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London, England, 1847-11-18 00:00:00

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S Ny NO 18, 1847.

THE OATH OF ABJURATION

TO THE EDITOR OF Tun TIMES.
Sir,—As the question will shortly arise whether
Baron Rothschild is entitled to represent this City in
Parliament, it may be well to consider the arguments
of those who seek to limit the efficacy of our suffrages
by maintaining the contrary. The position taken by
these reasoners is briefly this :—The faculty of re-
presenting a constituency in the House of Commons,
say they, is a civil right, which cannot be claimed
by a race who are aliens in the eye of the law, or
who at any rate are specially disqualified in this par-
ticular, by the necessity of taking the oath of
abjuration " on the true faith of Christians" before
they can sit.
Now, that the Jews are aliens, is a vulgar error,
which the mere fact of their enjoying the franchise
disproves. This has not escaped the notice of their
adversaries. A writer in the last Quarterly goes
indeed so far as to suggest that they vote only by
sufferance; but the reason he assigns is, that the
bribery oath, which any elector on coming to the poll
may be required to take, must always be administered
"on the Evangelists ;" a statement, Sir, which I
need hardly tell your readers is incorrect. No such
provision is made by the statute which prescribes the
oath. Its administration, therefore, is regulated by
the common law, which ever since the case of
" Ornychund- v. Barker," decided by Lord Hard-
wicke, has been held to be, that whenever an oath
is legally requisite it must be administered in the
form most binding according to the religion of the
person sworn.
Driven from this, our crusading politicians resort to
their other stronghold. At any rate, they cry, the
conclusion of the oath of abjuration—" on the true
faith of a Chrittian"—must operate as the Shibboleth
of aspiring Israelites until the Legislature formally
dispense with its use. And this. of course is equiva-
lent to saying, that the House of Commons is in-
competent by mere motion to make such a remission
on the approaching occasion. Let us examine this
point.
Everybody knows that the House is the sole ex-
tp
onzitt
so fp trho e laws
v nc ei
n passedth is r bye et
ch
te
bSetiant for its regula-
tion,
ge
pre
cs
erl
y ul a-
t that
of a judge with a case under his cognizance. Both
declare, neither makes, the law. The oath of abju-
ration is, in a legal point of view, merely one of
those formulae with which statutes abound. And it
may be laid down as a general rule on this subject,
that a strict adherence to the letter of such forms is,,
by the practice of the courts, only so far required es
may be necessary in order to convey the full force of
what the statute contemplates.
To apply the analogy :—lf Baron Rothschild takes,
or offers to take, this oath minus the phrase in ques-
tion, the House will be called on to decide simply
whether such an omission on his part in any way
impairs the force which the entire form of words
was meant by its framers to possess ; and if ay, to
refuse him his seat. Very little foresight, however,
is necessary to see how such a test must operate.
A single glance at the oath itself shows that it was
concocted with a view to excluding the Stuarts from
the throne ; but an inference is attempted to be drawn
from the concluding phrase, that it also embodies the
ulterior design of excluding non-Christians from the
House of Commons. Now, in the first place, if this
be true, its framers have ailed, for it seems pretty
clear that any loyal Atheist might take it without
falsehood ; and secondly, apart from this considera-
tion (which it should be premised is not essential to
our argument), precedent, and the acts of the Legis-
ture itself, alike belie such an interpretation.
First, let us take the case of an Atheist. The oath
consists of three parts : the abjuration of the Stuarts ;
a pledge that as surely as the person sworn is a
Christian he will abide by such abjuration; and a
calling on God to witness. What is there in this
form, as it stands, at which a Jew or a Deist stum-
bles ? 'Why cannot either openl7. declare, " I will
take your oath in Coto, and obey its obligation ; but
the clause which further pledges my obedience on the
existence of a nonentity, viz., my faith in Christianity,
is simply nugatory, and of itself no more affects my
veracity, than were Ito promise, that as surely as I
am what lam not I would fulfil vow." This line
of conduct is abstained from, not because it is held
discreditable to evade an imputed object of the Legis •
lature who inserted the phrase ; were this so coaches-
and-six would not so often be driven through Acts of
Parliament without demur or scandal, nor would so
many " honourablegentlemen"elude the propertyquali-
fication by getting asufficientestate conveyed to them-
selves the day before, and reconveyed the day after
taking their oaths. No; Jews and Deists are with-
held solely by the consideration, that it would be
impious mockery to invoke the Divine attestation to
a triviality. But what weight can this have with one
who believes that there is no Deity to mock ? If,
therefore, the phrase in question was pointed against
non-Christians, it has at any rate failed in reaching
their most objectionable variety.
Let us next look to precedent. The oath of supre-
macy was notoriously of an analogous character to
that now claimed for the oath of abjuration. It was
framed to exclude Romanists from public offices and
dignities. How was this object achieved? By tacking on
to the tail of some oath, adapted throughout its whole
composition to a different purpose, the words " on the
true faith of a Protestant ?" Had this been done,
Catholic emancipation would not have cost such a
struggle. No ; Parliament took good care to make
the entire oath subserve to 'so frank a denial of Papal
supremacy as no Romanist could adopt.
Lastly, have the acts of the Legislature itself coun-
tenanced the interpretation now put forward ? On
the contrary, when the two substitutes were framed
for the oaths of allegiance, supremacy, and abjuration
—the one for Papists, the other for Quakers to use—
this redoubtable phrase, so pregnant with legislative
force, failed to find its way into the new forms, and
was not even rendered by an equivalent.
Can Jew or Gentile resist the inference, that the
sole purpose of the oath in question was to abjure the
Stuarts—that in all likelihood its framers did not even
contemplate the possibility of its being ever adminis-
tered to non-Christians—far less that they provided
against such a contingency ? And if, Sir, this is the
conclusion at which the House of Commons is bound
to arrive, then is Baron Rothschild entitled to take the
oath shorn of its Shibboleth; and the effect of our
suffrages is indefeasible. The question, therefore, of
religious or political expediency is superfluous; for it
would be both inexpedient, and something worse, to
violate the law.
I beg, Sir, to sign myself (with whatever historical
impropriety),

