THE TABLET
A Weekly Newspaper and Review
D u m VOBIS GRATULAMUR, ANIM OS ETIAM ADDIMUS UT IN INCGEPTIS VESTRIS CONSTANTER MANE AVIS.'
Prom the Brief of His Holiness Pius IX . to T h e T a b l e t , June 4, 1870.
Vol. 52. No. 2009. London, October 12, 1878.
P rice sd. By P ost sJ^cI
[R egistered a t the General P ost O ffice as a N ewspaper.
C hronicle of th e We e k :—
Page
The Afghan War.—The Russian Press on the Afghan Difficulty.— The Relation of Cabul to India.— The Afghan Army.—The Austrian and Hungarian Ministries.— The Operations in Bosnia.— The Hungarian Difficulty.—The Russians in European Turkey.— Roumania, Bessarabia, and the Dubrudja.— Prince Bismarck on the antiSocialist Bill. — Catholic Chaplains for Prisons.— Railway Servants.—The Bankruptcy of India. — “ Young Trieste.” — Bigotry versus Charity.— Plan for an Irish Parliament —Dr. Pusey on Confession.— Death of Mr. Whalley, M.P.................................................. 449
C O N T
P eter’s Pence ........................... 453 L e a d e r s :
Page
The Afghan War .. .. .. 453 Lord Dufferin on Religious Feuds 454 The Attitude of the Catholic
Party in the Reichstag .. .. 454 Mr. Wood and the Little Sisters of the Poor .. . . .. 455 Royalty and Loyalty in Ireland.. 456 On Certain Inconsistencies of
Ritualists.— V I............................ 457 R eviews :
Epitaphs from the Catacombs .. 458 j Dr. Natali’s Enchiridion .. . . 459 [ The Life of Henriette d'Osseville 459
Short N otices ;
Revue Catholique .. . . .. 460 : Catholic Belief . . . . . . 460
E N T S .
Short N otices (Continued):
Page
Month of St. Francis .. .. 460 C orrespondence :
Peter’s Pence .. .. .. 461 The “ Month” and Mr. Petre .. 461 Rosary Sunday .. .. .. 462 The Reasons of the Widespread
Aversion to Russia .. .. 462 Perversions of Ecclesiastical His
tory .. .........................462 Secular Emblems in Churches .. 462 Board Schools ........................... 463 Church Music .. .. .. 463 The Preparation for Mass .. 463 A Costly Offering .. .. .. 463 R ome : — Letter Irom our own
Correspondent............................465 D iocesan N ews
Westminster...................................... 467
Southwark....................... Page Birmingham.. Hexham and Newcastle . . .. 4S7 Liverpool .. . Salford Scotland :
Argyll and the Isles
— 468
Dunkeld I reland :—
Letter from our own Correspondent . . .. . . - 463 F oreign N ews
Germany . . .. . .. 4«g Poland Memoranda :—
R e l i g i o u s ....................... Educational .. G eneral N ews . . ,
CHRONICLE OF THE WEEK.
