New-York tribune., 1907-09-15
LORD LOREBURN.
His office Takes Precedence Of the
Premiership.

lord Loreburn who has Just arrived in Can
ada from Liverpool and who will visit New
York Chicago, St. Louis, washington ana o'het
:+ ~ interest in the United States before
.ior homo is the first Lord High Chancel-
1or of Great Britain to set foot on the shores OF
the Western Hemisphere, the first LORD hlgh
Chancellor indeed. TO leave his natNe laild III
his term of office since the days when Caruliiai
y,,o,ss,, ocoomnanied Henry VIII TO the Field
of the Cloth of Cold in France but lhe Oil'ii
.o,,or &c the Keeper of the Great Seal, and SO
. +,,o innortance attached to this en-
b1er, of sovereignty, without when no Iesai
-, col, he given to any acts OF state or 20
60, documents bearing the sign manual OF the
.,oroirn that all sorts Of ancient laws sun
,,rrannaIed provide for its CUSTODY py 'ie Noi'
turh chancellor. who is responsive lor i
safety. An old statute declares that II may no'
he taken out of the Kingdom anu o"e Vi
offences for which Cardinal WoiseS was
neached and punished was that ne hau
the law by taking the great seal VIZ. " :,
I,oo ,,.rer he accompanied Henry VIII 10 ms
memorable meeting with Frances l. Anu
are also pains and penalties deVlseu ioi |
Chancellor who allows the great seal ou' VI i,-'
,.oov,,r so that. what between the difficulty
of letting this instrument OF power oU' v"
oarsora1 care. and the mpossibility OF tdAii'e
:. .,.,, .to Lord High Chancellor has always
becn prevented in his term of of1ce lroii'
49, o,,r.ry Speculation is rife as 10 "Ild'
,,4.io Lord LOreburn has maze VI "
- oa1 for his American tour he Cei ''',i''3
las sot brought it with him, and II He is'9
q ~ home it must have been surrou''n'1
,bo ,,ost elaborate precautions IN oiu''
vent any one else from obtaining a'O07 o
orob,,rn as Lord High Chancellor oolU-
nies the highest secular Once VI ' ,.t+or,,
rira and is it's principal temporal os'ii'"''
ro,ling Immediately after the pi"''
,i,sesses of the blood royal, neloie
,,,d tho Archbishop of York. and yield
ing the pas" only to the Prln'a'e u l,,.a
,a1d tho Archbishop Of Canterbury. Inc nan
'ii'"' W =. ,o+ only the most illustrous, but
likewise one of the most ancient oriiceS o' .l
- .bo ,,rbroken line of its holders datl"s
ii, >, 106S-that is to say. to two years "i'
-, ,-,,o,, conquest II carries win II d se''
:, +,a Cabinet a salary Of S5o."o year an
hereditary peerage the proocutor7i'P :"
House of Lords and a retiring pensDH % F''
0no = wear for life. even II the "',''''''
been occupied for only few DAYS III
49,, ~, 7 ord chancellor enjoys an enormous
.,,,,,,,r+ Of patronage having the appointment "
all the iudces Of high and low degree TONI III
ord chief Justice down 10 the hu'"'''' J'
- g .h, ,aace and county magistrate. ana
-hp rivbf af
i,,e,s or ecclesiastical benefces He - ue -"
,o,,o Guardian. * ofticio. Of all infants ido'S
and Irnatics. and as such has the legal rie"' ="
at,.es, of the guardia nship any persons VINO nave
baen appointed as such by Will. but VINO nave
shown themselves in his opinion 10 be unworthy
of their trust In that case he may ei'her mum
mate other guardians or else decree the minor "
,.ard NJ chancery in which event any one en-
g.,.orfnr 10 wrong the ward. or even to "eu
y.,,bout the permission OF the Lord 'han'eilor'
ra,ders himself guilty Of contempt OF court
1,eeidee this the Lord High Chancellor Is. *
oe,cio a member of the Privy Council and presi-
dert of all the courts of justice of the empire
,rbicb of course renders ii Indispensable mat
he should he a member Of the legal profession
rrue in olden times the woolsack was IRE
,uant1y occupied by ecclesiastics. and at one
tir7- the ChancelIorship and the Primacy or the
c,l,,,rcb were held 10y one and the same person
or,ong the most notable instances OF this kind
being St Thomas-A- Beckett, Cardinal Nolsey
ond Archbishop Warren. But since the days ot
John Williams. Bishop Of Lincoln. who sue
ceeded the great Sir Francis Bacon as Lord
HIGH Chancellor. the office has invariably been
tued bv a more or less distinguished lawyer
often of the humblest extraction. the woolsack
being regarded as the highest prize OF the legal
profession