THE LORD CHANCELLOR OF ENGLAND.

Lyttelton Times, Volume LX, Issue 7050, 3 October 1883, Page 6

THE LORD CHANCELLOR OF ENGLAND.

The Lord High Chancellor ii one of the few groat officers of State whose place in the “ Table of Precedency ” hsi been fixed by Act of Parliament. By a statute passed in the reign of Henry YIII. it is ordained that he shall “ hare precedence above all temporal peers.” As a matter of fact, he ranks in State pageants before all spiritual peers as well, except the Archbishop of Canterbury, who follows immediately after the royal princes. The position thug assigned to the Lord Chan* oellor is fairly indicative of the importance of his office in relation to the sovereign and to the State. He is sometimes spoken of as “ keeper of the sovereign’s conscience,” and in former times, being generally an ecclesiastic, he actually discharged the mysterious functions which that title implies—he was the “confidential adviser” of the sovereign in all State affairs.

“ The Lord Chancellor," says Blaokstone, “ is keeper of the King’s conscience ; visitor, in right of the King, of all hospitals and colleges of the King’s foundation ; and patron of all the King’s livings under the value of 20 marks per annum. Ho is (be general guardian of all infants, idiots, and lunatics, and has the general superintendence of all charitable uses in the kingdom.” Even this remarkable list of a Lord Chancellor’s duties and prerogatives is not exhaustive j he is keeper of the Great Seal, Speaker or Chairman of the House of Lords, chief judicial officer, and recognised head of the law in England. The office is conferred by the sovereign, by formally delivering the Groat Seal, and addressing its recipient by the title “ Lord High Chancellor of Groat Britain.” The appointment is confirmed by " letters patent,” and if the new Chancellor is not already a peer he is immediately elevated to the peerage. The practice of conferring a peerage upon the Lord Chancellor is comparatively modern, the first instance of the kind haring occurred in 1608, Henry Brougham hold the office of Lord Chancellor, and actually took his seat upon the Woolsack as Speaker of the House of Lords the day before he was created a peer of the realm. The moat important duty belonging to this high office is that which is connected with the custody and use of the Great Seal. The crown, which in popular estimation is the peculiar emblem of sovereignty, may be moved from one place to another without any official record being made of its whereabouts i but the Groat Sea) has hardly ever been placed by the sovereign in the hands of the Chancellor, or those of any other person, for a single day, without the fact being duly 'recorded. The Great Beal is the constitutional emblem of sovereignty, and it is the ■ only instrument by which, on solemn occasions, the will of the aovoreign can be exEressed, Every document purporting to e under the Groat Seal is received with absolute faith as duly authenticated by royal authority j and no “royal grants” or “letters patent.” without that are valid or of any force whatever, even if all other formalities have been complied with, A man might plead his sovereign’s oftexpressed intention, and produce royal letters under the signet, or a warrant of privy seal, in support of hit claim to a peerage, for example, but all to no purpose if the Gesat Seal were wanting. Lord Chancellor \orke had hit patent of peerage prepared and pasted through all the foruit required, but as

ho died before the Great Heal had been affixed, the peerage intended for him and his heirs was absolutely lost.

The Lord Chancellor, as custodian of the Great Seal, Is at once tbs representative at both the sovereign and the nation. Since the Revolution of 1688 it has been an acknowledged principle that, in order to prevent the Crown from acting without the consent of its responsible advisers, the Great Seal can only b> constitutionally made use of by the proper officer to whom it hoe been tntrasted, viz,, the Lord Chancellor. He is held personally reepontibla, therefore, for every occasion on which the Great Seal is affixed to any document j and though, with some few exceptions, the Great Seal cannot be med without the express command of the sovereign, yet the Chancellor cannot plead tho sovereign's command as sufficient justification apart from his own agreement to the act.

