GENERAL SUMMARY.

West Coast Times, Issue 1140, 19 May 1869, Page 3

G ENER AL SUMM AR Y.

(From the Home News, March 26.)

The verdict of the nation on the question of the extinction of the Irish Establishment was ao distinctly pronounced at, the general election, that, deep as is the interest taken by all thoughtful persons in the progress of the scheme for carrying out that end, there is little or no excitement, and the utterances of the Parliamentary orators have been listened to and criticised with scarcely more warmth of feeling than would have been roused by the language of a drama. Indeed it has been perceived, and even said in the House, tha< there was something unreal in the great debate. For not only was tbe question virtually settled wlru the returning officers had done their work, but even- argument, .save the final vote, had been exhaused in the discussions which preceded the dissolution. All that could be expected were certain displays of magnificent oratory by the leaders in politics, and certain inipass'oned deliverances by some of their followers. In the former, there was no doubt that the chief's would seek to vindicate the positions they had attained, while in the latter zeal might be credited with merit not easily discoverable in oratory. '1 hese expectations have bern more than fulfilled, and the great debate has shown that we still have statesmen who are capable of dealing nobly with the largest constitutional ques-

J what less necessary . assurance , that the ! breed of patriots whose estimate of their I own abilities is not. exactly that of the world was never in less datigOr" of being extinct.

Mt Gladstone, on the Ist of March, in , a speech of about three hours' duration, ' one in Avhich Mr Disraeli at once declared j that not a phrase had been waited, brought ! forward his scheme for the disestablish* j ment and disendowmeut of the liish , Church, We condense its detail into the i fewest possible words, as those who are mii tcrested in the subject will be glad to refer ito tne report, given elsewhere. On the ' Ist of January, lf>7l (the date may be ' altered), the irMi Church s>hi;ll formally j cease to exist. lint the work shall begin I with the passing of the bill now before ! Parliament. As soon as that bill shall be i law, a new Commission shall take the place of the present Fcelcsiastical Commission for Ireland. The new Commi sion is to last for ten ycais. Xo new vested interests shall be created. The Irish bishops shall at once lose their seats iv the House ot Lords, and the Crown gives up iis prerogative of episcopal appointments, but on the prayer of the Church, may appoint bishops for spiritual purposes. Synodical action is to be revived in the Irish Church. The bishops, clergy, and laity arc invited to elect something in the nature of a Governing IJody, and this is to be recognised by the Crown, if the Gbveriiftic-t, as a jury, shall find that the body really represents the three classes nbove mentioned. On January 1, 1871, the English aud Irish Churches sunder. From that date the Ecclesiastical laws and couris in Ireland are abolished, lint tho:.-e laws may, until the Church itself alter.? them, be binding as a \olunlary eompsct. At this point of hi^ speech Mr Gladstone intimated that ho had .shown how what he called the Greii' Launch might be effected smi.othly. He then proceeded to d.al with Vested interests. Ist, incumbents — Their title i* to depend upon their performance of duty. While they do tins, their income, deducting curate's salary, is to be continued to them, or, if tlicy please, they may commute it for an nnnuitv, to be paid by the governing body. * 2nd, Curates — To be divided into two classes, permanent and transitory. The former to have the same rights as the incumbents. The latter to be treated in the same way as Civil Servants. 3rd, Tithe Commutation Charges — They pass to the Commission, dnd are as far as possible to be merged, on \ery advantageous terms, to the holders, a part of the scheme on which Mr Gladstone laid great stress. 4th. Churches. — Some — about twelve — are regarded as national treasures, or remarkable as works of art. These arc to be maintained by the Commission out of the Church fund. All other churches arc to be handed to the governing body, on its undertaking to maintain them for purposes of religion, or to pull them down, that new churches may bs built, where more arc wanted. Such as are refused aie to be handed to the Commission to be pulled down, and the land and materials to be sold. sth. Glebe.