THE 
MONTHLY MAGAZINE. — 
New Series, 
Vou. VII] APRIL, 1829. _ [No. 40. 
THE CORONATION OATH, AND THE CABINET. 
In the tremendous extremity to which the Constitution is reduced, 
the only hope of England is in the fortitude, integrity, and patriotism of 
the King. 
In the House of Commons the question is at an end; and while we 
give due tribute to the manliness that has distinguished the defenders of 
their country, we almost wish that they should not condescend, by their 
attendance on the Committee, to give the sanction of their presence to 
a measure which they have so irresistibly pronounced ruinous to the 
Constitution. 
In the House of Lords the battle is still to be fought, and we have 
no doubt that it will be fought with the vigour and intelligence of 
patriotism. But we have seen too much of human nature in these trying 
times to feel secure in the result. We turn from the broken outworks 
to the citadel; from the fears, the weaknesses, and the tergiversations of 
the many, to the firmness and faith of the one ; from the representatives 
and Peers of England to the King of England. 
The original Coronation Oaths of the early English kings, contained 
general declarations of reverence and adherence to God and the Church. 
The first regular form was in Edward the Second’s coronation; when 
the king, after pledging himself to the observance of the ancient laws and 
customs of the realm, and peculiarly the laws, customs, and liberties 
granted by Edward the Confessor, by a separate clause, swore to 
preserve perfect peace and concord in holy things to the Church of 
God, the Clergy, and the People. We must remark, too, that by those 
laws of Edward the Confessor, no supremacy whatever was given to the 
e. The king was declared to hold the complete supremacy. “Rex, 
quia vicarius summi Regis est, ad hoc est constitutus ut regnum terrenum, 
et populum domini, et super omnia sanctam veneratur Ecclesiam ejus, 
et regat, et ab injuriosis defendat, et maleficos ab ea evellat, et destruat, 
et penitus disperdat. Illos decet vocari reges, qui vigilanter defendunt, 
et regunt Ecclesiam Dei.” (Leges Edwardi, 17 De Regio jure, &c.) 
This oath continued, with scarcely an alteration, down to James II. 
to whose oath there was appended an express demand or petition of 
the bishops (probably from the fears of the nation of the coming in of 
popery) that the king should “ preserve to them, and the church com- 
mitted to their charge, their canonical privileges, and due law and jus- 
tice: and that he should be their protector and defender, as every good 
king ought to be in his kingdom.” 
M.M. New Series,—Vou. VII. No. 40. 2X 
