MR. MAC NEILL (Donegal, S.)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for War whether his attention has been directed to a resolution, supported by His Grace Lord Plunket, Protestant Archbishop of Dublin, and passed unanimously on Wednesday last by the General Synod of the Church of Ireland, demanding from the Government a general recognition of the claims of the incumbents of parishes in which military barracks are situate to act as chaplains of the troops in their several parishes; and whether, having regard to the fact that the privilege now claimed by the Protestant clergy has been accorded to the Roman Catholic clergy, he will accede to the request of the Synod of the Church of Ireland?
§ MR. E. STANHOPEThere are only three stations in Ireland at which the local clergy do not officiate to the troops. At those places large bodies of men are concentrated, quite sufficient in themselves to constitute a cure of souls, and it is. therefore preferable that a com- 370 missioned chaplain under direct military control should look after the spiritual needs of each place.