Chancellor of England

“ The Chancellor added that if any member had anything else to suggest, to the profit and advantage of the realm, and for the common weal, he was not to omit doing so, in conformity with the obligation and duty of everybody, nor to fail thus to act readily and willingly as becoming; and his right reverend Lordship having spoken with much more energy than by reason of his indisposition any one would have expected, the business of this first day of the session ended. ”

“ The office of Chancellor of England, and all the offices connected with the King, are ordained and assized in the Exchequer. Therefore the Chancellor, the Chamberlain, the Marshal, and the Constable, by right of their office, took their seats there, as also did the barons according to the date of their creation, in the City of London, whereby they each knew his own place. The ceremony was splendid, with the gay dresses of the clergy and knights who were present. The Abbat of Westminster sprinkled the holy water, and the Treasurer, acting the part of sub-dean, carried the paten. ”

“ By Article XXIV. of the Act of Union (1705) one great seal was appointed to be kept for all public acts, and in this department the lord chancellor’s authority extends to the whole of Britain, and thus the commissions of the peace for Scotland as well as England issue from him. [1] As an administrative officer, as a judge and as head of the law, he acts merely for England. ”

“ In 1334 he became High Chancellor of England, and Treasurer in 1336, resigning the former office in 1335, so that he might help the King in dealing with affairs abroad and in Scotland, and took a most distinguished part in diplomatic negociations between England and France. ”

“ The people of England, as Disraeli said some seventy years ago, have been accustomed to recognize in the Lord Chancellor a man of singular acuteness, of profound learning, and vast experience, who has won his way to a great position by the exercise of great qualities, by patient study, and unwearied industry. ”

“ The King tried to pull it off, the Chancellor tried to keep it on, both were near rolling from their saddles in the mud, when the Chancellor submitted, and the King gave the cloak to the old beggar: much to the beggar's astonishment, and much to the merriment of all the courtiers in attendance. For, courtiers are not only eager to laugh when the King laughs, but they really do enjoy a laugh against a Favorite.
"I will make," thought King Henry the Second, "this Chancellor of mine, Thomas à Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury. ”

“ The mere delivery of the king’s great seal, or the taking it away, is all the ceremony that is used in creating or unmaking a chancellor, the officer of the greatest weight and power subsisting in the kingdom. The first chancellor in England was appointed in the reign of William the Conqueror, and with only one exception, it was enjoyed by ecclesiastics until the time of Elizabeth, when such officers were called keepers of the great seal. ”

“ In order therefore to prevent disagreeable contests with young gentlemen, it has become a practice for many guardians, of large estates especially, to indemnify themselves by applying to the court of chancery, acting under it's direction, and accounting annually before the officers of that court. For the lord chancellor is, by right derived from the crown, the general and supreme guardian of all infants, as well as idiots and lunatics; that is, of all such persons as have not discretion enough to manage their own concerns. ”

“ It is merely our object to criticise the office, and our observations, therefore, will have no personal bearing. In the first place, it is worthy of note that the most highly paid temporal office in England—that of the Lord Chancellor—is given rather as a reward for political than for legal success. ”

“ He was Lord Chancellor of England—the confidential friend and agent of the king, and his unscrupulous instrument in imposing the yoke of bondage on an insulted nation.
At this period, the condition of the Puritans was deplorable. At no previous time was Persecution of the Dissenters. persecution more inveterate, not even under the administration of Laud and Strafford. The persecution commenced soon after the restoration of Charles II., and increased in malignity until the elevation of Jeffreys to the chancellorship. The sufferings of no class of sectaries bore any proportion to theirs. ”

“ In England, those who hold similar legal offices take no part in the daily administration of public affairs. The Lord Chancellor, as a member of the Cabinet, takes his share in responsibility for the policy of the Government. The law officers are consulted in special cases, and take their part from time to time in debates in the House of Commons. ”

“ Be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That immediately upon the Prorogation or Dissolution of this present Parliament, the Lord Chancellor of England shall direct the King's Commission under his Grace's Great Seal, to such Persons as to him shall be thought convenient, to enquire and view all the said Shires of Kayermarthen, Pembroke, Cardigan, Monmouth, Brecknock, Radnor, Mountgomery, Glamorgan and Denbigh, and every Part and Parcel of them; and upon such View and Search, to divide them and every of them into so many Hundreds as they shall think most meet and convenient ”

“ In England the chancellorship of the universities is now a more or less ornamental office and is conferred on noblemen or statesmen of distinction, whose principal function is to look after the general interests of the university, especially in its relations with the government. ”

“ They contended that the people wore so fleeced by the tax-gatherers, that the land-owners could not collect their rents, and that the ministers and their officers embezzled the public moneys. The first on whom they meant to open their charge was the chancellor, De la Pole, the new Earl of Suffolk. The chancellor opened the Parliament, which met at Westminster, in October, 1386, with a bold announcement: the king, he said, was resolved to punish the French for their menaced invasion, by passing over at the head of a suitable armament, and carrying the war into France. ”

“ No such plenitude of power has ever before been enjoyed by any autocrat or dictator in any nation, ancient or modern, as is possessed under present democratic conditions in wealthy England by a Chancellor of the Exchequer, whose popularity makes him an indispensable member of a Cabinet. ”

“ They proposed that the issuing of the writs should take place at a fixed time, and to prevent the crown defeating this intention, they demanded, in case the king did not order the writs at the regular time, it should be imperative on the lord keeper or lord chancellor to do it; in case they neglected it, it should become the duty of the house of lords to do so; if the lords failed, then the sheriffs, and if the sheriffs neglected or refused, the people should proceed to elect their own representatives without any writs at all. ”

“ When he returned to England he became Chancellor of the University of Oxford, and a very good Chancellor he was, for he knew how to rule the students who were often very high-spirited and turbulent, just as students are nowadays. ”

