478
T H E T A B L E T .
[Saturday, April 22, 1S71.
seen in M a d r id ; every shop was shut u p ; the walks and the cafés were d e se r ted ; the places of amusement were closed. T h e churches alone were full o f life : the “ Offices ” " e r e celebrated in the presence o f crowds who could scarcely find p lace for their homage ; and the city, says a writer, was
like Jerusalem o f old, when the Jews went up to the Passover.” Even the M inisterial newspapers devoted articles to themes o f devotional in te re s t : well knowing at least, how to please ; even i f not quite in earnest themselves. T h e W eek proved richly how rooted is the Faith in the hearts o f the Spanish people. Three years o f R evo lu tion have done absolutely nothing to shake that deepplanted tree, which neither persecution nor impiety can so much as touch in one o f its Catholic branches. T h e Court, indeed, omitted the custom— consecrated by centuries o f usage— the Washing o f the F eet on Thursday; but the H ouse o f Savoy could hardly be expected to bring from F lo rence a usage it knew not at home. it e r a t io n Sim ilarly in Ita ly , the spirit o f Catholicity has . ' not died out from the people. T h e Catholic journals contain quite anim ated descriptions o f crowds o f manifestations o f the faithful, to make reparation for the im pious banquet devised b y Italian Freethinkers. O n Good Friday, two hours after noon, these reparations were made in force. Particularly one o f them deserves a notice. T h e ladies o f rank in Iu rin , to the number o f more than 100, met in a conspicuous part o f the town, and then advanced in procession to the Chapel o f the A d d o lo ra ta , which is near to the Church o f S. Laurence. There they made the W ay o f the Cross, with an appearance o f edifying devotion.
„ „ W ith a grave and splendid decorum o f lanTH ON dr!ES SuaSe>if not o f thought, the T im es announces Doli.ing'e.r that the heresy o f Dollinger will probably
lead to a schism. But the T im es adds (cor
relative) remarks, which hardly bear on the points : “ We “ know (says the writer) by the experience o f history, that “ the radical assumptions o f the Roman Church tend, as a “ rule, to enfeeble the conscience and the reason ; and that “ it is next to impossible for a genuine Rom an Catholic, “ particularly i f he be an ecclesiastic, firm ly to resist the “ authority o f the Pope.” Flere obedience to constituted authority is given for proof o f the enfeeblem ent o f the human reason. A nd again, with reference to the present degeneracy— the degeneracy o f believing Infallibility— the w riterasserts: “ There canbe n ohope fo rany country in which “ men’s minds are so demoralized as tó make terms w ith so “ enormous a lie.” But, “ so enormous a lie ,” the writer should remember, was professed by nine-tenths o f the ( Ecumenical Council, before the Papal prom u lg ation ; and he should therefore consider that the few who opposed the Definition o f the D ogm a were not a respectable minority. I f the Catholic Church have decreed an “ enormous lie ,” then it is the majority who were wrong in desiring the decree, and the few who were right jn opposing it. Thus majorities pass for mere nothing in the constitutional mind of the writer. Our English H ouse o f Commons, which should vote an Irish Church B ill, by 6ooto 100, would impose on the intelligence o f the public a falsehood which none could receive w ithout shame. Y e t this is the argument the writer would approve ; (unless indeed it happened that his own opinions were in harmony with the tremendous majority). Becauseam erehandfulofdissident clergy, two score o f Professors, and a few undergraduates, go hand in hand with rebellion, it is the duty o f the Church to reconsider her doctrines, and emancipate her children from law. IIow would this principle act in the constitutional system o f England ? I f mere individual talent, or mere scholastic hostility, is to throw to the winds the decisions o f vast majorities, then how in the Church, or how in the State, is unity to be respected? T h e fact is, in the heresy o f Dollinger, and o f his followers, who are insignificant in number, we recognize nothing more serious than the opposition o f pride to perfectly constituted authority. H a d the Church decided that the Pope is n o t infallible, there would have been no resistance from the World. Y e t , not the n a tu r e o f a decision, but its authority, is the point for theologians to consider ; and we can assure the writer that i f he c aC , " "d erstood the doctrine o f the E c c le s ia D occn s
final decree ° c ! “nate the ^ P rice.s o f talent to the majesty o f are not the n . every Catholic knows that “ majorities”
.
m ^ny . decision o f the Church. T h e y
rule for governm ent in the State, and another for government in the C h u r c h : and it excuses d isobedience in C a tholics because it differs from the Pope.
