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The Irish Church and the Reform Ministries
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 16 January 2014
Extract
The Whig ministries of 1830-34 were faced with problems in regard to foreign affairs and parliamentary reform that were almost certain to reveal differences of philosophy within the Cabinets, yet it was on the Irish issues, more particularly that of the Episcopal Reformed Church of Ireland, that the ministries divided and broke. It is generally known that questions concerning the revenues of the Irish Church drove Stanley, the future Conservative Prime Minister, out of the Whig Party, enabled the House of Lords to rally after the Reform Bill and block measures passed by the Commons, and gave William IV an opportunity to dismiss a ministry which still retained the confidence of the lower house and replace it by a Government of his own choice. There is less knowledge, however, of the specific issues behind these events, and of the peculiarities of the Irish Church which hampered an easy solution of its problems. A study of both will serve to illuminate the conflict of parties and of personalities in the first five years of the reform age.
From the utilitarian point of view, the temporalities of the Church were absurdly large. Containing only 852,064 members — less than there were in the see of Durham alone — it had a total of twenty-two bishops, including four archbishops. Many holders of benefices had no religious duties, nor, indeed, even a church in which to perform the one service required by their appointment; where parish duties were necessary, they were frequently discharged by a curate who received only a small fraction of the income of the incumbent.
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References
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26. Lords Second Report, Collection of Tithes, Parliamentary Papers (1831–1832), CCCV, 3;Google ScholarCommons Second Report on Tithes in Ireland, Parliamentary Papers (1831–1832), XXI, 245Google Scholar (iv, vii, viii, x).
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29. Halévy says the Opposition, led by Peel, saw in this proposal an attempt to give legislative sanction to the Radical principal of a graduated income tax (citing the debate of June 25, 1833 as proof) and that the Cabinet may have been glad of an opportunity to please the Radicals and Liberals. Halévy, Elie, The Triumph of Reform: 1830-1841 (London, 1950), pp. 141–42Google Scholar. The only Benthamite in the Cabinet, Sir Henry Parnell, had been dismissed for not voting on the Russian Loan some eight months before Stanley presented his plan to the ministers. Peel spoke on the tax on April 1 and May 6, as well as on June 25, 1833. On the first occasion, he argued that incumbents be exempted from the tax; on the second he maintained that the tax should begin with clergymen having an annual income of £300, not £200, and pointed out that the tax implied that the clergy had a special interest in maintaining the fabric of the Church; he did mention the precedent involved on June 25, but his purpose — in which he was successful — was to have the minimum taxable income set at £300. On this occasion he was supported by O'Connell, who is frequently considered a Benthamite. 3 Hansard, XVI, 1403Google Scholar; XVII, 996; XVIII, 1234-38.
30. Commons Second Report on Tithes in Ireland, Parliamentary Papers (1831–1832), XXI, 245Google Scholar (xi). It should be recognized that in general those who held church lands were members of the aristocracy. So stated John Jebb, Bishop of Limerick. 2 Hansard, XI, 1123Google Scholar. For some details on this see, Evans, A. L., The Disestablishment of the Church of Ireland in 1869 (Lancaster Pa., 1929), p. 99Google Scholar.
31. Halévy considers this a concession to the advocates of partial disendowment of the church and an attempt to introduce a theory of taxation based on Ricardo's theory of rent. Triumph of Reform, pp. 142-43. In view of the fact, however, that Stanley does not seem to have consulted his colleagues on his plan, it seems likely that this provision was what Lord Holland had in mind when he told Le Marchant, Brougham's secretary, that “with Stanley's views on the nature of church property, we are obliged to resort to fallacies to obtain his consent to liberal measures.” SirLe Marchant, Denis, Memoir of John Charles, Viscount Althorp, Third Earl Spencer (London, 1876), p. 472Google Scholar.
32. Broughton, , Recollections, IV, 255.Google Scholar This was on November 2, 1832; subsequently, on November 21, Durham showed Hobhouse Stanley's “projected Tithe Measure” in print, and asked for advice on whether he should resign immediately or wait until the bill came before Parliament. Since Hobhouse did not learn the details of the plan of church reform until February 11, it seems probable that by “Tithe Measure” was meant the Coercion Act, and that Durham had no intention of resigning on the Irish Church Temporalities Act. Ibid., pp. 261-62, 283.
33. Russell to Gray, Oct. 20, 1832, Walpole, Spencer, The Life of Lord John Russell (London, 1889), I, 188–89Google Scholar; 3 Hansard, XIV, 377Google Scholar.
34. Russell to Grey, Oct. 25, 1832; Grey to Russell, Oct. 25, 1832; Holland to Russell, Oct. 26, 1832; Walpole, , Russell, I, 189–92Google Scholar. See also, Grey to Althorp, Oct. 21, 1832; Le Marchant, , Althorp, p. 446Google Scholar.