TH E news from India increases in interest. What was the Afghan difficulty has, in all probability, becom e the A fghan war. There is no indication o f any disposition to submission on the part o f the Amir, who, on the contrary, appears to b e vigorously preparing for resistance to the a ttack which he has provoked. I t is telegraphed from Bombay that he has summoned the tribal “ jirgahs,” or councils, to afford him assistance, and that all, even the recently conquered Jowakis, are believed to have assented. T h e frontier tribes, from the K h a ib ar to the Bholan, number 180,000 fighting men, o f whom 150,000 are o f A fghan blood, and 30,000 o f Belooch. I t is thought that the B e looch tribes, as well as the A freedies, may remain neutral. T h e death is reported of Adhan K h an , the ch ie f o f the Southern Ghiljies, a very powerful A fghan tribe, but it is not known how this event w ill affect the position. We have further in telligence that the Am ir has reinforced the garrisons o f Candahar, Jellalabad, and A l i Musjid, and that an A fghan army is proceedin g to Khoorum . A l l this indicates the determ ination o f the Am ir to try the fortune o f war. Meantime our troops are hastening to the frontier in all directions. I t appears to be decided that no attem pt will be made for the present to march upon Cabul, but important operations will be forthwith commenced on the A fghan frontier. T h e garrison at Jumrood will be strengthened so as to secure the entrance to the K h a ib a r ; the issue o f the Bholan will be placed beyond the possibility o f a t ta c k ; and troops will be advanced into the Khooram Valley. T h e garrison at Quettah is also being strongly reinforced. I t is believed that these measures are all that are at present contemplated, and that the winter will be spent in preparations for any yet more decided steps which the condition o f our relations with Shere A l i in the spring may render necessary. I f this be the plan o f the Indian Government it must be admitted that they have up to this shown no lack o f promptitude and v igour in carrying it in to effect. There has been no delay in the concentration o f troops on the different points to be operated upon. Telegraphic in telligence was received that A l i Musjid, which lies ten miles beyond Jumrood, and is almost in the heart of the Khaibar, had been captured ; but later advices report that the attack on this fortress has been postponed, owing to the unexpected strength o f the force which the Am ir has collected for its defence. I t is said that six thousand Afghan infantry, including four regular regim ents, with eighteen guns, threaten an a ttack upon Jumrood, and that the whole force assem bled at Peshawur w ill be needed for an advance up the Khaibar. This
N ew S e r ie s , V o l . X X . No. 518.
aggressive movement upon the part o f the Am ir renders the capture o f A l i Musjid and the advance up the K h a ib ar o f all the greater importance, although a report— as yet unconfirm ed— has arrived that A l i M usjid has returned.
Russian views and speculations on the ih e Russian Afghan quarrel are set forth with much frankt h e a fgh an n e s s *n sorae of the St. Petersburg papers. T h e d i f f i c u l t y . Exchange News o f the 5th o f O ctober sa y s :
“ I t is only in A fghanistan that the question can be settled as to whether we have a possibility o f d e fending ourselves against England in the East. I f the mountain passes through theH indoo K oosh remain under our influence our strength will be equal to Britain’s. I f these passes get into England’s hands there will be no end to her pretensions and meddlings in our Central Asian affairs. Thus it is our policy not only to support the Amir, but to make his affairs our affairs, his struggle with England our struggle. T h e English desire, at whatever cost, to have possession o f these passes. W e, at whatever cost, must retain them in the hands o f the Am ir .” T h e Novoye Vremya, o f the same date says, “ Russia can help A fghanistan no more than England helped T u rkey with active assistance, o f a war there can be no question, and if under extrem e circum stances Russia were to move 30,000 men to Cabul, that army corps would p lay no more active part than d id the British F le e t in the Sea o f Marmara and at Gallipoli.” T h e Moscow News is o f opinion that “ England has in tentionally sought a quarrel with the Amir. I t is a move ju s t like the Anglo-Turkish Convention. T h e y are threads o f an extensive intrigue d irected from every quarter to entangle Russia ; England has failed however to arm the Musulman countries against Russia, and has only succeeded in arming them against herself.”
Sir H enry H avelock does not agree with
™ o^ ul^tcT Lord Lawrence in his belief that “ masterly
In d ia . inactivity ” as regards A fghanistan is still a possible policy. “ N o man liv ing,” he writes to a north country paper, “ has a higher respect than I have for Lord Lawrence, but there are two fallacies running through his whole argument which, in my humble opinion, certainly vitiate it. Lord Lawrence says, in effect— 1 A c cep t the Amir's apology, and do not force a mission upon him, and you will avert ¡¡war.’ Undoubtedly we should for the present. But how would that course get rid o f the Russian influence, permanently established for all future time at the Court o f C a b u l : that is, at our very doors ? W ould it not leave it there unmolested, admitted, and acknowledged, while we were permanently excluded ? W ould Lord Lawrence him self undertake to govern India under such conditions as these, with the political frontier of Russia
