AND to the intent the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s Place may be certainly known, _May_ the 20th, 21 _Jac._ I. it was thus established, _That the Knights of the Most Noble Order of the Garter, the Privy-Councellors, the Master of the Courts of_ Wards _and_ Liveries, _the Chancellor and Under Treasurer of the_ Exchequer, _Chancellor of the_ Dutchy, _the Chief Justice of the Court of_ King’s Bench, _the Master of the_ Rolls, _the Chief Justice of the Court of_ Common-Pleas, _the Chief Baron of the_ Exchequer, _and all other Judges and Barons of the Degree of the Coif, should have Place and Precedency in all Places, and upon all Occasions before the younger Sons of Viscounts and Barons, and before all Baronets_, &c.
THE aforesaid Constitutions provide the Chancellor of the Order an Habitation within the Castle of _Windsor_, as well as the Prelate, which is the South-West Tower in the lower Ward of the Castle, call’d the _Chancellor’s Tower_. The Possession thereof had been for some time in the Power of others; and therefore by a Chapter convened at _White-hall_, _Nov._ 5th, 5 _Car._ I. it was restored unto Sir _Francis Crane_, then Chancellor of the Order, and after his Decease, to descend to his Successors. These Constitutions also ordained him the like Liveries at the Table and Court of the Sovereign, as were allowed to the Prelate.
AT the first Erection of this Office, the Chancellor had no Pension awarded him, until the Constitutions in reference to the Officers were Established. At that time there was conferr’d on him a Pension of 100_l._ _per Annum_, in consideration of his Employment, or else an allowance proportionate in Fees, Offices or other Promotions, over and above his Lodgings in the Castle, and Liveries at Court. But as to Fees and Perquisites, there are none to be Claimed by this Officer; and for that Reason, he not only possesses the said Pension, but all his disbursements allowed him, even to Paper, Wax, and Wafers; and indeed those who enjoyed the Office esteem’d it as a degradation of their Post, to receive either fee, or gratuity for any affair Transacted within the Order; and Sir _Thomas Rowe_, sometime Chancellor, affirmed _That his Office was an Office of Honour, and not of Fees, and that he had always excepted against Fees, for the disbursement of the Sovereign’s Money_: Tho’ he acknowledged some had bestowed on his Clerk a small gratuity, for the bare Ingrossing of an Alms Knights Patent, but nothing farther.