THE TABLET A IVeekly Newspaper and Review.
D u m VOBIS GRATULAMUR, ANIMOS ETIAM ADDIMUS UT IN INCGEPTIS V E STR IS CONSTANTER MANEATIS.
F ro m the B r i e f o j H is H o lin e s s to T he Tablet, J u n e 4, 187c.
Vol. 46. No. 1863. L o n d o n , D e c e m b e r 25, 1875.
P r ic e sd. B y P o st s J^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 Of f i c e a s a N ew s p a p e r
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^Ch r o n ic l e o f t h e W e e k :—
General Grant’s Firebrand.—The French Senatorial Election.—The Intransigent Deputies and the Communists.—M. Naquet’s Programme.—The Turkish and Austrian Schemes of Reform.—The Porte and its Subjects.—Lord Derby on Conservatism.—And on Liberalism.—On the Suez Canal. —And on Domestic, Colonial, and Foreign Affairs.—The Wreck of the Deutschland.—The Royal Progress in India. — Alsatian Grievances.—The Perak Expedition.—The Spanish Ministry and the War .. ........................ 801
CONTENTS.
L e a d e r s :
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Religious Events in 1875 . . .. 805 Lord Derby at Edinburgh _ .. 806 The Collapse of State Farming in i S hort N o t ic es (continued) :
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In Memoriam .. . . .. 814 C o r r e s po n d en c e :
Ireland .. .. . . .. 807 “ Natural Virtues ” for the Season 808 Religious Contrasts .. . . 809 R e v ie w s :
Dominus Illuminatio M ea.. . . 810 Catholic Working Men’s Unions.. 812 Brought Home .. .. .. 813 S hort N o t ic e s :
Eastern Life, Present and Past .. 813 The First Christmas for Our Dear
Little Ones .. .. .. 814 Cassell’s History of India.. .. 814 Beeton's Dictionary of Universal
Information .. .. . . 8 1 4
Dagon at Home .. .. .. 814 “ Great Wants” in Catholic L i
terature .. .. . . .. 814 Intellectual Heathenism .. .. 815 Ratisbon Cathedral.. . . . . 8 1 5 *• Secular Education ” . . .. 815 Victoria Docks Mission .. . . 815 St. Vincent’s Home for Destitute
Boys.. .. .. .. .. 815 Our Christmas Offerings to the
Holy Father .. .. .. 815 R ome :—Letter from our own Cor
respondent . . .. . . 817
D io c e s a n N ew s :— Westminster.. .. .. . . 818
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Clifton .. .. .. . . 819 Salford .. .. .. . . 819 Scotland—Western District .. 820
— Eastern District .. 220 I r e l a n d :
Letter from our Dublin Corre
spondent . . . . . . . . 820 F o r e ig n N ew s
Germany . . . . .. . . 82r Poland . . .. . . . . 821 M em o randa :—
Religious . . .. . . . . 822 Educational...................................822 Political . . .. .. .. 822 Fine Arts . . .. .. . . 823 G e n e r a l N ew s ........................ 823
CHRONICLE OF TH E W E E K .
