GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND. 



293 



the sacrifice of the mass as used in the Church 

 of Rome, solemnly avowing that this declaration 

 is made without equivocation or mental reserva- 

 tion, and without dispensation from the Pope. 

 Various absurdities in ancient laws never repealed 

 came to light in connection with the demise of 

 the Crown. Under the law of Queen Anne, offi- 

 cials w r ere retained for six months only, and 

 ministers were required to seek re-election to Par- 

 liament. All come under the operation of the 

 common law of master and servant, by which the 

 contract of sendee is terminated by the demise 

 of the master so effectually that officials ap- 

 pointed directly by the Crown, such as ambassa- 

 dors, can not legally claim pay for the time that 

 they have already served. Mr. Labouchere called 

 attention to the anomaly in the House of Com- 

 mons by saying that he spied strangers within the 

 bar, designating the First Lord of the Treasury. 

 Mr. Lowther, who temporarily occupied the chair, 

 thought it was a point for courts of law to decide. 

 The common law of master and servant does not 

 apply to civil servants, because they receive their 

 appointments from the ministry, nor to officers of 

 the navy, because their commissions are not made 

 out by the Crown; but it does to officers of the 

 army, and it applies without any qualification in 

 the British protectorates, where continuity of ad- 

 ministration is peculiarly important. In practice 

 the law has been disregarded. To bring the law 

 into harmony with custom the Attorney-General 

 drew up a bill providing that the holding of office 

 under the Crown, whether within or without Brit- 

 ish dominions, shall not be affected, nor shall any 

 reappointment be necessary by the demise of the 

 Crown. The law was made to take effect from 

 the last demise of the Crown. The ministers 

 wished to bring in no debatable matter, and 

 therefore left untouched the anomalies and un- 

 certainties of the law as regards the vacation of 

 seats in the House of Commons on appointment 

 to offices under the Crown. On appointment to 

 certain offices members must give up their seats 

 in ordinary times, but they can go from one office 

 to another and still hold them. Some members of 

 Parliament defended the right of constituencies 

 to express their opinion upon the acceptance of 

 office by their representatives. The declaration 

 against Roman Catholicism, originally framed 

 under the influence of the Guy Fawkes scare, 

 which the King would have to repeat in his cor- 

 onation oath, was a more serious matter. It was 

 regarded by Roman Catholics as offensive. Lord 

 Herries moved in the House of Lords that a com- 

 mittee be appointed to consider and report upon 

 the royal declaration. The Prime Minister, de- 

 ploring the indecent violence of language in which 

 the oath was formulated, consented to a joint 

 committee of both houses, with the proviso that 

 no modification of the oath should be considered 

 that would diminish its efficacy as a security for 

 the maintenance of the Protestant succession. 

 Lord Portsmouth wished the denunciation of the 

 doctrine of transubstantiation to be retained be- 

 cause it had invaded the Church of England. The 

 question was widely discussed in the press and 

 in meetings, and gave rise to much feeling. The 

 committee reported in favor of expunging the 

 words which describe the mass as superstitious 

 and idolatrous. Roman Catholics objected to the 

 reference to the adoration of the Virgin, because 

 they do not adore the Virgin. Low Churchmen 

 and Dissenters generally resisted any alteration 

 in the declaration. Lord Grey and many other 

 Protestant politicians were willing to abolish it 

 altogether, as even in its modified form it was 

 a gratuitous insult to 12,000,000 loyal British sub- 



jects. The Archbishop of Canterbury complained 

 that there were no bishops on the conuniUoe, and 

 wanted the report sent back to Liu; 'unmiittee 

 with some bishops added to it. 'I !,. pi-opixed 

 new form in which the Roman Cal-holse doctrines 

 mentioned are declared to be contrary to i he 

 Protestant religion was ridiculed by H;m <.i'v 

 because the Pope himself might subscribe to su< ' 

 a truism. The law excludes Roman Catholic 

 from the throne, and the real guarantee for the 

 Protestant succession was held to be the deter- 

 mination of the people of the country not to per- 

 mit the ascendency of a foreign organization ; 

 still an oath was considered necessary by most 

 Englishmen as a test by which the title of any 

 given candidate for the succession must be estab- 

 lished or invalidated. The form finally embodied 

 in the bill that was presented in the House of 

 Lords by the Government left out the reference to 

 Mariolatry to which Roman Catholic peers ob- 

 jected, and added the words " in which I believe " 

 after the words " are contrary to the Protestant 

 religion." The Catholics still were not contented, 

 while among the Protestants of the stricter sects 

 an agitation was kindled that was ominous for 

 the fate of the bill in the House of Commons; 

 therefore the Government dropped it after it had 

 passed the Lords. A royal titles act, introduced 

 after consultation with the Governments of the 

 colonies, gave authority to the King to alter the 

 royal style and titles as might seem fit with a 

 view to the recognition of the British dominions 

 beyond the seas. The form proposed to be as- 

 sumed by the new sovereign is Edward VII, by 

 the Grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great 

 Britain and Ireland and of all the British Do- 

 minions beyond the Seas King, Defender of the 

 Faith, Emperor of India. Whether the title De- 

 fender of the Faith shall be retained was a ques- 

 tion to be considered. It was conferred by Pope 

 Leo X on Henry VIII, who w r rote a book to re- 

 fute Luther, and when the same monarch was 

 subsequently excommunicated and declared infa- 

 mous by Paul III this title was not expressly re- 

 voked. It was adopted by Elizabeth, and has 

 been borne by all the Protestant British mon- 

 archs. 



In the speech from the throne the Government 

 measures promised w r ere one for increasing the effi- 

 ciency of the military forces, one changing the 

 constitution of the Court of Final Appeal in con- 

 sequence of the increased resort to it, resulting 

 from the expansion of the empire during the last 

 two generations, one amending the law of educa- 

 tion; and if time allowed, legislation for regulat- 

 ing the voluntary sale by landlords to occupying 

 tenants in Ireland, for amending and consolidat- 

 ing the factory and workshops acts, for improving 

 the administration of the law respecting lunatics, 

 for amending the public health acts respecting 

 lunatics, for amending the public health acts in 

 regard to water-supply, for the prevention of 

 drunkenness in licensed houses or public places, 

 and for amending the law of literary copyright. 

 The war in South Africa was said to be not en- 

 tirely terminated, but measures had been taken 

 to enable the troops to deal effectually with the 

 forces by which they were still opposed; the fruit- 

 less guerrilla warfare of the Boer partizans en- 

 tailed a regrettable loss of life and expenditure of 

 treasure, and until they submitted it would be 

 impossible to establish in those colonies institu- 

 tions which will secure equal rights to all the 

 white inhabitants and protection and justice to 

 the native population. Credit was given to the 

 Indian troops and the British naval forces for 

 having largely contributed to the release of the 



