The Sun.
London, England, 1835-03-23 00:00:00

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LONDON,
MONDAY EVENING, MARCH 23, 1835.

We understand that it is not Mr. WARD'S inten-
tion to bring on his motion this evening on the subject
of the Army Estimates. The great trial of strength
will be on Lord J. RUSSELL'S motion respecting the
Irish Church.

The Irish Church is the rock on which the PEEL
Administration seems destined to be shipwrecked. Sir
R. PEEL has solemnly, repeatedly, and in our opinion,
most unwisely, declared that the entire revenues of the
Irish Church shall be devoted to " purposes strictly
ecclesiastical," meaning by that phrase, as he has him-
self explained it, the religious instruction of the mem-
bers of the united Church of England and Ireland. On
the faith of this declaration Sir R. PEEL procured the
support of his present adherents of every shade and hue,
from the deep orange Tory to the milk-and-water
Whigling. The whole of this anomalous party from
RODEN to STANLEY, agree in holding the Premier's
doctrine on this subject--a doctrine, the monstrous
extravagance of which, to say nothing of its injustice
and cruelty, a single glance at the state of Ireland
would make manifest to the dullest, and one would
almost think, to the most bigoted understanding.
The Catholics and Presbyterians of Ireland amount
to seven millions and a half ; the members of the
Church of England to about half a million, the pro-
portion being as fifteen to one ; and the Ministerial
proposition is, that the one shall monopolise what was
intended for the whole sikteen—that of the revenues
originally set apart by 'Catholics for Catholic purposes,
and belongint, to the Catholic Church for a period
eompared" with which the boasted " prescriptive rights"
of Protestantism are but of yesterday—that of these
ample funds not a shilling is to stray beyond the con-
tracted pale of the " EstablishMent." Although the
people of Ireland should die of famine—though they
are, thanks to Protestant ascendancy, reduced to a state
of barbarism and destitution unparallelled even among

When Lord STANLEY introduced his Irish Tithe
Bill in July 1832, there appeared in the Times a very
able article on the subject to which we have been
directing the attention of our readers, with a few ex-
tracts from which we shall conclude our remarks, re-
gretting that we have not room for the whole :

" The Composition Act was, in its day, a specimen of en-
larged legislation. Its original framer, Lord Wellesley,
designed it to be compulsory ; but the journeyman spirit of
Messrs. Goulburn and Peel deprived it of that—its most up-
right and valuable characteristic—and clogged it with condi-
tions so partial to the interests of the clergy, that it could not
offer an effectual check to the growing murmurs among a
Catholic people, against the principle o paying tithe under
any modification to an alien church."
" We have never ceased to urge, that a tax on land, to be
paid by the landlord, would be the best description of per-
manent fund out of which to pay the clergy of the three deno-
minations in Ireland, as likewise to provide for the poor.
Great difficulties would, no doubt, present themselves to the
immediate adjustment of such a tax to land leased out already ;
but what arc such difficulties compared with that of attempting
the enforcement of tithe from the occupiers, expressly and ex-
clusively for the service of a church, to the support of which
they have one and all resolved that it would be wicked in them
directly to contribute ?"
" Mr. Stanley himself admits that with the amount of re-
venue hitherto enjoyed by the church, he does not design to
meddle through the operation of the measures now developed.
We tell him, then, that on such an admission his whole project
stands self-condemned, inasmuch as any new scheme for COTS-
firming to the church the immense and unjustifiable income
which she has heretofore appropriated, must, if effectual as an
instrument of legal torture, tend still more to spread that
" disorganization of society" of which the Right Hon. Gen-
tleman complains, while, if inefficacious, it will but add con-
tempt for legislative authority, to hatred of its objects."
" We wish that Mr. Stanley would look more at things
and less at shadotis. The bulk of the people of Ireland,
Protestant, Catholic, and Presbyterian, will not pay tithe to
rectors, vicars, or ecclesiastical corporations. It is useless to
imagine it. Nor will the people of Ireland, whether tenants
or landlord, consent to pay money under any denomination,
whether tithe, or tax, or rate, of the same amount as they
hitherto have contributed, to the exclusive service of the Es-
tablished Church. Not only must the "tithe" be annihilated,
but the substitute for it must be otherwise, and more compre-
hensively bestowed. Both these points appear to have escaped
Mr. Stanley, who attempts to make the abolition of tithe
prospective, while the nation have already abolished it, and
who affords no prospect whatever of a reduction, by law at
least, in the sum-total of those emoluments, which, no matter
whence derived, have in years past gone to the benefit of the
established clergy. They will have the corruptions of the
church pulled down."

The election bribery case, just tried at Cambridge,
before Lord ABINGER, is, in its results, both inte-
resting and profitable. The action was brought
an agent or sub-agent employed in promoting the suc-
cess of Mr. KNIGHT, the Conservative candidate for
the representation, of Cambridge town, in opposition
to Mr. SPRING R ICE ; it was proved in evidence that
the defendant had bribed an elector, by the payment
in hand of five pounds, and the promise of a like sum
after polling, to vote for Mr. KNIGHT : the Jury were
satisfied and the defendant found guilty.
Lord ABINGER, in summing up, explained to the
Jury that the statute provides that if any person shall,
by any gift or reward, corrupt or procure any person to
give, or to forbear to give, his vote in any election of
a Member or Members of Parliament, he shall for
every such offence forfeit the sum of 5001. and be
subject to certain civil disabilities ; in commenting upon
the evidence, his Lordship felt himself called upon
that to remark, " That the crime of bribery was very
frequently committed, was a matter that could, hardly,
he feared, admit of a doubt, because, when party-
spirit ran high, and men's passions were excited, they
were too often found to sacrifice their own characters,
for the sake of the temporary triumph of being on the
winning side." But, notwithstanding the magnitude
of the penalty, and the spirit of mercy (how benign
and cheering it appeared !) which prompted the Court
to apologise for the intemperance of human passion,
the Jury inexorably mulcted the defendant, in the full
penalty prescribed by the law.
The trial was remarkable upon four grounds :
First, That such an action should have been tried .be-
fore Lord ABINGER, who recently represented the
immaculate City of Norwich, in connection with
which, to speak of bribery, were defamation ; secondly,
that a proper spirit appears to have been so gene-
rally awakened, as to the crime of bribery, that a Jury
will extend, to a culprit of this sort, neither mercy,
nor the benefit of a doubt ; thirdly, that nothing tran-
spired with reference to the great tempter who, sup-
plying the bribery fund, led to this sacrifice of character,
for the sake of a temporary triumph ; and, fourthly,
that so gross an offence should have been brought
home to Conservative doors.

We avail ourselves of the present opportunity to direct
the attention of Parliament to a subject connected with
one of the greatest improvements of modern times—
railroads. Though the advantages promised would
just now appear to be more immediately confined to
distinct and separate localities, the day is fast ap-
proaching when the universality of the new mode of
conveyance will elevate those advantages into a great
national good, generally considered. It will be prudent,
therefore, by the exercise of a little forethought, to
anticipate any difficulties which may by-and-bve arise
to these Rundertakings, when they shall have advanced