of the sheriffs, and appoint officers to collect the revenue. The treasurer was subordinate to both the justiciar and the chancellor, but the removal of the chancery from the exchequer in the reign of Richard I., and the abolition of the office of justiciars in the reign of Henry III., increased his importance. Indeed, from the middle of the reign of Henry III. he became one of the chief officers of the crown. He took an important part in the equitable jurisdiction of the exchequer, and was now styled not merely king’s treasurer or treasurer of the exchequer, but lord high treasurer and treasurer of the exchequer. The first office was conferred by delivery of a white staff, the second by patent. Near the end of the 16th century he had developed into an official so occupied with the general policy of the country as to be prevented from supervising personally the details of the department, and Lord Burleigh employed a secretary for this purpose. On the death of Lord Salisbury in 1612 the office was put in commission; it was filled from time to time until 1714, when the duke of Shrewsbury resigned it; since that time it has always been in commission (see Treasury). The Scottish treasury was merged with the English by the Act of Union, but the office of lord high treasurer for Ireland was continued until 1816.
LORD HOWE, an island of the southern Pacific Ocean, lying about 31° 36′ S., 159° 5′ E., 520 m. E.N.E. of Sydney. Pop. 120. It was discovered in 1778 by Lieutenant Ball (whose name is commemorated in the adjacent islet of Ball’s Pyramid), and is a dependency of New South Wales. It measures about 512 m. by 1 m., and is well wooded and hilly (reaching a height of 2840 ft. at the southern end), being of volcanic formation, while there are coral reefs on the western shore. It has a pleasant climate. The name Lord Howe is given also to an islet of the Santa Cruz group, and to two islands, also known under other names—Mopiha, of the Society group, and Ongtong Java of the Solomon Islands.
LORD JUSTICE CLERK, in Scotland, a judge next in rank to the lord justice-general. He presides in the second division of the court of session, and in the absence of the lord justice-general, presides in the court of justiciary. The justice clerk was originally not a judge at all, but simply clerk and legal assessor of the justice court. In course of time he was raised from the clerk’s table to the bench, and by custom presided over the court in the absence of the justice-general. Up to 1672 his position was somewhat anomalous, as it was doubtful whether he was a clerk or a judge, but an act of that year, which suppressed the office of justice-depute, confirmed his position as a judge, forming him, with the justice-general and five of the lords of session into the court of justiciary. The lord justice clerk is also one of the officers of state for Scotland, and one of the commissioners for keeping the Scottish Regalia. His salary is £4800 a year.
LORD JUSTICE-GENERAL, the highest judge in Scotland, head of the court of justiciary, called also the lord president, and as such head of the court of session and representative of the sovereign. The office of justice-general was for a considerable time a sinecure post held by one of the Scottish nobility, but by the Court of Session Act 1830, it was enacted that, at the termination of the existing interest, the office should be united with that of lord president of the court of session, who then became presiding judge of the court of justiciary. The salary is £5000 a year.
LORD KEEPER OF THE GREAT SEAL, in England, formerly a great officer of state. The Great Seal of England, which is affixed on all solemn occasions to documents expressing the pleasure of the sovereign, was first adopted by Edward the Confessor (see Seals), and entrusted to a chancellor for keeping. The office of chancellor from the time of Becket onwards varied much in importance; the holder being an ecclesiastic, he was not only engaged in the business of his diocese, but sometimes was away from England. Consequently, it became not unusual to place the personal custody of the great seal in the hands of a vice-chancellor or keeper; this, too, was the practice followed during a temporary vacancy in the chancellorship. This office gradually developed into a permanent appointment, and the lord keeper acquired the right of discharging all the duties connected with the great seal. He was usually, though not necessarily, a peer, and held office during the king’s pleasure, he was appointed merely by delivery of the seal, and not, like the chancellor, by patent. His status was definitely fixed (in the case of lord keeper Sir Nicholas Bacon) by an act of Elizabeth, which declared him entitled to “like place, pre-eminence, jurisdiction, execution of laws, and all other customs, commodities, and advantages” as the lord chancellor. In subsequent reigns the lord keeper was generally raised to the chancellorship, and retained the custody of the seal. The last lord keeper was Sir Robert Henley (afterwards Lord Northington), who was made chancellor on the accession of George III.
LORD MAYOR’S DAY, in England, the 9th of November, the date of the inauguration of the lord mayor of London (see Vol. XVI., p. 966), marked by a pageant known as the Lord Mayor’s Show. The first of these pageants was held in 1215. The idea originated in the stipulation made in a charter then granted by John that the citizen chosen to be mayor should be presented to the king or his justice for approval. The crowd of citizens who accompanied the mayor on horseback to Westminster developed into a yearly pageant, which each season became more elaborate. Until the 15th century the mayor either rode or walked to Westminster, but in 1453 Sir John Norman appears to have set a fashion of going by water. From 1639 to 1655 the show disappeared owing to Puritan opposition. With the Restoration the city pageant was revived, but interregnums occurred during the years of the plague and fire, and in 1683 when a quarrel broke out between Charles and the city, ending in the temporary abrogation of the charter. In 1711 an untoward accident befell the show, the mayor Sir Gilbert Heathcote (the original of Addison’s Sir Andrew Freeport) being thrown by his horse. The next year a coach was, in consequence, provided for the chief magistrate. In 1757 this was superseded by a gilded and elaborately decorated equipage costing £10,065 which was used till 1896, when a replica of it was built to replace it.
LORD PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL, in England, one of the great officers of state, and a member of the ministry. It was only in 1679 that the office of lord president became permanent. Previously either the lord chancellor, the lord keeper of the seal, or some particular court official took formal direction of the Privy Council. In the reign of Charles I. a special lord president of the council was appointed, but in the following reign the office was left unfilled. The office was of considerable importance when the powers of the Privy Council, exercised through various committees, were of greater extent than at the present time. For example, a committee of the lords of the council was formerly responsible for the work now dealt with by the secretary of state for foreign affairs; so also with that now discharged by the Board of Trade. The lord president up to 1855—when a new post of vice-president of the council was created—was responsible for the education department. He was also responsible for the duties of the council in regard to public health, now transferred to the Local Government Board, and for duties in regard to agriculture, now transferred to the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries. The duties of the office now consist of presiding on the not very frequent occasions when the Privy Council meets, and of the drawing up of minutes of council upon subjects which do not belong to any other department of state. The office is very frequently held in conjunction with other ministerial offices, for example, in Gladstone’s fourth ministry the secretary of state for India was also lord president of the council, and in the conservative ministry of 1903 the holder of the office was also president of the Board of Education. The lord president is appointed by a declaration made in council by the sovereign. He is invariably a member of the House of Lords, and he is also included in the cabinet.
LORDS JUSTICES OF APPEAL, in England, the ordinary judges of the court of appeal, the appellate division of the High Court of Justice. Their style was provided for by the Supreme
