The Sun.
London, England, 1868-05-23 00:00:00

IRISH RAILWAYS.

Mr. MONSELL askei the First Lord of the
Treasury whether the report of the Commissioners upon
Irish Railways had been considered by her Majesty's
Government, and whether they proposed to submit to
those Commissioners for report the proposals on the Irish
railway system drawn up last year by a committee of Irish
peers and members of Parliament ; and what steps it
was proposed by the Government to take with regard to
the Irish railways ?
Mr. DISRAELI said it was proposed to submit the
document referred to to the Commissioners. The Govern-
ment had the matter in their consideration with respect to
preparing a measure, but he did not think it would be
ready for introduction during the present session.
MR. BEARDEN AND EIS QUESTION.

Mr. REARDEN said he wished to give notice that on
Monday next he should ask the First Lord of the Treasury
whether it be true that her Majesty the Queen has been
compelled, through delicate health, to retire from Eng-
land during the remainder of this season ; and, if so,
whether it was the intention of her Majesty's Govern-
ment, out of consideration to her Majesty's health,
comfort, and tranquillity, and in the interest of the Royal
family and of her Majesty's subjects throughout the em-
pire, and especially of this metropolis, to advise her Ma-
jesty to abdicate in favour of his Royal--(loud cries of
"Order, order," "Chair, chair," during which the hon.
member sat down abruptly).
The SPEAKER said the house had anticipated itself—
(immense cheers)—by the expression—the indignant ex-
pression of feeling with respect to the question of the hon.
member. (Great cheering.) No doubt any member had
a perfect right to ask any question of the confidential ad-
visers of the Crown with respect to the mode of discharg-
ing their public duties, but then such questions must be
put in respectful and parliamentary terms, and the ques-
tion of the hon. member did not appear to him to be
worded in that language. (Immense cheering.)
Mr. REARDEN said he was very anxious to apologise
if he had transgressed the rule of the house. Such a step
was farthest fro:n his thoughts, and he had no intention
of doing anything that was not strict:y loyal.
SIR R. NAPIER.

Mr. DISRAELI said on Friday next he should move a
vote of thanks to Sir R. Napier and the troops engaged in
the Abyssinian Expedition. (Loud cheers.)
An Horn. MEMBER said he wished to know, in the event
of their being a combination of members of that house
with persons out of it to prosecute Sir R. Napier for any-
thing he might have done at Magdala, the Government
would be prepared to defend him, or whether the means
for so doing were to be raised by voluntary subscriptiuus
by a just and generous nation? (Loud cheers.)
Mr. STANSFELD would like to know when the
despatches of Sir R. Napier would be published?
Sir S. NORTHCOTE said the despatches of Sir R.
Napier were extremely short, and only the telegraphic mes-
sages announcing the arrival, the storming of Magdala,
and the death of'Theodore. He believed some despatches
had been written by Sir Robert which had not yet ar-
rived, but which might be expected in a few days. How-
ever, there was quite sufficient information in the posses-
sion of the Government to enable them to bring forward
the vote of thanks on the day proposed, (Hear, hear.)
Colonel KNOX wished to know whether any informa-
tion had been received stating that the troops were on the
way home?
Sir S. NORTHCOTE answered in the affirmative.
EX-GOVERNOR EYRE.

Captain JERVIS said he bad on a former occaeion,
when the right hon. gentleman was Chancellor of the
Exchequer, asked him, when it was at first threatened to
take proceedings against Mr. Eyre, whether the Govern-
ment intended to afford him all the legal assistance it was
in their power to give, and he had received a favourable
answer. He wished to know whether it was still the intention
of the Government to give that assistance to a gentleman
in Mr. Eyre's position, which he had a right to expect—
(hear, hear)—and that it was not intended to put him
into a felon's dock without a strong defence being made for
him, a defence ho had a right to expect. (Cheers.)
No answer was given to the question.
THE CUSTOM HOUSE CLERKS.

