THE TABLET

A IVeekly Newspaper and Review

Dum VOBIS GRATULAMUR, ANIMOS ETIAM ADDIMUS UT IN INCCEPTIS VESTRIS CONSTANTER MANEATIS.

From the B r ie f o f His Holiness Pius IX . to T he T ablet, June 4, 1870,

Vol. 52. No. 2006. L o n d o n , S e p t e m b e r 21, 1878.

P r ic e s d . B y P o s t s % d fRKGISTERED A T THE GENERAL POST OFFICE AS A NEWSPAPER.

C h ronicle o f t h e W e e k :—

Pa^e

Tne German Reichstag and the Anti-Socialist Bill.— The British Mission to Cabul. — Turkey and Affghanistan.— Turkey and the Treaty of Berlin.— Turkey and England. — The Greek Circular Note.—The Assassination o f Meheraet Ali.— Russian Intrigues in Japan.—The Government of Berne and the Catholics. — “ A Little More than Kin and Less than Kind.”— Cotton Manufactures in America.— Lord Dufferin and his Successor.— The Transvaal.— The Yellow Fever in Louisiana.— The Collision on the Thames.— Review of 50,000 Men at Vincennes.— The Catholic Church in Scotland. .. 353

CONTENTS.

L e a d e r s :

Page

She “ Month ” and the Bishops . . 357 The Bishop of Orleans on the

Peter’s Pence Collection . . 358 The Italian Government and the

Archbishop of Chieti . . . . 359 The Functions of Statistics .. 359 Literary Spiritualism .. . . 360 The Evangelisation of Africa .. 361

R e v i e w s :

Dr. Johnson.. .........................362 The Nineteenth Century . . . . 362 The Contemporary Review . . 363

C o r r e s p o n d e n c e :

Page

The Secret of the Sects. — A

Caution for the Times . . .. 365 ccM’tesa, Emperor of Uganda.” .. 365 Perversions of Ecclesiastical His­

tory . .. .. .. . . 365 The Old-Catholics ” o f Freiburg 366 Prayers for the Conversion of

England . . . . . . . . 366 The Maidstone Mission .. . . 366 Catholics and Board Schools .. 366 The Scarcity of Ecclesiastical

Vocations in France . . . . 367

S h o r t N o t ic e s ;

Paul Féval on the Jesuits. . . 364 Molière et Bourdaloue.. . . 364 Church Music . . . . .. .. 364

United States .. . . . . . . 367

R o m e : — Letter from our own

Correspondent . . . . . . 369

Page

D io c e s a n N ew s Westminster.. ... . . . . 371

Southwark . . ......................... 371 Clifton . . .. . . . . 372 Hexham and Newcastle . . . . 372 Plymouth . . . . . . . . 372 Shrewsbury .. . . . . , . 372

S c o t l a n d :—

Galloway . . . . . . . . 372 I r e l a n d :—

Letter from our own Corre­

spondent . . . .

F o r e ig n N ew s

373

£ rance ........................................ 374 Germany . . , , . . . . 374 M e m o r a n d a

Religious . . . . . . . . 375 G en er a l N ews . . . . 376

CHRONICLE OF THE WEEK.

THE GERMAN

REICHSTAG AND THE ANTI-SOCIALIST

BILL.

TH E two days’ debate in the Reich­

stag on the Anti-Socialist Bill, has resulted in a Resolution, carried by a large majority, to refer it to a Committee of twenty-one members. The most remarkable speeches delivered were those of the

