as elected Lord
Rector of the University of Glasgow. On the downfall of the Wellington
administration, in 1830, and the consequent general election, he was
returned to Parliament as one of the members for Yorkshire, and a few
weeks afterward was made Lord High. Chancellor, and elevated to the
peerage under the title of Lord Brougham and Vaux. He continued in the
office of Lord Chancellor until the dissolution of the Melbourne cabinet,
in 1834. In 1823 he wrote his "Practical Observations on the Education of
the People," and was engaged with Dr. Birkbeck in the formation of the
first Mechanics' Institution. In 1827 he was one of the originators of
the London University, and in the same year he founded the Society for
the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, of which he was the first president,
and for which he wrote its first publication, the admirable "Treatise on
the Objects, Pleasures, and Advantages of Science." In 1830 he was
elected a member of the Institute of France, and about the time of his
resignation of the chancellorship he published his "Discourse on Natural
Theology." In 1840 he published his "Historical Sketches of the Statesmen
who flourished in the Time of George the Third;" in 1845-6, "Lives of Men
of Letters and Science who flourished in the Time of George the Third;"
and he has since given to the world works on "The French Revolution," on
"Instinct," "Demosthenes' Oration on the Crown," &c., &c. Collections of
his Speeches and Forensic Arguments, and of his Critical Essays, as well
as the other works above referred to, have been republished in
Philadelphia, by Lea and Blanchard.

In the language of the Editor of his "Opinions", Lord Brougham is
remarkable for uniting, in a high degree of perfection, three things
which are not often found to be compatible. His learning is all but
universal: his reason is cultivated to the perfection of the
argumentative powers; and he possesses in a rare and eminent degree the
gift of eloquence.

Of his learning it may be said that there is scarcely a subject, on which
ingenuity or intellect has been exercised, that he has not probed to its
principles, or entered into with the spirit of a philosopher. That he is
a classical scholar of a high order, is shown by his criticisms on the
internal peculiarities of the works of the ancients and their styles of
composition. They evince an intimate acquaintance with the great master
pieces of antiquity. The book-worms of Universiti