, 1875-07-17

cret supervision OF the most e1eCtlVe KIND.
He must be told, often at an immense
expenditure of energy, the secret histo-
ry of everything that occurs If he OBJ
iects, he must be persuaded. If he rem6n-
~strates, he must be cOnciIlated. If he ar
CUES, he must have q reason; and if he
writes, he must have an Ineligible and
adequate reply. Moreover, all these ne
c~essities must be complied with in a defer
entail manner, by men who would lose
power if considered to have treated the
Sovereign with disreSpect, and by men
who either feel for themselves or recog-
Mise that others feel that mystical influence
of the k~ingship, of its traditional superiori-
ty to all other positions, which certainly
is neither dead nor dying. Then the SOVe-
reign, if a worker, not only gathers more
experience than any Minister, even a Pre-
mier, can, seeing all departments, as we'll
as all the jealousies and differences among
all their chiefs, but possesses, as the essay
ist admits, personal means, through rela,
tionships, friendships, and accidents, Of
knowing what is going on abroad, and
some special means of influencing current
events. Europe is governed by persons
who are still invested with power as well
as influence, aud those persons are greatly
moved by the representations of their own
caste, of the few human beings with whom
they feel on an equality, who do not
offend them by plainness-witness
the Queens letters Oh the Spanish
Marriages-and towards whom they feel
bound to maintain an attitude of deferen-
tial courtesy. Caste opinion is a great
power, and Louis Philippe did not at all
like to feel that Queen Victoria thought
him in relation to the Spanish intrigue a
scamp or worse, while Louis Napoleon did
feel himself raised several inches in Europe
by the equality to which he was admitted
by the Queen. Add that the precise
limits of power in a constitutional coun-
try are almost imperceptible to foreign
statesmen, and that the most experienced
Kings are constantly tempted to forget that
prerogative and power are not always con-
terminous-witness the King OF Prussia's
request for a reprieye of Muller-ard we
perceive a genuine source OF authority
vested indestructibly in any Sovereign
who will use it. Then there is the
wei 2ht of the Sovereign in all questions
of the higher patronage. The essayist
notes this as equivalent to actual power
during a Ministerial interregnum, but we
conceive that it is in one way a power
even when a Ministry is in office. The
Sovereign can no longer make a Minister,
or a Bishop, or a Peer by mere fiat, as
George III. and at times even George ".
could do, but the range Of persons who
could be elevated to high posts, in spite
of a fixed dislike on the part of the Grown
is very limited. No Bishop could be so
made, for no Bishop can have the support
which would make it worth the while
of a Cabinet seriously to annoy the
Sovereign in order to secure his nomina-
ton. Scarcely any Peer could be so
made, for the same reason, unless absolute
ly required for purposes of debate, and
scarcely any Minister except of the first
class. In every Cabinet there are three
or four men whom the Premier must have,
and probably one more whom he will
have, but amongst the ruck of aspirants
to office, always so much more numerous
than the posts to be distributed, the
favour or disfavour of the Crown would
act as a great make-weight or retarding
force. A working Sovereign who takes
trouble, and who recollects careers, has
in this influence upon patronage an 1m-
meHse source of authority, which is not
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