HACKNEY.

Nov. 17.

Your obedient servant,
A TEMPLAR.

THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH IN LIYERPOOL.—The
wires have now been carried under the streets from the
railway station, Lime-street, Liverpool, to the new office
of the Commercial Electric Telegraph Company, Ex-
change Buildings, nearly opposite the Exchange News
Hoorn. There are nine copper wires, all inclosed in one
small, iron tube, about the thickness of a finger, and yet
the whole had been so carefully preserved from contact
with each other throughout the whole distance, about a
mile, that when tested there was not the slightest de-
flection of the needles, which would have been the case
had any two of the wires touched each other at any point
along the whole line. At the corner of Water-street, a
diverging group of nine wires, inclosed in an iron pipe,
is carried along that street, towards the docks and the
river-'—with what intention we have not heard ; but it is
not unlikely this is to form the commencement of a line
of electrico-telegraphic communication, terminating at
Holyhead. For some months of every winter, and very
frequently in the other parts of the year, the present line
of telegraphs are rendered useless for a time, by dense
fogs obstructing the vision of the officers at the different
stations who have to k,pep a look-out. This has been a
gterieeagOrad;hasw;bancokd o
it
wtohuel
du
bt iel iatyg
roefa
tt hbeo pn rteos etnhte
mr aenrgcea
no!'
tile cprelinunity, if communication with Holyhead could
be rendered independent of fog or darkness, and be made
at any hour of the day and night—especially with the
immense Additional advantage of possessing the means of
asking questions and receiving answers, as to the vess2ls
in sight, &c. Amongst other uses, important news
brought by a mail steam-ship from the United States
might be telegraphed direct to Liverpool, Manchester,
and London, twelve hours before the steamer, could
reach Liverpool to land her passergers and mail bags.
Another advantage would be, that the owners of an out-
ward bound vessel might transmit a message to the cap-
tain, twelve hours or more after his vessel had left the
port. We hope, in the course of next year, to see this
line of telegraph in ad:ive operation.—Manchester
Guardian.

Pottaxar OF BANK-NOTES.---A gentlemanly-
looking mar., named William Theophilus Greene, who
is supposed to have been passinT, forged notes purporting
to be the notes of the North Wilts Bank Company, in
the city of Bath and th© neighbourhood, to a very great
extent, has been committed to the prison of Bath on
three charges of passing 51. notes to tradesmen. llis
plan was to purchase goods at various shops, and tender
51. notes for payment, obtaining the difference in gold or
silver. When taken to gaol he was searched by Mr.
Pike, the governor, who found on him fifteen notes for
51. each, purporting to be of the North Wilts Bank, all
of which were forgeries, and also 241. in gold and 5/. in
silver. He will be tried at the next assizes. Two per-
sons, who are supposed to be his confederates, have been
endeavouring to pass similarly forged notes at Devizes
but have not yet been apprehended. The police are
said to bo in possession of a clue to the engraver of the
plates of these forgeries.
The examination for Fellowships in the it
College of Surgeons is appointed to take place
orkTouyeas-1
day, December 2, and Thursday, December 9,

[PRICE SD.

IRELAND.

