THE TABLET.
A W eekly Newspaper a n d R eview .
DÜM VOBIS GRAT UL AM UR, ANIMOS ETIAM ADDIMUS UT IN INCCEPTIS VESTRIS CONSTANTER MANE AT.S.
From the B r i e f o j H is Holiness P iu s IX . to T h e T a b l e t , June 4, ibyo.
Vol. 92. No. 3036. L o n d o n , July 16 , 18 9 8 .
P r ic e sd ., b y P o st 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 ic e a s a N ew spaper.
C hronicle o f th e W e e k
Page
Imperial Parliament : Marriage With a Deceased Wife’s Sister in the Colonies — Irish Historical Manuscripts— An Education Dehate in the Lords—The Business o f the Session— A T iff in the Commons-Imperial Penny Postage— Partially Granted — In Memory ^ f Edmund Burke— The Wreck of the “ Delaware ” — An Electric Railway Under the Thames — More About the Dreyfus Case— London Churches and the Rates — Admiral Cervera on His Defeat — The Prospects o f Peace — Unionist Victory at Gravesend . . 81 L e a d e r s :
“ The Guardian” and the Bishops 85 The Battle of the Oils . . . . 86 Fra Girolamo Savonarola.. . . 87 N o tes ~ . . — — . . 8 9
CONTENTS .
Reviews :
St. Paul’s Conception of Christ;
or, the Doctrine of the Second Adam Talks with Mr. Gladstone The Royal Gallery of Hampton
Court The Story of Tesus Christ The Cid Ballads The Re-Marriage of Divorced Per
sons ............................................... C orrespondence :
Rome :— (From Our Own Corre
Page
9i 93 94 94 94 95
spondent) . . — — — 97 News from Ireland — — 99 News from France......................... 100 News from America . . . . 101 L e t t e r s to t h e E d it or :
Catholics and Nonconformists . . 101 A Crisis Coming .. . . . . 102 Young Ladies and Primary Schools 102 An Old English Definition of a
Schismatic ......................... 102 Dr. Schaepman . . . . . . 102 Celibacy of the Clergy . . . . 102
St. Winefride’s Well . . Notes from South Africa Catholicity in Hawaii “ Prayers for the Dead ” Catholicism in Otago
Canon Wilberforce and the British
Page . . 102 . . 103 . . 103 . . 104 . . 104
Church .. . . . . . . 104 The Ritual Controversy . . . . 104 A Jesuit Astronomer . . . . . . 105 An Appeal from South Wales . . 105 England and America . . . . 106 O b it u a r y ............................ ... 106 M arr ia g e ........................................ 106 Social and P o l it i c a l m . . 108
SU PPLEM EN T . N ews from t h e S chools :
The London School Board and
Underfed Children . . . . 113 Superannuation o f Teachers . . 113 A Standard of Comparison . . T13 Care of Children Under the Poor
Law . . . . . . . . 113 The Position of Voluntary Schools 114
N ew s from t h e S chools (Con
Page tinued): Ushaw and its Bishop President 114 Do People Care About Education? 114 School Prize Days :
Training College, Wandsworth 115 St. Joseph’s, Denmark Hill . . 115 Douai C o l l e g e .........................115 Qf Tac. wV - /",~n— t\— c • TI^
St. Joseph’iTCollege, Dumfries Stony hurst College N ews from th e D ioceses : Westminster .........................
S o u th w a rk ......................... Liverpool . . . . Northampton ......................... Portsm outh.................................... Salford St. Andrews and Edinburgh Aberdeen Cardinal Moran and Mr. Gladstone Catholic Guardians’ Association . . Anglican Orders An Indian Explanation of the Plague
115
116 1 15 116 116 116 116 117 117117 xi8 119 H9
Rejected MS. cannot be returned unless accompanied with address and postage.
CHRONICLE OF THE WEEK.
IMPERIAL PARLIAME NT :
MARRIAGE WITH A DECEASED WIFE’S SISTER
IN THE COLONIES.
