should be inclosed," and continue until the time of her delivery, and that some woman might be always resident with her both before and at the birth.' Her counsel argued "that she was guilty of no crime in marrying Sir John, who was of sufficient age to choose a wife for himself, and who might think beauty and virtue a sufficient portion, especially when his fortune had put him above the want of money; that, as it had not appeared any fraud or collusion was intended, it was very unreasonable to suspect she would be guilty of imposing a false child on the family; that it would be a hardship on a lady of such tender years to send a jury of matrons to inspect her; that, she being now with child, the inspection might be of dangerous consequence and occasion a miscarriage, a thing possibly wished for by the other side; that the castle' in Lincolnshire was an old house in the fens, much out of repair; and that, she having no relations or friends in that country, it would be cruel to imprison her there." Chancellor: "I take this writ de ventre inspiciendo' to be of common right-for the security of the next heir, to guard against fraudulent or supposititious births. But as it may be a hardship to oblige the lady to live in Lincolnshire far from her relations and friends, and since the marriage appears to have been in March last, consequently no probability of her being brought to bed before Christmas, and as her father consents she shall be in town before Michaelmas, and reside in St. James's parish in Middlesex, let the writ de ventre inspiciendo' issue at Michaelmas, directed to the Sheriff of Middlesex. In the mean time, the present heirs may send two women at reasonable times to see whether she is with child, they giving reasonable notice before-hand, so that this may be attended with as little inconvenience as possible to Lady Chaplyn. There is no occasion to execute the writ with all the strictness of the common law, provided people of skill from time to time have access to her, and may be present at the birth."a 6 I shall afterwards have occasion to consider the beneficial changes which Lord King introduced in the Masters' offices in the administration of the funds of the suitors, and other P At common law, a jury of matrons must be impannelled, and if they find the widow with child, she is to be shut up in a castle, where the sheriff of the county keeps her in safety till she is delivered. 9 Exparte Aiscough, 2 P. W. 391. This writ continues to be granted not only to the heir, but to a devisee, either for life in tail or in fee. 1 Cox, 297; 4 Brown, C. C. 90. A.D. 1725-26. ONE OF THE COUNCIL OF REGENCY. 101 departments,—which place him high in the rank of law reformers. But we must now survey him in the exercise of his political functions. Immediately after his appointment the King had gone to Hanover, leaving him and other great officers of state A.D. 1725"Lords Justices." They had their first meeting as 1726. soon as news was received of the King's arrival in Holland; there was afterwards a formal assembly of the whole body once a fortnight, and a committee (of which Walpole was chief) met from time to time as occasion required. The first question they had to deliberate upon was the propriety of granting a pardon to Lord George Murray, who had been attainted when only eighteen years of age, and had petitioned for mercy. The Chancellor would only say that there was nothing in law to obstruct a pardon, but refused to give any farther opinion,-on the ground that he was not sufficiently acquainted with the facts. The Duke of Argyle was strongly for rigour, "because this man's treason was attended with perfidy in deserting the King's troops and running away to the rebels; and if he were pardoned, others would immediately make the same application." Walpole, however, took the merciful side, and, carrying a majority with him, a letter was ordered to advise the King to pardon him.' 66 Much consultation took place respecting the granting of commissions of the peace for Scotland, then in a very distracted state on account of the Malt Tax. The Earl of Islay was called in, and gave an account of having made up lists for all the counties, which had taken three months in preparing, and which he vouched were made up with great exactness and attention to the gentlemen to be appointed." "On this," says the Diary, "I told the Regency that though in England the Great Seal would be a little more consulted in matters of this nature, yet, considering the urgency of affairs, if their Excellencies would order me to pass those commissions of the peace as now settled, I would do it. Thereupon they ordered me to pass them.' Sir Then comes an exceedingly curious entry.-" June 24. Robert Walpole went with me to Ockham, and lodged there the night. He entered into a free discourse with me about foreign affairs." [After a copious account of the disputes with Spain, &c., no longer interesting, he adds:-]" Another negotiation had lately been on foot in relation to the two young Princes, Frederick and William." The Prince and his wife' were for excluding Prince Frederick from the throne of England, but that, after the King and Prince, he should be Elector of Hanover, and Prince William King of Great Britain; but that the King said it was unjust to do it without Prince Frederick's consent, who was now of age to judge for himself; and so this matter now stood. But that Sir Robert Walpole had told the King that if he did not in his lifetime bring over Prince Frederick, he would never set his foot on English ground, so that he did not know whether the King, when he returned from Hanover, would not bring that Prince with him." This is a curious proof of the early dislike of George II. and Queen Caroline to their eldest son, Frederick, Prince of Wales. Lord King must have looked forward with some dismay to the dissensions in the royal family, which had proved so perilous to his predecessors. But he contrived to retain the favour of the reigning Sovereign, without giving fresh offence to the heir apparent; and although Prince Frederick for some unaccountable reason was not brought over from Germany during the present reign, George I., while alive, thwarted the plan for disinheriting his grandson, and on the accession of George II. the national cry was so strong against continuing to rear as an alien him who was to fill the throne of England, that within two years it was found necessary to send for him. He had his revenge by perpetually disturbing the government of his father, till the joyful exclamation was uttered- "Fritz is dead! During the