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ation of the Prime Minister would cause the dissolution of the Cabinet . The chief support of Government has not always been the Prime Minister . Mr . Fox was not Prime Minister , but Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs , in the years 1806 and 1807 ; though he must have exercised at least equal influence in the Administration with Lord Grenville , its nominal head . Although the Prime Minister is responsible for the disposal of the whole of the patronage of the Government , it is exercised , in fact , by the heads of the several departments , no appointment of great importance being made , however , without consultation and concurrence .
The members of the Cabinet , generally speaking , are the Secretaries of * State , with the Lord-Chancellor and the heads of the most important of the Government departments . But , in addition to these , there have almost always been two or three holders of sinecure offices , or offices with no laborious duties attached to them , and to whom are referred the consideration of such questions as do not exclusively pertain to any separate department . Such are the Lord Privy Seal , the Master of the Mint , the Paymaster of the Forces , the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster , and formerly the President of the Council , but who has now the superintendence of the Education department .
The Cabinet Council is at present composed of the following members ; the sums placed in parentheses being the salary attached to the office : — First Lord of the Treasury ( £ 5000 *) , Lord John Russell . Lord Chancellor ( £ 8000 ) , Lord Truro . Lord President of the Council ( £ 2000 ) , Marquis of Lansdowne . Lord Privy Seal ( £ 2000 ) , Earl of Minto . Home Secretary of State ( £ 5000 ) , Sir George Grey . Foreign Secretary ( £ 5000 *) , Lord Palmerston . Colonial Secretary ( £ 5000 ) , Earl Grey . Chancellor of the Exchequer ( £ 5000 *) , Sir Charles "Wood .
President of the Board of Control ( £ 3500 ) , Lord Broughton . President of the Board of Trade ( £ 2000 ) , D . Labouchere . First Lord of the Admiralty ( £ 4500 *) , Sir Francis Baring . Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster ( £ 3500 ) , Earl of Carlisle . Commissioner of Public Works ( £ 2000 ) , Lord Seymour . Secretary at War ( £ 2480 ) , Fox Maule . Paymaster of the Forces and Vice-Chairman of the Board of Trade ( £ 2000 ) , Earl Granville . Pos ' . master General ( £ 2500 ) , Marquis of Clanricarde .
This is what is meant by the " responsible Government , " the members belonging to either House of Parliament , and being amenable to the inquiries and censure of Parliament—after they may have done any real or supposed mischief , or what is obnoxious to the Parliament of the day . As an executive or administrative body as a whole , the Privy Council may be said to have almost ceased to exist , its functions being now
discharged by the " Cabinet , " excepting in two or three special cases , such as the issuing of Proclamations , and the committing for trial of offenders against the Government or the Crown , which the "Cabinet " cannot do , it being a body without any recognized legal existence . Formerly Privy Councillors held ollice only during the life of the king , but they now retain it for six months after his demise , and cause the successor to the throne to be proclaimed .
The members of the Privy Council are now about 1 H () in number , and include the most eminent statesmen , judges , diplomatists , and civilians . The olliee is in Downing-street , and the following constitute the official staff : —¦ The Lord President , Marquis of LanHd : > wn « ; Hillary £ 2000 Chief Clerk , J . B . Leiuinnl , Esq 2000 Clerk in Ordinary , C . C . F . Gr . ville , Esq . .. ' 2000 Ditto ditto , Honourable W . L . Jiathurst 1200 Chief Clerk , Council-office 900 First and second under clcrku 1250 Appeal Clerk , H . l . teeve , Ksq 500 Receiver of Clergy Returns , . Reverend \ V . Harness -- - 500 Thero arc bonide . s fourteen clerks , with salarum from £ 110 to £ 150 per annum ea <; h ; AHHiHtant Appeal Clerk , Receiver of Keen , Chamber-sweeper , Housekeeper , M <> n-Hon ^ eiH , O / Iiee-keeper , ike , with salaries amounting in the whole to . 'WHO The , gross mun charged on the Estimates for lKr . l-2 , ih £ ii , 7 ; $ o .
