Abbots for the time being of Ely, of St. Augustine in Can- CHAP. terbury, and of Glastonbury, who were to exercise it by turns; I. Office of divided the Abbot of Ely, or some monk by him appointed, acting as Chancellor four months yearly from Candlemas, and Chancellor the other two abbots each four months successively, between making up the twelve."* Lord Coke, commenting upon three this arrangement, says, "Albeit it was void in law to grant the chancellorship of England in succession, yet it proveth that then there was a court of Chancery."† We are not informed how the three Abbots actually discharged their duties, or how long they enjoyed the office. If the grant was not revoked as illegal at the accession of Edmund Ironside, we need not doubt that it was violated on the conquest of the kingdom by Canute, who probably employed one of his own countrymen to assist him in administering justice to his new subjects. Abbots. Great Seal fessor. We have no further notice of any Chancellor till the reign A. D. 1043. of Edward the Confessor. During his long exile in of Edward Normandy he had contracted a taste not only for the lan- the Conguage, but also for the usages of that country; and among other Norman fashions, he introduced that of having a great seal to testify the royal will in the administration of justice, and in all matters of government. Sealing had been occasionally resorted to by his predecessors on solemn occasions‡, but they then only used a private seal, like the prelates and nobles; and public documents were generally verified by the The words of an old monk of Ely are: "Statuit atque concessit quatenus Ecclesia de Ely extunc et semper in Regis curia Cancellarii ageret dignitatem quod et aliis, Sancti, viz. Augustini et Glaconiæ Ecclesiis constituit, ut abbates istorum cœnobiorum vicissim assignatis succedendo temporibus, annum trifarie dividerint cum sanctuarii et cæteris ornatibus altaris ministrando." See Dug. Off. Ch. § 1. † 4 Inst. 78. Thus on inspecting an old Saxon charter of King Edgar to the abbey of Pershore, still extant, three labels are to be seen for seals to be appended by ; and Godfric, Archdeacon of Worcester, writing to Pope Alexander III. of this very charter, says: "Noverit sanctitas vestra, verum esse quod conscripti hujus scriptum originale in virtute Sanctæ Trinitatis sigilla tria, trium personarum autenticarum, ad veritatem, triplici confirmatione commendat; Est autem sigillum primum illustris Regis Edgari; secundum Sancti Dunstani Cant. Arch. tertii Alferi Ducis Merciorum, sicut ex diligenti literarum impressarum inspectione evidenter accepi." Dug. Off. Chan. § 3. I. CHAP. signature of the Chancellor, or by the King affixing to them the sign of the cross. A large state seal was now made, upon the model which has been followed ever since. It bore the representation of the King, in his imperial robes, sitting on his throne, holding a sceptre in his right hand and a sword in his left, with the inscription "Sigillum Edwardi Anglorum Basilei.”* LEOFRIC to the Con fessor. A. D. 1045. REIMBAL DUS. Vice Chancellor A LEOFRIC was the Confessor's first Chancellort; but it is doubtful whether this great seal had been adopted in his time, as he is not recorded as having used it. We know that it was in the custody of WULWIUS his successor. royal charter to the church of Westminster, framed by him, thus concludes:-"Ut hoc decretum a nobis promulgatum pleniorem obtineat vigorem, nostra manu subter apposito signo roboravimus, atque fidelibus nostris præsentibus roborandum tradidimus, nostræque imaginis sigillo insuper assignari jussimus," &c., with the attesting clause, " Wulwius, regiæ dignitatis Cancellarius, relegit et sigillavit," &c. ‡ The next Chancellor was REIMBALDUS, who likewise sealed with the royal seal, as we find by another charter of the Confessor to the Church of Westminster, thus authenticated: Ego, Reimbaldus, Regis Cancellarius, relegi et sigillavi," &c. When he was prevented by absence or indisposition from acting, his duties were performed by SWARDUS, who appears to have been his Vice-Chancellor. Thus another charter of the Confessor, granting many manors to the church of Westminster, has this concluding clause:-" Ad ultimum, cartam istam sigillari jussi, et ipse manu mea propria signum crucis impressi, et idoneos testes annotari præcepi." Then follows: "Swardus, notarius ad vicem REINBALDI regiæ dignitatis cancellarii, hanc cartam scripsi et subscripsi." § Lord Coke is justified in his contemptuous assertion that Polydor Virgil, in affirming that the office of Chancellor came in with the Conqueror, "perperam erravit || :" but he himself * See an engraving of it, Palgrave's History of England, i. 328., taken from the original in the British Museum. An admirable picture by words, — of the Chancellor sitting in the Wittenagemot, will be found in the preface to the same very valuable publication, p. xiv. + Spel. Gloss. 