THE TABLET

A Weekly Newspaper and Review.

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

From the B r ie f o] H is Holiness to The Tablet, June 4, 1870.

Vol. 39. No. 1668. L ondon, March 30, 1872.

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

C hronicle of th e W eek : The

Budget.—The Dublin University Tests Bill.— The Alabama Negotiations.— Court of Appeal.—The Navy Estimates.— Private Bill Legislation.— M. Thiers and the Roman Question.—The Bishop of Orleans’ Speech.—The Attitude of France.—The 4th September and the 18th March.—The Treaties of Commerce and the Budget.—The Massacre of the rue Haxo.—Marshal Bazaine’sCase.— Liberation of the Soil of France.—The Bishop o f Mayence on the German Con.stitution.— Prince Bismarck’s Policy.—The Posen Affair.—The Situation in Spain.— Religious Questions in Spain.— The Persecution in Japan....................................381

L eaders:

C 0 N T

Mr. Fawcett’sBill. . . . 385 The Re-Armament of Sebastopol . 386 The International in Ireland . 387 Aggressive Secularism in England and in America .... 387 E nglish A dministrations and

C atholic I nterests :

LX .—Wolfe Tone.— Failure of the Reform Bill.— Why was Earl Fitzwilliam Recalled ? . 388 Winter Exhibitions.— “ The Dudley

Gallery” ............................................ 389 R eviews :

The Life and Letters of S. Francis

Xavier. . . .

Twenty-five Years of my Life and

. 390

Memoirs of my Mother . . 391 The Lives of the Saints * . 393 Short N otices : The Valiant

ENTS.

Woman.— Compendium of the Art of always Rejoicing.— M. Henri Martin, et son Histoire de France. —Science Primers. —Dictionnaire Encyclopédique de la Théologie C a th o l iq u e ....................................393 Correspondence :

Our Lady of Lourdes . . . 394 Parliamentary S ummary . . 394 R ome :

Letter from Rome .... 396 D iocesan N ews :

Westminster ..... 397 Southwark ..... 397 S a lfo rd .............................................397 I reland :

Letter from our Dublin Corre­

spondent .

. . . 398

The “ International ” in Cork . 398 The Derry Celebrations. . . 398

M em oranda :

Religious :

The Mission of S. Joseph’s

Society to the Coloured People of the South .... 400 Canon Kozmian .... 400 Educational :

The Education League at Wigan 40c Literary ...... 402 Scientific ..... 402 Fine A r t s .................................... 402 Legal :

Appeal from the Claimant to the

Tichborne Estates . . . 402 The Aberdeen Romance . . 403 The University Boat Race . . 404 G eneral N ews ....404

CHRONICLE OF THE WEEK.

MR . LOW E , having decided to bring in the Budget immediately before the Easter holidays, had a smaller audience th an usual, but a more sym pathetic one than usually falls to th e lo t o f Chancellors o f the Exchequer. H is budget was not one to provoke a fight, and, little argument being necessary, he was able to compress what he had to say in to the space o f about two hours. T h e substance o f it is soon stated : two-pence taken off the income-tax, the privilege o f abatem ent extended from incomes o f ¿£200 a year to those o f ¿£300 a year, the abatem ent itself increased from ¿£60 t o ¿£8o, and the duty on coffee reduced by one-half. What objections were made were chiefly retrospective : it was argu ed that the two-pence in the pound incom e-tax now rem itted ought never to have been put on ; and M r. White pointed out that as the annual “ normal increm ent ” o f the revenue m ight always be estim ated at a million, the practice o f not a llow ing for this elasticity was a bad one. A lth ough a perfectly accurate balance is impossible, the statem ent o f revenue having been made before the conclusion o f the financial year, the incom ings may, according to Mr. Lowe, b e taken a t ¿£74,535,000, and the outgoings at ,£ 71,720,000, so that the surplus may be put at ¿£2,815,000; a result partly attributable to the fact that the abolition o f purchase has cost for this year ¿£200,000 less than was expected. I t w ould no doubt have been more satisfactory to payers o f in com e-tax if the two-pence now taken o ff and proved to have been unnecessary had never been put on, but the T im es endeavours to console us by telling us that it w ill go to pay o f f the N a tional debt, and that it is by this yearly under-estim a te o f receipts that taxpayers are “ tricked into a little liquidation” o f that burden. I f the device is necessary, the object cannot be one which individual Britons have very much at h e a r t ; and we fear that this present consolation w ill be scarcely considered adequate to the past grievance.

