The Irish standard., 1899-03-11
THE ENGLISH CORONATION OATH.

THE ENGLISH CORONATION OATH.
Ever since the days OF Queen Anne
every British monarch takes a corona
ton oath containing certain words thai
are directed against Catholic doctrines
and which are required to be solemnly
repeated by every British king or queer
OF, ascending the throne. The oath wa:
first taken by Anne i'll 1902 and it was
last taken by Victoria in 1887. The words
were intended to be insulting to Catho-
lies, and though they may be tlippantly
uttered by the next occupant OF the
throne, it is about time, after the lapse
OF about 200 years, to eliminate them
from the statute books. The following
are the words referred to, and they are
decidedly Objectionable to millions Of
loyal British subjects in all parts OF tina,
empire OH which the sun never sets:
l, A. T., by the grace Of God, King Cor
Queen) OF Great Britain and Ireland, De.
fender of the Faith. do solemnly and sin
cerey, in the presence of God, profess, tes-
tify, and declare, that l do believe that in
is not any MISREPRESENTATION of the ele-
ments of bread and wine into the body and
blood of Christ at or after the consecra-
ton thereof by any person whatsoever;
and that the invocation or alteration OF
the Virgin Mary or any other saint and
the sacrifice of the mass. as they are now
used in the Church of Rome, are SUPER
stitious and idolutrous. And do solemnly,
in the presence of God, profess, testify and
declare. that l do make this declaration
and every part thereof, In the plain and
ordinary sense of the words read unto me,
as they are commonly understood by
English Protestants, without any evasion,
equivocation, or mental reservation what
soever, and without any dispensation al
ready granted me for this purpose by the
Pope or any other authority or person
whatsoever, or without any hope Of any
such dispensation from any person or
authority whatsoever, or without thinking
that l am or can be acquitted before God
or man, or absolved of this declaration or
any part thereof, although the Pope, or
any other person or persons, or power
whatsoever. should dispense with or annul
the same or declare that 1t was null and
void from the beginning.
Not only was the sovereign obliged to
make this declaration, but all members
of the British parliament and all officials
of the British government were COM
PEELED to take the obnoxious oath until
it was abolished through the instrument
tality OF Daniel O'Conncll on the passage
of the Catholic Emancipation Act OF 1929.
The only pcrsonages who were to make
the odious declaration were the sover-
eign, the chancellors OF the universities,
the viccroy Of Ireland, and the lord chan
celiors OF England and Ireland In 1866
bill passed both houses of parliment re-
leasing all these functionaries, except the
sovereign, from taking the oath, and for
the first time since the Reformation a
Catholic was appointed lord chancellor OF
ireland. But the declaration must still
be made by the successors Of Queen Vic
toria unless the law is changed.
In this connection it may be interest
ing to relate the obstructive tactics en-
ployed by Sir Robert Peel to prevent
OConnell from taking his seat when
elected to parliament by the forty shilling
frecholders OF Clare, who were disfran-
chised by the so-called Emancipation act.
We quote the following passage from
John Mitchell:
1.-The Emancipation Act was now passed,
and was the law of the land. OConnell
thereupon held himself entitled to go in
and take his seat, subject only to the new
oaths. For this purpose, he repaired to the
house. on the 18th of May, was introduced
In the usual form by Lords Burlington and
Duncannon, and walked to the table to
be sworn by the clerk. But Sir Robert
Peel had prudently provided against this
In the new law, which admitted only those
who should after the commencement of
that act be returned as members of the
House of Commons to take their seats
under the new oaths. 1t was mean piece
of spite; and it's special object was to give
Sir Robert an opportunity of snubbing
O'Connell one last time, before yielding
finally to his imperious demand. Accord
ingly the clerk of the house rendered to
the new member the now abrogated oaths,
one being the oath of supremacy (namely,
that the King of England is head of the
church,, and the other that the Sacrifice
of the Mass is impious and idolatrous,' and
so forth. He refused to take these oaths
he was then heard at the bar of the
house. where he claimed his right to sit
and vote: his claim was disallowed by a
vote; the old oaths were once more
rendered to him; he read over the stupid
trash in an audible voice, then said, raising
his head, that he declined to take that
oath. because 'one part Of 1t he knew to be
false, and another he did not believe to
be true A new writ was then issued to
hold an election for the County Clare"
That was seventy years ago-two gen.
crations since-when O'Connell refused
to take the obnoxious oath which SLAM
dered the church of which he was the
great champion, and none OF his core
ligionists in the British islands have been