The Great Seal.

The Chancellor was also the keeper of the King's seal. The writs issued in the King's name by the Chancellor were usually signed, but the art of writing was not common at that time, and therefore seals were often used instead. The King, following the custom of the times, adopted a seal, which was called the Great Seal. The King's chapel was the place

Great Seal

where these sealed documents were kept for safety, and the Chancellor, as keeper of the chapel and issuer of the writs, had charge of the seal. This held by the seal was used as early as the reign of Edgar, Alfred's grandson, and the Lord Chancellor is Keeper of the Great Seal to the present day. The mere delivery of this seal to him by the sovereign, constitutes him Lord Chancellor.

Chancellor.

Examples of Remedies provided by Court of Chancery.

of Chan

spirit

other rather than

the letter

I have told you that one of the principal objects of The Court the Court of Chancery, was to temper the rigour and cery enseverity of the other courts of law. It was found forces the that the strict law, as administered in the courts, was not always in complete accordance with of the law. justice. Suppose, for instance, the owner of an estate should borrow money on it, and give up his estate to the lender, on condition that if he repaid the money in twelve months the estate should be given back to him. Well, he might not be able to repay the money in twelve months, but in a year and a half he might be in a position to do so. According to Common Law, the lender of the money might keep the estate, although it might be worth ten times more than the money lent. This would be most unjust, and the Court of Chancery would interfere and compel the restoration of the estate on repayment of the money with interest.

Again, suppose, in old times, the owner of an estate was going to the Crusades. It would be necessary that, in his absence, some person should act as the owner and perform such feudal services as fell on the owner of the estate. To secure the performance of these duties, he might entrust his estate to some friend, and convey it to him on the promise that it should be restored to him on his return. If his friend proved false and would not give back the estate, the Courts of Common Law afforded no redress, but the Court of Chancery enforced the trust and compelled the restoration of the estate to the rightful owner.

But I have told you that the Court of Chancery Court of also interfered to prevent the commission of an injury. prevents

commis

sion of in

juries.

Let us suppose, for instance, that I learned that one of my neighbours was beginning to erect close to my dwelling a manufactory of some unhealthy and offensive nature that would be a nuisance. Instead of

waiting until he had done it, I should at once apply to the Court of Chancery, and the Lord Chancellor would issue an injunction, and thus restrain the further building of the manufactory if I could make good my complaint. If I were to wait till the building was completed and at work, I could then get damages for the nuisance in a Court of Common Law, but that would be no compensation to me, and therefore this power of the Court of Chancery is of the utmost value.

Undermining a house, changing the course of a stream, digging a mine under another man's land, are similar injuries which the Court of Chancery would prevent.

The changes in the duties of the Chancellor were so gradual, that it is difficult to say when the Court of Chancery became a separate and distinct court, but it seems that it was not till the end of the reign of Henry the Third that the supremacy of the office was established.56 It is not my intention at present to trace the changes of the Court of Chancery beyond this period, as it will find a more appropriate place as we advance in the history, and when I treat of the improvement of our laws, which, I have told you, I

shall do at a future time.

History of the laws relative to the clergy.

The Ecclesiastical Courts and Doctors' Commons. There is still one other, and that a most important branch of law, the consideration of which is necessary

Law.

to complete our survey of the origin of English law. The Canon I mean the Canon Law, according to which, the laws relating to Church and Spiritual matters are administered, and which were originally administered by the clergy themselves.

The courts in which this law is administered owe their origin, in this country, to an enactment of William the Conqueror; but, in order to understand the way in which they sprang into existence, we must study the History of similar Courts on the Continent of Europe.

continent

the laity

were ex

horted to

submit to

the Ecclesi

astical

"From the commencement of Christianity, its pro- On the fessors had been exhorted to withdraw their differences of Europe from the cognisance of profane tribunals, and to submit them to the paternal authority of their bishops. The Emperor Constantine and his successors, appointed the bishops as the general arbitrators within their respec- Courts. tive dioceses; and the officers of justice were compelled to execute their decisions without delay or appeal. At first the consent of both parties was requisite to authorise the interference of the spiritual judge, but the Emperor Theodosius gave either party the power to take his cause from the jurisdiction of the civil magistrate and transfer it to that of the spiritual judge." The laity were thus permitted to choose the spiritual, or ecclesiastical court, for the redress of injuries, but "the clergy were compelled to accept of the bishop as their judge."

courts

matters and questions

At these courts, or synods, "matters relative to At these church government, and disputes between the clergy spiritual as to their civil rights, were settled and determined. All offences against Christianity, also, whether committed by the clergy or by the laity, were settled at these courts. Questions as to marriage and divorce

L

as to maras to wills settled.

riage and

were

Clergy joined with

in England

from the

earliest times.

were universally admitted to be matters belonging entirely to the Church, and were consequently brought before these synods, and matters relative to wills also came under their cognisance." 19, 20 Such was the practice on the continent of Europe, but in England, "as it was the duty of the bishop to sit with the sheriff, in the court of the county, his ecclesiastical became blended with his secular jurisdiction, and many causes, which in other countries had been reserved to the spiritual judge, were decided in England before a mixed tribunal." 78

You will remember I told you that it was the the laity in practice in England, from the earliest times, to join law matters the clergy with the thanes in the courts of law. This practice appears to me to have been very beneficial. On the one hand, it secured the assistance of a body of the best educated men of the time, in the administration of the law, and, on the other, it prevented the clergy from being separated from all temporal matters, and thus dissevered from their flocks in all but spiritual concerns.

William the Conqueror separated

the civil jurisdiction,

When William the Conqueror became King of England, "he directed that no bishop or archdeacon the ecclesi- should for the future hear complaints relative to astical from church matters in the county or hundred court, but that all such pleas should be determined before the bishop, wheresoever he should appoint, according to the canon and ecclesiastical laws, and forbad all laymen from interfering in such matters. To this ordinance the civil jurisdiction of the ecclesiastical courts which now exist throughout the kingdom owes its origin." 25, 26 Church matters were thus administered in a separate court, but it was not long before an attempt was made to withdraw church men,

and thus our ecclesiastical courts

began.