The Express.
London, England, 1868-05-23 00:00:00

ME UP.

would have been gracious in them talky') accept eli
the second reading of the Suspensoir, with.
out further controversy. If, however, ' they
have preferred to consume the time of the
House of Commons upon an exhausted
controversy and to sustain another unequi-
vocal defeat, we have no right to complain ;
because the more frequently they are defeated the
more thoroughly must the country be crnvinced
that the present House of Commons has delibe-
rately resolved to abolish established injustice in
Ireland. There might be some excuse for the
Government opposition to the second reading of
the bill if it could be converted into a hustings cry
idea
of the coming election. But Mr. DISRAELI'S
of a "lateral extension of endowmeuts in Ire-
land precludes the possibility of an effective No-
Popery cry being raised on this question of the
disestisirlishment of the Irish Church. Strangely
enough the only person who endeavoured to evoke
that familiar ghost last night was Lord Eeceo—
the independent Lsodicean —the representative
of a Seotch constituency. Now, nothing
can more clearly prove that there is no
connection between the disestablishment of
the Irish Church and Popery than the fact that
the liberal members from Scotland are on the
tide of Mr. LAI,,TUNE, who declared last night, in
the most emphatic language, " that the endow-
" went of different religious was fundamentally
and essentially opposed to the sentiments and
" convictions of the great body of the people of
" this country."
As the discussion raised yesterday seemed wholly
purposeless is its object, it was languishing
in its spirit, and was left almost entirely
in the hands of " little men." The scope
of the bill is so narrow that it required no effort
and demanded little time on the part of the leader
of the Opposition to explain it to the House. As
the natural and necessary consequence of tho reso-
lutions which preceded it, its introduction needed
neither justification nor explanation. To the ob-
jection that it was a waste of time because the
House of Lerds would be sure to throw it out, the
right hon. gentleman made the obvious reply that
it was beneath the dignity of the House of Com-
mons to regulate its action by an anticipation
of that of the other House of Parliament, to
which he added the consideration—which is
justified by experience, that " the sooner you begin
" to knock at that door the sooner it will be opened."
The HOME SECRETARY, who replied to Mr. GLAD-
avows, introduced matter which entirely changed
the character of the discussion, and converted it
into one on the general merits of Establishments,
the connexion between Church and State, the iden-
tity between the Church of England and the Church
of Ireland, and the necessity of maintaining the Irish
branch as the bond of the political union between
the two countries. The right hon. gentleman with
questionable propriety intimated that the endow-
ment of the Roman Catholic priesthood, of the
Roman Catholic University, or the augmentation
of the reyinm doneei, had never been discussed in
the Cabinet. But neither he, nor Mr. DISRAELI,
nor Lord Mayo, who spoke late in the debate,
satisfactorily explained or answered the pointed
question of Mr. Foevree, who inquired what the
IRISH SE.'RETARY meant by stating that he had no
objection to religious equality provided it was
effected by elevation and not by confiscation. We
must not do the Home .SECRETARY, however, the
wrong of denying that his reply exhibited an
amount of verbose readiness which charmed his
friends. The member for the University of Oxford
has a kind of Kentish-lire character with a flavour
of Orange bitterness, which, in the absence of
sleek insipidity, is most attractive in a Tory leader,
and this accounts for the preferential favour with
which his utterances are received by the more
militant section of the party. He despises the
subtler qualities of mystery and mockery, and re-
lies for producing effect by the direct and short-cut
method. One of the moat fanciful and ludicrous
pleas ever put forward on behalf of the Irish
establishment was that it was weak, and
was attacked because of its weakness. Stand-
ing, as it does, in Mr. HARDY'S estimation,
on the same firm basis as the Church of England,
this plea of weakness is a strange admissien in his
mouth, and can only be accounted for by the fact,
which he will not admit, that its weakness arises
from the anomalous circumstances which surround
it in Ireland. His allusion to the fact that three
different creeds are supported by the State in
France was equally unfortunate, for every one who
is at all acquainted with that country must be
aware that "lateral extension" of endowments
has not produced religious cancord, whilst the
indifferent endowment of clashing and hostile
creeds has given rise to a well-known phrase
La /el on France est Attu. Lord ELCHO was more
logical when he denied the possibility of establish-
ing religious equality. Carried out in its integ-
rity that principle, he said, would lead to the ap-
pointment of a Roman Catholic Lord-Lieutenant
in Ireland, a Roman Catholic Lord Chancellor in
England, and to a repeal of the Act of Settle-
ment.

