ious and charitable purposes; and if
parliament found it was not so applied, it would be its duty to consider
of a new appropriation. His own opinion was, he said, that the revenues
of the church of Ireland were too large for the religious and moral
instruction of the persons belonging to that church, and for the
safety of the church itself. When, therefore, this property was once
successfully vindicated against those who unjustly withheld it, he would
be prepared to do justice to Ireland, for if ever a people had reason to
complain of a grievance it was the people of Ireland, in relation to the
present appropriation of tithes. These sentiments were hailed by some of
the Irish members as announcing an approaching concession of all their
demands, while others who thought differently complained that, if such
were the intentions of government, they had been induced by a false
belief to receive the bill with favour, even at the sacrifice of some of
their own convictions. On a division, the second reading of the bill was
carried by a majority of two hundred and fifty against fifty-four, the
greater part of the minority being Irish members.

When the bill went into committee, lengthy debates ensued, and several
important alterations were introduced into it from the opposition
encountered. Thus the enemies of the Protestant church had loudly
declaimed against the provision by which the redeemed land-tax was to
be vested in land, and the land vested in the tithe-owner; and in
consequence of this opposition that part of the bill which invested the
revenues of the church in land, and consequently the redemption clauses
were dropped. The composition was to be converted into a land-tax
payable to the crown by the same parties who were now liable for the
composition. The amount so collected was to be paid to the tithe-owners,
subject to a deduction of three per cent. This state of things was
to continue five years, at the end of which period four-fifths of the
land-tax was to be converted into a rent-charge to be imposed on
the owners of estates of inheritance, who should have the power of
recovering it from their tenants, and all others who were primarily
liable under the existing composition laws. The amount of these
rent-charges was to be received by the crown, and to be paid by the
crown to the tithe-owners, subject to a further reduction of two and a
half per cent. for the expense of collection. Another objection to the
bill ha