T H

E

T

A

B

L

E

A Weekly Newspaper and Review

T

D UM VOBIS GRATULAMUR, ANIM OS ETIAM ADDIMUS UT IN INCCEPTIS VESTRIS CONSTANTER M ANEATIS.

From, the Brief o f His Holiness Pius IX . to T he Tablet, June 4, 1 70.'

Vol. 54. No. 2061. L o n d o n , O c t o b e r it, 1879.

Price 5cL By Post 5%d

[R egistered a t the General P ost O ffice as a N ewspaper.

C hronicle of th e W eek : —

Page

Battle of Charasiab.—The Land Agitation in Ireland.— Landlord and Tenant in Ireland.— Waste Lands in Ireland.— The Chancellor of the Exchequer in Dublin. —Distress in Connemara.— Sir William Harcourt and the Government. —•The Caucus System at Dewsbury.—Discontent in South Africa.— Cetywayo in Captivity. — Instructions to the British Residents in Zululand.—Departure -of the Resident from Mandalay. —The Case of the LieutenantGovernor of Quebec.—Tne Prussian Elections.— Opening of the Austrian Reichsrath. — Russians and Turcomans, &c., &c. .. 449

CONTENTS.

P eter’s P ence ..

Page

L e a d e r s :

Catholics on Schoolboards •• 453 Peasant Proprietors in Ireland •• 454 Curiosities of Protestantism •• 455 The Czechs in the Reichsrath .. 456 Intermediate Education—I reland 456 R eviews .

The “ Dublin Review” .. .. 458 Jack’s Education; or, How he

Learnt F’arming ..

.. 459

Don Garcia in England .. •• 459 Short N otices ;

Concise History of England .. 460 Cato Redivivus, or New Wines in Old Bottles... . 460 Questions du Jour .. Gilpin’s Forest Scenery .. .. 460 .. 460

Short N otices (continued) :

The Last Days of Bishop Dupan-

Page loup.. .. .. .. _ . . 460 First Principles of ModernEIistory 460 Isabella de Medici, Duchessa de

Sangro .. .. .. .. 460 Magazines for October .. .. 460 C orrespondence:

Mr. Perry’s Life of St. Hush .. 461 Work for the Children of Mary and all Lovers of the Blessed Mother of G id .. .. ..4 6 1 Elizabeth and the Catholics .. 461 St. Joseph’s Home, Bournemouth 461 The Philosophy of History—Why it is an Especially Important Part of a Catholic Course of Study at the Present Time .. 462

&c., &c.

R ome :— Letter from our own

Pag

Correspondent . . . . . . 465 Feast of the Immaculate Conception 467 Letters of his Holiness Pope Leo

X I I I .................................................... 467 D iocesan N ews

Westminster

. . . . . . 467

Southwark . . . . . . . . 468 Birmingham ...............................46s Clifton ..............................................469 Hexham and Newcastle . . . . 469 Northampton . . . . . . 469 Nottingham .. . . . . .. 470 Salford . . . . . . . . 470 Shrewsbury .. . . . . . . 470 M emoranda :

Religious . . . . . . . . 47r I r e land:— .. . . . . . . 472 G eneral N ews : ................................. 47?

CHRONICLE OF THE WEEK.

On Sunday last no less than four large meet-

the land jn2rS p\ace different parts o f Ireland to in Ireland. carry on the agitation o f the land question, and

