TH TABLET A W eekly New spaper and Review .

DOM VOBIS GRATULAMUR, ANIMOS ETIAM ADDIMOS UT IN INCCEPTIS VESTRIS CONSTANTER MANEAT.S.

From the B r ie f of H is Holiness P iu s IX . to T h e T a b l e t , June 4, l i f o .

Vol. 93. No. 3074.

London, A pril 8, 1899.

pe1Ce 5<l typ0ST5%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 st O f f i c e a s a N ew spaper.

Chronicle of t h e W e e k :

Page

The Irish Unity Conference—Mr. Healy’s Position — The Dreyfus Case : Disclosure of the Evidence ~7Awful Wreck in the Channel— The Ecclesiastical Procedure Bill ~~A _Conciliatory Speech from President Kruger— Has the Klondike a Future ?— Prince Henry of J-rHans and Major Marchand— * 0 Learn the Secrets of theCoralP?nds—Telegraphing Across the . Qannel without Wires—Fighting

Samoa—The Great “ Bloomer” P o t io n — Egypt under British T^.°ntr°l—The Harrow Election . . 517

•Un Tenu: Aid-Grant and Teachers' 521

CONTENTS.

L eaders (Continued} :

Page

The Samoan Question . . . . 522 Some Facts About Church Elec­

tions in England Before the Reformation . . .. . . 523 Mr. Isidore De Lara’s New Opera 526 N otes . . ... _ _ ». 526 R ev iew s :

Some Recent Protestant Theology 529 The History of the Alphabet The Life of the Hon. Mrs

Edward Petre . . . . Religious Education .. How to Pray . . .. Workhouses and Pauperism C orrespondence :

Rome :— (From Our Own Corre spondent) . . ~ «. — 533 News from Ireland _ _ 534

529 530 531 53t 531

News from France.. . . .. L e t t e r s to t h e E d it o r :

Mr. Britten on “ Dr. Horton’s

Page « 535

Successor " . . .. . . 536 The Abbé Blanchard in Vienna . . 536 The Interpretation o f Documents 536 A Question of Consistency . . 536 The Ritual Controversy .. . . 537 Notes from Belgium .. . . . . 538 A Catholic Will Case.........................538 The Papacy and America . . . . 539 The Ashburnham Manuscripts . . 540 Anglicanism . . . . . . . 541 Easter at Dr. Gilbert’s Night Refuge 541 The “ C iviltà” and the Dreyfus

Case . . . . . . .. . . 542 Homes for Destitute Children . . 542 Interview with a Coptic Bishop .. 542 The New Marriage Act . . . . 543

Page

Books of the W e e k ............................543 F rom E veryw h ere . . . .5 4 3 O b it u a r y . . . . . . 544 Social an d P o l it i c a l ». . . 544

SU PPLEM EN T . N ews from t h e S chools :

The National Union of Teachers 549 French and English Schools . . 551 Touting by a School Board . . 551 The Department and the Schools

Associations . . .. . . 552 The Washington University . . 533 St. Bede’s College . . . . . . 553 N ews from t h e D io ceses :

Westminster

Southwark . . . . ». . . 555 Birmingham.......................................555 Salford . . . . « ». 555 Glasgow . . ». »...555

553

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

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

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OW much depends upon the point of view, and how differently the same facts may present themselves to different observers, is well illustrated by comments o f the English papers upon the proceedJ?s ° f the Conference o f the Irish parties. Thus The is the ttnes o f Wednesday began its leading article th u s : “ It doubtful whether the proposals for a reunion o f Nationalist factions in Ireland were ever seriously |"eant. A t any rate, the Conference which was held ' “sterday in Dublin resulted in a complete and ignomi? 10us fiasco. There is no reason to believe that “ reunion,” lQ any true sense o f the word, was even conceivable, and, in case, the conduct o f the negotiations by the majority “ *ade it evident that the offer to put aside personal quarrels , as a sham.” The D a i ly Chronicle, with exactly the same acts before it, arrives at an opposite conclusion, and begins „ sJeader thus : “ T h e Conference promoted with self sacri-

,c'Dg zeal by Mr. D illon for the attainment o f unity amoDg e Nationalist sections has met in Dublin, and has appaec*tly arrive(j with remarkable celerity at a harmonious csult, a decision has been com e to, and the decision is Utlanimous.” T h e fact is that the Conference certainly arrived at “ an unanimous conclusion,” but then that ^Danimity was facilitated by the absence o f one o f the P i t ie s in the dispute. Whether the failure o f Mr. Redmond his followers to attend the Conference reduced its proeedings to “ a fiasco ” is a point which we need not decide ; { was at any rate disappointing. Apart, however, altogether r° m the conduct o f the Parnellite section o f the party, the t.esult o f the Conference, in sp i'e of its unanimous resoluJ ?05. must have been something o f a disappointment to

Dillou. I t will be readily surmised that that disapP0lQtment had something to do with Mr. Healy. A t the utset explanations had to be given as to the origin o f an “.PParent discourtesy to the very persons whom it was most o es'rable to conciliate. Mr. Redmond had been invited at beginning o f the session to attend a Unity Conference,

representative of his party, replying on February T3, j.S gested a prelim inary “ interchange o f opinions.” T o ls proposal, owing to some misunderstanding, no answer

Nrw SaRiEs, Vol. LXI., No. 2,383.

was returned until the 28th ult., a week before the date of the meeting, and more than six weeks after the Parnellite reply had been received. Under all the circum stances it is, perhaps, not surprising that Mr. Redmond, having thus no assurance that any basis for an agreement could be arrived at, declined to attend the Conference.

T h e Conference having met under these

— m r . i i e a l y ’ s rather d iscouraging circumstances, Sir Thomas p o s i t io n . Esmonde and Mr. H ealy proposed that instead o f attem pting to get to business on its own account the Conference should appoint a small committee with the powers o f plenipotentiaries to meet Mr. Redm ond and agree upon a basis o f reconciliation. A motion to this effect, however, was postponed to enable Mr. D illon to unfold his plan for securing unity. T h a t gentleman then produced a series o f resolutions which in effect aimed at the restoration o f the old Nationalist party as it had existed under the leadership o f Mr. Parnell before its alliance with the English G ladstonians. T h e only point which caused discussion was a resolution which submitted Mr. D illo n ’s scheme as a whole “ to the consideration o f our absent colleagues in the Irish representation and to the judgm ent o f the country,” and promised to meet the Parnellites if they desired to suggest any modifications or even to consider an alternative set of resolutions. Mr. H ealy thought the suggestion that a small committee with ample powers should meet Mr. Redmond and his friends far more likely to bring about a practical result. Mr. Dillon seemed ready to accept the proposal, but said that o f course the proposed committee could not act without Mr. Healy, and the same opinion was urged by the chairman, Mr. B lake, and other members o f the conference. Mr. Healy, however, firmly refused to act upon any such committee, and said that his objection was purely one of temperament and was not prompted by any desire to shirk responsibility, but the words that had been adopted gave the delegates plenary powers, and actually bound him so that no one could say that he was opposed to any committee that might be appointed. Mr. D illon said that no man was anxious to serve on the committee in view o f the responsibility involved, but if Mr. H ealy were not on the committee they would be b locked at the very outset, and be placed in a rid iculous position before the country. I f Mr. Healy retired it would be better not to appoint any committee, but simply to send a message o f conciliation to the Parnellite party and to the country at large, and then await events. In the end Mr H ealy intim ated that his determination not to be a member of the negotiating committee was final, and consequently