ASSASSINATION IN FERMANAGH—
DEATH OF MR. HASSARD.
DUBLIN, Nov. 16.—Accounts from Fermanagh
announce that Mr. W. Ilassard, the treasurer of that
county, who was fired at and wounded in his own
demesne on Saturday evening, expired yesterday
morning. It is admitted on all hands that this
ill-
fated gentleman was a good landlord, and that he was
deservedly popular in the district where he resided.
For many years Fermanagh has been free from
crimes of this description, and the commencement of
such an atrocious system with the murder of a
worthy and benevolent country gentleman has pro-
duced considerable alarm in the county.
The latest intelligence respecting the attempt on
the life of Mr. Bayly, J.P., is given in the following
communication from the edit )r of the Tipperary
Vindicator to the Dublin Evening Post :—" An inde
scribable sensation of horror was created in Nenagh,
about six o'clock on the evening of Saturday, by Mr.
Michael Head, son of Dean Head, driving in all
haste through the streets, and announcing that his
brother-in-law, R. U. Bayly, Esq., J.P., of Ballina-
clogh, with whom he had left town in the gig of Mr.
Bayly about half•an-hour before, had been shot at
Casey's-cross—a place within a mile and a half of
town. A more useful, energetic, patient, and excel-
lent public man did not live in the Ormonds than Mr.
Bayly. He devoted a great portion of his time to the
business of the union of which he was chairman, doing
all he could to give effect to the law for the support
of the poor, and otherwise employed in carrying out
measures for their amelioration. The assassin fired
from behind a wall. The ball or slug penetrated Mr.
Head's hat, slightly grazing the scalp ; it passed out,
hit Mr. Bayly. in the jaw, going through the mouth,
carrying away the teeth and part of the jaw bone, and
escaping near the back part of the neck. The assas•
sins fied—three of them, it is said, being present. Dr.
Quin of Nenagh was at once in attendance.
" Up to this hour (seven o'clock, P.m.), Mr. Bayly
remains in the same state. No material change, one
way or the other, in his condition. His most amiable
wife and infant family have the sympathies of the
entire community. Hope remains that he may re-
cover. There has been no discovery, as yet, of the
assassin."

Surgeon Cusack returned to Dublin last night, and
we are glad to say entertains favourable hopes of Mr.
Bayly's recovery.
ILLNESS OF THE LORD CHANCF.LLOR -It was
announced to-day that the Lord Chancellor will not
sit until Monday next, in consequence of illness.
His Lordship is suffering from a severe attack of
influenza.

POOR-LAW ELECTORAL DI VISIONS.--The Poor-
law Commissioners have come to a decision on the
long-pending question of creating the Devon estate,
in the county of Limerick, into a separate electoral
division. They have declined to make any such change
in the existing system. The decision is one of great
importance in connexion with the fiscal arrangements
of the poor-law.
COLLECTION FOR THE O'CONNELL MONUMENT IN
CORK.—The collection of yesterday (Sunday) in the
eight wards, amounted to 3401., which will, it is sup-
posed, be raised to about 4001., by sums not yet col-
lected.—Corh Examiner.

TENANT RIGHT.—MEETING OF TUE COUNTY or
Coux.—A great county meeting will be held in this
city early in December, for the purpose of petition.
ing the Legislature in favour of tenant right.—Cork
Examiner.

THE LATE POISONING in SOUTH

Yesterday the jury empanelled to inquire into the
death of Mrs. Frances Sheridan, was resumed before
Mr. Baker, for the fourth time, at the Dolphin Tavern.
Mr. Jarman, from Mr. Humphrey's, attended for the
accused.

The CORONER remarked that the evidence of Dr.
Letheby showed that poison had existed in deceased's
frame for some weeks prior to her death. During
that period she had been visited by a large number of
medical gentlemen, and as it was a matter of notoriety
that irritant poisons were administered under peculiar
circumstances, he (the coroner) deemed it of the
greatest importance that the medical witnesses should
give a negative to that supposition in the present
case.

Mr. Frederick Toulmin said he found deceased, on
the 23d October, in a state of prostration, vomiting
violently. The symptoms exhibited the effects of an
irritant, but witness learning that she had
been ill three or four days, had no suspicion
of the fact. Mr. Flacon subsequently attended.
Catherine Sheridan, accused's sister, was then
called, and detailed the substance of her evidence
given at 'Worship-street. Deceased had beef tea,
arrow-root, &c., which was made in a room adjoining
deceased's bedroom. Shortly before last Christmas
witness took from her brother's waistcoat pocket two
white powders, large enough to cover a shilling, and
upon witness asking him what they were, he appeared
angry, and said " What is that to you P" Witness
again asked what they were for, ant he replied, "It's
morphine—l want it for my own use." The annuity
payable to the deceased was secured by the Excise.
The policy of 500/. secured on the death of the ac-
cused was also at the instance of the Excise. Witness
was once in the accused's company, while about to
pay the premium, when he said that the family would
not have a farthing of that money. They had already
had too much of him, and he would not have accepted
the Excise situation if he had known the burden he
would have to bear. She became exhausted, and
after a discussion as to the propriety of examining her
at greater length, the further evidence was postponed
until Tuesday.

