New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1868-05-10
THE CONFLICT BETWEEN THE CROWN
AND THE PEOPLE IN ENGLAND,

mons and the events which have since oe-
Cured indicate that such collision Is
almost inevitable. The situation is this
the Heuse of Commons has made up Its
mind that the Church Of England, estab-
lished bv law in Ireland, against the wishes
and to the great injury of the majority of
the Irish people, shall cease to exist This
determination is the fruit Of the Feaian re-
belicn in Ireland, and it has been arrived
at with the hope that the Irish people would
accept this reform as an evidence of the
willingness Of England to do justice to
Ireland, and to remove the harden
of inequality and oppression un-
der which the weaker kingdom has so
long laid. The party in Parliament which
is committed to this reform has majority
Of sixty members and can carry any meas
ure through the House. But now comes
the difficulty. No law affecting Church
interests in Great Britain can pass its
second rea ding in the House of Commons
unless the consent of the Crown can first
be obtained The representative Of the
Grown in Parliament is the Premier. and
according to the long established rules Of
British legislation this officer must not
only be the representative of The will Of
the sovereign but must be in accord with
the majority in Parliament. If the Premier
dispieases the Queen she may dismiss him;
if he encounters the hostility Of the major
ity in Parliament, ne is expected to resign
and give way to some one who will com
maDd the confidence of the legislature.
As is already known Parliament has gone
as far as it can 90 without the consent Of
the Crown in its attempt to cOnciliate the
Irish people by abOlishing the Established
Church in that part Of the kingdom. That
is, it has passed a resolution to the effect
that in the opinion Of the House Of Com
IRONS the church in Ireland should cease
to exist, and that a bill to abolish it should
be framed into a law. This resolution was
very strongly opposed by the present
Premier, 8Ir. Disraeli, and his Cabinet, but
was passed by a majority of sixty votes on
the fourth of April. 1t was then expected
that Mr. DisraeIi would resign. and that
Mr.. Gladstone, who is the leader OF the
Liberal party in the House OF Commons,
would be appointed to succeed him at the
head OF the government. Mr.. Disraeli,
however. refused TO do anything Of the
kind. On the contrary, he informed Par
lament that inasmuch as it was body
that represented only small portion of
the people Of the kingdom and as the next
Parliament would be body chosen by
the entire people, it would be better to
postpone the consideration of a subject of
SO much Importance until the new Parlia-
ment assembled, which would be next
year: and that, in the mean
time, he 1could adpiSe he Queen H,at her coro-
nation oath forbade Ter 10 consent 10 aay
measure arhich proposed 10 destroy tie
Established CaTcd. In saying this be only
told the truth. One Of the titles of
the sovereign Of Great Britain is the
" Defender of the Faith . and all the
sovereigns of the realm since King James
II. have taken an oath to preserve, main
tain, and protect the Protestant religion.
The temporaIities Of the Established
Church, 10 England as well as in Ireland,
nominally belong to the crown the Queen
is the head Of the Church, and to ask her to
to the destruction of the Church is
to ask her to violate the oath she took
when she was crowned.
Here. then, was deadlock Of the most
dangerous character On the one side the
Commons, resolved upon the disestablish-
ment of the Irish Church; on the other,
Prime Minister, refusing to yield to the
viii Of the Commons, refusing to resign,
and threatening to advise the Queen to a
course which would inevitably lead to a
collision between the Grown and the Par
lament The question then arose, win the
Queen listen to Disraeli and follow his adj
vice, or will she dismiss him and accept as
a counsellor man who is in accord with
the Parliament Thisquestion has now re-
eeived a reply. On the fourth of this month
Mr. Disraeli called the Cabinet together and
informed them that he intended ito aeht it
out on this line if it took him
ali summer" that he proposed to resist
Parliament, to remain in Office, and to com
pei postponement Of all legislation on
the Irish Church question until the next
Parliament assembled. The other cabinet
ministers were eRtirely destitute Of pluck.
and, alarmed by the threatening aspect Of
affairs, stated that they would resign their
Offices, ana thus break up the government.
With this news to tell Mr.. Dlsraeli went to
the Queen and informed her that he could
do no more; that his colleagues had de-
serted him, and that if her majesty desired
it he would resign. Queen Victoria re-
fused 10 accept the resignation, and told
Disraeli that he must remain in office and
help her in her approaching conHiet
with the Parliament. He consented
probably without any reluctance
and returning to Loadon informed
his colleagues Of the Queens de-
cisicn. The spirit Of loyalty WAS again
enkindled ia their breasts. They could not