The Sun.
London, England, 1848-05-04 00:00:00

JEWISH DISABILITIES BILL.

Oa the order of the day fur the third reading ()
this 13111,

Sir P. THESIGER rose for the purpose of
moving that the Bill be read a second time this day
six months. Ile was quite prepared to be told, in
adopting this course, that he was actuated by narrow
minded feelings, and whatever obloquy he might
receive, he was not to be deterred from pursuing
the course which he thought to be his duty.
He did not think that the question could be decided
upon religious grounds, he was not able to discover
any specific precept of God's law which had been
given to guide them in the decision of the question,
nor did he think that any course of conduct pursued
by that House could in the least degree interfere
with those denunciations and prophecies respecting the
Jews which were recorded in holy writ. Neither
did he agree in the opinion that the admission
of Jews into the Legislature would tend
to unehristisnise its character, he could not for a
moment indulge such an opinion. Christianity was
bound up tso strongly in the constitution of the
country ; and he should deeply regret that so im-
portant a subject should be treated with anything
like levity, or be approached in any other manner
than with becoming awe and admiration.—(Hear.)
He thought that, independent of those grounds which
appeared to have operated with other lion. Members,
there were other grounds upon which he founded his
opposition to the admission of the Jews into the
' Legislature. Let the House, for instance, suppose a
society of men associated for a given purpose; such
society could only be held together ,by a confidence
in the desire of all its members to promote
the objects of that sociely. any of the
members were satisfied that another pre-
ferred objects inconsistent with those of the society,
it was clear that no confidence could exist between
them. The case was considerably stronger when
the party holding the different opinion and seeking
the different objects, was one of the rulers or go-
rnors of that society. It this case were applied upon
a larger scale to that of a political Government,
the basis of which was religious or moral,
the objection to such a state of things
would be increased in a tenfold degree.
He apprehended that all human laws require a higher
sanction than of those who make them. There mas.
be a higher standard to which all human laws ought
to approach or to appeal, and he put it to the House
whether it was not the laws of the Bible
that they had taken for their standard. Thu
House and the country had long ago decided to be
guided by Christian morality, but it was utterly
impossible to guard against fraud, They could nut
prevent the infidel from passing the threshold to
play the hypocrite whilst violating their Christian
declarations, but in that case the chance fell upon
the infidel, not upon the House. The House could
not he charged with having neglected to preserve its
standard of Christian morality, because it had
done all it could possibly do to secure respect
for Christianity in that House. Pass this Bill, how-
ever, and the case would be quite different. The Bill
could not be supported upon the principle that the
Jews acknowledged the same God as themselves, be-
lhslothitnigi. Tthhaetre,4li,agsionasotf, the
Jew
me
Ifanrgshort of the standard
• tianity.. _.. be Jews were openly tjcbseeuiss; ewc,7tihlet'yohte'diSni hdOardli)°l°l V 'it
Ys ouft:
rvery
op-
posedit was
to
su
Bill passed into the law,
ionaosdbuthtetphreiiorcoipwlne,uapioidn
which
set up by Chris
Bowed to prevail, he very
xceedingly difficult for
much feared that it would be e
If the Noble Lord was not prepared to oufdrnool
admit
morality.
he could not see
papil:rttehders‘l7:: were
tth)eeilsitotuoseatosemataitiintatinheits Christi
his opinion
how he could admit the Jew ; in
to tha 4"
there was a greater cbjecticn
Legislature,a standard