THE TABLET

A W eekly Newspaper a n d Review .

DUM VOBIS GRATULAMUK, ANIMOS ETIAM ADDIMÜS UT IN INCCEPTIS VESTRIS CONSTANTER MANEATIS.

From the B r ie f o j H is Holiness P iu s IX . to T h e T a b l e t , June i8~o.

Vol. 91. No. 3014. L o n d o n , F e b r u a r y 1 2 , 1898.

Price sd., by Post sJ^d.

[Registered at the General Post Office as a Newspaper.

Pajje

Chronicle of the Week !

Imperial Parliament : The Views o f the Opposition— Reply o f the Government— The Bye-Elections —The Fall in Tithe— Is Picketing Illegal?—The Foreign Policy of France— A Discouraging View of Her Foreign Trade — Students’ Riots in Austria— Germany and Crete—The Forward Policy on the Indian Frontier— The Trial o f M. Zola—English and American Railways — Spain and the United States . . . . . . 233 Leaders:

England and the Powers . . . . 237 Captain Dreyfus and his Cham­

pions . . . . . . ... 238 Catholics in Prison . . . . 239 The Vindication and the Anglican

Press . . : . . . . 240

Notes

, . . . . . . . 242

C O N T E N T S

Reviews :

l h e Literary History of the

Page

American Revolution . . . . 244 Falkland .. . . ^ . . . . 245 The Principle o f Equiprobabilism 245 La Russie et L ’Union des Eglises 246 Alain Chartier . . . . . . 246 The Clerical Lile, Letters to

M in isters............................... 246 Books of Reference . . . . 247 Crown Jewels . . . . . . 247 The Truth o f Thought : or, Material Logic . . . . . , 247 A Bible Picture Book for Catholic

C h i ld r e n ................................247 Correspondence :

Rome :— (From Our Own Corre­

spondent) . . ... — — 249 News from Ireland — — 251 News from France....................252 Letters to the Editor :

Spanish Parliamentary Elections 254

Letters to the Editor (Con­

Page tinued : Controversial Methods . . . . 254 Famine in the Diocese o f Madras 254 The Blessing of St. Blais^ . . 254 The Queen’s Speech......................... 255 Historical Research Society . . 255 What Science Owes to the Fran­

ciscan . . ......................... 256 Mission in Northern Cochin China 257 The Bishop of Nottingham and

Board Schools . . . . . . 258 The Duke of Norfolk on Cricket . . 259 The Policy o f Cardinal Wiseman . . 259 Nottingtiam Guardiansand a Catho­

lic Chaplain . . . . . . . . 260 Books of the Week . . . . . . 260 Obituary . . . . ... *. 260 Social and Political . . . . 262

SU PPLEM ENT. N ews from the Schools:

Pr "e

Workhouse Schools . . . . 26=; Religious Instruction in Scottish

Board Schools . . . . . . 265 The Relations o f Primary and

Secondary Schools . . . . 266 York School Board Election . . 265 The School-Boy o f To-Day . . 266 News from the Dioceses :

Westminster ........................ 267 Birmingham.. ............................267 Leeds . . . . . . . . 268 L i v e r p o o l ....................................... 270 Nottingham.. .............................. 270 P l y m o u t h .......................................270 Salford ....................................... 270 The Murder of Canon Lightwood at Corfu ....................................... 271 Funeral of the Marquesa D i San-

turce.. ......................... .. 271

J

Rejected MS. cannot be returned unless accompanied with address and postage.

C H R O N I C L E O F T H E W E E K .

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IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT :

THE VIEWS OF THE

OPPOSITION.