GENERAL GRANT’S FIREBRAND. G1 E N E R A L G RANT has played his last card for the third term, and, as we now see, not without some chance of success, as far as his own party is concerned. When he wrote that famous letter declaring that he had no intention of offering himself for re-election to the Presidency he was careful to insert a proviso—unless there should be a political emergency or danger to the country. It is now clear that, finding the Republicans not inclined to press him to offer himself, the President is determined to give them a motive for doing so. First, he tried the spectre of a war with Spain. That did not answer ; and as he had no intention of really going to war, the threat had to be disavowed before it had produced the desired effect. Another danger to the State, another political emergency had therefore to be .invented. And looking about him for the most fashionable and successful device for retaining power, the President soon hit upon it—a struggle with the Catholic Church. He has taken out of the mouth of Mr. Blaine, another candidate— much to that gentleman’s disgust— the idea of a constitutional amendment, establishing everywhere in all theStates free schools from which religion is to be strictly banished, and forbidding the grant of State aid to any denominational institution and the exemption of Church property from taxation. He has spoken at the same time of a probable “ bloody war” between “ superstition ’’ on the one side and “ intelligence “ and patriotism ” on the other. Already there is a response to the cry. At an annual meeting of the powerful body of Methodists at Boston “ Bishop ” Haven declared that the Catholic and Slavery powers were one and the same ; that the Methodists were the only organisation in the South that openly and boldly represented the American idea, and that President Grant was the only man who could conquer the enemies of American freedom ; and he concluded by nominating him for a third time “ in the name of the American people and “ true Christianity,” after which the whole audience shouted, “ I second the nomination.” The N ew York Tribune, hitherto an opponent of the President, has been won over; the N ew York Times, the organ of the Reoublican party, commends his proposals ; while the N ew York World, the Democratic organ, declaies the raising of the question to be what it really is, a'simple electioneering c ry ; and *hf N tw York H e ra ld says that the proposal is wild, Quixotic, and utterly absurd, and with just severity stigmatises this attempt to kindle religious animosities for party purposes as the most mischievous and monstrous violation oi fitness and propriety ever perpetrated by a President of the United States. We hope sincerely that the Republican party will think twice, and even thrice, before it commits itself to such a discreditable and even criminal manoeuvre.
New Series, Vol. XIV. No. 372.
The elections of the Life Senators are now
S enatorial1 comPleted- The result is that the Left and election. Left Centre have fifty-eight seats, the Right sixteen, and the Right Centre one. On Thursday, the 1 6th, ten Senators were elected, all of the Left, and among them M. Jules Simon, who five minutes previously had received the notice of his election to the French Academy. On Friday only one Senator was elected, General de Cissey, the Minister of War, who entered the Assembly as a member of the Right, but is not much of a politician, and the Due Decazes, General Leflo, and M. Wallon were beaten. On Saturday M. Wallon and Mgr. Dupanloup were elected, the Bishop by the exact number of votes required to constitute an absolute majority. Thus only two seats remained to be filled, and the object of the Left was to find candidates of sufficient mark to render their election tolerably certain. M. Dufaure and M. Gr6vy were both applied to, but both of them preferred to be elected by a Department. Monday’s ballot was a failure. Admiral de Montaignac obtained the greatest number of votes (305), but the absolute majority was 3 13 , and the Due Decazes the least (156). M. Waddington refused to stand, as he also prefers to be elected by a Department; and he, M. Henri Martin, the historian, and the Comte de St. Vallier, have issued a joint address to the electors of the Aisne. On Wednesday the task of the Assembly was finished, the two remaining seats being filled by Admiral de Montaignac, of the Right, Minister of Marine, and the Marquis de Maleville, of the Left Centre. The whole of the seventy-five future senators have marked their adhesion to the Marshal-President by inscribing their names at his residence; they could not pay a more formal and collective visit, as the Senate is not yet a constituted body.
M. Naquet has been pressing the Assembly s im n t d e p u - t0 Srant an amnesty to the Communist convicts t ies and th e m New Caledonia, and the matter was decom m u n ist s . bated on Monday with no little warmth. M.
Naquet declared that torture had been revived, and, having been called to order, staled that a prisoner had been kept without food for fifty-two hours, and had died in consequence. Upon this he was asked whether any hostages had been murdered in New Caledonia, and he replied to the sarcastic interrogation by saying that the real question about the hostages shot in Paris was at what moment they were put to death. This implied excuse for the Communist massacres aroused a storm, during which a young member of the Extreme Left, M. Perin, got into the tribune and declared that he meant to vote urgency for the motion, but regretted that it had been brought before an Assembly which could never be persuaded to listen patiently to anything that might be said on the subject. He then entered
