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

SPIRIT OPPTES PITIMIC :mums,

The Times, which has been day after day declaring that
the debate on the Irish question is mere talk, and can end
in nothing practical, now " the talk " is over, tells its
readers that the discussion has been unexpectedly justified
by the manifest influence it has had on Mr. Gladstone's
mind, and the declaration it has elicited from him. The
sudden ripening of his /opinion must plainly carry with it
the support of a large number, if not the whole, of those
who have been connected with him by party ties. It is
not too much to say that the sound has accordingly gone
forth for the destruction of the Irish Establishment, how-
ever its disendowment may be delayed. "The last relic of
evil days " is not merely doomed ;it is marked to fall. The
badge of sufferance, which the inhabitants of Ireland bore
as long as the revenues of the Church were devoted to the
support of a creed rejected by an overwhelming majority
of the people, must soon be removed. It is in vain to
pretend with Mr. Disraeli that the question of all
endowments is at issue because it is decided that
the devotion of public property to the use of a
small section of a people is condemned. We do not, how-
ever, wish to conceal the truth that there are difficulties
to be encountered in disendowment. The Irish Church is
strong with the strength of three hundred years, and
though it has utterly failed to take root throughout the
land, the most vigorous and energetic section of the Irish
population is sincerly devoted to it. The mere financial
and, so to speak, mechanical difficulties of disendowment
are not to be despised, and even if these stood alone it
would be too much to expect that the present Parliament
would surmount them. But the attitude of the Liberal
party is henceforth clear. The mind and conscience of
England have been aroused. Among the first acts of that
new assembly to which the destinies of the nation are to
be soon committed must be the removal of the fruitful
spring of hereditary resentment which has existed in the
maintenance, through English supremacy and the force of
English will, of an " alien Church " in the sister island.

One of the advantages derivable from this debate was,
the Post declares, the opportunity it afforded to the
Government of correcting the fatal error they committed
in supposing that the settlement of the Irish question
might be indefinitely postponed. Mr. Gladstone (whose
clear and unequivocal declaration of policy with regard to
the Irish Church was received with acclamation by his
followers) in express terms challenged the Prime Minister
to do so, but, unfortunately as we believe for his Adminis-
tration, his hands were tied, and he refused to raise them
against the Irish Church. Mr. Disraeli formally declared
himself pledged to the system of endowment, and on
the issue thus raised we may expect that at an early date
the opinion of the House of Commons will be demanded
by some member of the Liberal party.

Mr. Disraeli's philosophy of religious endowments is,
observes the Daily News, a curiosity of speculation, which
may excite wonder, but will scarcely repay examination.
Those may smile who are not revolted at hearing the
statesman who has divorced politics from morality
solemnly talking about the necessity of associating politics
with religion. The peculiarity of Ireland is, that even if
the principle of a State Church be sound, the conditions
of its legitimacy do not exist there. A Protestant esta-
blishment in a Roman Catholic countryrevolts the common
sense of justice and morality. A Roman Catholic
establishment in the United Kingdom is incompatible at
once with the feelings of the majority of the British people,
and with that spiritual independence of secular Protestant
authority of which the Roman Catholic hierarchy and laity
are honourably jealous. The situation of Ireland is,
therefore, unique. The Government have practically put
the issue of endowment or disestablishment in Irelancl,
before the present Parliament, and Mr. Gladstone has
wisely taken provision that the question shall be explicitly,
put and openly decided.

Mr. Gladstone's speech, the Herald declares, displayed
the same spirit which has pervaded his entire course since
the change of Government placed him at the head of
the Opposition ; the same policy or absence of policy which
has marked the dealings of his party, whether in or out
of office, with Irish affairs. A considerable part of it was
vague, declamatory, and devoid of point to a degree unex-
ampled even in this incoherent and wide-ranging debate.
He said much that will not bear close examination, much
that was more worthy of a demagogue than of a states.
man ; but his sense of responsibility, though it did not
prevent his exciting hopes that he knew could never be
gratified, and speaking almost with approval of so wild
and wicked a project as Mr. Mill's, did restrain him from
uttering pledges that he might l e called upon to redeem.
Mr. Disraeli's speech, on the other hand, was worthy of et
great occasion and a great position, and commanded the
respect of the House and the entire sympathy of the Con.
servative party. It was a fitting reply to Mr. Gladstone's
challenge, and a becoming conclusion to a debate which,
for importance, for eloquence, for the great interests
involved, and the great consequences which may follow it,
has seldom been surpassed and not often equalled in the
annals of the British Parliament.