— lf the governing body buys the church it may take the ground of the glebe-house, and the additional adjoining ten" acres at a fair valuation. 6th. — Burial grounds are to go with the churches. So much for the Church that was. We now come to tho d : sposal of its propjrty. Maynooth and the lirginvi Do.nnn are to be valued at 14 years' j.urchae. The income of the Church is valurd at £700,000. Church Lands are to be *old. the tenant, having a right of pre-emption. The charges for the Church will be about £8,500,000. and the surplus coming to the. nation £7,500 000. Mr Gladstone will give this neither for religious purposes, for division among rival sects, for railways,nor public works (because this application would not be final) but in a way which will enable the people to have the benefit of the boon. And this he thinks will be best accomplished by handing over the sum to the Poor Law Commissioners, for Lunatic Asylums, chiefly, but also for other asylums, infirmaries, reformatories, and industrial schools. In an eloquent peroration he declared his belief that brighter and better times for the Irish Church were at. hand, while "the words that shall give the force of law to this work of peace and justice will be echoed from every shore where the names of Great Britain and Ireland are known, and the answer will come back in the approving verdict of civilised mankind," Such is an outline of th: bill, and none can fail to bi' struck by its completeness. The subsequent di-bate'has shown how thoughtfully all the details mur-t have been considered,for though the whole phalanx of the Opposition, prompted by its journal.*, has been en»erly scrutinising the scheme in order to damage it. not a blot has been hit, and. except on the Maynooth question (on which battle will probably be given in committee), no antagonist has f und a point upon which his artillery could a'-t. On the whole scheme, of course, the Opposition has poured its general but harmless yollies. There was no debate on the opening night, but very soon afterwards notice wns given, on behalf of Mr Disraeli, that he would move the rejection of the bill. On the 18th of March he fulfilled his promise, when i!io second rearling was moved, and the great debate followed, and lasted for four ni»hts. It is not necessary to do more than indicate the names of tlie principal speakers, and the characters of their addressee. The gieatcst interest, of course, centred in the speech of Mr Disraeli. Once more the leader of the Opposition has been too clever for his party, and has * succeeded in entirely dissatisfying them. Mr Disraeli has, or believes that he has. a future before him, and he had no intention of destrojing all his prospects of again leading thi- House of Commons by committing himself to a fanatic resistance to a decree which the majority of that body had virtually registered, • and which, were that question to be anew submitted to the people of England, would be affirmed by a fsir larger majority. Therefore Mr Disraeli, in a speech of great literary ability, which sorely puzzled the more bigoted of his followers, though it was perfectly well understood by his friends and by the members of the Government, dwelt upon the blessings of religion, the toleratiou which a Church Establishment brought, and the danger to liberty now and to property in the future days, if such a measure should pass. His speech was in fact, a protest which necessarily came, from the leader of the Opposition, but which no one could suppose reflected Mr Disraeli's mind. A word from Mr Lowe, on the third night, will best show what was felt by the wiser sort. '• Let me caution the younger membi-rs of this House. Do not let them suppose that the honorable member for Buckinghamshire cannot do very differently from that when he chooses. Nobody can come more directly to the point, or put a case with more grasp and point. Only, on this occasion it did not serve his purpose to do so." The speech, which had much merit, though not of the kind his party wanted, showe.l the platform Hv Piwji "elest^ w«l vhm

