THE TABLET
A W eekly Newspaper and Review.
D u m VOBIS G R A TU LAM U R , AN IM O S ET IAM ADDIMUS U T IN INCCEPTIS VESXRIS CONSTAN TER M AN EATIS.
From the Brief of His Holiness to T h e T a b l e t , June 4, 1870.
Voi. 43. No. 1774. L o n d o n , A p r i l i i , 1874.
P rice 5d. By Post 5 % d .
[R egistered a t the General Post O ffice as a N ewspaper
Page
C h r o n i c l e o f t h e W e e k : —
Mr. Baxter at Arbroath. — The Agricultural Lock-out.— The Bengal Famine,— The Home Rule League and the O’Gorman Mahon. — The “ Daily Telegraph” on Persecuted Bishops.— On Civil Marriage— And on German “ Ultramontanes.”— The Archbishop of Cologne in Prison.— The Arnim Despatches.— The German Army and Supplementary Church Bills. — Prince v. Bismarck’s Health.— Austria and the Holy See.—The Sommorrostro Battles.— The Russians and the United Greeks.— The Porte and the Armenians.— The Intruded Vicars at Geneva.— The Fiji Islands, &c., &c. . . 449
CONTENTS
L e a d e r s :
The Question o f Higher Educa
Page tion . . . . . . . .4 5 3 The Catholic Revival in Austria . 453 Irish Questions before Parliament 454 O ur P r o t e s t a n t C o n t e m po r a r ie s :
Contradiction . . . . . . 455 R e v ie w s :
The Parisians . . . , . . 457 Cherubini . . . . .. . . 457 The Month .. . . . . .. 458 S hort N o t ic e s :
Pickwick Papers . . . . . . 459 Lives of the Saints.. . . . . 459 Ecclesiastical Antiquities of Lon
don . . . . .. . . .. 459 Magazines for April . . .. 460 Literary, Artistic, and Scientific
Gossip . . . . . . 460
C o r r e s p o n d e n c e :
Prejudices against Home Rule . . 461 Government Action and the Edin
burgh Catholic Institute . . 462 The Louth Election . . . . 472 Catholic Army Chaplains . . . . 462 Appeal for a Case of Need . . 462 Millwall, Isle o f Dogs . . .. 462 Declaration of the Archbishops and
Bishops o f Austria relative to the Projects of Law upon Church Affairs now Presented to the Reichsrath .. . . . . . . 46^ R ome :
Letterfrom our own Correspondent 465 R ecord of G erm an P er secution :
Treatment of the “ Interned ”
Clergy .................................... 466 Catholic Demonstrations .. . . 466 1
Address of the Bishop o f Pader-
Page born.. . . . . .. . . 467 Amusing Auction at Munster . . 467 Dr. Reinkens .. .. .. 467 The Arrest of the Bishop of Treves 467 D io c e s a n N ew s :
Westminster . . . . . . . . 468 Southwark . . . . . . . . 468 Birmingham . . .. . . . . 468 Clifton .................................... 468 Nottingham .. . . . . . . 468 I r e l a n d :
Letter from our Dublin Corre
spondent . . ......................... 468 F oreign N ews :
France . . . . . . .. 469 M em oranda :
Catholic Union . . . . . . 470 G en er a l N ew s . . . . . . 470
CHRONICLE OF THE W EEK .
