British Library, Additional MS 45145
The Lord Chancellor's Speech
c Before I enter into buisnesse of
I must take aduantadge of soe many
ho
knowne summarily, what charge
the kinges most Excellent M
me when I
receaued the seale, and
what Orders and resoluc
selfe have taken in Conformitie
to that Charge, that the king
may haue the honor of direction,
and the parte of obedience, wherby
yo
shall see my whole tyme of sitting in
Chauncery, w
shorter as it shall please God, and
the king Contracted into one hower,
and this I doe for three causes./
First to give account to the king
of his Commaund./
Secondly, that it may be a Guard
and Custodie to my selfe, and
mine owne doeinges, that I doe
thing I have professed in soe
good Companie.
And Thirdly, that all men that
have to doe w
may know what they shall expect
and both sett theire hartes and
myne Eares att Rest, not moveing
any thing against those Rules,
knoueing that my answere is now
turned from a Volumus into a quod
non possumus, it is noe more I will
not, but I cannot alter this
declaracon./
And this I doe Allsoe under
three cautions./
The first is that there be
some things of a more secrett and
Counsaylelike nature, w
rather to be Acted then puplished
but those thinges w
puplique nature
The second is That I will not
trouble this presence w
perticular w
but select those thinges w
greatest efficacie and conduce most
particulars to be sett downe in a
puplique table according to the good
example of
begini
And lastly that theise Imperatives
w
and my tymes be w
to the Auhtoritie of the Courte, or
to wiser men that may succeede
me and chefely that they are
wholly Ad
wisdome of my soveraigne and the
absolutest Prince for Judicature
that hath beene in the Christian
w
his directions shalbe thought by
his M
most readie to reforme them
Those thinges are but
Albu
Roman Prætors w
affinitie w
the Chauncell
to sett
downe att theire entrance
how they would use theire J
Jurisdicc
doe my lordes in
noe flourishing or painted wordes
but such wordes as shall goe
before deedes./
The kinges Charge w
lanthorne resteth uppon fouer
heades.
The first
Courte, w
limitts, w
The second that I should thinke
the putting of the great seale to
l
course to followe after precedent
warrants, but that I should take
it to be the Maturetie, and fulnes
of the kinges intencons, and
therfore
one of the greatest partes of my ptrust
and if I saw therein any scruple
or cause of stay that I should
acquaint him, w
ne fecere
The Third was that I should
retrench all unnecessary delayes that
the subiect might find that he
did enioye the same Remedy against
the fainting of the soule, and
the Consumption of his Estate
w
And that those same brambles
w
charge and expence, and all
maner of exaccons might be rooted
out soe farre as might be
Theise Cammaundem ents my Lords
are righteous, and as I may
terme them sacred, and therefore
to use a sacred forme, I pray
god blesse the king for his greate
care over the Justice of this land
and give me his poore
servant
grace and power to observe
his precepts.
Now for a beginning towardes it
I had sett downe, and applyed
particular orders to day out of
theise generall heades./
For the excesse or humor of
the Courte of Chauncery, I shall
devide it into five Natures.
The nature
doeth embrace, or retayne causes
both in matter and in Circumstance
meerely determinable, and fitt for
the Common law, for my Lordes
the Chauncery is ordeyned to supply
the law, and not to subvert
the law.
