We have Mr. Gladstone's own admission that the Fenian agitation of the sixties was the primary cause of English interest in the Irish Church, and in the great land question. It is one of the truisms of history that agitation on unconstitutional methods is more effective than the employment of peaceful persuasion. Catholic Emancipation proved that. When Gladstone took office it was known that he would attempt to create a contented Ireland by disestablishing the Irish Church, and by passing a great Land Act. He chose as his Irish viceroy Earl Spencer, then an unknown and untried young man in his thirty-third year. To be the representative of the premier in Ireland was the most onerous and dangerous position in the Government. The viceroy found society, lay and clerical, against him, and with the passing of the Land Act of 1870 the upper-class Irish believed what they had only doubted before—that Gladstone was the worst enemy of Ireland, and that Lord Spencer was his dangerous satellite. There is no need to enter into the controversy that ensued when Gladstone introduced the Bill disestablishing the Church of Ireland, as the Protestant minority was termed absurdly. Archbishop Trench declared passionately that the disestablishment would 'put to the Irish Protestants the choice between apostasy and expatriation, and every man among them who has money or position, when he sees his Church go, will leave the country. If you do that,' he continued, 'you will find the country so difficult to manage that you will have to depend upon the gibbet and the sword.' It would be unfair to dwell upon the ludicrous moanings of the Church party; they prophesied not only the extinction of the Irish Protestants, but the end of Christendom. We can be content with the knowledge that time has given us of the prosperity and progress of Protestantism in Ireland.
It is a splendid example of the irony of life to recall Mr. Gladstone's declaration when the telegram arrived at Hawarden, informing him that an emissary was on his way from Windsor Castle. 'My mission,' he said, 'is to pacify Ireland.' That may have been true, but Gladstone brought a sword rather than peace to the country which had such a long and fateful connection with the statesmanship of the great Liberal. Lord Spencer, his first viceroy, experienced all the fury of rebellious Nationalism, and during his second viceroyalty had the unfortunate distinction of being the governor of a country where no man's life was safe, and where murder and outrage were as common as sand.
This is, however, anticipating events. The refusal of Lord Halifax to accept the viceroyalty had restricted Gladstone's choice. Liberalism, even in its mildest state, has never appealed to territorial magnates, and the Whiggism of Lord Spencer was scarcely the fire-and-thunder Liberalism of his chief, but he stepped into the breach, and for the rest of his life was one of the strongest champions of a political faith unpopular amongst his own class. Born in 1836, and married at the age of twenty-two, he brought the courage of youth to bear upon the Irish situation. Gladstone never had a more faithful colleague and Dublin Castle a more conscientious occupant. Dublin society was inclined to frown upon the viceroy, and there was some talk of a boycott of the viceregal functions, but Lord and Lady Spencer were independent of the support of the official and professional class which forms what is called society in the capital of Ireland. A great English landlord and his wife could create any society they chose, being somewhat in a similar position to the Scotsman who declared that wherever he sat was the head of the table. Lord Hartington, better known as the Duke of Devonshire, was Chichester Fortescue's successor as Chief Secretary, and the two noblemen carried out Gladstone's reforms with a thoroughness that for a time gave the impression that at last the Irish nation was to be pacified and made amenable to English rule.
The Land Act of 1870
The disestablishment of the Protestant Church in Ireland was, however, a minor reform compared with the great Land Act of 1870. This was a measure of reform that took away the breath of the Tory leaders, but it has proved a most beneficial act, and when in the course of time it became obsolete, it was a Unionist administration that improved upon it, and passed an Act which, compared with that of 1870, or even that of 1881, out-Gladstoned Gladstone. It was not a brilliant success, because it tried to do too much, and, of course, offended both parties; but as the first attempt on a large scale to settle this many-sided question, it deserves a high place in the records of Gladstone's memorable Government of 1868-74.
Any determined effort to ostracize the viceroy was soon killed by the presence and influence of Lady Spencer. She had been no more than twenty-four hours in Dublin when she was nicknamed "Spencer's Fairy Queen," a most flattering description of a great beauty and a charming woman. Lord Spencer's skill as a horseman was in his favour, and his regular attendance in the chase earned him the respect of a large community which has a hereditary affection for the noblest of animals.
Castle seasons were enlivened by visits from the Prince of Wales, the Princess Louise, and the Prince Arthur, now the Duke of Connaught; while the important Dublin Exhibition was opened, and numerous Irish industries patronized and helped.