Coronation of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
The Coronation Service in connection with the crowning of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in Westminster Abbey on Tuesday, the second day of June, 1953, is a lengthy one and throughout is primarily of a religious nature. And we would like to record here three outstanding parts of the Form of Service. But we would note to begin with that Her Majesty, on her Accession to the Throne last year promised to maintain the Presbyterian Church in Scotland as to doctrine, worship, government and discipline. Now to all Christian Protestants throughout the Realm the vital part of the Coronation Oath is as follows:—Archbishop: Will you to the utmost of your power maintain the Laws of God and the true profession of the Gospel? Will you to the utmost of your power maintain in the United Kingdom the Protestant Reformed Religion established by law? Will you maintain and preserve inviolably the settlement of the Church of England, and the doctrine, worship, discipline, and government thereof, as by law established in England? . . . Queen: All this I promise to do. Then there is the Presenting of the Holy Bible to Her Majesty by the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in the following manner:—Archbishop: Our gracious Queen, to keep your Majesty ever mindful of the Law and the Gospel of God as the Rule for the whole life and government of Christian Princes, we present you with this Book, the most valuable thing that this world affords. Moderator of General Assembly of the Church of Scotland: Here is Wisdom; this is the royal Law; these are the lively Oracles of God. And following the Putting on of the Crown, the Archbishop shall go on and say: God crown you with a crown of glory and righteousness, that having a right faith and manifold fruit of good works, you may obtain the crown of an everlasting Kingdom by the gift of Him whose Kingdom endureth for ever. Amen.
We see in these extracts that our young Queen, during the Coronation service, is brought face to face with the Word of God, the Gospel, the Protestant Religion, and the personal need of “a right faith and manifold fruit of good works.” Truly, Her Majesty has need of the prayers of all who fear God in our nation.
Peterhead Town Council and Sabbath Desecration.
The Peterhead Town Council, in the spring of the year, decided by a majority to permit the opening of a public playground with chutes and swings, on the Lord’s Day. But it has been most gratifying to read the terms of a resolution by the Sabbath School Union in that town deploring the action of the Council. The terms are as follows from a press cutting:—”We express sorrow and alarm at the continuance and extension of the desecration of the Lord’s Day. Throughout the years the Sabbath Schools have enjoyed the co-operation of various bodies which in the past have been accustomed to use their influence to uphold the traditions of the Christian Sabbath. It is therefore a matter for regret and disquiet that the majority of our leaders in civic affairs now tend, by act and by speech, to destroy these fundamentals upon which this community has been built and to place in the path of the younger citizens of our society temptations to forsake those things which have made us in the past a great people. We would, therefore, summon the members of the Town Council to reflect more deeply on the matters involved in their recent decisions and to remove from our community those temptations to forsake the Christian standards which have been observed in the past.”
Field Marshal Lord Montgomery and the Vatican.
The following extract item of news appeared in The Contender, edited by Rev. Malcolm R. MacKay, New Glasgow, Nova Scotia:—An Associated Press dispatch from Rome, as published in the Halifax Chronicle-Herald of January 24, 1953, says:—”Field Marshal Lord Montgomery is a ‘secret extraordinary’ ambassador from England to the Vatican, Rome’s Momento Sera says to-night. The independent evening newspaper adds that Montgomery, who was S.H.A.P.E. vice-commander, is negotiating an agreement between the Vatican and the Anglican Church. The newspaper, noting that Montgomery has been received by the Pope four times within a year, said: ‘Marshal Montgomery reportedly has the official capacity of a secret extraordinary ambassador from the government of London to the Holy See.’ Montgomery was received in audience by the Pope yesterday during a visit here to confer with Italian military leaders. He left by air for Geneva to-day en route to his Paris headquarters.”
If the aforesaid report be authentic, Lord Montgomery has assumed duties of a very obnoxious character in the estimation of the Protestants of our nation. His contacts with the Vatican are in secret and no doubt cannot bear the light of public opinion. Neither our nation, nor Lord Montgomery, will benefit from visits to the Pope. The Vatican is the enemy of Protestant Britain.
Films Condemned by Film Technicians.
During last April, at a meeting of the Association of Cinematograph and Allied Technicians in London, those men whose livelihood is bound up with the film industry passed the following significant resolution:—”We deplore the increasing exploitation in films of themes of brutality and violence for purposes of sensationalism,” states a resolution. A second resolution criticises the standard of the films made by the Association’s own film unit—Act Films, Ltd. In the light of this protest we need not search far for a main cause of brutal crimes in our cities and elsewhere. Indeed, the film industry and those behind it have much to answer for at the Judgment Seat of Christ.