THE TABLET

A Weekly Newspaper and Review.

ft

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

From the Brief of H is Holiness P ius IX . to The Tablet, June 4, zisfo.

V ol. 94. No. 3096. L o n d o n , S e p t e m b e r 9» 18 9 9 *

price sj., by postsk^.

[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 of t h e W e e k :

The South African Crisis— Mr. Asquith on the Transvaal Crisis— Mr. Morley’s Cross-Current — T h e Dreyfus Trial : Officers for ¿be Defence— Another Sensational Saturday’s Sitting— A New Departure — The Foreign Military Attaches Not to be Heard— Who Pays the National Drink-Bill ?— 'Other Record Figures— The PostMaster General's* Report — The

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'Emperor and the Prussian Diet— The Surrender of Public-House Licenses .................................... 397 L e a d e r s :

Some Mysteries of the “ Affaire ” 401 The Outlook in South Africa . . 401 The Illness of Lord Bute . . 403

C O N 7 E N T S .

L eaders (Continued) :

The Procedure of the Roman

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Congregations . . . . .. 403 Shakespeare's Philosophy of Life 406 A Calumny Against Catholic

M is s ion s ................................... 408

N o tes — — — — . .4 0 9 R ev iew s :

Spinoza, his Life and Philosophy 411 China . . . . . . . . 420 Two Anglicans on Continuity . . 421 St. Paul’s Epistle to the Romans 421 The Field Floridus . . . 422 The Irish Brigade . . . . . . 422 The Silent House in Pimlico . . 422 The Post-Apostolic Age . . . . 433

C orrespondence !

Rome :— (From Our Own Corre­

Pag spondent) . .

_ «. 413

L e t t e r s to t h e E d itor :

The Genesis of Anglicanism ~ 414 Auxiliary and Prince Bishops . . 414 Ransom Tracts . . . . ••415 Mr. Costelloe on Our Shortcom­

ings . . . . . . . . 415 Mr. Gladstone’s Religion . . 415 Wanted, A Life o f Pole . . . . 415 The Stockport Conference ., . . 415 The Bright Side of Things . . . . 416 The Bible in Catholic Schools and

Homes .. . . . . . . 417 “ Stand by the Priests” . . . . 418 No “ Samples" of Clergy . . . . 420 Letter o f the Archbishop and Bis­

hops of the Ecclesiastical Province of Philadelphia ......................... 423

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Leper Colony in Columbia . . • • 423 The “ Opinion” of the Archbishops 424 Books of the W e e k ............................426 So c ia l an d P o l it i c a l * . . « 4 2 6

SUPPLEMENT. N ew s from t h e S chools :

Oxford and^ Cambridge Schools

Examination . . . . . . 429 Clongowes Wodd College (S .J .) .. 4*9 N ews from t h e D io ceses :

Westminster . . . . 429 Birmingham ............................429 L eeds.. *• 431 Newport ....................................... 432 St. Andrews and Edinburgh . . 453 The Ruin of Montserrat . . . . 433 Canon MacCoII Cornered . . . . 434 Catholic League o f South London 435

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

CHRONICLE OF THE WEEK.

CRISIS. T

THE SOUTH AFRICAN

H IS week has been an anxious one, and it cannot be said that the way to a peaceful solution is yet in sight. It w illb e remembered thatthe Transvaal Govern­

ment, on the 19th ult., had offered a five years retrospective -franchise, and, as proposed by Sir A lfred Milner, eight new ■ seats in eachVolksraad to th epeople o f the W itwatersrand.and the right to vote for the State President. I f those proposals had been unconditional the whole crisis would have been at an end. Unfortunately, Dr. R e itz ’s despatch went on to say that in making this offer his Government would assume that “ her M a jesty’s Government will agree that the present intervention shall not form a precedent for future similar action, and that in the future no interference in the internal affairs o f the R epublic will take place. T h a t her M a jesty’s Government will not further insist on the assertion of the suzerainty, the controversy on the subject being allowed tacitly to drop. That arbitration (from which foreign element other than Orange Free State is to be excluded) will be conceded as soon as the franchise scheme has becom e law.” Mr. Chamberlain’s reply, dated the 28th ult., stated that the British Government, assuming that these proposals would not be hampered by any conditions which would impair their effect, could not understand why the Transvaal should decline a joint commission o f inquiry as to the practical effects o f the concession. A t the same tim e, Mr. Chamberlain was quite w illin g that the inquiry should be conducted, if that were p ieferred, solely by British officials. H e further suggested that the proposed inquiry would be “ both easier and shorter i f the Government o f the South African R epublic will omit in any future

’ aw the complicated conditions of registration, qualification, aD(1 behaviour which accompanied previous proposals, and ^ ould have entirely nullified their beneficial effect.” Then dealiog with the conditions by which the Boer proposals Were accompanied, the Colonial Secretary s a y s : “ With T' S ard to the conditions o f the Government o f the South African Republic : First, as regards intervention ; her Majesty’s Government hope that the fulfilm ent o f the prov e s made and the just treatment o f the U itlanders in future will render unnecessary any further intervention on tneir b e h a l f ; but her M a jesty’s Government cannot, of

Nrw Series. Vol. LXH., No. 2,405.

course, debar themselves from their rights under the C o n ventions, nor divest themselves o f the ordinary obligations o f a civilized Power to protect its subjects in a foreign country from in justice.” T h e question o f the suzerainty is simply set aside with a reference to a previous despatch in which M r. Chamberlain had said the British Government d id not care to discuss the question further. W ith regard to the form and scope o f a tribunal o f arbitration, from which foreigners are to be excluded, Mr. Chamberlain is quite conciliatory. Addressing Sir A lfred M ilner, he s a y s : “ Such a discussion, which will be o f the highest importance to the future relations o f the two countries, should be carried on between the President aud yourself, and for this purpose it appears to be necessary that a further conference, which her Majesty’s Government suggest should be held at Capetown, should be at once arranged.” T h e despatch ends with a rem inder that there are other outstanding matters o f difference which, while they would be left untouched b y the grant o f th e franchise to the U i t landers, are not fit for reference to arbitration : they should therefore be considered at the proposed conference.

T h e speech delivered to the Leven m

M section o f his constituents in East F ife c r is is . by M r. A squith should be a clear indication to the outside world that there is behind the Government policy in regard to the Transvaal the solid support of public opinion. H is remarks upon the crisis may generally be said to have been unexceptionable. H e went straight to the root o f the difficulties of the South A frican situation when he declared that every intelligent person in both countries concerned was agreed that the tim e had com e for “ a definite and permanent settlem ent o f the long-standing controversy between the Government ot the South African R epublic and its immigrant population.” T o this he added the following significant hint to the party in which he holds so high a position : “ N o one in this country, no British L iberal at any rate, can contemplate with satisfaction a system under which large numbers of our own countrymen are denied some o f those civil and political rights which we ate accustomed to regard as the necessary equipment of a civilized social com munity.” Perhaps it was inevitable that he should be inclined to take a hopeful view o f the change which had come about in President K ruger’s views since the tim e o f the Bloem fontein conference. Doubtless such changes as those demanded in the claims put forward by the U itlanders cannot be brought about in the tw inkling o f an e y e ; but Mr. Asquith roundly declared that the present attitude o f