THE TABLET

A IVeekly Newspaper and Review.

I ) u m vobis gra.tula.mur, ANIMOS etiam addimus ut in incceptis vestris constanter maneatis.

Front the B r ie f o] U ts Holitttss io The Tablet, June 4, 1870.

Vol. 38. No. 1654. L o n d o n , D e c e m b e r 23, 1871.

P r ice 5d. B y Post 5%d.

[R eg istered a t th e General P ost Office a s a N ew spaper.

C hronicle of t h e W e ek : The

Prince of Wales.—Mr. Grant Duff on the Liberal Policy.—Religion of a Minor.—The Derry Celebrations.—The Alabama Commission. American State Reports.- The Mormon Difficulty.—The Due d’Aumale and the Right.—Attitude of the Left.—The Princes and their Constituents.—The Assembly and the Princes.—Paris and Versailles.—Projects of Electoral Reform.—Army Reorganization.— The French Deficit.—M. Ranc again.—Revision, of Sentence.—P. Rousselin of Arcueil.—Testimonial to England.—Germany, France, and Russia.—The Italian Budget. —The Netherlands Legation in Rome.—The Emperor of Brazil at

C O N T the Vatican.—The Sanctity of T e l e g r a m s ......................................801 L eaders :

The League, the Nonconformists,

and the Education Act . . 805 The Irish Model Schools . . 805 The South Germans and the

Reichstag . . . . . 807 Christian Missions in China . . 807 Arbitration Instead of War. X IX . 808 E nglish A dministrations and

C atholic I n terests :

XLV. Dr. Lingard, and the In­

fluence of his History . . 809 R eview s :

The Pope of Rome and the Popes of the Oriental Orthodox Church 811 The Conquest of Ireland . . 812 The Last Tournament . . . 813 The Gold Digger and other Verses 813

ENTS. S hort N otices : The Book of

Psalms. — Cramer’s Christmas Carols.—The Christian Æsop.— Verba Verbi.—Isabel de Lisle.— Dictionnaire Encyclopédique de la Theoïoeie Catholique.—The Illustrated Catholic Magazine . . 814 Correspondence :

Pontifical Army . . . .8 14 The Catholic Deaf and Dumb

I n s t i t u t e .................................... 815 Benevolent Society for the Relief of the Aged and Infirm Poor, Moorfields.................................... 815 The Scarcity of Catholic School­

masters ..... 815 R ome :

Letter from Rome . . . 817 R ecord of the Council :

Père G r a t r y .................................... 817

R ecord of the Council (continued) :

Persecution in Bavaria . . .8 1 7 D iocesan N ews : Westminster.................................... 818

S o u th w a r k .................................... 818 C l i f t o n ..............................................818 Hexham and Newcastle . .8 18 Northampton.................................... 819 S a lfo rd .............................................. 819 Sh rew sbu ry .................................... 819 Scotland.—Western District . . 8iq I reland :

Letter from our Dublin Corre­

spondent .........................................819 F oreign N ews :

F r a n c e ............................................. 819 C h i n a ..............................................820 M e m o r a n d a ...................................822 General N ews . . . . 824

CHRONICLE OF THE WEEK.

EV E R since the 14th, a date fatal to his father, the accounts of the Prince have been uniformly satisfactory. His srecovery from such a fearful illness must necessarily be .slow ; and we are given to understand that the progress is even slower than it is in most cases of the same complaint. Still, however slow it may be, there has been nothing to interrupt it, and the departure of the Queen •and other members of the Royal family from Sandringham, as well as the less frequent bulletins, and the occasional •temporary absence of one or more of the physicians, are sufficient proofs that the patient is considered to have at least entered on the road towards convalescence. The skill and personal devotion of his medical attendants has been beyond all praise, and they deserve an acknowledgment •of it. Without that absolutely incessant watchfulness and •care, the Prince would, humanly speaking, have been inevitably lost to us—but even with that care such an

■ escape, when all hope seemed dead, may be more justly attributed to the great voice of supplication which went .up from so many hearts. We are glad to note the syny .pathy which has been displayed, in the joy as well as in the distress of this nation, by so many organs of public opinion in other countries.

mr. grant

One would think, to listen to Mr. Grant tliat the warlike tendencies of the English

D°uberalHE nation were the great obstacles to a general policy. peace. In a speech delivered on Wednes­

day to his constituents at Elgin, the Under Secretary for India, after stating his concurrence in a desire for moderate, not revolutionary, reform of the House o f lords, declared that the policy of the Liberal party •ought to consist in the acceptance of the whole legacy left by Mr. Cobden. This would imply not only the diminution of indirect without an increase of direct taxation, but “ a moderate disarmament, which, if accepted ■“ by France, would be followed by all other European ■“ powers.” Does Mr. Grant Duff think that it is our excessive armament which is the cause of the overgrown war establishments of Continental nations ? Does he believe for instance that the military budgets of either France or Germany are drawn up with any re­

ference to the strength of our land forces ? I f not, it is hard to see how anyone can be of opinion that the reduction of our armaments would be accepted by “ France,” or “ followed by other European powers.” We object to this perpetual preaching against unnecessary military preparations. It is not the sin that we are ever likely io commit. We quite agree with Mr. Grant Dull that the

New Series. Vol. VI. No. 163.

cases which might demand our interference are few. But as he distinctly agrees with us that such cases might arise, it is surely well to be prepared for them. And although he thinks we might cooperate abroad by subsidies more effectively than by arms, there is still the contingency—in these days a less improbable one than heretofore—of domestic invasion to be provided for. This Mr. Grant Duff admits that we must be prepared to meet. Does he consider that the way to enable us ' to do so is t o . dwell on the extreme improbability of our ever being entangled in war? It is just this continual assertion that we are never likely to fight, when we all know that we should, if the national sense of honour were really touched, that is the most dangerous provocative to war. Other nations take us at our own estimate, and if we are always declaring that we are never likely to go to war, somebody some day will apply the general rule to the particular instance which we mean to make an exception. Perfect preparation for defence, and a firm though unobtrusive expression of our intention to abide by our engagements, are the best precautions against a quarrel. With Mr. Grant J p P s observations on the present importance of diplomacy ,w.e fully agree, as well as with some excellent remarks on the subject which he extracted from Mr. Odo Russell’s evidence. • •

IrLthe course of the Telegraph strike, which we notlce^ Dst week, a telegraphic despatch TKLE¡s$tó¡¿s:-- was sent from Dublin to the Standard. In for-

; ;,V 'j 'warding the message to its destination, Mr. Scudamore wrote that he did not think it right to delay the telegram, but that it was incorrect, and its publication would be prejudicial to the public service. We have no doubt that in this case no particular harm was done, and the additional information contributed by Mr. Scudamore was very probably acceptable to the receiver of the telegram, but the question has naturally been raised as to the right of the authorities to comment on or even to read a telegraphic message. It is argued that a telegram should be as sacred as a letter. So it ought to be, if the thing were possible, but unfortunately it is not. Nobody need read a letter from the time it leaves the writer’s hands till it reaches the receiver, while a telegram must be read by at least two clerks. There would be nothing to prevent Mr. Scudamore, if he chose to do so, from doing the work of one of his clerks, and reading off any telegram he pleased. But it would be intolerable if the Government, having got possession of the telegraphic service of the country, should use its power to delay, intercept, or mutilate private despatches.

religion of

The Lord Chancellor of Ireland has just another case, in which the religion of a minor was the point at issue. I he father