The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1910-07-31
QUEEN TOOK COMMUNION
WITH PRESBYTERIArJS

wv IL IL
by LA NAnaUIsE DE ToNTENoY.
"a N BMBERsH1p of the Church OF
MI England is not incompatible
lVx With WITH That Of the Presbyterian
Us nothing, should imagine. there's
fore, which prevents members Of the
Ip,r r Episcopal Church in the
united states belonging to the Pres
lea. This question was gone into very
thoroughly ut tho time when. after
.l6,sscoinii1g a widow. the late Queen
yic1oria first made inquiries of the
Of Scotland. whether there was any
obstacle to her admission to the Holy
communion IN the Craithle Presbyte-
1iain ). Parish Church. when she, was
tlgation 1t was decided that the Queen
could receive the communion. not only
by reason Of the privilege which is
commonly &c extended in Presbyterian
sn nnnar on the occasion Of the Lords
Dut also as q member of the Presby-
terlan Church. seeing that there was
nothing to prevent her from belong
me TO the ,. latter. while at the same
course. she was the supreme chief.
How greatly Queen Victoria valued
t ttl privilege may be seen by the fact
death. twenty seven years afterwards
her name was by .her express wieh
carried on the communion roll of the
parish church of Craithle and by the
TACT mat she was a regular attendant
whenever the communion was admin
istered at Craithie during her sojourn
at Balmoral
King Edward. though attendine
Gralthie Church regularly during his
stay at Balmoral, never took part in
/ the communion t,,,,
Tor the reason that communion was
never held during the period of his
stay; The communion at Craithie is
administered at the end of October.
variably left for the South.
King George and Queen Mary. who
have announced their intention of
spending very much more of their
time at Balmoral. being both of them
very fond of Highland life and of the
Scottish climate, which agrees with
them. have. already intimated their.
Intention OF following Queen victo-
ra's example and of having their
names Inscribed on the communion
and IL call attention to the fact It
is partly by reason of the criticisms
which are certain 70 appear In the In
tolerant London Church OF England
also because OF the questions which
have arisen in connection with the
| projected Modification OF the royal
declaration oath. which are engaging
ment.
! For the amendment, while doing
away with the offensive words re-
garding Roman Catholicism and with
| the Virgin Mary and of the celebra-
ton of the. mass as idolatrous. binds
! the King down to membership of no
other church or denomination. than
Church. as by law established in Eng
land" That is to say II the bill be-
| comes law, which is doubtful. the
King viii be prevented from following
the example of his grandmother. Queen
Victoria. in having his name appear
on the communion roll OF the parish
church of Gre. THE as q member OF the
Presbyterian Church of Scotland
It is interesting in connection Will
this bill to recall that the Prime Min.
lister is not a member OF the Church
of England but Congregationalist
Augustine BIrrell, the Chief SecreteT'
for ireland. is a Baptist: Mr. Runci.
man, the President of the Board OF
Education. is Methodist, while Mr.
Samuels. the President of the Loca
Government Board in the Cabinet. il
al Jew.
To those who have been astonishec
ait the fuss made in England abou
| Rf..@ undermining, in q less bigoted anc
imure tolerant form. the so-cailed dec
Ilaration act 1t may be explained tina
even the very commas of the Litur"'
of the Church OF England cannot b.
schanged without an act of Parliament
4 Thus. The entire prayer book IF thu
H Church of England is an act of Parla
ment. and is known in parliamentar,
phraseology as the Annexed Book o
the act Of 1862" Now 1t seems tina
I some doubt has arisen as To The pune
| tuation of the Lords PRAYER. Ioa
Hugh Cecil, who knows more abon
h such matters than any one in 'th
D House of Commons and than any
\ layman out Of Parliament, has. at TIL
head of large and influential follow
ing. approached the government wit
a view to the correction Of the pune
tuatton. but has been informed b.
u Winston Churchill, Secretary OF Stat
for the Home Department, that tn
only way of securing the change whic
the government admits to be desirable
VIII be to petition the crown abou
the matter; thereupon the King viii
issue letters of business to convocatinr
t that is to say. to the Ecclesiastical
Diet; both houses of the latter vii
: thararrnp 10 on