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264 Swedish business in their absence, and responsibility for the royal resolutions rests with them. The other members of the council reside in Norway and form the government of Norway. They have free access to the Storthing to communicate the intentions of the government and to give explanations. In the absence of the king, a viceroy or govenor is appointed by him, who may be either a Norwegian or a Swede. The governor resides in Christiania, and presides at the meetings of the council, where he has a vote along with the other members of the government, and also a casting vote in the case of an equal division of opinion. The resolutions of the government must be at once transmitted to the king. All the members of the council are held responsible for the resolutions arrived at, unless they have minuted a protest at the time; and no command of the king (with the exception of orders in military affairs) has any force unless countersigned by one of the ministers of state.

The appointment of all civil, ecclesiastical, and military officials lies with the king, who can, after taking the advice of his council, remove any of the superior officers of Church or State without trial. The amount of pension, if any, which the removed officials are to receive is determined by the first Storthing which is held subsequent to their dismissal. In the interval they enjoy two-thirds of their former salary. The inferior officials may be suspended by the king, but must be immediately brought before the proper tribunals, and unless convicted of some charge cannot be removed from their posts or dismissed without their own consent.

The king has command of the army and navy, but without consent of the Storthing can neither increase nor diminish the military forces of the country, which must be strictly employed for the good of Norway, and cannot be lent to foreign powers, after the manner so common formerly among the German princes. Norwegian troops cannot be stationed in Sweden, nor can Swedish soldiers be introduced into Norway, except for a short period not exceeding six weeks, when a limited number of the troops of either country may take part in joint manœuvres on the frontiers of Sweden and Norway. The consent of the Storthing is also required before the Norwegian army or navy can be used to attack a foreign enemy; but in case of an invasion or an apprehended attack, the king has full power to direct the movements of the Norwegian forces by sea and land. The king has the right of declaring war and concluding peace, as well as of entering into alliances, and making or breaking treaties; but this right is fenced round by very stringent provisions as to the manner in which the Norwegian government is to be consulted, and the joint advice of an extraordinary council of Swedish as well as Norwegian councillors is to be taken. Each councillor must give his opinion in writing, for which he is held responsible; but the king may then adopt that course which he considers most beneficial to the State.

The ordinary powers of the king extend to the superintendence of public worship and the regulation of ecclesiastical assemblies. He is also entitled to keep the clergy to the observance of the established forms. He may also issue regulations affecting trade and the collection of the taxes, provided they do not conflict with any article of the constitution, but such regulations only have force till the meeting of the next Storthing. Norway is responsible only for its own debt and for its own expenditure; and while the king is bound to collect the taxes imposed by the Storthing, his ministers must be careful to expend them only for Norwegian purposes. Lastly, the king has the prerogative of mercy secured to him by the constitution, but he can only exercise it in council, and with the consent of the criminal, who is entitled to choose whether he will accept the royal mercy or suffer the penalty to which he has been condemned. This provision is apparently copied from the similar one in the Swedish constitution. The royal prerogative, too, cannot be exercised in the case of persons prosecuted at the instance of the Lagthing (one of the divisions of the Storthing) before the high tribunal for the trial of State offences, except to the effect of freeing the prisoner from the penalty of death, if such shall have been decreed.

The general result of all the foregoing provisions of the constitution is to accumulate upon the king the whole of the executive powers of the State, to give him very real and important influence in determining both the internal and the external policy of the State, and to attach the whole body of officials throughout the country to the government, as represented by him, since the nomination to all appointments, directly or indirectly, is placed in his hands. At the same time, the restriction which requires his orders to be countersigned by a minister of State restrains him from any 