It is a matter of detail, but still it should
not be forgotten, that the expropriation of Irish landlords will probably be fatal to the maintenance of the Irish Protestant Church in the three Southern Provinces. It appears, from some inquiries made by the Record, that three-fourths of the resources enjoyed by the Church in South Ireland come from the landlords, and that in the event of their departure, the churches must be closed. There is danger, moreover, it is stated, that the bulk of the Church funds which have been lent to landlords on mortgage may be wholly or partially lost. We do not see how mortgagees are injured by expropriation, as they will be paid off out of the sums voted ; and as for the subscriptions, if the congregations will not pay, or cannot pay, for ministers, they must do without them. The change is, however, one more proof of the profound difference which Home-rule will make in every department of Irish social, as well as political, life. There will be districts in which no one socially above a peasant will be left, and no one with any com- munion with the external world.
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