The Sun.
London, England, 1845-06-17 00:00:00

111-AYNOOTH.

Lord RODEN presented a number of petitions from various
parts of Ireland against the grant to Maynooth.
TRAVELLING ON RAILWAYS ON SUNDAYS.
A Right Rev. PRELATE presented a petition from Sussex
against any unnecessary traffic on railways on Sundays.
AIAYNOOTH.

On the order of the day for the third reading of the College
of Maynooth Bill being read,
Lord CAMPBELL said, as he presumed it was not the
intention of the Noble Earl (the Earl of Winchilseal
to bring forward the notice which he had on the books until
the Bill had been read a third time, it being in the nature of
a clause to be added to the Bill, he would shortly state the
grounds on which he should support the measure. No doubt
the Bill would be carried by an overwhelming mejority ; but
the results to be expected from it very much depended on the
spirit in which it would be passed, and on the reasons which
led the Government to 'propose it. He was anxious to state
that he did not support the measure from any apprehension of
agitation, or from any dread of a foreign war. If these were
the reasons on which he and others supported it, they would
have the effect of placing Mr. O'Connell on a higher pinnacle
than that he had occupied since his trial. Neither did he sup-
port the Bill because the Government had gained a triumph
over education, because the Government was now strong, and
could afford to be generous, and might therefore bestow a boon
which it might otherwise withhold,—but he could not
help stating that their measures towards Ireland had hitherto
been unfortunate. A Noble Friend (the Marquis of Clanricarde)
on Friday gave a true statement of the public mind in Ireland.
He (Lord Campbell) did not support the measure, merely on
the ground that it was to supply a defect in former grants—he
did not proceed merely upon the dilapidated state of the build-
ing, or on the wretched condition of the students, for he
thought it was a sufficient answer to the arguments that
had been brought forward against this measure on religious
grounds, that it was only a continuation of former grants;
but if it were merely to be considered as an isolated measure
and nothing mere were to be done, he doubted whether evil
instead of good might not be expected. He could not sup-
port the measure as a step to the endowment of Roman Ca-
tholic Churches in Ireland, out of the public revenue, while the
Protestant Church of Ireland retained its present monstrous
dimensions.—( Hear, hear.) He was fully convinced
that they never could expect peace in that country
until there was complete equality between Protestants and
Roman Catholics, on civil and religious grounds. He
supported the measure, because he considered it a Parlia-
mentary recognition that hereafter in Ireland Protestants and
Roman Catholics were to be dealt with alike. He would
venture with confidence to point out a plan by which Ireland
could be governed, and by which Ireland might be rendered
peaceful, prosperous, and contented. Let them place the Ro-
man Catnolics and the Protestants of Ireland on exactly the
same footing. With so much and no less would the Roman
Catholics be contented. He did not complain of the exist-
ence of the Episcopal Protestant Church in Ireland, because
he could not place any faith in the voluntary principle. It was
he thought the duty of the State to provide religious
instruction for all classes of the people ; but it was a lament-
able fact that, hitherto, those who had been most in need of
religious instruction had been left entirely destitute of it. It
seemed to him, however, very importr.nt for the character of
the clergy themselves, that they should not depend for sub-
sistence entirely upon their flocks, but that they should be
rendered independent, and thus remove their apprehensions
of becoming unpopular, and prevent their resorting to un-
worthy acts for the purpose of obtaining a decent living. There
were from 7,000 to 8,000 persons in Ireland of the Episcopalian
persuasion, and it was highly becoming that their religious
wants should be amply provided for. Far be it, therefore, from
him to sanction any measure which should have the least ten-
dency to take the whole of their rights and privileges from them ;
but he could not forget that there were 7,000,000 of Roman
Catholics in Ireland who were required to obey the law, who
were required to contribute to the public revenue, who were re-
quired to defend the State by their personal services, and yet
they were refused the same facilities for obtaining religious in-
struction.—(Hear, hear.) While there was no prospect of
Roman Catholics being converted to the faith of the Estab-
lished Church, their clergymen, who were to instruct them,
ought to be well educated. There were errors in the Roman
Catholic religion, and no one could dislike them more than he
whether tenets
e
did ; but the question was not whether there were errors, but
whether these who were attached to it should receive instruction
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