IN two previous articles I endeavoured to outline the origin and progress of the Reformed Faith in Germany and Europe. I feel it is equally incumbent on us to take notice of and expose the insidious attacks being made at the present day on our liberties as Protestants and citizens of the British Commonwealth of Nations. The Catholic Emancipation Act opened the door for Romanist aggression in Church and State. Rev. John Kennedy, Redeastle, father of Dr. Kennedy, expressed fears that the passing of that Act would lead to Britain’s downfall. Succeeding events seem to justify those fears. In King Edward’s visit to the Pope an unconstitutional precedent was given which was followed by King George and Queen Mary, then by Mr Ramsay MacDonald as Premier, and more recently by Mr. Eden, the late Foreign Minister, who visited the Vatican before he interviewed Mussolini, the official head of the Italian nation. The Bill of Rights and Act of Settlement forbade all communion with the Papal See. These statutes are still unrepealed and therefore binding on constitutional monarchs.
In 1910 the Coronation Oath was altered so as to omit the declaration that the sacrifice of the Mass was a “blasphemous fable and a dangerous deceit.” There were protests throughout the country which were unheeded. There has lately been another change in the oath which maintains the Protestant succession and our liberties as subjects. The terms of the last alterations were not made public till the end of February, 1937, although there was considerable anxiety in the country about its nature. The change was not made by Parliament, so it is illegal. It is also contrary to the Statute of Westminster which declared that anything affecting the Dominions would have to be put before the Dominion Parliaments as well as before the legislature of the United Kingdom. By the new oath the King is not obliged to uphold the Reformed Protestant religion, as by law established, in his Dominions overseas, as was enacted by the Statutes of William and Mary, which guarded our Protestant liberties in all our Dominions throughout the world. Although the time was short, an application was made to the Attorney-General to allow proceedings to interdict the Archbishop of Canterbury from administering the new oath.
The application to the High Court of Justice for an injunction to restrain the Archbishop of Canterbury from administering the new oath, and for a mandatory injunction ordering him to administer the oath in its old form, as enacted by Parliament, was disallowed by the Attorney-General. This action of the Government touching the Protestant succession and the protection of the Reformed Protestant Religion established by law is extremely grave. The safeguards and bulwarks of Protestantism are thus being assailed by some mysterious power behind the scenes, which is surreptitiously filching away our blood-bought civil and religious liberty. In England up to 300 men and women gave their lives at the stake, including four bishops and on archbishop; 18,000 men women and children in Scotland alone were persecuted by imprisonment, banishment and execution before the Presbyterian form of church government was established in 1690 by the Revolution Settlement. These loved not their lives unto death. Our liberty was not won in a day, but by protracted, excruciating sufferings and martyrdom. The naval salute to the Pope was decreed in 1929 and was not made public till five years later it appeared in the R.C. “Universe.” Now America is being furiously urged by the Pope to follow suit. All recent Governments have refused to give the names of the law-breaking officials.
The law officers of the Crown were not consulted and Parliament was not consulted. The reason is it would have been thrown out by the legislature in all probability, as the infamous Romanised Prayer Book was thrown on the dung heap when the nation rose in arms against it on two successive occasions. We now—free-born British subjects—receive our orders for the Navy, per the “Universe.” What degradation and slavery! We were taught at school that Britannia ruled the waves and that Britons would never be slaves. God seems to be giving us over to the old man at the Vatican as his slaves, in this twentieth century of boasted enlightenment and progress. As further instances of Papal aggression there is the 1918 Education (Scotland) Act and the Roman Catholic Relief Bill, sponsored by Rev. James Barr, to allow idolatrous processions, etc. There are more monasteries to-day in Britain than before the Reformation. Almost every week there is some new school or church dedicated with great pomp and paraded before the public in the Press with all the meretriciousness of the Harlot of Rome, whose cup is full of fornication and filthiness and who is “drunk with the blood of the saints.”
