Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1868-03-18
VOL. XXXv.
@bld StatesnAan.
From the Philadelphi. Ledger, March 14.l

From the Philadelphia Ledger. March 14.I
Lord Russell ON the Irish Church.
The most formidable difficulty with
(which the newly-formed Cabinet, with
Mr.. Disraeli at its head, will have to
contend in Great Britain, already begins
to show itseE.s TheEeepditions- Of Ire7
land satisfies no party. the tenure Of
land would be fornidab enough to per-
plex any ordinary statesmsnship. But
the Irish Church question throws all
others into the shade. Lord Russell,
who at least has had some experience of
1.-THE difficulties of this subject, though
Ijustly complained of for not having done
more to settle them while. in -poWer, ex-
pressed the matter very clearly in re-
cent debate on this subject in the House
Of Lords. "Relief," he thought, "above
all, must be given in the matter of
the Irish Protestant Church, which the
great mass of the people regarded with
aversion, and as badge of their con-
quest forced upon them. The Irish
Church." he continued, "has no parallel
| in Europe, insAsia, in Africa or Ameri-
! CO and ipnediats 1egislation7isTHeeeg
sary to remedy this and other grievances,
Of which the Irish people most justly
complain" twas. perhaps, a fair re-
ljoiader of Lord Hardwick, that Lord
Russell had only found out the grievance
Of the Irish Gharchrnew he was in op-
position. Bntt truth is that-the diff
Guilty all along has not been SO much in
finding out grievances, butremedies. Ro-
man Catholicism is the religion of four
fifths of the inhabitants of Ireland, and.
lin addition to supporting their own
| clergy, they have to unite in contribut-
ing to the maintenance of the Church of
England, which is the religion of less
than one-tenth. If, in England, this
seems hard to dissenters, who form a
minority, it is far worse in Ireland,
where the Roman Catholics are so over
|whelming majority.
| Lord Russell's avowed reason for
urging thisF Just occasion Of grievance at
the present time, was, however, not so
good as the remedy he seemed to hint
at. "No man." he said, "knew what
the future might bring forth, or how onr
relations with the United States might
suddenly become complicated and threat
ening. and in such an emergency, it would
be almost impossible to really pacity
Ireland" The fact is that the absence
of all compulsory support of religion is
one of the mbst marked and original
features of American Democracy. This
affords the only practical remedy for this
most annoying and dangerous of all
the Irish grievances, and no doubt
the perfect freedom sof Worship in
this country suggests the only rea-
sonable method of affording an
adequate remedy for this chief grievance
under which Ireland groans. Thousands,
indeed millions, -of. Irish Roman Cath
olicsshave come over to this country and
have found "freedom to worship God"
unknown in the old world, and they
have built their own houses of worship
and supported their clergy, and become
respected, wealthy andr most liberal in
their contributions, because here every
mans heart goes with his money; in
deed, without it, his money does not go
at all from his possession. This perfect
relief and perfect equality before the
law of all religious denominations, has
certainly not tended to make any form
of sincere worship neglected or despised,
but has made the conscientious of all
creeds anzious to gain supporters and
zealous in doing good; it has
built all our houses of worship,
educated and supported a body of Chris
tian ministers inferior to none for piety,
ability and efficiency. Every year our
houses of worship become in all denom-
nations more commodious, comfortable,
and better filled with those who are in
structed by, and enjoy their services
What is more worthy of remark is, that
men are respected for personal worth,
and apart from merely sectarian consid-
erations, far more in the United States
than in any other country on the globe.
In Ireland, for instance, the quarrels on
account Of religion have been for centur-
les the most bitter and unpleasant
parts of her history. Here, on
the contrary, liberation and
kind feeling are the order Of
the day, and religious denominations
exchange religious Jcourtesies and pa
ternal interchanges with a greater lib
erality than in almost any part of the
globe. Nor does any denomination feel
that it possesses the right. to annoy the
worship or defame the belief of any
others. An Irishman coming over to
this country attends his own church, and
supports it with his contributions. and
he is more respected for being consistent
and devout in his belief, and certainly
suffers no molestation. But a compul-
sorry establishment, with its fat livings
for few clergymen, and its formal ser
vices in the midst of population four
fifths of whom were inimical to the
whole worship they are compelled to
support, has produced an irritation of
feeling which it will require the most
iudicious government to allay.