Excerpt from A Speech in the House of Lords, August 1, 1833, on a Bill for the Removal of Certain Disabilities From His Majesty's Subjects of the Jewish Persuasion: With Additional Remarks on Some of the Objections Urged Against That Measure I shall offer a very few observations on a part, and a part only, of the objections which have been taken to this Bill. And I shall confine myself to the consideration of objections, because it must be admitted, I concelve, that if these are removed, the Bill ought to pass. The pre sumption 1s evidently in favour of it; and the onus probandi lies entirely on those who oppose it. The general rule, indeed, is, that the pre sumption is in favour of any existing institution, and that the burden of proof lies on those who call for a change. But in the case of all restrlc tions and disabilitles, I consider the rule to be reversed, and the burden of proof to lie on the other side. Disabilities, restrictions, burdens, pains, and penalties of various kinds, may some times be necessary; but no one will contend that they are good in themselves. I conceive, there fore, that it'is not incumbent on those who advocate this Bill, to point out, in the first instance, the advantage of the relief which it proposes to give; but rather to meet the objec tions that are brought against it; because, if 'no sufficient reason can be shown for continuing them, it is clear that these and all other restric tions (their only warrant being that of necessity) Ought to be removed. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.