The Sun.
London, England, 1850-08-05 00:00:00

and the vacillation and apathy of the Government. Ac-
cordingly, a resolution that would lead to the vacation
of the seat has been sedulously avoided by Sir JOHN
R.OMILLT, although.on Tuesday last he declared his
opinion to be, that, "if Baron ROTHSCHILD abso-
lutely refused to take the oath of abjuration, the seat
became vacant." The Right Honourable Gentleman
has thus been compelled to steer a middle course,
which he unhesitatingly declared to be far more dis-
creditable to the Government than if the extreme
penalty insisted on by the advocates of bigotry and
intolerance had been fully enforced.
The Hon. and Learned Gentleman, the Member
for Oxford, whose learned and able arguments on
this interesting case have never been adequately
answered, clearly and distinctly proved, not only that
the disputed words were part of the " adjuration"
or "thing sworn by," but he even showed that the
Ilouse itself had so decided in the only case that ever
came before it for adjudication. With sin-
gular precision he traced the history of the oath,
through its various phases, and showed that the case
of " Judaism" was never contemplated, nor could it
have arisen in the minds of the framers of that oath at
the time of the enactments which rendered it compul-
sory, not only upon Members of the Legislature to take
it, but en every suspected person who might be re-
quired so to do by two magistrates. Quakers were
subsequently relieved from the act of swearing, but
they were obliged to make a declaration, according to
a specified form, of the substance of those oaths. If
the words " on the true faith of a Christian " farmed
an essential portion of the oath, they should have
been embodied in the declaration. But they were
altogether omitted in the case of Mr. PEASE, who
positively declared " that in the affirmation which he
took the words on the true faith of a Christian' were
not contained." The Attorney-General asserts it
was notorious to the House and the whole
community " that Mr. PEASE, as a Quaker, was a
Christian," and that, therefore, the argument does not
apply ; but that is begging the question, the penalty
is not against the Jew, but against the person who
refuses to take the oath in that form. Mr. PEASE
objected even to affirm it ; he was not required to do
so ; it was, therefore, matter of form and not of sub-
stance, and the precedent must apply to the present
case.

We shall not recapitulate the arguments of Mr.
PAGE WOOD to show that the penalties were re-
pealed—arguments in which we fully concur, or those
to show that the last words are no more essen-
tial to the oath than the name of the monarch,
and that the name of Queen ANcE should be con-
tained in the form and not of Queen VICTORIA, the
former being the name contained in the last statute
on the subject. We shall merely refer to a point
which we believe bas not yet been alluded to. The
penalty, if any there be, is that the party offending
shall be "deemed and adjudged a Popish recusant
convict, and shall forfeit and suffer as a Popish recusant
convict," Etc. Now, we believe that " Popish recu-
sants" have been by Act of Parliament freed from
these old penalties, that the penal code has been long
since abolished. Being a Popish recusant, therefore,
incurs no disability or forfeiture at the present day ;
and therefore Baron ROTHSCIIII.D must be entitled to
take the seat to which he has been elected without
let or hindrance.

THE FRENCH REPUBLIC.

We have received the Paris journals of Saturday
and of yesterday.

On Friday the National Assembly was the scene
of a cLsgraceful row, occasioned solely by the gross
misconduct of M. DuriN, the President. M.
LATRADE had moved the abolition of the tax on
potable liquors, the debate was concluded, and the di-
vision had commenced, when from the Right there
arose loud calls for a secret division, the Legitimatist
Members for the Southern Departments being
fearful of losing their seats if it should be
known that they voted against the motion. This
call was decidedly contrary to the regulations, as
the open division bad already commenced ; never-
theless M. Dorm, who never scruples to set law,
decency, and order, alike at defiance, whenever the
interests of the reactionary party are concerned, at
once countermanded his -former order and ordered
the secret division to be taken. M. LATRADE rushed
to the tribune, and in energetic terms denounced
the cowardice of the Members who called for the
secret scrutiny, the subserviency of M. DuriN, and
the illegality of the whole proceeding. M. AIATHE
denounced the conduct of M. Durum as shameful, and
M. DurrlNt declared that the open voting had not
commenced at the time he ordered the secret voting
—although he could not deny that some of the
members had recorded their votes. 111. MATIIE
hereupon at once declared that the statement of the
PRESIDENT was untrue, fir which he was called to order
with the censure. A scene of indescribable confusion
ensued, which ended in the rejection of the motion by
316 to 236.

The motion of M. COLFAVEU for a return
of the names of all the shareholders in
the Nantes and Bourdeaux Railway was rejected
on Saturday by a majority of 212, the numbers
being—for the motion, 182 ; against it, 394.
The discussion on the Railway Bills commenced
on Saturday, and several clauses were agreed to.
111. GUIZOT has published a letter stating his
reasons for refusing a seat at the Board of the new
Council of Education. lie states his conviction that
the new law will fail in its object, declares bis belief
that it is impossible ever to produce unity and accord
between the clergy and the university, and declares
that in his opinion the only educational system that
can be adopted is one of entire liberty, allowing fa-
milies freely to choose between church and secular
schools.
We read in the Bulletin de Paris :

" The day before yesterday M. de Larochejacquelin re-
ceived a letter from the Count de Chambord, announcing
that he will arrive at Wiesbaden on the itch, and ex-
pressing an earnest desire to see M. de Larochejacquelin."
This is regarded as a Legitimatist demonstration in
opposition to the Bonapartiste.
The Pays says :
" The journey cf the President of the Republic in the
department of the Niarre is, it is said. positively fixed
for the 20th inst. M. Dupin, the President of the As-
sembly, will accompany the Prince into his department,
the journey, which was to have taken place about the
11th, having been delayed for that object."
The suppression of the Board of General Health
of Marseilles by the Government, and its refusal to
establish a quarantine, has produced great excitement
in that city. The prefecture was mobbed by a pro-
cession of the merchants and other principal inha-
bitants, who insulted the secretary of the Prefect,
threatened to take arms, and declared that they would
no longer obey the orders from Paris. After some
conciliatory words from the secretary, and a promise
to ask for further orders by telegraph, the crowd re-
tired; hut the excitement in the city still continued,
and by the last accounts the troops continued under
arms, and the streets were patrolled by cavalry and
infantry.
The Council of the arrondissement of Roche-
chourt, Haute Vienne, demands the revision of the
Constitution at the legal term, for the purpose of
sparing the country the agitation consequent on an
election of President every four years. It also de-
mands that the Prefects shall have the nomination of
the Mayors. The Council of the arrondissement of
Chalons, Marne, demands the same as respects the
Mayors.

BUSINESS DONE IN FOREIGN RAILWAYS AT THE
LONDON STOCK-EXCHANGE, Ara. 3.

Boulogne and Amiens, G';',',—Central of France (Orleans
and Vierzon), 143/4—East Indian, 7%—Namur and Liege,
—Northern of France, 143/4—Orleans and Bourdeaux, 31,A
—Paris and Rouen, 241,4.

SPAIN.

Madrid journals of the 30th ult. have arrived.
They announce the arrival of Lord lIOWDEN, the
British Ambassador, in that city.
General SERRA.NO IS named Inspector-General of
Cavalry vice General JOSE DE LA. CONCHA, ap-
pointed Captain-General of Cuba.
MADRID BoLsa, JULY 30.—The Three per Cents.
32i; the Five per Cents., 124; Exchange on Lon-
don, 50 40.