The Washington times., 1901-10-18
A Religious Teapot Tempest.

To people who happen to be informed
concerning the relations OF the British
royal family to the Established Church
of England, and, in another way, to the
| Presbyterian Church of Scotland the
recent attack upon King Edward by a
ritualistic organ condemning him Sc
verely for attending services in Pres
hyterian church in Scotland, will ap-
pear amusing The paper in question
The Church Times" declares that 'the
King is a Catholic prince, and as such
ought not to be found worshiping in
the company of Presbyterians and con
forming to a different religion in Scot
| land
1t does not need to be said that Pres
| byterianism is the established religion
| of the Northern Kingdom as much as
| Episcopalianism is of England. Queen
Victoria invariably attended Presbyte-
rian services at Balmoral, holding that
it was her duty to respect the estab-
| lished religion of the country. Not q
little of her extreme popularity north
| of the Tweed was due to this attitude.
/ Years ago when the present King was
/ Prince of Wales and a young man. he
| and his brother, the late Duke of Edin-
! burgh were in Edinburgh, and it was
reported in the London papers that on
| certain Sunday they had attended
/ service in the English Church. The
| Queen at once telegraphed them that
! they must visit only Presbyterian
! churches as Scotland was Presbyterian.
L lyHva a~l fe
! the gracious and sensible example of
/ his excellent mother His bondage to
| the Established Church of England is
| a matter of constitution and law, be-
cause it comes down to him from the
Revolution of 1858, and the Act of Sue
cession which followed. But, for prac-
tical purposes it is considerably fic-
tional, like the denunciation of Catho-
Iicism in the coronation oath, which is
pitiable survival of the prejudice and
rancor of a bygone century. AS mat
ter of cold fact the King is the head
of an Episcopal country in England, of
a Presbyterian country in Scotland, and
of Mohammedan, Buddhist, and Parsee
countries and peoples in India.
His title OF Defender Of the Faith"
does not refer to any of the religions
in this list, but it is his because the
Pope of that day conferred it upon
Henry VIII for writing and publishing
a pamphlet in which his Majesty de-
nounced Luther as "a hog and other
unpleasant things. SO that titularly, he
is the defender of the faith" Of Ire
land which is Catholic, and yet his
troops present arms as token Of re-
spect when the Car of JUggernaut rolls
by. The British ritualists know all this
we'll enough, and it is passing strange
that, inasmuch as they do. they cannot
avoid making themselves ridiculous in
criticising the religious liberation and
courtesy displayed by their sovereign.
For some days there has been no
ticeable scarcity Of even such South Afri-
can news as the censorship has enabled
US to receive. Last evening, however, the
interesting information came that the
Beers had penetrated Cape Colony, and
had appeared at Saldanka Bay. on the
coast northwest of Cape Town. The de-
spatch says that they had secured sup
plies and many recruits, and that General
French was after them. The pursuit is
not quite as important as the fact that
the burghers should be where they were
reported. 1t does not look well for the
sufficiency of Lord Kitchener military
precautions or dispositions.
In the Court of Enquiry yesterday Cap
tain Lemly, prosecutor for Admiral Samp-
son and the Navy Department, objected to
q question to what ships of the Ameri- !
can fleet We're visible when the Santiago
sea battle began. The precept. he said. (
did not contemplate the presence Of any
vessel but the Brooklyn. OF course it did |
not. 1t was carefully drawn, with the /
purpose, if possible, to shut out any evil !
dence of the absence of the New York ,
and Sampson. That purpose. however. |
has been as thoroughly defeated as the |
other one, to show that Admiral Schley |
was a coward The season is advancing /
while the enquiry is in progress, and daily
the weather is getting more and more
frosty for the navy ring conspirators.
If the Republicans are as confident Of
success in Ohio as they claim to be. it
would seem as if they might conduct
their campaign without violating the civil
service law. The sending of newspaper
clippings to Government employees for the
purpose Of directing attention to the need
Of funds for campaign purposes is just
as much a soliciting as if the request
were made in express terms. 1t is more
reprehensible, because it is both an in
fraction Of the law and an attempt to !
conceal the fact that the law is being
PERSONAL.
James J. Belden, ex-Representative in