The Sun.
London, England, 1856-04-09 00:00:00

OATEIOF ABJURATION BILL.

Mr. M:GIBSON then rose to move the second read-
ing of a bill to abolish the oath of abjuration and as-
surance, and, in doing so, contended that no ill could
fellow such a measure. The measure was of precisely
the same character as that of Lord Lyndhursts, and had
the approbation of that noble lord. The passing of the
eneasure which he advocated would not in the slightest
degree interfere with the others now on the statute-book,
but it would be a relief to all classes of her Majesty's
subjects who objected to take that oath, which
was a political one, and passed by Parliament to meet a
political danger. That danger no longer existed, and,
therefore, he contended that the oath ought to be
Abolished. By a single act of Parliament one hundred
and twenty-five useless oaths had been abolished, and
not the slightest inconvenience hael arisen in consequence
of such a proceeding. He had taken the opinion of a gen-
tleman learned in the law—not a Parliamentary lawyer—
with respect to the persons who were called upon to tan.
the oath of abjuration, and he found that all militar3
carers, all common soldiers, and sailors were called upon
to take this oath. The ouly persons who were require
not to take the oath were those persons iu the Cuatones an-
Excise, who were only required to take the oath of alle-
giance. All schoolmasters were required to take tht
oath of abjuration, and if the law was strictly carried
-tint at the present time there would not be a single
teacher of the Jewish religion—in fact, an immense num-
ber of her Majesty's most faithful and loyal subject,.
would be altogether outlawed. He might be told
they passed the Indemnity Act, and by that act you
exempted the great crowd, but refused the same ex-
emption to a member of Parliament. He had been
looking over Boswell's "Life of Johnson," and be
- there found that the profligate person who framed
the' oath -of abjuration boasted that he had framed
an oath which would damn nne-half of the population
and starve the other. He maintained that the oath of
abjuration was utterly useless, as it was perfectly cer-
tain that none of the descendants of the Prince of
Wales (the Pretender) existed at the present moment,
and it was absurd to continue on the statute-book
such an oath. The Pretender died in 1765, and the
Parliament of that day di I not continue abjuring the
Pretender, but they took out the word "Pretender,"
and inserted in place of the word, "his descendant,"
so now that all the descendant] were dead, it was but
proper that the words, "his descendants," should
be expunged, as by doing so the house would
only be following the strict rule of precedent. The oath
• of allegiance and supremacy, he contended, were perfectly
sufficient for the purpose for which they were taken, and
after they were taken it was palpably absurd to insist
upon the taking of the oath of abjuration, as
the whole of the provisions of the oath, tbat it wai
thought necessary by some parties to retain, was to be
found in the oath of allegiance. He had thus gone
through the oath, with the exception of the concluding
paragraph, which stated that the oath was to be
taken without reservation on the true faith of a
Christian. If it was the will of the Parliament that such
should still be the declaration, then they must submit
to take the oath, but he did hope that the honourable
member for Stamford would not say that such
was the case until he had taken the opinion of Parlia-
ment that it was intended to impose religious teats to
exclude some portions of her Maje'ty's subjects from
their civil rights. If it was wished to exclude some par-
ticular persons from Parliament, he insisted that it
ought to be done by statute, and not indi-
rectly, for he insisted that no British subject
ought to be deprived of hie civil rights,
except by act of Parliament. (Hear, hear.) The effeet
of this oath had been for nine years to keep the city
of London, to a certain extent, unrepresented ; but it
must not be supposed that by mentioning that cir-
cumstance he was there as the advocate of Baron
Rothschild. He was instigated to pursue the present
course by his feelings as an Englishman and a member
of the British Parliament—(hear, heart—and he for one
would not allow the fag end of this oath to debar his
Jewish fellow-subjects from their civil rights. (Hear )
[LEFT SPEAKING.]

A letter from Athens sates that Mr. Smith O'Brien
is at present travelling in Greece.
THE DIVIDENDS.—The dividends will be payable to
the public at the Bank of England on Wednesday, the
9th inst.

THE " POLL AT ELECTIONS."—By a❑ order in Council,
dated April 4th inst., her Majesty has bee❑ pleased to
direct that the town of Ventnsr shall be a polling-place
for the Isle of Wight.
MEMORIAL TO LIEUT. WALSHAM.—A. brass tablet has
just been placed in St. James's Church by the school-
fellows of this gallant young officer, who fell one of the
first sacrifices of his country on the heights of the Alma.
—lpswich, Express.
We regret to hear of the death, on Saturday last, at
his residence, Cum'aerland-terrace, Lloyd-square, Pen-
tonville, of Mr. John Stoneman, of the firm of Iloulston
and Stoneman, Paternoster-row, in his 64th year.
The bar silver brought by the last West India steamer
has been sold at the previous price of 61d. The dollars
have not yet been disposed of.
A meeting of the Deposit and General Life Assurance-
office was held yesterday ; but the directors considered
it expedient to avoid publicity.
The London and County Bank have announced that
Messrs. Philip Patton Blyth, J. C. E wart, M.P., and
Wm. Lee, M.P., have been elected directors of that
establi,hmenf.

SACRED HATIMONIC SOCIETY. —Herr Formes has ar-
rived in England, and will sing in the oratorio of Elijah
on Friday next.
The Bulletin de Paris assures us that, from information
collected, it can state that the appearance of the corn
crops throughout the country is of the most promising
character, and if no unforeseen accident happen the
production of this year is likely to turn out uuusually
productive.
HER ili AJESTY'S THEATRE.—Pending the issue of the
managerial prospectus, it may be interesting to our mu-
sical readers to know that an engagement has just been
concluded with Alaalle. Marietta Piccolomini, who will
make her first appearance in England on Vie boards of
her Majesty's Theatre. This young lady (the niece of
Cardinal Piccolomini) has only very lately adopted the
stage as a profession. Her performances in Rome, Flo-
rence (at the Pergola), Bologna (at the Comrnunale),
Turin (at the Carignano), and lastly, Sienna (her native
town), have nevertheless already made her celebrated ;
and in one opera especially—" La Traviata," of Verdi
—her success has been s) extraordinary that enthusi-
astic compatriots have almost made an idol of her.
Whether she is destined to create the same impresvion
upon the more sober public of this metropolis remains
to be seen ; if, however, one half that has bee
ft n written
and said of her is true she roust be a very gied and at
person. Madlle. Piccolimini was engaged at
• Padua and other Italian towns up to October ; but, in
order to secure her services for the forthcoming season
• of her Majesty's Theatre, Mr. Lumley, we understand,
bas paid the stipulated forfeit to the directors of those

establishments.
THE WELLINGTON COLLEGE.—The first st:,ne of this
institution founded in honour of the illustrious Duke
whose name it bears, for the education of orphan sons
of officers of the army and the East India Company's
service, will be laid early in the ensuing mouth of May ;
and we understand her Majesty,. desirous of further
evincing the deep interest she takes in its success, and her
sympathy with those whom it is intended to benefit
the orphan sons of Gallant men who have fallen, or may
hereafter fall, in the discharo3 of their duty to tleir
country—has signified her pleasure to take part in the
ceremony. The original Intention was to lay the foun-
dation stone on the Ist of May, the anniversary of the
late Duke's birthday, but that has been abandoned,
owing to the day this y ear being Ascein,ion-day. It may
be desirable to some of our reAders to know that tie site
of the intended building is about two miles from the
Military CAlege of Sandhurst, on the Reading and
Reigate Railway.