The Sun.
London, England, 1851-11-04 00:00:00

JEWISH DISABILftIIig.
-
TO THE EDITOR 0 VT& UIV:-
Sra,—As the courts of law b thpir sittings toe
day, I suppose we shall soon hear inv Bing concern,.
ing Mr. Alderman Salomons, a -iiis having had 14,
audacity to sit and vote in the 150161;0-04, ?1,
merely because he was elected by›.-ent‘eity4ertebe
-
constituency of Greenwich as ttllaeiepelVnt4eik
Whatever may be the decision in the law courts, one
thing must not be forgotten—that the House of Com-
mons have repeatedly passed a measure to alter the
wording of the Oath of Abjuration—the only Impe-
diment—and that the House of Lords have RA repeat-
edly thrown it out, showing plainly enough that how-
ever the " pressure trom without" may affect the
Commons, the Lords pay no heed to it. It seems a sin- .
gular thing to me that this matter should not have
been settled entirely in the Lower House. I cannot
see the necessity of the Lords being consulted at all
in a matter solely and totally confined to the !nuns
and ceremonies of the House of Commons. The
alteration suggested in the wording of the oath would
make it binding on the conscience of a Jew, bet
were he hypocritical enough to rake the oath as itstands
now, he would be swearing by that which has DO
existence—" the true fei,h of a Christian"--,he pos-
sessing no such faith, and therefore the oath )vould
not be binding upon him.
I will not say anything about the injustice of tie-
nying E gulll rights and privi:egEs to a portion of the
people who are equally taxol with the other portions,
and equ:-.lly bound by ti;t• laws, and who are persever-
ing and en, rgetic traders (no slight recommendation
in a commercial community), unit who are far more
than equally moral, when compared with those who
profess the " true faith of Christians."
Again, Sir, as you will see by the following ex-
tract, this matter was legislated upon 128 years ago,
and if the Act has been repealed we must be retro-
grading :
tsh9ihitoshanlr,ytpeahjraeeresswoetynfo,trsGdtshseuoeobnirjngesecetthl
Extract from an Act of Parliament passed in the
rey
ligion,
be omitted out of the said oath ; and the taking of it
aCsathroifstiAanbisuhalral
by such persons professing the Jewish religion with..
svefe.tsPrrutooleife:saas3kii
ten:
4—rictofi
the
eeJewish Whenever a
out the words aforesaid, in the manner as Jews are
admitted to be sworn to give evidence in the courts of
justice, shall be deemed a sufficient taking."
Let the big-wigs settle the question as they may,
the time cannot be far distant when the only qualifi-
cation for a Jew to take a seat in the Commons House
of Parliament shall be his having been fairly and
honestly returned by his constituents ; and I hope
that the Liberal electors will not forget those who
have still adhered to the old time-worn prejudices of
past generations, and return men who are progressive
with the people, and do not lag behind and retard the
onward march of human improvement and human re-
demption.
I should not have ventured to have trespassed so
far on your time and space, Sir, did I not belong to a
class of the people who him a great interest in this
s the cause of civil old .fer-
vently and honestly support
question, and who value The Sun because it so ler-
religious liberty.—l am, Sir, &c.,
A WORKING MAN.
Nov. 3, 1851.