But besides these functionaries who constitute the staff of the council as an entire body , there are others holding office under boards and committees formed of members of the general body , and discharging certain functions , either under its direct authority , or in virtue of specific acts of the Legislature . 2 . JUDICIAL COMMITTEE . Formerly , in all cases where an appeal lay from any tribunal to the King in Council , the Privy Council was summoned to hear and determine :
but when , by the 2 and 3 Will . 4 , c . 92 , the powers of the High Court of Delegates , both in ecclesiastical and maritime cases , were transferred to the King in Council , it was found expedient to make some alterations in the mode of transacting the judicial business . By the 3 and 4 Will . 4 , c . 41 , the jurisdiction of the council was still further enlarged , and a " Judicial Committee" appointed , consisting of the Keeper of the Great Seal , the Chief Justices of the King ' s Bench and Common Pleas , the Master of the Rolls , the Vice-Chancellor , the Chief Baron of the Exchequer , the
Judge of the Prerogative Court of Canterbury and of the High Court of Admiralty , the Chief Judge of the Bankruptcy Court ( now abolished ) , all members of the Privy Council who have been Presidents of it , or have held the office of Chancellor or any of the before-named offices . By an act of the last session of Parliament ( 14 and 15 Viet . c . 83 ) - the two Judges of the Court of Appeal in Chancery , if Privy Councillors , are to be of the Judical Committee ; and no appeal or other matter is to be heard by that committee , unless three members are present , exclusive of the Lord President .
The most memorable case decided by the judicial committee since its formation w as the appeal from the Court of Arches , in the case of the Bishop of Exeter versus Gorham , which settled , in modern times , the supremacy of the Crown in ecclesiastical
matters . 3 . EDUCATION DEPARTMENT . This board , or committee , consisting of five members of the Privy Council , was created by an order in Council early in the year 1839 , to superintend the distribution of the grants voted by the House of Commons for public education , and having the power of prescribing the conditions on which grants shall be made to the schools applying . The first opposition offered to the creation of this board came from the High Church party , Lord Stanley in the House of Commons , and the
Archbishop of Canterbury in the House of Lords , having moved an address to the Crown , praying for the rescinding of the order in Council by which it w ; ks appointed . The address was carried in the Lords by a majority of 111 ; but the answer of the Clueen may be regarded as a mild reproof of the interference of the peers , who , her Majesty " regretted , " should have thought it necessary to take such a step , and who were assured that " the funds for education placed at the disposal of the Crown , would l > e found strictly applied to the objects for which they were granted , with duo respect to
the rights of conscience , and with a faithful attention to the security of the Established Church . " In 1847 , however , the proceedings of the Committee rendered it equally obnoxious to the- Dissenters , and a perfect storm was raised throughout the length and breadth of the land . The immediate cause of this was the publication of certain " Minutes of Council , " which were also introduced and explained to Parliament by the Marquis of Lansdowne , containing the conclusions at which the Committee had arrived , to increase the number of Inspectors , with a view to bring the . schools
partaking of the Government grant more completely and constantly under supervision—to introduce ; a system of scholastic apprenticeship , with state rewards , in the shape of secular appointments , for good conduct—to pension aged teachers of both Nexes , after a certain term of office—and to combine industrial with literary education . The Church , it was alleged , would obtain a considerable ascendancy in Hchools , especially in the rural districts , and the Dissenters Huil ' er in proportion . Sundry
modifications of the plan tliun propounded have been made , from lime to time ; and though the High Church and the rigid Dissenters ( still continue to express their dislike of the system , as well as of the principle of administering the funds by a body no constituted , there is no gainsaying the fact , that the elementary education of the poorer classes has been largely promoted and extended by the labours of the Committee and its Inspectors . The Reports are annually laid before ; Parliament , and are generally Bubiccted to a rigid scrutiny .
The present Board consists of—The First Lord of the Treasury . The Lord President of the Council . The Lord Privy Seal . The Chancellor of the Exchequer . The Home Secretary . The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster . The Lord Lieutenant of Ireland . The Right Honourable T . B . Maeauley . Inspectors of Schools—( England and Wales ) . Reverend H . Moseley , M . A . ; Reverend F . C . Cook , M . A . ; Reverend H . W . Bellairs ; ReverendF . Watkins , B . D . ; Reverend E . Douglas Tinling ; Reverend W . II . Brookfield ; Reverend Muirhead Mitchell , M . A . ' ; Reverend J . J . Blandford ; Reverend W . J .
