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‘For God and Ulster’: Evangelical Protestantism and the Home Rule Crisis of 1886*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 February 2016

David Hempton
David Hempton*
Affiliation:
The Queen’s University of Belfast
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Extract

The churches know by intimate neighbourhood with the people in every part of Ireland the true aims of those who clamour for separation. They see the effects of so-called Nationalism on morals, on character, on society, on the rights of property, and not least, on Christian institutions. Their estimate of Home Rule is the product of many influences. Observation, experience, intuition, historical facts, and facts of daily life—all contribute their part toward that fulness of conviction which they alike own and maintain. Such a solidarity of opinion does not exist on any other public question.

Type
Research Article
Information
Studies in Church History Subsidia , Volume 7: Protestant Evangelicalism , 1990 , pp. 225 - 254
Copyright
Copyright © Ecclesiastical History Society 1990 

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Footnotes

*

The research for this article was made possible by a grant from the Economic and Social Research Council. I am also grateful to Dr Myrtle Hill, who was employed as a research assistant on this project, for helping to gather and organize much of the material.

References

1 The Christian Advocate, 15 Jan. 1886.

2 The standard treatments of the Church of Ireland in this period are Akenson, D. H., The Church of Ireland: Ecclesiastical Reform and Revolution, 1800–1885 (London, 1971)Google Scholar and McDowell, R. B., The Church of Ireland, 1869–1969 (London, 1975)Google Scholar. See also Megahey, A. J., ‘The Irish Protestant churches and social and political issues’ (Belfast Ph.D. thesis, 1969)Google Scholar.

3 Journal of the General Synod of the Church of Ireland (Dublin, 1886), Special Meeting (23 March), pp. liv-lxii.

4 Calculations are based on the rich pamphlet collection of the Representative Church Body Library, Dublin.

5 The Protestant Defence Association of the Church of Ireland, Revision of the Prayer-Book (Dublin, 1875), pp. 3–4.

6 See the Reports of the Protestant Defence Association of the Church of Ireland which were published annually in Dublin.

7 Fahey, P.J., ‘Ritualism, the revision movement and revision theology in the Church of Ireland 1842–1877’ 2 vols (Doctor of Sacred Theology, Rome, 1976), pp. 31–3, 59Google Scholar.

8 Irish Ecclesiastical Gazette, 27 March 1886.

9 Irish Church Records (compiled and collected by Robert Walsh D.D.), 8, p. 110.

10 Irish Ecclesiastical Gazette, 16 Jan. and 27 Feb. 1886.

11 Journal of the General Synod of the Church of Ireland (Dublin, 1886), p. Lxiii.

12 Irish Church Records, 8, pp. 122–3, 130.

13 Megahey, ‘The Irish Protestant Churches’, cap. 1.

14 See The Irish Loyal and Patriotic Union, The real dangers of Home Rule (Dublin, 1887) and Union or Separation? (Dublin, 1888).

15 Belfast, The Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, Irish Unionist Alliance MSS (1887-1914),D989A/8/I-33.

16 Savage, D.C., ‘The origins of the Ulster unionist party, 1885–6’, IHS, 12 (1961), pp. 185–208Google Scholar.

17 Irish Ecclesiastical Gazelle, 23 Jan. 1886.

18 Irish Ecclesiastical Gazelle, 12 June 1886.

19 Irish Church Records, 8, p. 132.

20 Irish Ecclesiastical Gazette, 27 Feb. 1886.

21 Irish Church Records, 8, p. 43; Minutes of the General Assembly, 4, (1871), p. 134.

22 Irish Ecclesiastical Gazette, 16 Oct. 1886.

23 Irish Ecclesiastical Gazette, 25 Sept. 1886.

24 Irish Church Records, 8, p. 131.

25 McDowell, , The Church of Ireland, p. 99Google Scholar.

26 Journal of the General Synod of the Church of Ireland (Dublin, 1887).

27 Minutes of the General Assembly, 2, p. 891.

28 Minutes of the General Assembly, 3(1861), p. 52;(1862), p. 178.

29 Robinson, A., Facts for Irish Presbyterians (Broughshane, n.d.). See also Purity of Worship Defence Association in connection with the Irish Presbyterian Church. An Address presented to the Ministers, Elders, and Members of the Church (Belfast, 1875)Google Scholar.