The Irish policy of the Government, exclaims the
Standard, finds its conclusive vindication in the speeches
of its critics. Although nearly every member of the Oppo-
sition who has spoken has professed to believe that nothing
would be easier than to satisfy the Irish people and get rid
of the Irish difficulty, and much disappointment has been
expressed that the Government did not deal boldly with
the subject, there is such a hopeless contradiction between
the remedies which the different doctors suggest as the
right ones and blame the Government for not applying,
that no sensible man will doubt that the proposal to deal
cautiously and tentatively with these vexed questions,
pending further inquiry, is the proper policy for the time,
and indeed the only one to which Parliament would give
its sanction. The whole Opposition can unite in com-
plaining of the inadequacy of the Government proposals,
but it is utterly unable to present itself, as a body, any
programme.

Neither religious equality nor the amendment of the
land tenure would, say the Tories, destroy Fenianism,
since the Fenians are utterly indifferent to religion
of every kind, and aim, not at fixity of tenure, but at the
confiscation of all the landed property, and the creation
of a Socialistic Republic. True, replies the Telegraph ;
and if Ireland were peopled with Fenians, if every priest
were a preacher of Fenianism, if every cottier were ready
to become a Fenian soldier, it might not be worth our
while to agitate for religious equality. But, as Mr.
Monsell, Mr. Gregory, and every other speaker who
knows the country has testified, the mass of the people are
not Fenians. They aim at no such revolutionary
measures as those proposed by Stephens and Mitchell,
and they would b 3 contented with the reforms which
may actually be carried in the House of Commons. Cease
to insult them with the spectacle of an alien Church
Establishment, give them security of tenure, and before
many years have g.)ne by Ireland will be A contented
country.

Mr. GlaOstone's speech on the Irish question meets, in
the opinion of the Star, the expectations of this country,
and will raise the deeply-sunk hopes of that sister-land
for whose happiness England has made herself responsible.
Severely condemning the Government for altogether fail-
ing to perceive the grave crisis which impends, he has
carried to the arbitration of the world the spirit and the
details of our government of Ireland, and provoked that
early and provident fear, which Burke declared to be the
mother of security, to save us from the disgrace and peril
of continued Irish insubordination. It was impossible to
hear, and it will be impossible to read, Mr. Gladstone's
able speech without perceiving in it the necessity that
" the great contention in which we seem to be engaged"
should be promptly carried to an issue. And we believe
it will be generally felt that the fight can be well fought,
and may be well won, under the command of a statesman
more thoroughly possessed than any Minister has been
since Sir Robert Peel destroyed the corn laws with the
high moral obligations cast by a great national exigency
on those responsible for its destinies.

The four baronets about to be elevated to the Uppe
House are doubtless, says the Times, unexceptionable
nominees for the peerage ; but the same might be said of
two or three score Commoners who are to be found on the
Conservative benches. Without, however, questioning any
individual elevation, it may not be out of place to ast
what limit the chiefs of parties propose to set to the
number of new creations. It is rumoured, and probably
not without truth, that these peerages will be followed in
a short time by another batch. Such peer-making as we
have had of late has probably never been witnessed, except
at the Irish Union, when there was an obvious reason for
it. It will be seen by reference to the " Peerage" that
since the beginning of 1866 not less than twenty new
British peers have been made—a -viscount and nineteen
barons. The rate of increase is extraordinary, and, if it
continues, must very much modify the character of the
House. And yet, strange to say, with all this increase of
numbers there is little increase of attendance. If we saw
in new creations a reinforcement of ability and diligence
to the House rather than a reward of past services we
should look upon them with greater satisfaction, even
though they might seem to cheapen the honours of the
State.

EARL CATHCART.—The state of health of this
noble lord during the past year has been so unsatisfactory
that he has been most unwillingly compelled to resign the
office of chairman of the Quarter Sessions of the North
Riding, which he has so ably filled for ten years past.

THE MURDER IN SOMERSETSHIRE.—An inquest
on the boy named Wilkins, who was murdered at Wins.
combe, has been held, when the prisoner's confession was
amply substantiated. Medical evidence showed that,
.although the prisoner was of weak intellect, he was a re•
eponsible being and accountable for his actions. A verdict
Of wilful xlaWSler against Holmes we roturneds