The Sun.
London, England, 1834-06-16 00:00:00

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IRISH CHURCH.

Many of the daily papers have for the last week
clung with an angry pertinacity to gross misrepre-
sentations of Lord Grey's speech in the debate on the
Irish church. They have asserted that he shrunk from
the expression of any principle on which to found his
views upon the subject in question, and that he acknow-
ledged a subordination and unmanly deference to the
Tory majority in the Lords. We have no hesitation
in declaring both these accusations to be utterly and
glaringly false. The most careless or the most critical
examination of the speech itself will bear out our as-
sertions ; but as few give themselves this trouble, we
w ill make such short extracts as will satisfy all but those
who are predetermined that nothing shall satisfy them
but the gratification of their own spleen or ambi-
tion. We are unwilling to impute motives : but
we can conceive nothing short of stupidity on the
one hand, or malignity on the other, which can
have so doggedly misinterpreted plain language
andunequivocal sentiments ; and we leave the editors or
their prompters to choose either horn of the dilemma,
or they may each take one. We proceed to the speech
itself, which has few parallels for manly simplicity of
style, and resolute adhesion to a continued liberal po-
licy. Having rebutted the vulgar taunts of Lord Wick-
low, and repelled his unfounded assertion that the
Government were about to seize on the property of
the Church, Lord Grey, having first drawn a distine,
tion between the English and the Irish establishment,
proceeds to lay down the principle upon which the
commission in question has been appointed. He says
—" The rights of the present proprietors I hold to be
sacred ; but I maintain that the property of the Church
is a subject for the exercise of the discretion of the
Legislature." From this general principle, he
proceeds to its special and practical application,
wherein he adds—" I will fairly state my opinions with
respect to the property of the Church in Ireland. I think
that if a considerable surplus of the revenue should
remain beyond what is required to support the effi-
ciency of the church and those other purposes con-
nected with the interests of true religion, I avow the
principle, that the state has a right to deal with that
surplus with a view to the emergencies of the state and
the general interests of the country." Now, if both
principle and application be not clearly enounced
here, there must be some latent defect either in the
English language or in English apprehensions ; for
we can devise no form of
.words to render them more
clear. The second charge accuses LoFd Grey of
trembling before his peers, and Confessinge that . he
holds office at the pleasure of their Tory
But when we search for expressions of thisry tuirhaeajmtoialberlitiliylyg..
spirit, we find him, emphatically.
challenging the contrary, e
challenging Lord Wicklow, the Duke of Wellington,
and their associates, to proceed to extremities against
himself and his administration. His words are—
" I say there is no shrinking from this course. The
noble earl ( Wicklow) must be prepared to follow up
his motion of this night with anether, having for its
object to put an end to an administration which in his
likAelnydtoapgraoidnuchee soreimteurealtiesm tihscehiwefagteortheef
Country."opinionis
battle this appeal to the opinion of their countrymen ;
till, fearing lest so urgent a defence of the principles
of his administration should be misinterpreted into a
personal clinging to office, he, with a high-minded
consciousness, which base minds may not compre-
hend, separates himself from his cause, and con
templates the formation of a new administration, wherein
he is zealous only "that the principles on which it is
conducted be in conformity with the spirit of the age ;
in order that progress may be made in those further sa-
lutary improvements which necessarily grow out of the
great measures of reform." This is the course of policy
for which he contends; if it can be, and will be honestly
enforced by others, and if there be a peculiar bitter-
ness of spirit towards him, which obstructs their com-
pletion by his hands, then he is ready and willing to
resign ; for as to personal gratification, he says,

" dive me leave to assure you that it cannot be very
agreeable to me to sit here, night after night, to see
arranged on the opposite benches a number of your
Lordships, which, I know, when called into a division,
must decide the question against me. Nevertheless, I
have persevered, under all the difficulties and disad-
vantages incidental to this state of things, in the hope
that better times would come." He then expresses
his regret that these hopes have not been realized,
and firmly adds, " In conclusion I will again observe
that, with honour to the noble earl ( Wicklow ), the
matter cannot rest here, but that if he has good reason
for entertaining the opinion which he has expressed re-
specting the conduct of government, he ought to adopt
proceedings to effect our removal from office. If he
will not do this, let him, at least, permit our measures
to proceed without endeavouring to excite throughout
the country a factious spirit of discontent." We have
troubled our readers with these long and many ex-
tracts, in order to enable them to form their own
opinions of the justice of these accusations against
Lord Grey. It is seldom that we enter on these con-
troversial points ; but a sense of justice has impelled
us in the present instance ; and we believe few but the
blindly prejudiced, will accuse Lord Grey of having
evaded the recognition of an important principle which
must govern the present question of the reform of the
Irish church, and none but tavern brawlers, whose
notion of courage consists in noisy threats, will com-
plain of him for having stated in firm and dignified
language the pains and difficulties of his situation,
together with his resolution and desire to meet them.
Observer.