The Accession Oath.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXX, Issue 18, 1 May 1902, Page 4

The Accession Oath.

Despite the distractions caused by the war the Catholics of South Africa have not lost sight of the question of petitioning for an alteration of the terms of the A^cesHion Oath. Rome time ago a meeting of our co-religionists was held in Capetown when resolutions protesting against the terms of the oath were passed. The Catholics of Natal have signed a petition asking for an alteration in the wording of the Royal declaration, Biehop .1 olivet, in asking his flock to sign the petition, said : — We did not at first intend to move in this matter, fearing that our action might give occasion to a counter movement, and perhaps rouse a feeling of religious animosity in some quarters. We wish to be unobstructive — minding our own business, without meddling with other people's affairs. We love our little Colony of Natal. We are happy to live in a free country, as loyal subjects of his Majesty, surrounded by a population honorable and large-minded. But it seems there must be some exception to every rule : all are not generous and largeminded. A certain section of the community have thought fit to make the Royal Declaration a pretext for an unprovoked onslaught on our Holy Church, her doctrines, and ministers. They are trotting out often-refuted charges ; they are misrepresenting our doctrines, distorting facts, forgetting that a half-truth is the most dangerous falsehood. They seem to take their historic il data from books which were written by the bitterest enemies of our Church at a time when Catholics were gagged, and could not defend themselves. The ecclesiastical history of England, as written in those dark dayc, ha<* been truly fityled a conspiracy against truth. But thank God, we live in better times. The real histnry of those days is being wiitten from original documents. The Public Record Offices are daily yielding their long-hushed testimony, and often the false witness is convicted by his own admission, llabcmus conjitcntcm reum ! But the narrow-minded people to whom we allude simply ignore all this. They still believe or affect to believe, in Fox's lying ' Book of Martyrs,' and such vile productions. If you are astonished, my dear brethren, that men profes&ing to be Christians Could Have Deliberately Written such Calumnies, in those dark days, your astonishment will be less when you conBider that the same thing is being done even in our time. I will give only one instance of that diabolical perversity. There is an infamous book printed under the name of Ma via Monh It is from beginning to end a tissue of lies. The firat publication of these atrocious calumnies against the priests and nuns of Montreal appeared in 183."), in a New York paper called the Protestant Vindicator. It was at once condemned by the universal testimony of the Protestant Press of Montreal, and by the affidavits of persons of the highest character in that city: it was eondemmd by the mother of Maria Monk herself, who could not be induced by bribes to perjure hers< If and '-ay th it her d'luc'rti r had been in a nunne ly. Allow me to add to this my own te-'iuio:,y I h.ive known and c ->nver«( j d with the d.mtrl i< j r of Maiii Moi.k : '-lie w;n rtceivid into the Catholic Church iv Puns win n I w.ih theie. Mie ,\asso dihgmteel by the conduct of tl e-n lnlamoi.s ealuu.m.i'or-. who pretended to be religious Protestants, that she eoncuved a profound contempt for their religion, and ultimately bi came a Catholic And what of the book ? The b ok i-» still printed and n -prinkd, and circulated everywhere, e\en amongst the lgnoiunt [Jot is who believe the foul stories and therefrom form their opinion of our Holy Church. I have mentioned thin paiti nlar c;w in < ider to illustrate the manner in which history Ha< v. ntu n l>y such t.inaticH a-i r'ox, such infidels as Hume ; and is still wiitt< n m our day- by some enemies of the Catholic name. No wonder if ninple ptople whose mind is fed on such pabulum, may easily be induced to wgn anything against Catholics. But, thank God ! the gre.it majority of our Protestant Fellow-Colo lifts are Men of Honor, large minded and tolerant men, who can ri«e superior to their early prejudices. May we respectfully ask them to discountenance the spread of such vile lit* rature in our colony. Now. let us come to the Royal Declaration. If intended to insult millions jf hi-, Majesty's subjects, or to travesty the faith of the immense majority of Christians of the Western and Eastern ChuiolKf and to put our King in a ridiculous position before the Christian woild, then indeed" the Declaration is well chos n. It does all this. Not only are Christians insulted, but they are calumniated. The King is made to declare that we adore the Bl*s-ed Virgin and the flints. Adoring means paying divine worship. It it only meant to honor the saints no Christian could blame us for honoring those whom God has so highly honored. The insinuation, then, is that we really adore the saints Now this is a foul calumny . a Catholic who would adore the Bles«cl Virgin or the -amts would cea'-e to he a Catholic, and should be at once c x ;oinii>iinieated. Eury Catholic child knows that God alone is to be ad-md. Let me, then, t.-H these p- ople. who would put such a calunvy on th^ lips ot our King that they disgrace him before the Chri-uan world. We know and prole ss that the most perfect ot creature* is a mere nothing n-* compared with God. from whom is tiemtd every gonel th.it it in Hh sunt-". It is an article of the Catholic creed that the difference between God and the Blessed Virgin is mm ply infinite, although the Blessed Virgin is the most exalted of God's creature. s. 'I he wordt, at the Royal Declaration contain, thercf on . a bh.'-uhciny, an insult, a calumny. and an Outrage HurUd at the Maj >rity of Chilians. The eibject of the. Ri yal Declaration, they say, i-> o.ily to secure the Protestant sucoes-ion to the E i^li^h throne. But this is precisely what the I) cl.iraf.o.i do.s not do. It do.s not n,iy that the King must be <i Piou-<t « ir. tor tint flatter he m.vy be a M ihomeii >n, a Jew, or a > I'ili lei. Wnj should not the King di'.iply declare that

he is a member of the Protestant Church of England as by law estab* liahed ? Such a form of Royal Declaration would secure the Pr(K testant succession, and no Catholic would object to it. We Catholioa are in duty bound to be loyal to our King. We, moreover, wish that no obstacle be interposed between him and us having a tendency to lessen our love and respect for him. Can those who insist on maintaining the present form of Dec'aration sincerely say that they are acting as loyal subjects of his Majesty, while they are turning away from him the affection and respect of millions of his otherwise loyal subjects. For these reasons we advise you, dear brethren, to sign a petition praying for an alteration in the Royal Declaration or Coronation Oath,