a parochial priesthood is not a good engine for the purpose of making
proselytes. The Church of Rome, whatever we may think of her ends, has
shown no want of sagacity in the choice of means; and she knows this
well. When she makes a great aggressive movement,--and many such
movements she has made with signal success,--she employs, not her
parochial clergy, but a very different machinery. The business of her
parish priests is to defend and govern what has been won. It is by
the religious orders, and especially by the Jesuits, that the great
acquisitions have been made. In Ireland your parochial clergy lay under
two great disadvantages. They were endowed, and they were hated; so
richly endowed that few among them cared to turn missionaries; so
bitterly hated that those few had but little success. They long
contented themselves with receiving the emoluments arising from their
benefices, and neglected those means to which, in other parts of Europe,
Protestantism had owed its victory. It is well known that of all the
instruments employed by the Reformers of Germany, of England, and of
Scotland, for the purpose of moving the public mind, the most powerful
was the Bible translated into the vernacular tongues. In Ireland the
Protestant Church had been established near half a century before the
New Testament was printed in Erse. The whole Bible was not printed
in Erse till this Church had existed more than one hundred and twenty
years. Nor did the publication at last take place under the patronage
of the lazy and wealthy hierarchy. The expense was defrayed by a layman,
the illustrious Robert Boyle. So things went on century after century.
Swift, more than a hundred years ago, described the prelates of his
country as men gorged with wealth and sunk in indolence, whose chief
business was to bow and job at the Castle. The only spiritual function,
he says, which they performed was ordination; and, when he saw what
persons they ordained, he doubted whether it would not be better that
they should neglect that function as they neglected every other. Those,
Sir, are now living who can well remember how the revenues of
the richest see in Ireland were squandered on the shores of the
Mediterranean by a bishop, whose epistles, very different compositions
from the epistles of Saint Peter and Saint John, may be found in the
correspondence of Lady Hamilton. Such abuses as these called forth
no complaint, no reprimand. And all this time the true pastors of the
people, meanly fed and meanly clothed, frowned upon by the law,
exposed to the insults of every petty squire who gloried in the name
of Protestant, were to be found in miserable cabins, amidst filth, and
famine, and contagion, instructing the young, consoling the miserable,
holding up the crucifix before the eyes of the dying. Is it strange
that, in such circumstances, the Roman Catholic religion should have
been constantly becoming dearer and dearer to an ardent and sensitive
people, and that your Established Church should have been constantly
sinking lower and lower in their estimation? I do not of course hold
the living clergy of the Irish Church answerable for the faults of
their predecessors. God forbid! To do so would be the most flagitious
injustice. I know that a salutary change has taken place. I have no
reason to doubt that in learning and regularity of life the Protestant
clergy of Ireland are on a level with the clergy of England. But in the
way of making proselytes they do as little as those who preceded them.
An enmity of three hundred years separates the nation from those who
should be its teachers. In short, it is plain that the mind of Ireland
has taken its ply, and is not to be bent in a different direction, or,
at all events, is not to be so bent by your present machinery.
Well, then, this Church is inefficient as a missionary Church. But there
is yet another end which, in the opinion of some eminent men, a Church
is meant to serve. That end has been often in the minds of practical
politicians. But the first speculative politician who distinctly pointed
it out was Mr Hume. Mr Hume, as might have been expected from his known
opinions, treated the question merely as it related to the temporal
happiness of mankind; and, perhaps, it may be doubted whether he took
quite a just view of the manner in which even the temporal happiness of
mankind is affected by the restraints and consolations of religion. He
reasoned thus:--It is dangerous to the peace of society that the public
mind should be violently excited on religious subjects. If you adopt the
voluntary system, the public mind will always be so excited. For every
preacher, knowing that his bread depends on his popularity, seasons his
doctrine high, and practises every art for the purpose of obtaining an
ascendency over his hearers. But when the Government pays the minister
of religion, he has no pressing motive to inflame the zeal of his
congregation. He will probably go through his duties in a somewhat
perfunctory manner. His power will not be very formidable; and, such
as it is, it will be employed in support of that order of things under
which he finds himself so comfortable. Now, Sir, it is not necessary to
inquire whether Mr Hume's doctrine be sound or unsound. For, sound or
unsound, it furnishes no ground on which you can rest the defence of
the institution which we are now considering. It is evident that by
establishing in Ireland the Church of the minority in connection with
the State, you have produced, in the very highest degree, all those
evils which Mr Hume considered as inseparable from the voluntary system.
You may go all over the world without finding another country where
religious differences take a form so dangerous to the peace of society;
where the common people are so much under the influence of their
priests; or where the priests who teach the common people are so
completely estranged from the civil Government.
