L E T . A W eekly Newspaper and R eview .

DUM V C B IS G R A TU LAM U R , ANIMOS E T IA M ADDIMUS UT IN IN CΠPT IS V E S T R IS CONSTANTER M AN EA T IS .

F rom the B r i e f o f H is Holiness P iu s IX . to T h e T a b l e t , Ju n e 4, 18 70.

V o l . 82. No. 2790. L ondon, October 28, 1893.

P r ic e s d ., b y P ost

[ R e g i s t e r e d a t t h e G e n e r a l P o st Of f i c e a s a N ew s p a p e r .

C h ro n ic l e of t h e W e e k :

The Death of the Marajah Dhu£ leep Singh—Death of Lord Vivian —The Bishop of St. Asaph on

Page

Disestablishment—The Ulster Defence Union—Temperance Mayors at the Mansion House—A French Force Rescued by Englishmen— The Russians in Paris—Mr. Redmond and the Government—The Mohammedan Revolt in Uganda —The Brazil Revolt — London School Board and Corporal Punishment . . . . . . . . 681 ^Leaders :

Father John Morris, S . J . . . . . 685 The Italian Premier on the Situa­

tion .. .. .. .. . . 686

C O N T

L e a d e r s (continued) :

Page

Pusey.. .. .. .. . . 687 Catholic A r t .. .. .. .. 688 A Central Seminary for Southern

England

•• •• 690

N o t e s .............................................. 691 R e v ie w s :

A New Edition of Origen . . 692 The Woman of the Iron Bracelets 693 Marie Antoinette . . . . . . 694 Cardinal Vaughan at Stockton . . 694 C o rr e s po n d en c e :

Rome :—(From Our Own Corre­

spondent) . . . . . . . . 697 Dublin :—(From Our Own Corre­

spondent) . . . . . . . . 698

ENTS.

L e t t e r s to t h e E d it o r :

Page

The Coal War .. .. . . 699 Ritual of the Basilican Arrange­

ment . . .. .. . . 700 “ The Month ” and Spiritualism. 700 Relics of the True Cross and of St.

George . . . . .. .. 701 The Christian Brothers and Lord

Stourton .. .. .. .. 701 The Catholic Church in America .. 705 Prayers for the Dead.. .. .. 706 The Bishop of Nottingham and the

Miners .. .. .. .. 707 Lord Herries on Denominational

Education . . . . . . . . 708 S o c ia l and P o l it ic a l . . . . 708

O b it u a r y ..........................................709

Page

SUPPLEM ENT. N ew s from t h e S chools :

Elementary Schools and the Rates 713 Voluntary Schools and Rate-Aid 713 Plans of Educational Compromise 714 About Education . . . . . . 715 N ew s from t h e D io c e s e s : Westminster . . . . . . 715

Southwark .. .. .. . . 716 Hexham and Newcastle . . . . 716 Plymouth .. . . . . . . 7x7 Portsmouth . . .. . . .. 717 St. Andrews and Edinburgh . . 717 Cardinal Gibbons’ Jubilee . . . . 717

Rejected MS. cannot be returned unless accompanied with address and postage.

CHRONICLE OF THE WEEK.

TH IS once famous Indian Prince, after a life of singular vicissitudes, died of d h u l e e i - s in g h . apoplexy, at the Hotel de la I rimouille, surrounded only by strangers. The son o f the great Runjeet Singh, Dhuleep, was born in 1838. Left fatherless when he was only twelve months old, after an interregnum of four years, he was allowed to ascend the throne, with his mother as Regent. From 1839 to 1845, there was peace, and even friendliness, between the Government of India and the Sikh Kingdom. In the latter year the Sikhs, it is supposed, encouraged by a false idea as to the weakness of England, in consequence of the Afghan campaign, crossed the frontier and invaded British territory. The struggle which followed was one of the most sternly contested that ever took place in India, and has earned for the Sikhs the lasting admiration and regard of the rulers of India. Four battles were fought in less than a month, and, the Sikhs, in spite of their splendid courage, were defeated in each. A treaty of peace was signed at Lahore, the capital of the Punjab. Dhuleep Singh was allowed to remain in possession of his province subject to a certain measure of supervision and control. But the spirit of the Sikhs was not yet broken, and the sort of dual control was not in the nature of things likely to work smoothly. The Queen-mother frankly hated the English, and the elevation of the favourite Mulraj to the chief seat in the Council of Regency was the signal for new trouble. Towards the end ■ of 1848, two English officers were treacherously murdered, and both sides recognized that the struggle must be brought to a final issue. The Sikh army again fought with astonishing bravery, especially at the terrible and undecided battle o f Chillianwallah, but was decisively defeated at Gujerat. In March, 1849, the full penalty of defeat was exacted from the vanquished, and the Punjab was definitely annexed to British territory. As a consequence Dhuleep Singh lost his throne, and, according to his own view, was punished for the acts of his guardian. It cannot be said, however, that •under the circumstances, the Maharajah was treated ungenerously, as he was assigned a pension of ^40,000 a year. By his own choice he became a Christian, and decided to settle in England. Moneys were advanced to him by the Government for the purchase of an estate, and Elvedon Hall soon became one of the best known sporting properties in the Kingdom. Dhuleep Singh was a keen sportsman, and a fine shot, and his battues were for many years famous, and frequently honoured by the presence of Royalty. But even the ample income, punctually paid to him by the Government, proved insufficient to meet the expenditure required by the style of living he affected. The result was a long quarrel with the India Office, where his demands for extra funds were consistently refused. In 1882 the quarrel came to a head. He wrote two long letters to The Times, laying his grievances before the public, and, three years later, presented a formal demand for the settlement of all his claims, which were based upon his alleged right to private estates in Punjab, and to the great diamond, the Kohinoor, which had been taken as a prize of war. This demand, meeting with a refusal, the indignant Prince left England, and, after drawing up a fiery proclamation to the Sikh nation, started for India. Meanwhile, the news of his coming had reached Calcutta, and the Viceroy decided that it would be impolitic to allow him to return, and accordingly he was met on his arrival at Aden by an officer, who told him he must go no further. For some weeks he remained as a guest at the Residency, and begged the Government to allow some of his relations from the Punjab to come out to witness the ceremony of his abjuration of Christianity and re-conversion to the Sikh faith. With easy tolerance, the Indian Government considered his reques' shamefully, and the religious ceremony in question actually took place. After a long stay at Aden, where his health suffered considerably from the climate, he found himself obliged to return to Europe. Baffled in his design of appealing personally to the Sikhs, he went to Russia, where for some time he had great hopes that his cause would be espoused by the Tsar. In the end it all came to nothing. I f the Russian Government ever thought of making use of him, they soon discovered their mistake. His fiery letters denouncing the perfidy of England found some circulation in the Punjab, but they only served to demonstrate how completely his influence was gone. Finding he had nothing to expect from Russia, he retired to Paris, and, reconsidering his decision not to accept money from England again, began to draw his pension. In 1864 Dhuleep Singh was married to a young Christian lady, whom he met when distributing prizes at a school in Alexandria. She died two or three years ago, after bearing him several children. Quite recently he married an English wife.

N ew Series, Vol. L., No. 2,09c.'