SEAL 



277 



birth represented their armorial ensigns. The seal 

 was generally appended to the document by passing 

 a strip of parchment or a cord through a slit in its 

 lower edge ; and the ends being held together, the 

 wax was pressed or moulded round them a short 

 distance from the extremity, and the matrix im- 

 pressed on it. Occasionally the seal was not pend- 

 ent, but the wax was spread on the deed. The 

 coloured wax with the impression was sometimes 

 imbedded in a mass of white wax forming^ a protec- 

 tive border to it. In England a seal is still an 

 essential to all legal instruments by which real 



estate is conveyed ; but since subscription has also 

 become necessary the practice of sealing lias de- 

 generated into a mere formality. The custom was 

 gradually introduced of covering the wax with 

 white paper, on which the impression was made, 

 and latterly wafers have been considered a sufficient 

 substitute for seals. In Scotland, where sealing is 

 not now required (see DEED), every freeholder was 

 obliged by statutes of Robert III. and James I. to 

 have his seal of arms ; and among the Scottish 

 armorial seals of the 14th and 15th centuries are 

 some of wonderful beauty of execution. In most of 



Great Seal of William the Conqueror. 



the states of the American nnion neither wax, 

 wafer, nor anything corresponding to a seal is 

 required for deed*. 



The use of corporate seals by towns and Itorouclix 

 dates as far back as the 12th century. The earlier 

 corporate seals hear the town gales, city '.vails, or 

 Home similar device ; the use of corporate arms did 

 not begin till the later half of the 14th century. 

 The study of medi:rval seals i-< of gieat import- 

 ance and interest in connection with many branches 

 of archeology, including heraldic and genealogi- 

 cal investigations. Seals are still customarily 

 appended to various kinds of formal and official 

 documents, ecclesiastical, academic, masonic, &c. 



The Great Senl, the specific emblem of sove- 

 reignty, is appended only to the most important 

 class of public documents, such as writs for sum- 

 moning parliament, treaties, and official acts of 

 state. A new one is made for each new sovereign 

 ( or on occasion of a change of arms or style ), the 

 old one being solemnly broken. The original cus- 

 todier of the English seal was the Lord Chancellor 

 (q.v.), but by-and-by the seal was frequently put 

 into the charge of a special official called the Lord 

 Keeper (q.v.). Since 1757 the Chancellor is the 

 only keeper of the Great Seal ; though the seal 

 may lie put into Commission, and entrusted for 

 the time to Lords Commissioners. It was long a 

 rule that the Great Seal should not be used for any 

 document without prior authority under the Privy- 

 seal (see below). When in 164*2 tin- Lord Keeper 

 (Littleton) joined Charles I. at York, he carried 

 the Great Seal with him ; whereupon the parlia- 

 ment (illegally, no doubt) ordered a new one to 

 be made. Charles II. had one made for himself 

 after his father's death. James II. on his flight 

 threw the Great Seal into the Thames opposite 

 Lambeth, but it was soon recovered. At the 

 nnion with Scotland it was provided there should 

 be only one Great Seal for Great Britain ; but a 



seal is provided to be used in Scotland for grants 

 concerning ottices, commissions, and private rights 

 in that kingdom only. This seal is commonly 

 called, for brevity, the Great Seal of Scotland, and 

 is now held ex officio by the Secretary of State for 

 Scotland. No special provision was made after the 

 union with Ireland. 



The Priry-seal is the seal appended to grants 

 which are afterwards to pass the Great Seal, and 

 to documents of minor importance which do not 

 require the Great Seal. The officer who has the 

 custody of the Privy-seal was at one time called 

 the Keeper, and afterwards the Lord Privy-seal. 

 The Lord Privy-seal is now the fifth great 

 officer of state, and has generally a seat in the 

 cabinet. His office is conferred under the Great 

 Seal during pleasure. Since the reign of Henry 

 VIII. the Privy-seal has been the warrant of the 

 legality of grants from the crown, and the authority 

 for the Lord Chancellor to affix the Great Seal. 

 Such grants are styled letters-patent, and the office 

 of the Lord Privy-seal is one of the departments 

 through which they must pass to secure their 

 validity. Until recently all letters-patent for the 

 grant of appointments to office under the crown, 

 of patents of invention, charters, naturalisations, 

 pensions, creation of honours, pardons, &c. 

 required to pass from the Signet Office to the 

 Privy-seal Office, in the form of Signet bills, 

 verified by the Signet Seal and superscription ; 

 and on the Privy-seal being attached to them 

 they were forwarded to the Lord Chancellor, 

 by whom the patents were completed in the 

 office of the Great Seal. By the Act 47 and 48 

 Viet. chap. 30, it is now unnecessary for any instru- 

 ment to be passed under the Privy-seal, a warrant 

 under the royal sign-manual duly countersigned 

 being sufficient authority for passing any instru- 

 ment under the Great Seal. There is a Privy-seal 

 in Scotland, which is used to authenticate royal 



