not without hopes that I may receive some little credit for condensation.
It will be seen that this "First Series" comes down to the Revolution of 1688. I was advised to begin with the Chancellors during the eighteenth century, and to travel back, after the precedent of Hume. Such a plan would have had advantages, the recent Lives being generally considered the most interesting; but as I profess to give the history of our jurisprudence, I thought that I should best succeed by starting from its sources, and following the course which it has
I calculate that the work will be completed in two additional volumes, for which I have already made considerable preparations, and which, if my life and strength be preserved to me, I shall ere long lay before the public. Little interruption to study is offered by the political business of the House of Lords, and although I resolve still regularly to attend the hearing of Appeals and Writs of Error there, and the meetings of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, a considerable portion of the year is left entirely under my own control. That the "Second Series" may be less defective, I earnestly request the communication of any scarce tracts or unpublished MSS. which are likely to be of service to me.
If the work should be worthily finished, my ambition is, that it may amuse the general reader; that it may afford some instruction to those who wish to become well acquainted with our constitutional history; and, above all, that it may excite the young student of the law to emulation and industry, and confirm in his mind the liberal and honourable maxims which ought ever to govern the conduct of an English Barrister.
Stratheden House,
Nov. 1. 1845.
Etymology of Word “Chancellor," Page 1. Antiquity of the Office in England, 2.
Original Duty of Chancellor to frame Writs, 2. And Royal Grants, S. Custody
of Great Seal, 3. Chancellor Keeper of King's Conscience, 3. Chancellor for-
merly subordinate Officer, without judicial Power, 4. Common-law Jurisdiction
of Chancellor, 5. Equitable Jurisdiction, 6. Objections to Antiquity of
Equitable Jurisdiction, 7. Definition of Equitable Jurisdiction, 7. Extension
of Equitable Jurisdiction of Chancellor, 8. From Inrolments in Chancery
under Recognizance, 9. Fees, &c., 9. Harmony between Common Law and
Equity, 10. Discretion of Chancellor, 11. Appeal from Chancellor as Equity
Judge, 12. Habeas Corpus and Prohibitions, 12. Ne exeat Regno, 13.
diction over Coroners, 13. Criminal Jurisdiction, 13. Bankruptcy, 13.
Lunacy, 14. Chancellor not ex officio Privy Councillor, 15. Speaker of
Lords, 15. Protection and Precedence, 16. Chancellor no Vote or Voice in
Lords unless a Peer, 16. Anciently addressed two Houses at Meeting of Parlia-
ment, 17. Trial of Peers, and Impeachments, 17. Star Chamber, 17. Chan-
cellor appoints Justices of Peace, 18. Patronage, 18. Visitor, 19. Other
Functions, 19. Office of "Keeper of the Great Seal," 19. Lords Commissioners
of Great Seal, 20. Present Title of Lord Chancellor, 21. Mode of Appoint-
ment, 21. Tenure of Office, 22. Mode of using Great Seal, 22. Negotiation
of Marriage of Henry VI. under Great Seal, 23. Use of Great Seal by Edward
IV., 24. Times of Tudors and Stuarts, 25. Use of Great Seal since the
Revolution of 1688, 25. Origin of expression of "The Seals," 25. Adoption
of new Great Seal, 25. Care in keeping the Great Seal, 26. Emoluments of
Office, 26. Etiquette, 27. In Parliament, 27. When administering Oaths to
Prince of Wales, 28. To King's younger Son, 28. To Peers in Chancery, 28.
Lord Mayor's Day, 28. Statute respecting Apparel of the Chancellor, 28.
Merit of the Anglo-Saxons, 29. Augmendus, Chancellor to Ethelbert, 29.
Swithin, Chancellor to Egbert and Ethelwulf, 30. Turketel, Chancellor under
Edward the Elder, 32. Althelstan, 33. Battle of Brunenburgh, 33. Edmund
and Edred, 33. Lord Chancellor Turketel becomes a Monk, 33. Adulphus, 34.
OF THE CHANCELLORS FROM THE CONQUEST TO THE REIGN OF HENRY II.
Chancellors under early Norman Reigns, 38.
Chancellors of the Conqueror, 40.
Maurice, 40. Made Bishop of London, and resigns Great Seal, 40. Conduct
of Ex-chancellor Maurice on the Death of William Rufus, 41. Osmond, 41.
His Character, 42. His literary Works, 42. Arfastus, 42. Baldrick, 43.
Herman, 43. Welson, 44. W. Giffard, Chancellor under three Reigns, 44.
His Character, 44. Conduct of Giffard on Death of Conqueror, 45.
Chancellor
to William Rufus, 45. Dismissed, 45. Bloet, Chancellor to William Rufus, 45.
Death and Character of Bloet, 46. Flambard, 47. Oppressions of Flam-
bard, 47. Plot against Flambard, 48. His Preferments, 48. Committed to the
Tower, 48. Exile and Death of Flambard, 49. Giffard, Chancellor the third
time, 49. Dismissal and Banishment of Giffard, 50.
bury, Chancellor, 50. His Origin and History, 50.
Conduct as Chancellor, 51. Made Chief Justiciary, 51. Roger's Conduct on
Settlement of the Crown, 51. Dismissal of Roger, 52. Roger supports Usurpa-
tion of Stephen, 52. Roger besieged in his Castle, 53. Surrenders, 53.