H E fourth session o f the four­

Tteenth Parliam ent o f Queen V ic to r ia was opened on Tuesday afternoon w ith the usual formali­

ties o f a R oyal Commission. T h e text o f th e Q ueen ’s Speech will be found in another column. In the Upper H ouse the L o rd Chancellor form ally took his p lace on the earls’ bench, and L o rd Esher on being made a Viscount, L o rd Downe on being made a Peer o f the U n ited K in gdom , and L o rd Farquhar on his elevation to the peerage, went through sim ilar formalities. In the H ouse o f Commons tw e lve new members, who had been elected at bye-elections during the recess, took the usual oath. T h e cerem ony went o f f quietly enough, the loudest cheer o f welcome being g iven to L o rd Charles Beresford. T h e Address in reply to the Speech from the Throne was moved in the H ouse o f Lords b y the E a r l o f Hardwicke, and seconded b y the Earl o f A lbem arle. In the Lower H ouse Colonel Lockwood was the mover, and V iscount M ilton the seconder, o f a sim ilar address. Lord K im berley then rose and made a speech, the tone o f which was em inently fair and restrained. Whilst welcom ing a measure for conferring local government on Ireland he was convinced that it would not b e a final solution o f that country’s difficulties. B y far the greater portion o f the speech was devoted to foreign affairs, as was also the speech o f Sir W illiam H arcourt in the H ouse o f Commons ; and therefore it w ill perhaps b e well,

in the interests o f clearness, to lump the two speeches together and then give the answers made to them b y her M a jesty’s Ministers. Lord K im berley, whilst not endorsing a ll the hard things said against the Concert o f Europe, declared that it would be im possible to conceive a more lamentable result o f th e want o f unanimity amongst the Powers than the present condition o f Crete. H e d id not blam e the Governm ent, but he was sure that no solution o f the question would be found till the Turkish troops had been w ithdrawn from the island. H e demurred to the description given in the Speech from the Throne o f the Soudan campaign, and o f the cause o f the rising on the Indian frontier. T h a t rising was not due so much to fanaticism

N e w S e r i e s V o l . LTX., No. 2.323.

as to our own interference with the liberty o f the tribesm en. In regard to the Far East he had every reason, from the statements made during the recess b j responsible Ministers, to be full o f apprehension. H e agreed with the Government that we must guard our commerce with China by the maintenance o f the rights secured for us by the T reaty o f T ien tsin . Sir W illiam Harcourt does not seem to have been in very good fighting form. H is speech covered a great deal o f ground and ran to a great length, and he addressed a very large number o f very proper and pertinent questions to the Government. H e thought we could hardly congratulate ourselves on the P a x Britannica when we had at the present moment nearly 100,000 men under arms in various parts o f the world. There must have been a serious position o f affairs to account for the Chancellor o f the Exchequer’s declaration about defending certain things, even at the risk o f war. T h e Government might count on the support o f the Opposition in the defence o f our com merce and our treaty rights, but the latter had the right to know how the country’s interests were imperilled, what acts had called forth a menace o f war, and to whom that menace was addressed. In the Far Eastern question were two p o in t s : the claim to defend treaty rights and for equality o f commercial treatment, and the separate matter o f a loan to China. Sir William then touched upon the question o f our difficulties with France in regard to the lapsing o f our treaty rights with Madagascar, and declared the objection o f the party behind him to the expedition to Khartoum , which was expensive to Egypt, and had put a stop to the public works in that country. H e repeated Lord K im berley’s contention in regard to the Indian frontier rising, and concluded with a warning against frittering away the revenue in doles and unnecessary wars.

From the above criticism s o f the Oppo-

— r e p l y o f sition it is evident that in spite o f the variety g o v e r n m e n t . t0Pics discussed, but one subject o f serious anxiety was behind, and that was the rela­

tions o f this country with foreign Powers. T h is the leaders o f the Governm ent in both Houses addressed themselves to allay, though sharing to the full the apprehensions o f those sitting opposite to them. A fte r a few words o f faint praise for the European Concert, Lord Salisbury went into an explanation o f the relations o f International law involved in the cases o f Tunis and Madagascar. In regard to the first we had substituted an insecure commercial treaty with Tunis for a safe and advantageous treaty with France. But in regard to Madagascar the suppression o f our old treaty