§ MR. HADFIELDsaid, he would beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, Whether (referring to the Report of the Commissioners on Oaths) it is intended to bring in a Bill to render it unnecessary in future to impose any Oath except those which all persons may take conscientiously and without difficulty, and especially to abolish such Oaths as are now by Law imposed, and which, year after year, are dispensed with by an Indemnity Act?
§ MR. GATHORNE HARDYSir, as soon as I was in a position to do so I placed the matter in the hands of a draftsman, and instructed him to draw a Bill, having careful reference to the recommendations of the Commissioners. He has found the task a very arduous one, for it will require the repeal of nearly a hundred Acts; and, under the circumstances, my hon. Friend will hardly expect me to give at present a more specific answer to his question.