HISTORY OF EUROPE. 31 
was started also ; sobetween the ob- 
jections, poor Sancho had no din- 
ner atall, Just in a similar manner 
do the friends of the motion propose 
to deal with lord Ellenborough. 
—The noble lord is made a privy 
counsellor, but yet he is not (o be 
consulted upon points of law, lest 
his mind as a judge should be prepos- 
sessed, noris he to be consulted on 
points of state, lest he should be 
made a politician. Thus it was 
proposed to destroy his functions 
as a privy counsellor altogether.’’* 
But, the very circumstance, that 
a chief justice is always a privy 
counsellor and usually a peer of par- 
liament, is a sufficient proof, that 
our ancestors had not such horror 
of a judge being consulted on mat- 
ters of state, nor such apprehension 
of his mind being prepossessed by 
the opinions he might give as a privy 
counsellor on points of law. Evil 
consequences may possibly result 
from this mixture, and what to some 
may appear confusion of charac- 
ters: but let us follow the example 
of our forefathers, and without seek- 
ing to anticipate imaginary evils, ap- 
ply a remedy to them whiten they 
occur. If to secure the due admi- 
nistration of justice it were neces- 
sary that a judge should have no 
possible temptation to unlawful 
-compliances with power, the object 
would be unattainable, while ‘ per- 
sons in the situation of judges had 
relations with the rest of society, 
while they had friends and children, 
and were not divested of all the 
feelings common to human nature.” + 
To satisfy such theorists, the 
judges of England must be placed on 
a footing with the ecclesiastical order 
in catholic countries, and even that 
expedient would be ineffectual to 
* Mr. Fox. 
+ Lord Holland, 
detach them from worldly interest. 
But such forced ard unnatural ex- 
pedients are unnecessary in this 
country, where the due administra- 
tion of justice is secured not only 
by the integrity of the judge, but 
by the presence and control of the 
jury, the superintendance of the 
bar, and the publicity of all judi- 
cial procedings. 
A privy counsellor was bound to 
to givehis advice to the king, in all 
cases and at all times, when his ad- 
vice wasdemanded. Buta cabinet 
counsellor was only one of those 
privy counsellors whom the king 
consulted with apon state affairs. 
No privy counsellor could beexclud- 
ed from the committee where these 
deliberations were carried on, when 
Summoned to it by his majesty’s 
commands, except for such personal 
objections as would be a ground for 
addressing’ his majesty to remove 
such an individual from his councils. 
The committee of the privy council, 
called originally the committee for 
foreiga affairs, and known at present 
by the name of cabinet council, was 
unknown to our law, and had in no 
instance whatever been recognised 
by parliament. It had not evena 
fixed or permanent existence, but 
consisted of those privy counsellors, 
who, each time it was convened, re- 
ceived a summons to attend its meet- 
ings. It was a mistake to suppose, 
that the cabinet, as such, was re- 
sponsible for the measures of govern 
ment. ‘* It would be difficult to point 
out in our statutes or in the record- 
ed proceedings of parliament, evi- 
dence that the cabinet or any indivi- 
dual belonging to it had been, as 
such, held to belegally responsible.” + 
Nor for practical purposes was 
it fit that it should be otherwise. If 
an 
t Mr.’ Fox. 
