Queen Her wise exercise of preroga tive. Death of the Prince Consort, the forbearance and firmness of our gracious queen were exercised to require that the language of an important despatchcalling for the surrender, by the United States Government, of certain persons who had been illegally taken from the Trent, a British vessel, by an American ship-of-war-should be so modified as to make the demand as conciliatory as possible, in order to avert the prospect of war with a kindred people. Upon the transfer of the government of India from the rule of the East India Company to that of the crown, in 1858, the queen made numerous valuable suggestions in regard to the new constitution for India, the direction of the Indian army, and the policy to be pursued towards the natives, most of which were adopted by ministers. One important suggestion, which the cabinet would not accept, was afterwards forced upon them by public opinion, and by Parliament. In 1859, her Majesty differed with the prime minister and the foreign secretary upon a question of foreign policy. The whole cabinet were then appealed to, when the queen's opinion was sustained.g But in no instance has the power of the crown been so exercised as to expose it to check, or censure, or embarrassment of any kind." It may be asserted without qualification, that a sense of general content, of sober heartfelt loyalty, has year by year gathered around the throne of Victoria." The present writer would add to this his sincere conviction, that attachment to the person and throne of our gracious queen is not confined to the mother-country, but extends with equal if not greater intensity to the remotest bounds of her immense empire; and that few could be found, even in lands that owe her no allegiance as a sovereign, who would not willingly unite in a tribute of respect and admiration for Victoria, as a woman, a mother, and a queen. In the year 1861, her Majesty and the nation susConsort. tained a grievous loss in the death of the Prince Consort. The queen herself in a few lines which she has caused e Earl Russell in Hans. D. v. 178, p. 72. Martin's Pr. Consort, v. 5, pp. 418-426. f Martin's Pr. Consort, v. 4, 200-205, 232, 284, 810. pp. Ib. pp. 458, 484, 486. See Earl Russell, in Hans. D. v. 175, p. 615. Ed. Rev. v. 115, p. 211. Mr. Foster, in Hans. D. v. 228, p. 150. to be inserted in a published collection of his Royal Highness's speeches, bore a tender and touching testimony to 'the ever-present, watchful, faithful, invaluable aid which she received from the Prince Consort in the conduct of the public business;' thereby 'proclaiming the irreparable loss to the public service, as well as to herself and to her family, which the prince's death has occasioned.'i her death of the Prince. The shock of this sudden calamity compelled the Shock to Queen to withdraw, for a season, into retirement; and Majesty she has never since been able to resume to the full occasioned by the extent as before her public and ceremonial duties. But while her long-continued seclusion has been a source of universal regret, and even of complaint, it is the only reproach which her people have ever addressed to her.' Ten years after this great affliction befell her, two of the leading statesmen of England publicly testified to her unabated zeal and efficiency in the performance of all other duties appertaining to her exalted station. Thus Earl Granville said: 'I do not know any time of her life when her Majesty has given more attention than she does at present to the current business of the state, Her unor when the interest she takes in all parliamentary and abated atadministrative measures, the knowledge she takes care to possess on all important measures, whether home. or foreign, and the supervision she exercises over all appointments to be made, and honours to be distributed, have been more strikingly shown.' And a few weeks afterwards, Mr. Disraeli took occasion to observe that while her Majesty was at present unable, on account of her health, 'to resume the performance of those public and active duties which it was once her pride and pleasure to fulfil,' yet that with regard to those much. higher duties which her Majesty is called upon to perform, she still performs them with a punctuality and a J Prince Albert, Speeches, &c. p. 67. k * Hans. D. v. 208, p. 1069, U tention to State. Appointments in precision which have certainly never been surpassed and rarely equalled by any monarch of these realms." During the present reign three questions, previously undetermined, and that intimately affect the personal rights of the sovereign, have been discussed and disposed of. They will fittingly claim our attention before we proceed to define the constitutional position of the crown in public affairs. They concern 1. The appointment of officers of the royal household. 2. The right of the sovereign to employ a private secretary. 3. The constitutional position of a prince consort. 