Morning journal and courier., 1880-07-16
The Use of Oaths.

Forms In Use i'm Various Countries as n
 Pledge of Loyalty for Legislative BOd-
 fes.
 Apropos of the Bradlaugh affair, the Lon don Standard publishes the following summa- ry of the declarations of allegiance made by members of the Legislature of the countries mentioned: ''In France since the abolition of the Empire on the 4th of September, 1870, uo oath or affirmation has been adm inistered in any form to members of the Legislature of the Republic. Nor is there any formalty which might be regarded as an equivalent. Under the Empire new members made dec laration to the following effect T swear f. delity to the Emperor and the Constitution. , But the name of the Deity was not included
 saThe members of the German Parliament take no oath, nor do they make any af6rma- tion whatsoever. The members of the Prus- sian and most other State Parhaments, take an oath of loyalty beginning with the words |:
 q swear by God the Omnipotent and Omnis- cient, and concluding with the words, So may God help me- To this latter formula those who wish it may add, 'thro ugh Jesus Christ, to eternal bliss, Amen Any one re- fusing to take the oath, or commenting upon it, would undoubtedly be excluded from the Prussian and other State Parliaments. In conformity, however, with the laws regulate ing the administration of oaths in civil and criminal courts, an exception would be
 
 ognized theistic religious communities, who, like certain Mennonite and Jewish sects, re- gard the name of the Diety as to awful to be invoked in the transaction of secular business. In these cases a simple affirmation would be regarded as equivalent to an oath. The omission of any oath in the German Parh ment is oceasioned by the wish to avoid the delicate question as to the amount of loyalty due to the Emperor, in contradistlnctlon to State government
 'sBy the law passed on the 18th of May, 1868, Parliamentary oaths were abolished in Austria, and 8 simple affirmation was subst1- tuted. The first paragraph of the standing orders of the Austrian Reichsrath reads as follows: New members, on entering either of the two houses have, on the Presidents s challenge, in place of taking an oath, to promise loyalty and obedience to the Elm peror inviolable observance of the Constitu- tion, as well as of all other laws, and con- scientious fulfllment of their duties Upon the President reading words to this effect the new member replies, I promise.'
 Articles 37 and 38 of the Rules of the Spanish Congress say that Deputies, before they can take their seats, shall make the fol lowing oath, which is read aloud by the Sec retary of the Congress, ,=all present standing :: Do you swear to observe, and make others observe, the Constitution of the Span | ish Monarchy? Do you swear fidelity and | obedience to the legitimate King of Spain, l Alfonso XII. Do you swear well and truly l to behave in the mission confded to you by l the nation, always and in everything seeking | the welfare of the nation?' The Deputies
 then two at a time approach the table of the l President, and, kneeling on his right hand, he remaining sitting, they place their hands or 1 the Gospels lying open before them, and say l Yes, do swear ; and the President ther | answers, If you do so, may God reward you l and, if not, may he call you to account This 1 formula was re-established in 1876 in the Con l stitution voted by the First Cortes under the Restoration It is copied from the Constitu | tion in force during the reign of Queen Isa bella. At the time of the Spanish Revolution l from 1868 to 1874, no oaths were required il 1 the Cortes, and when the First Cortes of the ! Restoration met, in February, 1876, Senol | Castelar protested against the oath, and a first refused to take it, but finally submitted 1 In the Second Cortes of the Restoration, il 1 1879, the Democratic and Radical minority l of 15 Deputies, under Castelar, and Martos again protested against the oath of allegiance | and took it after publicly stating their menta | reservations, but no instance exists on tht l records of the House that Deputy declined 1 to take the oath on the ground of atheisti
 convictions. For such cases no rule has eve
 existed in the Spanish Cortes
 ''The President of the Italian Chamber O.
 Deputies, seeing new Deputy in his place
 says I ivite the honorable gentleman t.
 take the oath in the form following :-'t
 swear to be faithful to the King, and to ob
 serve loyally the fundamental statute and tn
 other laws of the State, with single view t. the inseparable welfare of the King and tn
 country."' The new Deputy then, in hi place, stretches out his right hand and pro | nounces the one word sGiuro' (sT swear ,0