The Sun.
London, England, 1848-05-26 00:00:00

which had never been set aside, that he called upon
them to agree to the second reading of the Bill.
The Earl of ELLENBOROUGH rose to move that
the Bill be read a second time that day six months.
The Noble Marquis appeared to be sensible how very
small the object of :the Bill was—(Hear, hear)—for it
affected in the first instance only one individual ; but
never did he recollect an instance where the smallness
of the object was so disproportionate to the greatness of
the sacrifice.—(Loud cries of " Hear, hear.'') The
Noble Marquis said it was not a religious question, but
he affirmed that it was.—(Hear, hear.) The Noble Mar-
quis said there had been times when Jews might have
sat in Parliament, but he well knew that if a Jew had,
at that time, aspired to such a station, he would not have
seen the sun go down upon his head.—(Hear, hear.)
Whatever might have been the law, practically Parlia-
ment had been at all times essentially Christian, and as
such he trusted their Lordships that night would pre-
serve it.—(Cheers.) They were told :that they should
respect the Jews, because through them they derived a
large portion of their religious belief. Why, it was on
that ground that he repudiated the Jew as a member of
a religious body. It was because he believed so much
and no more—it was because having every means of
informing himself, that he still retained the same
opinions.—(Hear, hear.) Mahommedanism approaehed
nearer to:the Christian religion than Judaism, and if the
measure was to be passed on principle, why was it not
general ? Why was not the principle laid down—that
it did not matter what the religious belief of any mn
was who might be admitted to Parliament ? had
been said that they had admitted Quakers, Moralands,
and others who dissented from the Church of Eng
au ,
11
them and Jews. Christianity was esseonntiathye into Parliament ; but there was a wide difference. be-
tweenidentified with the State, and he took his standho
They
passed by Jews and infidels.—(Loud. c ee
verge of Christianity, and declared that ith.
rsu.l)d not be
i'arliament
such instruction, but how could they do so.
desired to instruct the people and unite
irfelicrion with
rtant ?
munupsot not visit
itself admitted that Christianity
(Hear, hear.) They were told thatthetir :ancestors
on the present Jews the sins of washeun
crime at that period that he
had been guilty of a great
com-
mitted 1,800 years ago ; but it was not because they
belief, having the
same had the same unaltered
would punish their descendants, but because those de-
same laws ; and if the occasion were to occur now they
would be guilty of the same crime.—(Hear, hear.) It
been said that it was hard to exclude a
had also
Jew from Parliament possessed of considerable property
in the state, but he thought a man had as much cause
of complaint who was a Christian and had no
property for being excluded from a seat in Parliament.
'rhe same was the case with the Moravians ; but to
admit it in the case of the Jews would be to admit men
who were not Christians. A great deal had been said
about the charity of the Jews. Now he did not mean to
deny that there were many amiable and benevolent
persons of that creed, but it should he recollected that
men who were immensely rich might make a display of
charity without inconvenience, which would be ruin to
their poorer neighbours. But they must look at what
was the social character of the Jew. He was one of a
nation within a nation, totally distinct and separate,
living amongst our agricultural and manufacturing
populations without belonging to either one or the other.
—(Hear, hear.) The Jew did not labour, but bought
and sold at a profit the fruits of the labour of others.
There were few poor amongst them, and no paupers, a
fact greatly to their credit ; few of them were rich, but
some were immensely rich. They could not
intermarry with the people of this country,
with whom, except the higher classes, they never
associated. They might be called citizens of the world,
but hardly citizens of England.—(Hear, hear.)
It was true that they were not aliens in the sense of
owing allegiance to any foreign power; but no man
transferred his allegiance from one country to another
with greater facility than the Jew. Wherever he went
he found his own people, his own religion, and his own
language, and everywhere his brethren were occupied in
similar transactions. It could not be considered, then,
that wherever he lived, he stood identified with the
people of the country.—(Hear, hear.) It might not be
uninteresting to observe how easily a Jew of the highest
class could transfer his allegiance from one country to
another. He had some days since seen in one of the
journals a review of the recently published memoirs of
Sir E. Buxton, in which the following passage was ex-
tracted :—" We yesterday dined at Ifam House, to meet
the Rothschilds; and very amusing it was. He (Roths-
child) told his life and adventures. He was the third son
of the banker at Frankfort. There was not,' he said,
'room enough for us all in that city. I dealt in English
goods. One great trader came there, who had the mar-
ket to himself; he was quite the great man, and did us
a favour if he sold us goods. Somehow I offended
him, and he refused to show me his patterns.' " Such
was the circumstance which originated the transfer to
this country of the great house of R sthschild, and also
the Bill then before their Lordships.—(Cheers and
laughter.) Nothing happened by chance, every acci-
dent that occurred formed part of the means by which
Providence worked out its ends; and certainly if it was
the will of Providence that this country should be un-
christianised, meaner means could not have been adopted
than the refusal of a Manchester traveller to show his
patterns.—(Cheers and laughter.) The Noble Marquis
had observed that at present all municipal offices were
open to the Jew—that he might become Sheriff, Alder-
man, or Lord Mayor. Now he (the Earl of Ellen-
borough) was not one who attached much importance to
municipal dignities, but he certainly regretted that
Baron Rothschild had not, like another Caesar, preferred
being first in the Corporation to being last in the senate,
as he then might have worthily dispensed the hospitali-
ties of the city of London without endangering the
Christian character of the Legislature of this country.
