THE TABLET
A IVeekly Newspaper and Review
DUM VOBIS GRATULAMUR, ANIMOS ETIAM ADDIMUS UT IN INCCEPTIS VESTRIS CONSTANTER MANEATIS.
From the Brief of His Holiness Pius IX . to The Tablet, June 4, 1870.
Voi. 51. No. 1985. London, A p r il 27, 1878.
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[Registered at the General Post Office as a Newspaper
Chronicle of the Week
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War or Peace.— Simultaneous Evacuation.—The English Condition.—The Verdict of General Opinion. — The Embarrassments of Russia.—Russia, Roumania, and Germany.—Musulman Rising in the new Bulgaria.— Illness of the Russian and German Chancellors.—The Indian Troops.— The Russian Privateer Movement.—The South Northumberland Election.—The Strike in the Cotton Industry.—The Liability of Employers.—The Caffre War.— The Roman Municipal Schools and the Catechism.—The Massacre at Lake Nyanza. — The Sioux in Canada.........................5*3
CONTENTS.
Leaders:
Page
The Calling Out of the Reserves 517 Mr. Butt and the Leadership of the Home Rule Party .. . . 517 “ Religious Toleration ” in
Short Notice :
Page
Chateaubriand et Madame de
Staël .. .. . . . . 523
Russia _....................................518 Easter Holidays .. .. .. 519 The Irish National School
Teachers......................... .. 520 Reviews :
Word for Word from Horace . . 522 The Life and Times of the Right
Hon. John Bright .. .. 522 The Position and Prospects of
Catholic Liberal Education .. 522
Correspondence :
Lancicius on the Pains of
Purgatory....................................523 Pius IX and the Romans .. 524 The Retorm of Church
Music ....................................524
Ireland :—
Letter from our own Corre
spondent ......................... _ 526
Foreign News ;—
G e rm a n y ......................... Rome:— Letter from our own
Correspondent . . .. The Holy Father on the Temporal
Page
Power of the Papacy .• . . 531 Diocesan News Westminster.. ..
Southwark .. .. Birmingham......................... Northampton -• 534 P ly m o u th ......................... Great Meeting of the Total Absti
nence League of the Cross .. 534 General N ews ............................535
CHRONICLE OF THE WEEK.
WAR OR PEACE. T
'H E question whether a Congress, or even a Conference prelim inary to a a Congress, is possible, has during the past week had but little light thrown upon it. T h e d ip lomatic pourparlers which have been going on have been concerned with Prince B ism arck’s proposal, for a previous withdrawal o f the Russian and British forces, o f which we shall have to speak presently. I t is thought at Berlin that the willingness o f Russia to treat about the withdrawal of her forces from the neighbourhood o f Constantinople ind icates a wish to temporise, and there are weighty reasons why the Governm ent o f St. Petersburg should desire to avoid a conflict. W e, on our side, are certainly most averse to w a r ; we shall not fight unless it is absolutely necessary, but if we cannot otherwise secure a respect for the treaty r igh t o f Europe we shall. Nor are we likely to fire the first shot, and we think that Russia will th ink tw ice, if not thrice, before she does so. But if the horrible misfortune o f war is averted, as we sincerely hope it will be, we are convinced that it will be owing to the firm and energetic attitude which the Governm ent o f England has adopted.
SIMULTANEOUS EVACUATION.
T h e negotiations are still proceeding, though no further papers have been made public, and it is understood that Prince B ism arck has suggested a simultaneous retreat o f the Russian army and the British fleet from their present positions, so as to preclude all danger o f a collision while the arrangements are being made for a Prelim inary Conference, to be followed by the more formal Congress. I t was proposed that the Russian troops should retire behind Adrianople and the British fleet to Besika Bay, and according to one version the principle o f such an evacuation has been accepted, both a t London and St. Petersburg. But difficulties have been started as to the details, the Russians objecting that Besika B ay is only twelve hours by steam from Constantinople, while Adrianople is twenty-four hours’ march. T o which it is replied on our side that a fleet cannot cannot move with the same rapidity as a single steamer, and that the Russians w ill have the railroads at their command, the rejoinder being that an army with artillery cannot take a ticket and start by the first train. T h e question o f the equalisation of th e distances to which each force should retire might, one would think, be am icably settled without much difficulty. But there is a further point which must have suggested itself to both parties in the negotiation, namely, that it will be in the power o f Turkey at any time to p lace either o f them a t a disadvantage. She may either re-fortify the lines
N ew Series, V ol. XIX. No. 494.
defending Constantinople, or close the Dardanelles. A n d as the latter would be far the more easily done, the risk run by the British fleet in abandoning the Sea o f Marmara would be considerably greater than that incurred by the Russians. This, however, is not likely to stand in the way o f the arrangement, i f the evacuation on the part o f the Russians were honestly and thoroughly carried out. W e should keep our eyes open, and, in the event o f a rupture of the negotiations, should be always able to pass the Dardanelles before the peninsula of Gallipoli could be seized by the Russians. I f the Porte attempted to close the Straits we should be obliged to force a passage.
According to the Paris papers, the last form which the statem ent o f our policy has assumed is the answer to the proposed formula o f in
vitation to the Congress which has been semi-officially com municated to several o f the Powers. They are invited “ to meet in Congress at Berlin, to revise the treaties o f 1856 and 18 71, while taking into account the new state o f things created by the recent events in the East.” In reply to this invitation the British Government is said to have asked, “ as a condition in taking part in the Congress, that Russia should make a declaration that she regards all the questions raised by recent events in the East as having an exclusively European character, and as therefore only capable o f being settled by an understanding between the great European Powers.”
T h e ju stice o f our contention and its disin-
th e v e r d ic t terested character as an assertion of Inter-
o p in io n , national right are now very generally acknow
ledged by the press o f the whole world, except that o f St. Petersburg. A s far as public opinion goes, it certainly cannot be said that England is isolated. She “ has taken up,” says the République Française— certainly not prejudiced in favour o f a Conservative Government— “ an im pregnable diplomatic position. T h e principle which she upholds— that treaties must count, and cannot be modified or annulled without the common consent o f those who concluded them— is solid ground. W e regard this principle as one o f the conditions o f general order, and as necessary in the interest o f civilisation, and hence it is that we support the British policy, and not from any motive o f unjust partiality.” And the M in isterial journals in Austro-H ungary are o f opinion that if any Powers reckon on bringing about the isolation o f England they are deceiving themselves, for England will not be isolated when the decisive moment arrives. Even the German papers approve the principle o f the English demand, and opinion in America is beginning to range itself on our side. We do not pretend to “ tear