we have added that hi-s followers' seldom 1 che red heartily, and murmured as they, ',\ ent away, and that his organs have givcii ti grudging tribute to his " studied modera(lotf, 1 ' iitld have let him alone, we have indicated the eidc% position of the Opposition leader. ■ Among the other orators havt' htm the Irish Secretary, who acquitted himself well. The bill, he said, was sweeping and severe, but it would have been weakness and folly to make it anything else. Mr j Bright delivered one of his most impas- ' sioued ami effective orations, and by a dexteious introduction of the religious element into flu assembly which may, without uncharitableues!', be said to be ot the worldly kind, produced an impression which perhaps would not have been so great upon thoie fo whom theological phrases are not so strange. 'J nc S n^ intellectual night was the third, when ,?' r Ivouudell Palmer (who is not Lord « hancellor only because he could not assent to this bill) put forth all his power, and while allowing that it might be right to disestablish the Church, contended that we had no licence to plunder her. It was a magnificent effort of argument — yet lie left an unguarded point, at which the deadly thrust of Mr Lowe was :it once given, and given home. Sir Roundell would not object lo doing away with the , n lowmcnts where there but low Protestant*. " This," cried Mr Lowe, "is helping the weak for the sake of the truth ! '! his is Saul, who kept the fat cattle alive, while the lean he destrwed utterly." Mr Lowe's was the next best speech, and quite the most effective of the night, Sir John Coleiidge -carcely being a mateh — with the disadvantaga of having the reply— for the subtle but' lucM thinker who piTt-eckil him, and who, moreover, stood so well with the House, as one who had sacrificed splendid ofiiee for the sake of what may be culled half a question. On the la?t night the principal speakers were Mr Wulpole. who opened the debate, Mr Mowbray, the new member for Oxford University, Lord G. Hamilton, the young member for Middlesex, and Mr Hardy, who spoke for more than two hour* .against 'ho bill. Then came the Prcmi'i's reply — an earnest, forcible speech of ono hour's length. Next came the division, when the second reading was carried by 368 to 250, the majority beinu r 118. The House then rose for the Easter holiday*. More briefly still, if possible, must we note other Parliamentary proceedings, the rather that they have "more insular than imperial interest. A most valuable bill for the reform of endowed schools (there is a net income of £350,000 to deal with) has been introduced by the Government— the Suppression of Crime Bill has been rendered more severe as rogaids the receivers of stolen goods— we have a bankruptcy bill, mainly based on the Scotch system, which leaves a bankrupt s affairs in the hands of those who best know bow they should be treated — the University Tests Bill makes progress, but Sir Roundell Palmer insists on introducing a declaration which he thinks will preserve the religious element — and we are promised a measure for establishing the freedom of the press, a mysterious intimation to those who rather though that the press had reasonably wdl-esta* blished freedom for itself, but on the strength of which a useful measure, for preventing a journal from being damnified by a hunafule report, of libellous words, is oppo-ed by Mr Ayrton. The release of so many Fenian prisoners has been repeatedly declared in both Houses to have been a mistake, a feeling ;n; n which the country, irritated at the insolent demonstrations of rejoicing by the fi Sends c-f the prisoners, is rapidly joining. Sonic of the Irish Catholic hierarchy affect to discourngc these demonstrations, but many permit collections at chapels for the Fenians, and more than one new anest has beui made. The last I Parliamentary i.em to which we need refer is the petition list, and it is enough to say that seven or eight more of the ! members returned at the general election have been cast out by the judges. With the exception of some Spanish items, Continental new. affords little worth note. The Cortes began very stormily, and clap- trap speeches, with appeals to the ! galleries, were the order of the day. but good sense soon gained a hearing, and the debates have since been creditably conducted. On tlie occasion of some outrages in the provinces, committed in the name of Republicanism, the members of that party j in the Cortes repudiated them, and ren- | dered support to the Government for the'r suppression. The last scene of excitement was wlun the sailor-minister, Topete, let out that if he had to choose between Republicanism and Montpensier, he should choo-ethelattcr.lliscolieaguesgnve a formal disavowal of his sentiments, describing tln.m as individual, but some think th;*tthe speech was not so entirely a random one as was asserted, and that Prim and Serrano wished to know how the name of the Duke would be received by the Assembly. They have declared that there will be 'nr> difficulty about a King, that thi-y arc quite ready to propose the name of a candidate at the proper time, which it is assumed means when the Constitution shall bo ready. And if this candidate be not Antoine cle Montpensier, the secret has been exceedingly well kept. For tbe mi, things go <)n tolerably smoothly in Spain itself, bur Cuba seems by no means subdued ; and by way of helping them, the American -\ who were eager to go to war with us fur venturing to think that their rebels ha-1 ji chance, have a resolution before Congress for recognising the Cuban rebel.'! m-d" encouraging them to declare a Republic. The reports of the success of the Spanish general are contradictory, but he ouuht, with the force at his command, to ' c :»ble to crush _ the revolt. A domestic incident in Mfidrid has occasioned a sort of >cn>a- ! tion. A nephew of Olozaga, the statesman, quarrelled at the opera with another young fool, because the stick ot tlie latter lay across the chair of the former, nwd was not removed with sufHciont politeness. They tbuu'ht. and young Olozaga is dead, ! and the Cortes rose, from respect to his uncle. j