THE BISHOP or MANCIIESTER ELECT.—Yester-
day (Wednesday), at twelve o'clock, the Dean and
Chapter of the Cathedral Church of Manchester met
within the chapter-house at the cathedral. The meeting
was summoned by the Rev. the Dean in the usual way,
in obedience to the conge d'elire issued by her Majesty
and accompanying letter-missive, commanding the
Chapter to elect the Rev. James Prince Leo, of King
Edward's Free School, Birmingham, to the office of
First Bishop of Manchester. Of the Chapter, which
consists of five members, only three, the legal quorum,
were present on the occasion, viz., the Very Rev. tlle
Dean of Manchester, the Rev. Cecil I). Wray, the Sub-
Dean and Senior Canon, and the Rev. Canon Oswald
Sergeant. The Rev. Canon Clifton is absent on the
Continent, having been called away by the illness of his
mother ; and Canon Parkinson is at present resi-
dent at St. Bees' College, Cumberland, of which
he is Principal. The Chapter having been con-
stituted in the regular way ; the royal mandate and
missive were produced by the Dean, atter which, having
satisfied themselves of the eligibility of Mr. Lee, they.
proceeded at once to elect that gentleman to the vacant
bishopric. The Chapter then certified their election
under their hand and. seal, to be transmitted to her
Majesty, and io virtue of which Mr. Lee will assume
the title of Bishop of Manchester, and be entitled to all
the dignities of his office. The only remaining duty
was for the Chapter to appoint gentlemen to act as
proctors, to inform the Rev. Gentleman of his election,
and to acquaint the Chapter whether or no he accepts
the appointment. Mr. F. Robarts and Mr. Austin were
nominated to this duty. The Chapter then broke up.
We understand that Mr. Gutteridge's charges against
Mr. Lee did not come before the Chapter in any shape
or form, and no protest or expression of a dissent
from the appointment from any quarter came before
them. The general feeling in Manchester appears to be
in favour of the course pursued by Mr. Lee, of seeking
to have the charges cleared up by an appeal to the civil
tribunals.

TUTOR TO HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS THE PRINCE OF
WALES.—It is rumoured in this quarter—and the ru-
mour has some semblance of truth—that Dr. Philpott,
Master of Catherine-hall, who performed the honours of
Vice-Chancellor during the visit of her Majesty and
Prince Albert at the late installation, is about to be ap-
pointed tutor to his Royal Highness the Prince of
Wales. It is certain that Dr. Philpott has just returned
from a visit to Windsor Castle, at which he is reported
in the Court Circular to have dined twice with her
Majesty. 1)r. Philpott's courteous and dignified de-
meanour, united to attainments of a high ord'r, would
admirably fit him for the high and delicate trust of di-
recting the youthful studies of the heir presumptive ;
and perhaps the discharge of these important duties
would not be incompatible with his retention of the
Mastership of Catherine-hall. At the late installation
her Majesty and Prince Albert honoured Dr. Philpott,
as Vice-Chancellor, by dining at Catherine Lodge...
Cambridge Advertiser.
CLEVER THEFT.—Yesterday forenoon, as a respect-
able individual, who had newly arrived from Diimbairi.‘e-
ton, was proceeding up High-street, he was accost d by
a genteelly dressed young woman, who asked hits if
could direct her to a particular locality in titowil
which she named. She was answered
that,i being a
stranger, he could not furnish the requisite information.
The young woman seemed much annoyed at this, and
said she had hut that moment arrived per coach from
,Aye. Appearing much fatigued, the gentleman invited
her into a respectable tavern, fur the purpose of getting
some refreshineuiLt.)
not been thercieuitnelarzely
minutes wahlittinatttl
er t'hoTauntlilig:iytulag.tillyaddt'Clared herself
covered,
luch the individual for his kind
leftshortly afterwards, him. o his chagrin he discovered,
the fair deceiver had thatd
he was minus his watch, which
from his pocket.— Bdexterously contrived to abstract
lila gow paper.
DIOCESE of CHESTER.—It is intended forthwith
to found an Archdeaconry of Liverpool, in the diocese
of Chester, comprising the deanery of Worrall, in the
county of Chester, and the deanery of Warrington (ex-
cept the parish of Leigh) in the county of Lancaster.