Catholic Herr Reichensperger, the Socialist Rebel, and Prince Bismarck. The first maintained that the Bill offered no effectual guarantee for the repetition of the Socialistic agitation, nor even against the renewal of the attacks upon the life of the Emperor. The only efficacious means of remedying the existing evils lay in the revival of Christianity. H e would not, however, meet the proposal of the Government in a purely negative spirit, but wished the Bill to be referred to a Committee who should also consider what amendments were required in the Penal Code. Herr Bebel vehemently denied that there was any connexion between the attempts o f Hodel and Nobiling and Social Democracy, and he denounced the Bill as an unjustifiable interference with the rights o f property. In the course of his speech he introduced some rather sensational revelations as to the alleged intimate relations between the famous Socialist Lasalle and Prince Bismarck, in 1863 and 1S64. According to Herr Bebel the latter had, through the medium of a Prince o f the Royal House, invited Lasalle to meet him with a view to come to an understanding which should lead to their joint action against Liberalism as it then existed among the bourgeoisie, and several conferences resulted. The negotiations between them failed on the question of universal suffrage. In his reply, Prince Bismarck denied the accuracy of these statements. He said he had never had any dealings with the Socialist part}', for he did not consider as such his communications with Lasalle. He had only spoken three or four times with Lasalle, who himself requested the interviews ; and he had found him there “ imbued with national— nay, even monarchical— principles, although it was the same to him, whether the throne was occupied by a Hohenzollern, or a Lasalle dynasty.” It had never entered into his {Bismarck’s) mind to have any wish to grant universal suffrage, which he had accepted with reluctance as a Frankfurt tradition. Reverting to tke subject of the Bill before the Reichstag, Prince Bismarck declared his conviction that they bad to contend with a dangerous foe in Social Democracy, which threatened both the State and the country. He stated that the murder of General Mesentzeff had been celebrated as an act of justice, and that a newspaper article on the subject had concluded with the words

New S e r i e s , Vol. XX. No. 515.

Discite moniti. He concluded by hoping that the Reichstag would support the Government, in order that the Emperor might obtain protection for his person, for his Prussian subjects, and his German countrymen. A t the close of the dabate Herr Bebel reasserted the correctness of the statements made in his speech, putting forward the evidence of the Countess Hatzfeldt in support o f his remarks on the relations of Lasalle and Prince Bismarck.

We learn from Calcutta that great prepara-

“ T tions are beinS made at Peshawur for the des-

cAiJUL. patch of the British mission to Cabul. Includ­

ing camp-followers, the number o f persons forming the escort, &c., will amount to about 1,000. These will probably be increased by a detachment o f infantry and a troop o f the 10th Hussars. A safe conduct for Sir Neville Chamberlain and his little force through the Khyber Pass has been secured with the Khyberees from whom the British authorities have demanded and received hostages for the performance o f their agreement. The bearer o f the V iceroy’s letter to Shere Ali, the N awab Gholam Hussein Khan, is reported to be on good terms with the Ameer and his court, where he acted for some years as British agent. It is universally felt in India and in this country, by all except that small section o f politicians which holds to the “ Perish India ” policy, that the future security o f our Indian empire depends in a great measure on Sir Neville Chamberlain’s success in either conciliating or frightening Shere A li into the acceptance o f our demands. That he will have a difficult task is acknowledged on all hands. In addition to the tigerlike ferocity and cunning o f the wily Ameer and his nobles, he will have to encounter the unscrupulous intrigues o f Russian soldier-statesmen. Unyielding firmness and uncompromising determination that the demands o f England shall be accepted will be necessary. In open Durbar the Ameer is reported to have said, in the presence of the Russian envoys : “ I have seven crores o f rupees by me, every rupee o f which I will hurl at the head o f the British Government, and I will roll the border tribes against them like blasts o f fire.” It is not easy to reconcile this with the same potentate’s declaration to Lord Mayo, a few years ago, that he would regard our enemies as his enemies. But such pledges in the mouth o f a half-savage Oriental despot like Shere Ali are as little to be depended upon as the protestations of some o f his Russian friends. With such a ruler as the Ameer o f Affghanistan, our only hope o f success is to make it clear to him that the power o f England is far greater than that o f Russia, and that it is his interest to accept our offer o f an alliance, the alternative being that we shall annex his territory. I t is, so far, a good sign that the Envoy, Gholam Hussein Khan, who reached Cabul on Sept. 10, has been