Page:History of the Radical Party in Parliament.djvu/298

 284 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1837- which the exercise of the personal authority of the Crown by the Queen varies from the method adopted by her last three predecessors. It is more decidedly constitutional in form, being in all cases applied through the Cabinet itself, only in rare instances through individual ministers, and never through Parliament or rival politicians behind the backs of, or in direct opposition to, the responsible advisers. There has been nothing like the formation of a party of King's friends by George III., nor like the announcement that he would never accept a particular statesman as a minister, or .listen to a proposal which his Cabinet and the majority of Parliament considered essential to the good government of the country ; nothing like the appeal of George IV. to Eldon to help him in his desire to frustrate the policy of his minis- ters ; nothing even like the statement made by William IV. to the bishops when they waited upon him, to object to the proposals of the Government with regard to the Irish Church. In the second place, the influence of the Queen has been, so far as published statements show, for the most part directed to foreign affairs, and not to the course of domestic policy. It is not the less important on this account, but it is certainly more difficult to attack. There is a theory that the declaration of war, the conclusion of peace, and the making of treaties, are matters pertaining to the royal prerogative. By this it is not, of course, meant that the authority should be exercised without, or in opposition to, the advice of responsible ministers ; but when any department of the public service is removed from the direct control of the representative chamber, it neither surprises nor shocks the public mind to learn that more or less influence is exercised, personally, by the monarch in whose name the whole business is transacted. What is wanted to be done is to place under the management of Parliament and subject to its authority, the conduct of those affairs which affect, more vitally even than domestic policy, the welfare, the honour, and the stability of the nation. At the commencement of the reign, however, the Whigs