TH E R E was a long and im
portant debate in the House o f Lords on the Second Reading o f L o rd Strathcona’s Bill declaring that a marriage hetween a man and his deceased w ife’s sister in the British Colonies should be held valid for all purposes in the United K in g dom. Marriage with a deceased wife’s sister has been declared legal in the most o f the Colonies with the sanction o f the H om e Government, and, therefore, Lord Strathcona could plead for his B ill that its passing was an act of justice to those Colonies. I t was unfair that the children born o f such marriages in the Colonies should be regarded in the United K in gdom as illegitim ate in respect of the succession to real property. H is measure had the strong approval o f most o f the Colonial Prem iers, and as it seriously affected the status o f so many Colonists, he hoped that his fellow Peers would allow the Second Reading as a message o f goodwill to Greater Britain. T h e Lord Chancellor moved the rejection o f the measure, basing his opposition to it upon purely legal grounds. Whilst y ielding to none in his regard for our Colonial fellow-subjects, he did not see why we in this country should allow the Colonies to interfere with our laws. T h e B ill d id not affect Colonial marriages, but it d id affect the law o f inheritance in E n g
land as to reality, and it furthermore tended b y removing one o f the direct consequences of marriage with a deceased wife’s sister to facilitate the legalization o f such marriages in this country. L o rd James o f Hereford followed with a fervid speech in support o f the B ill. H e had heard the L o rd Chancellor make a sim ilar speech to that which he had just delivered twenty years ago. I f the laws which had been passed on the matter in all the Colonies but one were immoral and unjust, he very properly urged that they ought not to have received the sanction o f the Home Governm ent. T h o se marriages were valid in this country, and the children o f them could inherit leasehold property, being born in lawful wedlock. Y e t some still shrank from applying the same law to real property. T h e result was that a man who had contracted one o f these marriages, and who bought a leasehold house in Ireland, with a lease, it might
New Series Vql. LX., No. 2.345.
be, o f 999 years, and afterwards built a stable on a piece o f freehold land, was a married man in his house and a widower in his stable, and his children were legitim ate in the one but illegitim ate in the other. T h e L o rd Chancellor’s contention that there was no demand for such a B ill as that before the H ouse was contradicted by the appeal o f the Agents-General and the Prim e M inisters o f the Colonies during the last two years. Lord Halifax pointed to the absolutely anomalous state into which our marriage laws had fallen, and urged that the Government ought to appoint a Commission to consider the whole con dition o f the marriage law as it affected the United K in g dom and the Colonies. O ne definite law might in that way be arrived at, and civil marriage might, in accordance with the wishes of the State, be enforced upon everybody, whilst all religious communions should be free to follow their own d iscip line and law in regard to marriage. V is count Esher supported the B ill, though he d id not think it legally necessary. H e doubted whether it was true to say that the children o f such marriages could not succeed to real property in this country. It had never been so decided, and it probably would be decided that the rights o f such children, as the lawful children o f lawful marriages, could not be taken from them. V iscount Knutsford opposed the B ill, which was defended b y L o rd K im berley. When the Lord Chancellor put the question, the Second Reading was carried b y 129 votes against 46. Amongst those who voted against the measure were L o rd Salisbury, the Duke o f Norfolk, the A rchbishops o f Canterbury and Y o rk , and seven Bishops. T h e majority for the Second Reading included the Prince o f Wales, the Duke o f Fife, and the Marquis o f R ipon.
Several questions were asked in Parliam ent
~ IRIS? at on Monday, amongst which was one put by manuscripts. M r. B i l l to the V ice-President o f the Council as to whether the grant to School A ssocia
tions for the current year was to be maintained on the same principle as last year, viz., at a rate o f 5s. 9d. per scholar in urban schoolsand 3s. 3 d .in ru ra lscn ools,or whether the great disproportion o f the grant would be redressed in favour o f rural schools. Sir John Gorst replied that the allotm ent had been already made at the same rates as before, and that the Departm ent had not sufficient information to enable it to decide on such a change as that suggested in the question. T h e main business o f the sitting was the consideration o f the Irish L ocal Government B ill. Mr. Gerald Balfour stated that whilst being unable to acquiesce in the proposal