Treason by ' Loyalists '

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXVI, Issue 13, 2 April 1908, Page 10

Treason by ' Loyalists '

It was a kindly thought that moved King Edward and Queen Alexandra to attend the Requiem for his intimate friend, the murdered King of Portugal, at St. James's, Spanish Place, London. ' This ', ' says an English contemporary, ' is the first time since the establishment of the Protestant succession that an English Sovereign, has attended Mass- on- British' -soil '. And the ' Catholic Weekly ' is credibly informed that the Queen • iiiade > a pious use of a Catholic prayer-,book during the Mass.' In all the circumstances, one can understand the white heat to which the anger of the Protestant Alliance and kindred organisations arose. Their protest was made the subject of a cable message, on which we commented at the time. It now turns out that these iiery ' loyalists' ' protest was, \n reality, an act of treason. But the great British- Public look with an amused and tolerant smile on the spasms and jerks and oratorical fireworks of these fiery-tempered enthusiasts.. Even volcanoes have their use— they are the earth's safetyvalves. The recent demonstration of British ' loyalists ' against British Royalty has -^afforded the demon-* stra-nts a safety-valve for super-hea/tfed'' feeling. And playing at treason, has done the King and Queen, no harm.