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Home Domestic Politics and the First Two Georges, 1714-1760 The British Constitution, 1714-1832 |
The British Constitution, 1714-1832We must turn aside for a while from the review of the great wars to sketch the domestic affairs of Great Britain after 1714. Parliament, as a result of the Revolution of 1688, had obtained control of legislation and taxation. William III, however, as has been pointed out, chose his own ministers and directed both the home and foreign policy of the nation; and even Anne often presided at meetings of the cabinet (The privy council had grown too large for consultative purposes; consequently an inner royal council had developed, which was first called a "cabinet" in the reign of Charles I. After the Revolution the cabinet became an established institution. A statesman of Anne's reign illustrated the difference between the privy council and the cabinet thus: "The privy council were such as were thought to know everything and knew nothing, while those of the cabinet thought that nobody knew anything but themselves")-as the meetings of heads of departments came to be called-and directly appointed the ministers. But with the accession of the House of Hanover came a great change, and it may be convenient here to summarize the chief features of the constitution during the hundred years after 1714."The Act of Settlement had given us," it has been said, "a foreign sovereign; the presence of a foreign sovereign gave us a prime minister." George I could not speak English-Walpole, after 1721 the king's chief minister, had to brush up his Latin in order to converse with the king in that language-and George II only spoke it with a strong German accent; while neither of the two kings was sufficiently interested in or intimate with British politics to comprehend its details. Consequently neither of them attended cabinet meetings; and George III, when he came to the throne in 1760, was unable, despite his desire, to do so owing to the precedent set by his predecessors. Hence it was natural that one minister should preside over the cabinet and direct its proceedings; and gradually it came about that he and not the king appointed his colleagues to the ministry, and that he obtained the title of prime minister. Moreover, the king, as he was not present at the cabinet meetings where the details were discussed, gradually lost the power of deciding on what was to be done. He would be told that such and such had happened, and that the advice of his minister was to do this. If he did not understand, or were careless, or not interested, he agreed without further comment. Gradually, the other characteristics of our present system of cabinet government were evolved: ministers were chosen from the same party; they became jointly responsible for the policy pursued; and they became dependent for the continuance of their power, not upon the king, but upon the House of Commons. Hitherto the Crown had decided, though the ministers might be consulted; but as time goes on the position is reversed-the ministers decided, though the Crown might be consulted Moreover, the Crown ceased to refuse its assent to bills passed by Parliament, Anne being the last sovereign who exercised this right. |
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