The Press seems to have come under the sway of Papists—twenty-eight R.C.’s being on the “Daily Mail” staff—as it is continually informing us of all the doings of the Man of Sin, which we don’t want to hear and are not interested in as Protestants. Thus a false impression is given of our arch enemy as a benevolent old gentleman. I heard personally ten-year-old pupils told that the Popes nowadays were not like those of history, but good men. That is the impression given to the rising generation of Scotsmen. No wonder our Magazine reports that the Pope likes Britain. The less he shows his love the better for us! His hatred is better for Britain, as God would then be our friend. As a matter of history, the Anti-Christ gave the pseudo-apostolic blessing to Count Plunkett when he informed him that all was ready for the 1916 rebellion in Ireland, which cost the loss of 2,000 British soldiers when the Empire was engaged in a life and death grapple with hordes of Germans. The greatest danger to the Reformation to-day is that the Anglo-Catholics who hate the Thirty-Nine Articles and all that savours of Protestantism are in close connection with the Throne. They may influence the heiresses of the British Crown to adopt Roman doctrine and practices. The Anglo-Catholic clergy were educated in colleges where the doctrines of the Reformation were taboo. They may consequently think they are doing God service in destroying the carved works of the Reformed Faith. They substitute candles and crosses in hundreds of churches for the simple worship of the gospel. The Archbishop of Canterbury connives at this wide spread of lawlessness in contravention of the Thirty-Nine Articles. His aim is to fill the Bishops’ Bench with Anglo-Catholics. The majority of the Bench are so already. The R.C. publications are very concerned about the King’s conscience in relation to the Coronation Oath. Hence the onslaughts in 1910 and 1937. We may next hear from the “Universe,” as in the case of the Naval salute, that the Coronation Oath—our last refuge of liberty—is gone, to suit the conscience of a Roman Catholic. In that case we may expect a repetition of “Bloody Mary’s” reign, of which Foxe’s Book of Martyrs gives a glowing account. The high politicians of Britain have played fast and loose with the Protestant constitution and convictions of this nation, as Mr Eden did in visiting the Pope. We are in danger of losing the fruits of the great religious revival of the eighteenth century in which Whitefield and Wesley played such a part. Only for that revival of evangelical religion Britain would have been a scene of slaughter such as France was during the revolution of 1789. The Methodist Church was the result of the revival. To-day one of their teachers hoped that they would soon go over in a body to the Church of Rome, as he did himself. Some of their young ministers were found to have been using private altars and candles in their lodgings. The Scottish churches are drifting gradually in the same direction. Christmas and Easter are now celebrated in the Highlands. Towns such as Stornoway close their shops on Christmas Day, which until a year or two ago was unknown. The Higher Criticism undermined the authority of the Bible in the vast majority of churches. An atheist paper lately congratulated a learned divine for a sermon in which he argued that Genesis was a fable, and said that an atheist couldn’t have done better. The loosening of the marriage tie has filled the news with divorce cases and cases of adultery. So godlessness and wickedness go hand in hand to endanger the Reformation.
The advent of the Irish Labour Party to power in Glasgow has opened the parks for games on the Lord’s Day in the “most religious city of the world.” There is now a proposal by the I.L.P. to open the libraries on Sabbath afternoons in Glasgow, and the head librarian has been instructed to calculate the staffing required to cope with such extra labour, which cannot by any stretch of the imagination be called a work of necessity or mercy. The Lords had a Bill before them last week to legalise opening of cinemas on the Lord’s Day, which had considerable backing. These instances show the drift away from the Reformation. The powers of evil and darkness seem to be advancing by leaps and bounds. Both Fascism and Socialism are inimical to the gospel, diverting the minds of the working classes to materialism and things of this transient life, instead of to the things that are un- and eternal. If these attacks are being made on our religion in this land of political and civil liberty, it can only be conjectured what the adherents of the Reformation have to suffer in concentration camps in Germany and other Continental countries. It is no wonder the Most High is furbishing a sword for the nations.
