An American Lord Chancellor

The House of Lords is presided over by the Lord Chancellor of England, the highest legal authority in the realm and the Keeper of the Great Seal of the Nation. He sits in his gown, a white wig upon his head, upon a woolsack. (For ancient parliamentary customs see "Curious Questions," vol. I., page. 7.) The House of Lords is made up of the peers of the realm. The Archbishop of Canterbury takes precedence next after the Sovereign. The Lord Chancellor is always raised to the peerage when appointed to the woolsack. He is a member of the Privy Council and of the Cabinet and takes precedence next after the Archbishop of Canterbury, who is the Primate of all England. It is interesting to know that an American was four times Lord Chancellor of England. John Singleton Copley was born in Boston, May 21st, 1772. His father was John Singleton Copley, the celebrated artist. He went to England with his father, studied law, and was admitted to the Bar in 1804. He rose rapidly, and was appointed "Counsel for the Crown" by George IV., was knighted in 1819, and appointed Attorney General. In 1827 he was nominated Chancellor and raised to the peerage as Lord Lyndhurst, serving under four Prime Ministers as "Keeper of the Great Seal." His first term of office was under George IV.; the second under William IV., from his accession until November, 1830; the third under William IV., again, during the one hundred days from November 1834, to April, 1835; fourth and lastly under Queen Victoria from 1839-1844. He resigned from public life July 6th, 1846, and died October 13, 1863, aged ninety-one years.