The Sun.
London, England, 1868-04-01 00:00:00

THE IRISH CHURCH.

A meeting, which had been convened by the London
Working Men's Association, was held at the Freemasons'
Hall, Great Queen-street, on Tuesday, in support of Mr.
Gladstone's resolutions now before the House of Commons
for the abolition of the Irish Church Establishment. Mr.
George Potter, president of the association, took the
chair at eight o'clock. The resolutions adopted were :
"1. That this meeting is of opinion that it is abso-
lutely necessary that the Irish Church Establishment,
opposed as it is to the religious feeling of the great body of
the Irish people, should be at once disestablished and dis-
endowed, and its revenues, after making due provision for
life interests, devoted, under the control of Parliament, to
promoting the secular interests of the Irish people ; and
this meeting is further of opinion that there should be
an impartial disendowment of all religious bodies in
Ireland.
" 2. That this meeting calls upon every Liberal member
in the House of Commons to support Mr. Gladstone's
resolutions for disestablishing the Irish Church ; and
trusts that the conduct pursued by many professing
Liberal members in the last session of Parliament, in re-
lation to Reform, will not be repeated on the present
occasion ; and that this meeting strongly recommends the
present and future electors throughout the United King-
dom to pay particular attention to the division list on the
above resolutions.
"3. That the following petition be sent from this
meeting, signed by the chairman on its behalf, praying the
House of Commons to pass the resolutions proposed fur its
adoption by Mr. Gladstone :

" THE HUMBLE PETITION OF THE WORKING MEN OF LONDON,.

IN PUBLIC ➢fEETING ASSEMBLED,

"Sheweth,—That your petitioners have heard witn
great satisfaction that resolutions arc to be moved in your
Honourable House having for their object the dis-
establishment of the Irish State Church, believing, as
they do, that those resolutions, if adopted, would redress
one of the greatest grievances of which the Irish people
complain—the existence of an alien Church, opposed to
the religious feelings of the overwhelming majority of the
people, and would tend greatly to diminish that large
amount of disaffection to English rule now so extensively
prevailing in that long-misgoverned country.
" Your petitioners, therefore, humbly pray your
Honourable House to adopt the resolutions proposed.
" And your petitioners, as in duty bound, will ever
pray."

The second reading in the House of Lords of the
Compulsory Church Rates Abolition Bill is fixed for the
23rd proximo.

Mr. `Batman, M.P., has so far recovered from
the effects of his recent accident as to be able to attend to
his Parliamentary duties.

MUNIFICENT DONATION.—Mr. Henry Hopkins,
of Tasmania, has contributed the sum of £3,500 to the
London Missionary Society, in addition to £BOO previously
given in aid of their funds.

ROYAL MUNIFICENCE.—WC learn that the com-
mittee for erecting the new wing about to be added to the
Royal London Ophthalmic Hospital, Moorfields, has, in
reply to a memorial upon the subject, received a prompt
subscription from the Queen of £lOO.

Trade unionism is spewing itself in its worst
aspect in the Wigan district. As our readers are, no
doubt, aware, a great number of the colliers of South Lan-
cashire are out on strike. From time to time men yield
to the masters' terms, and those " knobsticks," as they
are called, have come in for unionist revenge, carried
out in the fashion which it was hoped the late disclosures
would have done something to bring into disrepute even
among the " Broadheads "of the various trades. Intimi-
dation has been employed in the boldest form. The
houses of the men at work have been attacked, and bottles
filled with some explosive material have been thrown
against their windows. So serious, indeed, has the position
of affairs become, that it has been deemed necessary to
call in the assistance of a body of troops.

The interest throughout the country on the Irish question
is manifested by the number of public meetings which are
being held. The cry of "No Popery is rallying many
Protestants around the Government, and enthusiastic
assemblies are held to petition for the maintenance of a
Protestant Church in Ireland. The union of the " Pro-
testants" with the Church and State party is becoming
marked in several large towns. Meetings at Nottingham
and Norwich have adopted
petitions against Mr. Glad-
stone's resolutions. Public opinion in Shrewsbury
is claimed by both parties. A meeting was convened
to favour disendowment, and a lecture was given on that
side of the question, the lecturer moving that a petition be
adopted in favour of the resolutions of Mr. Gladstone.
An amendment was proposed by two local clergymen, to
the effect that disestablishment was unrighteous, and on
being put to the show of hands the majority was claimed
by both sides. The chairman decided the amendment was
lost. A petition in favour of the Government has also
been adopted by a large and enthusiastic meeting at Man-
chester, one of the speakers declaring that the destruction
of the Irish Church would lead to revolution. The leading
Liberals of Liverpool have, on the other hand, held a
meeting, and declared for the course adopted by
Mr. Gladstone. Scotland, too, is to add her' voice in
the matter, and a meeting has been convened at Glasgow
to pass resolutions against both Catholic endowment and
Protestant disestablishment.

In the matter of petitions the cry is being' raised that
signatures are dishonestly obtained. " A Wesleyan
Minister" writes "In one village the schoolmaster em-
ployed by the clergyman gave to persons who asked the
meaning of the petition the reply ' that the Romanists of
Ireland were rising to put down the Protestant Church,
and that the petition was to prevent that calamity.' In
this way signatures of Wesleyans and other Nonconfor-
mists hive been gained." The same objection may be
raised with rnore or less force against all petitions which
are largely signed, and they are beginning to have less
weight in consequence.
Mr. Hepworth Dixon, in a recent address on the ballot,
declaimed vigorously against the Bribery Bill of the
Government. It had been made, he said, to look like an
honest measure, while it had been framed in such a way as
to make agencies of corruption work with less of fiction
and scandal, so that in future elections the bribery would
hardly be seen and the intimidation scarcely felt.
It was a form of putting off things and an evasion ;
it settled and it inaugurated nothing ; it was a bill
against time—and it would help to waste a session. After
this denunciation the lecturer maintained that the ballot
was the only way to allow freedom of voting. All other
nations except Turkey adopted that manner of voting.
Why should we be without it?

The rating clauses of the Reform Act are still being
protested against. Clerkenwell, under the guidance of
Mr. Beales, now adds her voice to the general complaint.
Scotland-yard is determined not to allow these meetings
to be dangerous, so a large number of policemen, in-
cluding an inspector, are sent to keep the crowd in order.
At the last meeting the inspector is said to have allowed
his contempt for "those Reform League fellows" to break
forth unrestrainedly, and " the lazy set who never worked
for their living " were spoken of in no measured terms. All,
however, appears to have passed off quietly. Mr.
Alderman Lusk sent a letter to the meeting, in which he
promised that he would spare no effort to allow the work-
ing man to enjoy his vote without either let or hindrance
Resolutions condemning the rating clauses were passel
with ficilmAti9lN