RETRIBUTION: STATE OF THE IRISH CLERGY.
THE Archbishop of ARMAGH, a worthy member of the House of BERESFORD, was among the most influential and ardent opposers of the rejected Irish Tithe Bill. The consequences of its rejection, not only to the Tithe-payers, but to the Clergy, whose temporal as well as spiritual interests it was his Grace's especial duty to regard, were clearly and repeatedly pointed out and enforced. But the gratification of personal and party grudges, and perhaps the latent hope that a defeat on so important a question might occ,asion a dissolution of the Ministry, whose difficulty in govern- ing Ireland it was certain fearfully to augment, prevailed over the motives which ought to influence legislators and statesmen. The 'bill was thrown out; and now the time is arrived, when the Pressure on the Clergy, which that bill .would have entirely re- moved, is beginning to be most painfully felt. But what does the Primate of all Ireland say now ? He joins with his brother dignitaries of the Church in .crying for mercy. He rejected the
means of salvation when urged to accept them, but now Ile is full of alarm.
It appears that his Grace, with the other Irish Prelates, WV transmitted a representation of the case of the Clergy to the Irish Government. No copy of that document has been published ; but we can easily guess at its purport, from the following reply of Marquis WELLESLEY, which has appeared in the Irish papers. The Lord-Lieutenant, it will be seen, enumerates with cutting precision the various advantages which the Tithe Bill would have conferred on the Irish Clergy, had not the folly and political feuds of their Representatives in Parliament stood in the way.
.■ Phoenix Park, 4th November 1834.
"My Lord Primate—Your Grace may he assured that I have received the representations of the Archbishops and Bishops transmitted by your Grace, with every sentiment of respect which so high an authority demands from me. " His Majesty's Government has not been insensible to the difficulties and embarrassments in which the Clergy of Ireland must be involved at this period of time, unless some arrangement had previously been made by law for the final settlement of the question of tithe. Accordingly, after having provided for the immediate relief of the Clergy by a temporary loan of one million sterling, a bill was introduced into Parliament under the direction of Government, for the permanent relief of that hotly; by which, in the first place, such of the Clergy as had availed themselves of the temporary loan of one million sterling neer absolved altogether from their debt to the Crown, accruing On Me 1st of November 1834.
"The payment of the first instalment was charged on the landowners, but was postponed by that hill until the 1st of November 18135. "The unappropriated surplus of the sum of one million, which was calculated to amount to 300,0001.. was rendered applicable to the payment of arrears of tithe or composition still due to the Clergy for the years 1831, 2, and 3; and such of the Clergy as might take relief from this source were to be in the same manner absolved from repayment to the Ciown ; and the debt was to be charged on the owners of the first estates of inheritance in the land.
"The Crown was then charged with the collection both of rent charges and instalments; and ample security was given to the Clergy throughout Irelat d for receiving 771. Ws. per cent. on the amount of the composition due to each. " Your Grace will observe that, under this plan, an arrangement was con- templated for the final settlement of a loan of a million advanced to the Clergy, without any further pressure for repayment. Thus his Majesty's Government has manifested the most sincere desire, not only to relieve the Clergy of Ireland from all immediate distress, but to provide effectually for tlae interests of that body, by an equitable and permanent arrangement.
" The failure of this arrangement for the present has produced all the diffi- culties which were foreseen, and which have been most deeply lamented by his Majesty's Government, more especially became those embarrassments are now beyond the reach of any immediate remedy."
The Marquis goes on to state, that the time and mode of re- quiring repayment of the money advanced to the Clergy is under consideration; but that he knows of no immediate remedy for the present disastrous state of affairs. Next session, he signifi- cantly tells Archbishop BERESFORD, he hopes that all parties will unite dispassionately to bring about a settlement of this question. A letter from Lord DUNCANNON to Lord WELLESLEY, in reference to the same subject, is not calculated to afford comfort to the unfortunate gentlemen, who have been doomed by their spiritual and political leaders to a state of extreme hardships Lord DUNCANNON says- " My Lord—I have had the honour to receive a letter from the Chief Sec- retary for Ireland, by your Excellency's directions, conveying to me the resolu- tions of the Prelates of Ireland; and I can only observe, that, however anxious his Majesty's Government may be for the hest interests of the Church, and however deeply they may feel for the distress and embarrassment of a por- tion of the Clergy, they cannot reproach themselves, if the expectations, under which the Prelates state the loan to have been accepted, have not been rea- lized; his Majesty's Government having in the last session unsuccessfully pro- posed to Parliament a bill, which, in their opinion, tended to the restoration of order and obedience to the laws, which would have made an equitable arrange- ment for the composition of tithes, and have relieved the Clergy from the re- payment of the loan. I can only refer your Excellency to the provisions of the Act of Parliament (3d and 4th William IV. cap. 100, sec. 19), uhich ren- dered the demand of repayment, on the part of the Treasury, imperative."
So this is the echo of those exulting mans which were sung over the defeat of the Tithe Bill ! This is the glorious triumph of the Orangemen and Tories over Lord MELBOURNE and Mr. O'CoseseLL
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