New-York tribune., 1901-03-10
CHURCH AND STATE IN BRITAIf.

The question of church and state is brought to
the fore in Great Britain as it has not been since
the days of the Stuarts. 1t is aroused by the
prospect of the Kings coronation ana OF the COLI
stitutional oath of office which he VIII 'heh
take. In that OATH which Will De the same us
that which his mother and her Hanoverlan
predecessors took he will not only declare his
loyal adherence to the Protestant faith, but ne
will also specifically abjure and renounce the
Roman Catholic faith and its distinctive doc
trines This it is said will be offensive to his
many Roman Catholic subjects, especially to
those in Ireland; wherefore an effort is to be
made to modify the terms of the oath by Par
liamentary enactment. The effort is In all
probability foredoomed to failure. though it will
command the support of some outside OF the
Roman Catholic ranks. For not merely Il mat
ter of yerbiage is involved, nor of courtesy to
the followers of this that religious faith but,
as we have said, the whole question Of church
and state and. indeed, one Of the most funda-
mental principles of the British Constitution,
are at issue
If the revolution of 1858 meant anything, it
meant that thenceforth the British sovereign
must be unquestionably Protestant; just as
certainly as the sovereigns of Spain and Aus
tria must be Roman Catholics the sovereign of
Russia member of the Orthodox Greek
Church, and the sovereign of Turkey a Ma
hometan. That is a part OF the British Con-
stitution, just as the requirement that the Pres
ident shall be natural born citizen thirty-hve
years old is a part OF the Constitution OF the
United States 1t may be that some regard the
latter as offensive to and an odious discrimina-
ton against our foreign born citizens, who are
probably two or three times as numerous as the
Roman Catholics in the United Kingdom; new
ic pIy IN no stricken
the Constitution Moreover since 1884 the
English sovereign has been not only civil but
an ecclesiastical functionary, as much the head
of the church as head of the state, and bound
rs much to maintain the Protestant faith as to
maintain the integrity and independence of the
kingdom These circumstances show how vital
and fundamental are the issues involved. and
how material II revolution would he signifed
by a modification of the terms of the SOW
creign's coronation oath.
II NAV. of course be said that the proposed
changes would modify the form rather than
the purport OF the oath. The sovereign would
still be a Protestant, sworn TO uphold that
faith, but would refrain from abjuring and de-
nouncing as idolatrous the Roman Catholic
faith. That, however, would seem TO keep the
word of promise 10 the ear and break 1t To the
hope So long as the sovereign is sworn 10 he
4 Protestant, he must he antl-KOflan latnOlc
He NAV be most tolerant of all creeds Vie
toria was: but he must be Defender of the
Faith" and the Faith means Professionalism.
To ask anything else Is To ask radical chang
ing OF his sovereign functions and of the COLI
stitution of the realm 1t may be urged. Of
course. that that should be done, that church
and state should he discovered, and all re-
lgiOus discriminate tions and tests and Qualitica
tionS should be abolished. To that the reply
IS that that is the business of the British
people When they want such change they
will make II. But we can no indication
that they want II now. Nor do they seem To be
ready for even an ameloration of the verbal
terms of the oath Since the great betrayal of
their national faith which was undertaken by
the Stuarts they have been not unnaturally
sensitive and suspicious on such points, and
would regard the proposed modification rs n
dangerous recession from sound principles. We
have only To recall the violent opposition that
was made 10y Roman Catholics few years ago
in Austria and Hungary, and in Spain. against
the granting of civil rights to ProtestantS 10
realize how strong on both sides religious an
tagoniSms still remain. And deplOre them as
we may we can scarcely expect 10 see them
abolished in this generation. Even In the
United States there are organized demands on
the one side that shall put God into the
Constitution" and on the other that the exist
ing reference 10 Him shall be eliminated. But
We do not think either will soon he granted.