The Government has given Sir George Jessel the Rolls, the
Attorney-General declining the promotion, after a delay which excited the alarm of the Equity Bar. The new Master of the Rolls will add rather to the strength than to the polish of the Bench, but while the weakness of the Judiciary on the Equity side is acknowledged to be a source of danger to the working of the new Judicature Act, strength in our judges is much more important than ornament. One of the func- tions of the Master of the Rolls that has descended from a remote antiquity is the guardianship of Con- verted Jews, a singular duty to be imposed upon the success- ful and orthodox Hebrew lawyer over whose promotion all the tribes are rejoicing. We presume Sir George Jessel will be relieved of this obligation, unpleasant enough, even though the post be in this respect a sinecure. He will also cease to have the charge of the Public Records, and we believe Sir Thomas Hardy will henceforward preside formally, as well as in fact, over the great Palace of Black-letter learning in Fetter Lane.
