The Savannah morning news., 1902-05-23
STORY OF THE GREAT SEAL.
ITS VIRTUE CEASES ON DEATH OF
REIGNING MONARCH.

The Fate of the Great Seal of Queen
VictOria-Has Become the Perquis-
lite of the Lord High Chancellor.
How the Seal Is "DamasLed',-Its
History Wrapped in Mystery.
From the Philadelphia Ledger.
On the death of the reigning mon
arch the virtue of the Great Seal ceases
and new seal becomes a constitu-
tional necessity. Such has recently
been the fate of the Great Seal of
Queen Victoria, which has now became
the perquisite of the Lord High Chan
cellor. The seal. which is made in two
portions, the diverse bearing a differ
ent design from the reverse, remains
intact 1t is "damasked" by the new
monarch, an operation which consists
in giving the seal a slight blow, where
upon its efficiency is forever gone A
well known instance of this ancient
procedure on the accession of William
~ gave rise to rival claims by two
chancellors, Lyndhurst and Brougham,
the one being chancellor when the old
seal was damasked and the other be-
made. The King, emulating the wis
dom of Solomon, ordered half the seal
to be set in silver and given to
Brougham, the other half similarly set
he bestowed upon Lyndhurst.
Its History IA Mystery.
Great reverence has been shown
from the earliest times for the "clavis
regini," as Lord Coke terms the Great
Seal. Round It has gathered a store
of curious learning and Anticipated
practice. Concealed in its immemorial
purse, it's history is wrapped in a mys-
terry sometimes in romance, and 1t is
always associated with the fate of the
nation. It's precise origin is difficult
to ascertain. Edward the Confessor
had Great Seal the Norman kings
were represented on one side enthron-
ed and on the reverse seated on horse
back. John actually put the Great
Seal up to auction and sold 1t to Wal
ter de Gray during the term of his nat
ural life for the sum of 5000 marks.
but after six years De Gray parted
with it not entirely of free Will. The
custodian of the seal was not neces-
sarily the chancellor; his title properly
was Lord Keeper, a distinction which
occurs as late as the eighteenth CEN
fury There is one instance, at least,
of a Lady Keeper. Queen Eleanor, wife
of Henry VIII, who kept the Great
Seal when her husband was in Gas
cony, in 1858. At that period the seal
was usually engraved Rex Angliae
ct Franciae on one side, and Rex Fran
ciae ct Angliae on the reverse.
To Counterfeit the Great Seal
was at all times a heinous crime.
Bracton speaks of it as high treason,
and Granville writes to the same effect.
BY the Statute of Is Edward III It
was declared to be high treason, and,
with trifling exceptions, it has remain
ed so to this day. The object aimed
at was not the benefit of the King.
but the protection and safeguarding of
the privileges of the subjects. Once
the Great Seal was affixed to any doc
ument nothing could avail against it,
By false seal the King might. with
out his Chancellor's knowledge, i'm
properly barter away the legal rights
of his subjects. The rule that the
Great Seal must never go outside the
kingdom is of comparatively modern
growth. In Plantagenet times il was
frequently taken abroad. and during it's
absence another seal was made and
used In it's stead. OF this practice
there were instances in the reign OF
Edward l. Yet In later years we find
II alleged as one OF the articles of
against Wolsey that he
took the Great Seal out OF the king
DOM namely, 20 Calais, without the
authority Of the King or Of Parlia-
ment.