The Express.
London, England, 1851-03-26 00:00:00

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LONDON, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 26.
AFTER a fortnight's hearing of the opinion of par-
ties relative to the Ecclesiastical Titles Assumption
Bill, the House of Commons have decided by 438
votes against 93 that it will proceed with the mea-
sure. 'That there exists a majority for strengthening
the bill, at least as far as regards England, and for
rendering it, as the Leeds Mercury justly observes,
self-executory, there cannot be a doubt. And that
there is also a general desire to exempt Ireland, if it
can be done, without giving a triumph to Rome, is
also very manifest. And yet the bill would not
affect any of the present Rouiau Catholic Bishops in
Ireland, Knee one.
One of the great difficulties in the debate, as well
as in dealing with the question, is certainly the habit
in which political parties have been of humouring
and flattering the Irish Roman catholics, instead of
meeting them in the manly and open language of
frankness and honest respect. Ihe language of
Peelites, whigs, and even radicals, has so long been
that of cajolery and compliment, that instead of
being able to meet the Irish intelligent Roman
catholic face to face, and telling him what is objec-
tionable and dangerous in his church, government, and
religious tendencies, this duty has been so shrunk
from and blinked, that the language,when necessarily
resorted to, has all the air of insult. The whigs
have now been reduced to the necessity of
speaking thus openly to the Roman eatholies,
of objecting to the consequences of their Roman
allegiance and Austrian connexion, and to they prin-
ciple of rendering all political considerations subor-
dinate to the desires or the honours of their priest-
hood. The necessity of stating these objections, of
acting upon them, and making them nutters of legis-
lation, has fallen on the whip ; whilst the onus and
the obloquy are rejected by -the Peelites, who, with
Sir JAMES GRAHAM, continue their old cajolery to
the Irish Roman catholics, in the vain, the idle, and
interested hope of swelling a party.
It is this attitude of the Peelites which has given
inveteracy to the debate, and difficulty to the
question. In truth the measure is tatting in
itself, though important as a symbol. But the
scope end reach of its netted penalties are so small
that it is really not worth discussing, and would not
have been seriously disputed had not the friends of
the late Sir ROBERT PEEL made a mountain of the
molehill, and taken their party stand upon it, for the
mere p of showing how much more liberal and
tolerant they were than the whip. And yet such
an appeal as this to the dissenters, and to the liberal
religionists, however adroitly made by such loose
and leading fishes of the party, as Sir J. Gtiumm,
is the most profound of hypocrisies,coming from a band
of politicians the ablest of whom entertain notions
of religion and of ecclesiastical government, the most
opposite of tolerance, of voluntaryism, and of free
thoughtcdness. National popery, a worship to en-
thral the senses, and a doctrine to exclude the ma-
soning faculty, a government of the state by profes-
sional politicians, and of the religious mind and
church by professional priests—these are the doc-
trines of the Young Peclites ; and from those natu-
' rally How respect, affection, and sympathy for
Rome.
The most crafty and able of these papistical wolves
in protestant sheep's clothing, is undoubtedly Mr.
GLAnstosE. Ile commenced his speech last night
by admitting that the church of England was in
serious peril. The peril was not, in Mr. GLAD..
STONE'S opinion, aught that temporal legislation could
cure. From this we can only infer that Mr. GLAD-
STONE wishes to re-establish convocation, and restore
synodal action to the church of England, whilst ho
allows it to the church of Rome in England. We
must say that this scheme is the most extraordinary
one for allaying religious excitement that we have
yet heard.
We can perfectly understand the American
system, which declares the state indifferent to
religion and a stranger to it, after having first
passed education laws, nortmain laws for personal
and real property, and taken every guarantee that
can be required against Rome. We can conceive
the Americans caring little for Roman catholic
titles or synodal action. But in England, to uphold
a state church, and then encourage rival churches to
jostle and pelt at it, is not possible. The pro-
testant established church must be either pro-
tected, or abolished as a state church. As to the
protestant church in Ireland, Mr. GLADsroxt: aban-
dons it, by alleging, with his friend Sir Joust
Yousto, that it is such a ricketty concern that the
least quarrel with or provocation to the Roman
eatholics of that country would give them the pre-
text, which they want, in addition to the power,
which they have, to destroy it. For our part,
we had always hoped, and do hope still,
that a fair accord may be come to between pro-
testants and catholics, that the limits between
them may be fixed, and the rules laid down, as they
are in all countries of mixed religion, how far each
may assume and claim authority. Rut this must bo
done by law and by parliament—by that temporal
legislation, in fact, which Mr. 01,ADsvoNr. depre-
cates, and without which the Roman catholics
will
go on assuming, and the protestants resenting, until
we awake in the midst of civil war, and that whilst
politicians are preaching a peace and a tolerance, in-
comprehensible to any save themselves.
Mr. GLADSTONE says, that to forbid a Roman
catholic to style himself Archbishop of Canterbury
is an interference with spiritual authority. This ho
would not do for the world. But the thrhidding Ro-
man catholic prelates or churches from inheriting
property, that may be done, according to Mr. GLAD-
STONE, without infringing spiritual liberty. It is
a temporal concern. Now this is a mere quibble,
for we will be bound to say that more serious perse-
cution could be exercised against the Roman catho-
! lies, and far more serious discontent excited amongst
them by following out this principle of Mr. GLAD-
STONE, than in observing that delicacy of Lord JOHN
RUSSELL, who inflicts the lenient inhibition to
assume territorial titles.
Although we have slight respect for those pro-
fessional politicians, who, though calling themselves
tories, affect to pooh pooh the bill as inefficient, and
at the same time denounce it as persecution, it is with
fear and reluctance we differ from such liberals as
Mr. HUME, in whose regret for the waking up of
such a question We fully concur. But we think Mr.
IlustEdeeidedly wrong in throwing upon government
or upon the whig party the blame of having excited
this religious feud. The very panciple of the whigs
is to keep out of such scrapes; their very instinct
prompts them to do nothing in such matters, and we
are confident that if Lord JOHN RUSSELL thought ho
could with safety and in honour have done nothing,
he would infinitely have preferred that course.
But unfortunately Cardinal WISEMAN and the
POPE left him no choice. What this pair of
worthies have dared and have done, may appear of
very little importance to those, unactuated by strong
religious feelinp, or by principles of liberty which
are bound up with these religious feelings, such as
English liberalism has always been. These ffirm
the very pulse of the nation, and to suppose that it
would not, or to say that it did not, heat with in-
dignation at the appointment of a cardinal to go-
vern our counties, is Merely to shut one's eyes and
ignore the age.
Considering that the cause of all this exeitemel.Y.t
and offence came from the Roman catholic party in
far from being denounced
oicak'rtdmhisaociroin•estired,ellimitndAge7cothatokt,weidn
ennue and abetted atbethttcedprlinycitphloe
of the present bill already existed-in the Lot of 1829,
which was accepted with gratitutieby Vac Lisheatho-
press; consideringhowmild and to t the government
had shown itself in sanctioning cat and national
encroachments on the part of oatholice on

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