Now to describe unto yow: or delineate
what theise Causes are, and uppon
what difference, and what are fitt
for the Courte or not fitt for the
Courte were too long a lecture,
but I will tell yow:, what remedie
I have prepared, I will
keepe
the keyes my selfe, and I will nev
referre any demurrer or Plea
tending to dischardge or dismisse
the Courte of the Cause, to any
M
of it my selfe, or at the least
by the M
further I will appoynte
regularly
w
heare Mocons of that nature,
before any other that the subiect
may have his vale att the First w
attending, and that the Courte
may not leave and accumulate a
Missellanie and Confusion of
Causes of all natures./
The second point concerneth the
tyme of
Commers into the Chauncery w
stay till a Judgment be passed
against them att the Com
and then Complaine, wherein yo
Lordshipps may have heard a greate
Rattle, and a Noyse of Præmunire,
but I cannot tell what, but
the king hath settled according
to the auncient presidents in all
kinges tymes Continued. And
this I will say
that the opinion not
would be a guilty opinion guilty
of the Ruygne, Naufrage, and
perishing of Infortunate subiects
and as the king found it well out
why should a man fly into the
Chauncery
before he be hurte, but
my Lordes the power would be
preserved, but the practice would be
moderate, My Rule shalbe there fore
that In case of Complaints after
Judegement except the Judgm
be uppon nihil dicit and cases w
are but disguises of Judgements
As that Judgement be obteyned,
in contempt of a preceding Order,
in this Courte, yea, and after
verdict allsoe, I will have the
partie Complaynant to enter
into good Bond to prove his
successions, soe
that he wilbe
Releeved against a Judgement
matter of equity he shall doe it
tanquam et Vinculis, att his p
The Third poynt of excesse may
be the over frequent, and facile
graunting of Iniunctions for the
stayeing of the Common law, or
the altering of the possessions
wherin theise shalbe my Rules, I
will graunt noe Iniunctions meerely
uppon
prioretie of suite that is to
say, because this Courte was first
possessed, a thing that was well
Reformed in the late lord Chauncell:
Bromely's tyme, In soe much that
I remember that mr: Dalton the
Counsellar of
uppon the Courte in nature of a Bill
for seeing it was noe more but my
lord, the Bill came in on munday
and the arrest att Com
Prioretie of suite, he caused his
client that had a debtor to put
his Bill into the Chauncery before
the Bond due to him was forfeited,
to desire an order that he might
have his money at his day because
he would be sure to be before the
other, I doe not meane to make it a
matter of an horse race, whoe shall
be first att Westminister hall
Neither will I graunt a Iniunction
uppon matter conteyned in the Bill
onely, be it never soe smo
specious but uppon matter confessed
in the deffendants aunswere, or matt
pregnant in writing, or of Record,
or uppon Contempt of the def
not appearing, or not aunswering,
or trifeling
w
cient Aunswering, for then
It may be thought that the
to gett the starte att the Com
law, and soe to take advantage
of his owne
Contempt w
not be suffered,
As for Iniunctions for poss
I shall mainteyne possession, as
they were at the tyme of the bill
exhibited, and for the space of
a yeare att least before, except
the possession were gotten by force
or by any trick
Neither will I alter possession
uppon Interlocutorie orders untill
a decree, except uppon matter
playnely confessed in the
aunswere ioyned allsoe
playne disabilitie and Insolvencie
in the
As for takeing the possession away
have all the processe of the courte
spent first, and a Sequestracon of
the profitts before I Come to an
Iniunction.
The Fourth poynt is, as con-
cerning the Communicating of the
Authority of the
and makeing uppon the matter too
many Chauncellors, by relying too
much uppon the reportes of the
of the Chauncery as concludent,
I know, my lordes, the
Chauncery are reverend men,and
the greate masse of the buisnes of the
Court Cannot be spee
And it is a thing the
may soone fall to for his owne case
to rely much uppon them, but the
Course that I will take
shalbe this, I will make noe
binding order uppon any Report of
a seavenights day at
cause against the Report,
neverthelesse I will have done
modestly, and
towardes them, and againe I must
utterly discontinew the Makeing of
an Hipotheticall or Conditionall
Order, That if a Master of the
Chauncerie be
certefied thus, & thus,
that then it is soe ordered
further mocon, for that it is a
surprize, and giveth noe tyme for
Contradiction.
The last poynt of Excesse is, if
a
himselfe, as he shall neglect the
assistance of reverend Judges, in cases
of difficulty, especially if they touch
uppon law, or calling them shall
doe it
but, pro forma tantum
Opinions, wherein my Lordes preserving
the dignitie and
ad
diminshed by grave and due assistance,
I shall never be found soe
or abundant in mine owne sence,
but as I shall both desire and
make
many diversitie of opinion of my
assistantse from mine owne, though
I know well the Judjcature of the
Courte, wholly rests in my selfe
yett I thinke I should have
recourse, to the Oracle of the
king's
owne Judgement, before I should
pronounce, And soe much for the
temperate use of the Authoritie
of this Courte, for surely the
health of a Courte as well as
a body consisteth in temperance
of his
graunts att the seale, theire
may be iust cause of stay either
in the matter of the graunt, or
in the manner of passing the
same, out of both
theise six principall causes,
I will now make knowne. All
be wholly submitted to his M
after by me he shall have beene
Informed, for if Iteratum
the sacrafice.
