CHAP. VI. A.D. 1829J A SINISTER OMEN 405 for the Royal signature to transform it into an Act of the Imperial Parliament of Great Britain and Ireland. SECTION X Omens and Lessons THAT vote was taken on Friday, April 10th, and it must have been regarded by many as a sinister omen that, on the 1st May following, a 'Petition for the Repeal of the Irish Church Establishment'1 was laid upon the table of the House of Commons and ordered to be printed. It was presented by Mr. Denison, and signed by William Cobbett at Barn Elms, Surrey; and, as type and precursor of many things to follow, we must glance at it in passing. This petition proceeded on the unquestionable postulate 'that a Church which was by law established might be by law repealed.' It asserted, rather more questionably, 'that until 1547 the Catholic Religion was the only religion known in Ireland.' It described an 'enormously rich Established Church nearly without flocks, on the one hand; and, on the other, an almost mendicant Priesthood with flocks comprising the main part of the population.' It affirmed 'that, at the end of two hundred and seventy-six years, the Protestants were decreasing; that there were in Ireland 3403 parishes, moulded into five hundred and fifteen livings, each Parson on an average having the tithes and glebes of nine parishes; that the tithes were collected by Military force, and often with bloodshed; and that from this Establishment sprang all the discontents, all the troubles, all the poverty, and all the degradation of Ireland.' The petitioner, therefore, prayed for the passing of a law 'to repeal, abrogate, abolish, and render utterly frustrate, and of no effect, the Protestant Church now established by law in Ireland.'" 2 Ibid. p. 913. 1 Hansard's P. D. (second series), vol. xxi. p. 906. 406 VOICES OF INFALLIBLE HISTORY BOOK IV. A.D. 1829 Now, for the sake of argument, granting that this 'Alien' Church had been all, and worse than all, he painted her, we have this question to ask, What would William Cobbett say now, if he rose up and saw Ireland, at least Roman Catholic Ireland, still bemoaning what it calls its 'degradation '—with all its poverty, all its discontents, all its troubles, still around its neck and crushing its heart, though the hated 'Protestant Establishment' has years and years ago been 'abolished and repealed'? Would he at last be constrained to listen to the voices of infallible history, when they affirm again and again that Popery is the disease of Ireland, and that, unless that can be effectually healed, all the other remedies will be proved abortive, which Protestant Liberty and Protestant Religion can devise. This petition, however, deserves preservation here, as enforcing from another point of view what all the proceeding debates had already irresistibly borne in upon our minds. But we may now hasten to the close of this long-drawn controversial agony. On Wednesday, 24th June 1829, the King's Speech, proroguing the third session of the Eighth Imperial Parliament, was delivered to both Houses by Lord Chancellor Lyndhurst. It contains one paragraph which constitutes the proper finish to this Parliamentary history of the Relief Bill of 1829, and which we quote here in full:-'His Majesty has commanded us, in conclusion, to express the sincere hope of his Majesty, that the important measures, which have been adopted by Parliament in the course of the present session, may tend, under the blessing of Divine Providence, to establish the tranquillity and improve the condition of Ireland; and that, by strengthening the bonds of union between the several parts of this great Empire, they may consolidate and augment its power, and promote the happiness of his people.'1 A very pious hope, and very piously expressed; but to CHAP. VI. ALL SUCH CONCESSIONS VAIN 407 'establish tranquillity' in Ireland, and to 'improve the condition' of Ireland, and to 'strengthen the bonds' of the Union -these fruits at least, whatever else may have flowed, these at least have not flowed from the Relief Bill of 1829! Today, in 1892, Roman Catholic Ireland is still demanding other and larger and more fatal concessions from Protestant Britain; and again under the threat of something very like Civil War. But if, or when, these also were granted, the tranquillising of Ireland would remain as far off a dream as ever, unless and until Popery be once more crowned and throned in Ireland, as the prelude to its final struggle for being again crowned and throned in the United Kingdom. Patriots and Protestants had better learn this lesson once for all, and that as soon as they possibly can,-that all concession to Popery is vain, or worse, if they are not prepared in the long run to concede everything to Papal Claims. If British History has not proved this to a demonstration, then nothing in the whole range of human experience can be regarded as proved. CHAPTER VII THE SAPPING AND MINING PROCESS SINCE 1829 WE A.D. 1830-1892 E have reached the closing chapter of our History. According to the plan of this work, a few pages only can be allotted to these scenes; but they cover more than sixty years, and would require a whole volume to do them justice. They show the immediate fruits that have been reaped from the tree planted in 1829,—the direct and instant consequences of the admission of Roman Catholics to Parliament and to places of trust and power within this Protestant Empire. But they indicate also the rise of other movements and other claims, promoted or abetted by the Papacy, the full consequences of which within this realm another age shall show and another historian must describe. So that this chapter may be regarded either as the closing page of the Modern Reaction, completing the story of the Emancipation Movement and the Relief Bill, or as the opening page of the new era in our history when Popery and Protestantism shall once more wrestle in deadly grips for the Supremacy in Britain, knowing that that ultimately means the Supremacy of the world. In view of that final and inevitable struggle, no man that loves his country and prizes religious and civil freedom can do any better service for his countrymen than that which we here resolutely seek to perform, so to portray the history of the past as to make its true lessons the heritage of all the future. 408 THE ball opens without a moment's delay. In the very first session of Parliament after the passing of the Relief Bill, Sir John Newport, the most venerable of all living advocates of Roman Catholic Claims, began the attack upon the IRISH CHURCH. He protested, of course, that he had 'no wish to impair, but rather to support that Establishment.”1 All the same, on the 4th March 1830, he moved for an Address to his Majesty on the 'Re-apportionment of the Revenues of the Church of Ireland.' Sir R. H. Inglis ironically remarked that, in past times, the withholding of the Roman Catholic political claims 'had always been blamed for all the evils of Ireland,' and that they might wait for a -season to see what 'improvement' the granting of them would now bring! And Peel, startled a little by the spirit which he himself had evoked, protested that he would 'resist all attempts upon the revenues of that Church;' but inconsequently added that he 'favoured the motion in the interests of the Church itself.'s Lord F. Leveson-Gower's amended motion was finally agreed to, and the Address was 'ordered to be presented by such honourable gentlemen as were Members of the Privy Council.' The first blow was thus struck, and struck by 'friends,' in the vain and illusive hope of appeasing implacable foes. 2 Eighteen days elapse, and the next blow falls, with even still more staggering effect. Daniel O'Connell then presented a petition from the City of Drogheda, praying for 'the Repeal of the ACT OF UNION.' 5 Sir Charles Wetherell indignantly retorted :—' That this was no party question, but • Ibid. p. 1275. 1 Hansard's P. D. (second series), vol. xxii. p. 1265. 5 Ibid. vol. xxiii. p. 701. |