The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1869-06-05 00:00:00

THE LORDS & TUE IRISH CHURCH

BILL.

Chesterfield House, the London residence of
the Duke of Abercon, was the other d,ly the
scene of the mobt important demonstration that
has yet been made against the policy of the
pre,sent Government in respect to the Irish
Church Bill. This demonstration ought not to
be over-rated, but on the otLer hand it ,no,ht not
to be under-rated. It was the eaho, deliberate
expression of opinion 011 JO part if Malty Lai-
tutial religious associati• us in Irehind, and as
such ought to command rule et ; but however
e.dinly the statemento elight Imo la en mule,
they were ninny of them so one-siled and so
fall of sophistry that they ought not to LQ ac-
cepted without due examintitiou.
The religious :ael ies and associations repro-

„
gented were the 11-::fh Chinch Conference, di,:
Presbyterians, the central Pretestant Defence
Association, the Ulster Protetdaut Defence As-
sociation, tie Irish branch of the Clitireh Insti-
tute, and the National Protestant Union. These
associations of coarse do net think ex tetly alike
on the details of the Irish Church Bill, but they
are all opposed to its principle, and all would
heartily rejoice were the House of Lords to re-
ject it, anti the purpose of these 500 gentlemen
urging their views on this oectisien was to in-
duce the Lords to throw out the !sill. The here-
ditary chamber which it was hoped would ac-
complish this work was represented by some 18
Conservative noblemen, besides the Archbishop
of Dulnitt aim the Bishop of Berry, and for this
south body of peers the Duke of
Aheroirn replied in a guarded and indecisive
w ty. Bet let us glance at the argument& en-
to ced ity these influential deputations without
trying to harmonise any tli:crepancies of opt ,ion,
o to make any one association answerable for
a- y partieular statement.
50 01.0 ad,lreas the Irish Church Bill was ob-
jected to beeunae It proposed exceptional Wis.
I Hon. Bat the °inmost-aloes at'., exceptioual,
tie Irish Establiahed Chnreh being the Church
of a minority, and therefore unjaat to the ma-
i wity who are compelled directly or indirectly
to a insert it. The nearest approach to a par-
• a le: is the Church of England as it affects
• Wet •s, but then alas ia practically part of
England, and is goverued by the same laws.
Toe Lill wad also objected to Localise it will tend
to subvert parochial orgaublation, because it will
lea Ito the separation of Church and State in
England, becanae it ignores the rights of the
Protestant laity of Ireland, because it repeals
acts and clauses which it is beyond the moral
competence of Perlitment to repeal, because it
” unsettles the title to all property," and because
it will fail to secure the pa iitleatdon of Ireland.
Theo e was a good deal of arguineet indulged
in by lb t several speakers, but souse of thou
ventured on prophecy. 'lnc Hon. David Plen-
ket said that if the bill passes it will preduce
despair among the loyal Protestants of Ireland,
while the Catholics would certainly be disap-
pointed, if not stirred by a froitie spirit of re-
venge. Enlightened statesmen, however, who
have studied the whole question, believe that
; the loyalty of the aonntre' as a whole, will be
developed and increased, that a measure of km-
tice will be done to Ireland, as a wholeoind we
can well afford, therefore, to urge the passing of
a bill which will only be
.distasteful to a small
. .

minority, and will heartily be accepted by the
overwhelming majority. Dr. Bailey spoke of
the bill as a revolutionary measure ; and to
some small extent it may be so; but all great
reforms have been called revolutionary by their
,

opponents and have been r _•vo:utionar'y in some
respects. Catholic emancipation, Reform, and
Free Trade were all in some measure revolu-

tionary, just as the telegraph and penny post
have been revolutionary to the benefit of society
at large. Mr. Svaight put the Case of the Pro-
testants of Ireland in very neatly-expressed
language when he said that they "refuse to ac-
cept a part of their own property as the price of
filar acquiescence in the plunder of the rest
but this is not fairly stating the case. The Es.
tablished Church of Englund in Ireland —the
vet), words show how anomalous an institation
:it is—is an ecelesiastial and political injustice to
the majority of the nation, and the minority
are only made to cede an unjust position, and
will receive full compensation for the pecuniary
losses they suffer. Mr. Macrory also gave a very
neat turn of phraseology. •' I have always un-
derstood, he sail, " that when a treaty is entered
into by distinct nations it cannot be broken
without the consent of both parties, except by
force of arms." This alludes to the Treaty of
Union. But surely the same power which made
can unmake. If the Irish Church Bill become
law, it will be through the action of the Parlia-
ment of Great Britain and Ireland, in which the
latter country is fairly represented, while it is
notorious that the majority of the Irish mem-
bees are in favour of the measure.

THE IRON TRADE.
The attendance of frontnastera and others on

'Chan ge at Wolverhampton, on Wednesday last,