CHAP. VII. The Opposition determine to bring forward the question of the Appropri ation of the Surplus Revenues of the Irish Church-Position of the late Ministers in regard to this Question-Notices of Lord John Russell regarding Reports from the Irish Church Commission-He resolves to proceed without them-Ministerial Tithe Bill for Ireland -Debate on the Resolutions proposed as the foundation of the BillThe first Resolution carried by Ministers Resolution moved by Lord John Russell to go into Committee in order to apply the Sur plus Revenues of the Irish Church to the Education of all Classes Speeches of Lord John Russell-Sir Edward Knatchbull-Mr. Ward-Sir James Graham-Lord Howick-The Solicitor-General -Sir J. C. Hobhouse-Mr. Praed-Mr. Littleton-Sir Henry Hardinge. F the measures, for which the leader of the opposition had thus declared that he would wait, in order to judge by them of the merits of the ministry, two-the marriages of dissenters and the commutation of tithe-had now been brought forward, and neither of them had increased the probability that ministers would fall short of public expectation. There still remained municipal reform and the Irish church: and on the latter of these the opposition resolved to found their great attack upon the government, by using their numerical majority to force upon it principles which they knew it never would submit to carry into effect. The point, which they were well aware sir Robert Peel was determined not to concede, was, the application of the surplus revenue of the Irish church, if such a revenue should be found to exist, to purposes other than those of the pro testant religion. Unfortunately for them, however, this was a point on which the late ministry had not conceded more than the present government. The declared object of O'Connell and his followers, was to divert the surplus revenue from purposes purely protestant to the benefit of catholics as well as protestants, and thus to make a beginning of despoiling the protestant church for behoof of the popish hierarchy. The late ministry, who now formed the opposition, had set themselves against the declaration of such a principle. In a former session, they had incurred the reproaches of many of their adherents by striking out of the Irish church temporalities bill a clause which was supposed to involve the principle, and they had justified the change by insisting on the inconvenience and absurdity of declaring what should be done with a surplus, when it did not appear whether there would be any surplus to dispose of. In the preceding session Mr. Ward had moved a formal resolution declaring the necessity of this appropriation to purposes other than those of the protestant establishment. The ministry had resisted that motion, and resisted it successfully, and had issued a commission to collect that information which they contended to be necessary, before the question should even be entertained. There seemed, therefore, little reason to expect that the very men who had done all this would now discover, without waiting for that information, and without ascertaining whether any surplus would exist, that parliament must declare hypothetically and abstractly the right of catholics to share in the surplus revenues of the protestant church, even though the declaration should never lead to any practical result. Yet it was to this line of conduct that the opposition had recourse, as constituting almost their last hope of storming the cabinet. It was not the enforcing of any measure of practical policy; it was the mere declaration of a principle which, they would be compelled to admit, might never come to be acted on; and any other proposition, which their majority would support, and rather than support which, sir Robert Peel would resign, would have served their purpose equally well. Many of them, probably, would have preferred some less questionable and more practical ground for accomplishing their object; but unfortunately that object could be accomplished only by keeping together their majority; that majority depended on O'Connell and his train of popish followers; and this attack on the protestant church any line of policy which O'Conwas an indispensable condition of nell would support. They may have flattered themselves that they might still ultimately be saved from applying the principle, by the great probability that the funds of the church were not greater than reasonable protestant purposes required. Their Irish allies, and the British radicals who desired there should be no church, were much that, from declaring how a possible more sagacious. They knew well surplus should be applied, it would and that the same power which be an easy step to make a surplus, when it chose, produce the other. had compelled the one would, Considering that the adoption of this course necessarily brought them into collision with the House of Peers, that the late election had taught them how little popular enthusiasm was attached to their cause, and that measures, which even wore the air of favouring popery at the expense of protestantism, were among the last that could of England a feeling which would be expected to rouse in the people overpower the deliberate convictions of one branch of the legislature, it seems impossible to believe that the late ministers would voluntarily have pledged themselves of their ambition could have been to such a proceeding, if the cause equally served by any other expedient. But the agonies of that ambition had called on the evil spirit for aid, and the demon imposed his own terms. O'Connell it was the first step towards elevatinsisted on the proposition, because ing the popish church to an equa lity, in the first place, with its proopposition embraced it, because it testant rival. The leaders of the would restore them to power, if it were forced upon the ministry, and O Connell promised his majority to force it upon the ministry. Their mere party followers recognised the treaty, because it held out the readiest means of restoring to office those to whom their expectant eyes were turned; and it received the willing assent of all those who conscientiously held that the Irish church was a nuisance, either simply because it was an established church, or because it was not the church of the majority of Irishmen, and who naturally thought that the best ministers were those who would go farthest in the prosecution of their own views. Lord John Russell appeared willing at first to avoid at least part of the difficulty by not introducing the proposition, till the House had received some report from that commission, which had been named by himself and his colleagues expressly on the ground that its labours were a necessary preliminary to any useful discussion. On the 2nd of March he gave notice that he would bring forward the question of the Irish church some time before the end of the month, as he had reason to believe that by that time the commissioners would have furnished a report. He subsequently fixed his motion for the 23rd, still, as he stated, in the belief that the first report would have been made by that day. On the 13th he informed the House that his intention of waiting for the report of the commissioners did not rest on any belief that the document would be necessary to the case which he should be able to state, but merely on an impression that the House itself would wish to be in possession of all the information VOL. LXXVII. that could be obtained; and he now left it doubtful whether he would proceed with his motion on the 23rd. On the 18th he stated that he had been informed by one of the commissioners, that, in the course of next week, a special repost would be made by certain local commissioners, who had examined the parishes in eight dioceses in Ireland. Members might thus be in