The Sun.
London, England, 1844-12-21 00:00:00

• IRELAND.
THE COMMISSIONERS UNDER THE BE-

QUESTS BILL.
DUBLIN, DEC. 18.--A supplement to the Dublin Ga-
zette, published this evening, contains the " astounding"
fact of three Roman Catholic Bishops, who, to their ever-
lasting credit, stood firm against the assaults of their
traducers and intimidators, both lay and clerical, accept-
ing the Queen's Commission to carry into operation the
almost solitary beneficial Act of Irish legislation which
has emanated from the Government of Sir Robert Peel.
This is, undoubtedly, a " heavy blow" at the assumed
despotism of the lion of the fold of Judah, and a " great
discouragement" to his lay auxiliary, Mr. Daniel O'Con-
nell, who will be thus relieved from the further turmoil
of that impotent parochial agitation, by means of which
he has contrived to divert the attention of his dupes from
V. consumptive state of the repeal question with the
glaring " deficiencies" week after week of the repeal
exchequer.
Here is the official announcement of the " blow" which
has prostrated all the hopes of the " protesters." The
name of I)r. Denvir, Roman Catholic Bishop of Down
and Connor, has, it will be seen, been substituted for
that of the Right Rev. I)r. Kennedy, who, by a little
less pliancy, would have appeared to more advantage,
had he preserved his consistency by retaining his seat at
the board, according to his original intention :
" Dublin Castle, December 18, 1844.—The Queen in
Council has been pleased by warrant, under the sign
manual, bearing date at her Majesty's Court of St.
James's, the 14th day of December, 1344, to appoint the
following persons to be Commissioners of Charitable
Donations and Bequests for Ireland, agreeably to the
provisio • • n of the Act 7th and Bth of her Majesty, cap. 97,
viz.:—

" The Mot Rev. John George, Lord Archbishop of
Armagh, and Primate of all Ireland.

" The Most Rev. Richard, Lord Archbishop of Dublin.
" The Most Rev. Archbishop William Crolly.
" The Most R's. Archbishop Daniel Murray.
The Right Hon. John Rely, Earl of Donoughmore,
K.S.P.

" The Right Rev. Bishop Cornelius Denvir.
" The Very Rev. Henry Pakenhatn, Dean of St.
Patrick's, Dublin.

" The Right Hon. Sir Patrick Bellew, Bart.
" The Right Hon. Anthony Richard Blake.
" The Rev. Pooley Shouldham Henry, D.D."
The Eveneng Mail contains the following remarks in
reference to this document :

" Thanks to the firmness of Lord Heytesbury, the
measure has thus been carried into effect without the
slightest concession to clamour, or any yielding to a sup-
posed expediency. We are happy to observe also, that
the Roman Catholic prelates and laymen on the Com-
mission have risen with the emergency above the weak-
ness of a pusillanimous surrender to the pressure from
without, or with the perverseness of embarrassing the
Government from within. Doctor Murray, in particu-
lar, has displayed a moral courage which entitles him to
the respect of the wise and good of all persuasions, and
to the confidence especially of the laity of his own. It
was no easy task to resist the talons of the lion of the
fold of Judah, and the fangs of the serpent of the
tribe of Dan ; it was no holiday work to withstand
the shock of the demagogue's tongue, and despise
the threats of an ignorant and fanatical multitude.
But Doctor Murray, upon whom the chief as-
sault was brought to bear, has triumphed over the
arts and the violence of his opponents, and the va-
cillation of his own temper ; and has thus, we believe,
brought to a most important crisis the temporal concerns
of the Roman Catholic Church as it exists in Ireland.
The position which he has at last assumed determines,
we think, the growing controversy between what may be
called the democratic spirit creeping into his Church,
and the theocracy which she has invariably asserted for
herself ; and so far it is well for the peace of the world
that the anarchy resulting from mob dictation should be
seasonably cut short. Having done justice to Dr. Murray,
we ought not, and we will not, withhold the tribute of
our respect from Drs. Crolly and Denvir. Though more
in the shade, they sustained, by their counsel and con-
currence, the energies of their more exposed colleague,
and doubtless to their co-operation much of his firm-
ness, as well as the success of the measure, is to be
ascribed."