MINISTRY, the body of ministers of state, or persons to whoni the sovereign or chief magistrate of a country commits the executive government.
It is a principle of the constitution of Great Britain, that "the king can do no wrong; " that is to say, the sovereign personally is irresponsible for his acts, the real responsibility resting with the administrative government. The " king's council," or PRIVY Couxcm, were the earliest advisers of the sovereign in matters of state; but when this body came, in the course of time, to be. found too large for the dispatch of business, its duties were transferred to a small committee of privy councilors selected by the king. As late as in Charles L's time, all the more important resolutions of the crown were taken after deliberation and assent of the privy council. An unsuccessful attempt was made in the reign of Charles IL to restore the council to its original functions. Its numbers were limited to thirty; and it was intended that this limited council should have the control of the whole executive administration, superseding any interior cabinet. But the council was found too extensive for an effectively working ministry, and the former arrangment was restored. The CABINET or MirtisTuy is now but a com mittee of the privy council; and its exclusive right to discuss and determine the plans and business of the government has' been often said not to be recognized by the law, a position which, however, was disputed by lord Campbell, who maintained that, " by our constitution, it is in practice a defined and acknowledged body for carryin,g on the execu tive government of the country." Proclamations and orders still issue from the privy council; and it is occasionally assembled to deliberate on public affairs, when only those councilors who are summoned attend. The cabinet is a merely deliberative body; its members collectively have no power to issue warrants or proclamations; but all import ant measures which engage the attention of the government, whether regarding matters domestic, foreign, or colonial, and all plans of action, whether purely administrative, or to be carried out in parliament, must be proposed, considered, and adopted by the cabinet. The sovereign intrusts the formation of a ministry to a statesman, who selects
for the members of bis cabinet those who are attaehed to his political views. He generally places himself at the head of the government as first lord of the treasury, and in popular language, he is called the premier, or prime minister. The lord chancellor, the chancellor of the exchequer, the secretaries of state for home, foreign, colonial, and Indian affairs, the secretary at war, and the president of the council, are necessarily members of the cabinet; and with them are associated the heads of various other import ant departments of government, including generally the first lord of the admiralty, the president of the board of trade, the postmaster-general, the president of the poor-law board, the chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster, and occasionally the chief secretary for Ireland: The premier has sometimes held the office of chancellor of the exchequer in conjunction with that of first lord of the treasury. A privy councilor of great political weight is sometimes called into the cabinet without office, and takes the post of lord privy seal. Her majesty's ministers include the following, who have usually no seat in the cabinet; the chief secretary for Ireland, the first commissioner of works, the vice president of the board of trade, the vice-president ot the committee on education, the commander-in-chief, the lord chafitherlain, the stewztrd, the master of the horse, the master of the huelthounds, the comptroller of the household, the lord lieutenant of Ire land, the attorney-general and solicitor-general of England, the lord advocate and solici tor-general of Scotland, and the attorney-general and solicitor-general of Ireland. Oceasionally, but exceptionally, the commander-in-chief, and the lord chief justice of England, have been members of the cabinet. A ministry is often spoken of as the ministry of the person who is at its head.