The Express.
London, England, 1868-09-24 00:00:00

IS PITIBLISICED

EVERY EVENING.

LONDON, THITRSDA Y, SEPT. 24.

CHURCH PARTIES IN IRELAND.

WII ILE the broad subject of the disendowment of
the I;ish Church continues to absorb a general
interest it may not be out of place to call attention
to what may be termed the domestic condition of
lie Establishment. The fact that Protestantism
is in Ireland confronted by an opponent so deter-
mined as Roruanisau, not only alters its ohatic-
teristic tone but changes it in details. We must
bear in mind that the state of things in the two
tenon' Ms is completely different. Here the re-
ministrations of the Clanrch are received
by t i.gregati.ns rare or less willing to accept
them, end the v. ry divisi. al, into which tit•CtS are
lash:, to t,lit nay Is• often considered as indica-
tive fen a inherent vitality. Ritualism may he
and it is to be deplored when it drifts
into IM. region of luxurious tuilline ry. holy per-
fumes, and musical gushing, but there are worse
phis. es of mind ;ham those produced by over-
heat, al belief. The Irish Church has wit even the
spurious fervour of this fa cling. The constant
effort to teach in the teeth of Catholicism partly
causes this ; the umnitigatsi bigotry . of those
professing the fact}, helps it. If there be idolatry
in P. noun worship the business
is earn.-d on under the eyes of the more
,inlightencd Protestant. He therefore has the
fear of ac,lytes, censers, and saints before him,
,:onstantly suppressing those instincts which de-
velop into the ornamental system of worship
amongst us. Pesidas, he often sees it in its
meanest and least attractive forms. The photo-
graph of the interior of a poor Irish country
chapel would be an exec Dent remedy for Ritualism.
The hideous pictures and decorations, the altar
tricked out with beads and gold paper, the shabby
dresses of the priosts, and the thurifer sending
forth folio* of resin, almost entirely dissipate any
dense of sympathy with the enthusiasm which is
the motive of this drear display. But on the
other hand, although Irish Protestantism, as a
Tula, does not offend by ceremonial gaudiness, no-
thing can be more sad and unpromising than it
appears in the rural quarters. Scattered over the
island, in the most out-of-. ho-way p;aces, you
come' across little churches which you shud-
der to look at. In nine cases out of ten, there is
no rassid• nee near them. The officiating minister
lives miles away, and comes here on the Sunday
to read the service and preach. His congregation
consists of, perhaps, a dozen people, often not so
many. lie has no peculiar views, or doctrines, or
opinions, nor have they. Ho goes through the
reading, the praying, and the sermoniiing in the
most perfunctory style. There is no interest in
Lim as in England, nobody will notice his dulness
if he be dull, his eloquence if ho be fervid and
elan& 111 the country towns things are not much
better. There are few church parties, because
there is little Church feeling. The congregations
consider that Uey ought to be of all things
" Protestuat ;" they ought to " protest " against
Romunisni, its mu ks, and pomp.. This has rally
opertt,il to prevent the Success of Protalvitantitou
as a naisicrusry church at pill in Ireland. Its
action has either hien negative or aggressive,
never conciliatory.

W • have teud • nines,. jokes here on the nature of
'urat,s, raid on the teereptie,n which they :met
with ionong4t mothers and daughters. We have
had o.days without number on their fulling in
love, their croquet propensities, their troubles, and
their joys. But in Ireland nothing of this kind is
ever heard. There in no sort of social or proles-
'done) concern uninitiated about young clergymen.
People might say--well, so much the better; let
then, mind their duties. But we must pause here,
and endeavour to realise how much of the spirit is
token out of action by the withdrawal of sur-