1. The members of the President’s Cabinet are seven in number, viz.: Five Secretaries, at the head of their respective departments, of State, Treasury, War, Navy, and Interior; and the Postmaster General, and Attorney General. It is through these departments and their various bureaus, officers, agents, and clerks, that the President performs most of the duties of his position, viz.: that of executing, or putting in force, the laws of Congress. He must, therefore, necessarily take them into his counsels, and arrange, by their assistance, the conduct of public affairs. Each one has the affairs of his department so thoroughly systematized that he can tell, with a little examination, the means at his disposal for carrying into effect any special measure; and precise records of the whole state of the public service may, at all times, be found in their offices. 2. They are also selected for their several positions from among those regarded as the most eminent statesmen of the country, and each is supposed to be specially adapted, by his experience, acquirements, and capacity, for his special position, as well as in harmony with the general policy adopted by the President. They are, therefore, properly, and ex officio (by virtue of their office), his advisers. No one else can tell as well as they the condition of public affairs at any particular time, nor, in consequence, give as good advice on any special measure requiring such knowledge. Without their aid the President would have few means of judging what was best, or[237] possible, to be done at any particular crisis. They furnish the material for his decisions, and the instruments to execute them. They are heads of the Executive Departments, and, together with the President, who is the head of them all, bringing them all into harmony, and under the control of a single purpose and will, they are called the administration. They administer, or carry on, the government.
3. In other countries these administrative heads are usually called Ministers, probably because they serve the ruler—servant being the original meaning of the term minister—and are commonly chosen among the members of the legislative bodi............