35. Grey to Brougham, Sept. 21, 1833. Brougham, Lord, Life and Times of Lord Brougham (New York, 1872), III, 208–09Google Scholar. Grey was particularly annoyed because the Irish bishops, who rotated in Parliament, had to come to London only once in four years whilst his brother, the Bishop of Hereford, with a mere £3,000 a year, had been obliged to reside constantly in London during two very long sessions.
36. Grey to Russell, Oct. 25, 1832, Walpole, , Russell, I, 190–91Google Scholar.
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39. A reluctant Goderich was edged out of the Colonial Office and took the Privy Seal, made vacant by Durham's resignation. At one stage of the negotiations the Duke of Richmond offered to leave the Post Office for Goderich. Stanley was replaced briefly by Sir John Cam Hobhouse who resigned on the question of house and window taxes. Broughton, , Recollections, IV, 250, 258, 265, 274-75, 280-81, 295-96, 298Google Scholar; Grey to Graham, Nov. 3, 1832, Graham to Stanley, Nov. 3, 1832, Grey to Richmond, Nov. 8, 1832, Parker, , Graham, I, 175–78Google Scholar; Grey to Brougham, Dec. 4, 1832, Brougham to Grey, Dec. 5, 1832, Brougham, III, 162–69Google Scholar; Goderich to Grey, Feb. 2, 1833, Ripon Papers, BM, Add. MSS., 40836, fol. 9.
40. 3 Hansard, XV, 561–76Google Scholar. Althorp obviously had available most of the first report of the Commissioners on Ecclesiastical Revenue and Patronage. He estimated the net revenue of the bishops at £130,000, of which £100,000 came from land; in fact it amounted to £151,127, of which £128,808 came from land. Clerical tithes, he said, amounted to between £580,000 and £600,000; they totaled £610,250. He was inaccurate in regard to the revenues of Deans and Chapters, which he thought came to £23,646 gross; in fact, added to the sums due to Prebends and Canons, the gross amounted to £152,606.
41. Sir Francis Burdett made the rather weak statement that the plan was deserving of support for the confidence it would inspire in the people of Ireland. On the other hand, Ruthven, the Radical member for Dublin, thought four bishops would be more satisfactory and moved that a commission be appointed to determine how far the revenues of the Irish Church were expended on the original objects: the clergy, the churches, the poor. 3 Hansard, XV, 587, 594–95Google Scholar. Subsequently, on February 27, two members for Scotland, Wemyss and Gillon, presented petitions that Irish Church revenues be used to lighten the burden of taxation; Barron, noting that the Protestant clergy in gross violation of their oaths left the Irish uneducated, recommended that tithes be appropriated to the support of the poor and the education of the people; O'Dwyer (Drogheda) advised that church property be returned to its original purposes (maintaining the fabric of the churches and supporting the poor) and that six or eight more bishops be eliminated. Ibid., XV, 1191-93. Hume did not speak until March 14, when he tried to prevent the bill from being treated as a tax. Ibid., XV, 663. On April 2 he hoped that Althorp would make no further concessions to the Tories. Ibid., XVI, 44-45.
42. Ibid., XV, 577-78.
43. For his attempts to preserve the abolition of cess, see the debates on May 13 and June 24. Ibid., XVII, 1142; XVIII, 1185. Brose says he sought a guarantee that lessees of church lands would enjoy as favorable terms in purchasing leases as they had in the past and secured an amendment to that effect. Brose, , Church and Parliament, p. 110Google Scholar. The amendment, which was that improvements erected by the tenant should not be considered in determining the price of the lease, was introduced by Lord Oxmanton, who probably held church lands. O'Connell did join with such Tories as Shaw in supporting the change, which was carried by a vote of 85 to 49. On the next division that evening, that Clause 147 stand as part of the bill, the vote was 149 to 280. 3 Hansard, XVIII, 1065-72, 1096Google Scholar.
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47. Ibid., XVI, 1399-1406; XVII, 36-44. Halevy says this change was introduced in the House of Lords. It was at this stage that the Radicals began to consider the bill as one to maintain, rather than reform, the Church of Ireland. O'Connell and Sheil did not speak on this occasion although, later in the evening, they voted on Hume's military flogging measure. Ibid., XVII, 44-49.
48. Ibid., XVII, 1002-03, 1005-07. Althorp answered that the revenue of the Irish bishops was £130,000, and that of the parochial clergy £600,000, while the income of the English bishops and clergy was £160,000 and £3,000,000 respectively, which showed that the funds from the bishops of Ireland would be quite enough for church purposes. He was correct. Three bishops died in 1834 and on August 5 of that year Littleton, Secretary for Ireland, announced that the Perpetuity Purchase Fund contained a surplus of over £2 5,000 for optional purposes. Ibid., XXV, 970.
49. Ibid., XVII, 1000-03.
50. That is to say, about 62% of the Whigs and Radicals voted for the bill, about 52% of the Tories voted against it. Since Peel never seemed able to muster more than about half of his party to support him, and that party was negligible in the Commons, the substantial concessions made to him were the result of his skill in exploiting the weakness of the Government.