The first case is where any
of Revenew, treasure, or profitt passeth
from his
shalbe to examine wheither the
graunt have passed in the
due and naturall course, by
Revenew, The Lord Treasurer and
Chauncellor of the Exchequer, and
not to be, I presume it to have
passed in the darke, and by a
kind of surrepcon; & I will make
stay of it, till his
be
further knowne./
If it be a graunt that is not
meerely vulgar, and hath of course
passed att the signett of fac simile
but needeth science; my duety shalbe
to examine, wheither it hath passed
by the learned Councell, and had
theire dockett,
reades, and leades himselfe, and
if I find it otherwise (although
the matter were not in it selfe In
=convenient) yett I hold it iust cause
to stay for presidents sake to
keepe men in the right way./
Thirdly if it be graunt
conceave out of my litle knowlege
to be against the law, (of
nature Theodosius was wont to say
I spake it or I wrote it but I
graunted it not) if it be uniust) I
will call the learned Counsell to
it aswell he that drew the booke
as the rest, or some of them, for
as for the Judges, they are
past, but not of grauntes to come
except the king call them./
Fourthly if graunts be against
the kings puplique booke of
bounty, I am expressly Comannded
to stay them, untill the king
revise his booke in generall, or give
direction in the
If as a Counsellor of Estate
I doe foresee Inconvenience to ensue
by reason of estate in respect of
the kinges honour, or discontent,
not trust to mine owne Judegment,
but I will either acquaint his
M
or some such of my Lordes as
I shall thinke fitt,/
Lastly for matter of pardons,
if it be for treasons
Murther either exprest or involute,
by a non obstante or of Piracy, or
Premunire, or of fines or exemplary
punishment in the starre Chamber, or
some other natures I shall by the
grace of god stay
M
shall resolve betweene god and
him, how farre grace shall abound
or superabound./
And if it be of persones attainted
and Convicted of Robbery, Burglary,
&c, then will I examine wheith
the pardons passed the hand of any
peace, or other Commissioners,
before whome the triall
was
made, And if not I thinke it
my dutie allsoe to stay them/
And
matter of the seale, and his M
Royall
the same I meane to walke in
the light, soe that men may
know where to finde me, And
this
puplishing thereof plainly
I hope will save the king from
a great deale of abuse, and
me from a great deale of Envy
when men shall see that noe
particular turne, or end leades
me but a generall Rule,
For the third generall heade
of his precepts concerning speedy
Justice, It Resteth much uppon
my selfe, and much uppon oth
yett soe as my procuracon may
give some Remedy and order
unto it./
For my selfe I am resolved
that my decree shall come
speedily, if not Instantly after
the heareing, and my signed
decree speedily uppon my decree
pronounced, for it hath bin a
manner much used of late in my
last lordes tyme, of whome I
have much to Imitate, and somew
to avoyde, that uppon the solemne
and full heareing of a cause
noetheing is pronounced in Courte,
but breviats are required to be made
(
Confesse I have somewhat of
the Cunctative, And I am
of opinion that Whoesoever is
not wiser uppon advise then
uppon the soddayne, the same
man is noe wiser att fiftine,
then
my Father's ordinary wordes
yow must give me tyme, but
yett I finde that when such
breviates were taken, the Cause
was sometymes forgotten a terme
or two, and then sett downe for
a new hearing, or reheareing
three or
foure termes after./
And in the meane tyme the
though the Chauncery pace be
slowe, of
mission I see noe use, And
therefore I will promise regu=
larly to pronownce my
decree
and to signe my deg
the least in the Vacation after
the pronouncing of fresh Justice
is the sweetest, And to the end
that there be noe delay of Justice
nor any other meanes makeing or
labouring, but the labour of the
Counsell att the barre./
Againe because Justice is
a sacred thing, and the end
for
and there fore is my way to
heaven (And if it be shorter
it is never the
I shall by the grace of god (as
add the after noone to the afforenoone
and some fortnight of the Vacacon
to the service of the expediting,
and clearing of the Causes of the
Courte, onely the depth of the
long vacacons, I would reserve
in some measure free from
buisnes of Estate, and for
studies, Acts, and services, to
In mine owne nature, I am
