Page:Brinkley - China - Volume 2.djvu/75

Council (kiunki-chu), which consists generally of four "great Ministers" headed by a prince of the blood. There is no fixed rule as to the source whence members of this Council are taken; any high dignitary may be appointed, though an even balance between Chinese and Manchus is usually preserved. The sovereign is supposed to make the selection at his pleasure. The Privy Council assembles in the Palace every morning between five and six o'clock, and the Councillors, seated upon mats and low cushions, receive the Em-peror's commands and transcribe them for transmission to the executive. Every important deliberation, whether judicial, legislative, or administrative, is attended by this Council; it forms a committee of ways and means in time of war, and from lists kept in its possession the names of officials worthy of promotion or special appoint- ment are submitted to the Throne. It is not to be understood that the Council sits only once daily in the Emperor's presence: audiences are granted whenever necessary. Three bureaux are organised in the Privy Council: one is a historio-graphical office for compiling records of important events; the second performs duties of translation, and the third has to observe whether the edicts of the Throne are carried into effect.

Nothing that happens throughout the realm, nothing that concerns it, is supposed to be beyond the ken of these two bodies, the Cabinet and the Privy Council. With what degree of efficiency