THE TABLET

A Weekly Newspaper and Review.

WITH SUPPLEMENT.

Dum vobis gratulamur, animos etiam addimus ut in incceptis vestris constanter maneatis.

From the Brie-f of His Holiness to The Tablet, June 4, 1870.

Vol. 48. No. 1890. L ondon, J u l y i , 1876.

Price sd. By Post 5% d .

[R egistered a t th e General P ost O ffice a s a N ewspaper

C hronicle of t h e W e e k :—

Page

Servia and Turkey.—The Servian Riddle.— A Partial Explanation of it.— The Difficulties of Prince Milan.— Pause in the Russian Policy.— Ministerial Statements. —-Alleged Massacres in Bulgaria. —Latest Rumours of War.—The French University Degrees Bill. —The Prosecutions of Communists. —The Democrats and the Presidency.—The Test Election. — China and the Opium Trade.— The Case of the Franconia.—The New Member for Birmingham.— Our Naval Defences.— Catholic Navy Chaplains. — The Royal Irish Societies. 1— The Balham Inquest . . . . .. . . 1

C 0 N T .

Page

L e a d e r s :

England and the Eastern Crisis.. 5 The Irish Party and the Govern­

ment .. .. .. .. 5 The Irish Domesday.Return .. 6 Gleanings from the Archives of

Subiaco.— III. .. .. .. 7 R eviews :

Sancta Sophia ; or, Directions for the Prayer of Contemplation .. 9 Daniel Deronda .. .. .. 9 The Contemporary Review .. 10 Short N otices :

The Belfrey .. .. .. .. i t Picturesque Europe .. .. 11 The Students’ Handbook of

British and American Literature .. .. .. .. .. 11 The Life of Gregory Lopez .. 12

E N T S .

Page

Church M usic ................................ 12 C orrespondence :

Mr. Mossman's Translation of

“ Cornelius à Lapide ” .. .. 12 The Authorship of f<The Imita­

tion ” .. .. .. 13 The Poor-School Committee’s

Annual Report .. .. ..13 Accommodation at Lourdes .. 13 Mission of the Sacred Heart,

Fareham, Hants .. .. .. 13 The New Church, Clifden, Con­

nemara .. .. .. ..13 **A Day in the Country ” .. .. 14 Parliam entary S ummary R ome :— Letter fromourown Cor­

respondent

D iocesan N ews :—

Page

Westminster .. . . .. ..19 Southwark .. . . .. . . 20 Newport and Menevia .. .. 20 Nottingham .. .. .. ..20 Plymouth .. . . .. .. 20 I reland

Letter from our Dublin Corre­

spondent ..

20

Foreign N ews ;—

Germany ..

Austria . . .. . . .. 22 United States .. .. ..22 M emoranda :—•

Religious ..

Catholic Union .. . . ..22 L e g a l ............................................... 24 General N ews .................................24

2t

22

CHRONICLE OF THE WEEK.

TURKEY. T

SERVIA AND

H E R E is every reason to believe that by the time these lines are before the eyes o f onr readers war between T u r ­

k e y and Servia will have broken out. A ccording to a telegram from V ienna the Porte has promised the representatives o f the Foreign Powers at Constantinople not to commence hostilities. Servia, therefore, will have to bear the formal as well as the real responsibility o f the rupture, and o f all its possible consequences. T h e respective strength o f the armies about to com e into collision is stated by a French paper to be 100,000 men for the Servian and 70,000 for the Turkish force. This estim ate, however, i f correct, by no means o f course represents the relative strength o f the tw o countries. A n d i f people were only convinced that Servia had no other Power at its back they would not entertain much doubt as to the result o f the struggle.

THE SERVIAN RIDDLE.

Servia has been p laying a double game. But what were the real intentions o f the Belgrade Governm ent, and who it was that it was deceiving was not at first perfectly plain.

