LORD HALSBURY Eleanor, queen of Henry II, who was de livered of a princess on November 25, 1253, during her term of office. It is also interesting to note that Lord Halsbury is the fourth of the name of Giffard who has been Lord Chancellor, al though we are not in a position to say that he is a member of the same family as his medieval predecessors. One, William Giffard, Bishop of Winchester, held the office in 1086, under William the Conqueror. He also held office under William Rufus, in 1087, and was reappointed by Henry I, in noo. Walter Giffard became Lord Chancellor under Henry III, in 1265, and Godfrey Giffard was appointed in 1266. The Lord Chancellor, as keeper of the conscience of the sovereign, is supposed to keep the Great Seal constantly in his per sonal custody and within the realm, and Cardinal Wolsey got into serious trouble with his royal master, Henry VIII, for hav ing taken it to Calais. In more modern times the versatile, but eccentric Brougham made a quixotic, tri umphal journey through his native Scot land, taking the Seal with him in his carriage. An amusing incident occurred on this absurd journey. The story is told by Lord Campbell as follows : "At Rothiemurchus, the residence of the Dowager Duchess of Bedford, Brougham found a large party of English ladies, with whom he romped so much, that the ladies to be revenged upon him, took the Great Seal and hid it where neither he nor his attendants could rind it. This was rather a serious practical joke, as without the Seal the government is at a standstill, the Great Seal giving authority to all the acts of the government, and every instrument bearing the impression of it is law. "At last the Lord Chancellor was in such distress, that the ladies took pity upon him, and said he might find it blindfolded, one of the ladies playing on the piano, soft or loud as he got nearer to or further from the hiding-place. He was accordingly blind
585
folded, and eventually the bauble was found hidden in a tea-chest. "This was very harmless sport, but un fortunately exaggerated reports were sent to a lady-in-waiting, and she in turn ex aggerated the story in repeating it, and thus did much mischief." On the same journey Brougham is. said to have made pan-cakes on the Great Seal for the amusement of another Duchess. Lord Eldon, incarnation of Toryism, also had a peculiar experience in connection with the Seal. During the autumn of 1812, Lord Eldon's house, at Encombe, was de stroyed by fire, which he describes very graphically as follows: "It really was a very pretty sight, for all the maids turned out of their beds and they formed a line from the water to the fireengine, handing the buckets; they looked very pretty all in their shifts." While the flames were raging, His Lord ship was in violent trepidation about the Great Seal, which he always kept in his bed-chamber. He flew with it to the gar den, and buried it in a flower-border. But his trepidation was almost as great next morning, for what between his alarm for the safety of Lady Eldon, and his admira tion of the maids in their vestal attire, he could not remember the spot where the clavis regni had been hidden. "You never saw anything so ridiculous," His Lordship said, "As seeing the whole family down that walk probing and digging until we found it." Lord Halsbury will hardly take rank as one of the great law reformers of England. His immediate predecessors, Cairns and Selborne, were very active in this respect, but perhaps the congested state of business in the British Parliament, and the difficulty of carrying any contentious measure through both Houses may afford some reason why no great law reforms have been associated with His Lordship's chancellorship. Still it cannot be denied that Lord Halsbury has missed a golden opportunity of