And now, Sir, I will sum up what I have said. For what end does the
Church of Ireland exist? Is that end the instruction and solace of the
great body of the people? You must admit that the Church of Ireland has
not attained that end. Is the end which you have in view the conversion
of the great body of the people from the Roman Catholic religion to a
purer form of Christianity? You must admit that the Church of Ireland
has not attained that end. Or do you propose to yourselves the end
contemplated by Mr Hume, the peace and security of civil society? You
must admit that the Church of Ireland has not attained that end. In
the name of common sense, then, tell us what good end this Church has
attained; or suffer us to conclude, as I am forced to conclude, that it
is emphatically a bad institution.
It does not, I know, necessarily follow that, because an institution
is bad, it is therefore to be immediately destroyed. Sometimes a bad
institution takes a strong hold on the hearts of mankind, intertwines
its roots with the very foundations of society, and is not to be removed
without serious peril to order, law, and property. For example, I hold
polygamy to be one of the most pernicious practises that exist in the
world. But if the Legislative Council of India were to pass an Act
prohibiting polygamy, I should think that they were out of their senses.
Such a measure would bring down the vast fabric of our Indian Empire
with one crash. But is there any similar reason for dealing tenderly
with the Established Church of Ireland? That Church, Sir, is not one
of those bad institutions which ought to be spared because they are
popular, and because their fall would injure good institutions. It is,
on the contrary, so odious, and its vicinage so much endangers valuable
parts of our polity, that, even if it were in itself a good institution,
there would be strong reasons for giving it up.
The honourable gentleman who spoke last told us that we cannot touch
this Church without endangering the Legislative Union. Sir, I have given
my best attention to this important point; and I have arrived at a very
different conclusion. The question to be determined is this:--What is
the best way of preserving political union between countries in which
different religions prevail? With respect to this question we have,
I think, all the light which history can give us. There is no sort of
experiment described by Lord Bacon which we have not tried. Inductive
philosophy is of no value if we cannot trust to the lessons derived from
the experience of more than two hundred years. England has long been
closely connected with two countries less powerful than herself,
and differing from herself in religion. The Scottish people are
Presbyterians; the Irish people are Roman Catholics. We determined to
force the Anglican system on both countries. In both countries great
discontent was the result. At length Scotland rebelled. Then Ireland
rebelled. The Scotch and Irish rebellions, taking place at a time when
the public mind of England was greatly and justly excited, produced the
Great Rebellion here, and the downfall of the Monarchy, of the Church,
and of the Aristocracy. After the Restoration we again tried the old
system. During twenty-eight years we persisted in the attempt to
force Prelacy on the Scotch; and the consequence was, during those
twenty-eight years Scotland exhibited a frightful spectacle of misery
and depravity. The history of that period is made up of oppression and
resistance, of insurrections, barbarous punishments, and assassinations.
One day a crowd of zealous rustics stand desperately on their defence,
and repel the dragoons. Next day the dragoons scatter and hew down the
flying peasantry. One day the kneebones of a wretched Covenanter are
beaten flat in that accursed boot. Next day the Lord Primate is dragged
out of his carriage by a band of raving fanatics, and, while screaming
for mercy, is butchered at the feet of his own daughter. So things went
on, till at last we remembered that institutions are made for men,
and not men for institutions. A wise Government desisted from the vain
attempt to maintain an Episcopal Establishment in a Presbyterian nation.
From that moment the connection between England and Scotland became
every year closer and closer. There were still, it is true, many causes
of animosity. There was an old antipathy between the nations, the
effect of many blows given and received on both sides. All the greatest
calamities that had befallen Scotland had been inflicted by England.
The proudest events in Scottish history were victories obtained over
England. Yet all angry feelings died rapidly away. The union of the
nations became complete. The oldest man living does not remember to have
heard any demagogue breathe a wish for separation. Do you believe that
this would have happened if England had, after the Revolution, persisted
in attempting to force the surplice and the Prayer Book on the Scotch?
I tell you that, if you had adhered to the mad scheme of having a
religious union with Scotland, you never would have had a cordial
political union with her. At this very day you would have had monster
meetings on the north of the Tweed, and another Conciliation Hall, and
another repeal button, with the motto, "Nemo me impune lacessit." In
fact, England never would have become the great power that she is. For
Scotland would have been, not an addition to the effective strength of
the Empire, but a deduction from it. As often as there was a war with
France or Spain, there would have been an insurrection in Scotland. Our
country would have sunk into a kingdom of the second class. One such
Church as that about which we are now debating is a serious encumbrance
to the greatest empire. Two such Churches no empire could bear. You
continued to govern Ireland during many generations as you had governed
Scotland in the days of Lauderdale and Dundee. And see the result.
