Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1885-06-25
ENGLISH EEPUBLICANIsl1

The idea OF the possession of great
power is usually associated With the mon
arehical position. but in the case Of the
English monarch this idea is an incorrect
one. There is great influence, but tie
amount of direct power the English mon
arch can exert in national affairs is small.
Henry VIII. Queen Elizabeth and other
.soYereigns of the olden time had great
power, but the abuse of it by the institu
ton of star chambers, and other ways,
was so unsuitable to English independ~
enee that Charles I had his head cut off
as a warning to later monarchs. james
II, the last Of the Stuart kings, gas de-
posed, aud IN the end the sovereign
was declared not to be response
BILE for his acts; that responsible
ity was laid upon the Ministry
having charge OF the administration Of
public affairs. This gave safety to the
monareh's head, but it deprived him Of
power. However the British sovereign
may desire to do certain thing, the de
sired object can be done. or proposed to
be done, only by means Of Ministry
willing to undertake the task. If, hog
ever, in doing so they transcend their
powers, they are liable to impeachment,
trial and punishment. The sovereign
can choose his Ministers, it is true, bat
if they be not supported by a majority in
Parliament, they cannot carry on the
government and must resign to make
room for those who can. The SOW
ereign, therefore, may be compelled to
appoint a Ministry whose policy and
sometimes whose personality is very dis
tasteful to him. The Ministry eopse-
quently are the real sovereign, and the
consequence is that when the monarch Is
incapable Of performing the duties Of his
station the government Of the country in
no way suffers. So it was when George
III became lunatic. True, his son vas
made regent to act for him, but before
that vas done there was no difficulty in
carrying on the government. When
George IY.was in a condition for some
time before his death incapacitating him
from business, Parliament enacted that a
fac simiLe of his signature should be made,
and it appointed commission to apply
it to all public acts aud documents re-
quiring the Kings signature, such
fac sinlile signature to have the same
force as if it were the sign manual of tie
King. At the death of George ~, had
the country SO willed and elected a Par
lament to carry out its will, that stamp
might have been made, practically, per-
petual sovereign, aud the government
would have proceeded as before, and
probably better than before. The pres
ent condition Of things in England is an
instance of the peculiar manner in which
the English limit, if not utterly take
away, the power Of the monarch. Queen
Victoria was rejOieed at the overthrow of
the Gladstone Ministry, the duration of
which she has had unwillingly to submit
to. She rejoiced at the opportunity to
put the Tories into power. NotWith
standing that, had Gladstone refused to
forbear certain amount of opposition to
the new Ministry, it would not have
taken Office, and he would have resumed
his former functions. Paine, in his
celebrated Rights of Nan, showed that
under the forms of monarchy, and with
the incubus Of feudal aristocracy, Eng
land has a really republican government,