ld command an army
in the field. [So much for my prediction. Stanley's followers
dropped off and left him alone, the Government had no difficulty,
and John Russell proved a very good leader.--January 1837.]
Whatever may be the fate of Government for the present, I believe
it to be impossible that anything can prevent Peel's speedy
return to office; he has raised his reputation to such a height
during this session, he has established such a conviction of his
great capacity and of his liberal, enlarged, and at the same time
safe views and opinions, that even the Radicals, such as Hume,
join in the general chorus of admiration which is raised to his
merits; he stands so proudly eminent, and there is such a general
lack of talent, that he must be recalled by the voice of the
nation and by the universal admission that he is indispensable to
the country.

[6] [On the 30th of March Lord John Russell moved the
resolution which was carried by this division; the
terms of it were, 'That this House resolve itself into
a committee of the whole House, in order to consider
the present state of the Church Establishment in
Ireland, with the view of applying any surplus of the
revenues not required for the spiritual care of its
members to the general education of all classes of the
people, without distinction of religious persuasion.']

[Page Head: THE IRISH CHURCH QUESTION.]

I am much inclined to think that this debate on the Irish Church
question will eventually damage the Whigs not a little. Their
speeches this year might all have been answered by their speeches
last year on the same subject, and nothing can be so glaring as
their inconsistency and the factiousness of their motives. The
question is not a popular one in the country, where nothing like
favour to the Catholics of Ireland or their religion is agreeable
to the mass. The arguments in the debate have been triumphantly in
favour of the Government _upon the resolution_ as contradistinguished
from the principle; for though I am decidedly favourable to the
principle, and never had a doubt that it is preposterous to
contend that if there is a reform of the Church, and there turns
out to be a surplus, such surplus should not be dealt with as
Parliament in its wisdom shall deem best for the general
interests, under the actual circumstances of the country, at the
time the appropriation takes