THE DUKE OF ABERCORNrose to present a Petition from Belfast against the Irish Church Bill. This Petition had been agreed to at one of the most important meetings ever held in Ire- land. It was held on the 22nd of May was attended by 80,000 persons, and was remarkable for the large attendance of the respectable and intelligent classes, and for the unanimity which prevailed with regard to the mischievous and dangerous nature of the measure which would come before their Lordships next week. One of the most remarkable features of the meeting was the entire union of sentiment which was displayed between the Presbyterians and the members of the Established Church. The attendance of Presbyterians at this meeting, as well as that held at Londonderry, was extremely large and enthusiastic, and the cordial support which they gave to the resolutions condemnatory of the Bill furnished an unmistakeable proof of the remarkable change that had occurred in their views since the General Election, and since their eyes had been opened to the injustice and partiality of the Bill. The same fact was evinced by the Petition which he had presented, signed by 10,000 Protestants in the North-west of Ireland, some of the resolutions at that meeting being moved and seconded by Presbyterians. He believed that Belfast and Londonderry were not singular in this view, and that a very general change of feeling had manifested itself throughout the country, and not only iu Ireland but in England. The petitioners stated that 1582 they viewed with alarm and indignation the 33111 for the disestablishment and disendowment of Protestautism in Ireland; that they regarded it as a subversion of the Protestant institutions of the realm, a violation of the Act of Settlement, the Treaty of Union, and the Coronation Oath; they said that the measure was in the highest degree obnoxious to the Protestants of Ireland, and was fraught with eminent peril to the peace and prosperity of the Empire. While anxious for the removal of anomalies and for any wise measure of reform by which the efficiency of the Church would be increased, they strongly deprecated the present Bill, and prayed their Lordships to prevent the passing of a measure so injurious to the interests of true religion and so antagonistic to the industrious and loyal population of the North of Ireland.
§ Petition ordered to lie on the Table.