I am told that it used to be a regulation in the R.N.R. that the commanding officer read a chapter of the Bible before commencing the day’s exercises. To-day we hear of naval sports at Invergordon on the Lord’s Day under the aegis of the Admiralty. Any protests made were not likely to get a hearing, as the First Lord, Sir Samuel Hoare, was an Anglo-Catholic. Lord Halifax is also of that persuasion, while Sir Eric Drummond and many others in the Foreign Office staff are Roman Catholics. The B.B.C. is guilty of broadcasting R.C. sermons and propaganda. A Presbyterian minister praised an R.C. sermon on the wireless as being quite Scriptural. Even Free Presbyterians were charmed by the Coronation service in which the new oath was used, which deprived Protestants in the Dominions of protection for the “Protestant Reformed Religion established by law,” which was their heritage up till 1937. The free peoples of the British Commonwealth are unaware of what this encroachment on their liberties involves, but they may soon feel the effects of it. We have to thank the Tractarian Movement, which began 100 years ago, for this landslide in Church and State Romewards. Cardinal Newman’s work is bearing fruit now. Cardinal Manning said once, “It is yours, right reverend fathers, to bend and break the will of an imperial race.” Surely this was a field for the eye and heart of a soldier. Then he compared Britain to ancient, imperial Rome. Cardinal Villeneuve, a French Canadian, was entertained in Buckingham Palace by the late George V., which was unprecedented for centuries. At the time of the battle of the Aisne (1918), when 40,000 Allied troops were wiped out, the then Prince of Wales was paying a visit to the Vatican. It was only after the legislature humbled themselves to seek the Almighty’s aid at St. Margaret’s that the tide of battle turned in favour of Britain. That relief was evidently given in answer to the Government’s prayer, as Nineveh and Ahab got similar mercy. It was owing to the intrigues and agitation of Archbishop Mannix, who was subsequently arrested, that Australian divisions were fifty miles behind the line of the Allies at the Armistice. It was owing to Papal influence that Protestant missionaries were banned from Abyssinia, that British officials were driven from Egypt, that India is less under British rule. Now there is agitation for the transfer of Palestine to Italy. Malta had similar interference by the Vatican during the administration of Lord Strickland. Mussolini declared at Fiume in 1919 that Britain must be ousted from the Mediterranean. This policy seems to be pursued by Italy and the Vatican in collaboration. Witness the sinking of merchant shipping such as the Endymion and Aleira. The displaying of the Union Jack seems to be like a red rag to the Italian bull. Black crosses were seen on the Franco bombers, which shows the Pope is waging a “holy” war in Spain. McGovern’s visit to Spain showed that the Church is solidly behind Franco. The Japanese also have the whole-hearted support of the Pope in their studied insults to the British flag. Instructions were issued to R.C. missionaries to co-operate with the Japanese aggressors. So God is arousing those enemies on every side of our beloved country to chastise us for our national sins and forsaking of the Protestant Reformed Religion. It is regrettable and a cause for mourning that Irish Papists should rule the city of Glasgow to such an alarming extent under the pseudonym of Labour. It was Irish-Papist dock labourers who concealed delay-action bombs in the Allied munition ships at New York and elsewhere, which caused fires far out at sea and loss of life to sailors. The Judge who tried the case said he regretted the law of America did not provide for the punishment of such inhuman crimes, otherwise he would impose the death penalty. Yet the British Press was silent on those revelations lest Roman Catholics be offended.
Colonel Wedgwood said on January 3rd, 1938: “It was unfortunate that our Embassies abroad were so largely staffed with Roman Catholics, for the religious cleavage was now a political cleavage as well.” Hansard says he asked Mr Eden (December 21) “whether in view of the pro-Franco propaganda of the Roman Church, and the anti-British propaganda of the Roman State, it was desirable to have this divided allegiance in so many European capitals?” We are glad that somebody is raising his voice in the House of Commons on this important subject. Roumania is now likely, under Goga, to join the Berlin-Rome axis of Fascism, over which Italy and Germany are jubilant. Brazil last month discarded democracy, and other South American states are in danger of following suit. Fascist groups have been formed in Chile, Argentina and other countries with the aid of Italian and German agents. America has now to abandon isolation in self-defence. At home, many parts of Scotland are more Irish than Scotch, owing to R.C. penetration and infiltration. De Valera is threatening to commandeer the Protestant counties when the time comes, now that Eire is disrupted from the British Commonwealth. The Pope’s aim is world power through Fascism. Democracy was born of the Reformation. It is now disappearing from the globe at an ever increasing rate.
Some would hide their heads ostrich-like in the sand, and shut their eyes and their ears to these warning signs. The watchman on the walls of Zion ought to blow the trumpet with no uncertain sound. History used to be a bulwark of the Reformation. Now Hilaire Belloc, the foremost “Catholic” protagonist, rewrites history by falsifying events to suit “Catholic” tastes. Yet he pays tribute to Calvin as the man behind the book which raised the edifice of the Reformed Church, whereas “Luther only raised a wild rebellion.” The book is the “Institutes,” which is indeed a masterpiece of logic and should be read by all who love the truth. At the Imperial Conference the Australian delegation, influenced by Irish-Labour in power in the island continent, supported the Irish delegation in their onslaughts on the British Constitution; but both were happily outvoted by the other Dominion delegations. At Lahore (1929) a procession marched on “Christmas Day” with the band playing the Irish rebel song, “The Wearing of the Green.” The agitators got their demands in the Government of India Act, 1936.
