That Church probably will never be a cordial friend
of Protestant England. Pitt and Mr. Gladstone —
the last notably, and without the excuses that can be
made for Pitt — lost opportunities to bring it into rela-
tion with the State. But the Irish Catholic clergy,
both high and low, are not the less in their true
natures and at bottom a great Conservative force,
which we ought to win to our side if possible. They
have shown this on more than one occasion. They
opposed the movements of 1848 and 1867, and joined
the Land and National Leagues with reluctance ; and
it is the height of unwisdom to make this great order
of men hostile to our rule by denying justice, and
not to try to make them allies. This was pointed
out by Burke a century ago; the lesson is just as

true at this hour.
