Monarchy, Republics, and True Freedom
In an article on the coronation, by Marie Corelli, the famous author whose books have been honored by having a place on the Index Expurgatorius, declares that, democratic as England is, there was unmistakable loyalty to the throne emphasized again and again; and she quotes this sentence from the coronation service: "The Lord give you a fruitful country and healthful seasons, victorious fleets and armies and a quiet empire, a faithful Senate, wise and upright counselors and magistrates, a loyal nobility and a dutiful gentry, a pious, learned, and useful clergy, an honest, peaceful, and obedient commonalty;" and she asks, "Could any nation desire more?" She also intimates that America would go wild over such wonderful magnificences as there represented, and would be a finer nation even than it is under one sovereign; "as an empire the United States would be superb." She says a republic is never really popular. People try to put up with it, and pretend they have more liberty, but they know they are only playing. Of course, tho England is a monarchy, she has large liberty for her people, and it is also true that Americans more and more are aping royalty and its magnificence. The freedom of a people — the true freedom — is measured by the distribution of the true principles of Christianity.