The Sun.
London, England, 1868-06-26 00:00:00

LOIVDON, FRIDAY, JUNE 26, 1868.

Yesterday was a grand field night in the House
of Lords, and the excitement was great, and many
circumstances combined to render the affair most
brilliant and interesting. Lord Gn.vivrr.LE moved
the second reading of the Established Church (Ire-
land) Bill, and made a long speech on the matter,
in which his lordship used the same arguments with
which we are all by this time so familiar from the
constant recurrence of the subject in the House of
Commons. The late Fenian disturbances proved
the necessity of doing something definite with
respect to Ireland, and amending the policy
pursued towards that country. Lord GRAN-
VILLE did his best to defend Mr. GLADSTONE
from the charges that have been brought against
him of having brought on a scheme without much
consideration, and having too hastily plungled
Parliament into the midst of a vexatious strife.
The bill before the House, according to the noble
earl who leads the Opposition in the House of Lords,
is a matter of necessity, in consequence of the de-
mand for legislation, and, as might be expected,
from one of Lord GRANVILE'S facility in debate, he
adduced many reasons, and dexterously applied
quotations,ito show that this measure, and no other,
was imperatively called for, and that no delay
should occur in its passing. As for the Irish people
not caring about the bill that the noble lord
did not entertain for a moment, and he wound up
his earnest address by the declaration that the
policy he indicated to the House would, in the
end, be of service to the English Church in Ireland,
while it would be of benefit to the Established
Church in this country. Whatever opinions may
be as to the reasons of this speech, there can be no
doubt that the noble lord acquitted himself admir-
ably of his task, and spoke with great ability. The
speech of the evening was that of Lord DERBY, and
it must have afforded the House great satisfaction to
hear the noble lord speak with the energy and en-
thusiasm of his better days. Apart from all per-
sonal rivalry and political dissension, there can•be
but one opinion as to the popularity of the noble
lord, and to hear again the " clear Saxon of his
silver style " was a treat to all lovers of oratory.
At the outset of his remarks, Lord DERRY said that
he feared his strength would not permit him to ad-
dress them at length, but that idea was dispelled
long before he completed his brilliant speech. Lord
DERBY'S opinions on this question are too well
known to need comment, and he advocated his
views with all the earnestness and eloquence of
which he is so great a master. One part of the
noble lord's speech was very forcible, that in which
be said that the House of Lords was not bound to
ratify the decision of the House of Commons. So
that we perfectly agree with the noble earl, and, as
he put it most forcibly, it would be better not to
be at all than to exist under such a slavery. As
for the notion that the House of Commons in sup-
porting Mr. GLADSTONE has represented most accu-
rately the feeling of the country, the noble lord said
that when the present House was elected this ques-
tion of the Irish Church was not put before the con-
stituencies, and hence the feeling of the country has
not been decided yet on the point. We are not sur-
prised that a man of Lord DERBY'S independent spirit
should be indignant at the arbitrary tone assumed
by those who have taken the lead in this question.
A year ago who thought that Mr. GLADSTONE was
cowing forward in support of the disestablishrnent
of the Irish Church ? And yet does he not speak with
all the authority and savoir flare of one who is quite
conversant with his theme, and deems it his time-
honoured privilege to carry it at all hazards ? The
quotation of Lord PALMERSTON'S speech which
Lord DERBY made was most appropriate, and the
amusement of the House was excited by
the passage in which the noble lord referred to the
foundation of the case being a weak administration,
or, " I will add, an Opposition desirous of obtain-
ing their seats." On the whole, the speech of Lord
DERBY was an eminently characteristic one, and
replete with all that thought and energy which has
made him so great a master of oratory and the firsti
debater of the House of Commons.

Earl GREY, who took upon himself to move
that the bill be read a second time that day
six months, justified the course he had taken
in preventing the Government from doing so,
by saying that it was not desirable to make
it a party affair. The noble lord declared
that ho was against the Irish Church as it
stood, but he did not approve of the measure before
the House or the means proposed to carry out the
end. lie said very truly that the plan pursued by
the Opposition was not a wise one, for it forced the
Government to make up their minds too hastily,and in
the end put more obstacles in the way of a speedy set-
tlement than any that existed before it. Lord MA L3IES-
BURY made some remarks, in which he dwelt on the
great inconsistency that had marked Mr. GLADSTONE'S
conduct, and declared that this measure, if carried,
would lead to disestablishmeut generally. The
Bishop of LONDON made some very temperate re-
marks, in which he said that the Irish Church
Establishment might be modified without any
detriment, but this measure was one of toe extreme
a character, and could only cause confusion. We
cannot agree with Lord KIMBERLEY'S argument
that it is time to legislate, on the plea of Fenianism.
On the contrary, to do so, or to avow that we do so,
is to establish a dangerous precedent. To secure
the correct end is one thing, and to go about
using arguments that because disaffection exists the
demand for legislation has increased is another, and
if only upon the ground of this Fenian movement
it would have been much wiser to have deferred
the question of the Irish Church until the meeting
of the new Parliament had assembled. The debate
in the House of Lords was adjourned, and to-night
will probably witness its close; and it may safely
be said that for the excitement created and the
interest of the discussions that ensued, it is long
since its parallel has been seen. This Session, which
was to have been so tranquil and uneventful, has
indeed witnessed some stormy scenes.