THE House of Lords proposed several amendments to the Parliament Bill which has now become law, but they were rejected by the majority of the Commons. With the amendments of a purely political character, we take nothing to do. Politics is outwith the scope of this Magazine. There was one amendment, however, proposed by the upper House, relating to the Protestant Succession to the Throne, which we are under every Christian obligation to notice, and which we intend to make some comment upon. This amendment, in view of its bearing on the highest religious interests of the realm, ought to have received exceptional treatment. Instead of this, it was rejected among the rest. Such is one of the melancholy fruits of present-day blindness to the value of Protestant truth and to the evil of Romish error. The substance of the amendment was to the effect that if the House of Lords three times rejected a Bill which raised a serious constitutional issue such as the Protestant Succession to the Throne, the Bill so rejected should not become law till after a General Election had taken place.
Now, this appears to us a most reasonable proposal. The arrangement suggested would provide a full opportunity to the people throughout the country to give their decision on so important and vital a matter. Such an opportunity is decidedly needed, seeing that there are electors of Protestant sentiment in both parties, who would thus be free to pronounce on this great subject, without being trammelled by other considerations. A number of people also would have the opportunity of giving their decision, who do not support either political party, or take an active interest in general politics. Any change, affecting the constitutional and religious foundations of the realm ought to be submitted to the full and unfettered consideration of the people at large, without respect to political partyism. In view of all we know, the decided probability is that the general decision on the matter would be different from what rules in Parliament at the present moment. The Home Secretary, in a recent utterance in which he defended the indifferent attitude of the Government on the Protestant amendment, practically allowed that if an appeal had been made to the country at large, the recent change in the King’s Protestant Declaration would not have been carried—a change, of course, which he thought altogether desirable. He evidently recognised, however, that the country was more Protestant in its views than its political representatives. It is our opinion also that though Protestant conviction has become lamentably weak in Great Britain to-day as compared with former times, there is sufficient still left, if duly called forth, to resist any further changes in the direction of removing our Protestant safeguards from the Throne. Parliament in this respect does not properly reflect the state of mind which obtains in the country in general. The presence of the Irish Roman Catholic party injuriously affects the Protestantism of the House of Commons. Meantime, it holds the balance of power in its hand by giving a majority to whatever great political side it supports, and thus by its allegiance to the present Government, it wields an undue influence over it in the direction of securing concessions to Roman Catholic demands. This is the lamentable position of affairs at present in Parliament, and the serious danger is that, with the help of this new Act, the Roman Catholics may succeed in getting our Protestant safeguards wholly removed. Direct appeal to the country on matters of such prime importance would have operated as a most salutary check to the influence of the Romish party in Parliament. The Government maintains, of course, that the law of the Protestant Succession is so deeply rooted in our national constitution that there is no danger of any change in such a fundamental matter, and that no new parliamentary buttress is necessary. But the signs of the times do not justify such a sanguine view of the situation. Roman Catholics are increasing in number by importation among us, and many, who ought to be zealous Protestants, see little or no difference between the Roman Church and the Protestant. So far as a great proportion of the Church of England is concerned, the difference has actually become very small, for the Ritualists in that professedly Protestant body have adopted almost every erroneous opinion and practice that obtains in the Church of Rome. No one can tell what this condition of things may lead to, and what emergency may arise in the future, fitted to imperil the Protestant Succession to the Throne, and surely, to say the least, it is our high duty and privilege to take every proper step to guard against any such danger taking place. But our rulers seem to believe in the mad policy of running as near the precipice as possible, with what consequences some may live to see with sorrow.
We cannot close this article without noticing that this Parliament Act has also in all probability prepared the way for the smooth passing of a measure giving Home Rule to Ireland. Home Rule there clearly means Rome Rule, and on that ground, it ought to be opposed to the very last by every true Protestant—indeed by every one who has the good of Ireland as a whole at heart. Romanism has been the manifest curse of Ireland. The Green Isle has suffered from every point of view by the prevalence of this evil system, and it would become our legislators to devise means whereby the shackles of slavery would be removed from that oppressed people rather than instruments whereby these chains would be riveted upon them more effectually than ever. The only hope from a human standpoint, is that under this new Act any Bill must go three times to the House of Lords before it can be finally passed. Such procedure will occupy two years, and during this interval, in divine providence, events may so shape themselves as to avert what would be a calamity to the Irish Roman Catholic people themselves as well as a great injustice to the Protestants of that country. The latter we understand are determined to resist Home Rule to the last degree, and this will probably lead to something like civil war in Ireland. In conclusion, let us say that it ought to be a matter of earnest prayer among us as a people that the Most High would, in His rich mercy, avert the dangers to Church and Nation that seem to be looming ahead, and that He would rescue our beloved country from the grasp of the arch-enemy, the prince of darkness, who is doing his utmost to lure us on to our destruction!
The World Missionary Conference.
Notwithstanding the high-sounding, undiscriminating praise that was given to this famous Conference, it would appear that the notes of dissent which were noticeable were the outcome of a state of things highly discreditable to some of the officials responsible for the programme of the Conference. Keen feeling was felt, owing to the decision that Missions to Roman Catholics were not to be included. This was in a measure due to the attitude taken up by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel—a High Church organization. We are glad to learn on the authority of the Quarterly Register of the Alliance of the Reformed Churches that this state of matters is not to be tolerated: “The matter,” says the Quarterly Register, “we have heard, has been raised fairly and squarely, and the leaders have been told, in as many words, that Missions to Roman Catholics must in the future be on their programmes, equally with those to non-Christian communities, else a number of places on the different Committees may be found vacant. We think the knowledge of this may do much to rehabilitate the Conference in the thoughts of many who had been prepared to retire from its Sub-Committees now in process of formation.”