Jl-STICES, LORDa 



JUSTICES, LORDS. 



. 



ll M. thM-to BMf* rBMdHl to hi* majesty to obtain a repeal of the 

 ngtoafaataw Vans* at m~i than to aak puiiamant merely for the leave 

 ,d the bill iaani> through all it* (tern in both Hoiue* 

 p vote., th* Tori*, being favourably difpoeed to the 



a that paint. how*v*r, h* yielded at IM* ,to the rei* 

 of UM miafcctor*. who eoadoded a long exposition of reawa* 

 the kingdom at all at that criaii bjr Bating that, 



the Prince of 

 ." and faw. if any . restricti 

 that the cowtant tenor of 



tw> instance of proo 

 Wale* " IB the appoint- 

 pon Rich oommi*aion*," 



ent pr 

 .) U 



ractice could 



r be needed from. (Coxe, ii. il i4.t Upon thu the 

 UM niTiwiin-*- give UM prince the *ole direction of aflair* : 



> Cox*, quoting from th. work called The PuUtical State of Great 

 he appoiBtod him Gunlim 0/1*5 Rtalm and Linttnomt, 

 rain Enrla 



i EacUnd sine, it was enjoyed by Edward the Black 

 >.' U point of fact th. titl. giren to the prince in the original 

 Boniaiian wa. tW Kiy> *<+lri it Locum tnttxt, which were 

 i word* that had been commonly used in all auch commission* 

 down to the reign of Henry VIII., with thi* difference only, that one 

 f th* two title* (more frequently CuHot Rryni) wa* alone employed. 

 The eartfcait UM of th. term rtytni appear* to have been in the com- 

 M Mai-n from Henry VIII. to Queen Catherine Parr, when he went 

 over to Boulogne in 1544, in which *he i* ntyled Kertrir tt OubtrnatrU 

 JSiymBMfn. Que*n Mary, the wife of William III., whose case U the 

 not that occur*, nmi, a* already itated, to hare had no 



tybdieuut. 



t in her own right, she was not even popularly 



Whan George I. went abroad, in May, 1719, he intruded the govern- 

 mot during hk ahaanee not to a regent, or any aingle penon, but to 

 _of tie Archbishop of Canterbury and 



ji 



UM principal officer* of state. The comiuimion begin* 

 hi. majerty bad " determined, for diver* weighty rea 



inunoned are appointed 







In be "our 

 of our .aid 



:, 



::. -; 



! ! . 



ily to 





) p 



and justice* (/wftnoru muat be the Latin term) 

 of Great Britain, and our lieutenant* in the nine, 

 out of our *aid kingdom, or till further ignification 

 ; " and they were authorised, four being made a quorum, 

 the office and place of guardian*, *c., and to order, do, and 

 peifmm all and erery act and acto of government and administration of 

 gm eminent, and all other matter* and thing* whateoever, which, by 

 rirtoe or reaaon of the aforeaaid office or place, bare been uiual, or may 

 b* lawfully ordered, done, or performed." Power i* afterward* specially 

 giren to keep the [iieo*, to cauw the law* and customs of the kingdom 

 to be ulawtad by all, to puniah criminal*, to bold the parUamei, 

 i*i~t to """"a and hold other parliament*, to uuiuion anil buld 

 the Priry Council ; with th* adrice of the Privy Council, to i**ue pro- 

 cUmatt>n, " and to do and perform all other thing* which hare been 

 oeoatty done, or may/ be done, by u*, by or with the adrice of the 

 am.;" to appoint ambaaaadon, to make and conclude treatie*; to 

 confer, grant, and |niijnt to all benanee* , to issue commandii under 

 the wiry *eal for and omxiatiiint th* collection, levying, and dUpoeal 

 of the rerenn. ; to command th* army ; to execute martial law in time 

 of war, if that ibould happen ; to command and employ the naval 

 tone* of the fcr*"*ti ; to appoint to and discharge from all office* at 

 the dicpoeal of the crown ; to grant pardon* for high treason and all 

 other crime* and oflenow ; and finally, to do all theae thing* in Ireland 

 a* *U a* in Onat Britain. 



