purposes the Lord High Treasurer; but his connexion with the court of Exchequer is now merely nominal. Killing the Lord High Treasurer during the execution of his office is high treason. The Chancellor of the Exchequer is always a commoner, but the First Lord of the Treasury is sometimes a peer: as the house of Lords can never alter, amend, or originate measures involving the expenditure of public money, the Chancellor is always a member of the Lower house. The First Lord of the Treasury may also be, and frequently is, a commoner; but in that case he usually unites the office with that of Chancellor of the Exchequer. There are numerous exceptions, however, to this rule, of which the most recent commission issued, is perhaps the best marked; for the First Lord; though a commoner and well skilled in finance, did not also accept the office of Chancellor of the Exchequer, although he subsequently performed some of the most conspicuous duties of that officer. Among the duties of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, is that of making each year a general statement of the financial condition of the country. This speech is technically termed "the budget," and embraces a review of the income and expenditure of the last year, as compared with those of preceding years; remarks upon the financial prospects of the country; an exposition of the intended repeal, modification, or imposition of taxes during the session; a detail of the public expenditure during the current period, with its grounds of justification; an account of all operations relating to the national debt, and, finally, the excess of income over expenditure, or vice versá, accompanied by such observations as the occasion may seem to require. On the death of a Chancellor of the Exchequer, it has been the practice to commit the Exchequer seal (which he holds) to the custody of the lord chief justice of the Queen's Bench. By act 2 and 3 of Victoria, cap. 52, the Lords of the Treasury were invested with a temporary authority to alter, fix, reduce, or remit all or any of the rates of postage to which letters were then liable. These powers they exercised in the establishment of the uniform penny postage, and the carrying out of the provisions of the statute by which in that respect their authority was conferred. SECRETARY OF STATE. . Your Secretaries Of State, attend me, Sire, to render up Suffer these noble gentlemen to learn The nature of the glorious task that waits them." BULWER'S Richelieu, act v. sc. 3. THOUGH in modern times it has been the practice to entrust the duties of Secretary of State to three individuals, yet this division of labour is only an arrangement to facilitate the dispatch of public business, and the three secretaries are in theory but one; for their duties may all be discharged by an individual, and their authority being co-ordinate, each is competent to execute any of the functions of the other two. To the Secretary of State is delegated the authority of the Crown throughout all our colonial possessions -governors, lieutenant governors, and all other public officers being chosen at his immediate recommendation. To him is entrusted the appointment of all ambassadors, envoys, and other diplomatic ministers -the conduct of all negotiations and transactions with foreign powers-and the general superintendence and management of our relations with other countries. It likewise belongs to the Secretary of State to fulfil the duties of a minister of police, to superintend the domestic and internal government of the country, to regulate the administration of justice, and in effect to exercise the prerogative of mercy. It is evident then, that the office naturally divides itself into a triple arrangement, namely, the Home Department, Foreign Affairs, and the Colonies. Each of these being now entrusted to different individuals, may be considered as a distinct branch of the executive government; for the only remaining trace of their original concentration under a single officer, consists in the fact, that no exchange of departments among the three is considered as a new acceptance of office under the Crown; and it therefore does not unseat such Secretaries of State as are members of the house of Commons. Secretaries of State are always privy councillors, members of the cabinet, and of parliament. It generally happens that there are two Secretaries of State in the Lower house and one in the Upper: this, however, is sometimes reversed, but there is no instance of the three secretaries being at once members of the same branch of the legislature. The government of Ireland by a lord lieutenant, a chief secretary, and a privy council, is subordinate to the Home Department, as also are all matters connected with the executive and internal government of the rest of the united kingdom. But none of the Secretaries are directly concerned with any affairs relating to the revenue, the trade of the country, the immediate management of the army, the navy, or the church; they have nothing to do with the affairs of India, the woods, forests, or public works, or with the conduct of the mint, the post office, or the royal household. This statement of the matters which do not come within the province of a Secretary of State, may assist the reader in apprehending the details already given, respecting the nature and extent of his duties. The Secretaries of State are appointed, as in ancient times, by the Crown delivering to them certain seals of office; but in addition to this investiture, they have in modern times received also a patent under the great seal; formerly, however, no patent accompanied this delivery of the ensigns of office. The Secretary of State is, ex officio, a magistrate throughout every portion of the country; but the power of issuing general warrants in which the offenders are not specifically described, is an exercise of authority which no other magistrate is competent to perform, and which, even in the hands of the Secretary of State, has given rise to considerable doubt. Lord Chief Justice Pratt, in giving judgment respecting the well known John Wilkes, who was arrested under a general warrant in 1763, said, "that he should consider a Secretary of State's warrant throughout the whole affair as nothing superior to the warrant of a common justice of the peace." The origin of the office of Secretary of State, and the gradual alterations which took place at different periods in his powers and authority, afford a striking exemplification of the manner in which the English constitution adapts itself to circumstances, without the frequent interference of legislative enactments, or the violence of sudden change. Until about the end of Elizabeth's reign this officer was in no respect a member of the government, his duties being confined to the royal correspondence, and the communication of such of the Sovereign's commands as were given in writing. The title of "Principal Secretary of State" arose from the existence of a secretary for the French language as well as one for the Latin language, both during and subsequent to the reign of Henry VIII. In 1539 the first important change took place, in the constitution of this office, for then the duties were divided between two persons bearing the same title, performing analogous functions, and entitled to a similar rank; but for many years after the reign of Elizabeth there was but one principal Secretary of State; and in the forty-third year of that monarch's reign the first instance occurred of this officer being styled "our Principal Secretary of Estate." Soon after the union with Scotland the number was professedly increased to three, by the swearing in of James, Duke of Queensberry, who, as well as his successors in office, were considered to be Secretaries of State for Scottish affairs. This appointment was dis |