The Sun.
London, England, 1868-08-03 00:00:00

they had a right to remain iu office until the country
had expressed that it had no confidence in them.
This, however, did not meet with the consent of
the Opposition, and hence the last Session through
which we have passed has been distinguished for
party conflicts of a very acrimonious character.
Mr. GLADSTONE and his immediate circle knew that
a direct vote of censure, a motion, or a want of
confidence, could not have been carried, and
therefore they resolved to find some question
which would rally their party and discomfit their
opponents. After a consultation they decided that
the Irish Church would be the best thing to take
hold of to answer the desired ends ; and Colonel
PATTEN may perhaps be excused, when he says
that though he is not in the habit of expressing
himself strongly, or of imputing motives to political
parties, he ventures to say that " there never was
such a question brought forward with such exclu-
sively party objects as the question of the Irish
Church." The land question in Ireland is of great
importance, andsome attention was being diverted to
that, until the idea of the Irish Church became the
uppermost one in the minds of the Liberals. On
the land question great discussion prevailed in the
Opposition benches, and it seemed wellnigh im-
possible to arrive at a definite conclusion, but it
was otherwise when Mr. GLADSTONE'S Resolutions
engaged notice, and it was fortunately settled by
them that they should be the battle-field at the
general election about to take place.
Colonel PATTEN held out no prejudicial opinions
on the matter. He said that)le believed the Irish
Church question did require serious attention, and
that it was impossible to deny that there were
" anomalies" in that Church which demanded in-
vestigation. One objection to Mr. GLAD-
STONE'S Resolutions is that he had not the
patience to wait until the Report of the Commis-
sion moved for by his own leader, Lord RUSSELL,
but insisted on bringing matters to an issue before
the general election. The Government arc entitled
to the credit claimed for them by the Colonel for
having worked most sedulously to shorten the time
for the dissolution to take place, and to put a period
to the confused state of things now existing.
The Hon. F. A. STANLEY spoke at some length,
and alluded to his three years' connection with
Preston. He dropped his connection with
that place as its representative with mixed
feelings, and he acceded to the request
made to him to stand for the county,
because he thought he could thus serve more effec-
tually the interests of his party by standing for
North Lancashire. Mr. STANLEY forbore to dwell
on the past, and directed his attention to the sub-
ject which must engage Parliament for the future.
The Irish Church ranks prominently among those
questions which must be attended to, and the hon.
member observed with truth that Ireland altogether
must be treated with attention, for much retusins
to be done there. Like Colonel PATrEN, he thought
so much haste need not have been made, and
regretted that they had not waited to see the
result of the inquiries of the Commission. Mr.
STANLEY concluded his spirited speech by calling
on the electors to decide on the day of election
which party could best serve the interests of the
country, and to act in accordance with that decision.