The Sun.
London, England, 1853-02-23 00:00:00

them were prepared at that college, and sent 4over to
where they were endeavouring gradually to
undermine -e institutions of the country. Father Igna-
tius, the late Rev. Mr. Spencer, had directed Raman Ca-
tholics to get into Protestant families, not to mind how
low was their situation in life, to humble themselves, in
order to be true and faithful teachers, to hire themselves
as servants in Protestant families, spat° take-every oppor-
tunity, which such station afforded them of doing their
duty to the Church. He knew he might incur the censure
of some hon. members for introducing the subject ; but
he
.would not shrink from saying that, in supporting
Popery, they were supporting idolatry—supporting that
which would take away from them their only i3cmfort in
life and in death, to substitute for it the miserable inven-
tions of the Roman Catholic priesthood, who, adminis-
tering what they called " extreme unction," carried on
the delusion to the hour of death, and rested not even
there, but took from the survivors money, under the
pretence that they could administer comfort to the de-
ceased in purgatory. And all this under the garb of re-
ligion. In conclusion, he entreated the Government to
come forward manfully, and put an end to the support
which they gave to this system. The Roman Catholics
were now setting themselves up, not for toleration, but
with the determination that they should not rest content
till the whole incubus of the Protestant Church was
removed, and they would go on, unless the Government
had the moral courage to stop their progress. He en-
treated her Majesty's Government to come to the
rescue of the coantry, and to save it from the danger
which was impending over it, and to throw themselves
upon the Protestant feeling of the country, feeling con-
vinced that if they did so they would be able to bid de-
fiance to all opposition, from whatever source it might
come. He appealed to the Government as a Protestant
Government, to its members as the Ministers of a Pro-
testant Sovereign, to stand firmly by those Protestant
principles to maintain which the Sovereign had taken a
solemn oath. He trusted that the Government would
stand faithfully by their Sovereign, and enable her, by
their counsel and advice, to support and uphold that
Constitution in Church and State which it had been the
work of so many years to establish. (Hear, hear.) The
honourable member concluded by moving the following
resolution :—" That this house do resolve itself into a
committee, to consider the act 8 and 9 Vic., c. 25, being
`An' act to amend two acts passed in Ireland for the
better education of persons professing the Roman Catho-
lic religion and for the better government of the college
established at Maynooth for the education of such per-
sons, and also an act passed in the Parliament of the
Unitett-IrthigilBS for mending the said two acts,' corn-
monly called the last Maynooth Act, with a view to th e
repeal of those clauses of the said act which provide
money grants in any way to the said college."
Mr. JAMES M'GREGOR seconded the motion. As
an independent member of that house, belonging to no
party, and ready upon all occasions to tender his vote
for every measure, by whomsoever proposed, which he
believed to be for the benefit of the country, he ventured
to offer the testimony of his convictions of the necessity
of inquiry into the College of Maynooth. A large and
influential body in the country believed the statements
which had just been made respecting that coll:::ge. If
they were wrong in that belief, the true way of meeting
the case was by inquiry, and to refute it by evidence. If
hon. gentlemen upon his left shrunk from inquiry, that
fact was a proof there must be something behind the
scenes which they dreaded being brought to light. (Oh,.
oh.) If a committee of inquiry were granted, evidence
would be taken to justify the course proposed by his hon.
friend.

A MEltißEß—The motion is not for a committee. (A
laugh.)

Sir..M‘GREGOR--It was plainly put before the house
that the motion was for a committee.
Several MEMBERS—No, no.
Mr. M'GREGOR—The motion was, " That this house
do resolve itself into a committee to consider the act 8
and 9 Viet., c. 25." (Hear, hear.) The house would
perceive from this that he was not very well acquainted
with its forms. But whether the subject was considered
in a committee of the whole' house, it was referred to
a select committee, he was satisfied that the only way of
dealing with the case was to inquire whether or not the
information given to the house by his honourable friend
was founded on truth. (Hear, hear.) He (Mr. M'Gregor)
was not a bigot—he was a friend of civil and religious
liberty, but he claimed that the allegations made by his
hon. friend should be inquired into, and if possible re-
butted. If the College of Maynooth was a valuable
place of education for her Majesty's Roman Catholic
subjects in Ireland there could be nothing in the estab-
lishment which its friends would not be ready to have
ventilated ; but if, upon the contrary, it could be shown
that the tenets taught there was not in accordance with
what was due to the Protestant Sovereign and the Pro•
testant constitution of this country, he could easily un-
derstand why the friends of Maynooth would. shrink
from investigation, whether made by the whole house
or a select committee. (Hear, hear.) He had a strong
conviction that there was only too much truth in the
statements of his honourable friend the member for
North Warwickshire ; but he should be glad to be
assured that the doctrines taught at Maynooth were in
accordance with civil and religious liberty, and with the
free enjoyment of the elective fratchise. (Hear, hear.)
Committees of that house had reported that bribery
and corruption had extensively prevailed at the late elec-
tion.

