THE TABLET

A Weekly Newspaper a n d R ev iew

D u m VOBIS GRATULAMUR, ANIMOS ETIAM ADDIMUS UT IN INCCEPTIS VESTRIS CONST ANTER MANEATIS.

Prom the B r ie f o f H is Holiness Pius IX . to The Tablet, June 4, 1870.

Vol. 54. No. 2054. London, A ugust 23, 1879.

Prick 50!. By Post s^ d

[Registered a t the General Post O ffice as a N ewspaper.

C hronicle of the Week :—

Page

Prorogation of Parliament.— The French Government and the CatbolicUniversities.— The Petitions Against the Ferry Bills.— Appeal o f the Government to the CouncilsGeneral.—The Last News from Zululand —The Ne w Advance.— Sir Garnet Wolseley’s Plans.— Captain Carey.— Afghanistan and the Indian Empire.— Fatal Riot in Ireland.— Agriculture in Ireland.— Irish Criminal Statistics. — The Committee on the State of the Army.— The Rule o f the Road at Sea.— The New Eddystone Lighthouse. — Portuguese Missions to Africa.— Storms and Floods, &c........................................225

CONTENTS

P eter’s Pence L eaders:

Leo X I I I . on St. Thomas and the

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129

Short N otices :

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Eine Reise nach dem Orient . . 23=; The Month . . . . . . . . 235 C orrespondence:

Schoolmen . . . . . . 229 Cardinal Newman and John

Wesley _.. .. . . .. 230 j A Forthcoming French Congress 231 Count Andrässyand the Policy of

Austria-Hungary .. . . 232

The Chinese in San Francisco— II 235 Catholic Schools and School

Boards .. . . . . . . 236 Perversions of History . . . . 236 St. Winefrid’s W e l l .. . . . . 236 The “ Unauthorised Congrega­

R eviews :

The Jesuits .. .. . . . . 233 Monday Lectures .. . . . . 234 Das Katholisch-Sociale Vereins­

wesen in Deutschland .. .. 235

tions ” and the Ferry Bill .. 236 Continuation of the Pontifical Ency­

clical Concerning the Scholastic Philosophy . . .. . . .. 237 Parliamentary Summary : .. 239

Rome :— Letter from our own

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Correspondent ........................... 24r D iocesan N ews Westminster ........................... 242

S o u th w a rk .......................................243 Birmingham.. . . . . . . 243 Leeds.. . . , . . . . . 243 Nottingham . . . . . . . . 243 Salford . . . . . . . . . 243 “ Our Lady of Boulogne ” . . . 243 St. Mary’s Convent, Richmond Hill,

Leeds.. .. .. .. . . 243 Addresses to Cardinal Newman . . 244 I reland .................................... 246 Foreign N ews

United States . . . . . . 247 General N ew s: . . . . . . 247

CHRONICLE OF THE WEEK.

T

H E sixth session of the present Parliament was closed at two o'clock on the 15th, with the usual formalities, by Royal Commission. The longest and perhaps most satisfactory portion of the Queen’s Speech was devoted to the position of Foreign affairs. Her Majesty was able to state that the territorial arrangements stipulated in the Treaty of Berlin had been faithfully execute's that the Balkan Peninsula had been evacuated by the Russian army, that suitable provision had been made for the government of the Ottoman Province o f Eastern Roumelia, and that she had given her approval to the election of Prince Alexander of Battenberg as Prince of Bulgaria. These are positive results which the country will rejoice have been achieved, notwithstanding the prophecies o f those who were never tired o f telling us that the Treaty o f Berlin would never be carried out. The only thing now to be desired in this respect is the adoption of the reforms promised by the Ottoman Government in the administration of the possessions of the Empire in Europe and Asia ; and, admitting the force of the plea put forward, that their accomplishment has hitherto been precluded by the calamities of the late war, the country will welcome the assurance of her Majesty that she has urged, and will continue to urge, the importance of a timely compliance with the engagements of the Porte in this respect. Turning to India, the Speech refers to the happy termination o f the war, and the treaty concluded with the Amir o f Afghanistan. In this respect also the prophets of evil have been disappointed, and every one must now admit that important results have been brought about without excessive outlay o f treasure or loss o f life. Perhaps the most gratifying sentence in this regard is that in which her Majesty states : “ My acknowledgments are especially due to the many native Princes who made offers of assistance, as well as to those whose forces were actually brought into the field, and I recognise in such zealous co-operation their attachment and good will to our Indian Empire.” The recent victory of Lord Chelmsford at Ulundi happily made the reference to South Africa more cheering than it would have been had the session been closed a few weeks earlier. Every one will join in the wish of her Majesty that the decided success which has been achieved will lead to the early establishment of peace on an enduring basis. The domestic legislation accomplished during the session does not occupy a large space in the Speech, and the more important measures carried were easily enumerated b} her Majesty. I f it were the custom

New Series, Vol. X X II . N c . 563.

to mention in the speech at the end o f a session all the measures promised at the commencement, a considerably larger list would have to be gone through. Still it is something that a complete code of laws relating to service in the army and navy has been placed on the Statute Book, and that the important subject of higher education in Ireland has been dealt with.

Either the French Government fear that government ,M - ,,Fe^ ’S fBlU ,0nHujgher Education Will and the finally be defeated, or they are too impatient catholic to wait a few months for its legal enactment. universities. They have practically taken the matter out o f the hands of the Chambers, and determined to secure their object in a shorter way than by legislation. The essence o f the Bill, so far as it refers to higher education, — and leaving out of the question the liberty of teaching in all schools, threatened by the 7th Clause— is the restoring to the State’s University the exclusive right of conferring degrees. This is the question at present at issue in the Senate, but the Government have for all practical purposes anticipated the decision of that body by issuing a decree ordering that no one can become a candidate for certain Government functions unless he produces a diploma or certificate of studies granted by the State faculties. The degrees of the free Universities will thus be rendered practically useless, and all who look forward to a public official career will be driven into the State Universities. Few will deny that this is a considerable stretch of arbitrary power on the part of the Ministry, and one which it is hard to reconcile with our notions of constitutional Government. But it by no means goes far enough to satisfy the ardent supporters of the present regime, who demand that the graduates of the Catholic Universities should be excluded, not only from the Council of State, but also from practising at the bar, sitting on the Ministerial bench, or filling even the smallest office under Government. The Ultra-Republican view of freedom and equal rights may be gathered from the following remarks of the National. “ The programmes for admission to the Normal, Military, Polytechnic, Naval, andTrust Schools must be drawn up in such a manner as to exclude all candidates who do not produce certificates to prove they have studied in the State’s Colleges. That the Government can do by a mere decree, and by so doing Government would strike at the Congregational colleges, whether managed by authorised or unauthorised Orders, an indirect but at the same time a mortal blow.” Another plan to secure pupils o f Sta'e Colleges is stated by the Rappel. It is that they should not be troubled to pass an examination at all, but should receive a certificate, equivalent in effect to a degree, when they have gone through the curriculum ; but that the