The Sun.
London, England, 1868-03-17 00:00:00

LONDON, TUESDAY, MARCH 17, 1868.

The Irish debate is over, and the result will take
no one by surprise, for a Ministerial and Parlia-
mentary crisis was not anticipated on the subject.
There was no dullness to redeem in the latter por-
tion of its course, because throughout the speeches
have been animated by particular brilliancy, and
the speakers have entered fully into the importance
of the case. The chief interest of the evening
centred in the speeches of Mr. DISRAELI and Mr.
GLADSTONE, each of which was remarkable in its
way. That of the leader of the Opposition was
chiefly distinguished for his reference to the Irish
Church question, concerning which he had made
up his mind rather suddenly at last. While he
certainly can lay claim to having enunciated this
decided opinion before the close of the debate, still
it was at the eleventh hour then, and the right hon.
gentleman could not speak with the authority of one
who was advocating a long-cherished scheme, and
pursuing a policy of whose wisdom he had
long been the exponent. We may presume that
Mr. GLADSTONE thought he was making a grand hit,
for he kept his remarks on the momentous question
of the " Church" until the end, and then shone forth
in all the lustre and glanced with all the zeal that
generally distinguishes converts, especially when
they seek to convert others. We have no fault to
find with the right hon. gentleman for declaring
that the Irish Church Establishment must cease, but
he must not arrogate to himself the right of settling
when, how, and where it shall cease, and, above all,
not lay claim on the part of his party to any merit
on that score. Mr. DISRAELI very successfully dis-
posed of that part when he complained of the incon-
sistency of his being called upon at the very outset
of his Ministerial career to settle a question that
had taken so long a time to consider. All the cir-
cumstances that had conduced to bring about
the Irish crisis had taken place during the
period of Mr. GLADSTONE'S holding office, and
hence his strictures upon the late and present Ad-
ministration are quite beside the mark. Since then
no effort was made to alter or change or do away
altogether with the grievances now so bitterly com-
plained of ; there is every ground for animadvert-
ing upon those who now insist upon " sweeping
changes" taking place immediately. Mr. DISRAELI
was most effective in the latter part of his speech,
when he deprecated the tactics of the Opposition and
denounced their inconsistency in seeking on a
sudden to commit the House to a decided policy
on the spur of the moment. " I deny," said the
right hon. gentleman, " your moral competency to
do that 'without an appeal to the nation ;" for the
new House of Parliament is the right and fitting
place to have this momentous question settled.

As for the tenure of the Irish Church Estab-
lishment, that is now only a question of time,
and the most ardent upholder of its merits cannot
in his heart believe that it can last in a permanent
form after the opinion of the House bas so decidedly
pronounced against it through the speeches of its
leading members. In one of the allusions in which
he is so happy, Mr. DISRAELI referred to the passage
of arms that has lately taken place in the House of
Lords, and he showed how he could select some