XXVIII. GUILDHALL AND THE MANSION ANTIQUARIES tell us that there was an ancient Saxon law-one of the laws of Inaimposed probably by the rulers of that people after the conquest of this country, the better to keep its wild and conflicting elements in order—which ordained that every freeman of fourteen years old should find sureties to keep the peace; and that, in consequence, "certain neighbours, consisting of ten families, entered into an association, and became bound to each other to produce him who committed an offence, or to make satisfaction to the injured party. That they might the better do this, they raised a sum of money amongst themselves, which they put into a common stock, and when one of the pledges had committed an offence, and was fled, then the other nine made satisfaction out of this stock, by payment of money according to the offence. In the mean time, that they might the better identify each other, as well as ascertain whether any man was absent on unlawful business, they assembled at stated periods at a common table, where they ate and drank together." This primitive custom, so simple and confined in its operations, was to beget mighty consequences in the hands of the amalgamated Anglo-Saxon people. We find its associating principle following them into the fortified places or burghs where they first assembled for the purposes of trade and commerce (the nuclei of our towns), and affording to them an infinitely safer defence against aggression than any fortifications could give, in the Trade Guilds. If, therefore, there be one of the great and still existing institutions of antiquity, possessing in its history matters of deeper interest and instruction than any other, it is that of our municipal government, whose very meeting-places constantly remind us by their designation what they were-the guild-halls, and what we owe to the system, which has, unfortunately, through causes into which it is not our province to enter, enjoyed of late years more of the popular contempt than of popular gratitude: a feeling which, if it promised to be permanent, might well excite the apprehension of the political philosopher as to the ultimate well-being of the country. All considerations, then, tend to invest the very word guildhall with a more than ordinary sense of the value of the associations that may belong to a name, and which is of course enhanced when it refers, not merely to a hall of a guild, but to the hall of the guilds generally of the metropolis, as in that we are about to notice in connection with Civic Government. The Guildhall of London, as we now approach it from Cheapside, through King Street, appears no unapt type of the discordant associations that have grown up around the institution: the old hall, in the main, is there still, but with a new face, which shows how ludicrously inadequate were its builders to accomplish their apparent desire of restoring it in harmony with, but improving upon the general structure; and they seem to have had some misgivings of the kind themselves; for they have so stopped short in the elevation, as to leave the dingy and supremely ugly brick walls, with their round-headed windows, added by their predecessors to the upper portion of the hall after the fire of London, obtrusively visible. It is possible that the "little college" which stood here prior to the year 1411, had been either in itself or in its predecessors founded by the Confessor, whose arms are yet visible in the porch; at situations in the King's household, and the one who, in modern phraseology, is called the Lord High Steward, was not only at the head of the King's Palace, but of all the departments of the state, civil and military, chief administrator of justice, and leader of the armies in war. In the course of time the judicial functions were committed to an officer styled the Chief Justiciary; but to the office of Lord High Steward there still pertain remnants of his ancient authority, and it is his duty to preside at statetrials in the House of Lords. The Chief Justiciary presided in the Aula Regis, which was the only superior Court of Law. The functions of this tribunal had become gradually separated from the general business of the Great Council. It maintained the former power of the Great Council in punishing offences against the public, in controlling the proceedings of inferior courts, and in deciding on questions relative to the revenue of the Sovereign, and engrossed besides a great portion of the "common pleas," or causes between party and party. The different nature of the causes of which it took cognizance are styled by our earlier legal writers as pleas of the King, common pleas, and pleas of the Exchequer. The jurisdiction of the Chief Justiciar extended over each class of causes. In the reign of Edward III. (fourteenth century) the Great Council became essentially a legislative body, and as it now exists it is styled the High Court of Parliament, and is the court of ultimate appeal. The office of Chief Justiciar was abolished in the same reign, and thus not only the connection of the Aula Regis with the Great Council was destroyed, but the unity of that court was broken in upon, and separate jurisdiction was given to the three Courts of the King's Bench, Common Pleas, and Exchequer. One of the articles of Magna Charta was, that common pleas should not follow the King's Court, but be held in certain places. Previously the poorer class of suitors, in cases which concerned neither the King's revenues nor his prerogative of prosecuting offenders on behalf of the public, were compelled, in civil actions between man and man, to attend the frequent and distant progresses of the court, or to lose their remedies altogether. The Courts of King's Bench and