most Enclined./
There is an
Expedicon
in my selfe, And that is
my manner of giving orders
For I have seene an
utterly to delay at length, for
the manner of it is to take the
Tale out of the Counsell
Barre his mouth and to give
a Cursary order noething tending,
or conducing to the end of the
buisnes, It makes me Remember
what I have heard one say of a
Judge
that sate in the Chancery,
That he would make fortie ord
out
and it was out of the way
indeede, for it was noething to
the end of the buisnes, and
that is that
eightie, 100 orders in a cause, too,
and froe begetting one another,
and like Penelope's Webb, doeing
and undoeing,/
But I meane not to purchase
the prayse of expedetive in
a feeling of my duetie, and of
the case of others in my
shalbe to heare patiently,
and to cast my Order into such
a mould, as may soonest bring
the subiect to the end of his
Journey./
And for delayes that may
Concerne others, first the great
Abuse is, that if the
gott an Iniunction to stay
suites att the Common law,
then he will spinne out his
Cause att length, But by
the grace of
god I will make
to sleepe on, for if I finde
that he prosecutes not
effect, he may perhappes when
he is awake find not onely
his Iniunction dissolved but
his Cause dissmissed./
There be other perticular
orders, I meane to take for non
prosecution, or faint prosecucon
where
yow now because summa sequor
vestigia
for matter of Expedicon./
Now for the fourth and last
point of the king
for the cutting of unnecessary
charge of the suibect, A great
porcon of it is fulfilled, in the
precedent Article, for it is the
length of suites that doeth
multiply Charges cheefely
Remedies, that
doe Conduce
thereunto./
First therefore I
will maynteyne strictly, and
my lord Chauncellor hath taken
for the moderate, and needelesse
prolixitie, and length of bills,
and Aunsweres &c/ aswell in
punishing the partie, as fining
the
Counsell whose hand I shall
find att such bills, and
aunsweres/
Secondly for all examinacons
taken in the Countrey, I doe
uppon perill of loosing theire
places, that they doe use any
Idle Repeticons, or needelesse
Circumstance in setting downe
the deposicons taken by them
And I would I could helpe it
likewise in the Countrey, but
that is Impossible./
Thirdly I shall take a
diligent survey of the copies in
Chauncery, that they have
theire Just number of lines
and
wastefull writing./
Fourthly, I shalbe carefull
there be noe nexaccon of any
any new Fees, but according
as they have beene heretofore
sett and tabled./
As for lawyers Fees I
must leave that to the conscience
and meritt of the lawyers,
of the Clyent, but this I can
doe, I know there have used
to attend this Barre a
of lawyers, that have not beene
hard scarce once, or twice in a
terme, and that maketh the
Counsell
and favourites (as they call them)
for evry ordder, that a meane
mens
(a terme fitter for kinges then
Judges) therefore to helpe the
generalitie of lawyers, and
therein to helpe the Clyents
I will constantly observe that
evry tuesday, and other dayes
clocke strucken, I will heare
the Barre untill eleaven, or
halfe an hower After tenn
att the least, and since I
am uppon whome
to tell a fancie./
It falleth out that there
be three of us the kinges
servants in greate places that
are lawyers by descent, Mr
Attourney somnne of a Judge,
Mr Solicitor likewise sonne of
a Judge, and my selfe a
Chauncellors sonne./
Now because the law rootes
so well in my tyme, I will
water it at the Roote thus
farre, As besides theise
great ones I will heare
any Judges sonne before
sonne be a Reader if there
be not many of
them,
Lastly for the better ease
of the subiects, and the bridling
of Contentious suites, I give
better that is great coastes
where the suggestions are
proved then hath beene
hithee
There be divers
for the better Regiment
this Courte, and for gr
of writts, and for graunting
of benefitts, and others
I shall sett downe
I will deale
but such as have a proper
Commaundem
it being my Comforte, that I
serve such a master that I
shall neede to be a Conduit
onely, for Conveying his goood
=nes to his people, And it is
true that I doe aspire, and
affect to make good that
saying, That optimus Magistratus praestat optimae legi,
his
doubt I shall not attaine it,
but yett I have a domesticke
Example to follow./
My Lordes I have noe more to
say, but now I will goe on in
the buisnes of the Courte./
finis/