Death, 53. His Career described by William of Malmesbury, 53. Other
Chancellors of Henry I., 54. Geoffrey Rufus, 55. Bought Office of Chan-
cellor, 55. Ranulphus, 55. Alexander, Chancellor to King Stephen, 56. His
Conduct as Chancellor, 56. Character of Alexander, 57. Roger Pauper, Chan-
cellor, 57. Queen Matilda, 57. Fitzgilbert her Chancellor, 57. Restoration
of Stephen, 58. The Great Seal sold by him to Chancellor Geoffrey, 58. Other
Chancellors of Stephen, 58.
His Parentage, 60. Story of his Mother being the Daughter of an Emir, 60. Educa-
tion, 61. Holds Office under Sheriff of London, 62, Patronised by Theobald,
Archbishop of Canterbury, 62. Made Archbishop of Canterbury, 62. Missions
to Rome, 63. Appointed Chancellor, 63. Intimacy with Henry II., 63.
His Duties as Chancellor, 65. Fitzstephen's Account of his Habits, 65. Story
of the King, the Chancellor, and the Beggarman, 66. His Conduct as Chan-
cellor, 68. Becket Tutor to the Prince, 68. Becket's Embassy to France, 68.
Origin of Scutage, 71. Becket's Military Prowess, 71. Siege of Toulouse, 71.
Single Combat with Engleran de Trie, 72. His judicial Merits, 72. His Views
and Intentions, 73. Conversation with Prior of Leicester, 74. Death of Arch-
bishop Theobald, 74. Objection to Becket's appointment as Archbishop, on
the ground of his being hostile to the Church, 75. Foliot, Bishop of Hereford,
Rival of Becket, 75. Becket elected Archbishop of Canterbury, 76. Becket
consecrated Archbishop, 76. Sudden Alteration in Becket's Character and
Conduct, 77. He resigns the Great Seal, 77. The King and Becket meet and
quarrel, 78. Struggle between Civil and Ecclesiastical Authority, 79. Con-
ference between the King and the Prelates, 79. Constitutions of Clarendon, 80.
Becket swears to Constitutions of Clarendon, 81. Great Council at Northamp-
Trial of Becket, 82. Found Guilty, 83. Further Proceedings against
him, 83. He escapes to the Continent, 84. Becket takes refuge in the Abbey
of Pontigny, 85. Measures of the King, 85. Becket goes to Rome, 85. Coro-
nation of King's son by Archbishop of York against Papal Bull, 86. Interview
between Becket and Henry at Fereitville, 87. Peace of Fereitville, 88. Henry
refuses Becket the Kiss of Peace, 88. Henry breaks his Engagement, 89.
Becket resolves on Vengeance, 89. Becket returns to England, 90. Reception
at Canterbury, 90. Visit to London, 90. Is ordered back to Canterbury, 91.
Excommunicates the three Prelates, 91. Arrival at Canterbury of four Knights
sworn to assassinate Becket, 91. They enter his Presence, 92. Calm and
courageous Conduct of Becket, 93. Assassination of Becket, 93. Horror of
the People, 94. Becket canonised, 94. Quo Warranto by Henry VIII. to
unsaint Becket, 95. Character of Becket, 96. By his Vituperators, 96. By
his Eulogists, 97. Just Estimate of his Character, 98. Result, 99. Whether
Becket Champion of Saxon Race, 99. Becket's Letters, 99.
Geoffrey made Archbishop of York, 105. Longchamp, Chancellor, 105.
ard I. sails for the Holy Land, 106. Longchamp imprisons the Bishop of
Durham, 106. His Tyranny, 106. His Rapacity, 107. Prince John takes arms
against him, 108. Geoffrey, the Ex-chancellor, invades England, 108. Geoffrey
defeated and imprisoned, 108. Combination of the Nobles against Longchamp,
109. Saxon Inhabitants of London called in to assist, 109. Longchamp sur-
renders, 110. Longchamp flies in the Disguise of a female Pedlar, 110. Is
seized by the Mob, 111. Arrives in France, 112. Visits Cœur de Lion in
captivity, 112. Geoffrey Plantagenet again Chancellor, 112. Subsequent Fate
of Geoffrey Plantagenet, 112. His Exile and Death, 113. Longchamp again
Chancellor, 113. Parliament at Nottingham, 113 Longchamp forges Letter
from "The Old Man of the Mountain" to clear Richard of Murder of Marquis
of Montserrat, 113. Resigns Great Seal, 114. His Death, 114. Eustace,
Bishop of Ely, Chancellor, 115. Origin of Vice-chancellors, 115. Vice-chan-
cellors John de Alençon and Malchien, 115. Vice-chancellor Bennet, 116.
Death of Richard I., 116. Laws of Oleron, 116.
Accession of John, 118. Hubert, Archbishop of Canterbury, Chancellor, 118.
Death of Lord Chancellor, 120. Great Seal sold to Walter de Gray, 120. His
Conduct, 121. Vice-Chancellor Wallys, 121. Surrender of England to the
Pope, 122. De Gray, Bishop of Worcester and Archbishop of York, 123.
Ignorance, 123. His Death and Character, 123. Richard de Marisco, Chan-
cellor, 123. Magna Charta, 124. Death of King John, 125. Beginning of
Statute Law, 125.
CHANCELLORS DURING THE REIGN OF HENRY III. TILL THE APPOINTMENT OF QUEEN
ELEANOR AS LADY KEEPER OF THE GREAT SEAL.
Marisco, 126. Confirmation of the Great Charter, 126. Ralph de Neville,
Vice-chancellor, 126. Misconduct of Vice-chancellor De Neville, 127. Letter
of Remonstrance from the Chancellor to the Vice-chancellor, 127. De Neville,
Chancellor, 128. Grant to him of Office of Chancellor for Life, 129. He
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