Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 06.djvu/413

 Bromley and to the patronage of Lord-keeper Bacon. On 8 June 1566 he was elected recorder of London, and continued in that office until, in 1569 (14 March), he became solicitor-general. His first considerable case was in 1571, when he was of counsel for the crown on the trial of the Duke of Norfolk for high treason, on which occasion he had the conduct of that part of the case which rested on Rodolph's message. The other counsel for the crown were Gerrard, attorney-general, Barham, queen's Serjeant, and Wilbraham, attorney-general of the court of wards. The Earl of Shrewsbury presided, with twenty-six peers as triers and all the common-law judges as assessors. Bromley's speech came third, and certainly the mode in which the evidence was handled and the prosecution conducted throughout reflects little credit on the fairness of those who represented the crown. Yet Bromley has the reputation of having been an honourable man in his profession, and Lloyd says of him that he was scrupulous in under-taking a case unless satisfied of its justice, 'not admitting all causes promiscuously,. . . but never failing in any cause. For five years he was the only person that people would employ' (State Worthies, 610). The duke was found guilty by a unanimous vote of the court ; but so much dissatisfaction did the trial create that the execution was deferred for several months. Mary Queen of Scots, however, was much disheartened at the result, and hopes were entertained of favourable negotiations with her. Bromley was accordingly sent, fruitlessly, as it proved, to endeavour to induce her to abandon her title to the Scotch crown, and to transfer to her son all her rights to the thrones of England and Scotland. In 1574 he was treasurer of the Inner Temple. He was retained by Lord Hunsdon and patronised by Lord Burghley. For some years it was he, rather than Gerrard, the attorney-general, who was consulted on matters of state, and at last, in 1579, he received his reward. On the death of Lord-keeper Bacon there was for some time great doubt as to the appointment of a successor. Between Hilary and Easter terms, 20 Feb.-20 April, there was an interregnum of two months, during which the great seal was in no lawyer's custody, and on the seven occasions within that period on which it was used the queen issued express orders for its use each time. At last legal business was so much impeded, through the impossibility of obtaining injunctions, that Westminster Hall demanded an appointment. The queen's position was difficult. She was resolute not to appoint an ecclesiastic ; it would be a scandal to make a mere politician lord chancellor, and Gerrard, long as he had been attorney-general, was, though learned, awkward and unpopular. Bromley was a politician and a man of the world, and at this juncture, by dint of intrigue, succeeded in obtaining promotion over his superior in the profession and in learning. Gerrard was afterwards consoled with the mastership of the rolls in 1581 (30 May), and on 26 April 1579 Bromley received the great seal. From his speech to the queen made on this occasion, and reported in the 'Egerton Papers' (Camden Soc.), p. 82, it would appear that he was at first lord keeper and afterwards became lord chancellor. But this is erroneous ; he had the title of lord chancellor from the first. In this new position he discharged his duties to the satisfaction of the profession. Though his own practice had been chiefly in the queen's bench, his duties as solicitor-general frequently took him into chancery, and hence, though not a great founder of equity, he proved a good equity judge, and there were no complaints of his decisions; and having the good sense to pay great respect to the then very able common-law judges, and to consult them on new points, he was able to avoid conflicts between law and equity. Thus, in Shelley's case, the queen, hearing of the long argument in the queen's bench, 'of her gracious disposition,' and to end the litigation, directed Bromley, 'who was of great and profound knowledge and judgment in the law,' to assemble all the judges, and in Easter term 23 Eliz. they met at his house, York House, afterwards Serjeants' Inn, to hear the case (1 Coke, 93 b), and his judgment has ever since remained a leading authority in real property law. Camden calls him 'vir jurisprudentia insignis,' and Fuller says: 'Although it was difficult to come after Sir Nicholas Bacon and not to come after him, yet such was Bromley's learning and integrity that the court was not sensible of any considerable alteration.' Knyvett's case is one which shows his fair administration of law. Knyvett, a groom of the privy chamber, had slain a man, and, the jury on the inquiry having found that it was done se defendendo, applied to Bromley for a special commission to clear him by privy session in the vacation. Bromley refused. Knyvett complained to the queen, who expressed her displeasure through Sir Christopher Hatton ; whereon the chancellor, in a written statement, so completely justified himself that she afterwards expressed commendation of his conduct. Upon the project of the Alençon marriage, 'Bromley, who with Bacon's office had inherited his freedom of speech' (, xi. 159), offered a strong opposition, and pointed