He also appoints the committees
of the House of Representatives, and as the initiatory work in our
legislation is now so largely done by the committees, this makes him
the most powerful officer of the government except the President.
[Sidenote: Impeachment in England]
The provisions for impeachment of public officers are copied from the
custom in England. Since the fourteenth century the House of Commons
has occasionally exercised the power of impeaching the king's
ministers and other high public officers, and although the power was
not used during the sixteenth century it was afterward revived and
conclusively established. In 1701 it was enacted that the royal pardon
could not be pleaded against an impeachment, and this act finally secured
the responsibility of the king's ministers to Parliament. An impeachment
is a kind of accusation or indictment brought against a public officer
by the House of Commons. The court in which the case is tried is the House
of Lords, and the ordinary rules of judicial procedure are followed.
The regular president of the House of Lords is the Lord Chancellor, who
is the highest judicial officer in the kingdom.
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