The Press.
London, England, 1856-04-19 00:00:00

THE PRESS.

But their mere enumeration points to a prac-
tical ditlieulty not easily dealt with. To repeal
an Act of Parliament is often far more difficult
titan to enact it in the first instance. The
repealing bill has .d be worked through the
House of Cosatnons; and the House of Lords,
in high political cos**, is firm in exercising its
• opinioa.
But,
withbat dismissing the subject et-
haustingly, w. a* remark that the feeljig
of tliti eountt Waynooth, and Of §.
largo portion of Mile Rouse of Commons,
is far from being inetketual. The fact is,
that the public inind has repeatedly been
irritated by rumours pointing to at pro-
bable endowment of the Minion Catholic
Church in Ireland We are convinced, by
observation, that much of the strength of the
Anti-Maynooth feeling is owing to the dread
of some " Liberal" Minister going down to
the House of Commons and recommending that
a large share of the public money should be
given to the parish priests of Ireland. The
feeling, therefore, which demonstrates itself
against Maynooth is in reality a protest against
further endowments being given to the Roman
Catholics; and even the Radicals of England
refrain from actively attacking the Irish
Church, when they thus find that a limited
endowment is conscientiously and vigorously
objected to by suet influential interests in this
country.
It ought, also, be remembered, that the
feeling against Maynooth rose contemporane-
ously with the furious assault of O'Cosser.l.
and the Irish Repeaters upon the Protestant
Church The priests had become politicians,
and the public spirit revolted against their
organised power and its reckless exercise. But
the Conservative elem •nt has since begun to
predominate in Irish society. The trade of
the Agitator is. at a discount, and the Irish
branch of the United Church of Great Britain
and Ireland was never more prosperous than
now. It would, perhaps, be bad policy at the
present time to be manufacturing a" grievance"
for the mouths of Irish declaimers. We can-
not forget how powerfully Lord JOHN RUSSELL
aided the Pope by his reckless mode of deal-
ing with the aggression; and action upon this
grave subject is almost impossible, except
upon a cool and guarded view of the %hole
caie, by a council of statesmen, deliberative
and free.

The taunts cast upon the Conservative
leaders in relation to this question are idle.
Their position upon it is precisely the same as
that of their political predecessors We recol-
lect that in 1840 Sir HENRY GEORGE WARD
(then a Member of the House) taunted the
late Sir ROBERT PEEL, with having acted in
the same way as the present Conservative
chiefs, whom it is factiously sought to dis-
parage. We need not rake into Hansard for
Sir HOBERT PEEL'S reply. But the " Liberals"
have never been able to appreciate the sense
of prospective responsibility which guides
Con-ervatives in opposition.
We cannot close these remarks without
directing attention to the important fact that
moat influential anti zealous Irish Conserva-
tives have expressed a strong wish that the
progress of social harmony in Ireland should
not be interrupted by polemical discussion,
which can lead to no practical conclusion.
The opinions of those gentlemen are entitled
to the careful consideration of the Conserva-
tive body of the empire.