The Sun.
London, England, 1869-07-01 00:00:00

The East London Protestant Defence Association held
A meeting on Wednesday, presided over by the Earl of
Bandon, and addressed by Lord George Hamilton.
The Earl of BANDox, iu his opening speech, said : He
was afraid that very few of those who voted at
the last general election in favour of those who were
pledged to support Mr. Gladstone knew the meaning of
either disestablishment or of disendowment. What was put
before the electors were statements with respect to some
trifling difference iu the social position of Irish Protestants
whereas the question which ought to have been submitted
to them was whether the great religious victory achieved
by the Reformation was to be cancelled by Act of
Parliament. Church and State had ever been connected
since the days of the patriarchs down to the present
moment, and if the nation would now give up the union
between them it would amount to this--that the
State took no cognisance of any religion whatever, arid so
the people would drift into indifferentism, and from indif-
ferentism into atheism and blasphemy. Mr. Gladstone's
bill was a most unjust one. ire denied that any of that
property had ever belonged to the Church of Rome.
He would ask the English people if the Protestants of
Ireland, who had ever been peaceful citizens, who hail
been at all times distinguished for their love of law and
order, and for their loyalty to the Crown, were to be
betrayed to the machinations of the Church of Rome and
of the Popish hierarchy. In all their calamities the Irish
Protestants had this clnsolation—they were au united
Church. In Ireland the Protestants lied an open enemy
to fight against, but in England the enemy, in the shape
of Ritualism, was concealed, and preyed upon the very
vitals of the Church. These Ritualists were all opposed
to the Irish Church, and wished to destroy it, because it
had been at all times true to the primitive faith.
The Conservative member for Middlesex (Lord George
HAMILTON), also denounced very fervently the bill and its
author. A great deal (he remarked) had been said about
the verdict of the country ; but he did not hesitate to say
that the Irish Church Bill was as contrary to the opinions
of the majority of the electors of England as it was hostile
to the future prosperity of the country. It was an
infringement of the solemn treaty entered into with the
Protestants .of Ireland at the time of the.• Union.
Noncorformists made great efforts in support of the volun.
Lary principle,but he believed that theyhad been thoroughly
deceived at the last election. They had been induced to
vote for the supporters of Mr. Gladstone on the under.
standing that not a sixpence of the Irish Church revenues
should be applied to the maintenance of Popery, and yet
the very first thing this bill proposed to do was to provide
a permanent endowment to Maynooth. Regarding Mr.
Gladstone as a veteran defender of Church and State, many
believed he was incapable of doing any in jury to the Church,
and, besides, they gave him credit for being a man of gene-
rous impulses, but in all that they had been most miserably
mistaken. Instead of being a generous measure it was a
severe and sweeping one, for it was all nonsense to talk
about religious equality in Ireland, where Popery was as
much an estabishment as any Church could be. They had
now to consider this question : Would it be an advantage
or a disadvantage to the Church of Ireland to be disesta-
Wished? If it were an advantage, then why not apply the
principle to the Church of England. If it were a disad-
vantage, then what right had they to inflict such an injury
on the Protestants of Ireland?