Page:Free Opinions, Freely Expressed on Certain Phases of Modern Social Life and Conduct.djvu/70

 proved over and over again throughout history. Its leaders have not shown themselves as gentle pagans by any means, either now or in the past;—and intolerance in any form, from any sect, is no part of the Constitution of a free country.

Hence the real cause of the objection which has been entertained by millions of persons in the Empire to the suggested alteration of the King's Coronation oath. The British King is a Constitutional monarch,—and the words "Defender of the Faith" imply that he is equally Defender of the Constitution. He agrees, when he is crowned King of England, to uphold that Constitution,—he therefore tacitly rejects all that might tend to undermine it,—all secret methods of tampering with political, governmental or financial matters relating to the State. The wording of the Coronation Oath is, and must be distinctly offensive to thousands of excellent persons who are Roman Catholics,—nevertheless, in the times when it was so worded, the offending terms were made necessary by the conduct of the Roman Catholics themselves. Those times, we are assured, are past. We have made progress in education,—we are now broad-minded enough to be fair to foes, as well as to friends. We should, therefore, in common courtesy to a rival Church, consent to have this irritating formula altered. Perhaps we should,—but is it too much to ask our Roman Catholic brethren that they also should, if they wish for tolerance, exhibit it on their own side? When Queen Victoria died, was it not quite as offensive on the part of Pope Leo to publicly state that he "could not be represented at the funeral of a Protestant Queen"—as it may