LONDON IMITATING
PARIS.
A most rid iculous travestie o f Paris Com munism was attem pted last Sunday in London. A procession, insignificant in numbers, was form ed on C le rkenwell Green, and proceeded,
through Fleet-street and the Strand, to the o ld rebelquarters, H yd e Park. Blasphemous songs and frantic speeches were the principal features o f the occasion. Three classes o f people formed the assembly : the roughs (im p r im is ) who came for s p o r t ; the educated people, who came to laugh ; and the democratic speakers, who came to shout. Mr. Murray began by informing his hearers that this was “ one o f the most important meetings ever held in H y d e “ Park.” But the importance o f the meeting was chiefly attested b y the in ju ry done to the trees. N o allusion was made to the simple fact that Communism in Paris—-ostensibly, at least— means the claim for a Paris-M unicipality; and in London we possess that boon a lready which the Communists are striving to get. T h e moral o f the proceedings appeared to be this : that “ Communism ” in London is as utterly unpopular as in Paris it is plainly disastrous. We have a promise, however, o f a Conference, to be held next week, with the ob ject o f promoting unity o f action among the Republicans and Socialists o f the world. “ T h e “ Universal and Republican L e a g u e ” will be the name o f the Association. I t proposes to advance “ the intellectual, “ moral, and material welfare o f mankind,” b y this uniting o f all Republicans, and by establishing branches and fraternities everywhere. Books are to be issued, lecturers appointed, and missionaries despatched, to promulgate R e publican doctrines. Ecclesiastical privileges and aristocratic titles are everywhere to be suppressed, i f possible. Standing armies are to be utterly abolished ; education is to be rendered com pulsory; and the State is to provide both work for the capable, and provision for such as are infirm. E very monopoly, arising out o f the possession o f property, is to be done away w i th ; land is to be nationalized, instead o f being absorbed (as at present) chiefly by hereditary landow ners; suffrage is to be un iv e rsa l; and the representation o f the people is not to be local, but sectional, in fixed proportion. T h e Conference is promoted b y what is now called the In ternational Democratic Association.
T h e substance o f a telegram w ith reference
Alabama [0 the decision o f the H igh Commission commission. amounts t0 this :— That the contracting parties agree to a rule that a neutral is responsible for depredations committed on a friendly Power by a vessel fitted out and manned in a neutral port. T h e claim s are to be submitted to a Commission o f five : one (each) to be appointed by President Grant, the Queen o f England, the Emperor o f Brazil, the President o f Switzerland, and the K in g o f Italy. T h e Com mission is to meet at Washington within six months after the ratification o f the Convention ; and a final decision must be come to within two years from the first meeting. In the event o f discord between the Commissioners, no decision is to be binding on any contracting party unless agreed to by a Commission approved b y that party. And if the Com missioners be unable to decide any claim , that claim is to b e again referred to a Board o f three : one (each) to be appointed by the President o f the United States, the Queen, and the Emperor o f R u s s ia ; to meet within six months o f the adjournm ent o f the first Commission.
°FF
Paris
IN
“ A n Officer,” writing to the T im e s from
“ AN„ / ‘Paris, says that the m ilitary position o f the
contending parties has not perceptibly changed since the capture o f the Bridge o f Neuilly. H e
is o f opinion that the only portion o f the enceinte which is open to an attack from Versailles is that which is opposite to the Bois de Boulogne. I f the troops o f Versailles were to bombard the Porte Maillot during the night, at the same time bombarding Issy from Chatillon, they might successfully pass 10,000 men into the Bois de Boulogne, b y the Bridge o f Neuilly. False attacks must cover the real o n e ; and the enceinte once passed, and a lodgment effected, , the nates m ight be taken in reverse, then opened to admit more f ro o p " But for such an assault there must be trustworthy troops, n luckyenough to fo rcetheirw ay.an d activeenough to escalade he enceinte It is not o f the troops he entertains so much fear as o f the want o f spirit from within. A l l sense o f “ duty ” seems gone in Paris ; nor o f all the 100,000 men who still boast to be faithful to the Government, is there one who has courage to take the lead, and deliver Pans
i n f h ^ v / A qTOtl° ^ eB r it ish House o f Commons,
• \ very different p lace in theology. The curious thing to be observed in the T im e s , is that it has one
