The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1868-04-11 00:00:00

THE WEEKLY PRESS ON THE
IRISH CHURCH.

The Sotorday Benin,. inquires how is it possible to
deal with a Ministry like that which now exists r In
the face of such ludicrous vacillation, of such bare-
faced attempts to catch men of the most opposite
views, and of such pitiable uffiirts to make friends
with each party by turns, in the hopes that it might
prove to be the mammon of unriehteousneas they were
in search of, and would befriend them in their need,
how is it possible that they could command the respect
of their enemies or their adherents? They have done
infinitely more than the Liberals have done to form an
opinion of the country on the Irish l'hUrch. What
chance can an institution have that is defended in this
way? They forced the issue on many wavering minds,
and obliged them to say more or less openly that it
was clear the thing would not do, and that the Irish
Church must go. If the Ministry behaved in this
way, it was scarcely possible to pretend that the
opinions of liberals on the Irish Church was not
challenged. Alen who previously shrank from coun-
tenancing a party move, and were averse te the Irish
Church being made the battle-field of faction, were
compelled from mere self-respect to show that they
were capable id forming and expressing a distinct
opinion. And if this was the effect on Liberals, the
effect on many Conservatives was to fill them with
dismay. Were they, then, to be once more sheep fol-
lowing a strange shepherd to unknown pastures?
Were established churches to be tossed about like
shuttlecocks by Conservative leaders, just as the com-
pound householder and the checks on Reform were
tossed last session? Lord Cranborne, in a most
pointed, lively, and effective speech, expressed these
natural feelings, and appealed to past experience to
show those who Pit on the Ministerial benches how
very easily the Irish Church 'nay be sacrificed by the
leaders of the party. Mr. Hardy tried, and not in
vain, to animate the courage of his adherents, to rally
them to the grand old cry of "No surrender," and to
make the partisans of the Irish Church believe that
they had at least one reliable friend and champion.
But nothing that Mr. Hardy said eoffid undo what
Loci Stanley had said before him. The most he did
was to show that, even if lie did not push scrupulous
houepty far enough to sacrifice office last year, yet he
is a thoroughly sound Conservative. But this cannot
help the Irish Church, or make the past conduct of
the Ministry with reference to the Irish Church c.
herent, wise, and honourable. They have lost them-
selves altogether on this question, and even if they re-
tain office, the consequences of their errors cannot
ceimw befelt.

The Spectator remarks that one exception to the pre-
vailing earnestness has been in the utter failure of
Lord Stanley, in which we have the stronge4 proof of
the reality and completeness of the issue raised. Till
Monday night, he enjoyed, far more than any man in
the Cabinet, the confidence of the country, the respect
of his opponents, the friendship of his own party. So
great was the consideration for him, that bad he re-
mained silent, or even frankly stated that on this point
he stool too much alohe to act, he would have been
freely forgiven. But he chose to lend himself to a
mere trick, to evade the issue. instead of meeting it,
to plead for time, without a hint how either he himself
or his chief wished the time to be employed, lie did
uot conceal a latent contempt for the Irish Church,
esid openly that the establishment was in his mind but
au empty title, admitted that not one educated man in
a hundred thbeght the Church as it was could last,
proposed formally to allow of "modifications." vet,
nevertheless, advised the Hon& to do—what! o-
thing, to abstain even from asking what Government
were prepared Ludo, We do wit hesitate to say that
Lord Stanley sat down shorn of half his well-earned
presti c, e.ith lees chance of the ultimate leadership of •
his party than the eloquently bitter aristocrat who
in such a ringing speech, whether Mr. Disraeli
had again commenced the " education " of Conserva-
tives. As for Mr. Disraeli himself, we will not con-
demn him unheard, but we believe that by the course
be has adopted sanctioned he has finally lost his
chance of ruling England. It was open to him, as a
party leader, to meet Mr. Gladstone, as his party
desired, with a flat and final refusal It was open to
him is ho, alone among the Tories, has never concealed
his almorrence of the Tory system in Ireland, to step
boldly forward, declare that the Establishment should
end, and leave it to a new constituency to decide if be
were not the fittest Minister for a revolutionary time.
But it wan not open to him, or any one else, to declare
the altar "sacred," aud then stake it on a throw
of the dice, to ask protection for the Ark till he
could get a hammer strong enough to break it up, to
cajole Levites into a belief that the sanctuary could
b. at be saved by offering it for sale.

