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

continued, however, in 1746; and from that time till 1768 there were but two Secretaries. In the latter year, however, on the resignation of one of the existing Secretaries, two were appointed in his place, of whom one was destined to take charge of our American possessions. But by statute 22 Geo. III. cap. 82, the office of Colonial Secretary was abolished, and there remained but two secretaries till 1794. From 1794, however, to the present day, there have never been less than three, viz. one for the Home Department, one for Foreign Affairs, and one for the Colonies.

Until about the year 1782 it was the practice to describe the two departments, one as "Northern," and the other "Southern ;" but about that period these terms were discontinued, and the duties divided into "Home," and "Foreign;" the former of these performed the duties of Colonial Secretary till a separate officer was permanently appointed in 1794. The Northern department used to include Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Poland, Russia, &c., while the Southern included France, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, Portugal, and Turkey. The designations at present in use of Home and Foreign, require no explanation.

In 1794 the increase of business consequent upon the war, occasioned the appointment of the Right Hon. Henry Dundas, afterwards Viscount Melville, as Secretary of State for War; an office which must not be confounded with that of Secretary at War (vide SECRETARY AT WAR, in the article on the ARMY). In the year 1801 the business occasioned by the Colonies was transferred to the Secre

tary of State for the War Department, and the two offices have ever since remained consolidated, notwithstanding an attempt which was made in 1816 to have this third Secretaryship abolished. Mr. Tierney's motion, in the house of Commons, to this effect, was negatived on the ground, that although the war, for which the office was established had ceased, yet the Colonial branch of his business was sufficiently important and extensive to require the undivided attention of a distinct officer.

Each department includes an extensive establishment of under secretaries and clerks. The business of the Home Department is conducted in Whitehall, while the Colonial and Foreign offices are in Downing.

street.

There are altogether six Under Secretaries of State, two for each department. One of these two is generally a member of parliament, and is appointed or resigns with the political party of which he is a member. The other Secretary in each office is unaffected by ministerial changes, and in the absence of the principal Secretary he is the official representative, just as his political colleague is the parliamentary organ of the department to which he belongs.

LORD GREAT CHAMBERLAIN OF ENGLAND.

THE hereditary office of Lord Great Chamberlain of England is not to be confounded with that of the Lord Chamberlain of the Royal Household, of whom

a separate account will be found elsewhere. The family of De Vere, Earls of Oxford, enjoyed the office of Lord Great Chamberlain for nearly six centuries, it having been granted to them by Henry I.; but on the death of the eighteenth Earl of Oxford, (of this family,) without issue, in 1625, both the office and the earldom became the subject of litigation. They were claimed, together with other titles, by Robert Bertie, thirteenth Baron Willoughby d'Eresby, in right of his mother, who was sister and heir of Edward, seventeenth Earl of Oxford. The earldom, however, was awarded by the house of Lords to the heir male collateral, in whose son it became extinct, while the office of hereditary Great Chamberlain was esteemed to be descendible through heirs female, and consequently confirmed to Lord Willoughby d'Eresby, who took his seat in the house of Lords in that capacity, in the second year of Charles the First's reign. He was created Duke of Ancaster in 1715, and in his family the office descended uninterruptedly till the death of the fourth. duke, in 1779, when the barony of Willoughby d'Eresby fell into abeyance, and then the hereditary chamberlainship was claimed by five distinct branches of this family. The house of Lords decided, however, that it became vested in the two sisters of the deceased fourth duke, jointly; and that they were competent to appoint a deputy, who should not be under the degree of a knight. In favour of the elder of these sisters the abeyance of the barony of Willoughby was terminated, and she became a baroness in her own right; while the younger sister married