The Sun. — 1842-06-29 (London, England)

PEEL. is to he honoured as a great statesman, or derided as a mere pretender to statesmanship.  There is no body of professing Christians less open to attack than the Society of Friends, usually called Quakers. Taken as a whole, there is no Christian sect o lkt,le tainted with the vices that deform society. Cleanly in their habits ; grave and decorous in their demeanour ; shrewd, sensible, and intelligent in their conversation ; generally honest in their dealings ; punctual observers of their promises ; charitable to the poor; and avowedly opposed to quarrelling and litigiousness— statesmen rarely speak of them save in terms of the highest praise. In secret, however, they are regarded by many with an evil eye. The Church is not over fond of them, because they teach the practical lesson that men and women may be exceedingly moral and religious without priests. Among lawyers there is anu merous class of the profession who dislike men who never give rise to an action for homicide, and who as witnesses will affirm no more than in their consciences they believe to be true. Lord ABINGER is one of those legal luminaries who dislike the Quakers. The Noble and Learned Lord was never much celebrated for liberality of thought, and there are few men whose sympathies are expanded by increase of years. Certainly Lord ABINGEIt is not one of them. In the course of the debate on Monday night, in the House of Lords, upon Lord )EN MAN'S Affirmation Bill, the Noble and Learned Chief Baron of the Exchequer spoke of the Quakers in the following terms : He had a great respect for that very excellent class of men, the Quakers ; but still he must say, that of all the witnesses he ever examined in a Court of Justice, he found none so difficult to fence with as Quakers—(Hear and a laugh)—so difficult, indeed, that he often was led to think that it was part of their religion never to give a direct answer.—( Hear, and a laugh.) He did not mean to say anything to disparage the Quakers.—(" Hear, hear," from Lord Denman, and a laugh.) Well, if his Noble and Learned Friend wished him (Lord A binger) to be more explicit, he Mould say, that with the experience which he now possessed, he would not have supported the law which gave that sect their present exemption from taking oaths, and he certainly would not vote for the extension of that privilege any further. Lord ABINGER'S avowal, that with his long experience at the bar and upon the bench, were it to grant now he would not exempt Quakers from violating their consciences by taking oaths, casts a heavy, but most unmerited, reproach upon the Society of Friends. It implies, evidently, that his Lordship would sooner credit a Protestant upon his oath than a Quaker upon his affirmationWhat Lord ABINGER means by the difficulty he experienced in " fencing " with Quaker witnesses, we understand very well. It redounds greatly to their credit, though we confess there must have been many times when it must have proved exceedingly annoying to the quondam Tory Attorney-General. It is a confession on the part of the Noble and Learned Chief Baron of the Exchequer that he never could prevail upon Quaker witnesses to swear to facts of which they had only an imperfect knowledge. They were unmanageable, because they were not to be brow-beaten by a purchased scowl upon the countenance of an impertinent lawyer, or an overbearing judge. Lords BROUGHAM and DENMAN defended the Quakers from the imputations cast upon them by Lord