THE DEBATE ON THE IRISH CHURCH QUESTION.

West Coast Times, Issue 840, 2 June 1868, Page 4

THE DEBATE ON THE IRISH CHURCH QUESTION.

London, March 31. The debate in the House of Commons last night on the Irish church was tho most important one which has taken place during the present session of Parliament.

Mr Gladstone made a masterly speech in support of his resolutions for the abolition of the Irish church establishment, plaeng himself on a line with the most advanced members of the Liberal party on this question. After giving the reasons for past inaction, he showed the necessity for the immediate consideration of the subject, and explained the tendency and effect of the resolutions which he had introduced to meet the emergency. Ho dilated on the great effect for good which a termination of the ascendency of the Irish church as a State establishment would have in removing jealousies and mitigating sectarian bitterness. In treating this question, he said, members of Parliament should exclude all party feelings, and act solely for the public good. No one could deny that each of the church organisations in Ireland, irrespective of cree.l, aimed to do good ; but the church as an establishment of tho State had miserably failed to do the country any good. Now that the penal laws against Catholics no longer were in force, the number of Protestants in Ireland did not exceed one-fifth of the population; and it was great injustice to compel the whole country to support a church for the benefit of so small a minority. Members of the House of Commons were urged to disregard their fears and prejudices, and when the Irish people asked for religious equality, grant the demand, placing their reliance on the justice of the act. He praised the Roman Catholic Clergy for their firmness and loyalty in opposing Fenianisni. In regard to measures for the. dis-establishment of the Irish Church, Mr Gladstone said he did not want to pr<»ss the question to a final decision until the new Parliament should meet; but he should urge that the government cease to make any appointments to fill vacancies in the higher grades of tho Irish Church, in order to leave the I case clear for future action. Had he not j believed that the House was ready to deal j earnestly with the question he would not i h,ave resorted to that weakest of devices, an abstract resolution ; but he hoped that the introduction of these resolutions would be followed by active steps for carrying them into effect next year, so that perhaps the present generation might see the great reform completed. After sharply criticising the proposed resolution of Lord Stanley to postpone the consideration of the whole subject until the meeting of the next Parliament, Mr Gladstone closed his speech with an eloquent appeal to the House to vindicate its character and dignity by its course on the important question now to be decided. Mr Gladstone was loudly cheered as he took his-iseat. In his rdply, Lord Stanley, who immediately followed Mr Gladstone, owned j that the Government fully recognised the gravity of the matter under discussion, but he regretted the attempts which had been made to place the question on a false basis. The Ministry did not seek to I shirk the issue by trickery or manageI ment, as had been charged ; they only wanted time to consider the subject before acting upon it. The noble Lord concluded his speech by declaring that the Irish people cared more for the land than : the church question, and before tiking his seat he offered the resolution of which he gave notice on Friday, viz. — That the whole subject of a change in the Irish Church Establishment be left to be dealt with by the next Parliament. [It was upon this amendment of Lord Stanley, it will be remembered, that (according to our telegraphic intelligence) the Government were defeated on division in the House of Commons by a majority of sixty.] *