The Express.
London, England, 1847-12-16 00:00:00

T.LTlit eilxintoo.

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The malls for Vigo, Oporf o, Lisbon, Madeira, Cadiz, and Gibraltar
will be made up on the morning of the 17th December.
The Welt India Math, excluding Bermuda, Naomi, Havana,
Honduras, New Oricans, Vera Cruz, Tampico, and Porto Rico, and
including those for Madeira, JacrueL thrtbagens, Santa Martha,
Chapels Panama, West Coast of South America, and St. Juan-de-
Nicaraista, will be mode up on the morning of the 17th December.
The mails for British North Americo, Bermuda, end the Cuitc,l
dtatee, will be made up on the evening of the 11th December.
The overleaf malls for Gibraltae, Malts, Gases*, the lonian IsLansle,
ZrtAden, Ceylon, India, Hong-liong,and=s Southampece,
made up on the morning of the 20th
The overland Mooed Mareellke, to the *Mediterranean
Egypt, Aden, Ceylon, India, hang Kong, he., will be made up on the
evening of the 24th December.
The mails for New South Wake, Van Diemen's Land, sad New
Zealand will be made up oh the evening of the 31st December.
the mails for the Brag* the Weer Plate, Monte Yates, Persians;
eßeht..47= GM Baum /tyro, will be made up on t.).

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LONDON, THURSDA Y, DEC. 16.

IN resuming the question of the removal of Jewish
disabilities for the last time before the debate on the
subject in the House of Commons, which is fixed for
this evening, our only difficulty is to select the class
of objections with which we are to deal. The argu-
ment against admitting Jews into parliament which
I has the greatest show of theoretical plausibility is
that which is drawn from their national character, as
distinguished from their religious profession. It is
said that they are united amongst themselves by a
tie stronger than that which connects them with the
country in which they reside ; that they form as it
were a Sonderbund for special objects in the midst of
every Christian nation. The practical solution of the
difficulty is to be found in the fact, that there is no
Jewish state politically constituted, although, in one
sense, there is a Jewish nation. There can be no
reason why as English Jew should prefer the in-
terest of any foreign country to that of Eng-
land till he can find a Jewish government ruling
over a Jewish nation. It may, indeed, reasonably
be expected that, in or out of parliament, a Jew will
act under a strong bias on the rare occasions when
political measures affect the peculiar interests of his
race ; but it is not thought undesirable that West
Indians should be admitted to the house to vete on
sugar questions, or that catholic. should watch the in-
terests of their co-religionists, or even that particular
colonies should have recognised agents to further
their views in parliament. We do not remember any
Jewish question which has come before parliament in
modern times. If such had arisen, it would have
been extremely convenient that some member of the
community interested in the decision should have
been present to represent their feelings; if these
feelings were hostile to this country or to its prevail-
ing religion, the Jewish representatives would pro-
bably find themselves in a minority. It would be
very inconvenient to exclude from the House of Com-
mons all advocates of crotchets which might be dan-
gerous if realised. The members of the Peace Society
are not disfranchised for fear they should persuade us
to disarm ourselves as the best security against the
aggressions of France or America. We will under-
take to say that the Jews will never suggest so singu-
lar an innovation

Even if the separate nationality of the Jews were
not for practical purposes a chimera, we have long
ago precluded ourselves from treating it as a ground
of political disqualification. The Jews have long en-
joyed all the rights of English subjects, except some
from which they have been debarred by the operation
of particular statutes. They are qualified to hold land,
to vote ►t election, to set as sheriffs, to possess muni-
cipal offices of every rank, and to hold commissions in
the army. If we had been the fortunate country-
men of the great captain, who, as Mr. DISRAELI in-
forms us, was erroneously called MASSENA, we might
perhaps have seen Marshal MANASSEH reigning at
the Hone Guards as commander-in-chief. Even
under the law as it stands, Mr. SALOMONS will, in a
few years be Lord Mayor of London, as he has already
been high sheriff of Kent.

We confess that although we have given this argu-
ment of nationality the post of honour, as the moat
plausible and intelligible reason for excluding the
Jews, we do not suppose that it will affect the votes of
half-a-dozen members of either house. It may be
used as a make-weight, as an excuse, as a matter of
declamation; but few persons will be really influ-
enced by it. The English public is too entirely na-
tional to have any very distinct or sensitive con-
minuses of its nationality. It knows very well that
will remain English, though all the gym-
io as world were to combine to Frenchit,
or or Judaise it. What the English publie
really to is any suggestion of an encroach-
ment on any of its numerous religions, or on the
common element which pervades them all. The
only
.cry which the Jews or their advocates have to
fear is that their admission will " unchristianise the
legislature "—a phrase it is true which has no very
definite meaning, but which contains all the proper
materials of a popular fallacy. It seems to be intel-
ligible, it professes to be religious, and it appears to
countenance the real objections which various classes
of persons feel to the measure. On the other Bide,
perhaps, it will be met by eulogies of the Jewish
character, assertions of the indifference of the Jews'
to proselytism, and general declarations in favour of
religious equality. There are, however, some addi-
tional reasons which we would submit to those who,
being anxious to do right, are very properly un-
willing to act in any way which can be represented
as hostile to Christianity. In the first place, we
would remind them that if the Christian character
of the constitution depends on the exclusion of the
Jews from parliament, it has only been secured by
the mere accident of the form "on the faith of a
Christian" being used to give solemnity to the poli-
tical oath of abjuration. The dominant party under
WittLus In and GEORGE I. and 11., found it expe-
dient to exact a renunciation of the descendants et
the STUARTS, in which the obnoxious formula was
introduced. The oath, as it was then framed, al-
though its object has long ago become obsolete, re-
mains, like most English ceremonies, among our
legal fictions. In the meantime, a new class has
grown up, to whom it was never intended to apply.
and who have not the smallest objection to its con-
tents. The form only is obnoxious to them; and for
that reason only their opponents insist on the form.
For a different reason the form was objectionable to