It is a new thing for Britain that the Pope should be invited to send a delegation to the Coronation, as was done last year, Protests were boycotted. There seems to be a powerful cabal who are imitating the policy of James II. to a degree. Not only is there no discrimination against Papists, but they are given the highest posts. It was only “to let sleeping dogs lie” that the Government spokesman dissuaded the House of Lords from passing the Bill on “Sunday” cinemas last week, not from conscientious regard for the Lord’s Day or the Fourth Commandment. In this, the fourth century of the Reformation and ter-centenary of the Second Reformation attainments, we are witnesses of the turn of the tide back to superstition and idolatry. Instead of justification, regeneration and sanctification proceeding from clear views of Christ and the Holy Spirit, we have a Christmas tree in Glasgow Cathedral, a crib in St. Paul’s, the national cathedral of the Reformed Religion, and candles instead of the gospel in hundreds of churches. In lieu of grace, faith and holiness, a generation of clergymen preach the doctrines of Romanism contrary to their ordination vows and the Thirty-Nine Articles. Even place names are being changed—those with Romish associations being substituted for those with Protestant associations. We have “Lourdes Street” now in Glasgow, which has distinctly Romanist associations.
There is a powerful James II. party in Parliament to-day, appointing Papists to the War Office and Admiralty, as well as the Foreign Office and the Diplomatic Service. One result we had in the legalising of sports in the Army on the Lord’s Day; another is the naval sports at Invergordon. The Free Church protested at Invergordon, but that did not cause scruples to Sir Samuel Hoare’s conscience or to his colleagues. Sports on God’s Day bring us back to the reign of Charles II. The second city of the Empire also has its games on that sacred day in the public parks, owing to Protestant indifference and Papal aggression. William, Prince of Orange, was the defender of our liberties and lives. Mr Kensit was shown two chairs that belonged to William, Prince of Orange, in the monastery of the Order of St. Benedict, at Fort Augustus, probably being treasured as an earnest of further trophies. Fort William is to lose its historic name.
Objectors may say, “What’s in a name?” The new name Eire is pregnant with significance for the Protestants of the Northern Counties. Mr Kensit was also invited to see “Jesus” in the Benedictine Chapel. He rightly called the monastery a monster worse than that supposed to be in Loch Ness. The old Free Church, under Rainy’s leadership, gave a substantial loan towards the erection of this unnatural abode, which is a seat of Satan and of the Pope. If we are to believe Chiniquy, every monk is a soldier of the Pope. Plots are there made against our civil and religious liberty. Rev. N. Cameron, Glasgow, said that at Malta the bodies of infants were thrown out from the monastery there. As Scripture says, Rome is the Mother of Harlots and abominations done on the earth. To show the laxness of Reformation principles in municipal bodies, Oban Town Council proposed to visit the R.C. Cathedral officially as a body, and were only restrained by a popular outburst of feeling against their action. The Archbishop of Canterbury is closely imitating his notorious predecessor, Laud, in Romanising the Church of England, contrary to the Thirty-Nine Articles. There is now an Anglo-Catholic move to encourage celibacy among young ministers in England.
Miss Agnes Muriel Mackenzie, who hailed from Stornoway, together with another female novelist, have done considerable damage to the Reformation. One female novelist characterised the Covenanting ministers as “lunatics and hooligans.” This is directly opposed to the traditional, historical view of these eminent servants of God and martyrs for the Reformed Faith in Scotland. There are also attempts to whitewash Claverhouse, who was known by the distinguishing epithet of “bloody,” on account of his many crimes, including his shooting of the godly John Brown. The persecutors and enemies of the people of God are lauded to the skies, while the Covenanters are held up to ridicule, and even accused of murder and rebellion against constituted authority. It is well known, on the other hand, that they were loyal to Charles to the point of error. Their quarrel was not with the person or throne of the King, but with his disregard for their consciences in forcing Laud’s Service Book upon them, contrary to the laws of God and the Bible. Even in the mountains and caves they were not allowed to worship God in peace, but were harassed by dragoons and hauled to prison, if not executed.—D. J. Macaskill.