kingdom renders his fituation extremely laborious, and probably very lucrative.

The duty of the remaining offices is implied by their titles; and their attendance is daily during the office hours. Their emoluments are various; fufficiently liberal, but not extravagant.

To the chancellor of the exchequer it peculiarly belongs to take care of the intereft of the crown. He is always in commission with the lord treasurer for the letting of crown lands, &c. and has power, with others, to compound for forfeitures of lands upon penal statutes. He has also great authority in managing the royal revenues; and it is generally understood to be his duty to propose in the house of commons the measures of supply, ways and means neceffary for the fervice of the current year. His falary is 1800 per annum.

Under the chancellor of the exchequer are the several offices of the auditor, the clerk of the pells, the tellers, the chamberlains, the ufher of the receipt, and the paymaster of the exchequer bills.

Auditor. The duty of this officer is to take the accounts from other public offices, who collect the national revenue. He files the tellers bills, and duly enters them, and gives the lords of the treasury a certificate of the money received from the feveral branches of the revenue the week before; and gives in those accounts from year to year to the parliament. He also makes out debentures to the refpective tellers of the exchequer before they receive any money, and takes their accounts, and fees the tellers money locked up in the royal treasury. He is appointed for life, by a conftitution under the hands and feals of the commiffioners of the treafury. All the exchequer bills, orders, debentures, patents, and other inftruments which pass this office, are figned by him. The official profits are not received by himself, but by his firft clerk, who accounts with him for them every month. His emoluments were formerly. very large; they are now fixed by statute at 4000l. per annum, In his office are a chief clerk, a keeper of the records, and clerk of the debentures, who have all large falaries; and various other persons are employed in inferior departments.

Clerk of the Pells. The duty of this officer is to enter every teller's bill in a parchment roll, called pellis acceptorem, the roll of receipts, and to make another roll, called pellis exituum, a roll of the disbursements. He is appointed for life, by a conftitution under the hands and feals of the commiffioners of the treasury, to exercife his office either by himself or deputy. In confequence of this privilege, it has not been ufual, for many years, for the clerk of the pells to execute any part of the bufi nefs himself, the deputy tranfacts the whole, and receives and

B 4

accounts

accounts with his principal for all the profits that belong to him. The clerk of the pells receives for himfelf, deputy, and. twenty clerks 6840l. a year. Among the perfons employed in his office are clerks of the introitus and exitus, of declarations, patents, and debentures; and branches of this office are those of annuities and tontines.

Tellers. The duty of thefe officers is to receive all money, due to the king, and give a bill of it to be entered by the clerk of the pells. They also pay all monies payable from the king, and enter the amount in weekly and yearly books, to be delivered to the lords of the treafury. The teller's is one office in four divifions, each confifting of a teller, a deputy, and first, clerk, two offices executed by the fame perfon, a fecond clerk and three inferior clerks; in all twenty-four perfons. The teller is appointed for life by letters patent, which empower him to perform the office by deputy; and in that manner the whole business has long been tranfacted, the teller himself executing no part; even the profits being received and accounted for to him by his deputy. The emoluments annexed to the fituation of teller are estimated at 2700l. per annum. The deputy, as fuch, has no profit whatever; but, as first clerk, he has fees both on the receipt and iffue. The fees on the receipt are called bill money, and are in confideration of his writing the bills.

Of the offices of chamberlain, usher of the receipt, and fome dependant fituations as tally cutters, it is not neceffary here to treat, fince, in confequence of the ftatute 23 Geo. III, c. 82., fome of them are already abolished, and the others will be fo at the death, furrender, forfeiture, or removal, of the prefent poffeffors.

Paymafler of the Exchequer Bills. This office is executed by three paymasters, a comptroller, an accountant, a cashier, and two clerks; to whom are added a housekeeper and meflenger, and occafional affistant clerks. The paymafter, the comptroller, and the houfekeeper, are appointed by the commiffioners of the treasury by conftitution during pleasure; the rest of the officers are nominated by the paymasters themselves. The officers, as well as clerks, are paid by falaries only; no fee or gratuity being taken by any of them, except a fmall annual fee of 21. 75. allowed the accomptant for making up his year's accompt. Each paymafter has a nett annual falary of 2491. 35. 4d. The comptroller's falary is 3087. 10s. The falaries of the rest are paid, clear of deductions, out of the public funds.

4. LORD PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL. As, under the title lord treasurer, all the offices and duties connected with the treafury were in general enumerated; fo, in this divifion, notice

will be taken of all matters relating to his majesty's privy. council. The lord prefident is the fourth great officer of state, and is recorded as having existed in the feventh year of King John. In the reign of Elizabeth the office was difcontinued, but feems to have revived in that of James I.; under Charles II. it was permanently re-established, and has ever fince continued. The office has been always granted by letters patent under the great feal durante bene placito; and this officer is to attend on the king, to propofe bufinefs at the council table, and report to his majefty the tranfactions there; alfo he may affociate the lord chancellor, treasurer, and privy feal, at naming of sheriffs; and all other acts limited by any ftatute to be done by them.

