popularity by his course in that case. In 1823 he helped to found the London mechanics' institute. In 1825 appeared his " Practical Observations upon the Education of the People, addressed to the "Working Classes and their Employers," of which 20 editions were sold. In the same year he was elected lord rector of Glasgow university over Sir Walter Scott, and introduced a bill for the incorporation of the London university, of which he was one of the most active promoters. He was also one of the founders of the "Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge," started in 1827. Mr. Brougham was elected chairman of the managing committee, and his discourse on the " Objects, Pleasures, and Advantages of Science " was the society's first publication. Between 1825 and 1830 he spoke frequently in parliament on law reform, Catholic relief, colonial slavery, and the corporation and test acts. His speech of Feb. 7,1828, in behalf of law reform, indicated the necessity of almost all the legal reforms which have been effected in England since that period.

During the short administration of Mr. Canning, that statesman received Mr. Brougham's support on account of "his liberal and manly foreign policy." In 1830 he resigned his seat for Winchelsea, on the ground of disagreement with his patron, the marquis of Cleveland, and was immediately afterward returned for Knaresborough through the influence of the duke of Devonshire. At the general election, which ensued upon the accession of William IV., Brougham stood for Yorkshire, and was returned free of expense. At this time he occupied the position of leader of the British people in their efforts for parliamentary reform. On the formation of the ministry of Earl Grey, he became lord chancellor, with the title of Baron Brougham and Vaux, which was conferred on him in November, 1830. In his judicial capacity he was noted for the rapidity of his decisions, which nevertheless were generally accurate. With Earl Grey he bore the principal part in advocating the reform bill in the house of lords. Mr. Roebuck, in his "History of the Whig Party," says that it was owing to Lord Brougham's astonishing audacity and menaces that William IV. was induced to dissolve the house of commons in 1831. All the measures of reform passed by the first reformed house of commons received Lord Brougham's support in the house of lords.

The dismissal of the whig ministry in November, 1834, put an end to his chancellorship and his official life. After that time he took an active part in the determination of appeals to the house of peers, was often in antagonism to the whigs, and censured their Canadian policy. His zeal for popular education, the abolition of slavery, the suppression of the slave trade, the repeal of the corn laws, and law reform never slackened. In 1839 he became proprietor of the villa Louise Eleonore, on a beautiful estate in the south of France, near Cannes, overlooking the Mediterranean - his estate in England being Brougham hall, Penrith, Westmoreland, and his London residence No. 4 Grafton street. As an orator Lord Brougham was in his time second only to Canning. In 1833 he was elected a foreign associate of the institute of France, and later of the royal academy of sciences of Naples, and in 1859 was made chancellor of the university of Edinburgh. In 1857 he founded the national association for the promotion of social science, and in 1862 the working men's club and institute union. In 1850, '52, and '53 he made experiments on the properties of light, which were communicated to the British royal society and the academy of sciences at Paris, and published in the transactions of both.

In 1855, conjointly with E. J. Routh, he published "An Analytical View of Sir Isaac Newton's Princi-pia." Soon after his loss of office he brought out, in conjunction with Sir Charles Bell; an annotated edition of Paley's "Natural Theology." In 1839-'43 appeared his series of "Sketches of Statesmen who flourished in the time of George III.," and in 1845 his " Lives of Men of Letters and Science who flourished in the time of George III." His "Speeches on Social and Political Subjects," with a historical introduction, appeared at London and Glasgow in 1857, in 2 vols. 12mo. Among the later productions of Lord Brougham are a valuable dissertation, read by him, May 18, 1858, before the French academy, on "Analytical and Experimental Inquiries on the Cells of Bees," and his speech, delivered June 17, 1858, in the house of lords, on the suppression of the slave trade. A complete edition of his works, in 10 volumes, was published in 1857 under his own supervision; and after his death appeared " The Life and Times of Lord Brougham, written by Himself " (3 vols., London and New York, 1871). A novel ascribed to him, entitled "Lunel," was published in 1872.