CHAPTER XIV

Reply of the Liberals to the Tory Reform Bill--State of Ireland--The Protestant Establishment--Resolutions proposed by Mr. Gladstone--Decay of Protestant feeling in England--Protestant character of the Irish Church--The Upas Tree--Mr. Gladstone's Irish policy--General effect on Ireland of the Protestant Establishment--Voltaire's opinion--Imperfect results--The character of the Protestant gentry--Nature of the proposed change--Sprung on England as a surprise--Mr. Gladstone's resolutions carried--Fall of Disraeli's Government 199