The Sun.
London, England, 1868-07-17 00:00:00

LORD DENBIGH AND THE SU,ePkYSORT BILL.

Lord Denbigh, who is a Roman Catholic and a staunch
Conservative, has written a letter to Lord Derby explain-
ing his reasons for voting in favour of Mr. Gladstone's
Suspensory Bill. He says he could not but lament the
mode and time of bringing forward the measure, but he
could not refuse to accept it when once presented to him.
He believes the disestablishment of the Irish Church to be
a necessity of policy as well as one of justice, and there-
fore, when the Government hoisted the flag of "No sur-
render," he was compelled to support his principles in
preference to his party. He goes on to affirm that
a Protestant State like England must do one of three
things : it may, first, endow all religions within its
dominions on equal terms ; or, secondly, leave them all
equally unendowed ; thirdly, it may establish that form of
religion which is professed by the largest communion in
that country. To do otherwise would be unjust, and to
establish the communion of the minority is unhesitatingly
declared to be " indefensible, tyrannous, and elsewhere
unheard of." The Protestant Church in Ireland is viewed
by the Catholics "as the ever-present badge of
servitude, and the last imprint of the iron heel of
the conqueror and oppressor of former days." In
answer to the statement that the Irish care more
for the land question than they do for that of the Esta-
blished Church, he asserts that the Protestant ascendancy
is at the root of the land question. He believes that the
Ministry had a band fide intention of dealing honestly
with Irish grievances ; but " they have retreated, one by
one, from each position they had occupied ; have
attempted to disclaim those sympathies which they really
had at heart ; and, frightened at the step they had taken
in advance, rushed back in alarm to the arms of their
main support—the bishops, clergy, and the ultra-Pro-
testant public, whom they have endeavoured to pro-
pitiate by allowing the banner of ' No Popery ' to be once
more displayed." Referring to Lord Derby's speech some
time since, at Liverpool, in which he stated that the
Catholics ought to be the natural allies of the Conserva-
tives, the noble lord alludes to the fact that Mr. Disraeli
has since raised the cry of "No Popery !" How, then,
can the Catholics support the Conservative party?
After ridiculing the idea that any statesman of the present
day would ever conceive the notion of establishing the
Protestant Church in Ireland, Lord Denbigh makes some
stinging remarks on the present state of affairs. He says :
" You have taken your 'leap in the dark.' You have
lowered the franchise, by which many more Catholic
voters will be brought to the poll than here•
tofore. You know not what may occur ; but
if we may judge from the signs of the times, the
democratic element is getting daily more and more power-
ful. I appeal to you, and to all thoughtful men on both
sides of the House, whether the great enemies which the
Constitution of England has now to dread, are not infi-
delity and lawlessness, the fruitful parents of revolution.
These are what England has most to fear, and not
`Popery ;' nay, I will say more, and I will boldly assert
that there is but one body in the world which can now give
an uncompromising and organised resistance to them, and
that is the Roman Catholic Church ; for until other
churches can show that they are capable of expelling from
their communion dignitaries and ministers who preach
infidel doctrines, I cannot call their spasmodic efforts to
uphold truth an organised opposition to error. The time
may not be far distant when the Crown will have to seek
for defenders. 'Where will it ever find any more reliable
than its Catholic subjects, who, at all times, through
evil report and through good report, have, as all his-
tory testifies, been staunch supporters of their sove-
reign, except in Ireland a blot which it behoves
England to wipe away? Is it wise to allow any
impediments to interfere with the free expansion of
their loyalty? Rather, would it not be well to hold out
the hand of fellowship to them, and banishing from
our memories (as, thank God, they are from our hands)
the axe, the faggot, and the halter—employed, alas ! but
too often on either side—endeavour henceforward rather to
win our way by the practice of those Christian virtues
which will best testify to the truth which we profess to
hold, and join in arms against our common enemy ? I
pass by with scorn the allegation that Catholics are not to
be trusted because they own a double allegiance. They
own, it is true, spiritual allegiance to him whom they
regard as the Vicegerent of Christ upon earth, but they
own temporal allegiance to none other than the sovereign
of these realms, and if any dare to question her right,
their arms will be the first raised to defend it. In one
word, they are taught to render to Caesar the things
which are Caesar's, and to God the things which are
G o d's."

ACCIDENT AT BELFAST.—At the swimming
matches on Wednesday night at Belfast Lough, a small
boat was run down by a schooner, opposite Hollywood,
and seven persons immersed in the water, three of whom
were drowned, and another not expected to recover.
THE SHOEBURYNESS EXPERTHENTS.—OH Thurs-
day the Illillwall shield was subjected to a very trying
experiment. Thirteen rounds were fired, two of which
were from the heavy American smooth-bore gun. The
shield stood the firing in a manner which elicited the
wonder of those who witnessed the trials.

REMOVING A JUDGE.---The unusual step of re-
moving a judge has been taken in the case of Chief Jus-
tice Beaumont, of the colony of British Guiana. The
local Court of Policy presented a memorial to the Crown,
impeaching the Chief Justice on seven charges, the
most important of which were improperly and
intemperately holding up the Executive Govern.
ment to hatred and obloquy ; vexatiously taking
occasion to embarrass the colonial administration;
administering harsh and vindictive punishments ; using
offensive, intemperate, and calumnious language ; illegally
exercising arbitrary power ; and improperly interfering
with the judicial records. The case was argued for several
days before the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council,
and, at the recommendation of their lordships, the Crown
has just issued an Order in Council removing the Chief
Justice from his office.