'\ here is absolutely nothing from France, save that the Belgian quarrel is to be made perfectly straight by the mudiaiiou of Kncland, there being nothing whatever to mediate about. The Emperor's health has been bad, but he is said to have recovered. LanuM tine, the pout-patriot, h;U dk-d. His later li'o was troubled, though a pension was allowed him by the State, nor were i.U the ineiilcn s of his earlier ire worthy of respectful note. But not only \w\.- he occasionally written nobly, but his heroism in '48, when at the peril oi' hi* Jitb In.braved a racing mob, and refund lo allow the red flag" to be substituted to ■ the tiicolor, should never be forgotten, 'i here is talk of the Emperor and Empre-s going to Ajaccio, to solemnise the centenary or" the birth of Napoleon. They know in whose eyes they would perform thin tinrish, and also whose lips would smile at it with no applauding expression. President Grant has been inaugurated «t YVaflhjp^tw,, and, the. jourmih of the day

reported his speech with tiuz curious head- I ing "Grunt has Spoken." Ik appears to ' have \x wtH- of ln,s own. He inudeaMin- i istry, bu£ Mrfsed to let any one, even the ! member?, know <wh«rcr lye h-tel chosen, until the Legislature h'U(l ratified the anointments, and this ratification he 1 obtained in a summary manner, not unlike a surprise.Wow that the names are known, tbe country complains that several of the men were not, arid even asks who the obscures are. But it seems understood that Grant has chosen persons who will obey him, and carry out his v.ews. What thestf are we scarcely can learn, except that he fc dent on preserving the nationnl honor, as regards finance, intact, and that if he can lie will introduce order into the finance, and cmse the revenue to be fairly collected, which it has not been for years, owing to I the collusive obstruction of dives corrupt Ci l iciues. The Secretary of State is said to t ' * * ■'"li bitter against England, but may have ik. .„ mQre mo( i erate . The exhave become . , lyave - n ft fHi^inntinj, I resident took &.» -uldres* which said sort t,t Manner, witii an . t ar that he could have been the «-.'., -ndm" man in America, if} instead of dvn»ii^. v the afriiry, he had made War oil the Frenu-' in Mex-ico, but ]ie thought of nothing btlfc ; the reconstruction 1 of the Union. lie? de- i nounces all his political opponents as per" j jurers aud traitors, ailCl Jiriploretf young America to beware of centrausaiio#/ It is said that he intends to give a great tteal mure trouble, yet. Mr Rcverdy Johnson has not 33 r et been recalled, and continues to make amiable speeches here whenever he gets a chance. Having been invited to the ffighland Society's dinner he opportunely discovered that iris ancestors were Scotch, an<! Mr Dickeus's sketch of the American who pished po much <tt prrblic dinners, and di clarcd that Hum-* was l)?o cotisin, and Shaksjicre his grandfather, more or less".- 1 bec-'ine scarcely a caricature by the *-ide of' thi-j good-natured old lawyer's speeches. Her Majesty has held some public re- ! ccptions, but her strength has npt allowed .her to remain to the conclusion. We read ■ of thr- arrival ot the Duke of- Edinburgh at Frcemantle. The Prince and Princess j of Wales are still ' iii Egypt. His Royal Highness was not able to get back to Cairo in time to see the so-called opening of the Suez Canal, tho Jetting water into the \ Bitter Lake*, which was successfully done ; ! but there are a dozen miles of stiff engineering to be accomplished before the openinir can take place. The Princess en- j joyed the wonders of Upper Egypt, and all was done to facilitate her excursions, yet even she wns left on one occasion to the comforts of a ride on a bad donke}' without a saddle. The old temple of Karnac, illuminated for her with the magnesium light, must have paid, howewr, for all trouble and fatigue. Their Royal Highnesses go nn to Constantinople. Among miscellanea, we note that Sir John Lawrence has arrived in England, and is lo be raised to the peerage as Lord Lawrence of the Punjaub and of Grately, in the County of Hants— and that the famous Indian General, Lord Gough, has died at a good old age. Lord Chief Justice Cockburn h;<R narrowly escaped a very dangerous accident, his horse having fallen at a chain, but it is hoped that there will he no permanent ic-uRs of the disaster. Madame Rachael (it is ft ted that we name her again) is once more in Newgate, her bail not king clear tha* she was not about to depart for some la.nr! where the rejuvi - neicent art of Medea is not a crime. The ' The wearisome convent caee, " Sum-in v. j Starr," ended on the twentieth day, aud the jury gave a verdict for the persecuted nttn, with '•mall damages — there is talk of a new trial, but it is hoped that in the interest of humanity this will be contradicted. Once more Cambridge succumbed to Oxford in the great water-race, bur lost no honor, one of the Cam men having had to relire. and his important oar being taken by a good mm, but one who, being out of training, could do no'hing after the first two miles; but Cambridge had its revenge in the athletic sports. We have again been annoyed with earthquakes, chiefly -Manchester way ; they have been very slight, but they induce timid people to believe that they are only the precursors of more dreadful convulsions, especially since geologists have been so good as to inform us that England happens to be over an abyss, whence it is particularly likely | thn* a volcanic discharge will take place on { occasion of the next important disruption of subterranean arrangements.