"VICTORIA, by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland Queen, Defender of the Faith. To Our right trusty and well-beloved Councillor, Our Chancellor of that part of Our said United Kingdom called Great Britain, greeting, We will and command that under the Great Seal of Our said United Kingdom remaining in your custody, you cause these Our Letters to be made forth Patent in form following: in the "VICTORIA, by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland Queen, Defender of the Faith. To all to whom these presents shall come, greeting. Whereas We did, by Our Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Our United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster the day of year of Our reign, nominate, constitute, and appoint Our right trusty and well-beloved Councillor, one of Our Principal Secretaries of State, to have, hold, exercise, and enjoy the said office of one of Our Principal Secretaries of State unto the said with all salaries, commodities, pre-eminences, places, dignities, allowances and emoluments whatsoever belonging or appertaining to the said office during Our pleasure, as by the same Letters Patent (relation being thereunto had) may more fully and at large appear. "Now know ye, that We have revoked and determined, and by these presents, do revoke and determine the said recited Letters Patent, and every clause, article, and thing therein contained And further know ye, that we, very much confiding in the fidelity, industry, prudence, experience, and other shining virtues of Our right trusty and well-beloved Councillor, have nominated, constituted and appointed, and by these presents do nominate, constitute and appoint him, the said one of Our Principal Secretaries of State, to have, hold, exercise and enjoy the said office of one of Our Principal Secretaries of State, unto the said with all salaries, commodities, pre-eminences, places, dignities, allowances and emoluments whatsoever belonging or appertaining to the same office, for and during Our pleasure. In Witness, &c. Witness, &c. "Given at Our Court at St. James', this one thousand eight hundred and the year of Our reign. "By Her Majesty's Command. day of and in *This is the order for the patent under the countersign of the Secretary of State for the Home Department for the time being. Upon the acceptance of office he attends the Council and receives the Seals of the War Department, being sworn in as a Privy Councillor upon this oath : (b.) The Oath of the Secretary of State as a Privy Councillor.1 "You shall sweare to bee a true and faythfull servant vnto the Kinge's Majestie as one of the Principal Secretaries of State to His Majestie. You shall not knowe or vnderstand of any manner of thinge to bee attempted, don, or spoken against His Majestie's person, honorable crowne, and dignitie Royall, but that you. lett and withstand the same to the vttmost of your power, and either cause it to bee revealed to his Majestie himselfe, or his Previe Counsell; you shall keepe secrett all matters revealed and committed vnto you, or that shall bee secrettly treated of in Counsell; and if any of the said treatie or Counsell shall touch any of the Counsellors, you shall not reveale the same vnto him, but shall keepe the same vntill such tyme as by the consent of His Majestie or the Counsell, publicacon shall be made thereof; you shall to your vttmost bear faith and allegiance to the Kinge's Majestie, his heires, and lawful successors, and shall assist and defend all Jurisdiccons, Pre-hemence, and Authorities granted vnto His Majestie, and annexed vnto his Crowne against all forreyne princes, persons, prelates, and potentates, &c., by Act of Parliament or otherwise. And generally in all thinges you shall doe as a faythfull and true Servant and Subject ought to doe to His Majestie, soe helpe your God and the holy contents of this Booke.". (c.) The Military Command of the Army. As an emanation from the prerogative is the appointment to military command which is conferred upon any person by Royal Sign Manual commission (under countersign), and when the command is also that of a General Officer by a letter of service. The present officer Commanding in Chief holds a Secretary of State's letter of service in this form5:— 1 This form of oath continues to be administered, see "Report on Oaths, 1867." p. 3. 2 See Appendix, Note A, p. 190, "Disclosure of Official Documents. 3 The Restoration Parliament re-affirmed, in the preamble of the Militia Acts, the constitutional doctrine “that within all His Majesty's realms and dominions the sole supreme government, command, and disposition of the Militia, and of all forces by sea and land, and of all forts and places of strength, is, and by the laws of England ever was, the undoubted right of His Majesty and His Royal predecessors, Kings and Queens of England." These Militia Acts were repealed in the recent Statute Law Revision, but this preamble was saved. See the discussion of 1871 in the House of Commons, Vol. 208, H.D. (3 Ser.), pp. 1406–11, 1443, 1576, 1702, and relied upon in 1878, 240 H.D. (3), p. 221-372; and Vol. I., p. 34. 4 Vol. II., chap. 16, pars. 10-22. 5 History of the Office of Commander-in-Chief, Vol. II., pp. 335-358, and Documents, pp. 731 and 745. SIR, Letter of Service, dated 15th July 1856. WAR DEPARTMENT, 15th July 1856. The Queen having been pleased to appoint your Royal Highress to serve as a General with four paid Aides-de-Camp, and one unpaid Aide-de-Camp upon the Staff of the Army, I am commanded to acquaint you it is Her Majesty's pleasure that your Royal Highness do obey such orders as you shall receive from Her Majesty, the Commander-in-Chief, or any other your Royal Highness' superior officer. General I remain, with the highest respect, your Royal Highness' most obedient, most humble, and most devoted servant, PANMURE. The duties of this office, as at present defined, are laid down in the following Council Order : Order in Council of 4th June 1870. At the Court at Balmoral, the 4th day of June 1870present, the Queen's Most Excellent Majesty in Council. Whereas there was this day read at the Board a representation to the Lord President of the Council from the Right Hon. Edward