Kennedy , M . A . ; Reverend H . Longueville Jones ; Joseph Fletcher , Esq . ; J . D . Monell , Esq . ; T . W . M . Marshall , Esq . ; Reverend A . Thurtell ; Reverend J . U . P . Norris ; E . Carleton Tufnell , Esq . ; J . Ruddock , Esq . ; H . G . Bowyer , Esq . ; T . B . Browne , Esq . ; Jelinger C . Symonds , Esq . ; Reverend D . J . Stewart , M . A . ; Reverend Gr . R . Moncrief , M . A . ; Reverend W . P . Warburton , M . A . ( Scotland ) ; John Gibson , Esq . ; Edward Woodford , Esq . Examiner—F . R . Sandford , Esq . Counsel—W . G . Lumlej r , Esq . Architect—Mr . Westmacott . Secretary—Kaye Shuttleworth , Esq . Assistant Secretary—R . R . W . Lingen , Esq . Office—Privy Council , Downing-street . The sum voted for the Board in the Miscellaneous Estimates for the present year is £ 186 , 380 , which includes—Salaries , &c , at Kneller-hall Training School £ 3 , 000 Salaries and Travelling Expenses of Inspectors 21 , 000 Salaries of Examiners 1 , 150 Clerks , &c 480 The rest of the staff is charged on the estimate for the Privy Council-office .
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* Those marked Uiuh have rtoidcnccfl provided .
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POLITICAL KNOWLEDGE THE GUARANTEE OF THE DAY . Mr . Cobden , at the Festival of the Halifax Mechanics' Institution , on Tuesday night , having the Chancellor of the Exchequer by his side , alluded in his own style of trenchant vivacity to the anomalies and injustice of the taxes on knowledge . The inconsistency of promoting education in Halifax and taxing it in Downing-street may have its influence , when exposed , upon legislators who feel somewhat bound to be coherent , and not self-contradictoiy , at least in the same day .
There are , however , other considerations than those of consistency , which are likely soon to be pressed on the attention of the public of this country . lioth on the Continent and at home we have seen ignorance carry with it a fatal coherence . . Some think knowledge an evil . It is certain that ignorance is an unmitigated calamity and disaster . Would the first French Revolution have degenerated into excesses and impotence , hsxl any sound political knowledge of
methodical , liberty existed in l ' aris ? AVould the fatal insurgency of June , 1 H-1 S , ever have occurred , had political philosophy been taught to the proletarians of France ? Why does any man dread to enfranchise the populace of Britain—not because they are base , but , because they are blind , or are so regarded . There arc , some who say bitterly of the modern school of Radicals among us , that they labour under the delusion that . English History beL'ins with the first French Revolution —•
certainly their historical knowledge and philosophy seem to date no further back . We are all concerned to vender the possibility of this sarcasm scarce . Knglish polity and English liberty are said to stand on grounds of wisdom , and to be capable of reasonable defence ; and in these circumstances lie their true . strength . If this he true , the populace can be made ; to understand it . Teach them , and they will understand it ; and when they do understand it , they will maintain if ; , and defend it as intelligently , : is truly , as earnestly , as your middle-class man or your independent gentleman . If liberty be reasonable , give ; knowledge , and liberty will be safe : it , will be enlarged with prudence , cherished with devotion , ami defended with
unanimity . Whoever keeps back political knowledge , impedes its progress , or taxes its dissemination , is , consciously nr unconsciously , the foe ol intelligence , of truth , of peace , of . security , as well as ; the foe ol freedom . We grant that public reforms , and all agitations of them , are frequently rendered nugatory and sinister by the presence of violence , passion , and personal ambition ; but lei , it not , be forgotten thai , the violent advocate , the impetuous , and the vain , live upon the ignorance of the populace ; . Make the crowd intelligent , and the mere demagogue would die from inanition .
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Dec . , 1851 . ] fcf ) * % ttfttt . 1209
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Leader (1850-1860), Dec. 20, 1851, page 1209, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1914/page/13/
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