Death took One

The King-Emperor moved three chessmen upon the board of State, and in a flash one was taken by an unseen player, Death. The coincidence, startling, roused keen interest in the three august chessmen:

Lord Cave. Lying invalid in his Somersetshire home of Burnham-on-Sea, George Viscount Cave, 72, felt his strength definitely impaired, last week, and executed in good time his resignation as Lord High Chancellor. The incumbent of this office is the highest civil subject in the land outside the royal family. He keeps the King's conscience, sits on the Woolsack as Speaker of the House of Lords, surmounts the pyramid of English judges, partakes of membership in the Cabinet, and performs such chores as standing guardian of all infants and lunatics.

The King-Emperor, upon receiving the resignation of Viscount Cave, and being, doubtless aware of his critical condition, promptly elevated him to the rank of Earl. His charm, straightforwardness, and singularly active common sense were recalled as men ran over a few of the great offices which he has held: Attorney General to Edward of Wales (1914-15), Solicitor General (1915-16), Home Secretary (1916-19) and, since 1924, Lord High Chancellor.

Most lamentably the effects of an abdominal operation brought Death to Earl Cave last week after he had enjoyed his new title for less than a day. Of him the London Times, said with a justice finer than eulogy, "Although he cannot be reckoned among the greatest in the long, brilliant roll of Lord High Chancellors of England, he must rank as a sound lawyer. . . . None excelled him in ... sanity of judgment."

Sir Douglas Hogg. Someone must always be Lord High Chancellor, but to have chosen a new one fit to rank "among the greatest," last week, would probably have meant returning to the Woolsack the brilliant Earl of Birkenhead, who sat thereon during 1919-22, but is now Secretary of State for India. Patently Lord Birkenhead does not want to impair his chances of perhaps someday becoming Prime Minister by again withdrawing from the hot arena of politics to the lofty precincts of the Lord High Chancellor. Therefore, last week, His Majesty was "advised" by the Baldwin Cabinet to call to the Lord High Chancellorship another "sound lawyer," Attorney General Sir Douglas McGarel Hogg. But Sir Douglas is much more than a sound lawyer with a greater legal earning power than any Britisher except Sir John Simon.

He is a powerful parliamentary debater. He has earned his reward, especially of late, by tirelessly conducting the defense of the Cabinet before the House of Commons on a multiplicity of bills and issues which must have kept him slaving over the preparation of his speeches through many a night. Withal, rubicund Sir Douglas Hogg, who greatly resembles Chancellor of the Exchequer Winston Churchill, has kept his cheeks pink, his temper cool, his jokes fresh, his judgment sound.

His Majesty, before graciously appointing Sir Douglas as Lord High Chancellor last week, thoughtfully created him a baronet. Thus his title of "Sir" becomes hereditary, and he will rank above knights though below barons.

Sir Thomas Inskip. The third chessman to be moved, last week, is also a "sound lawyer" and has been Solicitor General since 1924. He, Sir Thomas Walker Hobart Inskip, succeeded Sir Douglas Hogg as Attorney General. An expert on Admiralty law and a seasoned Parliamentarian, Sir Thomas will now bear for the Cabinet many a brunt.

The climax of His Majesty's congenial labors of last week came on the 28th birthday of his third son, Prince Henry, whom he then and there created Baron Culloden, Earl of Ulster and Duke of Gloucester--a tidy birthday gift.

On a recent visit to the House of Lords, Prince Henry sat in the visitors' gallery because he was not then a "peer." As a Baron-Earl-Duke he will have access to the floor of the House.