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67. Ibid., fol. 196.
68. Melbourne to William IV, July 10, 1834, Peel Papers, 40303, fol. 198-202.
69. Melbourne to William IV, July 15, 1834. Ibid., fol. 205-09.
70. William IV to Melbourne, July 15, 1834. Ibid., fol. 211-14. Stanley had done this last with the Irish Church Temporalities Act and the Coercion Act of 1833.
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89. Peel Papers, 40303, fol. 229 (Private memorandum written by order of His Majesty and signed by him but not comm [sic] to L. Melbourne, Nov. 14, 1834). In a memorandum to Peel in January of 1835 William stated that Duncannon had proposed suspending benefices without cure of souls [Stockmar, , Memoirs, I, 314–50Google Scholar]. Duncannon, who was “slow, cautious, shrewd, and conciliatory,” was more trusted by the King than any of the other Whigs [Reid, Stuart J., Life and Letters of the First Earl of Durham (London, 1906), I, 236–37Google Scholar]. Possibly this is why he reacted so strongly to the suggestion.
90. Peel Papers, 40303, fol. 230-31 (Private Memorandum by William IV, Nov. 14, 1834). Note that William does not say Melbourne told him that Lansdowne and Spring Rice might retire.
91. Ibid., fol. 230-31.
92. Peel Papers, 40303, fol. 227-28 (Autograph from the King to Viscount Melbourne). This differs slightly from the version in Sanders, , Melbourne's Papers, pp. 222–23Google Scholar.
93. Stanley wrote Ripon that he doubted the accuracy of his intelligence that Melbourne had offered three persons to the King. Stanley to Ripon, Nov. 20, 1834, Ripon Papers, 40863, 130-32.
94. Stockmar, , Memoirs, I, 329.Google Scholar
95. Stockmar, , Memoirs, I, 330.Google Scholar William added that he did not conceal from Melbourne that the injudicious and extravagant conduct of Brougham had tended to shake his confidence in the course which might be pursued by the administration. See also, Sanders, , Melbourne's Papers, pp. 224–26Google Scholar. Melbourne to Grey, Nov. 14, 1834. Another reference to this is in a letter of March 30, 1835, when the King told Peel he saw in the coalition of opponents of the Government elements of division and discord and he cited, as proof, what happened in the previous session of Parliament and the language in recess of those “whose support and following were indispensible.” Peel Papers, 40303, fol. 112-24.
96. Palmerston to W. Temple, Nov. 16, 1834, Bulwer, , Palmerston, II, 209–10Google Scholar; Russell, , Recollections, p. 132Google Scholar; Rice to Grey, Nov. 23, 1834, Rice to Lansdowne, Nov. 23, 1834, Rice to Sligo, Nov. 23, 1834, Monteagle Papers, 546, fol. 2-6.
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98. Crawford, W. Sharmon, Observations on the Irish Tithe Bill (Dundalk, 1835), pp. 7–8Google Scholar; Inglis, Henry D., Ireland in 1834 (London, 1834), II, 208–10Google Scholar. It is true that on June 26, 1835, the Whigs did bring in a bill which proposed to suspend appointments to benefices where the number of Protestants did not exceed fifty. Meanwhile, however, there had been an election in which the Tories had taken over the Whig principles of church reform (on this see, Cowper to Lieven, January 1835; Sudley, , Cowper-Lieven, pp. 75–76Google Scholar) and in which both Tories and Radicals had increased their numbers at the expense of the Whigs. Consequently, the ministry had to go beyond what the Tories had considered acceptable, and had to court the Radicals, who did want the adoption of the number principle.
99. Greville, , Memoirs, III, 145.Google Scholar
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101. 2 Hansard X, 1388–90Google Scholar; XI, 68. See also the testimony of his agent, J. R. Price before the 1832 committee on the disturbed districts in Ireland. When asked about including tithe in the rent charge Price warned, “I think it would be very dangerous to tie the dead carcass to the living body.” Commons Report on State of Ireland, Parliamentary Papers (1831–1832), XVI, 431.Google Scholar
102. Le Marchant, , Althorp, pp. 488–89Google Scholar; Parker, , Graham, I, 190–92Google Scholar; Broughton, , Recollections, IV, 356.Google Scholar
103. Broughton, , Recollections, IV, 360.Google Scholar At this time Althorp said of him, rather unfairly in view of the superior condition of the tenantry upon the Lansdowne estates, that he was an Irish landlord and whenever his pecuniary interests interfered his opinion was sure to be swayed by them.
104. Taylor to Peel, March 4, 1835, Peel Papers, 40303, fol. 54-55.
105. Torrens, , Melbourne, pp. 299–300Google Scholar.
106. 3 Hansard, XVIII, 1094–96Google Scholar.
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