Page:History of the Radical Party in Parliament.djvu/264

 250 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1833- fact that a ceremony performed by a church minister was necessary in order to make the act of a dissenter legal. The bill was of course dropped, but the fact of its having been introduced helped to alienate from the Government the support of an important section of the Liberals. Exactly on the same lines, followed by the same fate, and leading to the same result, was the ministerial proposal for the commuta- tion of tithes, which was made on the i5th of April, but not proceeded with. The feeling in the country which led, in the first place to the introduction, and afterwards to the defeat of these pro- posals, must be borne in mind when we consider why the Irish Church question was again forced into prominence by the Radicals, and why it had such a disastrous effect upon the constitution of the Ministry. The desertion of the appropriation clause in the Act of last session had shocked and irritated this party, and they were determined to bring the subject forward again and ensure for it that complete discussion which had been evaded by the ministerial tactics. They were en- couraged in this course by the dissensions amongst ministers, which had been openly exhibited in the debate on the Irish Tithe Bill on the 2nd of May. Accordingly Ward gave notice that on the 2/th of May he would move the following resolution : " That the Protestant episcopal establishment in Ireland exceeds the spiritual wants of the Protestant popula- tion ; and that, it being the right of the State to regulate the distribution of Church property in such a way as Parliament may determine, it is the opinion of this House that the temporal possessions of the Church of Ireland, as now established by law, ought to be reduced" This resolution, thorough both as to principle and appli- cation, was framed, it was supposed, after more than usual deliberation and consultation amongst the Radicals. It was believed that one of its objects was to force the Premier to strengthen his Ministry by the introduction of more Radical members.* What seemed clear was, that whatever fate befel
 * Spencer Walpole's " History of England," vol. iii. note 2, on p. 252.