On Monday Mr. Asquith introduced the Bill for terminating the
Establishment of the Church in Wales and Monmouth-
shire, and for disposing of all those endowments which remained after securing the vested interests. He made a very short speech, deferring any defence of the policy of the Bill till the motion for the second reading came on. He briefly enumerated the provisions of the Bill, which were, for the most part, the same as those of last year ; and he endeavoured to throw a little moral enthusiasm into his defence of the secular purposes to which the Government propose to devote the tithes and other emoluments which they take away from the Church ; but it can hardly be said that Mr. Asquith's achieve- ment in this direction was at all successful. He is not the man to impress us when he describes the institution of dispensaries and museums as a sacred religious work. Sir Michael Hicks-Beach, who, in Mr. Balfour's absence, led the opposition to the Bill, did not follow Mr. Asquith's example as regards brevity. He animadverted vigorously on Mr. Asquith's refusal to defend the policy of the Bill, on the speeches in the country in which Mr. Asquith had admitted that Disestablishment and Disendowment could not bring home any sense of advantage to the Welsh people (which was, however, a low consideration (of which the Home Secretary dii.iained to take any notice) ; and he was very severe on Mr. Al,quith's assumption of a lofty religious purpose in founding cottage-hospitals and art-institutes. Sir Michael further de- clared that the so-called bitter feeling against the Church was chiefly caused by the jealousy felt of her influence in society, and that this would be vastly increased, instead of being attenuated, by Disestablishment and Disendowment, which, by the sense of grievance it would inflict, would impel Churchmen to cling :loser to each other and to associate less with those outside the pale. And he further maintained that Establishment does far more for a Church by maintaining the liberty of the clergy, than any trust-deed can possibly do for a sect.
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