The Sun.
London, England, 1869-04-17 00:00:00

NOISY LEGISLATORS.

"It is ill work interposing between a.hungry man
and his dinner" no doubt, and therefore there is some
little excuse for the uproarious scene which took place
in the House on Thursday evening. But when this
excuse is taken into account, when, even, it is further
borne in mind that the arguments which were ad-
vanced against the Irish Church Bill had all been heard
before, and all been answered to the satisfaction at least
of the Liberal party, it is still to be regretted that
legislators should have indulged in conduct sug-
gestive of schoolboys barring out. The scene was
undoubtedly comic, notwithstanding. The House
listened with tolerable patience to the ninety
minutes' funereal oration of Mr. Newdegate ; but
when Mr. Aytoun got up there were loud manifesta-
tions of displeasure, because the Ministerialists
thought that he had been effectually disposed of
by the Speaker at the outset of the debate.
Matters were not mended when Sir Percy
Burrell and Captain Archdall interposed in his
behalf, and took the Speaker to task for not keeping
order. They themselves received an effectual snub-
bing for having ventured to teach their president
his duties. Long before this it was dinner-time,
and hon. members who had expected that a division
would be taken before dinner, and did not like to sit
down to their meal with the prospect of being sum-
moned from it by the division bell, had got
very hungry and very angry. The silent monitor
in the region of the stomach made them very noisy,
so noisy, that at last the Speaker was compelled to
resort to the unusual expedient of telling the
Serjeant-at-Arms to keep silence at the bar. The
result of this interperiition was that Mr. Holt, who
had been unable to obtain the hearing which is
always given to a new member, was allowed
to make his speech, and as .it was clearly going
to be a long one, honourable members felt that
they might s ifely go and dine. The small men
then said their little say. One member after
another rose, but always, with the exception
of Mr. Whalley and Mr. Dease, from the
Opposition side of the House ; and Con-
servative members at last began to get angry because
their opponents refused to take any notice of them
or their arguments. There were two or three notable
events in the debate. Mr. Whalley informed the.
House, amid shouts of laughter, that he was nego-
tiating with a dozen or twenty Murphys to
make a tour of the country after the Irish
Church Bill was settled. Mr. Lefroy, one
of the Conservative members for Dublin Univer-
sity, repudiated, in the name of his constituents, the
levelling-up policy recommended by Dr. Ball, the
other Conservative member. Mr. Mikes excited
great merriment by admitting, at the end of his
speech, that the sentiments which he had been utter-
ing were neither his nor those of any other man.
Mr. Charley was Mr. Charley, and when he began to
talk about policemen, the connection between his
name and his subject was an irresistible provocative
of mirth. Mr. Gladstone was humorous in a
degree unusual with him. Mr. Disraeli clearly
regretted the determination of Mr. Newdegate to go
to a division, repudiated all connection with him,
and expressed consciousness of a defeat even more
severe than that which took place in Holy Week.
His surmise proved well-founded, for there was an
increased majority of 8 against him, the Conserva-
tives numbering 21, while the Liberals numbered
only 13 fewer than on the morning of
March 24. The most illustrious of the absentees
from the Noes were Lord Stanley and Sir R. Palmer.
On the other hand, the Ayes were joined by Sir IL
Peel and Mr. Butler-Johnstone, who were the only
members who did not either vote or pair on the
former occasion.

"GREAT PROTESTANT DEMONSTRATION."

With much display the Conservative papers con-
tinue to call attention to great Protestant demon-
strations in Ireland. The Church Conference in
Dublin cheered their hearts somewhat ; and now
much stress is laid on a public meeting in the
Dublin Music Hall. We are informed that 2,soopeople
condenined enthusiastically and unanimously the
" Church Spoliation Bill," and that under the
guidance of Lord Crofton, and by the advice
of Lord Oranmore and Browne, a series
of resolutions was adopted, affirming that
it is not within the moral competence of
Parliament to overthrow the Irish Church, and
denouncing the proposal as an injustice to Irish Pro-
testants, a gross breach of national faith, and an
unwarrantable attempt to confiscate private endow-
ments dedicated to the service of God. All this is,
doubtless, very fine ; but seeing that the House of
Commons has already affirmed the principle of the
bill, is hardly to the point.