A correspondent of the Times, who signs himself " Pro
Lege," and who is supported by Professor Plumptre, of King's College, London, proposes that the Irish Church should be disestablished as is proposed ; but that the sum which Mr. Gladstone wishes to leave to it as compensation for life-interests, and as a fair allow- ance to break the transition from Establishment to Voluntaryism should be handed over to trustees for the disestablished Protestant Church, and should constitute its future endowments. The rest he would give to Commissioners of the Crown in trust for the Roman Catholics, and all further accumulations should go towards its support as the National Church of the country. Further, any Church building from which Protestants should withdraw should be handed over to the same Commissioners for the Roman Catholics. The Regium Donum to Presbyterians should be continued. We should have no objection to this scheme on prin- ciple, though it would have little chance of success,—the distrust of Catholicism by our extreme Protestants being far too violent to admit of any regular endowment of Catholicism on a large scale. But we do fear that an endowment of Catholicism in Ireland would be not only rejected by the priests as likely to undermine their influence, but wisely so rejected under present circumstances. Catholic priests receiving State aid would really lose all bold of the disaffected peasantry. And Government would soon find that it had destroyed the power of political allies, who, if not always as hearty and friendly as they might be, are still exceedingly powerful, because they are known to be perfectly disinterested, enemies of active rebellion.
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