King's absence in Germany, the Chancellor was at the head of the Regency. The Lords Justices, besides carrying on routine business at home, were occupied with intricate foreign negotiations (now happily uninteresting), with a view to the aggrandisement of his Majesty's hereditary dominions by the addition of some little patches of territory; but some of the Chancellor's entries in the Diary are worth copying, as showing how business was transacted between his Majesty and his representatives : t Afterwards Fritz, Prince of Wales. age. I have now in my hand a letter to him " Afterwards Duke of Cumberland, the from a Frenchman of the name of Neville, hero of Culloden. * The then Prince of Wales, afterwards George II. y Afterwards Queen Caroline. z I do not believe that he ever enjoyed much political power, but in foreign countries he was regarded as a very important person giving him some important information- "HIS EXCELLENCE MILOR PITER KING A.D. 1726. TRANSACTION OF BUSINESS BY REGENCY. 66 103 "July 26.-Received by Lord Townshend from the King a warrant to pass a commission under the Great Seal to Lord Townshend to treat and contract with such princes and states as the King should direct, which I accordingly passed under the Great Seal." "29.-The Duke of Newcastle was with me to explain the meaning of the commission to Lord Townshend, which was that the Emperor and King of Spain living now in strict amity, there was a necessity to enter into a league with other powers to preserve the peace of Europe; that France and the King of Sardinia were ready, and it was hoped that the Protestant Princes of the Empire and Holland would likewise come into it." Sept. 7.-Tuesday night, a messenger came to me (at Ockham) from Mr. Delafaye with ten instruments from Hanover, with the King's warrant countersigned by Lord Townshend to fix the Great Seal to them. I returned back word by the messenger that I was coming to town, and would there do what was necessary." ." "8.-Wednesday at night I came to town. The Duke of Somerset came to me, and I asked him, when he was in the Regency and the King abroad, as had happened in King William's time, and the King made a treaty abroad, whether this were communicated to the Regency or Council here? or whether, upon the King's warrant from beyond the sea, the Great Seal was affixed to them here? He said it was always the custom, on the King's warrant, for the Chancellor to affix the Great Seal. The next day Mr. Delafaye told me this was always the custom, and that it would be absurd to lay them before the Regency, because the King had agreed and signed them already. I therefore put the Seal to them." Looking to Wolsey's impeachment, and other sources of constitutional information, respecting the exercise of the royal authority, the result seems to be, that the Great Seal can only be used within the realm, but that it may lawfully be applied on the warrant of the Sovereign signed beyond the seas; and that the Regent, Guardian of the Realm, or Lords Justices, are bound to obey any directions they may receive from the Sovereign, either before his departure or during his absence abroad, but that in all matters respecting which they are left without instructions their act is equally valid and potent as if done by the Sovereign in person. It is probable that in after times there will be no deputation of the royal authority, unless to open or prorogue parliament, or to give the royal assent to bills. I will conclude this head with an entry after the King's return, which proves that the Chancellor, who used to be of yore the sole foreign secretary, still imagined that, as he was to affix the Great Seal to treaties, he was to exercise a superintendence over foreign affairs: Thursday, March 10, 1726.-At the desire of Lord Townshend I was this evening at the Duke of Devonshire's, with the Dukes of Argyle and Newcastle, and Sir Robert Walpole." [He then gives a long account of a written declaration signed by the Landgrave of Hesse, promising to supply 8000 foot and 4000 horse for the defence of Hanover.] "Lord Townshend saying, that this was not properly a treaty, but only a declaration by the Landgrave on what terms he would furnish the King with so many soldiers, and that there was nothing more to do than for the King to show his approbation by a ratification under the Great Seal,' I thought that the form of this instrument made no alteration in the substance, and that this was really nothing else than a treaty, and that there was no instance wherever the Great Seal made a treaty by itself, or ratified a treaty, which was not first agreed to by some minister or commissioner.' And thereupon it was agreed that inquiry should be made in the Secretary's office whether there had been any thing of this nature before; and on inquiry the next day it being found that there was none such, it was agreed that Diemar and Lord Townshend should both mutually sign the agreement by way of treaty, and that after such signing the ratification should pass according to the usual forms. And I having hinted to Lord Townshend that when I was to be concerned in the conclusion of an affair it was but reasonable I should know the beginning and the progress, he did send me the copy of this matter drawn up in the form of a treaty between him and Diemar." Lord King took his place as Chancellor in the House of Lords on the 20th of January, 1726, and then read the royal speech, the King not even repeating the effort he made when he first came to the throne, to say, in English, that "I have ordered my Lord Chancellor to declare the causes of calling this parliament." The custom was now introduced of the two Houses echoing the words of the speech, and on this occasion the address was carried unanimously. Opposition was almost annihilated, and Sir Robert-graced with the order of the Bath, which he revived to increase his patronage, and with the order of the Garter, the importance of which he enhanced by deigning to accept it was now in the zenith of his power, although not of his glory, for as yet he had not encountered in mortal strife Pulteney, Carteret, or Pitt. There was not a division in the House of Lords during the session, the entire repose of which was only occasionally interrupted by that luckless wight Lord Lechmere, who, struggling in vain for office and fame, occasionally made motions from habitual restlessness, but met with so little support that the Lord Chancellor had no trouble beyond putting the question, and declaring that the "Noncontents" had it. - The following session was equally tranquil, and at the close |