The privy council, according to Sir Edward Coke's defcription of it, is a noble, honourable, and reverend assembly of the king and fuch he wills to be of his privy council, in the king's court or palace. The king's will is the fole conftitucnt of a privy counsellor; and this alfo regulates their number, which in ancient times was twelve or thereabouts. Afterward it increased to fo large a number that it was found inconvenient for fecrecy and difpatch; and, therefore, in 1679, Charles II. limited it to thirty, whereof fifteen were to be the principal officers of ftate, and those to be counsellors, virtute officii; and the other fifteen were compofed of ten lords and five commoners of the king's chooling. But fince that time the number has been much augmented, and now continues indefinite. From this circumftance, however, no inconvenience can arife, as thofe only attend who are fpecially fummoned for that particular occafion upon which their advice and affiftance are required. The cabinet council, as it is called, confifts of those minifters of ftate who are more immediately honoured with his majesty's confidence, and who are fummoned to confult on the important and arduous difcharge of the executive authority: their number and felection depend only on the king's pleafure, and each member of that council receives a fummons or meffage for every attendance,

Privy counsellors are made by the king's nomination, without either patent or grant; and, on taking the neceflary oaths, they become immediately privy counsellors during the life of the king that chooses them, but fubject to removal at his discretion. A privy counsellor, though but a private gentleman, is styled right honourable, and has precedence of all knights, baronets, and the younger fons of all barons and viscounts.

As to the qualifications of members to fit at this board, any natural born fubject of England is capable of being a member of the privy council, taking the proper oaths for fecurity of the government, and the teft for the fecurity of the church. But in

order

order to prevent any perfons under foreign attachments from infinuating themfelves into this important truft, as happened in many inftances in the reign of William III., it is provided by the act of fettlement, that no perfon born out of the dominions of the crown of England, unlefs born of English parents, even though naturalized by parliament, fhall be capable of fitting in the privy council.

The duty of a privy counfellor appears from the oath of office, which confifts of feven articles: 1. To advife the king according to the best of his cunning and difcretion. 2. To advife for the king's honour, and good of the public, without partiality through affection, love, meed, doubt, or dread. 3. To keep the king's council fecret. 4. To avoid corruption. 5. To help and strengthen the execution of what fhall be there refolved. 6. To withstand all perfons who would attempt the contrary. And, laftly, in general, 7. To obferve, keep, and do all that a good and true counfellor ought to do to his fovereign lord.

The power of the privy council is to inquire into all offences against the government, and to commit the offenders to fafe cuftody, in order to take their trial in fome of the courts of law. But their jurifdiction herein is only to inquire, and not to punifh; and the perfons committed by them are entitled to their habeas corpus, by ftatute 16 Car. I. c. 10. as much as if committed by an ordinary juftice of the peace. And, by the fame ftatute, the court of ftar-chamber, and the court of requeft, both of which confifted of privy counfellors, were diffolved; and it was declared illegal for them to take cognizance of any matter of property belonging to the subjects of this kingdom. But, in plantation or admiralty caufes, which arife out of the jurifdiction of the kingdom, and in matters of lunacy or idiotcy, being a fpecial flower of prerogative, with regard to thefe, although they may eventually involve questions of extenfive property, the privy council continues to have cognizance, being the court of appeal in fuch cafes; or, rather, the appeal lies to the king's majefty himself in council. Whenever alfo a queftion arifes between two colonies or dependencies of the crown, as concerning the extent of their charter, and the like; the king in his council exercifes original jurifdiction therein, upon the principles of feodal fovereignty. So likewife when any perfon claims an island, or a province, in the nature of a feodal principality, by grant from the king or his ancestors, the determination of that right belongs to his majefty in council; as was the cafe of the Earl of Derby with regard to the Ifle of Man, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, and the Earl of Cardigan, and others, as reprefentatives of the Duke of Montague,

with relation to the Island of St. Vincent, in 1764. But from all the dominions of the crown, excepting Great Britain and Ireland, an appellate jurifdiction, in the laft refort, is vefted in the fame tribunal, which ufually exercifes its judicial authority in a committee of the whole privy council, who hear the allegations and proofs, and make their report to his majesty in council, by whom the judgment is finally given.

The privileges of privy counsellors, as fuch abftracted from their honorary precedency, confift principally in the fecurity which the law has given them against attempts and confpiracies to destroy their lives. For, by ftatute 3 Hen. VII. c. 14. if any of the king's fervants of his household confpire or imagine to take away the life of a privy counsellor, it is felony, though nothing be done upon it. The reafon of making this ftatute, Sir Edward Coke tells us, was becaufe fuch a confpiracy was, just before this parliament, made by fome of the king's household fervants, and great mifchief was like to have ensued thereupon. This extends only to the king's menial fervants, But the ftatute 9 Anne, c. 16. goes farther, and enacts, that any perfon who fhall unlawfully attempt to kill, or fhall unlawfully affault, and strike, or wound, any privy counsellor in the execu tion of his office, fhall be a felon without benefit of clergy. This ftatute was made upon the daring attempt of the Sieur Guifcard, who, when under examination for high crimes, in a committee of the privy council, ftabbed Mr. Harley, afterwards Earl of Oxford, with a penknife.

The diffolution of the privy council depends upon the king's pleafure; and he may, whenever he thinks proper, discharge any particular member, or the whole of it, and appoint another. By the common law alfo it was diffolved, ipfo facto, by the king's demise, as deriving all its authority from him; but now, to prevent the inconveniences of having no council in being at the acceffion of a new prince, it is enacted, by ftatute 6 Anne, c. 7. that the privy council fhall continue for fix months after the demife of the crown, unless sooner determined by the fucceffor.

The court of privy council is of great antiquity. The government in England was originally by the king and privy council; though at prefent the king and privy council only intermeddle in matters of complaint on fudden emergencies; their conftant business being to confult for the public good in affairs of state.

The lords and commons affembled in parliament have often transmitted matters of high concern to the king and privy council; and acts of the privy council, whether orders or proclamations, were of great authority. Henry VIII. procured an act of parliament to be made, that with the advice of his privy

council,