“ In consenting to become Chancellor, he had yielded only to Henry's entreaties; he had held his office for two years and a half—and it would have been well for his memory if he had been constant in his refusal—for in his ineffectual struggles against the stream, he had attempted to counterpoise the attack upon the Church by destroying the unhappy Protestants. At the close of the session, however, the acts of which we have just described, he felt that he must no longer countenance, by remaining in an office so near to the Crown, measures which he so intensely disapproved and deplored ”

“ As you know, in the prize ring, when a boxer had got his adversary into a hopeless position and could treat him as he liked, the beaten man was said to be “in chancery.”
It is generally supposed that the Chancellor in “Bleak House” is the famous Lord Eldon, whose tenure of that exalted office is almost the longest on record. He was a man of many virtues and singularly kind-hearted,—the description of his reception of the wards in Chancery in the book before [Pg 236] us does ample justice to this trait—and as a lawyer he ranks among the very foremost exponents of the law of England. ”

“ The Queen had created four new peers; three of whom, Lord North, Lord Chandos, and Lord Williams, were bigoted Catholics; the fourth, Lord Howard, was absent with the fleet, and was unrepresented. Lord North held the proxy of Lord Worcester; and the Marquis of Winchester, Lord Montague, and Lord Stourton acted generally with the chancellor. ”

“ Things are in such disorder, that we know not who is [Pg 310] well-disposed or ill-disposed, constant or inconstant, loyal or traitorous. One thing is certain, that the Chancellor has been extremely remiss in proceeding against the criminals, and most ardent and hot-headed in the affairs of religion, being so hated in this kingdom, that I have doubts whether the detestation against him will not recoil on the Queen. ”

“ Longchamp, who also held the chancellorship, and the custody of the Tower of London, was the favourite of Richard, and he soon secured into his own hands the entire government of the country. The king, who had the greatest confidence in his loyalty and ability, issued letters patent, directing the people to obey him as their sovereign; and, by the authority of the Pope, the chancellor was also appointed legate of England and Ireland. Thus doubly armed with spiritual and temporal power, the rule of Longchamp was absolute throughout the kingdom. ”

“ The long speech completely exhausted the strength of the dying Chancellor. The effort he had made left him so weak that, as we have already seen, he was unable to return to his own house, and was taken to Whitehall, where he breathed his last on the 12th November. But in consequence of his representations, Parliament unanimously agreed to give the Queen a million of gold, to be levied, in two years from the laity, and in four from the clergy, “who contribute,” said Cardinal Pole, “willingly to this subsidy, which free contribution is a very ancient custom in England”. ”

“ The commissioners on the part of the king were the duke of Richmond, the marquis of Hertford, the earls of Southampton, Chichester, and Kingston, the lords Capel, Seymour, Hatton, and Colepepper, secretary Nicholas, Sir Edward Hyde, chancellor of the exchequer, Sir Edward Lane, Sir Orlando Bridgeman, Sir Thomas Gardener, Messrs. Ashburunam and Palmer, and Dr. Stewart. On that of the parliament appeared the earls of Northumberland, Pembroke, Salisbury, and Denbigh, lord Wenman, Sir Henry Vane, jun., and Messrs. ”

“ And when the question concerning the chancellor’s new writs was again brought on the carpet towards the end of the session, the commons were so little alarmed at the precedent, that though they readmitted some old members, whose seats had been vacated on account of slight indispositions, yet they confirmed the chancellor’s sentence, in instances where the distemper appeared to have been dangerous and incurable. ”

“ There is in England no single officer corresponding to the minister of justice, or attorney general, in other countries, some of the duties performed by them elsewhere being divided in England among a number of authorities, while others are not performed at all. The principal officers who fill this important gap are the Lord Chancellor, the Law Officers of the Crown, and the Director of Public Prosecutions. ”

“ Rochester was for a moment staggered; but North's ready wit and perfect knowledge of trade prevailed, both in the Treasury and in the Parliament, against all opposition. The old members were amazed at seeing a man who had not been a fortnight in the House, and whose life had been chiefly passed in foreign countries, assume with confidence, and discharge with ability, all the functions of a Chancellor of the Exchequer. 315
His plan was adopted; and thus the Crown was in possession of a clear income of about nineteen hundred thousand pounds, derived from England alone. ”

“ The rolls are arranged under counties, and include the whole of England, with the exception of the palatinate of Durham.
The earliest records of the Court of Chancery are of the 17th year of Richard II., the previous documents having been destroyed in the Wat Tyler [34] rebellion. There are no petitions extant to the Chancellor of the reign of Henry IV., and but few of Henry V., but from the beginning of the reign of Henry VI. they seem to have been kept with much regularity. Calendars of the Chancery proceedings of the reign of Elizabeth were published in three volumes folio, 1827-32. ”

“ Whitelocke. That is an argument of his prudence and well weighing of things before he come to a resolution; and certainly he hath had sufficient time of deliberation in my business.
Sch. The Chancellor sometimes may take more time than is necessary for one business, and borrow it for another; he knows the advantages of times and seasons, and how to improve them.
Wh. I have found it so; but methinks my business should have been so acceptable as to have prevented such great delays.
Sch. Your negotiation as to the amity with England was in consideration with the Council here before your arrival ”

“ Early in June the Fellows were cited to appear before the High Commission at Whitehall. Five of them, deputed by the rest, obeyed the summons. Jeffreys treated them after his usual fashion. When one of them, a grave Doctor named Fairfax, hinted some doubt as to the validity of the Commission, the Chancellor began to roar like a wild beast. "Who is this man? What commission has he to be impudent here? Seize him. Put him into a dark room. What does he do without a keeper? He is under my care as a lunatic. ”