Arizona republican., 1902-08-01
EngIand's Chancellor
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Among the CnanStS dIlilbuI4Ntd III tllN English ca binet in connection with the accession of the premiership Of Arthur Balfcur is the resignation by the Earl of Halsbury of the office of lord high chancellor of England.
 This is the highest administrative and judicial dignity of the empire; for although the lord high steward ranks as the first great officer of the crown. yet his appointment is only made by the sovereign for some specific function such as. for instance. coronation, or the trial of . peer by the house of lords. and lapses with the termination of the particular ceremony in question. Hence, the lord high chancellorship of England. although theoretically only the second of the great offices of state. is at all other times the principal tenn poral dignity of the empire, and on the official table of precedence it's holder figures immediately after the Arch ! bishop of Canterbury, the primate of the kingdom. and before the Arch bishop of York. In one word, he is the first lay parsonage of the realm after the princes and princesses of the blood royal
 The lord high chanceliorship is not only the most illustrious, but likewise one of the most ancient offices of the British empire. the unbroken line of holders of the dignity dating back to 1O6S. that is to say, two years after the Norman conquest. It carries with it a seat in the cabinet. salary of $50,0 ,0G0 a year, the presidency of the house of lords a hereditary peerage. and a re- tiring pension Of s30000 a year-even if the wOolsack has only been occupied for few weeks. and an immense amount Of patronage. Besides this, the i lord high chancellor is eX-officio a mem- Der of the privy council. and president : of all the courts Of justice Of the en- pire. which. of course. renders it indis- psnsable that he should be a member of the legal profession. True. in olden times the wool sack was frequently oc- cupied by ecclesiastics. and at one time the chancellorship and the primacy of the church was held by one and the same person, among the most notable instances of this kind being St Thom- as a Beckett. Cardinal Woolsey. and Archbishop Warham. But since the days of John Williams. Bishop of Lin coin. who succeeded Sir Francis Bacon as lord high chancellor. the office has 1 invariably been filled by more or less | distinguished lawyer, the woolsack be- ! ing. indeed. regarded as the highest prize Of the legal profession.
 ! The lord high chancellor has the ap- pointment of all justices of the peace. as well as all of the rectors of crown l CT government ''livings." He is the su- preme guardian, eX-ofioio. of all in ! fants, idiots. and 1unaticS and as such
 has the legal right to divest of the guardianship any persons who have | been appointed as such by will. but who
 have shown themselves. in his opinion.
 to be unworthy of their trust. The court of chancery. over which he pre- sides. has two distinct tribunals. as a i court of law and as court of equity. and as president of the latter it is by
 ancient statute his high prerogative to judge according to equity. conscience
 and reason when he finds the jaw of the : land so defective as that the subject would be injured thereby
 The official title of keeper of the i kings conscience, which he still bears i of course. dates back to the days when : prior to the Reformation. the office of chancellor was mostly held by an ec-
 clesiastical dignitary. who was usually
 the sovereign's spiritual advises: and so | far as l am aware the occupant of the ! Wcolsack is the only dignitary of the realm whose killing is not punished as | ordinary murder, but as treason.
 There seems to be a general impress sion even in England that the lord high chancellorship must necessarily be held by a Protestant. But the late Mr Gladstone. who at one moment thought thought of appointing the late Lord ~
 vout Roman Catholic, to the post. made
 a careful investigation of the matter
 and ascertained that there was no law
 or clause of the constitution. in exist ence to prevent the woolsack being oc- cupied by member of the church of ! Rome, or even by a Jew. Indeed. hal
 the late Sir Charles Jessel lived. there
 is no doubt that he would in the course
 of time have been nominated to the
 lord high chancellorship and to the
 kespership of the kings conscience, in
 spite of his being a protesting Jew, and
 it was a matter of policy, rather than
 anything else. that prevented Lord
 Russell from being transferred to the
 woolsack.
 Curiously enough. the lord high chan
 ceilorship of Ireland. which is, of course, inferior in rank to the lord high chancellorship of England, is required
 by statute to be filled by a Protestant,
 Roman Catholics being explicitly
 barred. The law bearing on the sub
 ject dates back. however. to the days
 when religious fanaticism and bigotry
 were the principal sources of discord
 and strife in the Emerald Isle, and it
 is likely to be repealed at an early
 date.
 The lord high chancellor is the keep
 CT of the great seal of the British em-
 pire, which. indeed, is the principal
 tCken of his office. The great seal is
 the emblem Of British sovereignty, and
 is used on all solemn occasions when
 the will of the monarch is to be eN- pr ssed. Its impress in wax is attached 2 to every royal charter warrant. or of
 iicial document bearing the sign man usl of the sovereign. It is used for all acts of state, for writs to summon par
 liamert. for the ratification of foreign
 treaties and all these documents have
 no legal value unless sealed with the great soaL
 . i That is why King James H. on his