A W eek ly N ew sp ap er a n d R ev iew .
DUM VOBIS GRATULAMUR, ANIMOS ETIAM ADDIMUS UT IN INCCEPTIS VESTRIS CONSTANTER MANEATIS.
From Ike Brief oj His Holiness Pius IX . to T he T a b let , June 4, 1870.
Vol. 91. No. 3017. London, March 5, 1898.
P r ic e sd ., b y P o s t sJ£d.
[R e g i s t e r e d a t t h e G e n e r a l P o s t O f f i c e a s a N ew s p a p e r .
'C hronicle of th e Week
Page
Imperial Parliament: Army R e form— Soldiers and Shamrocks : 4‘ A Tempory Member^— The O ’s and the Mac’s— British Interests in China— Church Patrona g e— Must a Bishop be o f the Same Colour as b:s Flock ?— The German N avy Bill—The Niger Negotiations— Sir George Goldie’s Protest— Attempt to Assassinate th e K in g of Greece— A Greek Admiral’s Mode o f Warfare— “ The Blameless^ Bigamists ” — - Spain and the United States— Mr.
Leiter and the Wheat Market . . 353 •Le a d e r s :
The County Council Contest . . 357 Fresh Crisis in Austria-Hungfry 358 The Sacrament-Chapels in the
Catacomb of St. CaUistus . . 359 Dr. Pusey and Re-Union . . 360
CONTENTS.
N o t e s
R e v ie w s :
Page
. . 362
France . . ......................... 364 The Text of D an te .. . . . . 365 The Beginnings of English Chris
tianity . . . . . . . . 366 Autobiography of Madame Guyon 366 A Departure from Tradition and
Other Stories .........................367 The Potter’s Wheel . . . . 367 Catholic Truth Society’s Publica
tions . . . . .- . . 367 The English Church, the Priest,
and the A ltar . . _ . . . . 367 The Birds of the British Empire 367 C o r r e s p o n d e n c e :
Rome :— (From Our Own Corre
spondent) . . . . «» — 369 News from Ireland » — 371 News from France . . . . . . 372 L e t t e r s t o t h e E d it o r : Wall Paintings in Subterranean
Rome . . . . . . . . 373
L e t t e r s t o t h e E d it o r (Con
tinued : The Distress in the West of Ire
land . . . . . . . . 373 Carmelite Nuns Settled in France 373 Its Only a Pauper, Burn the Corpse 373 The Guild of Ransom and the
Archconfraternity . . . . 373 A Charity School in San Remo . . 374 Westminster Cathedral . . . . 374 Joan of Arc . . . . . . 374 Catholic Disabilities and Bequests 374 Rhodesia . . . . . . . . 375 Christian Charity in Chinese Mis-
sions^ . . . . . . . . . . 376 The Irish University Question . . 376 Legislation for Children.. . . . . 377 The School Age of Children . . 377 Pecci or Pucci ? .... . . 378 The Pope's Eighty-Eighth , Birth
day ................................................ 378 Books of the Week . . . . . . 379 O b i t u a r y ........................................ 379 So c ia l a n d P o l i t i c a l . . . . 380
S U P P L EM E N T . N ews from t h e S c h o o l s :
¿Page
University Intelligence :
St. Edmund’s House . . . . 385 Catholic Representation at Liver
pool.. . . ......................... 387 Catholic University Provision
Abroad . . . . . . >#388 Shrovetide Plays : '
Shakspere at Mount St. Mary's 388 St. Augustine’s College, Ramsgate .................................... 388 N ew s from t h e D io ceses :
Westminster ......................... 388 Birmingham....................................... 389 Hexham and Newcastle . . . . 389 Northampton ......................... 390 Plymouth . . . . . . . . 390 Portsm outh......................... . . 300 Salford ..................................... The Vicariate ......................... 39r Newport . . . . . . . . 378 St. Andrews and Edinburgh . . 378 Galloway . . . . . . . . 378
* * Rejected MS. cannot be returned unless accompanied with address and postage.