1. As to the Appointment of Members of the Household. Owing to the gradual introduction of the usages the royal which have been incorporated by time into the unwritten law of the British Constitution, it was not until the end trolled by of the reign of George II. that it became customary house hold con ministers. to make alterations in the household establishment of our sovereigns upon a change of ministry. But it is a fundamental principle of parliamentary government, that the responsible servants of the crown are entitled to advise the crown in every point in which the royal authority is to be exercised;'" and nothing could tend more to enfeeble an administration than that certain high offices, held during pleasure, should be altogether beyond their control. Accordingly, from the accession of George III. it became a recognised practice to concede this privilege to every successive administration. Thus we find that when George III. dismissed the North ministry, in 1782, he was obliged to dismiss the Earl of Hertford from the office of lord chamberlain, which he had held for fifteen years; Speech at Hughenden, Sept. 26, 1871. m Parl. D. v. 23, p. 412. and to appoint the Earl of Effingham, whom he disliked, to be treasurer of the household. Even the aged Lord Bateman, who was the king's personal friend, was obliged to resign his office of master of the buckhounds. Similar difficulties, in regard to appointments in the household, attended the formation of the Portland ministry in the following year.P In 1812, when negotiations were set on foot for the reconstruction of the ministry, after the assassination of Mr. Perceval, the premier, a question was raised as to whether the appointment of officers in the royal household should form part of the proposed ministerial arrangements, or should be left to the determination of the sovereign. Lords Grey and Grenville, having been invited by the Prince Regent to join the new administration, declined to do so unless the actual incumbents of these offices were first dismissed. The Prince Regent was advised by Lord Moira, who conducted the negotiations with the Whig leaders, to resist this stipulation; and, accordingly, the attempt at a reconstruction of the cabinet resulted in failure. But it has since come to light that the difficulty arose from the unskilful management of the dispute. The Prince Regent himself was quite willing to allow a change to be made in his household, and the officers of the household had all privately resolved to resign as soon as the new ministry had been completed, leaving their places at the disposal of the new cabinet. This intention had been made known to Sheridan, but, either from accident or design, he did not communicate it to his friends. In the subsequent explanations in Parliament, it was admitted that an incoming administration had a right to claim the removal of the great officers of the household, Removal although the exercise of such a right on the present occasion was, for of officers special reasons, deemed inexpedient and impolitic." The principal hold on officers of the royal household are invariably chosen from amongst change of members of the two Houses of Parliament, and it is but reasonable ministry. that they should be expected to co-operate with their colleagues in the ministry. Moreover, from their habitual attendance upon the person of the sovereign, they undoubtedly possess means of influence that ought not to be at the disposal of any persons who are unfriendly to the party in power. of house Ladies of the bedchamber. Upon the resignation of the Melbourne ministry in 1839, and before the difficulty arose between her Majesty and Sir Robert Peel respecting the ladies of the bedchamber, Lord Melbourne informed the Queen that it had been usual in later times, when an administration was changed, to change also the great officers of the household, and likewise to place at the disposal of the person entrusted with the formation of a new administration those situations in the household which were held by members of either House of Parliament.'s In claiming the exercise of this privilege, Sir Robert Peel, when called upon to form a ministry, assured her Majesty that he would not press the appointment of any one who was not personally acceptable to her. At the same time he respectfully urged that, in view of the throne being filled by a female sovereign, the same principle should be held to apply to the chief appointments which were held by the ladies of her Majesty's household, including the ladies of the bedchamber. This was objected to by the Queen, who declared that she must reserve to herself the whole of those appointments, and that it was her pleasure that no change should be made in the present incumbents. Afterwards, by advice of the retiring ministers, her Majesty wrote to Sir Robert Peel, stating that she could not 'consent to adopt a course which she conceived to be contrary to usage, and which was repugnant to her feelings.' But, in point of fact, nearly all the ladies of the court were related to the Whig ministers or to their political adherents, having been selected by the Melbourne Cabinet when her Majesty's household was first organised; thus identifying the entire court with the ministry of the day.t Under these circumstances it was impossible for Sir Robert Peel to persevere in the attempt to form a ministry. He therefore wrote to her Majesty, and stated that it was essential to the success of the commission with which he had been honoured, that he should have that public proof of her Majesty's entire support and confidence which would be afforded by the permission to make some changes in that part of her Majesty's household which her Majesty resolved on maintaining entirely without change.' The Melbourne ministry were then reinstated in office, and they at once recorded their opinion on the point at issue in a minute of council, as follows: 'That for the purpose of giving to the administration that character of efficiency and stability, and those marks of the constitutional support of the crown, which are required to enable it to act usefully to the public service, it is reasonable that the great offices of the court, and situations in the household held by members of Parliament, should be included in the political arrangements made on a change of the administration; but they are not of opinion that a similar principle Mir. of Parl. 1839, p. 2411. May, Const. Hist. v. 1. p. 128. |