TER.]

The Committee of Council met on the matter of the London
University; Brougham of course the great performer; the same
persons were summoned who had attended before, but great changes
had since taken place, which made the assembly curious. There
were Melbourne, Lord Lansdowne and certain of his colleagues,
Brougham and Lyndhurst--both ex-Chancellors since the last
meeting--Richmond, Ripon, Stanley and Graham, the Dilly complete,
and Lord Grey. When they came to discuss the matter nobody seemed
disposed to move; at last Brougham proposed a resolution 'that
the King should be advised to grant a charter making the
petitioners an University, the regulations and restrictions to be
determined hereafter.' The Bishop of London objected on behalf of
King's College to any advantages being conferred on the London
University which would place the latter institution in a better
condition than the former. After much tedious discussion the
words 'university,' &c., were omitted, and the resolution moved
was '_to grant a charter_.' The Duke of Richmond formally opposed
it, his principal objection being to the insolvent state of the
concern. Brougham sat in contemptuous silence for a few minutes
while the Duke spoke, and then replied. There was a squabble
between them, and an evident inclination on the part of the
majority present to refuse the charter, but the address of the
Commons with the King's answer were read, which presented a very
difficult case to act upon. The King's answer amounted very
nearly to an engagement to grant a charter; the Privy Council was
bound to decide without reference to the address and answer, and
the bias _there_ was to advise against the grant. Brougham, after
much ineffectual discussion, said in a tone of sarcastic contempt
that 'their hesitation and their scruples were ridiculous, for
the House of Commons would step in and cut them both short and
settle the question.' This is doubtless true, and he can effect
it when he will; but how monstrous, then, was the vote. The House
of Commons had never heard a tittle of the evidence or the
argument; the Council had heard it all, and were bound to report
upon it, when the House, while the judgment of the Privy Council
was still pending, voted an address to the Crown for the purpose
of obtaining an adjudication of the matter one particular way,
without reference to the proceedings before the tribunal. They
all seemed agreed that if it was expedient to gra