The Sun.
London, England, 1859-03-03 00:00:00

SION TO PARLIAMENT.

Mr. T. DUNCOMBE moved—" That whereas this house
had, upon two previous:occasions, resolved, that any per-
son professing the Jewish religion may henceforth, in taking
the oath prescribed in an act to entitle him to sit and
vote in this house, omit the words, ' and I make this decla-
ration upon the true faith of a Christian,' "—that leave
be given to bring in a bill to provide that the fore-
going resolution may be made a standing order. He con-
tended that, as matters at present stood, it was mostunsatis-
factory, as the standing order might be rescinded—not
that he thought such would be likely, if the people
wore consulted. When the resolution was placed on the
standing orders, no future Parliament would attempt to
disturb it, and it would remain on their records as a
memento of the religious toleration of the present day, as
well as the intolerance of a former period.
Mr. COX seconded the motion.
Mr. NEWDEGATE moved as an amendment to Mr. T.
Duncombe's motion—"Thatno resolution, under the provi-
sions of the act 21 and 22 Vic. c. 49, shall be moved in this
house, unless at least one day's notice of such resolution
shall have been previously given in the votes. That this
be a standing order of the house." He bowed to the
decision of Parliament with reference to the resolution, but
he felt bound to resist the present motion ; at the same
time, he considered that they proceeded with that motion
with too much haste. He would take the case of
the hon. member for London (Baron Rothschild) who, at
the time of his election, held the office of Consul-General
of Austria. They were aware that this house was
very jealous and carefully guarded against the
admission of an undue number of holders of
office under their own Government ; and was it wise,
therefore, to sanction the principle of admitting into Parlia-
ment persons who held offices under a foreign Government.
It was true that Baron Rothschild promptly and
honourably resigned his office when he was admitted
within the walls of the House of Commons ; but ought
they to trust to the honour of an individual in a matter of
so much importance as the admission of a representative to
the Legislature P
Mr. MALINS seconded the amendment, and begged
to point out a difficulty that existed in the course
proposed by the lion. member for Finsbury. Having come
to the conclusion they had done, he thought all further
discussion on the subject to which the motion referred
should cease, as being fruitless, and calculated to
place members of the Jewish persuasion who were returned
to Parliament in a disagreeable position pending such dis-
cussions, and he trusted the hon. member would not press
his motion.

Mr. BYNG supported the motion.
Mr. CONINGHAM asked Government which course it
would be necessary to pursue in dealing with the question,
if it was proposed to proceed with the motion. He would
vote for the motion, and he condemned the administration of
all oaths, as. being calculated to: extend hypocricy and
perju
Th CHANCELLOR, of the EXCHEQUER said that
he was informed it would be necessary to proceed in the
matter by legislation, if the house were desirous to
convert the resolution into a standing order. FM. his own
part he very much regretted that any such proposition as
that ,of the, hon. member for Finsbury had been in- '
troduced. He remembered what took place last
year —he would not say the compact that had
been entered into--but the representations that had been
made which induced certain members who were opposed to
the resolution not to offer any further resistance tolhe
passing of the resolution. If they adopted the course
proposed by the hon. member for Finsbury, they would
revive the discussions that had taken place on previous
occasions, and lead, perhaps, to some differences with the
Upper House. He could not vote for the amendment, on
the same ground as that on which he opposed the motion.
After some further discussion, in which Sir G. GREY and
other hon. members took part,
Mr. WALPOLE suggested that the motion should be
referred to a select committee, which was ultimately Agreed
to, and the motion and amendment were withdrawn, and a
, motion to that effect agreed to.