what is now Heriot-Watt University, but after internal disagreements he left in 1831 and the post was abolished. During this period the College founded University College School, originally called the London University School (1830). In 1833 the foundation stone was laid for the hospital which had always been planned in association with the College, then known as the 'North London Hospital', but today University College Hospital. The University College was founded based on practices at the University of Edinburgh and other Scottish universities. "The strongest, single, intellectual influence was that of Edinburgh, and, from the example of the Scottish Universities, London drew many of its most distinctive features. The extended range of the subjects of university study, the lecture system, the non-residence of students, their admission to single courses, the absence of religious tests, the dependence of the professors upon fees and the democratic character of the institutions, were all deliberate imitations of Scottish practice" The Council sought to arrange a formal incorporation of the institution under the name of the 'University of London' via a royal charter, which would have officially granted them the title of "university" and thus degree awarding powers. This was first applied for in 1830, under the Whig government of Earl Grey, with Brougham as Lord Chancellor, another London University council member, Sir Thomas Denman as Attorney General (until his appointment as Lord Chief Justice of England in 1832) and two former councillors Lord Lansdowne (1826 - 1830) and Lord John Russell (1826 - 1828) in the cabinet as Lord President of the Council and Paymaster of the Forces respectively. In February 1831 it was reported that "a charter, which now only awaits the royal signature, is to be granted to the University of London". But before it could be signed, the University of Cambridge voted to petition the king against granting any charter allowing degrees to be awarded "designated by the same titles, or granting the same privileges, as the degrees now conferred by the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge". The attempt to win a charter as a University in 1831 was successfully blocked by Oxford and Cambridge. The application was renewed in 1833, but found formidable opposition in Parliament, from the Church of England, from Oxford and Cambridge again, and from the medical profession. Opposition also came from abroad; Count Metternich instructed his ambassador to Britain in 1825 to "tell His Majesty of