MR. BAXTER AT ABBROATH. I
N the deadly dulness o f the Easter recess,
Mr. Baxter has “ k in d ly len t himself,” as Italian playbills say. H e has been making a live ly speech at Arbroath, and telling his constituents that everything is for the best in this best o f all possible worlds. T h e news o f the dissolution, which reached him in “ the far-off island o f Sicily,” had indeed produced o n him such an impression that he “ did not know whether “ he was on his head or his heels.” But the gratifying conduct o f his constituents, in re-electing him without giving him the trouble to come back, has gone far to remove that uncomfortable sensation, and nothing now remains but unmixed satisfaction that the other side have got their innings, and that it is his turn to rest in the shade. We should not like to affirm that this satisfaction is not enhanced b y the consciousness that certain other people besides himself have had to resign, and that the Chancellor o f the E x chequer has eome down from the heights which he made so uncomfortable for the Secretary to the Treasury. A t any rate, the feeling, i f it existed, would certainly be pardonable. But he is also full o f sanguine hopes about what the Tories are going to d o : Mr. Disraeli knows “ that “ a Government which is not progressive can only have a “ butterfly existence “ he is the author o f the “ most revolutionary B ill which has passed in our times— that “ for establishing household suffrage ; and those persons are very green indeed who imagine that a statesman who per“ formed an exploit o f that kind is the man to stand in the “ way o f desirable, though great and even sweeping “ changes.” This, o f course, is in the realm o f conjecture, but Mr. Baxter’s enthusiasm is excited by a tangible f a c t ; the names o f four T o ry members are actually on the back o f a B ill for abolishing “ the right o f H ypothec for rent ex■“ cept in regard to dwelling-houses in Scotland ”— doubtless a great achievem ent in the eyes o f all who understand what the law o f H ypothec is. A nd having augured well o f the future from the “ happy juncture and auspicious circum“ stances ” under which the new Ministry accede to office, he threw out a suggestion o f his own for dealing with the •surplus. H e would take ,£840,193 off the revenue from the Custom s, in the duties on chicory, cocoa, chocolate, coffee, preserved fruits, and gold and silver p la te ; .£ 153 ,8 75 off the Excise list, in Mr. Lowe’s gun-tax, and the duties on chicory, hawking and pedlars, medicine vendors, horsedealers, and gold and silver plate ; he would abolish the ta x on locomotion, and would take a penny o ff the incometax, getting rid thus o f three millions out of the five. O f the rest, whatever was not wanted for the relief o f local taxation could ¿be applied to the reduction
New Series Vol, X I . No. 283.] o f the sugar and tea duties, so as to approximate to that desirable consummation o f a “ free breakfast table,” which might thus possibly be realized in a year or two. Finally, we remain under the impression that i f all politicians were like Mr. Baxter everything would be made as pleasant as possible for everybody all round.
THE AGRICULTURAL LOCK-OUT.
A serious struggle is going on between the farmers and labourers on the borders o f Cambridgeshire and Suffolk. There has been a lock-out for several weeks, the farmers insist
ing on the men leaving the Union, and the men demanding an increase o f wages from 13s. to 15s. a week, with allotments. T h e B ishop o f Manchester has taken up the cause o f the labourers, advocating “ equitable” wages, and recommending the farmers to seek compensation in a reduction o f rents. T h e answer, o f course, is, that there is no such thing as an absolute ¿standard o f equitable wages, and that they must depend on the market value o f labour. Still, i f no compromise is agreed to on both sides, and conflicts such as this gradually spread themselves, as they will, over a more extended area there can be but one result, namely, that land will go out o f tillage, and be laid down in pasturage, and nothing will remain for the labourers, in England as in Ireland, but the choice between starvation and emigration. A lre ady the emigration agents are in the field, and i f the fair prospect o f comparative prosperity which they hold out tempts a number of the Suffolk labourers to Canada or N ew Zealand, there will be no ground for regret. W e have hands enough at home to spare a good many to those thriving colonies, and there is every reason to believe in the reality o f the opening which is to be found there.
THE BENGAL
FAMINE.
The latest accounts from Bengal are more encouraging. T h e system o f village visitation was working efficiently throughout T irhoot and
Chumparun ; 41,000 persons were in the receipt o f daily relief in those districts, arid 790,000 men, women and children, were being employed on the re lie f works. From Durbungah the report o f the Commissioner is, that “ the “ relief organization is now ahead o f the fam ine,” the Durbungah railway will be completed this month, and will greatly facilitate the conveyance o f grain to the distressed districts, and the other inland transports are also “ work“ ing successfully.” One hundred and forty thousand maunds o f grain are in store, and 80,000 in transition— the total amount alotted to the districts affected by the famine being 382,000 maunds. In Northern Bengal, we are told, rain has fallen w ith beneficial results. Sir R ich ard Temple has succeeded Sir George Campbell as LieutenantGovernor o f Bengal, and Sir John Strachey Sir William Muir as Governor o f the North-Western Provinces.