The enumeration of the power* granted by thi* commianon i* pro- 

 bably th* BMat authentic compendium that ha* been pubushed ..i t !.. 

 funortnn* of government ordinarily exarcuwl by the crown. It does 

 not. however, profeai to b* an enumeration of all the power* realdent 

 In the crown; and it may be obeenred, that beside*, perhaps, aome 

 yp*r*BlnlBg to the office of Mprame head of the church, th* power of 



onour U not made over to the lord* 

 , we believe, never ha* been delegated, 

 of the patent 



pear* and conferring honour U not made over to the lord* 

 power which, 



elegated, if we except only the caae 

 ranted by Chart** I., in 1644. to Lord Herbert (better known a* the 



That if a power whi 

 or ttearoUd to be delegated, 



Karl of Glamorgan), which, after the Kectoration, he wa* compelled to 

 raakn by the interference of the Houte of Lord*. 

 The Lord* Jnetke* an further required, in the execution of tli, ir 



powan. punctuaUy to observe hi* majesty ' pleaaure, a* it might be 

 from UOM to Urn* ilpiaaiiil in Uutruction* Mgned by the rural hand ; 

 and th* iimnmMnn wa* aceompanied by a aet of inatruction*, twenty- 

 one to mother, the noat important thing* directed in which are, that 

 hrtop or henetee* in the gift of the crown which may become 



BtW MUUl 



kail b*di*po*adof without hi* majwty* direction*; that no 

 or JlreeUoB* ounnernlng UM dieporition of money ahalt be given 

 hi. meje*y-. pbemr. 4>all have been aigni6ed thereupon ; and 

 that therr nuat be no CMrriM of the power dkanlving th* parliament, 

 <*eailuir new cate, without tpeeial 4gnlHcation of the royal plearore. 

 The aaaw eaUiction \* pot upon th* *s*rei** of th* power of jmnlon 

 tag, and aotn* of UM oUwr powvra. In caet however they *houl<l hl<) 



it neceaaary or expedient for the public aerrioe, the Lord* Jtuticea are 

 authoriaed to All office* immediately, and alao to reprieve criminals ; 

 and they are permitted to continue the *iting parliament l>y abort 

 prorogation*, until they *hould be otherwise directed un. 

 atgn manual, and to nimmon the privy council to meet aa often an 

 they ahall aee ooowdon. 



The government wa* in the aame manner intruntod by George L to 

 lord* jiutice* when he again went abroad in 1720, 1723, 17^5, 1 7-'7. 



Queen Caroline, wife of George II., was go long a* abe lived always 

 minuted with the adminutration of Uie p ivcnuuent when that sove- 

 reign went abroad. The 2 Goo. II. chap. 27, wan panned in 17 - 

 enable her majesty to be regent of thU kingdom, during bin majmty'a 

 absence, without taking the oath* ; " on the 15th of Hay thereafter, 

 according to Salmon'* ' Chronological Hiitorian,' a commuaion paaoed 

 the great aeal conitituting her guardian and lieutenant of the kingdom 

 during the king's abeence ; and the same authority itate* her to have 

 Dean appointed guardian in 1732, and regent on the two other occa- 

 aians. A patent, with the like power* u that issued to the Prince of 

 Wale* in 1716, passed in 1732, appointing Queen Caroline guardian 

 and lieutenant of the kingdom in the king'* absence. Most prolmMy 

 all the four appointments were made in the aame manner and in tin- 

 same terms. After the death of Queen Caroline, the government was 

 alway* left during the reign of George II. in the hands of lords 

 justice* when the king went abroad ; the commissions and the ; 

 I any ing instruction* being on all occasions nearly the same with those 

 Lsnied in 1719. 