He begged their Lordships to take a serious but not
exaggerated view of the dangers which ware
threatening this country. It was impossible
not to observe that a great crisis was approaching.
[hey had had warnings in famines, in general distress,
in pestilence, and in divisions amongst the people.
Around they saw nations convulsed to their utmost
extent, and in one instance the most ancient and power-
ful dynasty in Europe crushed in one day. The great
empire of Austria had fallen, crushed like the potter's
vessel, and the most ancient combinations of territory
had given way to new combinations, of which no one
could tell the duration. They saw all the great land-
marks of nations displaced, and the wildest schemes for
future government propounded, without any reference to
the experience of the past. With such convulsions sur-
rounding us, how long could we expect to remain uncon-
taminated, separated as we were only by a channel, the
whole extent of which could be scanned by the eye?—
(Hear, hear.) He trusted that their Lordships would
employ themselves diligently to the means by which
alone the country could be saved; that they would not
orego the interests of the country for any temporary
profit; that they would forego legislating for the private
purposes or temporary expediency of any man or any
Government—(Hear, hear)—that they would take a
large view of public affairs; and, above all, would not
deprive themselves of all right to heavenly aid by agree-
ing that night to the desecration of Parliament and the
destruction of the exclusively Christian character of the
British legislature.—(Loud cheers.)
The Duke of CAMBRIDGE—My Lords, I feel that,
in consequence of the position in which I stand, I should
be wanting in my duty if I did not express most strongly
my sentiment: of on this subject. Knowing many Je evs
in the country in which I lived for so many years of my
life, I should be the lest person to keep up any perse-
cution which might follow them. I have a very high
respect for a great number of Jews in this country, and
amongst others, no man can be more respectable than
that individual who some years ago went to Prussia and
other countries on a charitable mission ; but I cannot
honestly and conscientiously say that this is not a ques-
tion of religion. As long as this Government exists as
a Christian Government, the Jews cannot be admitted
into Parliament.—(Hear, hear.) This is the course
which I have thought it my duty to take, although it
must be against the Jews. As long as this country is
called Christian, and this Government is a Christian
Government, I think it impossible that Jews can belong
to the Legislature.—(Hear.)
Viscount CANNING felt that he could give a con-
scientious vote in favour of the Bill, He derived great
courage from the speech of the Noble Earl who had
moved the amendment, and who had rested his case
rather on an appeal to their Lordships' feelings, pas-
sions, and prejudices, than on sound argument and the
justice of his case.—(llear, hear.) As a religious ques-
tion, the admission of Jews to Parliament seemed suffi-
ciently plain. They had opened their doors to the Ro-
man Catholics, who looked upon their creed as heresy;
to h
with
ttlhi e
greatthr,them as
Protestant
a jealousy;s
and . f
to
the who looked
Unitarian,
whohe C h
consi-
deredur c
declaration on the Trinity. From credulous, not superstitious, believers in
eall these sects they had' required a
faith of a Christian; but the Unitarian
Saviour, and our
took it, denying at the same time the divinity of our
This, in his opinion, disposed
by his death.—(Hear, hear.)
question. The Noble sposed of the religious part of the
Earlwhathad said that he did not wish
to punish the Jews for
but that he would exclude thewma,e done
1
00
changed their creed, or acknowledged theiBr
samea
nolisp
innr teuaneirteydo
he ryoera years
during
ignog,
because, not having
,nurred, they would
athrraatintimimeh,
rinfeththeeirh
He (Viscount
Canning) could see neither justice noortdh.cahtarity in that
that
th an declaration. He believed and trusted
opi-
nion would find very little response in
He thought that we should follow the example olionse.
other
nations in admitting,. Jews to the privileges of citizens,
not only because the act was just in itself, but because
the conduct of the Jews in every place where they hid
been enfranchised fully justified the experiment.—(Hear.)
With respect to the state of public opinion out of doors,
he thought it would fully support their Lordships in a
measure of liberality. One hundred years ago a very
small measure of relief caused such an alarm throughout
the country that the Duke of Newcastle was obliged to
come down hastily to Parliament and rescind it. Now,
a measure of complete emancipation was proposed—it
had been long before the public, and had been fully delibe-
rated, and not a single demonstration of hostility of any
importance had been exhibited in any part of the coun-
try.—(Hear, hear.) What was the cause of this change?
He believed it to be that large bodies of people of different
religious opinions had sprung up in various parts of the
country, and that among them had grown up the con-
viction that civil privileges should be extended to all
citizens without reference to their religious opinions.
Even among Churchmen, he believed that few would be
found to argue for a continued exclusion of uny portion
of their fellow-subjects from the privileges of the con-
stitution. In conclusion, he had only to add that he never
gave any vote with greater pleasure than that which he
should give on the present occasion in favour of the
Tree ea l ArchmArchbishop
loef,
said sl Nt
hTa
tE hUe I
had,i,Y
Bill uuder their Lordships' consideration —(Hear, hear.)
o
time
if
tvO' lhl wwe
clas t haet
silent vote on the present occasion, but since
dictates
dictates of his own inclination he should ha givenh a
had
been raised to the responsible position he then held, he