A MEMBER—Not in Ireland. (Hear, hear.)
Mr. M'GREGOR—They had not yet come to the
Irish inquiries ; but what corruption, prevail where it
might, could be so terrible as denunciations from the
altar against parties who had not voted as their priest/3
expected ? No bribery, no corruption, was more ter-
rible than this. (Hear, hear.) He contended that, un-
der all the circumstances, a case had been made out
which demanded inquiry. 4
Mr. SCHOLEFIELD moved as an amendment, that
all the words after " consider" be left out, and that the
following be substituted :—" All enactments now in force
whereby the revenue of the State is charged in aid of any
ecclesiastical or religious purposes whatsoever, with a
view to the repeal of such enactments." In moving
this amendment he congratulated himself that the terms
of.it did not call upon him to enter on the controversial
topics which had, almost exclusively, formed the subject
of his honourable friend's speech. If the amendment
should fail, as he expected it would, then he should most
unhesitatingly vote against the proposition of his hon.
friend. It had been said by a number of his own con-
stituents, and even in that house—Why not make a
beginning with Maynooth ! (Hear, hear.) Because he
had a strong opinion that, if he selected such an endow-
ment as the first object of attack, it would be evidence
of an unjust and an ungenerous policy. (Hear, hear.)
If the question of religious endowments must be taken
piecemeal, he was prepared to attack the richer and
more powerful Church first, rather than the Church
which represented one-third of her Majesty's subjects,
and one-third of the most destitute of the population.
His honourable friend had quoted the language of
the First Lord of the Admiralty ; and he (Mr.
Scholefield) would call attention to the warning
words of another right honourable gentleman who
spoke on this very subject only last year. The right
honourable gentleman the Chancellor of the Exchequer
(Mr. Gladstone) then used the following words :--i4 If
this endowment be withdrawn, the Parliament which
withdraws it must be prepared to enter upon the whole
subject of the reconstruction of the ecclesiastical institu-
tions of the country." (Hear, hear.) Was his hon.
friend (Mr. Spooner) prepared to encounter all the diffi-
culties of such a reconstruction ? Was he prepared to
summon round the Church to which he belonged new
elenientsof dungeear,r, additionhearinlHe had thus to its already
atdyterated
complicatedp
difficulties ? (H
to
lead the house from the narrow sectarian ground taken
by his hon. friend, and endeavoured to place the ques-
tion of Maynooth upon the broad basis of religious
liberty, upon which alone, in common justice, he thought
it ought to be treated. (Hear, hear.)
Sir W. CLAY seconded the amendment. It was im-
dthohatamthe na-
tureoutehrofsethsehomulodtioculeahrelfyoruendtheeramta,nbdeoathuesoit) or
im-
portant
a:
int
was perfectly clear that there were gentlemen who didnot
exactly comprehend it. Itshould be perfectly understood
that this was a motion not for inquiry, as the hon. gentle-
man who had seconded the motion seemed to suppose,
but for the entire abolition without inquiry of the grant to
Maynooth. It was put in the form in which it stood
on the paper—that the house should resolve itself into a
committee to consider the acts in question, because it
was one of the rules of the house that certain questions
could only be discussed, not in the house itself, but in A
committee of the house ; but in the committee of the
further be whole house there would be no opportunity of inquiry.
sh should or should not be
The only point to be discussed there would be the gene-.
le, whether hshetohuerldthfue
Perfectly understood,
asgendtiffieere;stomtohtiaotnwlashicthytehaer
and he hoped that it would be understood by the public,
t l iat the
ast
year.
ie•easre. n t motion
The
hon.w
rcaointpirinunel.
hon. gentleman had brought forward on the same sub-
ject
that a select committee be
the system of education carried in the College of
on
.. . .
anippa•Ointe&to inquire into
assigned sufficient reasons for having changed
Ma t
ooth. He (Sir W.
to the honourablgentlemanClay) had listened attenta ety
e 's speech to see whether he
the
character of his motion ; but so far from finding any
reason for it, he had discovered that the bon Dur-
able gentleman had fadto lay even any ground
for incliarY• Under all the circumstances, then,
he held that the house would, in the first place, be
justified in inquiring into the system of education at
Maynooth. If malversation were detected, or if the 013:
jects for which the college had been endowed wer? not
at
carried out, then he conceived Parliament would be
liberty either to amend the organisation or to
the grant. Malversation, however, had but little to do
in the country
in the feelings which had been createdde
country was a
against thin college. The feeling t
ofhof the State tak•
Protestant feeling, which disapprovedto
diffuse a form of
' ing money from the public revenue
England believed to be
Christianity which the people of
_discontinue A
entirely wrong. If, then,
of the people of Eng-
landconscientious objection on the part
doctrines, to that eon-
' to support Roman Catholic
make no answer ; but he
scientious objection he could
Protestant community, which was
he were told that there was a
judgment, there could
founded upon the right of private
ofecclesi-
asticall defence upon abstract principles
be no logical
ecclesiastical endowment was
endowments. Any
would add that, in a
•
just as much an infringement of the abstract right of
private judgment, as if you took the money of one man
to support the religion of another which he believed to
i
be false. He was not clear with regard to the Church
Establishment of Ireland whether the time had not'
arrived for the consideration of that question. He would
not say with whom the first fault had been, but he con-
' leased he could not look to Ireland alone whilst any por-
tion of the religious instruction of the nation was paid
for by the State. At all events he hoped the question
would be'considered carefully. He had thus endeavoured
to put the question of Maynooth upon its true grounds.
If the honourable gentleman (Mr. Spooner) denied the
necessity of inquiry, and the question was taken upon
the broader ground %f the grant being a payment for