No one at least did so in this early stage of
the day's proceedings; and after half an hour he almost ceased to be
afraid.

Then came up an irregular debate on the great Church question of the
day, as to which there had been no cessation of the badgering with
which Mr. Gresham had been attacked since he came into office. He
had thrown out Mr. Daubeny by opposing that gentleman's stupendous
measure for disestablishing the Church of England altogether,
although,--as was almost daily asserted by Mr. Daubeny and his
friends,--he was himself in favour of such total disestablishment.
Over and over again Mr. Gresham had acknowledged that he was in
favour of disestablishment, protesting that he had opposed Mr.
Daubeny's Bill without any reference to its merits,--solely on
the ground that such a measure should not be accepted from such a
quarter. He had been stout enough, and, as his enemies had said,
insolent enough, in making these assurances. But still he was accused
of keeping his own hand dark, and of omitting to say what bill he
would himself propose to bring in respecting the Church in the next
Session. It was essentially necessary,--so said Mr. Daubeny and his
friends,--that the country should know and discuss the proposed
measure during the vacation. There was, of course, a good deal of
retaliation. Mr. Daubeny had not given the country, or even his own
party, much time to discuss his Church Bill. Mr. Gresham assured Mr.
Daubeny that he would not feel himself equal to producing a measure
that should change the religious position of every individual in the
country, and annihilate the traditions and systems of centuries,
altogether complete out of his own unaided brain; and he went on
to say that were he to do so, he did not think that he should find
himself supported in such an effort by the friends with whom he
usually worked. On this occasion he declared that the magnitude of
the subject and the immense importance of the interests concerned
forbade him to anticipate the passing of any measure of general
Church reform in the next Session. He was undoubtedly in favour of
Church reform, but was by no means sure that the question was one
which required immediate settlement. Of this he was sure,--that
nothing in the way of legislative indiscretion could be so injurious
to the country, as any attempt at a hasty and ill-considered measure
on this most momentous of all questions.

The debate was irregular, as it originated