CHANCELLOR, an officer supposed to have been originally a notary or scribe, under the Roman emperors and named cancellarius, because he sat behind a lattice — called in Latin cancelli — to avoid being crowded by the peo ple. There are, however, other derivations of this title. Whatever may have been its origin, the office and name of chancellor were undoubt edly known at the court of the Roman em perors, where the title seems to have signified originally a chief scribe or secretary, who was afterward invested with several judicial pow ers and with superintendence over the other officers of the empire. From the Roman em pire the title and office passed to the Roman Catholic Church and hence every bishop has to this day his chancellor, the principal Judge of his consistory. When the modern kingdoms of Europe were established upon the ruins of the empire, almost every state preserved its chancellor, with different jurisdictions and dig nities according to their different constitutions. In all he seems to have had the supervision of all charters, letters and such other public in struments of the Crown as were authenticated in the most solemn manner, and therefore, when seals came into use, he had always the custody of the king's great seal. This officer has now great authority in all the countries of Europe.
The Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain (originally of England) is the first judicial of ficer of the Crown and exercises an extensive jurisdiction as head of the judiciary. He ranks as first lay person of the state after the blood royal. He is always one of the commissioners appointed to represent the sovereign in open ing and closing Parliament or giving the royal assent to bills. He is created by the delivery of the great seal into his custody. In like manner the act of taking away the seal for mally terminates his office. He is a Cabinet Minister and a privy councillor in virtue of his office,, is speaker of the House of Lords by prescription and in that office has the right to address their lordships as well as to vote.
He vacates office with the ministry which ap points him. He has a salary of #10,000 and, no matter how brief his tenure of the office may be, is entitled to a pension of f.5,000 a year on vacating it. When Sir Robert Finlay was in December 1916 nominated for the office in the Lloyd-George government, he is be lieved to have created a precedent in stipulat ing for waiving of the pension in his case. The Lord Chancellor, resides over the Court of Ap peal and the privy council in the exercise of Judicial functions. He has the appointment of all justices of the peace in the kingdom, is visitor, in the king's right, of all royal founda tions and patron of all Crown livings, the higher dignities in the Church of England being nominated by the Prime Minister. The office having in early times been always filled by ec clesiastics (for no others were then capable of an employment requiring so much writing), he became keeper of the king's conscience; and by special appointment he now exercises a general superintendence as guardian over all infants, idiots •and lunatics, though these latter powers are not necessarily attendant on his office, as Blackstone seems to have imagined, but can be delegated by the Crown to any other judicial officer, as in fact they were delegated even as late as the reign of James I, when the seals were held by Dr. Williams, then dean of Westminster and afterward bishop of Lincoln. The great seal has been not infrequently put in commission and was last so on the resigna tion of Lord Thurlow in the year 1793. One vice-chancellor was appointed to preside in the courts of equity by 53 George III, c. 24, and two by 5 Vick c. 5, § 19. The two last-men tioned were at first subordinate vice-chancel lors, but they were afterward all made of equal rank. They sat in separate courts, and an appeal lay from their decisions to the Lord Chancellor. They latterly sat in the chancery division of the Supreme Court of Judicature. See CHANCERY ; SUPREME COURT OF JUDICATURE.