The Sun.
London, England, 1852-10-29 00:00:00

alt Ate

LONDON, FRIDAY, OCTOBER 29, 1852.

Mr. BRIGEIT has taken full advantage of his Irish
experience. Like many former travellers in that
country, he has fancied that he could, during a tour
of a few weeks' duration, make himself thoroughly
acquainted with the various evils and abuses by which
that unh ippy fault is S ffl lc ted, and solve the problem
that had puzzled the natives, aye, and would-be legis-
lators, for centuries. TLie Honourable Gentleman is,
however, resolved that he will not "bide his light."
He has conceived a plan for the satisfactory s,,ttle-
meat of the Irish Church question, that fertile source
of dissension and discord—the establishment of per-
fect "religious equality "—and the removal of all
future disputes on the subject of " the loaves and
fishes." This be has pubiisbed in the form of a letter
—to which we gays, insertion in our impression of
yesterday—which is to be laid before the Conference
about to be held on the subject of " the existing ec-
clesiastical arrangements of the country," and for it
he apparently hopes to have the concurrence of all
parties engaged in the contest.
His scheme has at least the merit of simplicity. He
sets out by assuming that the most perfect" equality "
before the law for the different religious sects that
exist in Ireland—which singularly enough he limits to
the Protestant Episcopalian—the Presbyterians and the
Roman Catholic Churches—is indispensable. It is not
enough that there should be universal toleration—that
!very man should be allowed to worship his Creator
I.l' the manner which in his soul and conscience
h
believes to be most acceptable to the Deity; and
that without incurring any disability or disqualifica-
tion on account of his opinions. No, that would be
rejected with scorn, unless every honour or emolli-
ent accorded to the one were participated in by the
ether, and the rival Churches were made like the
two Kings of Brentford, it smelling at the one nose-
gay." How then is this desideratum to be attained ?

.. _
Is it by elevating threosltoi-om-n-anCaThoii; and Presby-
terians to the same position the Episcopalians,—by
allowing the "Protestant" word is Mr. BRIGHT'S
—" to remain as it is, or, at least, to
ocontinue to be a
State Church, building up at its aide
a Catholic Es-
tablishment ; and to complete the scheme,
a Presby-
terian E3tablishment also, having a batch
Catholic
Prelates and Presbytererian Divines in the House
Lards ?" No,—this scheme of equality,
whictof
l he
seems to think would meet the views of Lord Jones
RUSSELL and Earl GREY—be declares would, in hisl
opinion, be, and must necessarily be, altogetherth er hn.
practicable,—a matter on which we suspect e
will be the most complete unanimity throughout tse
f the land. It requires no subtle
length and breadth o
reasoning or prolonged argument to prove the absur-
dity of having "two Established Churches in Ireland
—the one Protestant, and the other Catholic ;" or of
naving in the House of Lords " Protestant and Ca-
tholic Bishops elbowing each other on the right
reverend bench, guarding the temporal and spiritual
interests of two Churches which denounce each other
as idolatrous or heretical." That pint may, there-
fore, safely be dismissed without further discussion.
But if it be impossible to elevate the Roman Ca-
tholic* ad Presbyterians, it is comparatively easy to