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Leader (1850-1860), 20th December 1851, Edition Country of 2, Page 13, POLITICAL KNOWLEDGE THE GUARANTEE OF THE...

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      The Governmental Departments. I.—Thk Pit...

      nation of the Prime Minister would cause the dissolution of the Cabinet . The chief support of a 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 . Postmaster General ( £ 2500 ) , Marquis of Clanricarde .

      This is what is meant by the " responsible Government , " the members belonging to cither 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 ofi ' endersagainst the Government or the Crown , which the "Cabinet " cannot do , it being a body without any recognized legal existence . Formerly Privy Councillors held oHice 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 180 in number , and include the most eminent statesmen , judges , diplomatists , and civilians . The olliee ia in l ) owning-Htreet / . and the following constitute the oflicial stall ' : — The Lord President , Marquis of Lansdawne ; Hillary £ ' 2000 Chiof Clerk , J . B . Lennanl , Rsq 2000 Clerk in Ordinary , C . C . F . ( ireville , Ks . j . .. 2000 -Ditto ditto , Honourable W . L . Bathuint J 200 < Jhidf Clerk , Council-oflioe !)()() First and second under clerks 1250 Appeal Clerk , 1 . 1 . Reeve , Ksq 500 Receiver of Clergy . Returns , Rev *; rend W . Harness 500

      ¦ Ihero are bwudeH fourteen clerks , with nalarioH i ii ;< W Xl , l <> , to , £ 450 \ n \ v annum " each ; , A ^ Wtiuitt Appeal Clerk , J . tect : iv < jr pf F « t >«» , . i I ,,, C ^ mtycrrHweeper : , j Jouflukeeper ,, ; M <; h-, ^ eil ^ cTH j Office-keeper , & K . fl with salaries a ' m ' Quiifihg' in the whole to .., ' ....... . . | .. : 'J 3 < Q ' ^ ht » grptifl | mun , charged on the EytiiHiituB f n * WiTVis 4 ; M , 7 : w ,, . ¦ -i ¦ ¦ ¦ ' ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ " ¦ ' I * . XlioBc ^ jir ^ p d tjiutji httyo qcBitJeiACca . ru ; o , yj < le 1 d .

      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 . Bythe 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 was 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 \ v ; is appointed . The address was carried in the Lords by a majority of 111 ; but the answer of the Queen 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 be found strictly applied to the objects for which they were granted , with due respect to the rights of conscience , and with a faithful attention to the security of the Established Church . " In 1847 , however , the proceedings of tlu ; 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 purtaking 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 sexes , after a certain term of office—and to combine industrial with literary education . The Church , it was alleged , would obtain a considerable

      ascendancy in schools , especially m the rural districts , and the Dissenters suffer in proportion . Sundry modifications of the plan thus propounded have been made , from time to time ; and though the High Church and the rigid Dissenters still continue Uv express their disliko of the Hy . stein , as well as of tliu principle ' of administering the luh » ln bya body ho constituted , there is no gainsaying the fact * that the elementary education of the poorer clauses has beeu , hugely promoted and ex lauded bythe labours of fjuo Coinjnjttcu and itw liiH | HiCturu . Thei Keportu are ; anjuually Jaid before Parliament , and ure generally pubjectcd . to a ri # id ycrutiuy .,,, , ; ,,, i , /

      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 . Macauley . Inspectors of Schools—( England and Wales ) . Reverend H . Moseley , M . A . ; Reverend F . C . Cook , M . A . ; Reverend H . W . Bellairs ; Reverend F . Watkins , B . D . ; Reverend E . DouglasTinling ; Reverend W . H . 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 G . R . Moncrief , M . A . ; Reverend W . P . Warburton , M . A . ( Scotland ); John Gibson , Esq . ; Edward Woodford , Esq . Examiner—F . R . Sandford , Esq . Counsel—W . Gr . Lumley , 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-hallTraining 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 .

      Dec. 20, 1851.] &$$ 3l*3fr*1% 1209

      Dec . 20 , 1851 . ] & $$ 3 L * 3 fr * 1 % 1209

      Political Knowledge The Guarantee Of The...

      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-contradictory , 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 . Both on the Continent and at home we have seen ignorance curry 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 , had any sound political knowledge of methodical liberty existed in Paris ? / Would the fatal insurgency of June , 1 S 4 S , ever have occurred , had political philosophy been taught to the

      proletarians of France ? Why docs any man dread to enfranchise the populace of Britain—not because they are base , but because they are blind , or are so regarded . There are some who say bitterly of the modern school of Radicals among us , that they labour under the delusion that Knglish History begins with the first French Revolution—certainly their historical knowledge and philosophy . seem to date no further back . We are all concerned to render the possibility of this sarcasm scarce . Knglish polity and Knglish 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 be true , the populace can be made to understand it . Teacli them , and they will understand it ; and when they do understand it , they will maintain it , and defend it an intelligently , an truly , as earnestly , i \ n your middle-class man or your independent gentleman . If liberty be rcason .-ihlc , give knowledge , and liberty will be safe : it will be enlarged with prudence , cherished with devotion , and defended with unanimity . Whoever keeps back political knowledge ,

      impedes it . s progress , or taxes its dissemination , is , consciously or unconsciously , the foe of intelligence , of truth , of peace , of . security , as well as the foe of freedom . We grant that public reforms , and all agitations of * them , aie . frequently rendered nugatory and sinister by tlio prenenco of violence , puHsion , ami personal ambition j but lot it not bo forgotten that tin : violent , advocate , the impetuous , ami the vain , livu upon the ignorance of the populace , yinke the crowd , intelligent , , Hm \ the-liier © deinafjoguu would uic / hoin JnuuUion . '• ¦ < . ,.,.

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Dec. 20, 1851, page 13, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_20121851/page/13/