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

LONDON, SATURDAY, APRIL 4, 1868.

The result of the debate last night will not surprise
those who were well up in affairs, because it was
becoming evident to all that the Liberals were tired
of the cold shade of Opposition, and determined to
make a desperate venture of some sort or other.
Far from believing that the cause of the Irish
Church inspired Mr. GLADSTONE and his followers,
and made them resolve at all hazards to try their
chance, we believe that had there been no question
of this kind before the public they would have
found something else upon which to test the strength
of the Government. It had been said that this
session was to be devoted to business, in order to
make up for the time inevitably lost on the Reform
question, and to pave the way for the new Parlia-
ment ; but such a course ill-suited the energetic
spirit that always animates certain minds in
Opposition. We cannot see that Mr. GLADSTONE
has done himself much honour, or rendered any
signal service to his party by the line he has taken.
As for inconsistency no one knew what his views
on the subject of the Irish Church were until the
close of the debate on Ireland a week or two ago.
Since then he has rallied his forces, consolidated his
powers, and rushed on to the contest. Had be
waited a few abort months, and then put forward
his views in a new Parliament, no one could have
found any fault, but the course he has taken has
has been most premature, and he has con-
fused things and interfered with the business of the
House in a manner not justified by circumstances.
Mr. DISRAELI'S long speech was quite worthy of
his reputation, and he spoke on the complicated
subject before him with as much success as could
have been anticipated. First of all, he showed that
the Government bad had no wish to evade the
struggle, or to take advantage of circumstances so as
to prevent the House from discussing it. At the
same time, they did not meet the proposal with a

direct negative, because they did not think that
no improvement was called for in Ireland, and
they by no means affirm that no " change, no mo-
dification, nor improvement is necessary, expedient,
or desirable in the condition of the Church of Ire-
land." The right hon. gentleman very ably de-
fended the amendment, and showed how unwise it
was to explain one's policy too much in that kind of
thing, quoting the illustrious example of the late
Sir ROBERT PEEL, who never approved of so doing
in his extended experience.
The inconsistency which Mr. GLADSTONE has dis-
played could not have been better shown than it
was by Mr. DISRAELI, and he argued very truly
that, when this Parliament was elected, Lord
PALMERSTON and his colleagues did not con-
template any speedy settlement of this dif-
ficulty of the Irish Church. The most
devoted advocate for the policy of disendowment
cannot say that it is not a strange coincidence that
the leader of the Opposition should have found it
so convenient to come to a conclusion about the
Irish Church policy just when Reform had been
taken out of his hands. The extremely personal
tone which the debate assumed after Lord CRAN-
BORNE had set the style was very properly answered
by Mr. DISRAELI, and he exhibited his usual dex-
terity in commenting upon the attacks of the noble
lord, the member for Stamford, and of the member
for Caine. Nothing was a more perfect definition
of the noble lord than to say that there was one
thing he never pardoned, and that was the Reform
Act of last year. As for Mr. LOWE, his eagerness
with regard to the point of " reciprocal indignity"
wai effectively described by one who has no in-
ferior in the act of Parliamentary fencing. Mr.
DISRAELI declared that he had no intention of
troubling the House with a vindication of his career
and character, on which the right hon. gentleman
had been " extremely exuberant " in his comments
in the course of his speech the other night. " I
have lived in this House more than thirty years,
and can truly say that during that time comments
on my character and career have been tolerably