THE CROWN AND ITS ADVISERS. LECTURE I. THE QUEEN. "The country has a deep-rooted affection for kingly government, and would highly resent any attempt to change or destroy this key-stone of the Constitution: nor, as far as I can observe, is this sentiment confined to particular orders of men; it pervades the whole country, from one end to the other."-EARL RUSSELL, English Government and Constitution. "A land of just and old renown, Where freedom broadens slowly down -TENNYSON. GENTLEMEN,-I intend to lecture to you to-night upon the office and prerogatives of her Majesty the Queen. I shall endeavour to show you what A power the Crown has in the control of public affairs, and what limits there are to its authority since the introduction of parliamentary government. And here let me tell you at once that such a subject must necessarily be a dry one. Had I to talk to you about the non-political position of our gracious Sovereign, and to give you a biographical sketch of her Majesty, illustrated by different anecdotes of her kindness and benevolence, or to contrast her conduct with that of many of the other Sovereigns who have preceded her, my task would be perhaps a more interesting one. But I come among you to-night, not as an artist who wishes to portray a pleasing picture of royalty, but as an anatomist who has to dissect its rights and privileges, and lay bare all that concerns its political system. Now I have no doubt you all fancy that you know a good deal about the duties of a Sovereign of England. You hear of her Majesty moving about from one palace to another-now at London, then at Windsor; now at Osborne, and then again at Balmoral. You have seen her driving down to Westminster in royal state to open Parliament, with soldiers escorting her, officers in splendid uniforms waiting on her, and a loyal crowd cheering NOT EXEMPT FROM WORK. 3 "God save the Queen!" And then you read of her giving state balls and dinners, holding drawingrooms and levees, or else being present at the inauguration of some great event, the observed of all observers, with everything that can flatter human vanity and gratify human ambition surrounding her, and you think what a brilliant and splendid life the Queen's must be. And so it is; but you look upon the brilliant side of it only. You seem to forget that her Majesty has many very important duties to perform, and that the royal life is not one eternal freedom from care, anxiety, and hard work. You forget this; and so, when you wish to typify happiness—and by happiness you mean idleness— you say, as "happy as a queen." Well, my friends, I hope I shall be able to disabuse your minds of this notion, and to show you that to be a king or queen of these realms is not entirely a life of brilliant idleness. And if there are any among you who are accustomed to view with disrespect the position of her Majesty, and to hold derogatory ideas regarding her power and influence-looking upon her as a mere state puppet, and as only a tool in the hands of her ministers - I ask them to listen to me patiently for a little while, and then to see whether they can consistently support such views, and promulgate them as constitutional facts. But before I can tell you anything of the Queen, I must let you know something about the position she occupies in relation to the British Constitution. Now what is the British Constitution? You hear its name thundered forth on the hustings, at meetings, at debates, and perhaps you talk about it yourselves without understanding very well its meaning. What, then, is this British Constitution? I will try to explain it to you. The political writers of antiquity recognised only three regular forms of government-namely, a Democracy in which the sovereign power is vested in the people, as is the case in the United States; Aristocracy, in which the supreme power is confined to a few members of the community distinguished by birth or wealth, as was formerly the case in Venice; and Monarchy, in which sovereign authority is wielded by a single person, as is the case in Russia, Turkey, &c. These three species of government have all of them their various good and bad points. Democracies are usually best calculated to direct the end of a law, aristocracies to invent the means by which that law is to be obtained, and monarchies to carry those means into execution. The British Constitu |