Hon. Mr. HAGGART.

Not at all. The Settlement Act requires a declaration that the sovereign belongs to the Protestant religion. That declaration is embodied in the only declaration which the sovereign takes

That is in the Bill of Rights.

Hon. Mr. HAGGART.

It is required under Act of parliament that the sovereign should be a Protestant, and that he should take the coronation oath. You do away with that declaration about his being a Protestant under this petition of yours, about his declaration.

No.

Hon. Mr. HAGGART.

That is my opinion upon the subject, because it says in the resolution :

In the opinion of this House, the above-mentioned Act of Settlement should be amended by abolishing the said declaration.

You abolish the declaration altogether. There is no requirement in the coronation oath itself that the sovereign should declare himself a Protestant. Here is the coronation oath :

Archbishop.-Will you solemnly promise and swear to govern the people of the Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the dominions thereunto belonging according to the statutes in parliament agreed on and the respective laws and customs of the same?

King.-I solemnly promise so to do.

Archbishop.-Will you, to the extent of your power, cause law and justice and mercy to be executed in all your judgments?

King.-I will.

Archbishop.-Will you, to the utmost of your power, maintain the laws of God, the true profession of the Gospel and the Protestant Reformed religion established by law-

It does not say that he shall be a believer in the Protestant religion-there is no requirement of that kind.

And will you maintain and preserve inviolable the settlement of the Church of England and the doctrine, discipline and government thereof

And so on. There is nothing in the coronation oath making it necessary for the sovereign to declare he is a Protestant.

Mr. HAGGART.

May I ask the hon. gentleman a question ? Does he pretend that the test oath which is referred to in the declaration makes the King swear that he is a Protestant ? That oath which is impugned to-day-does it make the King swear that he is a Protestant ?

Hon. Mr. HAGGART.

To the extent of the oath-

Not at all. That oath could be taken by an infidel.

Hon. Mr. HAGGART.

It could be taken by a Buddhist or a Mohammedan, or any other.

Would the hon. gentleman be good enough to point out where, in the declaration, the sovereign declares he is a Protestant ?

Hon. Mr. HAGGART.

The declaration, of course, to a certain extent, declares that he is a Protestant. But what I say is that the Settlement Act requires that the sovereign of Great Britain shall be a Protestant, and that besides the test oath it is a pre-requisite that there should be a declaration that he is a Protestant. According to this petition you would abolish all declaration whatever.

No.

Hon. Mr. HAGGART.

You petition the Grown to abolish the declaration, unless I mistake the meaning of the words in this resolution.

I wish to be clear in my understanding of the hon. gentleman's argument. Is not the test oath, which is objected to by the hon. member for Victoria, N.B., (Hon. Mr. Gostigan) set out at length verbatim in the petition which it is proposed to send ?

Hon. Mr. HAGGART.

Not a word of it is set out in the petition.

It is set out in the motion given by the hon. member for Victoria.

Hon. Mr. HAGGART.

Then, he has made a mistake in the notice which he gave. He supposed that this declaration was the test oath.

In the oath of abjuration, or whatever you wish to call it

Hon. Mr. HAGGART.

It is not an oath at all.