Ireland has remained, indeed, a part of your Empire. But you know her
to be a source of weakness rather than of strength. Her misery is a
reproach to you. Her discontent doubles the dangers of war. Can you,
with such facts before you, doubt about the course which you ought to
take? Imagine a physician with two patients, both afflicted with the
same disease. He applies the same sharp remedies to both. Both become
worse and worse with the same inflammatory symptoms. Then he changes
his treatment of one case, and gives soothing medicines. The sufferer
revives, grows better day by day, and is at length restored to perfect
health. The other patient is still subjected to the old treatment, and
becomes constantly more and more disordered. How would a physician act
in such a case? And are not the principles of experimental philosophy
the same in politics as in medicine?
Therefore, Sir, I am fully prepared to take strong measures with regard
to the Established Church of Ireland. It is not necessary for me to say
precisely how far I would go. I am aware that it may be necessary,
in this as in other cases, to consent to a compromise. But the more
complete the reform which may be proposed, provided always that vested
rights be, as I am sure they will be, held strictly sacred, the more
cordially shall I support it.
That some reform is at hand I cannot doubt. In a very short time we
shall see the evils which I have described mitigated, if not entirely
removed. A Liberal Administration would make this concession to Ireland
from a sense of justice. A Conservative Administration will make it from
a sense of danger. The right honourable Baronet has given the Irish a
lesson which will bear fruit. It is a lesson which rulers ought to be
slow to teach; for it is one which nations are but too apt to learn.
We have repeatedly been told by acts--we are now told almost in express
words--that agitation and intimidation are the means which ought to be
employed by those who wish for redress of grievances from the party now
in power. Such indeed has too long been the policy of England towards
Ireland; but it was surely never before avowed with such indiscreet
frankness. Every epoch which is remembered with pleasure on the other
side of St George's Channel coincides with some epoch which we here
consider as disastrous and perilous. To the American war and the
volunteers the Irish Parliament owed its independence. To the French
revolutionary war the Irish Roman Catholics owed the elective franchise.
It was in vain that all the great orators and statesmen of two
generations exerted themselves to remove the Roman Catholic
disabilities, Burke, Fox, Pitt, Windham, Grenville, Grey, Plunkett,
Wellesley, Grattan, Canning, Wilberforce. Argument and expostulation
were fruitless. At length pressure of a stronger kind was boldly and
skilfully applied; and soon all difficulties gave way. The Catholic
Association, the Clare election, the dread of civil war, produced the
Emancipation Act. Again, the cry of No Popery was raised. That cry was
successful. A faction which had reviled in the bitterest terms the mild
administration of Whig Viceroys, and which was pledged to the wholesale
disfranchisement of the Roman Catholics, rose to power. One leading
member of that faction had drawn forth loud cheers by declaiming against
the minions of Popery. Another had designated six millions of Irish
Catholics as aliens. A third had publicly declared his conviction, that
a time was at hand when all Protestants of every persuasion would find
it necessary to combine firmly against the encroachments of Romanism.
From such men we expected nothing but oppression and intolerance. We are
agreeably disappointed to find that a series of conciliatory bills is
brought before us. But, in the midst of our delight, we cannot refrain
from asking for some explanation of so extraordinary a change. We are
told in reply, that the monster meetings of 1843 were very formidable,
and that our relations with America are in a very unsatisfactory state.
The public opinion of Ireland is to be consulted, the religion of
Ireland is to be treated with respect, not because equity and humanity
plainly enjoin that course; for equity and humanity enjoined that
course as plainly when you were calumniating Lord Normanby, and hurrying
forward your Registration Bill; but because Mr O'Connell and Mr Polk
have between them made you very uneasy. Sir, it is with shame, with
sorrow, and, I will add, with dismay, that I listen to such language.
I have hitherto disapproved of the monster meetings of 1843. I have
disapproved of the way in which Mr O'Connell and some other Irish
representatives have seceded from this House. I should not have chosen
to apply to those gentlemen the precise words which were used on a
former occasion by the honourable and learned Member for Bath. But I
agreed with him in substance. I thought it highly to the honour of my
right honourable friend the Member for Dungarvon, and of my honourable
friends the Members for Kildare, for Roscommon, and for the city of
Waterford, that they had the moral courage to attend the service of this
House, and to give us the very valuable assistance which they are, in
various ways, so well qualified to afford. But what am I to say now? How
can I any longer deny that the place where an Irish gentleman may best
serve his country is Conciliation Hall? How can I expect that any Irish
Roman Catholic can be very sorry to learn that our foreign relations are
in an alarming state, or can rejoice to hear that all danger of war has
blown over? I appeal to the Conservative Members of this House. I ask
them whither we are hastening? I ask them what is to be the end of a
policy of which it is the principle to give nothing to justice,
and everything to fear? We have been accused of truckling to Irish
agitators. But I defy you to show us that we ever made or are now making
to Ireland a single concession which was not in strict conformity with
our known principles. You may therefore trust us, when we tell you
that there is a point where we will stop. Our language to the Irish is
this:--"You ask for emancipation: it was agreeable to our principles
that you should have it; and we assisted you to obtain it. You wished
for a municipal system, as popular as that which exists in England: we
thought your wish reasonable, and did all in our power to gratify it.
