SECRET 



SECRETARY OF STATE 293 



which afford, if believed, a knowledge of the future 

 greater than that which human beings could obtain 



by exercising their faculties on the facts before 

 them ; and her conclusion is that the evidence at 

 present collected does not seem sufficient to warrant 

 a conclusion in favour of these. The whole of the 

 first-hand cases up till that time before the Psychi- 



cal Society amounted to 240, alxrat 66 per cent, of 

 these being dreams, thus falliii" far short both in 

 quantity and quality of the evidence for telepathy. 

 Setting" aside the two-thirds dreams, she classifies 

 the remaining third as follows : ( 1 ) Visual halluci- 

 nations persons or objects seen when nothing was 

 really there ; (2) auditory hallucinations voices or 

 other sounds heard when, according to the belief of 

 the percipient, there was no real natural sound ; 

 (3) verbal predictions, as by fortune-tellers ; (4) 

 non-externalised impressions of various kinds 

 namely, ideas of more or less definiteness, mental 

 visions, mental voices, and motor impulses. See 

 the articles ANIMISM, APPARITIONS, DIVINATION, 

 DREAMING, and MAGIC. 



Secret, DISCIPLINE OF THE. See DISCIPLINA 



ARCANI. 



STretary-bird, also called SECRETARY-FAL- 

 CON, or SERPENT- EATER (Serpentarius reptilirortts), 

 a genus of birds of prey, which has been variously 

 placed l>v naturalists among the Falconida: and the 

 Vultundte, but must certainly be constituted into a 

 distinct family, Gyuogeraoidae. The legs are very 

 long, as in the (jrallif, to some members of which 

 group it shows other points of affinity. The tibue 

 are completely feathered, but the tarsi and toes are 

 destitute of feathers. The tarsi are covered in 

 front with long, large scales. The toes are armed 

 with sharp claws ; but they are short, and the feet 

 are not formed for grasping. The hind-toe is very 

 short. The neck IB much longer and the whole 

 form of the bird more slender than in the Falconidii-. 

 The tail is very long. The liest-known species is 

 an inhabitant of the arid plains of Soutli Africa. 



Secretary-bird (Serpentaritu reptilivorui). 



It is alnmt three feet in length ; the plumage 

 bluish gray. It has an occipital crest of feathers 

 without barbs at the base, which can be raised 

 or depressed at pleasure, and the name 'Secretary ' 

 was given to it by the colonists at the Cape of 

 tlood Hope from their fancied resemblance to pens 

 stuck behind the ear. It feeds chiefly on reptiles 

 of .'ill kinds, which it devours in great numbers, 

 and in so highly valued on account of the constant 

 war which it wages against serpents that a fine 

 is inflicted in the Cape Colony for shooting it. It 

 fearlessly attacks the most venomous serpents, 



stunning them with blows of its wing, or seizing 

 and carrying them into the air to such a height 

 that they are killed by the fall. It uses its feet 

 also to overpower its prey, striking violent blows 

 with them. Small serpents arc swallowed entire ; 

 the larger ones are torn to pieces. The secretary- 

 bird is most frequently seen in pairs, or solitary. 

 It is tamed as a protector of poultry-yards, but if 

 not sufficiently fed is apt to help itself to a chicken 

 or duckling. An attempt has been made to intro- 

 duce this uird into Martinique in order to reduce 

 the number of venomous serpents in that island. 



Secretary of State, an ancient and import- 

 ant office in the government of England. The 

 oldest record of its existence is in the reign of 

 Henry III., when John Maunsell is described as 

 ' secretarius noster.' Prior to the Restoration the 

 holder of this office was generally styled the 

 'king's chief (or 'principal') secretary ; he had 

 the custody of the king s signet, and discharged 

 his duties with the assistance of four clerks. Two 

 secretaries are said to have been first appointed 

 towards the close of the reign of Henry VIII. Tlie 

 office, always one of influence, gradually grew in 

 importance. On the Union of 1707 Anne added a 

 third secretary of state for Scotland, which office, 

 however, was soon done away with. In the reign 

 of George III. there were at lirst but two secre- 

 taries ; for a time there was a third for America, 

 but his office was abolished by statute in 1782. 

 While the secretaries were two in number both 

 equally directed home affairs ; to the one were 

 committed the foreign affairs of the northern, to 

 the other of the southern department. Irish affairs 

 belonged to the province of the elder secretary. 



There are now five principal secretaries of state, 

 who are respectively appointed for home affairs, 

 foreign affairs, war, the colonies, and India. They 

 are all appointed bv the sovereign by delivery of 

 the seals of office, followed by the issue of a patent 

 under the great seal, and they are always members 

 of the Privy-council and of the cabinet. Though 

 each has his own department, he is considered 

 capable of discharging the duties of the others ; a 

 member of the House of Commons if removed 

 from one secretaryship to another does not thereby 

 vac-ate his seat. Not more than four secretaries or 

 under- secretaries of state may sit at one time in 

 the House of Commons. 



The Secretary of State for the Home Department 

 has the charge of the maintenance of the internal 

 peace of the United Kingdom, the security of the 

 laws, and the administration of justice so far as 

 the royal prerogative is involved in it. He provides 

 for the suppression of riots. He has the ultimate 

 supervision of all that relates to prisons and 

 criminals ; and numerous statutory powers have 

 been given him regarding police, sanitary matters, 

 the regulation of labour, ijic. He is responsible 

 for the exercise of the prerogative of mercy ; appli- 

 cation for pardon or commutation of sentence forms 

 no small part of the work imposed on the Home 

 Secretary. All patents, licenses, dispensations, 

 charters of incorporation, commissions of the peace 

 and of inquiry pass through his office. He recom- 

 mends persons to the sovereign for civil knight- 

 hood, and is empowered to grant certificates of 

 Naturalisation ( q. v. ) to foreigners. He is the organ 

 of communication between the cabinet and the 

 viceregal government of Ireland, for which he is 

 responsible, and is informed of and advises all the 

 graver measures adopted in that country. His 

 patronage is very considerable, including the nom- 

 ination to a large number of judicial offices. Among 

 his powers is that of examining and committing 

 for trial persons charged with offences against the 

 state, a function which, though its legality baa 

 been called in question, has l>een often exercised. 



