The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1883-08-01

eign State; but Lord Coleridge VIII be the
first Lord Chief Justice who has ever
brayed the terrors OF the Atlantic passage.
Like many another great office ana ne.
reditary distinction IN England, that OF
Lord Chief Justice may be traced back TO
the DAYS of William the CoBqueror. oy
whom IL was imported from his naive
Normandy. A chief justice (wbcnce The
nrcsent tit,e) superintcnded the admins
fratiop of Justice over the whole Norman
c,rldom: and, according TO the manners
OF the age, both military and civic powers
O. great magnitude were conferred on
him. williams plan, after he had assumed
the sovereign power, was to have grand
central tribunal In England for the whole
realm, which should be not only court
al appeal, but In which oil causes OF
importance should originate and be finally
decided. This tribunal was aiterward
called Curia Regis, and sometimes Aula
Regis, because IL assembled in the hall OF
the kings palace. The great officers OF
statc--that l. to say, the constable. the
marcschal, the seneschal, the chamberlain.
and the treasurer-were the judges, and
over them presided the chief iustician.
When the king was beyond seas he gov
erned his kingdom like viceroy. In rank,
he had precedence over all the nobility,
and his power was greater than that OF all
other magistrates.
For two centuries the Aula Regis was
preserved. Edward L., sometimes called
the English ,justinian, abolished IL, and
not only systematized and reformed the
public principles OF English jurisprudence,
| but finally framed the courts for the adj
ministration OF Justice as they subsisted in
England for more than six centuries-till,
| in fact. the formation OF modern Supreme
Court OF Judcature within the last five
wears. Edward constituted the "Court OF
our Lord the King before the King him
SELF" or "Court OF Kings Bench" Here
the KING was supposed personally to
preside, assisted by the first common-law
| Judge. who took the title and dignity OF
| lord chief justice. And so it happened that
when Queen Victoria opened in December,
1882, the present royal courts OF justice in
London, she revived that ancient tradition
i'm her own person. When all had been
done as appointed, the courts opened and
the greater ceremony OF the day completed,
the attorney-general, advancing from the
ranks OF the Queens counsel below the
dias, came to the steps OF the Queens
chair and said "May it please your
Majesty. on behalf OF the Bar OF
England. come to pray that your Ma
jesty will be. pleased to direct that the
proceedings OF this day shall he entered on
the records of the Supreme Court" The
Lord Chancellor. on behalf Of the Queen. to
this request made answer: "Iier Males
ty has been pleased to direct that this shall
be done as prayed" And after this fashion,
Queen Victoria revived the common prac-
tice of her ancestors OF the house OF Plan
tagenet of the thirteenth century. She pre-
sided in her own court. in the midst oil
the judges, with the chief representatives
of the bar before her, though counsel
learned in the law were hardly in vogue.
it need scarcely be said, in the earlier days
of the "Court OF our Lord the King "
holden before himself.