Exchequer still retain their peculiar jurisdiction, the former enjoying superiority as the remnant of the Aula Regis, and the latter having cognizance of all cases relating to the revenue. So recently as 1830 the appeal from the judgment of the Court of Common Pleas was by writ of error to the justices of the King's Bench. The Court of Exchequer is the lowest in rank of the superior courts, although formerly one of the first in importance. The judges are the Chief Baron and four other barons, who are so called from having been anciently chosen from such as were barons of the kingdom or parliamentary barons. Another relic of the original constitution of the superior courts, before they were carried out of the Aula Regis, appears in the appellation of "My Lord," which is always given to the Judges in their official character. In 1832 an Act was passed for assimilating the practice of the Common Law Courts; the great mass of causes may now, therefore, be tried in any of the three courts. Before 1832, besides the peculiar jurisdiction exercised by the Courts of King's Bench and Exchequer, the Court of Common Pleas had the exclusive right of trying all causes which related to freehold or realty. The right of practising in this court in term time was and is confined to Serjeants-at-Law, the attempt to deprive them of this privilege having failed. The Court of Exchequer consists of two divisions, one having jurisdiction in matters relating to the revenue; and the other is subdivided into a Court of Common Law where all personal actions may be brought, and a Court of Equity where suits in equity may be commenced and prosecuted. In the reign of Edward III. (in 1358) a court was erected, called the Court of Exchequer Chamber, to determine causes upon writs of error from the Common Law side of the Exchequer. An appeal may now be made from each of the three courts to this chamber; and from whichever court it is brought, it is the Judges of the other two courts who decide upon it; but an ultimate appeal may be made to the House of Lords. The number of the Judges of England since 1830 has been fifteen, a Chief Justice and four puisne Judges in the Courts of King's Bench and Common Pleas, and a Chief Baron and four other Barons in the Court of Exchequer. There were previously only four Judges in each court. The Courts of Equity, which have jurisdiction in cases where an adequate remedy cannot be had in the Common Law Courts, are not confined to Westminster Hall. The Lord Chancellor, the Master of the Rolls, and the Vice-Chancellors have their Courts there; and they sit at Westminster in term-time; but in the intervals, the Lord Chancellor and the Vice-Chancellors sit at Lincoln's Inn, and the Master of the Rolls, the second equity judge in point of rank, at the Rolls in Chancery Lane. Until 1841 there was but one Vice-Chancellor, but in that year two additional ViceChancellors were appointed by Act of Parliament; and the first Vice-Chancellor was distinguished by the title of Vice-Chancellor of England. On the death of Sir L. Shadwell, Vice-Chancellor of England, the office lapsed; but in 1851 it was found necessary to appoint a third Vice-Chancellor; and the three now rank alike. The Lord High Chancellor was originally a sort of confidential chaplain, or, before the Reformation, confessor to the King, and keeper of the King's conscience. In his capacity of chief secretary he was the adviser of his master in various temporal matters; he prepared and made out royal mandates, grants, and charters, and, when seals came into use, affixed his seal. The appointment to the office takes place by the delivery of the great seal. The authority of Lord Chancellor and Lord Keeper were made the same by an Act passed in 1563; and the last Lord Keeper was Lord Henley, in 1757. From a small beginning the office of Lord Chancellor became one of great dignity and pre-eminence, and he now takes rank above all dukes not of the blood-royal, and next to the Archbishop of Canterbury. Before the Reformation the Lord Chancellor or Lord Keeper was usually an ecclesiastic. The last churchman who filled the office was Williams, Archbishop of York, who was Lord Keeper from 1621 to 1625. In the same century the Earl of Shaftesbury, who was neither an ecclesiastic nor a lawyer, was appointed Lord Chancellor. The jurisdiction with which the Lord High Chancellor is invested originated in the discretionary power of the King, whose special interference, as the fountain of justice, was frequently sought against the decisions of the Courts of Law, and also in matters which were not cognizable by the common Courts. The Lord Chancellor also exercises important political functions, and has a seat in the cabinet. He resigns office with the party to which he is attached. The Court of Chancery is a name which properly belongs to the Lord Chancellor's Court and the Vice-Chancellor's Courts together, but it is most frequently applied to all the Courts of Equity. The office of Vice-Chancellor is only of recent origin, having been created in 1813, and in 1841, as already mentioned, two additional vice-chancellors were appointed. The Master of the Rolls, another of the Judges in Equity, who has a separate Court, is an officer of great antiquity. He takes precedence next to the Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench, and before the Vice-Chancellors. The Master of the Rolls has the power of hearing and determining originally the same matters as the Lord Chancellor, with a few exceptions; but his orders or decrees must be signed by the Lord Chancellor before being enrolled. The Vice-Chancellor has nearly the same powers. Appeals (strictly speaking rehearings) are made both from the Rolls and the Vice-Chancellor's Court to the Lord |