109. § 4 Inst. 78. Or. Jur. 34. ||4 Inst. 78. was very imperfectly acquainted with its history, and we are still left much in the dark respecting its duties, and the manner in which it was bestowed in the Saxon times. Then, as long after, the little learning that existed being confined to the clergy, we need not doubt that a post requiring the art of writing and some knowledge of law, was always filled by an ecclesiastic; and as it gave constant access to the person of the King, and was the highway to preferment,—even if the precedence and emoluments belonging to it were not very high, it must have been an object struggled for among the ambitious. Human nature being ever the same, we may safely believe that at that early period, as in succeeding ages, it was the prize sometimes of talents and virtue, and sometimes of intrigue and servility. As we approach the era of the Conquest, we find distinct traces of the Masters in Chancery, who, though in sacred orders, were well trained in jurisprudence, and assisted the Chancellor in preparing writs and grants, as well as in the service of the royal chapel. They formed a sort of college of justice of which he was the head. They all sate in the Wittenagemot, and, as "Law Lords," are supposed to have had great weight in the deliberations of that assembly.* * Or. Jur. C. xvi. Palgrave's Hist. Eng. Preface. CHAP. I. Origin of Masters in CHAPTER II. OF THE CHANCELLORS FROM THE CONQUEST TO THE REIGN OF CHAP. FROM the Conquest downwards, we have, with very few interruptions, a complete series of Chancellors. Yet till we A. D. 1066. reach the reign of Richard I., when records begin which are still extant, containing entries of the transfer of the great seal, we can seldom fix the exact date of their appointment; and we glean what is known of them chiefly from the charters which they attested, from contemporary chroniclers, and from monkish histories of the sees to which they were promoted. Few of those who held the office under the Norman monarchs before Henry II. took any prominent part in the conduct of public affairs, and they appear mostly to have confined themselves to their official duties, in making out writs, superintending royal grants, authenticating the acts of the sovereign by affixing the great seal to all instruments which ran in his name, and by sitting, in a subordinate capacity, in the Aula Regia to assist in the administration of justice. Chancel- The office of Chief Justiciary, introduced by William, lors under long continued to confer great splendour on those who held it, early Norman reigns, while the highest functions of the Chancellor were considered those of being almoner and secretary to the King. Odo, Bishop of Bayeux*, William Fitzosborne, and William de Warenne, who were the first justiciaries, were men of historical renown; they assisted William in his great military enterprise; they afterwards took an active part in imposing the yoke on the conquered, and they governed the realm as viceroys when he occasionally visited his native dominions. * He was William's uterine brother, and, though an ecclesiastic, he was a distinguished military leader. In the famous Bayeux tapestry giving a pictorial history of the Conquest, he makes the greatest figure next to William and Harold. The other justiciaries of this reign were hardly less eminent. Till Thomas à Becket arose to fix the attention of his own СНАР. age and of posterity, the Chancellors were comparatively obscure. They probably, however, were William's advisers in the great changes which he made in the laws and institutions of the country. English writers, with more nationality than discrimination or candour, have attempted to show that he was called Conqueror, because he obtained the crown by election instead of hereditary descent.* In all history there is not a more striking instance of subjugation. Not only did almost all the land in the kingdom change handsthe native English being reduced to be the thralls of the invaders-but legislative measures were brought forward, either in the sole name of the sovereign, or through the form of a national council under his control, seeking to alter the language, the jurisprudence, and the manners of the people.† It would have been very interesting to have ascertained distinctly by whose suggestion and instrumentality the French was substituted for the English tongue in all schools and courts of justice; the intricate feudal law of Normandy superseded the simplicity of Saxon tenures; trial by battle was introduced in place of the joint judgment of the Bishop and the Earl in the county court; the separation was brought about between ecclesiastical and civil jurisdictions; and the great survey of the kingdom was planned and accomplished, of which we have the result in DOMESDAY, "the most valuable piece of antiquity possessed by any nation." ‡ But while there is blazoned before us a roll of all the warlike chiefs who accompanied William in his memorable expedition, and we have a minute account of the life and character of all those who took any prominent part in the battles, sieges, and insurrections which marked his reign, we are left to mere conjecture respecting the manner in which As in the law of Scotland property acquired by an individual is called his conquest. The vitality of the Anglo-Saxon language and institutions at last prevailed, but there is hardly to be found such a striking instance of race tyrannising over race, as in England during the reigns of the Conqueror and his immediate descendants. II. Hume. |