possession of it in the course of the following week. He wished therefore to put it to the House, whether it would not be advisable to postpone the motion of which he had given notice respecting the church of Ireland; because, when he originally gave notice of the motion, he supposed that the report of the commissioners would be laid upon the table of the House before the day fixed for that motion. He would now move for the production, without delay, of any reports which might be received from the commissioners. Sir Robert Peel objected to this motion being made without notice. It was one which could not be allowed as a matter of course; for the question was, whether the commissioners should make incomplete reports, and whether the House would proceed to affirm a general resolution on a partial report. He stated that as yet government had received no report, and remarked on the circumstance, that it appeared, from Lord John Russell's statement, that the opposition possessed means of ascertaining from the commissioners the course they were going to take, which the government had not. On the following day, Lord John Russell finally fixed his motion, with notice of a call of the House, for the 30th March; and on the 20th he formally abandoned [M] his intention of calling or waiting for any reports, because he understood that none would be ready. On the 25th, Sir Robert Peel having expressed a wish that his lordship would state the general outline of the resolution which he intended to propose on the 30th, the opposition answered with cries of "no;" and his lordship said, that in a couple of days he would be able to tell, whether he would give an answer or not. On the 27th, however, his lordship stated, that, though he was not prepared to bind himself down to any particular words, or to pledge himself not to vary the terms of his motion, it was his present intention to move that the House resolve itself into committee, "for the purpose of consider ing the expediency of applying any surplus revenue of the church of Ireland, which may not be required for the spiritual wants of the membefs of that church, to the religious and moral instruction of all classes of the community." Upon this, Sir Robert Peel desired to know, whether, supposing that the House should accede to that proposition, and resolve itself into committee for the purpose stated, Lord John Russell would then be prepared to produce any practical plan for carrying into effect the proposed appropriation of church revenue? His lordship said, that was a question which he did not feel bound to answer. If the House agreed to his resolution, he should then know what to do. To a question put by another member, whether, as the proposed resolution alluded to "the religious instruction of all orders of the community," it was meant that the Roman Catholics should be instructed in the principles of the Roman Catholic religion?-no answer was given. These In the mean time, the ministry, had brought forward their own bill in regard to the Irish church, wisely determining to reduce their opponents to the naked hypothetical proposition which these opponents themselves had hitherto resisted. Since the accession of the reform ministry, various measures, had been proposed in regard to tithes. In all that had formed the great features of these measures, even in the opinion of those who proposed them-in the propriety of removing the payment from the tenant to the proprietor-of securing the collection, and in return diminishing the amountand of converting the tithe, if pos sible, into land or a charge upon land, sir R. Peel, and the leading members of the present ministry had acquiesced. were objects attainable in themselves and of practical importance; and all of these objects the govern ment was still prepared to advance, though determined to stake its existence on resisting either the actual application of any part of the tithe to purposes not Protestant, or a hypothetical resolution in favour of such an application which could have no practical result. On the 20th of March, sir Henry Hardinge, the secretary for Ireland, opened the government plan in a committee of the whole House. Having adverted to the disturbances which tithe had occasioned in Ireland, producing almost a suspension of payment during the last four years to the evils arising from the paltry sums in which and the number of individuals by whom it was payable in consequence of the great subdivision of land-to the benefit derived from lord Stan ley's act of 1832, which had reduced the tithe payers in 903 benefices from 346,000 to 214,000, -and to the intention which had been expressed by the proposers both of that act and of the plans of last year, to substitute a rent-charge for tithe, he proceeded to state his decided conviction, that this imposition of a rent-charge was not only good in principle, but peculiarly proper as regarded the situation of the protestant landlord in Ireland. It appeared from official returns applicable to 903 benefices, that protestants owned 10,500,000 acres, and Catholics only 645,000; so that the number of acres belonging to protestants was to that belonging to Catholics, in round numbers, as 15 to 1; while the amount of composition paid by them respectively was as 191. to 17. He mentioned this to show that a rent-charge, which some thought a harsh measure, would fall principally where it ought to fall, viz,-on the protestant landholders. The bill of last year imposed a rent-charge of 801. for every 100l. of composition; in the bill which he proposed to introduce, the rent-charge for every 100% of composition would be only 751. The landlord would likewise be placed in a better situation as to the power of redemption. Under the bill of last year, the highest price for the redemption of 100l. of composition was 1850l. and the lowest 1750l. Under the present bill it would be redeemed for 1500l. so that the landlord would gain, upon an average, 250l. on the redemption of every 100l., or an adadvantage of about 2 years purchase, in addition to the difference of 25 per cent. between the composition and the rentcharge. It was proposed that the landlord should give the advantage of this latter difference to the intermediate tenants down to the occupier of the land. As to the clergyman, again, the bill of last year gave the clergyman 771. 10s. for every 100l.; the present bill would give him only 751. It was intended, however, that, if during the process of investment, any loss of interest should be sustained, the present incumbents should be guaranteed to the extent of the 751.; an indulgence that would not be extended to their successors, who would have to take the redemption money at its worth in the securities in which it might be invested. The indemnification would be charged on the perpetuity purchase fund, leaving the ecclesiastical fund untouched. The incumbent would receive the rent-charge from the head-landlord at stated periods. In case of failure application would be made to the ecclesiastical commissioners, who would immediately have recourse to a crown process; so that in no circumstances would the incumbent ever be engaged in litigation with his parishioners. Lay-impropriators would be treated as they had been treated in the bill of last session, receiving their redemption money and applying it as they might think proper. The government felt that no measure could give satisfaction, unless it abolished tithe composition, and put an end, at no distant period, to tithes altogether. It was proposed, therefore, that the rent-charge should be imposed immediately for the present year, and continue for three years, at the expiration of which it should be saleable in the market by the ecclesiastical commissioners, unless redeemed before that period. The consequence would be, that |