This grant to Maynooth is, in our opinion, proper; and we will do our
best to obtain it for you, though it should cost us our popularity and
our seats in Parliament. The Established Church in your island, as now
constituted, is a grievance of which you justly complain. We will strive
to redress that grievance. The Repeal of the Union we regard as fatal to
the empire: and we never will consent to it; never, though the country
should be surrounded by dangers as great as those which threatened her
when her American colonies, and France, and Spain, and Holland, were
leagued against her, and when the armed neutrality of the Baltic
disputed her maritime rights; never, though another Bonaparte should
pitch his camp in sight of Dover Castle; never, till all has been staked
and lost; never, till the four quarters of the world have been convulsed
by the last struggle of the great English people for their place
among the nations." This, Sir, is the true policy. When you give, give
frankly. When you withhold, withhold resolutely. Then what you give is
received with gratitude; and, as for what you withhold, men, seeing that
to wrest it from you is no safe or easy enterprise, cease to hope
for it, and, in time, cease to wish for it. But there is a way of so
withholding as merely to excite desire, and of so giving as merely to
excite contempt; and that way the present ministry has discovered. Is it
possible for me to doubt that in a few months the same machinery which
sixteen years ago extorted from the men now in power the Emancipation
Act, and which has now extorted from them the bill before us, will again
be put in motion? Who shall say what will be the next sacrifice? For my
own part I firmly believe that, if the present Ministers remain in power
five years longer, and if we should have,--which God avert!--a war with
France or America, the Established Church of Ireland will be given
up. The right honourable Baronet will come down to make a proposition
conceived in the very spirit of the Motions which have repeatedly been
made by my honourable friend the Member for Sheffield. He will again
be deserted by his followers; he will again be dragged through his
difficulties by his opponents. Some honest Lord of the Treasury may
determine to quit his office rather than belie all the professions of a
life. But there will be little difficulty in finding a successor ready
to change all his opinions at twelve hours' notice. I may perhaps, while
cordially supporting the bill, again venture to say something about
consistency, and about the importance of maintaining a high standard
of political morality. The right honourable Baronet will again tell me,
that he is anxious only for the success of his measure, and that he does
not choose to reply to taunts. And the right honourable gentleman the
Chancellor of the Exchequer will produce Hansard, will read to the House
my speech of this night, and will most logically argue that I ought not
to reproach the Ministers with their inconsistency, seeing that I had,
from my knowledge of their temper and principles, predicted to a tittle
the nature and extent of that inconsistency.
Sir, I have thought it my duty to brand with strong terms of
reprehension the practice of conceding, in time of public danger, what
is obstinately withheld in time of public tranquillity. I am prepared,
and have long been prepared, to grant much, very much, to Ireland. But
if the Repeal Association were to dissolve itself to-morrow, and if the
next steamer were to bring news that all our differences with the United
States were adjusted in the most honourable and friendly manner, I would
grant to Ireland neither more nor less than I would grant if we were on
the eve of a rebellion like that of 1798; if war were raging all along
the Canadian frontier; and if thirty French sail of the line were
confronting our fleet in St George's Channel. I give my vote from my
heart and soul for the amendment of my honourable friend. He calls on
us to make to Ireland a concession, which ought in justice to have been
made long ago, and which may be made with grace and dignity even now. I
well know that you will refuse to make it now. I know as well that you
will make it hereafter. You will make it as every concession to Ireland
has been made. You will make it when its effect will be, not to appease,
but to stimulate agitation. You will make it when it will be regarded,
not as a great act of national justice, but as a confession of national
weakness. You will make it in such a way, and at such a time, that there
will be but too much reason to doubt whether more mischief has been done
by your long refusal, or by your tardy and enforced compliance.
*****
THEOLOGICAL TESTS IN THE SCOTCH UNIVERSITIES. (JULY 9, 1845) A SPEECH
DELIVERED IN THE HOUSE OF COMMONS ON THE 9TH OF JULY 1845.
On the first of May, 1845, Mr Rutherford, Member for Leith, obtained
leave to bring in a bill to regulate admission to the Secular Chairs
in the Universities of Scotland. On the morning of the sixth of May the
bill was read a first time, and remained two months on the table of the
House. At length the second reading was fixed for the ninth of July. Mr
Rutherfurd was unable to attend on that day: and it was necessary that
one of his friends should supply his place. Accordingly, as soon as the
Order of the Day had been read, the following Speech was made.
On a division the bill was rejected by 116 votes to 108. But, in the
state in which parties then were, this defeat was generally considered
as a victory.