Minister (foreign affairs)

“ A minister naturally has charge in the cabinet of the business relating to his own department, but how far he takes an active part in other things will depend upon the interest that he feels in them. Lord Palmerston, for example, when Secretary for Foreign Affairs, took, as his letters show, little interest in anything else ”

“ An embassador at a first-rate court should, indeed, be the minister of foreign affairs for his country on a small scale; and we know well enough that the duties devolving on a minister for foreign affairs are grave, are delicate, are all important. ”

“ Those puzzling lines of letters and numerals were secret instructions from the ruler of England’s destiny, who had been called from his bed to decide one of the most critical problems of statesmanship. Truly the position of the British Minister for Foreign Affairs is no enviable one. The responsibility is the heaviest weighing upon any one man in the whole world. ”

“ Departments of State.—There are nine departments of state presided over by ministers—foreign affairs, home affairs, finance, war, navy, justice, education, agriculture and commerce, communications. These ministers form the cabinet, which is presided over by the minister president of state, so that its members number ten in all. Ministers of state are appointed by the emperor and are responsible to him alone. But between the cabinet and the crown stand a small body of men, the survivors of those by whose genius modern Japan was raised to her present high position among the nations. ”

“ The Chief and Deputy Administrators of the Prime Minister’s Office, Vice Ministers under Ministers for Special Affairs, Ministers, Vice Ministers, Administrators, Deputy Administrators, Deputy Ministers, Director Generals of bureaus, and Assistant Ministers of the Ministries, Ministries at the Agencies-Ministerial level and Administrations at the vice Ministerial level, and Chief Commissioners of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, shall be government delegates. ”

“ Of these Ministers, those of Justice, Interior, Agriculture, Education, Public Works and Arts, were elected by the Senate, while the King would appoint the Ministers of War, Finance, and Foreign Affairs ”

“ There are twelve ministries17 comprising those of justice; finance; war; the interior; marine; colonies; public instruction and fine arts; foreign affairs; commerce and industry; agriculture; public works; and labour and public thrift. Individual ministers are responsible for all acts done in connexion with their own departments, and the body of ministers collectively is responsible for the general policy of the government. ”

“ Minister of Home Affairs (A. Gnóthaí Duthchais) , 3. Minister of Foreign Affairs (A. Gnóthaí Coigcríoch) , 4. Minister of Defence (A. Cosanta) . The Prime Minister shall nominate the four others, and shall have power to dismiss them from office. 3. ”

“ Such a minister as this is a high public officer of government, who resides at a foreign capital for the purpose of attending to the business of his own country there, and of protecting the citizens in case of danger. ”

“ The Prime Minister shall keep the President informed on matters of domestic and foreign policy, and submit for the consideration of the Cabinet any matter which the President may request him to refer to it. ”

“ The executive power is vested in the council of ministers, at whose head is the minister-president. There are eight ministries, namely, the ministry of the interior, of national defence, of worship and instruction, of finance, of commerce, of agriculture, of justice, and of railways. ”

“ The Constitution has made the Executive the organ for managing our intercourse with foreign nations. It authorizes him to appoint and receive ambassadors, other public ministers, and consuls. The term minister being applicable to other agents as well as diplomatic, the constant practice of the government, considered as a commentary, established this broad meaning; and the public interest approves it; because it would be extravagant to employ a diplomatic minister for a business which a mere rider would execute. ”

“ Public minister who. A PUBLIC MINISTER, is he, that by the sovereign, whether a monarch or an assembly, is employed in any affairs, with authority to represent in that employment, the person of the commonwealth. ”

“ Government affairs are managed by the Ministers of State, who are selected and appointed by the sacred decision of His Majesty. Every Minister is regarded responsible for the affairs in his charge, and hence no responsibility attached to the Royal person of the King. ”

“ Nor must we forget that all, or almost all, to whom, when placed at the head of affairs, he could apply for assistance, were persons who owed as little as himself, or less than himself, to education. A minister in Europe finds himself, on the first day on which he commences his functions, surrounded by experienced public servants, the depositaries of official traditions. ”

“ A prime minister in respect of affairs generally, and a Cabinet minister with reference to the affairs of his department, must explain every matter of moment as fully and carefully as does Bismarck to William or Gortschakoff to Alexander. ”

“ The best of our ministers find it the easiest and most compendious mode of conducting the King's affairs; and all ministers have a general interest in adhering to a system, which, of itself, is sufficient to support them in office, without any assistance from personal virtue, popularity, labour, abilities, or experience. ”

“ As to the Minister, he should be a man of affairs, clever and shifty, pure-minded, devoted to the Prince, and skilful in reading the hearts of men. He should be a courtier in the best sense of the term, knowing when to speak and what to speak, and when to hold his tongue. ”

“ The principal business of a foreign minister is, to get into the secrets, and to know all ‘les allures’ of the courts at which he resides; this he can never bring about but by such a pleasing address, such engaging manners, and such an insinuating behavior, as may make him sought for, and in some measure domestic, in the best company and the best families of the place. ”

“ The Prime Minister stands between the Crown and the cabinet; for although the King may, and sometimes does, communicate with a minister about the affairs relating to his own department, it is the Premier who acts as the connecting link with the cabinet as a whole, and communicates to him their collective opinion. ”

“ Suppose that a number of individuals having no appointment, credentials, or authority, should come from any foreign country to the capital of our nation, and pretend to be ministers of the government from whence they came, what attention would be paid to them by our Government? ”

“ Practically, however, the word minister has in modern states come to be applied to the heads of the great administrative departments who as such are members of the government. On the continent there are, besides, “ministers without portfolio,” i.e. ministers who, without being in charge of any special department, are members of the government. ”