Cardwell, one of Her Majesty's Principal Secretaries of State, dated the 30th day of May 1870, in the words following, viz. : "As it is expedient to define the duties of the Field-Marshal commanding the Forces, under the letter of service issued to him by Her Majesty's direction, by the Secretary of State for War, on the 15th of July 1856, or of any other officer who may hereafter from time to time be so appointed, I have the honour to request that your Lordship will be pleased to submit for the approval of Her Majesty in Council that subject to the approval of the Secretary of State for War, and to his responsibility for the administration of the royal authority and prerogative in respect of the army-the said officer shall, in addition to the military command conferred by the said letter, be charged "With the discipline and distribution of the army and of the reserve forces of the United Kingdom, when embodied or called out for actual military service; "With the military education and training of the officers, non-commissioned officers, and men of the army, and of the reserve forces when assembled for training, exercise, inspection, or voluntary military duty; "With enlisting men for, and discharging men from, the army and army reserves; "With the collection and record of strategical information, including topography, in relation to the military circumstances of this and other countries; 66 With the selection of fit and proper persons to be recommended to Her ajesty for appointment to commissions in the army, for promotion, for Staff and other military appointments, and for military honours and rewards; "And with the duty of rendering such advice and assistance on military affairs as may be required of him by the Secretary of State for War." Her Majesty, having taken into consideration the said representation, was pleased, by and with the advice of Her Privy Council, to approve thereof. And the Right Hon. Edward Cardwell, one of Her Majesty's Principal Secretaries of State, is to give the necessary directions herein accordingly. EDMUND HARRISON. B. THE STATUTORY POWERS OF THE SECRETARY OF STATE. The statutory powers of the Secretary of State for the War Department are derived from two sources: 1st. As the successor to the Master-General and principal officers of the late Board of Ordnance, these being collected as the Statute Law relating to the "Ordnance Branch";1 and 2ndly. As the successor to the late "Secretary at War," these being here collected in the Statutes relating to the "War Office Branch." (a.) The late Secretary at War's Office.-The Appointment of the Secretary at War by Commission." The Secretary at War was appointed by a Commission from the Crown in the following form: "VICTORIA R. "VICTORIA by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland Queen, defender of the Faith, to Our right trusty and well-beloved Councellor, Fox Baron Panmure, Knight of the most ancient and most noble Order of the Thistle, greeting: We being well satisfied with your loyalty, integrity, and ability, do hereby constitute and appoint you Secretary at War to all Our Forces raised, or to be raised in Our United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland: You are 1 Published by Her Majesty's Stationery Office in 1879. 2 This Commission was granted to each Secretary of State until the abolition of the Secretary at War's Office in 1863. therefore by virtue of this Our Commission to receive the said place into your charge, and you are diligently to intend the execution thereof; and faithfully and duly to execute and perform all things incident and belonging thereto; and you are to observe and follow such orders and directions as you shall from time to time receive from Us, or the General of Our Forces for the time being, according to the discipline of War, in pursuance of the trust reposed in you, and your duty to Us. "Given at Our Court at Windsor, the 8th day of February, 1855, in the 18th year of Our reign. "By Her Majesty's Command. (b.) The Official Duties of the Secretary at War.1 Upon appointment to office, the deputy placed in the hands of the Secretary at War this memorandum: 2-Memorandum of the chief duties of the Secretary at War.-The Secretary at War is responsible for the preparation of the estimates for the ordinary services of the army, and for the due application of the greatest part of the sums granted by Parliament on account of them; he directs the issues, regulates the expenditure, and settles the accounts; the Secretary at War receives and communicates to the army the King's pleasure on financial matters, and exercises a direct control over all arrangements by which any charge is created, in addition to or different from those which have had the sanction of Parliament; the Secretary at War takes the King's pleasure for granting half-pay or pensions to officers, their widows and children, or for depriving them of the same; he is the channel for publishing commissions in the Gazette, and recording military promotions; he prepares and introduces into Parliament Bills relating to the army, and directs all law proceedings connected with the military service; he superintends, under the enactments of the Mutiny Act, all matters relating to the apprehension and escort of deserters; his authority is required for all movements of troops; he is the proper channel of reference on all questions between the civil and military part of the community, and is the constitutional check interposed for regulating their intercourse, and he is especially charged with the protection of the civil subject from all improper 1 As to the history of this office, vol. I., chap. xxi., and Lord Palmerston's memorandum, p. 689. 2 This was probably prepared by Lord Palmerston when Secretary at War. It was handed in by Sir John Cam Hobhouse, and is printed in "Report on Army and Navy Appointments, 1833," p. 231, and in Report of the Commons Committee of 1850 upon " Army Expenditure," p. 1, to which Committee it was handed in by the late Lord Panmure. 3 The extraordinary services (as to which see vol. I., pp. 110-135) were under the Treasury, vol. II., p. 190. • This responsibility was imposed by Mr. Burke's Act, as to which see Appendix, Note B, p. 193. |