Mr. H. B. SHER:DAN asked the Secretary to the
Treasury whether items the intention of the Government
to amalgamate the Customs extra clerks with the esta-
blishment, or place them in receipt of such a scale of pay
as would place them on a footing with the establishment
and enable them to provide for their families.
Mr. BOOTH said-there was no intention of making any
such amalgamation.

ESTABLISHED CHURCH (IRELAND) BILL.
Mr. GLADSTONE moved the second reading of this bill,
the object of which was to suspend all exercise of patron-
age and appointment to the Established Church in Ireland
until the month of Aug. 1869. The right hon. gentleman re-
ferred to the circumsturces that had led him to introduce
the measure. It wa's said that the great object of hor Ma-
jesty's Government was to restore and maintain tranquil-
lity in Ireland, but if a determined opposition was given
to a bill dealing out such a measure of justice as the one
he had now the honour to submit to the house, the inten-
tions of the Government were but a mockery, and altoge-
ther of a character that the majority of the house would
not sanction:_ (Cheers.) _ _

Mr. G. HARDY rose-to move that the bill bo read a
second time that day six months. He opposed the bill,
in the first place, because he looked upon it as a confiscation
of Church property for secular purposes, and bad it not
been brought forward and supported by such
persons as the bon. member for Birmingham
and the right hog. member for South Lancashire, be
should have looked upon such a measure as absurd and un-
reasonable. It had been said that her Majesty had consented
to place all her rights with respect to the Irish Church at the
disposal of the Parliament, but that he altogether denied.
(Cheers.) Her Majesty had stated that she was ready to
waive her right, but not that she was quite
ready to give up her rights, and he contended
that her Majesty had no constitutional right to abdicate
her patronage, and that being so, the principle of
the bill was altogether wrong. (Hear, hear.) The
bill was bad in principle, without precedent,
and unjust in its action —(hear, hear)—but if that
was not enough to induce the house to reject it,
he
.had to say that in the opinion of a person of
legal eminence the bill, if sanctioned, would be in
fact a repeal of the Union with Ireland, without a sav-
ing clause was introduced into it to prevent such
a result. (Hear, bear, and cheers.) He should like to
know in plain, unmistakable words to what purposes the
right hon. gentleman proposed to devote tha revenues of
the Establishment. (Hear, hear.) He denied altogether
the bill was either expedient or just. The object of the
bill was to paralyse the Irish Church, so that she could
offer no resistance when the time for the real decision on
her fate came. But it was the duty of English Protes-
tants not to forsake their Irish brethren in their emer-
gency. The question would be referred to the new con-
stituencies at the earliest moment, and Mr. Hardy con-
cluded his speech by expressing complete confidence
that they would defeat a design which, quoting the words
of the late Bishop of London, " begun in spoliation and
sacrilege, must end in ruin and confusion."
Mr. LAWSON, in supporting the bill, read the passage
from Lord Mayo's speech to which Mr. Gladstone had re-
ferred, and argued from it either that the Irish Secre-
tary had declared a policy without the authority cf the
Cabinet, or Mr. Hardy was endeavouring to slip out of the
"levelling up" policy, that the Government might more
easily raise their "No Popery " cry. He replied at length
to Mr. Liardy's criticisms on the bill, which he maintained
was a natural corollary of the Resolutions, and would pro-
duce no kind of practical inconvenience.
Mr. LIDDELL asserted that Mn Gladstone had not
cleared hiinself of the charge of wasting time on a bill
which could come to no practical result, nor had he an-

swored the all-important question—what will you do with
the money ? 110 objected to the separation of the Irish
Church from the State as unwise, unjust, and unneces-
sary, and preferred the solution by endowing the Roman
Catholic clergy. That the Ministry would have greater
powers of obstruction to this attack if they had been in
opposition was his reason for regretting that they re-
mained in office, and in all probability had not the Con-
servatives been in power thequestion would not have been
raised now.

The debate, which was mainly a repetition of the Lon