remains, the head of the
university; he had the general superintendence of its studies and of its
discipline, could make and unmake laws, try and punish offences, appoint
to professorial chairs and admit students to the various degrees (see Du
Cange, s. "_Cancellarii Academiarum_"). In England the chancellorship of
the universities is now a more or less ornamental office and is
conferred on noblemen or statesmen of distinction, whose principal
function is to look after the general interests of the university,
especially in its relations with the government. The chancellor is
represented in the university by a vice-chancellor, who performs the
administrative and judicial functions of the office. In the United
States the heads of certain educational establishments have the title of
chancellor. In Scotland the foreman of a jury is called its chancellor.
In the United States the chancellors are judges of the chancery courts
of the states, e.g. Delaware and New Jersey, where these courts are
still maintained as distinct from the courts of common law. In other
states, e.g. New York since 1847, the title has been abolished, and
there is no federal chancellor.

In diplomacy generally the chancellor of an embassy or legation is an
official attached to the suite of an ambassador or minister. He performs
the functions of a secretary, archivist, notary and the like, and is at
the head of the chancery, or chancellery (Fr. _chancellerie_), of the
mission. The functions of this office are the transcribing and
registering of official despatches and other documents, and generally
the transaction of all the minor business, e.g. marriages, passports and
the like, connected with the duties of a diplomatic agent towards his
nationals in a foreign country. The dignified connotation of the title
chancellor has given to this office a prestige which in itself it does
not deserve; and "chancery" or "chancellery" is commonly used as though
it were synonymous with embassy, while diplomatic style is sometimes
called _style de chancellerie_, though as a matter of fact the
chanceries have nothing to do with it.

_France._--The country in which the office of chancellor followed most
closely the same lines as in England is France. He had become a great
officer under the Carolingians, and he grew still greater under the
Capetian sovereigns. The great chancellor, _summus cancellarius_ or
_archi-cancellarius_, was a dignitary who had indeed little real