George III. during his long reign never left England. M h< n 

 George IV. went to Hanover, in September, 1821, nineteen guardians 

 and lords justices were appointed, the Duke of York being the first. 

 " One good effect arose from their appointment, that the lords justices 

 during his (the king's) absence signed an immense number of military 

 commissions and other documents, which had been accumulating since 

 his accession to the throne." (' Horning Chronicle,' Aug. 11, 1845.) 

 The writer of the newspaper article here quoted contends that " the 

 royal authority of an English monarch cannot be personally exercised 

 in a foreign country." " We take it," he adds, " to be quite clear, that 

 a patent sealed with the great seal in a foreign country would !>< \ .... I. 

 To guard against any >uch irregularity, the law requires that the patent 

 shall state the place where it i signed and sealed as ,/,..-/ II ...;O<M. 

 lrrinm." 



Nevertheless, no provision such as hod been customary on such 

 occasions has been made for the exercise of the royal authority when 

 her present majesty has temporarily left the kingdom. On one occasion 

 the subject was (for what object does not appear) brought forward in 

 the House of Lords by Lord Campbell, who, after stating at some 

 length the course which he maintained had been uniformly token down 

 to the year 1843, asked if it wag the intention that lords justices should 

 !>< ii appointed? The lord chancellor replied that the government 

 had no such intention. " On the occasion of II.T majesty visiting the 

 King of the French," his lordship is reported to have said, " the then 

 law officers of the crown, the present lord chief boron and the latr Sir 

 William Follett, had been consulted. .... And after mature ddii -.- 

 ration, theae learned persons gave it as their d<viilo<l opinion that it 

 was not at all necessary in point of law that such an appointment 

 should take place. .... In the present instance, also, the law officer* 

 of the crown had been consulted OB to whether it was necessary in 

 point of law for her majesty to appoint a regency during her absence, 

 and their reply was that it was in no degree necessary ; an opinion in 

 which he entirely concurred." 



It ought to be mentioned that the seven persons appointed in 1705 

 by the 4 & 5 Anne, c. 8, and again in 1707, by the 6 Anne, . 

 administer the government along with other person* whom th 

 king or quoen should hare named, in cose of his or her absence at tho 

 time from the kingdom, ore styled lords justices in the act, although 

 called regents by Burnet, and in the common accounts. These i.'i.l, 

 justice* (twenty-six in all) who actually came into office on the death 

 of Queen Anne, 1st August, 1714, and continued till the arrival of the 

 king on the 18th of September, enjoyed more 



any others that hare been appointed, at least in m<l.-ni timr*. Tin -y 

 were authoriaed to execute all powers of government, in as full and 

 ample manner a* the next successor could use or execute the same if 

 he or he were present in penon within this kingdom of Great Hritain, 

 until such successor ihould arrive, or otherwise determine tlicir autho- 

 rity. The only restrictions laid upon them were, that they were not, 

 without direction from the " queen or king," to dissolve ptrUaoMDl : 

 and that they would subject themselves to the pains of high in 

 they gare the royal anent to any bill or bill* for repealing or altering 

 the Act of Uniformity, or thu Act for the Establishment anil M 

 nance of the Presbyterian Church Government in Scotland. 



'I'll- mo*t important of the facts we hare (toted have !<: 

 from the report of the committee appointed by the House of ( '< 

 in 1788, " to examine and report precedents of such proceedings as 

 may hare been had in the case of the personal exercise of the royal 

 authority being prevented or interrupted by infancy, iuknejw, infirmity, 

 or otherwise," which i* printed in the Journals of the House, vol. xliv., 

 p|>. 1 1 - 12. And some porticulon) may be gleaned from the account* of 

 i-edingH in the two HOIIMM ..f Parliament on occasion of the 

 ktng'n illnem in 1788, on re|>orted in the ' Parliiiii;-i,t:,ij Hibtory, 



