The Sun.
London, England, 1868-03-20 00:00:00

THE IRISH CHURCH CRISIS.

At the present crisis it may be well to remind our
readers of the course of events thirty-four years ago. At
that time Earl Grey was Premier, Lord Althorp Chan-
cellor of, the Exchequer and leader of the House of Com-
mons, and Sir James:Graham, Mr. Stanley (now Lord
Derby), the Duke of Richmond, and Lord Ripon were also
members of the Cabinet. On May 6, 1834, Mr. Sheil
asked Lord John Russell whether Ministers were finally
agreed upon any line of policy with regard to the
Irish Church, or was the inequality of creed in
regard to ecclesiastical endowment to be suffered
to continue. The Paymaster of the Forces (Lora
John Russell) replied that while he could not
undertake to say what measures the Government
proposed to bring forward, his own opinion was that
the revenues of the Irish Church were larger than neces•
sary for the religious and moral instruction of the members
of the communion and for the stability of the Church
itself. He was sorry to differ from his colleagues, but he
should at any cost feel it his bounden duty to do jus-
tice to Ireland. It was on hearing this speech that
Mr. Stanley (Lord Derby) made the remark, "Johnny
has upset the coach." A few days later, Mr.
G. Ward gave notice of his intention to move
as a substantive resolution, " That the Protestant
Episcopal Establishment in Ireland exceeds the
spiritual wants of the Protestant population ; and that
it being the right of the State to regulate the distribution
of Church property in such manner as Parliament may
determine, it is the opinion of this House that the temperal
possessions of the Church of Ireland as now established by
law ought to be reduced." At the next meeting of the
Cabinet Mr. Ward's resolution was the subject of long
and anxious consideration. By moving the previous ques-
tion the Government might have disposed of the matter
with the least offence to their Radical supporters ; but this
would have implied that the Cabinet assented to the claim of
the State asserted by Mr. Ward, to deal with the temporali-
ties of the Church. The usual resource of a divided Cabinet
—a royal commission— was suggested. But Sir James
Graham pointed out that this would involve the consent
of the whole Cabinet to legislate upon the basis of the
commissioners' report—a pledge which he, for one, could
not give. Lord Althorp was in favour of Mr. Ward's
motion, and as the day, for putting it. drew near, it became
known that the resolution would be generally supported
by the Liberal party in the House, i.e., by about two.
thirds of the members. The dissentients, four in number,
then tendered their resignations. Long and earnest were
the expostulations used to dissuade them from their purrise.
It was not till the afternoon of April 27, when Mr. Ward
rose to address time House in support of his motion, that
Lord Althorp became aware that his colleagues had
actually resigned. When Mr. Grote, the historian, had
seconded the motion, Lord Althorp rose and said that
circumstances had come to his knowledge which compelled
him to ask for an immediate adjournment until the Mon-
day following, and the crowded House thereupon broke
up amid a scene of extraordinary excitement. Lord Grey
was at first for resigning, but he was induced to fill up the
vacant places. When the House met again the ex-Ministers
took their seats below the gangway, and Ministers, announc-
ing that the Great Seal had been fixed to aroyal commission,
begged Mr. Ward not to press his motion. He refused to
give way. Mr. Stanley then rose and explained the circum-
stances under which he had resigned. He declared that if
the principle of numerical proportion between the in-
habitants of each parish who belonged to the Church and
those who dissented therefrom were to be substituted for
universal parcchial endowment, there was an end to its
supremacy as an Establishment ; and if the principle were
applied to Ireland there was no knowing how soon it
might be applied to England. He said the country was
not ripe for that. He had not thought that he should
ever have lived to hear a Minister of the Crown pro-
pose such a resolution. He did not think he saw the
Legislature that would pass it, and he was not certain
that he knew the sovereign who would assent to it. At
the close of the debate Mr. Ward was left in a minority of
270, the figures beirg 120 for his motion, 390 against. Soon
after this the reconstituted Cabinet encountered other
difficulties with regard to Irish questions which induced
Lord Grey to resign in July. He was succeeded by Lord
Melbourne. But such was the strength of the Conser-
vative reaction, that Sir R. Peel speedily returned to
power, and the Irish Church question was shelved, and
has remained in abeyance until now.

Her Majesty has been graciously pleased to
appoint Sir Richard Temple, K.C.5.1., to be an Ordi.
nary Member of the Council of the Governor-General of
India.