were held, and at which the attendance was very distinguished; but
a friend who was, spoke very highly of the manner in which the
Chancellor performed his noviciate. The Archbishop of Canterbury came
early, and was very kindly received: he was followed by the Archbishop
of York, and several other bishops, whose attendance gave proof that,
differ as they might from Lord Brougham, they surely did not consider
him an enemy to the Church * * *. The most remarkable visiter of that
evening was the Duke of Wellington;--the crowd was astonished, and
I dare say the Chancellor himself was surprised, when his name was
sent up--I doubt if they had ever met in the same room before. Their
political lives, with the exception of the Catholic Question, were one
unvarying course of opposition, if not enmity. I suspect that for a
time the Duke despised the talk of the lawyer; and, on the other hand,
Brougham had often declared, that the respect which he entertained
for military glory was not very lofty. Some of his bitterest tirades
were levelled at the Duke personally. No one will deny that it was
high-minded in the Duke to lay aside resentment of every sort, and
offer this mark of respect as well to the man as the office. The
Chancellor was flattered by the attention, and shook the Duke by the
hand very cordially * * *. Not the least remarkable personage in the
room was the Lord Advocate of Scotland. Brougham and he are very old
friends, and have been much engaged in the same species of literature.
Brougham was his predecessor in the editorship of the Edinburgh
Review--a fact which is not generally known, but which is certain.
Brougham was not the first editor, having filled that office for a
short time after Sidney Smith withdrew from the situation. Jeffrey
appeared extremely _petit_ in his court-dress, and did not seem very
much at home: he was acquainted with but few of his fellow visiters,
and had too much good taste to occupy much of the Chancellor's
attention: they did not seem to hold any conversation beyond the usual