On Tuesday, Mr. Miall brought forward his motion for the
application to the English Church of the policy pursued in rela- tion to the Protestant Church of Ireland,—i. e., as it was uni- versally interpreted, for both Disestablishment and Disendow- ment,—in a crowded and deeply-interested House, which paid him the closest attention for the hour and a half during which his thoughtful and moderate speech lasted. lie put his case on the highest grounds, repudiating all feelings of jealousy, admitting frankly that the Dissenters had not gained that hold on the minds of the English working-class which the Church had failed to gain, and giving the Church full credit for the very great development of zeal in recent years which has gone on within her. His objections to Establish- ment were taken from the divisions and bitterness which the privileges attaching to a particular Church introduce into politics (as, for instance, last year, into the Education controversy),— from the secular leaven which the patronage of the State intro- duces into the government and spirit of the Church itself,—and from the necessary abstract injustice of lending to any one creed the attraction of power and wealth. He criticized, too, the bitter division within the Church, the mockery of the conge' d'elire and the Consecration service, and predicted, in conclusion, that if the Church was not disestablished when the next great social con- vulsion comes, the State Church would be the first to bear the shock of political passion, while religion would share the blow.
