HE TABL
A Weekly Newspaper and Review .
DÜM VOBIS GRATULAMUR, ANIMOS ETIAM ADDIMUS ÜT IN INCCEPTIS VESTRIS CONSTANTER MANEAT1S.
From the B r i e f o f H is H o lin ess P iu s IX . to T h e T a b l e t , June 4,, 1870.
V o l . 85. No. 2853.
L o n d o n , J a n u a r y 12, 1895. P r ic e sd . b y P o s t 5% â .
.Chronicle of t h e W e e k ' : '
Page
Atrocities at Port Arthur— Degradation o f Captain D r e y f u s — Signor Crispi and the Freemasons — 'Mr. Pickard and Socialism — The Revenue and the Budget Prospects — B o a rd o f T r a d e ■ Returns — The Charges Against M. Stambouloff—A New Greenland Expedition — Belgium and ■ the Congo Free S t a t e — T h e Sultan and M r. G la d s t o n e ’ s Speech on Armenia— The English Meat T r a d e and A m e r i c a n Shippers— The Naval Programme — The Health o f the Navy— The Armenian Question— The German Anti-Revolutionary Bill . . . . 41 'L eaders :
T w o C om m i t te e s and their
Policies . . . - _ . • •• 45 The New Depaiture in Central
Africa . . . . •• . . 46
L ea d e r s (Continued) :
C O N T
Page
The Rossettis . . . . _.. 48 The Bishops’ Draft Education
B i l l ............................................. 48 N o t e s j . . — — . . ..5° R e v iew s :
Text Books o f Theology and
Philosophy . . . . . . 51 Alphonse Daudet . . . . .. 52 George Washington .. . . 53 Lancelot Andrewes . . . . 54 Two Summers in Guyenne . . 55 Books of the W eek.. . . . . 55 C orrespondence :
Rome :—(From Our Own Corre
spondent) . . ^ ...................... 57 Notes from Paris . . . . . . 58 News from Ireland . . . . — 59 The Irish Press on Mr. Healy . . 59
[R e g i s t e r e d a t t h e G e n e r a l P ost O f f ic e a s a N ew spaper
E N T S .
L e t t e r s to t h e E d it or :
Page
Surreptitious^ Communions . . 61 The Continuity Theory . . . . 61 St. Deniol’s Library .. .. 61 The Bishop of Rochester’s Recent
P a s t o r a l .................................... 61 Mr. T. M. Healy on the Cardinal’s
Circular . . : •*
The Law in its Relation to Religious
Interests . . . . . . .. 62 St. Joseph’s Foreign Missionary
Society, Mill H i l l ......................... 63 Cardinal Moran on the Vitality of the Church . . . . . . . . 64 The late Sir John Thompson .. 65 Leo X I I I . and Dante . . . . 66 “ The Standard” on th e New
62
Scheme for Voluntary Schools .. 66 Father Healy Memorial .. . . .. 66 Catholic Truth Soc’etys Publica
tions . . . . . . . . * .. 66 A Prayer of the Primitive Church 67 New York Home for Sailors . . 67
Pace
O b it u a r y ........................................ 68 So c ia l a n d P o l it i c a l . . . . 68
SU PPLEM EN T . N ew s from t h e S chooi.s :
The C o n d i t io n of Voluntary
Schools . . . . .. 73 The Boston School Board and the
Apostles’ Creed . . .. . . 74 Nuns and their Rights as Citizens 75 The Decline of the Public School
System in America . . .. 76 The Education Department and
Voluntary Schools .. . . 77 The Coming School Board in
America . . . .. •• 77 St. Clare’s Convent, Pantasaph .. 77 N ew s from t h e D io ceses : Westminster . . . . ..77
Nottingham .. ............................. 78 Portsmouth 78 Glasgow ......................................... 78
* * Rejected MS. cannot be returned unless accompanied with address and postage.
CÉRONICLE OF THE WEEK.