T'H E R E has been a serious engagement before Cabul. G eneral Roberts sent a despatch on M onday the 6th— which was telegraphed from Shutargardan on the 8th— stating that on that day (M onday) reconnoitring to repeat the demand for a general reduction o f parties had been sent out from Charasiab at daybreak on all the roads to Cabul, and it was ascertained that the enemy were advancing in great force. T h e reconnoitring parties fell back, and soon afterwards the high range of hills between Charasiab and C abul were crowned with A fghan troops and Cabulis, and parties o f Ghilzais appeared on the hills flankin g both sides o f the British camp. General B aker was therefore immediately ordered to carry the heights in front. T h is he d id “ in the most admirable manner.” H e sent M a jo r W h ite o f the 72nd H ighlanders with a wing o f that regim ent, three guns, 100 o f the 23rd Pioneers, and two squadrons o f the 5th Punjab Cavalry forwards by the right o f the gorge. A fter an obstinate resistance he drove the enemy off the hills in front o f him, subsequently capturing 12 guns, and b ivouacking on the heights. Meanwhile G eneral Baker with the rest o f the 72nd, a wing o f the 5th Goorkhas, 100 o f the 5th Punjab Infantry, the rest o f the 23rd Pioneers, 4 mountain guns and two Gatlings, made a turning movement and was soon “ hotly engaged.” T h e troops “ carried height after height in gallant style, and the enem y fled in great confusion, losing two standards. The lo ss o f the A fghans is unknown, but their force is estim ated b y the correspondent o f the l im e s at n regim ents with artillery, and immense numbers o f hillmen. Sir F . Roberts d irected the movements from the camp throughout the day, and received great assistance from the Arm y Signalling D e partm ent under Captain Stratton o f the 22nd, whose arrangements were “ perfect,” and who signalled by flag when it was c loudy and by heliograph when there was sunshine. T h e engagement, we are told, lasted nearly all day, and the Am ir watched it eagerly from his camp, which was alongside o f ours. H e states that his friends have left the Bala H issar and that it is now in the hands of the enemy. T h e victory is expected to have a very quieting effect on the country, which is in a most excited state. T h e chiefs o f Chardeh and the Cabul suburbs have asked to be allowed to come in and pay their respects. But it seems not im probable that there may be severe fighting in Cabul and the Bala Hissar. S ir F. Roberts hoped to march to within a short distance of th e c ity on Tuesday. M ajor W h ite ’s loss was 3 H ighlanders and one of the 5th Punjab Cavalry killed ; 6 H ighlanders, two Punjabi and a 9th Lancer man wounded. General Baker’s consisted o f Captain Young, 5th Punjab Infantry, Lieutenant Ferguson, 72nd, D r. Duncan 23rd Pioneers, wounded ; and about 70 men killed and wounded.

rents. T h e most im portant o f these gatherings was probably that in Cork, and it attracted great interest from the fact that Mr. Shaw, the leader o f the H om e R u le party, appeared on the same platform with Mr. Parnell, the favourite of the advanced section o f Irish politicians, and the author o f the advice which has been echoed from so many platform s that tenants should pay no rent at all i f what they considered a fair reduction was not allow ed them. Mr. Shaw is well known to be an able and experienced man of business as well as a politician o f acknowledged sincerity, and his words are, therefore, calculated to carry weight with those who desire to deal wth the difficulty o f the hour in a practical and efficacious manner. A s m ight be expected, he told his hearers that it was necessary in the matter of reduction o f rents to discrim inate between landlords and landlords, for while some had raised their rents as high as they could be forced, others had not added anything to their rentals for generations. Mr. Shaw gave one piece o f advice which it is to be hoped will be la id to the hearts o f a ll who heard him, aud o f all who read it, and which after some recent platform utterances was certainly not uncalled for. “ D o not,” said he, “ on any account put yourselves in the grip o f the law, no matter what any man may spout to you from a p latform .” N o one can say that this is not sound and sensible advice, and though people may like to cheer a different sentim ent, we trust and believe that the tenants as a body are not so insane as to dream o f entering into a conflict with the power o f the law. A lth ough Mr. Shaw’s language is moderate and his counsels prudent, he does not shrink from the avowal o f very advanced opinions on the land question. T h e B ill prepared by the late Mr. Butt embodied the principle of fixity of tenure, but it imposed on the tenant the onus o f proving his right to a permanent occupation o f his farm. Mr. Shaw would a lter this, and declare every holding in the country to be permanent, leaving to the landlord the onus o f proving it should be otherwise, either on account o f non-payment o f rent, or o f some other malfeasance on the part of the tenant. But Mr. Shaw goes still further. W ith him fixity o f tenure is only the means to the end, and is chiefly valuable as preparing the way for the actual owning o f the land by the occupier. H e wants to change the whole tenure of land in Ireland, and to bring about a new state o f things in which the man who works the land shall own it. This is at first sight a startling proposition, and suggests irresistibly the idea o f communism, and o f taking one man’s property to g ive it to another. But Mr, Shaw says : “ nothing o f the k ind,” the landlord is to be fairly paid for his land, and the way it is to be done is by so rem edying the defects o f the Bright C lau res

New Series,1 Vor. XXII. No. 570.