, 1881-05-01

nOt!llllR tllnlt lllil! p!eCt VI l0te ulaEauV VI
the part Of BradlauEh. for which be has
since sadly repented. :
=. L new election was ordered, and Brad
laugh was candidate. In his addresses tG
the people Of his district he declared tha1
there was nothing in the oath, expressed or
implied. to which he could not subscribe,
and expressed his Willingness it reelected to
take the uath
/ When he appeared in the House after his
election lie otfared to take this oath, but, Or
| jectlons beng made because Of his previous
deniats Of all religious obligations, and rs to
the mental binding obligation of any form Of
oath recognizing Deity, the Speaker required
him to withdraw. The Radical friends OF
| Bradlansh tEeleupon differed d bill provid-
ing u form of official oath or affirmation to
meet all objections Of q like character In like
eases, and asked that it be considered at
once. To this the leader Of the Conservative
| party, backed by portion Of the Liberal
| party, objected, giving notice that they would
opiose the passage Of such n bill by all par
liallentury proceedings. Mr.. Gladstone said
he was willing that such bill should bo
| acted upon, but he could not coQsent to have
| the consideration of the Irish Land bill de-
layeti by Parliamentary struggle over this
bill prescribing a modified oath. The Gov
ernlncnt could not cullsent to let the public
| business be delayed by this new bill, tn
which there was 50 much opposition and the
! passage OF which was SO strenuUusly rt-
sisted. The result therefore is, tllut for the
present B:aulaugh is out. lie first refused
to tnke the oath. and consequently was OK
clnded; tbs House would not respect his
colseien.iuus scrup!es; then. when he ca..e
back, all willing and anxious to take the oath,
the House Insisted upon 4 rigid respect for
those same scruplcs, aud have excluded him
this title for fear lle might do violence tn Il
conscience tp which the uouse has hitherto
refused to pay the least respect.
This action is simgulnrly Inconsistent, as
nlI legal action founded OH claim to control
religious convictions always are. Bradlangh
is denied tile right to represent his cotstitu--
ents bec,usc OF religious opinions in n0wisc
preventing him taking, the oath Of oce; the
people Of his district are denied the repre-
sthtatioa to which By law they are entitled.
His want OF conscience is punished precisely
aS Is his claim 0f conscience. This pruceeu-
ing is nolninaily In the interest of religion.
but out Of every such contest this mode of pro-
1eeting religion cu'nes considerably worsleh.
The present refusal Ut the House to admit
hin, tu take the oath will secure Bradlaugl
prominence which otherwise he could not
retain.
The proceeding can only be justified by
assuming that tue oath is a test oath, and us
such cannot be waived or modified; and the
age has moved away troln aud beyond the
doctrinc Of test ou.hs. When the American
Union was furmed it was distinctly written
in the Constitution that 10 "religiuus test
shall ever be required us a qualification to
any office or public trust under the United
States" At that time Il religious test as q
qualification to utfiee WIS provided in the
CONSTITUTIONS Of nearly all the States. The
wise example Of the National Constitution
had the effect in time Of leading to the aboli-
tion Of ull these religious tests, n1,d there
is not now In any Of the States |
any test Of that kind tolerated. 1t has never /
been supposed that this relaxation Ut once |
universal rule has ever weakened the cause !
Of religion Or encouraged inidelity. Nor |
can it be said to have weakened the ob1lga- !
ton of the official oath Of office which all |
men take in this country. Even in the case
of those who because of their participation
in the Rebellion are unable to take the legal
oath of office the good sense and tolerant
sentiment uf the country has provided spe-
cal oath so modified that it can be taken.
At the present time nearly une-half of the
Senators and Representatives In Congress
have to take special oath adapted to their
and provided for them be-
cause they cannot take the ordinary oath
prescribed BY law.
ntrfunc!ory swearing, like perfunct0ry
praying. has really lost much OF whatever
moral force it once had. It is literally all
official proceeding, allu nothing more. Men
in Office, charged With public trusts. do not
seem to be greatly controlled by the fact OF
having filed all oficial oath. No defaulter
was ever deferred from taking public money
~ the fact that lie had IL swear to tho accu-
:acy Of his accounts. Official oaths shuuld
lot be discarded, their violation should be
'igidly punished; but their eXaction Us q re-
i9ious test should be aba1,doued.