Contrary to expectation, a chance occurred on

U niversity T uesdayfor the resumption o f the debate on Mr. te s t s b il l . Faw cett’s bill, and the second reading was carried by a majority o f 94 to 21. I t is understood th a t the B ill is read a second tim e for the sole purpose o f a llow ing the abolition o f tests to pass— on the ground, we believe, that what is fair in England must be fair in Ireland — the rest o f the measure being left to be burked in com m ittee. T h e T im es professes itse lf to ta lly unable to com prehend the in tellectual position o f M inisters in this matter, inasmuch as they now support the B ill because it con tains the abolition o f tests, though the remainder o f it is objectionable ; whereas, two years ago, when the B ill contained nothing but the abolition o f tests, Mr. G ladstone strenuously opposed it as an insufficient settlem ent o fth e ques-

New Series. Vol. VII. No. 177.

tion. T h e T im es cannot see how the addition o f an ob jectionable elem ent can make a proposal unacceptable on a c count o f its insufficiency acceptable. W e suspect that the explanation is that two years ago the Governm ent were less prepared for bringing in their own schem e, and that an attem pt to deal unsatisfactorily w ith the question then would have been more dangerous, for the reason that nothing else was forthcom ing. N ow that Governm ent have seen their way to p ledging them selves to a more com p lete measure, the mere abolition o f tests in T r in ity College is not so lik e ly to m islead people as to their real intentions. T h e O ’D onoghue reopened the debate in a vigorous speech, and Mr. Pirn, Mr. d ’A rcy, Mr. D igby, S ir John Gray, Sir R ow land Blennerhassett, and Mr. Maguire, all condemned the measure as an attem pt to settle the question in an unsatisfactory m anner; Mr. O ’R e illy -D ease announcing that he should not vote, as he would not oppose the abolition o f tests or accept the B ill as a settlem ent. A n apprehension expressed b y Mr. Maguire, that M in isters m ight consider that this “ mere piece o f tinkering ” absolved them from their p ledge to deal with the question, e licited from Mr. Bruce the assurance that the partial support g iven by Government to this B ill did not in their opinion “ release them in “ the slightest degree from their undertaking to deal with “ the matter at the earliest possible moment.” But they must be allowed to choose their own time. T h e Committee on Mr. Faw cett’s B ill is fixed for the 27th April.

In reply to Lord D e rby’s question on F rid ay

THE week, Lord Granville to ld us positively nothing, gotiations. except that in the further conduct o f the nego­

tiations Governm ent would abide by the decla­

rations it had already made, particularly in the Queen’s speech. W e suppose that this may be legitim ately understood to im p ly that the resistance to the consequential claim s will under no circum stances be abandoned, which is satisfactory as far as it goes, but a word or two o f more precise statem ent would have done no harm. Lord D erby pointed out the risk involved in our system , that the country may find itself bound by a treaty which is disapproved as soon as known, and added that the hands o f the strongest Foreign M in ister m ight be strengthened b y a debate in P a r liam en t ; the details o f a negotiation being le ft to Governm ent, while its general principles are subm itted to and sanctioned by the Legislature. Lord Granville, however, was obdurate, and met the enquiry with the answer that in this case, as in others, “ it is manifestly for the interest o f the country that no indica“ tion should be given o f the steps which it is proposed to “ take.” But inan article— supposed to be semi-official— which the D a i ly Telegraph published on the day o f the debate, a little more is let out. W e are there informed that the British counter-case is to be presented on the 15th, “ without pre“ ju d ice ” to our irrevocable objection to the indirect claim s.