THE TABLET,
A W eekly New spaper a n d Review .
DOM VOBIS GRATULAMUR, ANIMOS ETIAM ADDIMOS OT IN INCCEPTIS VESTRIS CONSTANTER MANEAT.S.
From the Brie/ o j H is Holiness P iu s IX . to The T ablet, June 4, H70.
V o l „ 94. No. 3108. L o n d o n , D e c e m b e r 2 , 1 8 9 9 .
p « Bv p 0sT 5* l
C hronicle of the Week :
Page
Lord Methuen’s Victories-Letters from the Front— New Light on the Nicholson’s Nek Affair— Defeat and Death of the Khalifa— Mr. Balfour’s Answer to the Critics of the Government—The Future of South Africa— M. Delcasse and His Critics— Liberal Statesmen and the War—A New Tune for “ The Daily Chronicle” — The Costliness o f Colonies to France and Germany—The Past and Present of the Suez Canal—The Duke of Norfolk and Mr. Chamberlain . . . , . . ..
877
L e a d e r s :
Two Theories About the W Austria and Europe .. Robert Grosseteste .. Lhe Situation in France . .
Notes
.. 882 . . 883 . . 885 - - 886
[Registered a t th e G eneral Post Office as a N ewspaper.
CONTENTS .
R eviews :
Page
The Transvaal and the Boers . . ggS In Moorish Captivity . . .. ggs The Principles of Protestantism.. 88a „ r t>— _ r oy
The Poet o f the Poor “ Natural Theology" .. . . The Reign of George V I . , _ A Guide to Readers . . . _ Faith and Science . . . . [[ England in the Nineteenth Cen
tury .................................... A Letter from Ladysmith . . * The Catholic Newspaper Guild . . Correspondence :
889 890 890 890 890 890 890 891
Rome :— (From Our Own Corre
spondent) . . _ «. _ News from Ireland _ News from France......................... The Bishop of the Cape of Good
Hope and the W a r .........................
L etters to the E ditor :
Cardinal Gibbons and Mr. Lecky 896
L etters to the E ditor (Con-
tinued)j: The Holy See and the Jews
‘ The Neglected Italians” America
The Observance of St. Andrew’s
Page . 897
Day in Eneland and Wales . . 897 The Gorltston Case . . . . 897 The Abstract and the Concrete . . 897 Bishop Hopkins’ Early Education 897 •Ihe Work of Solemn Homage to
Christ ......................... ‘ ..8 98 Catholic Seamen at Genoa . . 898 Shakespeare’s K n o w l e d g e of
French ....................................... 898 E t Cmtera ....................................... 898 The Benevolent Society for the
Relief of the Aged and Infirm P o o r ................................................ ... The End of Wandering .. . .9 0 1 Prayer for the Conversion of Eng
land ^
. .
Anti-Semitism.. . . The Ritual Controversy
, 902
90; 904
For Catholic Seamen.. . . .^904 A Soldiers' Requiem in Florence . . 905 Books of the W e e k ......................... ^ 5
Social and Political . .
mm906
SUPPLEMENT. N ews from the Schools :
The London School Board and
Underfed Children . . . . 000 Foo^all .................................... gil N ews from the D ioceses : Westminster . . . . gIO
Birmingham . . . . ” gXI Liverpool . . . . mm *’ gI2 Northampton . . . ’ ’ ’ QI, Nottingham......................... “ QI; Plymouth Portsmouth Salford Newport
913 914 914 ■ 914
Rejected MS. cannot be returned unless accompanied with addres a?id postage.
N O T A N D A .
Mr. F. S. Stevenson’s L ife o f B ishop Grosseteste is critically examined. T h e nature ot the opposition which the Bishop °n some occasions offered to the Pope is explained. Incidentally, the attitude o f B ishop Grosseteste towards the Jews is illustrated by quotations (p. 883).
Attention is called to the exhaustive explanation o f the devotion o f the H o ly Year, which the B ishop o f Newport has given in his Advent Pastoral (p. 914).
I t is a gratifying sign o f the times to find a non-Catholic com ing so generously to the aid o f Catholic schools as Mr. J- P lan t has done at B loxw ich (p. 9 11 ) .
A lively letter from L ieutenant Maxwell Scott describes the part played by the G loucesters in the fight at Reitfontein. It tells how the Church of England chaplain by swearing at one set o f men saved the lives o f others, and how Lieutenant H ickie, after being wounded in the foot, has his life saved by a tin o f cocoa (p. 899).
T h e Report which we publish of the Benevolent Society’s dinner shows in what a flourishing state is this ancient charity, which dates back to the year 176T (p. 900).
W e have been favoured with an early proof o f an article contributed by the Abb£ de Foville o f St. Sulpice, to the forthcoming number o f The Ir ish Ecclesiastical Record, in which an earnest appeal is made to the clergy o f Ireland to take up widely and earnestly the work o f the A rch con fraternity o f Our L ady o f Compassion o f Prayer for the Conversion o f England (p. 902).
We publish an interesting exiract from a new book by Mr. Kegan Paul, in which the author traces the path o f his conversion and describes the end of his wandering (p. 901).
CHRONICLE OF THE WEEK
H E tide o f invasion is being steadily victories. T
'-ord Methuen’s rolled back from west and south and east, and within a very few days a British force is likely to have crossed the New Series. Vol. LX I I . , No. 2.417.
frontier into the Free State. T o Lord Methuen’s force operating in the west, and marching to the relief o f K im berley belongs the credit o f the first really offensive move on our side since the war began. Three times he has given battle, and three times he has driven the enemy from their own chosen and entrenched position s ; and now, holding the fords o f the Modder R iver, he is almost within striking distance o f his goal. T h e first fight took p lace at Belmont, about ten miles beyond the Orange R iver. There is a strong likeness between all the engagements which have yet taken place. T h e enemy, entrenched among the hills, is shelled by artillery, and then the British infantry is sent to the assault, and carries the position a t the point o f the bayonet. T h e Boers retire rather than face the steel, and then take up another position, and the murderous work has to be done all over again. T h a t was the story o f Lord Methuen’s fight at Belmont, and again at Graspan, and again at the M odder R iver. B e may hope, however, that this last engagement, in which about 7,000 men were engaged on each side, has taught the enemy a lesson he will remember and d^inchne him to court a fourth defeat under the walls o f K im berley. A t Belm ont the naval brigade lost heavily, nearly 20 per cent, o f their number being either k illed or wounded. T h e Boer loss is unknown, but 81 o f their men were buried on the field. T h e action at Graspan, six miles north o f Belmont, was less costly, but the Lancers, who were sent in pursuit, had to retire before the fire o f the retreating enemy. T h e battle at the M odder R iver is described by Lord Methuen as ,f one o f the hardest and most trying fights ” in the annals o f the British Arm y. U p to the tim e o f our going to press, however, no details o f the fight have com e to hand. From Natal there is no reliable news except that a considerable Britirh force has advanced from Estcourt to Frere, some twenty miles south o f L adysmith. 1
— letters Letters— many o f them from privates—
i'rom continue to find their way into the newsthe front, papers, and while they curiously reflect the
_ tempers o f the writers sometimes give graphic pictures o f this or that incident in the war. T ake these as giving an idea c f what a charge by the Lancers means ; an officer speaking o f the charge at Elandslaagte says : “ Our squadrons got right in among them in the twilight, and the most excellent pig-sticking ensued for about ten minutes, the bag being about sixty. O oe o f our men, seeing two Boers riding away on one horse, stuck his lance through the two, killing both with one thrust. H ad it not been getting dark, we should have killed many more.” “ The Dragoon
