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Gladstone and an "Ulster Covenant", 1869In 1869, the Liberal Prime Minister William Gladstone "dis-established" the Church of Ireland (see story here). Below is an excerpt from a speech he gave in Parliament that year, where he uses the term "Ulster Covenant", 43 years before the eventual Covenant was created.Earlier in the debate Benjamin Disraeli outlined a chronology of Established church history in Ulster from 1568 onwards, and of the arrival of the Presbyterian Scots during the reign of King James I. Mr Henry Chaplin, the MP for Mid Lincolnshire*, in what was his maiden speech in the house reinforced the "historical resume" which Mr Disraeli had given and spoke of "...a bargain which had been made with the settlers of Ulster..." and the Convocation of 1634 (see story of the Convocation here).Gladstone rose and, referring to early 1600s Ulster, and highlighting the status of both Ulster Presbyterians and Irish Catholics, said this:"...it would, perhaps, be more convenient to postpone the discussion of that portion of the hon. member's speech relating to what I may call the Ulster Covenant until we come to the amendment in which it is proposed virtually to include the grants of James I, because the amendment upon which we are now engaged would not include them... a covenant may have been made between James I and the Protestant settlers of Ulster in the first place, I know not how those who look down upon the pages of history can think that the bargain has ever been kept as respects the major portion of these Protestant settlers in Ulster - namely, the Presbyterians. And I may also say that from that covenant was absent the men who had a paramount right to be consulted - namely, the men of the Irish nation..."- Gladstone's speech as reported in The Guardian, 5 May 1869.The language is a bit tortured, but the use of terminology is interesting. MPs knew Ulster history, understood the difference between the Church of Ireland and Presbyterians, and knew the term 'Covenant'..................................* Henry Chaplin's daughter Edith married Charles Vane-Tempest-Stewart, 7th Marquess of Londonderry (of Mount Stewart). Stewart became Leader of the Senate and Minister for Education in the first Northern Ireland government in 1921..................................Two interesting Ulster Covenant references, from Canadian newspapers of 1912 (one pro and one anti): -"...The Ulster Scot may be led; he will not be driven. Home Rule will come by consent, not as a yoke of humiliation for any section of the Irish nation..." - The Lethbridge Daily Herald, Friday 11 October 1912"...anyone must have been as green as Ireland's justly celebrated grass to take all this foolishness seriously. Only an Ulster Scot who can build a holiday around the doctrine of predestination could swallow it. The stage management of this solemn comedy was too raw..." - the Winnipeg Free Press, 17 October 1912Posted by Mark Thompson at Thursday, July 05, 2012  --------------------Gladstone and The Irish Church Act - 1869http://www.lurganancestry.com/1869.htmAs early as 1845 Gladstone had seen the injustices in the treatment of the Irish by Great Britain. He had even felt some responsibility for it and spent the rest of his life helping to put things right. By the 1860s he had in mind at least the outline of an Irish policy – based on disestablishment of the church and reform of the land system.On 1 December 1868 Gladstone was felling a tree at Hawarden, his family estate, when a messenger arrived with a telegram from Windsor announcing that General Grey was bringing a message from the Queen. He put down his axe. He handed the telegram to a friend beside him, remarking "very significant", and then resumed his work. Shortly he stopped and with great earnestness said – "My mission is to pacify Ireland."When Gladstone was returned to power after the General Election of 1868 as Prime Minister of a Liberal administration, he began his great crusade — which lasted for the remaining 25 years of his political career — to solve the Irish problem.The Fenian outrages had brought the Irish Question to the forefront of politics, and Gladstone was determined to try to solve it by reforming legislation. Three issues faced him at the outset: agrarian resentment against the Anglo-Irish landlords, which was frequently a cause of violence; Catholic resentment against the privileges and wealth of the Anglican Church of Ireland; and the almost complete absence of university education for Catholics. The first two were connected, in that the Anglican Church drew its tithes largely from the Roman Catholic peasantry.Gladstone said "The Irish Establishment was the worst enemy of the established church and a religion which appropriated the revenue of a national church to provide services and sacraments for themselves, was taking the surest way to make itself hated."Within days of taking office, Gladstone had prepared draft proposals to deal with the Irish Church, and shortly afterwards the large Liberal majority in the House of Commons secured the passage of a Bill to disestablish the Church, thus severing its connection with the State. In economic terms it meant depriving the Church of Ireland of its endowment wealth and its legal title to tithes. As some compensation, the Church was allowed to retain about half its assets of about £20 million, the remainder being put to financing various social and economic purposes, such as agriculture, fisheries and education. In administrative and political terms, the Church's bishops were reduced in number and their role as public figures limited to that of religious leaders. The Irish Church Bill was introduced in March 1869 and in spite of strong conservative opposition in the Commons and Lords became law in July.The Terms of the Act:From 1871 the Church of Ireland would become a voluntary body.Its ecclesiastical law would no longer be the law of the land.Irish bishops would no longer be appointed by the crown or sit in the House of Lords.All church property, except churches in use, were confiscated and used to:Provide for the clergy, schoolmasters and officials of the Established Church who had lost their posts.Compensate those who had lost rights of patronage.Relieve poverty. £13m was paid out between 1871 and 1923.The Importance of the Act:It showed the influence of the old Protestant Ascendency was in declineIt gave encouragement to the Irish and was a popular measure.It was seen as a prelude to the destruction of the landlords.Gladstone's own evaluation of his achievement was this; 'I see the discharge of a debt of civil justice, the disappearance of a national reproach and relief to a devoted clergy from a false position'. Certainly a Protestant Anglican Church, representing a small percentage of the Irish population, no longer enjoyed status and wealth denied to the bishops, clergy and members of the Roman Catholic Church. Even so,it was somewhat ironical that the devoutly Anglican Gladstone should sponsor a Bill which Benjamin Disraeli, a convert, would roundly condemn as 'legalising confiscation, consecrating sacrilege, condoning treason and destroying churches'. Nevertheless, within a year Gladstone had tackled and resolved one major conflict in Ireland. The others, affecting land and education, were to prove far more testing.

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