Mr. HUME'S motion, on Thu...
The Times, 1824-05-08T00:00:00

Mir. HUME's mOtion, on Thursday last, for ,n in- quiry on the subject of the Church of Ireland, was refused. Upon the result of such an inquiry, if grant- edf and honestly undertaken, we believe that most im- partial men havc every-where. the same opinion. The refusal of the motion is, indeed,, sufficient evidence thlt even those who are not impartial, but whose interests ap- -Pear to them to be closely interwoven with the existeAce of such practices and abuses as call most loudlyfbr in- vestigation-we mean the Ministers and-their adherents- agreed with the rest of the world in anticipating that the Fruit of the inquiry must be any thing but creditable to the Irish Churih Establishmentt, or they w6uId ot - bave refused a motion for bringing its merits under the eye of kthe louse of Comnmons. Noperso*willprob*bly aCtuse this lournal of hostility towards the Protestant Established Chuxch; 'we have ever held that Church tobe of the essence of our lTnited moinarchy; and as indispensable to the support of the state, as to the maintenalnce of Pure morals and of sound religion in this country. But the questions now floating withl regard to the Ecclesiastical Establishment of Ireland, cannot be fairly said to bring into discussion those arguments which go to determine either the general expedieucy of an Established Church under a monarchical constittution, or the specific preference due to a reformed over a Romish hierarchy. The question raised by Mr. HuiEe Was simply this-." Whether the present Church Establishment of Ire- land be not more than comnmensuerate to the services to be performed, both as regards the number of persons em- ployed and the incomes they receive." It is a great re- lief that the ground of debate has been so narrowed, because otherwise, from delicacy, or the fear of being misconstrued, a discreet man might feel himself restrained from declaring his sentiments upon this inost serious topic. 'Mr. HumE's is a question regarding the proportion be- tween the cost of the Irish Church and the benefits of which it is productive. The laity of the Established Church are much overrated at 400,000 persons; and yet such are the numbers of the clergy, and such the magnitu(de of their benefices, that seveni milliens of people find the expense of providing for them a buaden too oppressive to be borne, and, rush into downright rebellion as often as the least shadow of oppor- tunity presentsitself, in their eagerness to shake off the yoke. This is the first aspect of the relation between Church and people in Ireland. But the profits enjoyed by the lheads of the Irish Church are greater than those allotted for the maintenance of their mitred brethren in England. Three Archbishops of A,AeAGl (one of -whom has died within this year or two) are stated on public authority to have left behind them n o less than 250,0001. a-piece! The Bishoprick of DEaRY alone is reputed to be worth little short of 20,0001. por annum. These are afflicting proofs of an overgrowth of clerical emolument in a country where the service to be performed is so restricted by the scantiness of the Pro- testant population. The fact is, that the state has been rendered top-heavy by this bulky and lofty load under which it labours. The first storm, therefore, will endanger the safety of thie vessel- , And see whether the grievance thus constituted receives any mitigation from the malner in vhich It is administer- ed. We fear the reverse. Men are seldom sought out anid promoted to the Irish Bench, for qualities which fit them to conciliate the national prejudices, or to lighten the pres.sure of an alien curch upon thei jealous and irri- table dispositions. The Bench in Ireland is a frequent re- ceptacle tb,r the younger sons of noble families, who are raisedl through other causes than their professional repata- tion; and who, owing every thing to conmexion exclusively, employ their patronage in the same spirit in wlhich it was bestowed upon themselves-filling the diocess over which they reign with IDng files of hungry relatives and depend- dents. This point was not touched upon by Mr. Humr, ; but it was one which might have been advantageously ad- duced in recornmendation of his proposal to inquire. Has, again, the Church of Irelancl fulfilled the sole purpose forwvhich it could havebeen honestly intended? Has it served the cause of the reformed religioin in that country ? Ilas it spread the faith? Has it even retaine(d in the commu- nion of their ancestors those Protestants who were origi- nally committed to its keeping? Not one of these things has the Irish Church performed. Instead of the tenets of the reformation being extended, they are every day con- tracted within a narrowver space. Instead of gaining con- verts, this prodigally-endowed and idle institution is losing them with frightful rapidity. Does the Church tend to tranquillize and compose the turbulence of the kingdom? It is, on the other hand, the grandincendiary of Ireland- the source and stimulus of every conflict by which the na- tion has for ages been distarbed. Under these circumstances, MIr. HuEot dia well to press for inquiry into the state of that more than sus- picious establishment. On the part of those who resisted the motion, there was, in many ways, an exhibition of shallow, flippant, and illogical unfair- ness, disgraceful to an enlightened assemnbly, and to free debate. Because the private opinions of Mr. Humss himself were such as Parliament could not be expected to sanction; therefore a motion, the object of which was to enable Parliament to express its own opinions, must be condemned, forsooth, by Mr. PLUNK rer! Be- cause Mr. E is not a friend to any church establish- ment, MNIr. PLUNKETT will not stiffer the House of Com- mons to satisfy itself whether one particular establislhment is of disproportioned bulk, and of mischievous or useless operation. T hat Right Honourable Gentleman further ventured to affirrn that there were only 20 non-resident clergymen in Ireland! On whose authority was this boldl statement given ? If on that of a certain Archbishop, the Irish A'rToRasEY-GiNERAL had better beware of again burning his fingers with that hot iron. He bolds out two threats to the Imperial Parliament, if they touch the Irish Church; one menace is on the score of property-another on that of power. "'Take care, you country gentlemen, of your estates, if these enormnous tithes and bishopricks be reformed."-" Take care,I tell " you, of the connexion between the two countries, if ou grant the motion of Mr. Hu ti ." We know not hIow to characterize such reasoning in decorous terms: if we might, we -would call it Humbug