a violation of every right secured to the subject by the constitution.  And a bill which suspended the ordinary courts of justice must be admitted to have been incompatible with the constitution as commonly understood and enjoyed.  But if the measure thus proposed was extraordinary, the state of affairs which had led to its proposal was so also in a far greater degree.  The records of no nation had ever presented such a fearful catalogue of crimes as was now laid before the Parliament, and at such a crisis the statesmen to whom the tranquillity of the country and the safety of the citizens were intrusted were undoubtedly called upon to go back from the letter of the constitution to that which is the primary object of every constitution—­the safety of those who live under it. Salus populi suprema lex.  And the argument of necessity was regarded, and rightly regarded, by both Houses of Parliament as a sufficient and complete justification of even so exceptional an enactment.

And concurrently with this enactment, which, however indispensable for the repression of crime, no one could deny to be severe, the ministers endeavored also to remove the causes of discontent by a large measure of Church reform, not confining their aim to settling the tithe question, but dealing with the whole question of the Irish Church in such a way as to lay down, as an undoubted principle of the constitution, the doctrine that the Church existed for the benefit of the nation; that its property was bestowed on it for the same object; and that, consequently, the nation, or in other words the Parliament, had a perfect right to deal with its property and endowments of all kinds, always keeping the same end in view, the general advantage of the whole nation.  Proceeding on these maxims, they introduced a Church Reform Bill, in which, perhaps, the most remarkable circumstance of all was, that the evil which had been the original cause of their taking up the subject at all was the last thing settled, not, indeed, being finally arranged for four years; while the principal detail in the way of reform which was completed in this first session was one which, however reasonable, had hitherto received but little attention, and had certainly provoked no great outcry.  It could not be denied that the Episcopal Establishment in Ireland was out of all proportion to the extent of the country and the number of the Protestant population, or of the parishes.  The entire population in communion with the Church fell short of 900,000.  The number of parishes scarcely exceeded 1400.  But over this comparatively scanty flock were set no fewer than eighteen bishops and four archbishops; while England, with 12,000 parishes, was contented with twenty-four bishops and two archbishops.  It was proposed to consolidate these bishoprics into ten, the archbishoprics into two, a reduction which could hardly fail to commend itself to all.  But with this reduction was combined a variety of other