1-150-534 - The Cartoon Collector/Heritage-Images

'Battle of The Spurs', 1868. The Liberal MP Mr Gladstone believed that, in view of the recent Fenian outrages, that moves to redress agrarian grievances and reassess the privileges of the Anglican Church in Ireland might be the first blocks to be laid in the process of reconciliation. This cartoon therefore refers to Gladstone's presentation of a plan which moved to abolish the Irish Church as a state church. This resolution was carried at the end of April 1868, at which time he proposed a Bill suspending appointments in the Irish Church until the question of its disendowment and disestablishment had been settled. The Bill was rejected in the House of Lords. Here, the two cockerels, Disraeli on the left, and Gladstone on the right, prepare for battle whilst Mother Church calls her little scholars inside, out of harm's way. This relates to the fact that the second part of Mr Gladstone's speech on 16th March related to the question of National Education in Ireland. From Punch, or the London Charivari, April 4, 1868.