State stepped in to assist in the education of Catholic
priests, and in the new colleges it refused to do any-
thing for any religious education at all. The debate
was long, and the confusion extreme, in ideas as well
as in parties; the Catholics and the zealous Protest-
ants, Mr. O'Connell and Sir Robert Inglis, combined
to oppose the bill. Sir Robert Peel spoke on several
occasions, steadily maintaining the principle of purely
secular education, but doing so with some perplexity,
and rather treating it as a necessity imposed by the
religious dissensions of Ireland than as a measure
good in itself. After having gone through the ordeal
of a number of amendments, some of which were
adopted, the bill at length passed both Houses; but
it was the commencement of a struggle, not the foun-
dation of an institution. Instead of ceasing when the
bill was carried, the resistance of the various opposing
parties, both Catholic and Protestant, Irish and Eng-
lish, went on increasing in virulence, and became still
further complicated by the intervention of the Pope
in the resolutions of the Irish bishops with regard to
the conduct they intended to pursue towards the new
establishments. Sir Robert Peel had not measured
the greatness of the problem which he had approached.

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