THE TABLET
A IVeekly Newspaper and Review
D U M V O B IS G R A T U L AM U R , AN IM O S ETIAM ADDIM U S U T IN INCCEPTIS V E S T R IS C 0 N S7 AN T E R M A N E A T IS .
From the Brief of H is Holiness to T h e T a b l e t , June 4, 1870.
Voi. 48. No. 1904. L o n d o n , O c t o b e r 7» 1 8 7 6 .
price Sd. by post 5^d.
[R eg i st e r e d a t th e G en e r a l P o st O f f ic e a s a N ew spaper
C h ro n ic le o f t h e W e e k :—
Page
The Reply of the Porte.— Fresh Representations.— A Conference. The Armistice.— The New Point o f Departure.— A “ Thorough ” Solution.— Mr. Lowe, Mr. Bright, and Lord Hartington.— Lord Carnarvon on the Crisis.— Present Results o f Domestic Faction.— England ancl the Powers, or Russia Only ? — Battle Before Alexinatz. — The Russians in Servia.-Signs of War in Russia.The Russian Proposal.— An Austrian or Russian Occupation.— Russian “ Atrocities.”— Guarantees— Lord Justice James’s Suggestion.— Lord Stratford de Red•cliffe’s Scheme, &c., &c................ 449 !
CONTENTS.
L e a d e r s :
The Russian Proposals and the
Page
Eastern Crisis .. . . . . 453 Value o f Landed Property in
Ireland .. .. . . . . 453 A Champion of the Oppressed . . 454 Correspondent or Novelist ? . . 455 The Protestant Tradition.—-V. . . 456 The Book of the Imitation of
Christ and its Author, John Gersen, Abbot o f St Stephen’s, at Vercelli.— IV. . . .. .. 458 R e v iew s :
The Zend-Avesta . . . . .. 459 Curiosities of English Dialects . . 460 The Catholic Church under
Russia . . . . . . . . 461
C o r r e s p o n d e n c e :
Page
The New Catholic Church,
Connemara . . .. .. 462 An Appeal.— The Benedictine
Monastery at Fort Augustus.. 462 The Irish Land Act . . .. 463 1 Protestantism in Spain . . . . 463 |
D io cesan N ews (continued) :
Scotland
Page
. . 468
I r elan d
Letter from our Dublin Corre
spondent .................................... 469 I
R ome :— Letter from our own CorF oreign N ews respondent
Germany . . . . . . . . Servia.. 470
D io ce san N ews
M em oranda :—
Westminster ..
S o u th w a r k .........................
. . 467 Literary, Artistic, & Scientific Gossip
Political .........................
Beverley Shrew sbury......................... . . 468 Gen e r a l N ew s ............................ 472
CHRONICLE OF THE WEEK.
THE REPLY OF THE PORTE. T
HE Turks have committed a tremendous blunder, the consequences of whichmaybe more serious than they think. By accepting frankly the conditions of peace proposed by England and endorsed by the other Powers, and by expressing at the same time their readiness to grant an armistice of some weeks, they might have thrown on Russia and Servia ■ the whole responsibility for the continuance of hostilities. Instead of this, though the Sultan himself is known to have favoured that course, the Grand Council has deliberated and •delayed, and has at last replied not by accepting the terms but by proposing others. It evades the demand for the self-government of the three provinces by promising the removal of all Christian disabilities throughout the empire. This is not the first time that this expedient has been tried. We know what such an undertaking is worth, and what would be the destiny of Bosnia, Herzegovina, and Bulgaria without such special provisions for their security as we exacted in the case of the Lebanon. Probably, therefore, the Powers will not allow themselves to be put off in this manner, and the Porte may have cause to regret that when it might easily have put itself for the moment completely in the right, it has put itself at this most important crisis in the wrong.
FRESH REPRESENTATIONS.
But we must not lose sight of the opinion entertained by many well-informed Europeans at Constantinople that the answer of the Porte is not to be considered final. The Sultan is reported to have told Sir Henry Elliot that he was willing to concede all the points of Lord Derby’s proposal, but dare not do s o at the present moment. The question, therefore, is what pressure can be put upon his Government. It is said that a joint representation, almost, if not quite, of the character of an ultimatum, will be made by all the Powers. It must be proved to the Porte that its scheme of five points, and its mixed provincial assemblies for the whole empire, and its National Council at Constantinople, of which 32 members are to be Musulmans and 30 Christians, will not meet the exigencies of the present crisis. The proposal may be a good one, and may be discussed subsequently ; what we now want are local measures, to extinguish a local conflagration, and prevent a fresh outburst.
And when the Porte has been convinced of a con- this— and, indeed, whetherit is convinced of it or FFRFNCE ' ' not— the Powers will have to come to an agreement on the details of the necessary reforms. For this purpose Russia desires a Conference, which she would like to see held at Brussels : and Prince Orloff is said to have made informal overtures to the Due Decazes, the result of which is that the French representatives at London, Vienna, St. Petersburg, and Rome have been instructed to sound the Governments to which they are accredited, Italy being being left to take the same step at Berlin.
THE ARMISTICE.
As to the armistice, which is as necessary a condition of peace as the acceptance of the conditions, Turkey has refused it, on the ground that by a formal instrument she would acknowledge Servia and Montenegro as belligerents, but was willing to consent to a suspension of hostilities for six days more, counting from the 2nd of October. This scruple, however, must be overcome if there is to be any prospect of success in the negotiations, and it is reported that Russia has offered to force the armistice on Servia if we can obtain its acceptance by the Porte. But in this matter, as in so much besile, everything depends upon the sincerity of Russia’s desire for peace.
THE NEW POINT OF DEPARTURE.
The Cabinet Council which met on Wednesday will have had to decide upon the course which England must take at this new point of departure. The efforts of our Foreign Office will in all probability be first directed to persuading Russia to hold her hand till fresh attempt has been made to induce the Porte to accept the terms which have been formulated. With great difficulty we have got the six Powers to agree to a certain set of proposals, and if the Porte finally decides on evading these by a counter proposal far larger in extent, and therefore less capable of speedy realisation, a fresh negotiation between the Powers will have to be begun with less prospect of success. The danger presses; there are rumours of preparation for the transport of a Russian army southwards, and the Standard's correspondent at Constantinople telegraphed that it was thought probable that Russian troops had already entered Turkey.— so that is clear that at the Turkish capital everybody is alive to the peril of the moment. But the Government of the Sultan is in a terrible dilemma; Moslem fanaticism is now at boiling point, the Ulemas could scarcely be got together to discuss the proposed reforms, and there are rumours of resistance to the death, and threats of massacre. An attempt has been made to prepare the people for the removal of Christian disabilities throughout the Empire by a very remarkable article in the Turkish paper Istikbal, which is ascribed to the inspiration of Midhat Pasha, but the Government seems to think that any concession in the direction of local autonomies would be fatal to its own existence and perhaps cost the Sultan his throne. But the question must be settled, and it is of the first importance that it should be settled by the joint action of the Powers. In the last resort such reforms as they agree upon must be imposed by external intervention.
N ew Sf.r ies, V ol. X V I . No. 413.
