Then,  I  ask,  might  not  the  Irish  parliament,  before  the  Union^
have  lowered  the  incomes  of  dignitaries  in  the  Church  which  were
excessive,  and  reduced  the  Church  estabUshment  to  the  wants  of
the  Protestant  population  ?  The  Under  Secretary  for  the  Colonies,
(Mr. W. Gladstone)  has  allowed  that  such  a  power  would  have  be-
longed to  the  Irish  parhament. Why  has  not  the  Imperial  Parlia-
ment the  same  power  ?  Was  it  not  one  great  object  of  Mr. Pitt,  in
bringing  forward  the  measure  of  the  Union,  to  mitigate  the  inso-
lence of  Protestant  ascendancy  in  Ireland  and  to  elevate  the  condi-
tion of  the  Catholics  ?  What  article  is  there  in  the^^ct  of  Union,
to  require  that  the  Irish  Church  establishment  in  its  bloated  magni-
tude shall  remain  for  ever  intact  ?  Did  the  noble  Lord,  the  Member
for  Lancashire,  overlook  this  article  in  his  suppression  of  the  ten
Bishopricks  ?

The  Irish  Church  is  to  be  maintained,  so  as  that  it  may  best
answer  the  ends  for  which  it  was  established. I  apprehend  that
the  Articles  of  Union  are  to  be  interpreted  and  modified  accord-
ing to  the  exigencies  of  the  pubUc  welfare. This  principle  was
acted  upon  in  a  most  distinguished  instance,  while  the  Bight
Honourble  Baronet  opposite  was  Secretary  of  State  for  the  Home
Department. By  the  Articles  of  Union  with  Scotland,  it  is  provided
that  the  Court  of  Admiralty  existing  in  that  country  should  be  pre*
served. Under  the  sanction  of  the  Bight  Honourable  Qentleman>
an  attempt  was  first  made  to  reform  and  improve  it,  and  tius  being
found  impossible,  it  was  entirely  abolished. Then,  Mr. Speaker,  as
you  well  know,  in  the  Scottish  Articles  of  Union,  there  was  a  similar
provision  respecting  the  Court  of  Exchequer. If  it  has  not  shared
the  fate  of  the  Court  of  Admiralty,  its  functions  have  been  trans-
fered  to  the  Judge  of  another  Court  and  it  has  no  longer  a  separate
existence. But  this  alteration  has  been  generally  approved  of;  for


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THE   IRISH   CHURCH. 93

any  boBmess  which  the  Court  had  ia  now  as  well  transacted,  there
has  heen  a  considecahle  saTing  to  the  public,  and  yon. 