30 Minutes of the General Assembly, 7 (1886), pp. 12–13.

31 The Report on Religions and Education, Census of Ireland (1861) had shown that Roman Catholics made up 77.7 per cent of the total population. Even in so-called ‘Protestant Ulster’ Roman Catholics accounted for 50.5 per cent of the population.

32 Ibid. See also An Presbyterian, Irish, Ulster and Home Rule (Belfast, 1886), p. 23Google Scholar; Manderson, Revd D., How an Irish Nonconformist Views the Question of Home Rule with Regard to the Peace and Prosperity of Ireland (Dungannon, 1893)Google Scholar; Revd Lynd, R.J., The Present Crisis in Ireland, A Lecture Delivered at a Meeting of the May Street Literary Association, January 5, 1886 (Belfast, 1886)Google Scholar.

33 Minutes of the General Assembly, 7, pp. 105, 146.

34 Belfast, P.R.O.N.I., Armour Papers, D1792/A2/25, J. B. Armour to W.E. Gladstone, July 1893. The letter accompanied copies of the Protestant Home Rule Address.

35 Ibid., Revd D. Houston to J. B. Armour 3 Aug. 1892. See also McMinn, J. R. B., Against the Tide: J. B. Armour, Irish Presbyterian Minister and Home Ruler (Belfast, 1985)Google Scholar.

36 Presbyterian Churchman (1886), p. 96.

37 Quoted in Holmes, F., Our Irish Presbyterian Heritage (Belfast, 1986), p. 134Google Scholar.. See also Presbyterian Churchman (1886), p. 95 and Anderson, R., Sidelights on the Home Rule Movement (London, 1906), p. 218Google Scholar.

38 See, for example, Boyd, A., Holy War in Belfast (Belfast, 1969)Google Scholar, cap. 8.

39 Report of the Belfast Riots Commissioners (1886), Appendix D, p. 587.

40 Ibid., pp. 345–61; Speeches Delivered at the Meeting of Belfast Constitutional Club 17 August 1886, reported in Belfast Newsletter, 18 August 1886.

41 ‘The General Assembly’, Presbyterian Churchman (1886), pp. 193–7.

42 Ibid., p. 96.

43 Hempton, D., ‘The Methodist crusade in Ireland 1795–1845’, IHS, 22 (1980), pp. 33–48Google Scholar.

44 Hempton, David, ‘Methodism in Irish society 1770–1830’, TRHS, ser. 5, 36 (1986), pp. 117–42Google Scholar.

45 Minutes of the Irish Conference, the answer of the British Conference to the address of the Irish Conference (1883).

46 Megahey, ‘The Irish Protestant churches’, cap. 1.

47 Minutes of the Irish Conference (1881).

48 The Christian Advocate, 8 Jan. 1886.

49 Ibid., 12 Mar., 4 June, and 18 June 1886.

50 Ibid., 19 Feb. 1886.

51 Ibid., 15 Jan. 1886.

52 See Taggart, N. W., Thelrish in World Methodism (London, 1986)Google Scholar.

53 The Christian Advocate, 19 Mar., 9 Apr., and 4 June 1886.

54 Ibid., 11 June 1886.

55 Ibid., 22 Jan. 1886.

56 Ibid., 22 Jan., 29 Jan., and 5 Feb. 1886.

57 Ibid., 4 June 1886.

58 Hansard, ser. 3, 205, cols 651–61.

59 The Christian Advocate, 26 Feb. 1886.

60 The resultant divisions disturbed English Methodism at least until the end of the century. See, for example, The Methodist Times, 8 July 1886; The New Review, 7, no. 38, July 1892; St. Stephen’s Review, no. 31, 3 Sept. 1892. For a more general analysis, see Bebbington, D. W., The Nonconformist Conscience: Chapel and Politics 1870–1914 (London, 1982), pp. 84–105Google Scholar; and ‘Nonconformity and electoral sociology, 1867–1918’, HistJ, 27 (1984), pp. 633–56.

61 The Christian Advocate, 7 May 1886.

62 Minutes of the lrish Conference, 7, pp. 87–91.

63 The Christian Advocate, 18 June 1886.

64 Belfast, Irish Wesley Historical Society MSS (temporarily stored in P.R.O.N.I.), W. Nicholas to C. Crookshank, 25 Feb. 1889. See also P.R.O.N.I., Jordan Papers, D/207/3/2/1/13, A. Duncan to J. Jordan, 4 May 1886.