----------- ♦ ---------
-PORT ARTHUR. A
TE R R IB L E accounts are coming to hand of a four days’ massacre
^ f° ll0Wed the
Arthur. The representative o f The Tim es
^
and some dozen other white men, and among them the Military Attaches of England and the United States, •were posted in a position from which they could see all that took place after the surrender of the town. On November 21 the Japanese marched in, chasing and killing every live thing that crossed their path. The correspondent declares that firing on the part of the Chinese had entirely ceased. Hundreds o f fugitives were hunted out of cover and hacked to pieces, and never a man made any attempt to fight. “ Many went down on their knees, supplicating with heads bent to the ground in Row-tow, and in that attitude were butchered mercilessly by the conquering army. Gunshots behind us turned our attention to the north creek, leading into the broad lagoon. Here swarms o f boats were moving away to the west, loaded to twice their normal limit with panic-stricken fugitives— men, women, and children who had stayed too late in the beleaguered town. A troop of Japanese cavalry, with an officer, was at the head of the creek, firing down seaward, slaughtering all within range. An old man and two children, of ten or twelve years, had started to wade across the creek ; a horseman rode into the water and slashed them a dozen times with his sword. The sight was more than mortal man could stand. . . . One poor wretch rushed out at the back o f a house as the invaders entered the front door firing promiscuously. He got into a back lane, and a moment later found himself cornered between two fires. We could hear his cry for quarter as he bowed his head in the dust three times ; th e third time he rose no more, but fell on his side, bent double in the posture of petition for the greatlyvaunted mercy of the Japanese, who stood ten paces off and exultantly emptied their guns into him.” So the story runs but worse remains. A massacre in the heat of battle might be explained, but it was carried on for four successive days and nights. We are told that for those four days the Japanese soldiery gave themselves up to murder and rapine and mutilation, and every conceivable kind of nameless atrocity. Bodies o f men strewed the streets in hundreds,
New Series, Vol. LIII., No. 2,162.
some with not a limb unsevered, some with heads hacked and cross cut and split lengthwise, some ripped open, not. by chance, but with careful precision, disembowelled and dismembered. Groups of prisoners with their hands tied behind their backs were riddled with bullets. A stranded junk filled with fugitives o f either sex and all ages was fired upon with volley after volley. The palliation for this frightful outleap of barbarism must be sought for in the fact that some Japanese prisoners had been horribly tortured and mutilated by the Chinese. Bodies were found with hand and head cut off, stomachs opened, &c. Moreover placards were found offering rewards and stating prices for heads, hands, or prisoners. The Chinese committed atrocities and the Japanese repaid them in kind and a hundredfold. A massacre, however, continued for four clear days after the battle must count for something in our estimate o f the experiment o f Japanese civilization.
This rather childish ceremony was duly
Eof captain* carried out’ and with every attempt at impres-
dreyfus. siveness, at the Ecole Afilitaire in Paris.
Each o f the nine regiments quartered in the capital sent a company to witness the scene, which was also beheld by considerable numbers o f conscripts, it being thought desirable that these young soldiers should see what fate is in store for traitors. When all were duly assembled General Darras drew his sword, and at the signal the drums began to beat, the trumpets sounded, and the troops presented arms. Four gunners then brought the prisoner to the front. The Registrar of the Court Martial read the sentence, and General Darras shouted to the accused, “ Dreyfus, you are unworthy to bear arms, and we degrade you.” An Adjutant steps forward and skilfully plucks off the prisoner’s epaulettes, plume, and red stripes of the trousers. This process was facilitated by the care which had been previously taken to unpick the stitching. The Adjutant then drew the prisoner’s sword from his scabbard, and sticking the point into the ground broke it with his foot. Here again precautions had been taken to secure the smooth working of the ceremony, and the weapon had been all but filed through, at the spot where it was.to be broken. The prisoner drew himself up to his full height and cried out in a loud voice, “ V ive la France! Je jure que je suis innocent.” The unhappy man was then made to march along in front o f the troops. While doing this he repeatedly protested his innocence. The four gunners then handed him ever to gendarmes, who placed him in a prison van which was driven hastily to the lock-up, where
