Chancery, and the CHAP. equitable jurisdiction of the Court of changes in the law during this reign. Uses, 27 H. 8. c. 10., it was proposed to confine all contro- Juridical versies respecting land to the Courts of common law, by review of preventing a severance between the legal and beneficial reign of estate; but the conveyancers and the Judges repealed the VIII. act of parliament by the addition of three words to a deed; and uses being revived under the name of trusts, the juris- Statutes. diction of the Court of Chancery over land was confirmed and extended. The Statute of Wills, 32 H. 8. c. 1., for the first time gave a general power of devising real property; and the Statute of Limitations, 32 H. 8. c. 2., conferred an indefeasible right to it after an adverse possession of sixty years. sion to hear causes. The first Special Commission for hearing causes in Chan- Commiscery was granted in this reign, while Cardinal Wolsey was sitting on the trial of Catherine's divorce. It was directed to the Master of the Rolls, four Judges, six Masters, and ten others, and authorised them, or any four of them, two being the Master of the Rolls, Judges, or Masters, to hear, examine, and finally determine all causes in Chancery committed to them by the Chancellor, and to order execution thereon. Although there are some valuable reports of common-law Reports. cases in this reign, there is no trace of any of the decisions of Chancellors Warham, Wolsey, More, Audley, or Wriothesley; and the rules by which they guided their discretion still remained vague or unknown. In this reign there were several instances of the Court of Chancery pronouncing decrees for divorces; and there seemed a probability that it would assume a jurisdiction to decree the specific performance of a contract to marry, and a restitution of conjugal rights; but it was afterwards held, that the Ecclesiastical Court alone has cognisance of marriage and divorce.† Rym. xiv. 299. This commission has since been followed as a precedent for delegations of the judicial authority of the Chancellor. † See Tothill, 124. De Manniville v. De Manniville, 10 Ves. 60. In America the Court of Chancery still decides in matrimonial suits. CHAPTER XXXVI. CHAP. XXXVI. Jan. 28. 1547. Edward VI. proclaimed. Wriothesley expects to retain the chief power CONCLUSION OF THE LIFE OF LORD CHANCELLOR WRIOTHESLEY. ON the same day that Henry died the young King was proclaimed; and the sixteen Executors assembled in the Tower to commence their government in his name. Wriothesley thought he had so arranged matters that the chief power would be in his own hands. Archbishop Cranmer was the first on the list; but he was not expected to mix much with secular affairs. Next came the Chancellor, who would naturally be looked up to as the real head, and would Great Seal, be enabled to guide the deliberations of the body. He thereand to have fore was most anxious that the King's will should be strictly observed; and as soon as they had taken their places at the board, and the will had been read, he moved "that it be resolved not only to stand to and maintain the testament of their master the late King, and every part and article of the same to the uttermost of their power, wits, and cunning, but also that every one of them present should take a corporal oath for the more assured and effectual accomplishment of the same." This resolution could not be decently objected to; the oath was taken, and the Chancellor thought himself during King's minority. Somerset secure. But the ceremony of swearing had hardly been concluded, when the Earl of Hertford, the King's uncle, who, as Lord Chamberlain, was only fourth in precedence in the Council, but who was determined to get all power into his own hands, suggested that for the despatch of business, for the facility of communicating with foreign ambassadors, and for the purpose of representing on other occasions the person of the young Sovereign, it would be necessary to elect one of the Council to preside, with such title as might be agreed upon; and that he himself would willingly submit to any one whom a majority might prefer. Thereupon, according to a concerted plan, a creature of Hertford's moved that he, as nearest in blood to the King, and not in the line of succession to the throne, and eminent for his abilities and virtues, should be appointed governor of the King's person, and Protector of the realm. Wriothesley rose, and with fury opposed a measure which he saw would reduce himself to insignificance. He insisted that it would be a direct infringement of the late King's will, which, being made under a statute, had all the force of an act of the legislature, and could not be altered but by the same authority which had established it. By the words and the spirit of the instrument under which they were there assembled, all the executors were equal, and were intended to remain so during the King's minority; and it would be monstrous to place one of them over the rest as Protector, an undefined and ill-omened title, which the chronicles showed was always the forerunner of broils and civil war. To his astonishment and consternation, however, he found that he made no impression upon his audience, and that a majority had been secured by his rival, who had been lavish in his promises in case he should be elected. Wriothesley was likewise personally unpopular, and his adherence to the old religion was strongly against him, the