elevation of this warm friend of the subject of this biography to the Seals a vacancy occurred in the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council by the death of Lord Kingsdown, and Sir Joseph, recommended by Lord Derby, was selected by Mr. Disraeli to fill the post by appointment under the Queen's warrant dated March 28, 1868. The office was one which Napier had coveted ever since his resignation of the Irish Chancellorship. Writing to Mr. Disraeli he thus acknowledged the honour conferred upon him.

1 Whitehall Gardens, Friday.

My dear Mr. Disraeli,—I have to express to you my grateful appreciation of the kindness with which you have acted with respect to the arrangement for my taking the vacant seat on the Judicial Committee of Council. It is a satisfaction to me to receive this honour from my old political chief, who has always acted towards me with kindly and considerate regard which I have not forgotten.

Your faithful and obliged

Right Hon. Benjamin Disraeli, M.P.

JOSEPH NAPIER.

For the next six years Sir Joseph was frequent in his attendance on the Judicial Committee, and his judgments are reported in Moore's Privy Council Cases,' commencing with the fifth volume of the New Series. From an examination of these reports it will be found that Sir Joseph was often called upon to be the spokesman of his colleagues and to deliver judg

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ment. Appeals from the Admiralty and from the Supreme Courts of New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Hong Kong, and the Cape of Good Hope were the cases which chiefly fell within his province. During the hearing of the three notorious ecclesiastical suits, The Bishop of Cape Town v. The Bishop of Natal, Martin v. Mackonochie, and Sheppard v. Bennett, Sir Joseph was also one of the judges on the Committee.

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CHAPTER X.

IRISH IDEAS.

Where law ends, tyranny begins.- William Pitt, Earl of Chatham, Speech, January 9, 1770.

AT this time the burning question of the hour was the fate of the Irish Church. Was it to be severed from the State and its revenues confiscated, or was it to be retained in its customary power and position? Those were the two great questions, and to that issue party hostilities had now been narrowed. The Liberals voted for its abolition; the Conservatives, on the other hand, were hotly in favour of its maintenance. 'You cannot amend the Irish Church,' cried Mr. Gladstone, in one respect or direction without offending in some other respect or direction, and making the case worse than before. The reason of it is this, that there is no basis. It is wholly disabled and disqualified for performing the purposes for which it exists, and consequently I spoke in literal truth and not in mere sarcasm when I said " You must not take

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away its abuses, because if you take them away there will be nothing left." Mr. Disraeli held a different opinion. The Irish Church,' said he, ought to be maintained. Its subversion would aggravate religious hostility and party rancour, would suppress a resident class of men whose social virtues are conducive, as all agree, to the welfare of the country, and would further diminish the security of property in a land where its tenure and enjoyment are not as unquestioned as they have hitherto been in other parts of her Majesty's dominions. But even in Great Britain the spoliation of the Church of Ireland would not be without its effect. Confiscation is contagious; and when once a community has been seduced into plunder, its predatory acts have seldom been single.'

We know the result of the contest. The House of Commons was in favour of the Irish ideas' of Mr. Gladstone, and supported his views as to the disestablishment and spoliation of the Irish Church. Mr. Disraeli was of opinion that the popular assembly did not represent the feeling of the nation on the subject; he therefore dissolved it and appealed to the country. His appeal disappointed his expectations; the tone of the country proved adverse to the maintenance of a Conservative Cabinet, and the strength of the Liberal opposition was increased by a majority of over a hundred. Mr. Disraeli bowed to the feeling of the

country, and resigned before the meeting of the Houses. The Liberals, at the head of whom was Mr. Gladstone, now returned to power, and a strong administration was formed.

The fate of the Irish Church was soon decided upon. Shortly after the assembling of Parliament the new Prime Minister introduced his memorable measure. The Church in Ireland was to cease to be recognised by the State the 1st of January 1871; the right of appointing Irish Bishops was to be abandoned by the Crown, and the Irish Bishops were no longer to have seats in the House of Lords; a governing body representing the clergy and laity of the Irish Church was to be elected and legally incorporated by the Government. Then came the disposal of the plunder. Mr. Gladstone estimated the gross value of the Irish Church property at 16,000,0007. ; from this he deducted 4,900,000l. as the life interest of incumbents of all kinds; then as compensation to curates 800,000l.; for other compensations 900,0007. ; and for Maynooth engagements 1,100,000l. A large surplus however would still remain, and with this the Prime Minister proposed to make provision for the blind, deaf and dumb, and other charities and lunatic asylums for the relief of unavoidable calamity or suffering, but not so as to cancel the obligations of property for the relief of the poor.