Mr. DIEIWILI was unwontedly feeble and jejune
in his reply to the pointed questions of Mr.
Fossrea, and to the arguments of Mr. Giansrorrz.
Indeed he hardly touched the immediate subject of
consideration at all. He was neither critical nor
caustic, and therefore he was not himself. With a
strange perversion of all sense and meaning, he
asserted that there was perfect religious equality
now in Ireland ; but, as Mr. GLADNTONE well re-
marked. religious equality of individuals was one
thing and religious equality of churches was quite
a different thing. He might have illustrated this
by observing that the fate of this very bill may
depend on the vote of the bench of Bishops who
belong exclusively to the members of one religious
denomination. The PRIM LIE was in the vein for
asking for definitions. He wanted to know
" What was meant by religious equality 7" " Who
" were the Irish people and " What was level-
" ling up 1" These were, he said, vague and un-
meaning phrases. But there was no vagueness
about the right hon. gentleman when he aban-
doned criticism and came to prophesy. This
disestablishment of the Irish Church was,
according to him, the beginning of a policy
which would disturb the social system to its
centre ; it could dim the lustre of the Crown ; it
would lower the character of the people of this
country. We should have more apprehension of these
terrible anticipations if we 'did not know that
they have been time, out of mind, the idols specus
that have been conjured up to frighten weak-
minded people. There is another possible conse-
quence of this policy which the right hon.
gentleman did not allude to, the downfall of a
ministry which has dung to office under moat
humiliating defeat with a pertinacity which is un-
precedented in the parliamentary history of Eng-
land. The remoteness or proximity of that event
it is impossible for us to conjecture, because
the experience of the past supplies neither guide
nor page for estimating the sensitiveness of the
Pasxma,

A moan extraordinary snit than thatief LYON
v. Hor■ has rarely bass presented, or one
which demanded a more carefully considered
judgment. We need not recapitulate the evi-
dence, for it is familiar to the world. Mrs.
Live told her story with amusing frank-
ness, but with such blundering inconsistencies
as to do considerable damage to her cause. It
was clear, however, that the erratic course she
pursued was entirely owing to her affection for her
deceased husband, and that it was this affection that
gave Hoes so strange an influence over her. She
was told, and was foolish enough to believe, that
it was her husband's wish she should adopt
him, and these mundane spirits, knowing
fellows surely, advised or ordered hor
to invest a considerable amount of bank
stock in the name of the medium. No doubt
it is a common thing for old ladies to befool them-
selves and for young men to make fools of them.
Had Mr. Hors's influence been exerted in the
ordinary way, the law would have had nothing to do
with it. But Mr. Hoe! invoked the
" spirits, " and thus brought an extra-
ordinary and undue influence to bear upon
Mrs. Lvoer. Had there been no spirits in the
case it is evident there would have been no trans-
fer of stock, and it is on this account that the
gifts and deeds are declared fraudulent and void.
Mr. Hoes professes that he has no power over
these manifestations—but it is passing strange,
to say the least, that they should have been
so subservient to his interests and so conveniently
silent when those interests were attained. Mr.
HOME'S assertion that ho was under the influence
of Mrs. LYON was treated by Vice-Chancellor
GIFFARD with tho contempt it deserved. " The
" whole history of the transactions," he said,
" pointed to a directly opposite conclusion." We
are glad to see, too, that his Honour utterly re-
jected the unmanly excuse of the defendant that
Mrs. LYON turned against him because he would
only treat her in the character of a mother.
Every letter and every act of the plaintiff he
declared to be inconsistent with such a suppo-
sition.

The spirits have, no doubt, made themselves
infinitely contemptible by this exhibition of their
craft ; and if the trial has the effect of tpening
men's eyes to the folly of "spiritualism," it will
prove a public benefit. It is a terrible slur upon
the wisdom and sound sense of the age, that
people should be found, not among the ignorant,
but among the well-educated, who can believe in
these pretended manifestations. Is it because in
proportion as men lose faith they gain in super-
stition ?