The Press.
London, England, 1856-05-31 00:00:00

cussed and debated before the whole em-
pire from 1834 to 1841. It was decided in
favour of Proiestantism, of fixed institutions,
and of strict adherence to the Act of Union ;
and five cannot now have it reopened for the
purpose of embittering friends, and arraying
our Irish fellow.subjee.ta against etath other.
Upon the religion* and mor*L views of the
Irish Church, apart from its immense political
importance to the entpire, we May us4e h fret
remarks The lamentable troubles of Ireland
in the nineteenth century, and the cruel deeds
of Protector CROMWELL, had the unfortunate
tendency of making the Irish people confound
Protestantism with Puritanism; and the cruel
penal laws (tor which there was no political
necessity) were passed by a Whig aristocracy,
desirJus of extinguishing Jacobitism after a
mode that would have been worthy of ROBES
PIERRE.
But all that has passed away. The Irish
Church has undergone a vast internal reform
in the course of the last thirty years. Her
clergy may challenge comparison with those of
any Church in Christendom. Great and
respected names are to be found amongst her
' divines. MAOEE, JF.BB, GRAVES, amongst
them, not lung deceased, were eminent in
theology. Many more are to-day to be found
in her episcopacy, in her pulpits, and her
schools. The tone of the Irish gentry has
been raised by their exertions; and during the
famine the clergy of the Establishment acted
as almoners to the people. Not long before
his death, the late Mr. SHELL declared that
Protestantism never was so strong in Ireland.
This, therefore, would be no period for
mi.ddling with a Church which has thrown
off the laziness of the last century, and which
bids fair to be as "a light upon a hill."
Lastly, there is one short consideration
upon this question The private papers of
Sir ROBERT PEEL are just published, and the
consequences of " Emancipation without
securities" are patent to all men. Suppose
that the Irish Church were confiscated (sman-
dem Mr. MIALL), what security would there be
lett for toe Union with Ireland, or for the Pro•
testantisin of the empire? If the Roman
Catholics could succeed so far, What next?
When these questions are answered, hut not
until then, we may adjourn all practical con-
siderations of the levelling tendencies of that
odd kind of "Radicalism" which is ticketed
religious."

AUSTRIA ON THE TRIPLE ALLIANCE.
THE Anstr'al Cabinet has given to tha world,
through the medium of official journals, the
interpretation it places on the Tripartite
Treaty of the 16th of April. The Otiterrei-
ehische Correspondenz and the Weiner Zeitung
have been instructA to speak plainly. They
represent that tii4iree Powers, France, Eng-
land, and Austria;, have been closely allied in
policy on the Eastern question; that in the
quarrel between, Russia and the Porte the two
first interfere& with the sword, the last by
military demonstrations and treaties ; that their
obj •ct was the same ; that iu the Vienna Con-
ferences they proposed an active guarantee of
the inte_rity of the Ottoman empire ; that
such stipulation being then objected to by
Russia, it was not brought forward at the
Paris Conferences, but that tho principle
which dictated it survived ; that it outlived
the war, that it found expression in the
Treaty of April 15, and took its place among
the most firmly based international treaties.
Thus far the explanation accords perfectly
with that which Lord PALMERSTON gave to the
House of Commons on Monday se'nnight. But
the Austrian official papers go further. They
represent, and with the greatest truth, the
Triple Alliance, not as confined to a single
object, but as constituting au European policy.
The Weiner Zeitung declares :

It is true that the Treaty of April lb records the con-
tinuance of an alliance—an intimate union—between
Fiance, Anitria, and England, but it is based on the grin•
Moles ufjustice, which the Sovereigns openly profess, and
which in do way either menace or injure any other Govern-
ment. The treaty is based on principles which support
wd protect the balance of power in Europe, sad Ms lorri-
ory and authority of Me Govaninents of al! monstriew.