in ancient time* the King occasionally delivered to the Lord Keeper several seals, of different material* but with similar ianpreieioDi, and to be need for the <ame purpose t but for a long period now only one Great Seal bai been in existence at a time. The Great Seel of the present reign is a silver mould of two psrls, designed by the late Benjamin Wyon, 8.A., chief engraver of her Majesty’s Mint. When an impression or cast is required tbe two partly are placed together and melted wax is poured through on opening at the top of the seal. She wax oast is usually attached to a “ patent ” or other document by a ribbon or a strip of parchment, the ends of which are put into the seal before the wax is poured in, so that when the hard impression is taken from the dies, the ribbon is firmly imbedded in it. The wax oast when it leaves the mould is six inches in diameter and three-quarters of an inch in thickness. The Lord Chancellor claims the Great Seal which goes out of use on the death of tbe sovereign as one of hie perquisites. Formerly the " old seal ” was broken into fragments, but tbe ceremony of breaking," or “ damasking,” is now performed by the sovereign giving it a gentle blow with a hammer, after whioh it is regarded as “ broken,” and cannot be used again. A curious dispute over the ownership of the " old seal ” arose at the accession of "William IT. Lord Lyndhurst was Chancellor when tbe new seal was ordered to be prepared, but when it was finished and ordered to be used Lord Brougham hod succeeded to the Woolsack. Each of their lordships having claimed the old Groat Sea), the matter was submitted to the King. His Majesty wisely adjudged that the seal should bo divided between the noble and learned litigants, and graciously ordered that each part should *>* •«» i* a splendid silver salver with appropriate devices, and presented, the one to the ex-Ohancellor, and the other to the presiding Chancellor, as a mark of tbe King’s personal regard. The Lord Chancellor used to wear the Great Beal on his left side, but now he merely carries the bag or parse in which he receives the seal from the sovereign. When ha appears in his official capacity in the Queen’s presence, or receives messengers of the House of Commons, ha bears this purse in hie hand. On other occasions it is-carried by bis “ purse-bearer," and lies before him as the emblem of his authority when he presides ia the House of lords or in the Court of Chancery. The purse containing (or supposed to contain) the Groat Beal is about twelve inches square, mads of rich crimson silk velvet, embroidered with the royal arms on both sides, and fringed with gold bullion. This bag was formerly renewed every year, and the wife of Lord Chancellor Hardwioke is reported to hare -eared so many of the old purses that she bad velvet enough for the hangings of one of the state rooms at Wimpole. The Lord Chancellor is, by proscription, ex officio Speaker of the House of Lords; and, according to the standing orders of that House, it is his paramount doty to be m his place as Speaker daring their lordships’ sittings. This order was so strictly enforced at one time that not even the King’s command for the Chancellor’s presence elsewhere was held to excuse tis absence from the Woolsack. The peers are not so exacting now, however, as the Chancellor's absence causes no complaint, provided he gives notice to a Deputy-Speaker to be ia attendance at the hour of meeting. His functions as Speaker differ ia the following respects from those of the Speaker of the House of Commons: ho is not moderator or ruler of the assembly; he is not addressed in the debate; he does not name the peer who is to speak; ho is not appealed to a# an authority : and, strange to say, he may cheer the sentiments of his colleagues in the Ministry without violating any rules or traditions. The “ Woolsack,” as the Lord Chancellor’s seat in the House of Lords is called, is actually a large square bag of wool, without either back or arms, covered with plain red cloth. It is said to have been introduced in Queen Elizabeth’s time as a memento of the passing of an Act prohibiting the exportation of wool; but Lord Oompbell (“Lives of the Lord Chancellors ”) finds its origin in "the rude simplicity of early times, when a sock of wool was frequently used as a sofa-when the judges eat on a hard wooden bench, and the advocates stood behind a rough wooden rail, called the bar.** By the 24 Henry Till., o. 13, the Lord Chancellor is entitled "to weare ia his apparel! velvet satone and other silkes of any colours, except purpure, and any manner of f nrres except oloke genettes.” W hen address ing the House of Lords he is to be uncovered, but covered when he addresses others, including deputations from the Commons. When ho goes before a Committee of the House of Commons ho wears bis robes, and ia attended by his mace-bearer and pursebearer. Being seated, he puts on his hat to assert his dignity of the Upper House, and then having uncovered, gives his evidence. The Lord Chancellor issues writs for summooing and proroguing Parliament. The right of appointing Magistrates in Counties and Boroughs in England devolves upon him, acting as regards Counties on the recommendation of the Lords-Lieutenant, 'ihe Lord Chancellor also takes the royal pleasure as to the appointment of sail judges of first instance in England, and ha himself swears in all new judges in England, by whomsoever appointed.