The Timaru Herald. SATURDAY, JULY 2, 1910. THE KING'S RELIGION.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIIC, Issue 14238, 2 July 1910, Page 4

The Timaru Herald. SATURDAY, JULY 2, 1910. THE KING'S RELIGION.

Tlie announcement that the British Government intend to modify t.Tia form of the formal declaration to be made by King Georg® regarding "hig attitude as a Sovereign towards religion, by atrikmg out from the old form certain portions which were an offence to Roman Catholics, has been received much more quietly than would have been the case ten years ago, if we may judge by the warmth of T-h® controversy that took place over the form of the Oath at the time of the accession of the late King. So far we have heard only of one petition against the alteration, from the Or&ngem&n of Canada. The King of England is no longer regarded as a real "iidei defensor," "defender of the faith," the faith stands in no need of a regal champion; and to ask the King to declare that certain portions of the religious beliefs of quite a Large number of his subjects are superstitious and idolatrous is an insult to them, and equally insulting to the King is another passage by which he is required to declare that in saying they are he is not telling a lie, but says so *' without any evasion, equivocation, or mental reservation whatsoever." Time was perhaps, centuries ago—when the Catholic and Protestant churches, as the nursery rhyme has it. were •'the lion and the unicorn fighting for the crown" —a Protestant declaration wa» required from tho Sovereign, and thos® who drew up the declaration T-hought tliey might as well make it hot and strong while they 'were about it. The occasion for such & bond, or even any bond at all, has passed away, but it is deemed necessary to have some definite understanding on the point, and no objection can be made to the form proposed by Mr Asquith:—"l solemnly and sincerely, in the presence of God, profess, testify, and declare that I am a faithful member of the Protestant Reformed Church, as by law established in England, and will, according to the true intent of the enactments securing the Protestant succession, uphold and maintain the said enactments to the beat of my power aooording to law."