“ A Minister who inspires great actions must be a great Minister; and Lord Chatham will always appear so,—by comparison with his predecessors and successors. He retrieved our affairs when ruined by a most incapable Administration ”

“ In general it is distinctive of constitutional states that any public act of the sovereign must bear the countersignature of the minister responsible for the department concerned. (See the articles Ministry and Cabinet. For the history and meanings of the word “minister” in diplomacy, see Diplomacy.) ”

“ He presides over national festivals; envoys and ambassadors of foreign powers are accredited to him. Every act of the President of the Republic must be countersigned by a Minister. ARTICLE 4. As vacancies occur on and after the promulgation of the present law, the President of the Republic appoints, in the Council of Ministers, the Councilors of State in ordinary service. The Councilors of State thus chosen may be dismissed only by decree rendered in the Council of Ministers. ”

“ Upon the formation of a new ministry with Grenville as prime minister, and Fox as foreign secretary, the Common Council presented an address to the king, offering their sincere thanks and congratulations "on the formation of an administration, combining men of the highest consideration and talents"—the administration was known as "the ministry of all the talents" ”

“ A Minister and a Vice Minister shall be assigned to the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs, and the Minister shall be appointed in political service and the Vice Minister shall be appointed as a state public official in extraordinary civil service who belongs to the Senior Civil Service. ”

“ Or again, if one reads his correspondence with the old and settled governments of Europe, one will be startled to see how he has outclassed his adversaries. No Foreign Minister ever inherited a more difficult post and, everything considered, no Foreign Minister ever stuck to his post with more dignity and honor. ”

“ The exercise of this prerogative of acknowledging new nations, or ministers, is, therefore, under such circumstances, an executive function of great delicacy, which requires the utmost caution and deliberation. If the executive receives an ambassador, or other minister, as the representative of a new nation, or of a party in a civil war in an old nation, it is an acknowledgment of the sovereign authority de facto of such new nation, or party. ”

“ The World dealeth with Ministers of State as they do with ill Fidlers, ready to kick them down Stairs for playing ill, though few of the Fault-finders understand their Musick enough to be good Judges.
A Minister who undertaketh to make his Master very great, if he faileth, is ruin’d for his folly; if he succeedeth, he is feared for his Skill. ”

“ Matters relating to the establishment, operation and competences of the National Foreign Policy Council, with the participation of delegates of parties in Parliament and of persons possessing specialised knowledge or experience, shall be specified by law. Article 83 Each Minister shall exercise the powers defined by law. Ministers without portfolio shall exercise the powers vested in them by decision of the Prime Minister. Undersecretaries shall exercise the powers vested in them by joint decision of the Prime Minister and the competent Minister. ”

“ The conduct of a Minister who proposes to himself a great and noble object, and who pursues it steadily, may seem for a while a riddle to the world; especially in a Government like ours, where numbers of men, different in their characters and different in their interests, are at all times to be managed ”

“ In the United States, where the whole people is the fountain of power, the ministers are the servants of the President, appointed and dismissed by him. In England, while they are still in theory her Majesty's ministers, and the Prime Minister is nominally selected by the sovereign, by a remarkable transformation they have become the servants of the legislature—that is, of the people. ”

“ XXVI. The members of the Legislative Council shall not be held responsible outside the Council for their discussions and decisions within the Council. CHAPTER IV. THE STATE COUNCIL. XXVII. The State Council shall take charge of all administrative affairs by order of the Chief Executive. XXVIII. The State Council shall consist of the Departments of Civil Affairs, Foreign Affairs, Defense, Finance, Industry, Communications, justice and Education. XXIX. The State Council shall have a Prime Minister and each of the Departments a Minister. ”

“ The Minister has command of the opinions and views of all officers of the department he administers on matters of public policy. Good stewardship demands from Ministers of the Crown frank, fair, full statements of all opinions of trusted experienced officials to colleagues when they have direct reference to matters of high policy. ”

“ You have now brought the merits of your administration to an issue, on which every Englishman, of the narrowest capacity, may determine for himself. It is not an alarm to the passions, but a calm appeal to the judgment of the people, upon their own most essential interests. A more experienced minister would not have hazarded a direct invasion of the first principles of the constitution, before he had made some progress in subduing the spirit of the people. ”

“ By the word "minister" we may understand not only a servant of the crown, but a man of influence among the Commons, who regard themselves as having a share of the sovereignty over us. The minister of the house may, in a point respecting the colonies, be so strong, that the minister of the crown in the house, if he is a distinct person, may not chuse, even where his sentiments are favourable to us, to come to a pitched battle upon our account. ”

“ Each member of the Executive Cabinet shall serve as the head of a department or agency of the World Administration or Integrative Complex, and in this capacity shall be designated as Minister of the particular department or agency. ”

“ It is the President's wish that the characteristics of an American minister should be marked on the one hand by a firmness against improper compliances, and on the other by sincerity, candor, truth and prudence, and by a horror of finesse and chicane. ”

“ On the Continent, where Ministers of State are not liable so to be called to account for their conduct, the Ministers are tempted to leave the details of their business much more to their Under-Secretaries and to their chief clerks. ”

“ Very shining ministers, like the sun, are apt to scorch when they shine the brightest: in our constitution, I prefer the milder light of a less glaring minister. His successor is not yet, at least publicly, ‘designatus’. You will easily suppose that many are very willing, and very few able, to fill that post. Various persons are talked of, by different people, for it, according as their interest prompts them to wish, or their ignorance to conjecture. ”

“ Anyone who has ever been a Minister and at the head of a Ministry, and has been obliged to take resolutions upon his own responsibility, ceases at last to fear this responsibility, but he does shrink from the necessity of convincing seven people that that which he wishes is really right. ”