CHRONICLE OF THE WEEK.
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MR. B R O D E R IC K ’S long speech in the House of Commons on Friday night was an admirably clear statement of the proposals by which the War Department hopes to increase the Army and improve the status of the soldier. He had to ask that Parliament would sanction a land force of 180,513 men for service during the year 1898-9, which was more by 21,739 men lhan l^at wh>ch hac* been voted for the past year. This increase was the greatest ever proposed to the British Army in a time of peace, and the largest number voted in any one year of this century in this country except during periods of European war. Such a demand needed explanation, and this he proceeded to give by showing the unique service for which the British Army had to be organized, how far its strength fell short of_ its duties, and how these deficiencies were to be remedied. For home defence we could put into the field three Army Corps, or 112,000 men ; we had 120,000 men in garrison; and we had Reserve and Auxiliary Forces at stated points to the number of over 200,000 more. For operations abroad the force which, if they were ever needed, we required to embark was 75,000 men, the largest force ever put on board ship by this country, and this, he thought, could be done. We could mobilize the force for home defence, and prepare for war abroad by means of our Reserves, but the present force at home was too small in peace to maintain the force abroad, and, in the case of our minor wars, we had either to send composite battalions or to withdraw strong battalions from foreign stations, and replace them by weak and immature battalions. It was to remedy this defect that the ■ Government was now inviting the assistance of Parliament. Minor emergencies were to be met by special inducements to 5,000 infantry in their first year of service in the Reserves. The proper balance between the normal of the battalions at home and abroad was being restored by the addition of three battalions last year, and six more this year, and the maintenance of special depots for the training of
New Series V ol. LTX., No. 2,326.
the necessary men. To arrest the undue depletion of our battalions at home in the feeding of India, it was proposed to bring every battalion up to 800 by the addition of 80 men. To render the service popular, improved conditions were to be offered to]the men. The pay of every efficient soldier of nineteen years of age is to be increased. The gift of 3d. per day, or the free rations, will give him nearly 40 per cent, more to spend or save than he has at present. On leaving the colours he will have the opportunity of earning is. a day by joining the Reserve for small wars. Still greater efforts are to be made to obtain employment for Reservists. As a further encouragement to enlistment, the door will be open to men desiring to try military life for three years, and it will be competent for these men to extend their service and improve their pay. The administration of the War Office is another item in the plan of reform. General officers are to have [larger powers in their districts, so as to relieve the central authorities. Mr. Broderick put in an effective plea against the fussy interference of members of the House with the details of Army Government. It was too much to expect that the Secretary of State should have to give his personal attention to such matters as averting the removal of a band, securing the promotion of a schoolmistress, arranging the discharge of three or four private soldiers for domestic reasons, and getting an officer to pay his tailor’s bill. Various other regulations are to be made» but what we have given are the most important. The discussion on the Government proposals was opened by Sir Charles Dilke. Sir Campbell Bannerman spoke up for the retention of deferred pay, stating that its abolition might act discouragingly on recruiting. A t length the motion for the Speaker to leave the chair was agreed to, and the House went into Committee of Supply on the estimates.
During question time on Monday s h a m r o c k s ;A “ 'a “ *■ . Patrick O ’Brien asked Mr. Ex t e m p o r a r y m e m b e r . ” denck whether it was intended to issue instructions to officers to permit
Irishmen in the army to wear, without risk of punishment, the shamrock on St. Patrick’s day. In reply it was pointed out that the wearing of unauthorized badges and emblems without a superior officer’s permission was forbidden by the regulations. Commanding officers were fully alive to the feeling that existed on the subject and showed no unreasonableness in complying with the requests made to them. When questions were ended Lord Edmund Fitzmaurice, the newly-elected member for the Cricklade division of Wiltshire, where a vacancy had been caused by the
