A W eekly New spaper a n d R eview .

DUM VOBIS GRATULAMUR, ANIMOS ETIAM ADDIMUS ÜT IN INCCEPTIS VESTRIS CONSTANTER MANEATIS.

Front the B r i e f op H is Holiness P iu s IX . to T he T ablet, June 4, 1870.

Vol. 91. No. 3021.

L o n d o n , A p r i l 2, 1898.

Price sd., by Post

[Registered at the General Post Office as a Newspaper.

Qhronicle of the Week Page imperial Parliament: The House ; and the Eastern Crisis — The

Prisons Bill — Questions and Answers— The Question o f Indian Currency— Lord George Hamilton’s Reply — Mr. Johnston of Ballikilbeg and Purgatory— Newfoundland Sealing Disaster— The Battle of the Blues—Conservative Victory at Maidstone -French Foreign Policy—The Situation in the Far East— Earl Selborne on British Policy—A Relief for Lord CharlesBeresford—The “ Maine” Report— The Capture o f Shendy — Good News for Cyclists— Chartered Companies . . . . . . 513 Leaders:

“ Irrelevant ”—or Inconvenient.. 517 The United States and Cuba . . 518 South African Politics .. . . 519

CONTENTS.

Leaders (Continued) :

Gaps or Overlaps ? A Study in

Page

Biblical Chronology . . . . 520 Catholics in the Navy . . . . 522 Notes ». ... — — . . 522 Reviews :

The “ Cursus Scripturæ Sacræ” 524 Modern France, 1789-1895 . . 525 The Building o f the Empire . . 526 Paul Mercer . . . . . . 526 George Stirling’s Heritage . . 527 Voice, Speech, and Gesture .. 527 Moral Principles and Medical

Practice . . . . . . . . 527 Correspondence :

Rome :— (From Our Own Corre­

spondent) . . ... — — 529 News from Ireland — — 532 News from France......................... 533 Letters to the Editor :

Father Duggan’s Book . . . . 534 The Anglican Position . . . . 534

Letters to the Editor (Con­

tinued : An Outside View of the Vindica­

Page tion.. . . ......................... 534 Indian Chaplains . . . . . . 534 The Sinews of War . . . . 534 Christian Scientists . . . . 534 Should Missionaries Fight . . . . 535 The Nonconformist Conscience and an Abandoned Church . . . . 535 American Notes . . . . . . 536 The Late Mgr. Gilbert’s Estate . . 537 London Guardians’ Elections . . 538 The Only Vineyard in Great Britain 538 Indian and Negro Missions in the

United States . . . . . . 539 Books of the Week . . . . . . 539 F rom Everywhere . . . . . . 539 Obituary ..............................540 Social and Political .. . . 541

SU PPLEM EN T . N ews from the Schools:

University Intelligence . . .. 545

News from the Schools (Con­

tinued): St. Margaret’s Convent, Paisley 545 The Irish Catholic University

Question .. . . . . . . 545 St. Mary’s'Training College . . 545 The New Code . . . . . . 546 The Manitoba School Question.. 540 News from the Dioceses : Westminster

Southwark .. Birmingham.. The Vicariate Newport America and Catholicism................. 54& The Age of the Sun . . .. .. 549 The Emeriti and Sunday Cricket.. 550 Ian Maclaren on Our Lady of

546 54.6 547 547 547

Sorrows .................................... 550 An Indian Pastoral . . .. . . 551 In Punch’s Animal Land . . . . 551

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

CHRONICLE OF THE WEEK.

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT

THE HOUSE AND THE EASTERN CRISIS. D

U R IN G question tim e on

Monday the political situation in the Far East figured largely, and when the H ouse had settled down to business and Mr. Balfour had asked that the morning sittings on three Parliam entary Tuesdays should b e given up to the Government, Sir W illiam Harcourt begged that an official statem ent o f the Governm ent policy in regard to the Far Eastern question might be made in the H ouse before the Easter recess. In a speech o f much considerate moderation Sir W illiam pointed out that Parliam ent ought to know whether circum stances had in any respect changed since the opening o f the Session, when Lord Salisbury had stated that no foreign Power had contemplated any interference with the T reaty interests o f this country. M r. Balfour acknowledged the propriety o f the request made by the L eader o f the Opposition, but expressed the view that events in the F ar E a st could not yet be adequately surveyed, and that owing to still pending negotiations it would be im possible to name a day when the desired statem ent could be made. T h e carrying o f Mr. Balfour’s motion was follow ed by a discussion on the G reek Loan B ill, which was read a second tim e. Sir E . AshmeadBartlett figured largely as the champion o f Turkey. In reply to Mr. Lowther the Chancellor o f the Exchequer stated that as a security for the payment o f the loan certain taxes had been assigned to an International Board o f control, which would be more than ample to cover the whole loan, and these would be collected by a body responsible to that Board, and would not com e into the hands o f the G reek Government. T h e next item on the business programme o f the H ouse was the Second Reading of the B i l l for providing for the erection o f War Office, Adm ira lty, Science and Art, and other public buildings in L ondon. Mr. D illon opposed the Bill, contending that the surplus o f the year should not be so seized by th e Government whilst people were suffering from the burdens o f taxation, and in Ireland were actually starving. T h e

New Series Vol. LIX., No. 2.330.

measure met with a good deal o f cordial support from various quarters o f the House. Mr. B ryce advocated the combination o f the libraries belonging to the various departments o f the Government in a new building under the scheme. T h e second reading was allowed by a majority o f 183.

A fte r this the debate on the Prisons B i ll

— the prisons was resumed, in the course o f which Mr.

b ill . D avitt made a critical and graphic exami­

nation in to our prison system. H e acknow ledged that the measure was a step in the right direction, but regretted that its framers had not gone further. T h e penal punishment of political prisoners ought to be altered, for it was useless and hopeless to expect that a man would be made loyal by being treated on a level with the lowest crim inal in a convict prison. T h e system o f penal servitude, to his mind, was the most important part o f the B ill. H e was sorry that neither in the measure nor in the rules on the table was there any material change in the system as it existed twenty or twenty-five years ago. T h a t system had been condem ned b y L o rd K im berley’s Commission, and later by a Departm ental Committee, as producing a deteriorating effect upon the prisoners. T h e dominant feature o f the system twenty years ago was nine months’ solitary confinement and silence, after conviction, by way o f probation. T h a t feature was unchanged by the B ill and the rules. Twenty years ago a prisoner was not allowed to talk from the beginning to th e end o f his sentence,under pain o f being reported for the exercise o f that natural privilege. There was nothing in the B i ll which led them to hope that the Prison Commissioners meant to make any change in that barbarous rule. T o talk, sing, or whistle, or make any musical sound o f that kind, was visited w ith the punishment o f bread and water,sixteen ounces of breadand apint o f water. T h e Prisons Departm entalCom m itteehad recommended that “ No. 1 Stirabout ” diet should be improved, but the Com missioners had replied that no change was called for. H e would, therefore, put it to any Scotchm an whether it was possible for the best housewife to make “ stirabout ” from two ounces o f meal. H e saw no good in a scale o f scientific starvation, and thought that generally the law o f retaliation should be made less vindictive. One reason for the failure o f the vindictive system lay in the unsuitableness o f military men as Governors and Commissioners o f Prisons. Mr. J. R edm ond declared that the British prison system was the most brutal and brutalizing in existence. On the motion o f Mr. T . P . O ’C onnor the debate was adjourned t ill the follow ing day.