65 MacVeagh, Jeremiah, Religious Intolerance under Home Rule. Some Opinions of Leading Irish Protestants (London, 1911)Google Scholar.

66 Irish Nonconformists and the Unionist Leaders: Speeches of the Irish Protestant Ministers on Home Rule, 14 Nov. 1888 (London, 1888), p. 14.

67 Belfast, P.R.O.N.I., Nonconformist Unionist Association Papers, D/2396/1/1-24 and D/2396/5/1-3, S. K. McDonnell to W. E. Ball, 3 Aug., 14 Aug., and 30 Oct. 1888; Lord Wolmer to W. E. Ball, 25 July, 7 Aug., 10 Aug., 5 Nov., 6 Nov., and 9 Nov. 1888.

68 Ibid., D/2396/3/1-13, Duke of Abercorn to P. E. W. Sykes, 30 Apr., Abercorn to W. E. Ball, 23 June, R. Ross to Abercorn, 26 June, Abercorn to W. E. Ball, 28 June, R. J. Lynd to Abercorn, 30 June, Abercorn to Mr Cox, 29 Aug., Abercorn to Mr Henderson, 29 Aug., Abercorn to Sir Thomas Butler, 29 Aug., Abercorn to Mr Patterson, 29 Aug., Abercorn to W. E. Ball, 14 Nov., Abercorn to W. E Ball, 2 Dec, and Abercorn to W. E. Ball, 4 Dec. 1888.

69 Ibid., D/2396/3/11, Duke of Abercorn to W. E. Ball, 2 Dec. 1888.

70 Ibid., D/2596/3/3-5, R. Ross to the Duke of Abercorn, 26 June, Abercorn to W. E. Ball, 28 June, R. J. Lynd to Abercorn, 30 June 1888.

71 Ibid., D2396/5/10,J. L. Ball to W. E. Ball, 13 Nov. 1888.

72 Ibid., D2396/5/5, 8, 14, Charles Adeane to W. E. Ball, 22 and 24 Nov., Lord George Hamilton to W.E. Ball, 10 Dec. 1888.

73 Irish Nonconformists, pp. 4–5.

74 Ibid., pp. 7–12.

75 Ibid., p. 21. For the Baptist position, see Thompson, J., ‘Baptists in Ireland 1792–1922: A Dimension of Protestant Dissent’ (Oxford D. Phil, thesis, 1988)Google Scholar.

76 Belfast, P.R.O.N.I., N.U.A. Papers, D/2396/1/1-24, Lord Wolmer to W. E. Ball, 20 Sept., 24 Sept., 9 Oct., 10 Oct., 22 Oct., 23 Oct. (two letters) 1888. English Liberal Unionists also spoke against Home Rule on national platforms and in local constituencies, see Goschen, G. J. and Harrington, Lord, The Disruption Bill (London, 1886)Google Scholar; Goschen, G. J., The Cry of’Justice to Ireland’ (London, 1886)Google Scholar; Goschen, G. J., Address to the Electors of the Eastern Division of Edinburgh (London, 1886)Google Scholar; Harrington, Lord, Address to the Electors of the Rossendale Division of Lancashire (London, 1886)Google Scholar.

77 Ibid., D/2396/3/13 and D/2396/1/1-24, W. E. Ball to Lord Wolmer, 1 Oct. 1888, and Lord Wolmer to W. E. Ball, 3 Nov., 5 Nov., 27 Nov., 1888.

78 Bebbington, ‘Nonconformity and electoral sociology’, pp. 633–56.

79 For the range of Irish Nonconformist arguments against Home Rule see William Arthur, Shall the Loyal be Deserted and the Disloyal set over them? An appeal to Liberals and Nonconformists (London, 1886); Thomas Webb, Ipse Dixit or the Gladstonian Settlement of Ireland (Dublin, 1886); Robert MacGeogh, Ulster’s Apologyfor being Loyal (Belfast, 1888); The Society of Friends in Ireland and Home Rule (Dublin, 1893); Mandenon, How an Irish Nonconformist views the Question of Home Rule; Archibald McCaig, Reasons Why Nonconformists should Oppose Home Rule (Dublin, 1886); Irish Baptist Magazine, May 1887, pp. 70–1.

