The Sun.
London, England, 1868-04-30 00:00:00

SPIIIIT OP TEE PUBLIO Jounms,

Is the Irish Church Establishment an injustice, or is
not ? asks the Times. If it be an injustice, what reason
can be adduced why it should not be abated ? Lastly, is
there any other practical mode of abating it than that
proposed by Mr. Gladstone ? These are the only ques-
tions which can be eliminated from the mass of verbiage
under which every one has suffered. Did the debate on
Tuesday shed light upon any of them ? Will further dis-
cussion help to elucidate them ? The prospect is as hope-
less as the retrospect is barren. It is conceded by every
one that the Irish Establishment, as it is, is an injustice.
It is a great anomaly, Lord Royston admits ; but he
excuses it ons the plea that everything is an anomaly. Mr.
Mowbray, the other representative of the Ministry on
Tuesday, like Lord John Manners on Monday, avoided
altogether the question of justice. They addressed them-
selves, as Mr. Newdegate did, to reasons why the Esta-
blishment, however unjust as an institution, should not
be swept away. Mr. Newdegate is afraid that its
removal would be a blow to the Protestant faith, appa-
rently believing that it is an advantage rather than a
prejudice to the truth to propagate it, or rather to attempt
to propagate it, by a machinery outraging the feelings of
those to whom it is offered. Mr. Mowbray cannot
venture to think of an Episcopal Church separated
from the State under which it flourishes, although the
examples of Scotland and the United States are before
us. Lord John Manners is alarmed for what may
haQpen to the Church of England should the Irish
Church be disendowed and disestablished. The
answer is easy. So long as the English Church shall
remain in harmony with the will of the English people
its position is secure ; if ever the evil day came that ths
public sentiment of England repudiated its teaching and
deserted its offices, as the public sentiment of Ireland
disavows the Irish Establishment, its destruction would
be imminent. Those who desire most heartily e keep
the English Establishment unscathed ought, if they are
wise, to free it from its affiance with such an indefensible
institution as the Irish Church. Men are becoming
impatient of this deadlock, and are asking themselves
to what it is due. The cause of it is plain. There
is no understanding between the Ministry and the
Opposition. They are moving in parallel lines. The
opportunity afforded when Parliament met after Easter
was lost, and business has been left to drift ever since. It
is hence that we have had unseemly wrangles and cross-
purposes, an immense waste of time incurred, and more
threatened. The remedy is, however, as plain as the cause
of the mischief. At the termination of the present debate
the leader of the Opposition and the First Minister must
come to some agreement about the future. Then or never
the determination must be taken as to what legislation
shall be perfected this session as a preliminary to the dis-
solution all profess to desire next January.

The Post wants to know what Mr. Mowbray, speaking
for the Goveinment, meant when he said "Legislation
more in consonance with our past traditions, and more in
harmony with our Constitution than that now proposed."
It may be a mere platitude, or it may shadow forth a scheme
for the realisation of the idea which Mr. Adderley put out
of the question. The less that is said about " past tra-
ditions " in matters relating to Ireland the better. But
our contemporary is firmly persuaded that while, on the
one hand, the country will be no party to any transaction
with the Vatican, on the other it will not shrink from the
just development of the principles of toleration which con-
stitute the solid foundation of the imperial throne and the
national character.

The Daily News notes that the Liberals of Bristol have
sustained a temporary defeat, Mr. Miles having been re-
turned by a majority of more than two hundred. The
result is to be regretted, but with moderation. When the
circumstances attending the election are well understood,
there will remain no excuse for pretending that Bristol
has shown a desire to put off the intelligent Liberalism of
past years, in order to accept blindly the next political
doctrine that it may be convenient for Mr. Disraeli to
propound. It was foreseen that the struggle at this
election would be a very close one. Political feeling
ran high, but the contest has not been decided by
political forces. The Liberals bad for their candi-
date an eminently representative public man ; the
Conservatives relied, as they are fond of doing, on local
influence and business connections, and in recent times
some of the most eminent men who ever sat in the House
of Commons have been defeated by an opponent strong in
nothing but local associations. Mr. Miles, in politics a
very cypher, is an excellent neighbour, and an important
banker—a gentleman whom very many middle-class
voters would naturally wish to oblige. This fact would of
itself probably be sufficient to account for a number of
votes equivalent to Mr. Miles's majority. But there was
another cause of equal, or perhaps greater eilleieney
at
work to diminish the Liberal and increase the Conser-
The publicans who, needlessly alarmed