THE TA

A Weekly Newspaper and Review.

THJM VOBIS GRATULAMOS, ANIMOS ETIAM ADDIMUS UT IN INCCEPTIS VESTRIS CONSTANTER MANEAT.S.

From, ihe Brief oj f i t s Holiness P ius IX . to T h e T a b l e t , June 4, ibfo.

V ol. 93. No. 3065.

L ondon, F ebruary 4, 18^9 *

P r ick sd ., byPost sJtfd.

[R eg i st e r e d a t t h e G e n e r a l P o st O f f ic e a s a N ew spaper.

»Chronicle of th e W eek : Page

The Dreyfus C a se : Criminal Chamber Superseded—A Tumultous Debate—'“ Church of England and Had the Small-Pox ”— How America went to War—The N ew Railway to London—Mr. Balfour and his Constituents— His Hopes in the Bishops---Spain and Don Carlos—The Needs of Cambridge University— The Protestant Protest— Strange Treatment of Mr. Kensit—Aliens at the Bar—Death of the Princess of Bulgaria— A Constitutional Crisis inS a m o a .................................. . 157 L e a d e r s :

The Ti^ue Faith o f the Church of

E n g la n d ....................................x6i Christianity in Central Africa . . 162

C O N 7

L eaders (Continued}: _ Page

The Recent Crisis in Belgium . . 163 The Reformation at St. Mar­

garet’s, Leicester . . . . 164 Notes 167 R eview s :

The History of the Popes from the Close o f the Middle Ages 169 Hard Sayings . . . . . . 170 The Foundress o f the Institute of Notre D am e ........................... 171 C orrespondence :

Rome .'—(From Oar Own Corre­

spondent) . . «. _ — 173 News from Ireland _ _ 174 News from France........................... 175 Catholic Prisoners’ Aid Society . . 176 L e t t e r s t o t h e E d itor :

Dr. Horton ............................. 176 The Dreyfus C a s e ........................... 176

ENTS

L e t t e r s t o t h e E d it or (Con­

Page tinued) : Mr. Gee and the Elizabethan

Clergy ............................... 176 The Bishop o f Newport on the

Holy E u ch a r is t ........................... 177 How Does it Work ? ; . . . 177 The Irish University Question . . 177 The Ritual Controversy . . . . 18 0 Russian Propaganda in the East . . 183 Mr. Chamberlain and the Maltese

Clergy .......................................183 Books of the Week . . . . . . 183 Declaration by Prince Louis of

Bavaria ...................................... 183 Will .................................................. 183 O b it u a r y . . . . . . . . 183 M a r r i a g e s ........................................... 184 So c ia l a n d P o l it ic a l . . . . 1 8 6

SU PPLEM ENT. Page N ew s from t h e Schools :

Teachers’ Conference on School

Attendance . . . . . . 189 The Irish University Question . . 189 Some Good Advice to Parents . . 190 The British Boy . . . . # . . 191 A New Augustinian College in the

States .. . . < .. . . 191 Working of the Conscience Clause 191 N ew s from t h e D io ceses :

Westminster . . . . ». 192 Leeds ....................................... 192 Northampton ........................... 192 Portsm outh.......................................192 Salford . . . . ... 193 Newport .......................................193 Faith and S c i e n c e ........................... 193 A Curious D e c is io n ........................... 195

Rejected MS. cannot be returned unless accompanied with addre.

and postage.

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

SUPERSEDED. M.

■ THE DREYFUS CASE : CRIMINALCHAMBER

D E B E A U R E P A IR E ’S denunciations of the Criminal Chamber have not been launched in vain. A t first disregarded by the Minister of Justice, they were afterwards made the subject of an inquiry by M. Mazeau, the Chief President o f the United Chambers of the Court, assisted by MM. Voisin and Dareste, who, at the close o f last week, presented their report to the Ministry. On Saturday morning a Cabinet Council was held to consider the report, which concluded with the recommendation that, without in any way casting a slur upon the honour of the members of the Criminal Chamber, it would be wise, under the circumstances, and in view of the facts set down, not to leave the whole responsibility of the judgment of the 'Dreyfus case to the Criminal Chamber alone. After a long discussion Ministers decided to adopt this conclusion, and render it effective by presenting a Bill to the Chamber providing that in future criminal appeals to the Court of Cassation will be decided by the vote of the whole Court in the ■ case of the Criminal Chamber having entrusted a delegation o f more than three of its members to make an inquiry into the case. Hitherto, in order to save time, Criminal appeals have been considered by one or more judges before being referred to the whole Criminal Division, but in the Dreyfus affair, in view of the tremendous responsibility attaching to their judgment, the judges resolved to conduct the preliminary investigation as to the case for revision conjointly. It will be seen that the new law has been so framed as to apply to the Dreyfus case, and causes the Criminal Chamber, which has been so long occupied with the matter, to be superseded. This decision on the part of the Cabinet is a momentous one. We have no fear that the cause of justice will be less well served by the United Courts than by the Criminal Division alone, but it still remains to be seen whether the proceedings of the United Courts will be any better respected than those of the . iminal Chamber. I f not, then the discredit that is inevitably thrown by the Ministerial Bill on the part will be in i.nde<^ to Jhe whole, and the sources of appeal for justice ranee will be exhausted. What might then happen we

N rw S e r i e s . V o l . LXI„ No. 2,374.

refrain from thinking of. The President of the Criminal Division is reported as havingexpressed satisfaction thatheand his colleagues are to be relieved o f a haunting responsibility, but he is at the same time perfectly clear that the proposed Bill is a revolutionary measure which cannot fail to be regarded as an admission of the partiality of himself and his colleagues. The country will undoubtedly demand from Ministers a full explanation o f the reasons which lie at the bottom of their action. Even the Temps goes so far as to s.ay : “ T o get Parliament and the country to accept such a grave derogation from our established legal procedure, the Government must have in its hands the material proofs of the inability of the magistrates composing the Criminal Chamber to judge with impartiality the affair which the existing laws placed before them for examination.” One can quite understand that exceptional cases require exceptional measures, but for the Legislature to be invited to intervene in a case sub judice, and remove it from the regular judges, is a step the gravity of which is painfully apparent. On the face o f it it is revolutionary, but even so if it will bring peace to France it may be welcomed. Meanwhile it is interesting to note that the decision of the Ministry has emboldened Major Esterhazy to refuse to answer questions put to him by the Criminal Chamber.

The Bill was presented to the Chamber

— a tumultuous of Deputies on Monday by M. Lebret, the debate. Minister of Justice, with this modification,

however, that instead of applying, as originally drafted, to cases investigated by more than three judges, the rule was extended to all cases, After reading the Bill M. Lebret explained the object of the Government in bringing it forward in these words: “ The modification we propose refers to a question of competency and procedure. The new law will, therefore, apply immediately to an affair which has caused profound divisions. It will, doubtless, be asserted that it is a law made for a special occasion, but it is above all a law of necessity and appeasement. We consider that a judgment of the whole Court of Cassation will impose itself with irresistible force on all minds, and will put an end to the agitation and divisions which have already disturbed the country too long.” A stormy discussion ensued in spite of the attempts of both the Premier and the Minister o f Justice to persuade the Deputies to proceed with the consideration of the Budget. In reply to various demands M. Dupuy promised that the complete dossier of M. Mazeau’s report on the Beaurepaire charges should be placed before the Committee of the