80 The Methodist Times, 8 July 1886; D. Bebbington, ‘Gladstone and the Baptists’, BQ, 26 (1975–6), pp. 224–39; Bebbington, The Nonconformist Conscience, pp. 84–105. For a revealing insight into the confusions of English Liberalism occasioned by Gladstone’s Irish policy, see The Pilot Balloon. A Calm Expose of the ‘Manchester Guardian’ consisting of Verbatim Extracts from the Editorial Columns 1884 to 1886, on the Home Rule Question (Manchester, 1889).

81 Loughlin, James, Gladstone, Home Rule and the Irish Question 1882–93 (Dublin, 1986), appendix 2, pp. 295–6Google Scholar.

82 For other interpretations of early Ulster Unionism see Buckland, P., Ulster Unionism and the Origins of Northern Ireland 1886–1922 (Dublin, 1973)Google Scholar; Harbinson, J. F., The Ulster Unionist Party 1882–1973 (Belfast, 1973)Google Scholar; Jackson, A., The Ulster Party: Irish Unionists in the House of Commons, 1884–1911 (Oxford, 1989)Google Scholar.

83 Loughlin, , Gladstone, pp. 123–52Google Scholar.

84 The Irish Church Bill: The Great Protestant Demonstration in Belfast (Belfast, 1869). For similar events, albeit on a smaller scale, see The Great Protestant Demonstration at Hillsborough, October 30, 1867; and Proceedings of the Great Presbyterian Demonstration in Belfast in favour of Protestant Endowments in Ireland.

85 The notion of a contractual relationship between Ulster loyalists and the United Kingdom is developed by Miller, D. W., Queen’s Rebels: Ulster Loyalism in Historical Perspective (Dublin, 1978), pp. 65–80Google Scholar.

86 The Home Rule ‘Nutshell’, examined by an Irish Unionist (Belfast and Dublin, 1912).

87 Wright, F., ‘Protestant ideology and politics in Ulster’, Archives européennes ie sociologie, 14 (1973). pp. 213–80Google Scholar.

88 For the survival of this view into contemporary Ulster fundamentalism see Bruce, S., God Save Ulster! The Religion and Politics of Paisleyism (Oxford, 1985)Google Scholar.

89 Mahaffy, Gilbert, The Attitude of Irish Churchmen in the Present Political Crisis (Dublin, 1886), p. 12Google Scholar.

90 Ellis, Thomas, God and the Nation. A Sermon preached to the Orangemen of the District of Portadown in St. Mark’s Church Portadown (Armagh, 1885)Google Scholar.

91 The Home Rule ‘Nutshell’, p. 99.

92 Loughlin, , Gladstone, p. 160Google Scholar.

93 Dunne, T., ‘“La trahison des clercs”: British intellectuals and the first home-rule crisis’, MS, 23 (1982), pp. 134–73Google Scholar.

94 YMCA, Bulletin (Belfast, 1885).

95 Hempton, D. and Hill, M., ‘“Godliness and Good Citizenship”: Evangelical Protestantism and Social Control in Ulster, 1790–1850’, Saothar, Journal of the Irish Labour History Society, 13 (1988), pp. 68–80Google Scholar.

96 Ellis, God and the Nation.

97 Dublin, National Library of Ireland, Irish Protestant Home Rule Association Papers, MS 3657, Press cutting from the Freeman, 23 June 1886.

98 Committee Minutes of the Irish Protestant Home Rule Association, 13 Oct. 1886. See Loughlin, J., ‘The Irish Protestant Home Rule Association and nationalist polities’, IHS, 24 (1985), pp. 341–60Google Scholar.

99 Dublin, NIX, I.P.H.R.A committee minutes, 20 Oct. 1886; MacVeagh, J., Religious Intolerance Under Home Rule: Some Opinions of Leading Irish Protestants (London, 1911)Google Scholar.

100 Ibid., I.P.H.R.A committee minutes, 5 June 1886 and July 1887. See also Loughlin, , ‘Irish Protestant Home Rule Association’, p. 343Google Scholar.

101 Ward, W. R., ‘The Way of the World: The Rise and Decline of Protestant Social Christianity in Britain’, Kirchliche Zeitgeschichte, I Jahrgang, Heft 2 (1988), pp. 293–305Google Scholar.