current now running very strong in favour of the Reformation. Seeing that opposition would be vain, he abstained from calling for a division; and he pretended to be contented with an assurance, which he knew would prove fallacious, that the new officer should in no case act without the assent of a majority of the Council. CHAP. XXXVI. All the Lords, spiritual and temporal, were now assembled Young King's first in the Chamber of Presence, into which the Executors conappearance ducted the young Edward. Each in succession having kissed in public. his hand kneeling, and uttered the words "God save your Grace!" the Chancellor explained to the assembly the dispositions in the will of their late Sovereign, and the resolution of the executors to put the Earl of Hertford at their head, without hinting at his own disapproval of this step. All present unanimously signified their assent; the new Pro CHAP. XXXVI. Honours conferred by the Executors on themselves. Wriothesley made Earl of ton. Intrigues in the Council. tector expressed his gratitude for "the honour which had been so unexpectedly conferred upon him;" and Edward, pulling off his cap, said, "We heartily thank you, my Lords all; and hereafter, in all that ye shall have to do with us for any suit or causes, ye shall be heartily welcome." In the next measure of the new government, there was the greatest respect professed for the late King, and it had the unanimous support of all the executors. There was a clause in Henry's will, requiring them " to see that all the promises he had made in his lifetime should be fulfilled after his death," - without any statement in writing what those promises were. According to the precedent of Anthony, acting as executor under the will of Cæsar, they asserted that what was convenient to themselves had been promised by the testator. Three gentlemen of his privy chamber, with whom he had been most familiar, and who knew that their assertion would not be questioned, being called before the Board of Regency, declared they had heard Henry say, shortly before his death, that he intended to make Hertford Duke of Somerset, Wriothesley Earl of Southampton,—and so to confer on all of them the titles in the peerage which they coveted down to Sir Richard Rich, who was to be made Baron Rich; -with suitable grants to all of them to support their new dignities. It should be recorded, to the honour of two of the council, St. Leger and Danby, that they declined the proposed elevation; but all the rest accepted it, and our Chancellor became the Earl of Southampton.* Though he gained his title, he speedily lost his office. Notwithstanding a seeming reconciliation, as often as he and the Protector met in council, it was evident that there was a bitter enmity between them. Wriothesley, under pretence that nothing was to be done by the Protector without the authority of a majority of the executors, tried to form a party against him, and thwarted him in all his measures. Somerset, feeling that he then had a decided majority in the council, but doubtful how long with such intrigues it might last, was However, he is not known in history by this title, and I shall continue to call him by his family name. 647 CHAP. resolved, as soon as possible, to get rid of so dangerous a XXXVI. competitor. issuing an illegal com mission. The Chancellor soon furnished him with a pretence. We Charge have seen how, in the time of Henry VIII., disliking judicial Wriothesagainst business, and feeling himself incompetent to it, he issued, ley for with the King's consent, a commission to the Master of the Rolls and others, to sit for him in the Court of Chancery.* Now, that he might enjoy ease, and devote himself to his ambitious projects, he, of his own mere motion, without royal warrant, or the authority of the Board of Regency, issued a similar commission to four lawyers, empowering them to hear all manner of causes in his absence; and giving to their decrees the same force as if they had been pronounced by himself, provided that, before enrolment, they were ratified by his signature. Upon the Commissioners taking their seats in the Court of Chancery, there were murmurs among the barristers; and these coming to the ears of the delighted Somerset, he secretly suggested that a petition upon the subject should be presented to the Council. This being received as the spontaneous complaint of "the undersigned, actuated by a great respect for the constitution, and the due administration of justice," a reference was made to the Judges to pronounce upon the validity of the commission, and the nature of the offence committed by issuing it, if it were illegal. The Chancellor did not resist this proceeding, being in hopes that the Judges would take part with the head of the profession; but they, anticipating his downfall, returned for answer, that "the Chancellor having affixed the Great Seal without sufficient warrant to the commission, the commission was void, and that he had been guilty of an offence against the King, which, at common law, was punishable with loss of office, and fine and imprisonment, at the King's pleasure." He called for a second reference to them, on the ground that they had not properly considered the question, thinking that he might procure some of them to retract. They counted on the firmness of the Protector, and all adhered to their former opinion. A motion was now made in council to pronounce judgment * Ante, p. 633. |