THE TABLET

A Weekly N ew spaper a n d Review.

D um VOBIS GRATULAMUR, ANIMOS ETIAM ADDIMUS UT IN INCCEPTIS VESTRIS CONSTANTER MANEATIS.

F rom th e B r ie f oj%H is H oliness to T h e T a b l et , J u n e 4, 1870.

Vol. 38. No. 1640. London, S eptember 16, 1871.

Price sd. By Post s%d

[Registered at the General P ost Office as a Newspaper.

C hronicle of the Week : The

Christian Movement in Syria.— Health of the Queen.—The Manœuvres and their Critics.—The New Law Courts.—The Limerick Election.— Mr. Aytoun on Catholics.—The Destruction of Salangore.—Paris and Versailles.—The French Assembly.—Trials of the Communists.—The Evacuation.— M. Jules Favre’s Apology.—The Paris Press Trials.—Prince Napoleon.—The Duke of Genoa.—The Revolution in Rome.—Tactics of the Left in France and Italy.— The Trinita de’ Monti.— Prince v. Bismarck, Austria, and Rome.— The Irish College at Rome.—The Turkish Government. — The Bishops of Germany . . . 353

CONTENTS.

L eaders :

The Strike of the Tynemouth

Engineers ..... 357 Irish Experiences of Mixed Edu­

cation ...... 357 Arbitration instead of War.—VI . 359 E nglish Administrations and

Catholic Interests :

XXXIII. — Lord Liverpool’s

Politics. — The Bill with “ Wings ” . . . . 360 International Exhibition.—The Ger­

Traced in the Tribe of E p h r a im .................................... 363 Ralph the Heir . . . . 364 The Martyrs of the Coliseum . 365 Short Notices : Heaven Opened by the Practice of Frequent Confession and Communion. —The Pocket Prayer Book. — Vade Mecum. — Dictionnaire Encyclopédique.—Legends of the Church. —Works of Charles Dickens. . 366 Correspondence :

man Pictures ..... 361 The Anglican Movement:

The Answer of the “ Church

Herald” to the Question : How do you prove that the Anglican Communion is Catholic ? . . 362 R eviews :

The Blessed Virgin’s Root

Lady Beatrix Graham’s Journal . 366 Mr. Aytoun ..... 366 Revolutionary Conservatism . . 367 Young Men’s Society . . . 367 S. Andrew’s Schools, Barnet . 367 R ome :

Letter from Rome . . . 368 Increased Taxation . . . 369

R ecord of the Council:

Another Submission . . . 369 D iocesan News : Westminster.—

Southwark.— Birmingham.—Newport and Menevia.—Northampton. —Nottingham.—Shrewsbury . 369 I reland:

Letter from our Dublin Correspondent .... •370 Foreign News:

France . . . . . •371 Switzerland .... • 372 S y r i a ..................................... • 373 New South Wales . . 373 Memoranda :

Religious .... •376 Educational . . . . ■376 Literary..................................... • 376 Scientific . . . . •376 General News .376

THE CHRISTIAN MOVEMENT IN

SYRIA.

CHRONICLE OF THE WEEK.

w

E publish elsewhere the first part of a narrative of the R ev iv a l o f Christianity in S y r ia : its Miracles an d its Martyrdom s, which cannot fail to interest all Christians in this country, whether Catholic or Protestant. Though grave witnesses attest the truth of the miracles, we, do no more at present than publish what we have received from a good and trustworthy source. The movement is one of the most wonderful that has ever taken place. It appears to have been begun by a sect of Moslems, in Damascus, charitably protecting some Christians from the massacre in i860, and then by a number of them betaking themselves to prayer, and earnestly persevering in it during the course of twoyears in order to obtain enlightenment as to the truth. God assuredly always inclines His ear to such prayer, and His hand is not shortened. For the rest we refer our readers to the narrative of our correspondent. It appears that 700 Moslems have been secretly baptized, and that some 4000 others have joined the movement. The Governor-General of Damascus, a Turkish authority, has interfered ; some have been put to death, others exiled, and a persecution declared. The question, which ought to interest the Governments of Europe that have entered into Treaty with the Porte, i s ; are Treaties which profess to grant religious toleration to be abrogated to suit the fanaticism of a local governor? We should like to know what attitude our own Government is assuming. It is announced that Mr. Richard Burton, our Consul at Damascus, is returning home. We should like to know what light he can throw upon this movement; and whether he and Lord Granville are prepared to stand by without remonstrance, holding the clothes of the persecutors, while the Mahometan inaugurates another bloody persecution. The whole of this is a matter which must awaken public attention, if England still claims the name of a Christian nation.

We have to record with great regret a some-

h ea lth of what serious alteration in the Queen’s health.

f o r some years past it has been generally known that her Majesty’s strength was no longer equal to the fatigue of public representation ; and that, while she scrupulously met all the daily claims of public business, which weigh so heavily on a Sovereign, she was obliged, to a great extent, to give up appearing on public occasions. That this enforced retirement should have been frequently made a subject for the criticism and complaints of the Press we have always thought very unfortunate. The conscientious manner in which her Majesty has always discharged the duties of her position might have been a sufficient guarantee that the reasons for her withdrawal into comparative privacy were not trifling or selfish ones. The belief that they were not, has received positive confirmation from time to time in the shape of semi-official statements respecting the state of the Queen’s health. There can be now no longer any doubt on the subject, and the Times of Thursday expresses in a leading article its “ regret for the reflections made during “ the last Session on the comparative withdrawal of her “ Majesty frqm ceremonial appearances in public.” The Queen lias; it seems, been lately suffering from grave general derangement, which was followed by a severe affection of the throat, rendering speech or swallowing difficult, and which culminated in a very severe abscess under the arm. This was opened on Monday week, and proved to be much larger than Professor Lister had anticipated. It was not till a week later that the cure was sufficiently advanced to enable Professor Lister to leave Balmoral. All immediate cause for anxiety is now at an end, but it will be some time before the Queen recovers even her usual strength, and we hope that we shall hear no more complaints about a retirement which has been so well earned.

THE The manoeuvres have begun, and the military mancecvres correspondents have been criticizing them. The and t h e ir correspondent of the D a ily News has been critics. capturing— potentially— General McMahon’s brigade by a night attack, and the Times has been pounding General Lysons with theoretical artillery from a neighbouring height. On the whole, however, the reports are favourable. General Lysons and Sir Charles Staveley are especially praised for their handling of their troops. The Militia is described as decidedly scrubby, but the corps which represent it are principally metropolitan ones, the men composing which are known to be inferior in physique, though not in activity or intelligence. Both they and the Volunteers, and the Infantry generally, are accused of looseness and inacctiracy in taking up their distances, and all, including the Cavalry, of want of carefulness in availing themselves of all possible cover. In short, there is a good deal to learn, but the Times correspondent, who has been talking with the foreign officers, gives it as their opinion that while we may get a good many hints from the Prussians in the handling of Infantry, they also have something to learn from our Artillery and Engineers.

The battle of the Law Courts has broken out the new again on another field. This time it is not the law couRis. kut the plans. Mr. Street’s plans—which are Gothic— are accused of defects very common in modern English architecture. It is said that they are wanting in unity, simplicity, and grandeur of mass. Mr. Lowe has had them placed in the Library of the House of Commons in the hope that members would dislike them as much as he does, and say so. Most members, however, have recently had too much to think about to look at them. Sir Edward Cust and Mr. Cavendish Bentinck advise a return to the •

N ew S e r i e s . Vol. VI. No. 149.