Evening star., 1923-10-26
BY THE MARaUIsE DE FoNrENoY

BY THE MARQUISE DE FONTENOY.
Almost as ancient as the post of
lord chief justice of England Is that
of master of the rolls. to which Sir
Ernest Pollock, formerly attorney
general, has just been appointed. AS
such. he has precedence over all the
other judges of the supreme court of
judicature. with the exception OF the
lord high chancellor and the lord
chief Justice. next to whom he ranks.
alike In dignity and in emolument.
the latter amounting to $4,000
year One hears of the master OF the
rolls at the beginning Of the thir-
teenth century. and there Is no doubt
that. in the origin. he had charge OF
all the patents. grants and writs un-
der the great seal. and that he often
fulfilled the duties of lord chancellor
during the latter's absence In fact,
at one time he used to be known as
the vice chancellor of the realm. He
is the official custodian of all the ma
| tional records, which date back for
, more than a thousand years, since
time considerably prior to even the
Norman conquest, and which. COM
prising the Doomsday Book. are pre-
served in a large building known as
] the Rolls house, which opens onto
Chancery lane. through an arched
gateway. 1t is precisely on account
! of his stewardship of the state rec
; ords that the master of the rolls is
more frequently consulted by the
monarch than any other law orficer
of the crown. on points concerning
his prerogatives and duties as SOW
ereign. Under the circumstances. II
| is only natural that he should always.
on appointment, be sworn in as a
member of the rulers privy council
! The lords justices of the supreme
/ court of appeal usually sit In two
divisions of three judges. and the
! master of the rolls always presides
! lord chancellor over the other His
robes are practically identical with
those of the lord high chancellor
| namely, of black damask with a
train all richly embroidered with goid
/ lace. and. of course. he wears, IKE
! the chancellor and the lord chief
/ justice, a full bottomed wig.
k*
! The new master of the rolls has
| the keen legal hatchet face OF all
the Poilocks and a wonderfully clear
and melodious voice. and may be said
to have really come to the fore In
| the great war. during which he held
! the all-important position of chair
man of the contraband committee and
of controller general of the foreign
trade department. In both of these
offices he displayed much tact, hrm-
ness and judgment. which, together
with his urbanity of manner and his
dgnified bearing and appearance
created a profound impression upor
the German law authorities when ne
headed the British delegation of law
yers of the crown. appointed tC
watch. together with similar deiesa'
tions from Italy. France and Bel
gium. the trials and the conVictloT
| by German authorities of those Ger
man officers who had rendered them.
selves particularly guilty Throughout
the war Of violation of its recog'
nized laws.
Sir Ernest IL the great-graudson ol
David Pollock, one of the most success
full saddlers In England. who Kept
saddler's shop at Charing Cross in Lon
don in the eighteenth century, and whose
three sons became, one fed marsnai
high constable of the Tower OF London
another chief justice of Bombay, anC
the third lord chief baron of the cour
of the exchequer. 1t was the latter wh'
received the baronetcy OF Which TN
Rt. Hon. Sir Frederick Pollock, 3udg
of the admiralty court, is the thiIt
holder. The first baronet, that is Il
| say, the lord chief baron. had no 'es'
than eighteen children, and Sir Ernest
his grandson, who Will now be com
PEELED to resign the seat in parliamen
| which he has held for the last fifteel
4 years, Is a son of the late George F
Pollock, who was queens remem
tbranoeF, and, senior master Of the higi