In our opinion the Government ought to appoint a Committee
and ask them to recommend what alterations should be made in the oaths and declarations made by the Sovereign in order to free them from words that are insulting and painful to the feelings of Raman Catholics. In the political notes in the Times it is pointed out that certain alterations must be made in the Coronation Oath owing to the disestablishment of the Irish Church. There is, therefore, not merely an occasion but a necessity for revision. It should certainly be seized in order to purge our constitutional procedure from all ar,pearance of in. tolerance. The sound statutory obligations that the Sovereign must neither be a Roman Catholic nor marry a Roman Catholic would not be in any way infringed or impaired by the refusal any longer to brand the beliefs of Roman Catholics with vituperative epithets. If the Government has the courage to take the step we propose and to act on the Report of the Committee, they will earn the thanks of all who hate religious intolerance, and will provide a useful lesson for those Roman Catholics, including the Pope, who complain that what should be the inviolate centre of Roman Catholicism is violated because Protestants are allowed to preach and practise their doctrines in Rome, and, if they can, to get others to share their views. If the matter is properly handled and placed clearly and fairly before the country, no opposition of any great importance need be feared.
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