r HE TABLET
A W eekly Newspaper and Review
D u m VO B IS G R A T U L AM U R , A N IM O S ET IAM ADDTMUS U T IN IN CCEPTIS V E S TR IS CO N S T AN T E R M A N E A Y 1S .
From the Brief of His Holiness Pius I X . to T h e T a b l e t , June 4, 1870.
Vol. 52. No. 1996.
L o n d o n , J u l y 13, 1878.
P rice sd. B y P ost 5%d
[R e g is tered a t th e G en er a l P ost O f f ic e a s a N ew spaper.
C h ro n ic le of t h e W e e k :—
Pa^e
The Anglo-Turkish Convention. — The Occupation of Cyprus.— The Malcontents.— Attitude of Russia and France.- The Considerations which Dictate our Policy.— The French Press on the Treaty.— Batoum.—The Close of the Congress. — The Foreign Office Memorandum.—Irish Land Act.— The Cattle Diseases Bill.— Debate on Ritualism.— Extension of University College, London. — The Disturbance at Marseilles.—Jeanne d’Arc . .. 33
C 0 N T
L e a d e r s :
Page
The Convention with Turkey .. 37 Germany and the Holy See .. 37 Pan-Anglicanism .. .. . . 38 Amendments in the Irish Inter
mediate Education Bill .. 39 On Certain Inconsistencies of
Ritualists.— I. . . . . . . 40 Reviewers and the Reviewed .. 41 The Anglo-Turkish Treaty .. . . 42 R e v iew s :
The Philosophy of Existence . . 43 The “ Month ’’ for July . . . . 44 S hort N otices :
A Search for Fortune . . . . 44
E N T S .
S hort N otices (continued):
Page
Lectures on Ritualism .. . . 44 C o r r e s p o n d e n c e :
The Reform of Church Music .. 4$ Common Sense .. . . .. 45 Worn-out Priests .. .. ••45 Catholic Poor School Committee 46 Diocesan Inspectors’ Salaries . . 46 “ Save the Boy.” .. . . ..46 St. Joseph’s Invitation to Beth
lehem .. . . . . . . 46 Catholism and Infidelity .. .. 47 Dr. Nicholas Harpsfield . . .. 47 A Day in the Country for 500
Children . . .. ., .. 47 P a r l ia m e n t a r y S ummary . . 47
R ome : — Letter from our own
Page
Correspondent ..............................49 D io ce san N ews
Westminster......................... . . 51 S o u th w a rk ........................................ 51 Beverley . . . . : ..51 Clifton ......................... ..52 P l y m o u t h .........................................52 I r e lan d :—
Letter from our own Corre
spondent ......................... — 53 F oreign N ews ;—
G e r m a n y ......................... . . 53 New Zealand ............................. 54 Belgium ... 54 M em oranda :—
R e l i g i o u s ......................................... 54G en e r a l N ews . . . . ..55
CHRONICLE OF THE WEEK.
TURKISH •CONTENTION. T
THE ANGLO-
HE Government has fully vindicated itself against the reproach of having abandoned Turkey. Its secret has been well kept, and while the more pessimist Conservatives were abusing Lord Salisbury for surrendering all the interests in Asia which his famous Circular had declared to be so important, he was securing those interests in the most effective manner. England enters into a defensive alliance with Turkey to resist any further aggression by Russia on the Sultan’s Asiatic dominions. But England could never assume the responsibility of upholding Turkish domination •in either continent without obtaining an efficient guarantee for the good government of the countries in which she maintains it, and she consequently exacts from the Sultan a pledge for all necessary reforms. And as a mere undertaking on the part of Turkey to execute such reforms has been proved by experience to be insufficient, England obtains by the present treaty a right to decide, in concert with the Porte, upon the reforms to be introduced, and to supervise the execution of them. For this purpose it is requisite that she should be, if not on the spot, at least close at hand, and she therefore, with the free consent of the Sultan, will occupy and administer the island of Cyprus for so long as Russia retains her recent acquisitions in Armenia, that is to say, Batoum, Kars, Ardahan, or any one of them. The refusal of Russia to give up those places has compelled us to undertake to defend Turkey by force of arms against further conquests in Asia; our undertaking so to defend her possessions makes it obligatory that we should guarantee their good government: that guarantee implies supervision, and supervision implies a military post in the neighbourhood. This is the simple explanation of the arrangement which some of .the French papers, perhaps not yet fully conversant with the papers laid before Parliament, represented as a partition of lurkey to the profit of England. And they seem still entirely to overlook the fact that we are conferring on Turkey the greatest possible boon, without taking any territory from her in return. Cyprus is only occupied, not alienated, and not even any money profit will accrue to England, for the surplus of revenue over expenditure will be paid by us into the Sultan’s treasury.
THE OCCUPATION OF CYPRUS.
The advantages which Cyprus offers as a post of observation and control are sufficiently obvious. Opposite the bight of the coast between Asia Minor and Syria, it is the most central point for communication with every part of Asiatic Turkey. And it must be remembered that it is not only over Asia Minor that England assumes a species of pro-
New S e r i e s . V o l , XX. No. 505.
tectorate and superintendence, but over the whole of the Asiatic possessions of the Sultan, including Syria and Mesopotamia. And while we are thus in the best position to make our influence felt in the way of promoting reforms and backing up good administrators, we also get the command of the main road from Asia Minor into Syria and— still more important— of the gulf of Iskenderoon, which must be the starting point of the Euphrates valley railway, whenever that colossal project is carried out. At the same time we are also within convenient distance of the Suez Canal, and can make that safe at any time without offending France by an occupation of Egypt.
That Russia has been for some time malcontent, c°gnizant of the proposed Anglo-Turkish alliance is more than probable, for the despatch of Lord Salisbury in which the negotiations with Turkey were formally opened, bears the same date (May 30) as that of the Schouvaloff-Salisbury Project of Memorandum, and in the last-named document itself the supervision of the reforms in Asiatic Turkey is recognised by Russia as belonging in a special manner to England. It is nearly certain therefore that to Russia at least the publication of the Treaty between England and Turkey was no surprise. And it is likely that the general policy of England with regard to Asiatic Turkey, as contingent on the insistance of Russia to retain her acquisitions in Armenia was as well known in the diplomatic chancelleries of Europe as the Anglo-Russian understanding embodied in the Project of Memorandum or that by which Austria was to occupy Bosnia and Herzegovina. Two classes of people however are not well pleased at the discovery— one consisting of those Conservatives who have been attacking the Government for not doing precisely what it has done, and think that they ought to have been let into the secret, and the other Liberals like the writer of an article in the Daily N ew s^ 'h o lifts up a lamentable voice to complain that the people had not been consulted before such responsibilities were incurred. But the answer to the first set of complainants is that the treaty of Turkey was only contingent on the decision that Russia was to retain her gains in Armenia, and that the formal and definite sanction of the Congress to those acquisitions only dates from a few days ago, while the second complaint is met by the simple answer that, whetever party is in power, it is impossible for it to take the public into its confidence before the conclusion of such delicate negotiations. It is after all the Government that must manage our foreign affairs and not any number of “ National Associations’’, nor even Parliament itself. Ministers are liable to penalties for their mistakes in the form of dismissal or even impeachment, but while they are