T h is is what has been • going on during the week. F irst, everything seemed peaceable and satisfactory. M . Cristics, the brother-in-law o f the Prime M in ister, M. R istics, was chosen as the special envoy to Constantinople, and actually started on his way to that capital. T h e next th ing we heard was that he had stopped on his way, that the third band o f the Servian m ilitia had been called out, that Prince M ilan was going to jo in the army on the frontier, and that a declaration o f war was imminent. A telegram from Belgrade to Paris stated that ten Servian brigades, o f about 56,000 men, were concentrated at A leksina, “ only a cannon shot from the “ northern frontier o f Turkey, on the high road leading to “ the Bosphorus b y Nissa, Sophia, and Adrianople,” and “ only 700 kilom eters from Constantinople.” T h e same authority a lleged that along the western or Bosnian frontier o f Servia there were 44,000 more men with 96 guns, distributed a long the course o f the Drina, while 40,000 men o f the second ban were “ occupying the fortresses and “ étapes o f the interior o f Servia.” The figures were absurd, as the Paris correspondent o f the Times has pointed out, but still it was possible that the account o f the disposition o f the Servian force might be true, and if the statem ent o f the Russian agency, made on the authority o f the correspondents o f Russian journals, was also true, the situation was sufficiently alarm ing. A ccording to this telegram the Turkish troops, together with Kurds and Albanians were c losely watching the frontier, and the first provocation given by the Turks was lik e ly to lead to hostilities. A t the same tim e we heard that the Turks and Montenegrins were angrily watching each other on the frontier o f the Sutorina, and that Montenegro was only waiting for the word from Servia to p lunge into the conflict. A n d we were to ld by a Bohemian paper in the Russian interest that Servia had actually called on the Turks to. abandon their fortified camp at N isch, and that the Porte had refused to comply. A l l this was warlike enough, but the next day the news was more pacific. T h e mobilisation o f the Servian army was, it was true, going on, but P r in ce M ilan ’s journey was to be only a tour o f inspection, and M. Cristics’s mission was set on its legs again.

Some ligh t is thrown on what seems so vaexplanI twn cillatinS a P ° licy by the story that the Servian of it. agent at Constantinople had sent to Belgrade a report o f an interview with the late R aschid

Pasha, ju s t before the murder o f that M in ister, in which the Pasha had declared, not as merely from himself, but as the settled resolve o f the whole Turkish Cabinet, that while any grievances or wishes o f Servia should be instantly taken in to consideration, the Porte would never consent to any alteration o f the line o f demarcation between the autonomous States and the rest o f the Empire— that is, to any grant o f additional territory. N ow one o f the particular wishes o f Servia is to get possession o f Zwornik, a fortified v illage which the Turks still occupy, as it was not specified in the last treaty among the p laces to be g iven u p ; and this declaration o f Raschid Pasha’s seemed to put an extinguisher on all hopes o f this kind. Thereupon the war party, always difficult to keep under, became, it would seem, more unmanageable than ever.

D id then the Governm ent o f Belgrade hope demonstration to induce the Porte the DiFFi- jjy a

CULTIES OF

PRINCE MILAN.

to enter in to negotiations for a cession o f terriritory, or did it make this show o f military preparation merely to amuse the war party and keep it qu ie t? W e are inclined to believe that the truth lay in neither hypothesis, and that Prince M ilan was really a t his wits’ end, and oscillated between war and peace in obedience to the imperious exigencies o f the moment. H e knew that i f he did not fight his dynasty was not safe, and if he d id go to war he ran every risk o f being crushed and crippled for the future, even a lthough Russia might have guaranteed— as it is said she has— the soil and autonomy o f Servia. For, as regards all the rest— including all the onerous consequences o f war, short o f absolute conquest— Russia, acting together with the other G reat Powers, is said to have sent a formal warning to Belgrade that i f the Servian Governm ent goes to war with Turkey, the Powers will not interfere, but will “ leave the principality to its fate, allow ing the Porte “ to defend and make good its suzerain rights secured

New Series, Vol. XVI. No. 399.