Toe Ex,antiocr explaine the esoteric meaning of Lord
Stauley'e amendment and Mr. Dieraeh's policy. They
admit that the Churc.h is overpaid; they admit secta-
rian inequality to be indeferulible ; they admit the ex-
pediency of winning over the Catholic pephlation to
thee:o,e of loyalty and law. But, on the other hand,
they refuse to nett the alienation of tow privileged class
in Ireland, 'part of Oxfam hereditary.pay has hitherto
.nsi,ted rich benefices, deaneriea, and bishoprics;
they refuse tolessen by 000,000-a year the resource.
of Conservatiam in Ireland ; they refuse to break up
their party. Better hold togyther in some fashion, and
for a time be driven from power, than accept volun-
taryism a, the uniform rule for the future in Ireland
instead of endowment. A -good :rainy things have
been said moreover, of late, by prominent members of
both Houses, calculated to encourage them in adher-
ing to this view. The pamphlets of Lord Russell and
Lord Grey, and the speeches of Mr. Bright and Mr.
Osborne, point contentedly in this direction. The

only difference between them is a difference of peel,-
Diary amount. Shall we endow all, or shall we et-
dew none? This is the question and the only que,..
two any longer worth arguing. The status quo ant.
klitira will nes er form the basis of a new treaty v.
peace. It has had its day, and there will soon be at
end if it. %%dust is to take its place ? What would e
new Parliament yet e its the hest thing to take itA
place ? What would Mr. Gladstone himself propos..
if to-morn iw he were Premier, with a good won in
majority to back him. Iv common with many of his
friends and his admirers, we own ourselves linable
ii-
uiidrrstard precisely his meaning when he spoke id
retaining two-thirds of the Church property in Ire-
land, for the purpose of compensating the present
incumbents, and thooe who, hosing rattled the Church
as a profession, might set up reversionary claims, on
the ground of their indelible orders. A. for indelibility.
the alternative is easy and cheap, namely, to extend
to all Irish curates the benefit of Mr. Bouverie's biil
fir releasing men from improvident Vow, of sanctity.
or at leant of sayer& itality ; and for the rest, we confess
we do not see why men who have chosen to go in for
prizes in a clerical lottery should be compensated, upon
the enppreesion of that mode of gaming. We apeaksow.
id coulee, only of the worlihlanigs. Those who hare
taken upon them the pastoral office in the sincere
belief if a spiritual call thereto, for the saving of lost
souls, will never ask to be put upon half-pay for doing
nothing during the rest of their lives. They did not
enter the Church for the chance of obtaining a sine-
cure. and they will not on the low of that chance peti-
tion for a pension.

The London Review remarks that Mr. Bright wa,,
never more felicitous than in his-description the other
night of the position anti of the tactics if the Govern-
ilient. It is rather a favourite notion -wit many
Liberal, that it hi advantageous to have the Gon-
servatives in office because they are then far more dis-
posed to Make ooncessions than when they sire in
opposition. But we must pay a heavy price for an- •
thing that we gain in this way. The honour and the
character of our political parties and our political
leaders are possessions that we can hardly prize to
highly, and that we can hardly protect too sedulously
against deterioration. Now, a GoCernment in a
I minority is, as the member for Birmingham observed,
almost inevitably dishonest, or, at any rate, dign-
genuoust. Having come into office with well-defined
principles and strong opinions, they soon find tat in
order to keep their places it is necessary to sacriTce the
one and to modify the other. But then all the
members of the Cabinet are not equally facile in con-
version, while their followers, who have no place!' to
save, are slow to admit the necessity of being con-
verted at all. The consequence is a process of " edit-
' cation " like that which the Conservatives passed
through in the Reform Bill, or a system of evasion
self-contradiction such as that we have witnessed within
the last few days in reference to the Irish-Church. if
it is any part of the duty of an Administration to
have a policy, and to insist upon it, nothing can be
more contemptible than the line, or rather the several
lines, taken by the Government during the last few
days. In the debate on Al r. hf aguire's resolution, Mr.
Disraeli made a speech which, if it meant anything,
meant that he intended to stake the existence of his
Govenunent on the maintenance of existing endow-
ments, including that of the " alien" Church established
in the sister country. His letter to Lord Dartmouth
was conceived in the sante spirit, and was to the same
effect. But then came Lord Stanley's arnemiment,
which, as interpreted by Lord Stanley's speoff, wan
not only open to an opposite construction, but ffid not
in fact admit of any other. According to the noble
lord, nothing in further from the intention of the
Government than to nail their flag to so rotten a mast
as the Protestant Establishment. Not one edu-
cated person in a hundred will contend that the
Irish ecclesiastical arrangements are aatilifactory
as they stand. The connection between Church
and State is little MOM than an empty title. The real
difficulty is not so much in either disestablishment or
disendowinent, as in dealing with the funds which the
latter operation will set free. The desire of the Govern'
ment is not to obstruct the come++ of reform, but to
adjourn it to a new Parliament, by which it can alone
be effectually undertaken, and in the meantime to
avoid fettering their own discretion, or interfering with
the discretion of a Reformed lionse of Commons. \ Ve,
do not believe that Parliament will accept this theory
of its own incompetence, or that it will allow its
hands to be tied by the fifth article of the Union, 'sr
any similar bond. It is our duty to deal with the
question of the slay by the lights and in acconisince
with the wants of the day; mud this duty, too !bug
neglected, is not likely to lie forgotten by the house-
hold democracy whom Mr. Hardy has' assisted in
calling into existence. , His honest and outspoken
support °I the Irish Protestant Church may command
our respetit, hut casmot avert its fate. At the satin.
Utile, it is infinitely more respectable than the in-
sincere and evasive artifices by which Mr. I 'lsraeli and
ird Stanley would convert that institution into a
more pawn in their political game.