3-021-572 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

The late Lord Brougham, 1868. Engraving from a photograph by Messrs. Downey. 'Henry Brougham...got a seat in the House of Commons...in 1810; and in that Session carried an address to the Crown praying for effectual measures to put a stop to the slave trade, which had been declared illegal three years before. In the ensuing Session he introduced a bill, which became an Act of Parliament, making the slavedealer punishable with imprisonment or transportation as a felon...He was...counsel for the brothers Hunt when they were indicted for satirising the Prince Regent as "a fat Adonis."...he demanded an inquiry into the distressed condition of the agricultural districts, and commenced the discussion of a New Poor Law...he exhibited, by a statistical inquiry, the miserably neglected state of popular education in London; and he exposed the gross misappropriation of charitable trust funds, but especially of school endowments, throughout the country...He...[promoted] those highest and worthiest objects of his public career - namely, the education of the working classes and the amendment of the common law and of the judicial administration. These are, beyond all controversy, the most valuable services he ever performed for his country'. From "Illustrated London News", 1868.