The Sun.
London, England, 1869-07-28 00:00:00

ILLNE:.3 OF TIIR PREMIER.

Mr. Gladstone, unfortunately, is still indisposed.
For several days past he has been suffeivt" ,g from an
attack of diarrhoea. This has weakened Lim so much
that a few days' rest is indispensable. We are
assured, however, that there is nothing to cause
anxiety. Whilst the right hon. gentleman was in
the Speak( is room, on Friday afternoon, preparatory
to making his statement to the House of Commons,
he fainted.

THE MEASURE LAW.

The Irish Church Bill has now become the Irish
Church Act. The royal assent has been given to it,
and it is therefore law. The last scene in the drama
is unanimously agreed to have been unimpressive
and dull. The House of Lords when Sir John
Lefevre proAaimed "La re•yne le veult" was
almost empty. The proceedings were brief and
tame. Not a single noble lord was present
save the Commissioners. Thi se, as named by
the Queen, included the Prince of Wales and the
Du!.e of Edinburgh, but only the Lord Chancellor,
the Dul•:e of St. Albans, and Lord de Tabley
attended ; and it certainly would have been a waste
of time to bring down more members of the House
than were absolutely necessary just to take off their
hats at the mention of a bill. For this is all their
lordships dcl. They donned the grotesque costume
which Royal Commissioners usually wear ; and then
sent a message to the House of Commons.. Presently
appeared the Speaker, attended by about a score of
members, at the bar of the Upper House. Then the
Clerk at the table read the Royal Commission;
the Lord Chancellor stated the business the Com-
missioners had to do, namely, to announce the royal
assent to certain bills, and directed the Clerk to
read the titles of the measures. The
Clerk, rising, read as the first bill " A
bill to put an end to the Establishment
of the Church in Ireland, and to make pro-
vision in respect of the temporalities thereof, and
in respect of the Royal College of Maynooth." The
Royal Commissioners uncovered their heads and
bowed. Sir John Lefevre then, facing the repre-
sentatives of the people, proclaimed in the quaint
style which is prescribed by almost immemorial
custom—" La reyne le veult." Then, passing to
other measures, the same ceremony was gone
through in respect of bills for waterworks, gas, and
railway companies. The Spealier returned to his
place in the Commons, and told the House what had
taken place, causing loud cheering to come from the
members on his right. The parliamentary record
contains the brief announcement :—" Message to
attend the Lords Commissioners :—The House
went ;—and being returned ;—Mr. Speaker reported
the royal assent to,—lrish Church Bill." Thus ends
the action of Parliament in the matter. _ _ _

From the Leg'slature we now look to Irish
Churchmen to see what they will do. The Dublin
M ail, the organ of t e Orangemen, still advocates the
reassembling of the Church Conference whic'a was
eketed to oppose the Irish Church Bill. Th ra has
been r.,ised, however, a serious objection to that
course. The Conference was elected for a
specific purpose, to take political action against
a certain measure. Its members were distinctly
enjoined to take no steps towards forming a governing
body for the Church, and it is thought reasonable that
constituents in electing their representatives looked
merely to the political opinions and power of those
whom they sent; they might have sent totally dif-
ferent men had they thought the conference would
have been an organising as well as a protesting
body. Another suggestion is that the two Arch-
bishops should convene another Conference. And still
another proposal is made that Convocation should
be summoned. The latter, however, is gene-
rally olijucted to, on the ground that Convoca-
tion would not represent the whole Church, it
would only include the clergy.