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 which followed the victory of the opposition on 17 May 1832, Brougham represents himself as playing the most important part. This is by no means borne out by other evidence. Lord Grey was not a man to allow the chancellor to take his place, and William IV certainly never forgot what was due to him as his first minister (, History, ii. 331; Life and Times, iii. 192-201, with which compare Grey Correspondence, i. 422-44; Edin. Rev. cxxv. 546).

In June 1834 Lord Grey retired from office. His retirement is said by Brougham to have been caused by the indiscretion of Littleton, the Irish secretary. It was at least as much Brougham's own work. Without Grey's knowledge he persuaded Lord Wellesley, the lord-lieutenant of Ireland, to withdraw from his recommendation that certain clauses of the Coercion Bill should be retained. This underhand proceeding led to complications both with O'Connell and between the whig leaders in the two houses. Brougham had not the honesty to acknowledge what he had done when he might have cleared Littleton from O'Connell's charges, and he has disguised the truth in his autobiography. Grey felt he had been ill used. Brougham knew that he wished to resign office, and seems to have schemed to separate him from his followers, in order that he himself and the party generally might retain office—for himself he probably hoped for the treasury, after Grey had gone out (Letter of Henry, Earl Grey, July 1871, Edin. Rev. cxxxiv. 291-302; Parl. Deb. xxiv. 1019, 1308, xxv. 119; Lord Hamerton (Littleton}, Memoir of 1834, p. 85, and passim). Brougham continued chancellor when Lord Melbourne took office. Up to this time his popularity and his success were unabated. It was during his chancellorship that he used to drive about in a little carriage specially built for him by Robinson, the coachmaker, which excited much wonder by its unusual shape, 'an old little sort of garden chair,' Moore the poet called it (Diary, vi. 196); it was the ancestor of all broughams. For years the 'Times' had flattered him outrageously, and he was accused of using the 'Edinburgh Review' as a means of puffing himself and his projects (, 110. The extraordinary tyranny Brougham exercised over the management of the 'Edinburgh Review' is constantly illustrated by incidental passages in the correspondence of Macvey Napier, the editor; it was grievously, though for the most part vainly, complained of, and was bitterly resented by Macaulay). Now, however, the 'Times' changed its tone, and attacked him. In August he made a tour in Scotland. He displeased the king by taking the great seal across the border, and made matters worse by indulging in extravagances that excited the disgust of all sensible persons (Greville Memoirs, 1st ser. iii. 133; ). The ministers were dismissed on 11 Nov. That evening Melbourne, under a promise of secrecy, told Brougham the result of his interview with the king. Brougham at once sent the news to the 'Times,' and his brief communication, ending with the words, 'The queen has done it all,' appeared in the issue of the next morning. The king declared that he had been 'insulted and betrayed' (, Memoirs of Melbourne, ii. 43, 44). Although Brougham knew that Scarlett was to succeed Lyndhurst as chief baron of the exchequer, he offered to take the judgeship without any pay beyond his ex-chancellor's pension. This offer brought him into contempt, and he retreated to the continent (ib. 51; Greville Memoirs, 1st ser. iii. 157, 158). He visited Cannes, then a mere village, and on 3 Jan. 1835 bought land there to build a house.

Although Melbourne returned to office in April 1835, he, and indeed the proposed ministers generally, were determined not to have Brougham among them again after the follies of which he had been guilty, and in order to conciliate him the great seal was put in commission. He gave the government an independent support, and was especially useful in enabling them to carry the Municipal Reform Bill. His activity in parliament was extraordinary. In the course of this session he delivered 221 speeches that are reported in 'Hansard' (Parl. Deb. xxx. Index quoted by ). The appointment of Pepys (Lord Cottenham) as chancellor early in 1836 wounded him deeply. He considered, probably not without reason, that Melbourne had deceived him (, ii. 174;, 251, 316). His health was shaken by his vexation, and he spent a year in retirement at Brougham Hall. During the early years of Queen Victoria's reign, Brougham, though sitting on the ministerial side of the house, often opposed the government. Adopting a radical tone, he stigmatised his former colleagues as courtiers, and on 11 Dec. 1837, when criticising the allowance to the Duchess of Kent, engaged in a sharp altercation with Melbourne (Greville Memoirs, 2nd ser. i. 33). During the next year he did much literary work, editing the four volumes of his 'Speeches' and writing books, reviews, and other articles. At the same time he continued to make his presence felt in parliament. On 20 Feb., in a speech of great eloquence, he moved resolutions recommending the immediate abolition of slavery. Of his work during