THE
A Weekly TAB Newspaper and Review .
DUM VOBIS GRATULAM U R , ANIM OS ETIAM ADDIMUS UT IN INCCEPTIS VESTRIS CONSTANTER M ANEATIS.
From tin Brief of His Holiness Pius IX . to T he T ablet, fu ne 4, i S'jo.
Vol. 63. No. 2290.
L ondon, March 8, 1884.
P r ice 5<3., b y P o s t , 5% d .
[R eg ister ed a t th e G en eral P ost O f f ic e a s a N ew spaper.
C hronicle of t h e W e e k :—
Page
The Rattle of El Teb—The Relief o f Tokar— Recovery o f the Spoils — Some Incidents o f the Fight— — The Mission to the White Nile — Sir W. Lawson and the Government—The Brighton Election— The Reform Bill — Lord John Manners’^Amendment-The Royal Commission on the Homes of the Poor— Anniversary of the Pope’s Coronation— Longfellow and the Abbey— Rejection of Dr. von Windthorst’s Motion — The
Dynamiters ”— M. Ferry and the Chamber— The Proposed Congo Treaty .................................... 357 L e a d e r s :
The Outlook in the Soudan .. 351 Mr. Gladstone and the Franchise
B i l l ............................................... 361 What We Want, and Why . . 362
CONTENTS .
Page
N o t e s . . . . . . ► . •• 364
R eview s :
George Eliot’s Essays . . .. 367 The Works of Orestes A. Brown-
son . . . . . . .. . . 368 The Fortnightly Review . . . . 368 The Contemporary Review ; . 369 The Spirit of St. John the Baptist 369 Etheldreda . . . . . . .. 3^9 The Coming Reform . . . . 369 The Spoliation of the Propaganda.
Documents.— II. .. .. •• 3^9 Cardinal Bilio .. . . . . •• 371 C orrespondence :—
Rome : — (From Our Own Corre
spondent) . . . . . . •• 373 Paris :— (From Our Own Corre
spondent) . . . . . . •• 375 Dublin . . . . . . •. 376
L e t t e r s to t h e E ditor :—
Page
Mrs. Rani’s Book of Meditations 377 Mission of the Holy Cross, Cas-
singty-road, King’s-road,F ulham Old Town . . . .. . . 377 The “ Imitation of Christ” . . 377 Effects of the Deluge .. .. 377 Mission Work in Essex .. . . 377 S 3. Mary’s and Michael’s, Com
mercial-road East, E. .. .. 378 Blackstone On “ Benefit of Clergy” 378 The Batley Carr Miss on .. . . 378 The Hero of Sinkat . . . . 378 “ Roman Practice ” .. .. 378 Saffron Hill Poor Schools . . 378 The Expelled French Religious
Orders _ .. . . . . . . 379 Universality of the Deluge . . 379 The Crèche and Night Home at
Lower Seymour-street, W. . . 379 The Dominican Nuns o f St.
Columba at Perugia .. . . 380 The Society of St. Vincent de Paul 381
The Manchester School Board Page .. 3S2
SU PPLEM ENT. Decisions of Roman Congregations 389 N ews from th e Schools :— What are We to Demand of Parlia
ment? . . . . . . .. 389 The Queen’s Colleges and the
Royal University . . . . 390 E NGLAND :—
Westminster . . . . v. 393 Southwark . . . . . , . . 393 Birmingham.. . . . . . . 393 Liverpool . . . . . . . . 394 Newport and Menevia . . . . 394 Nottingham.. . . . . . . 394 Salford . . . . . . 394 S cotland :—
Dunkeld .. . . . . . . 395
'*** The Editor cannot tmdertake to return Manuscript, in any case.
CHRONICLE OF THE WEEK.
and resisted inch by inch. L ik e waves o f a dark sea, they surged again and again on the fire guarded position o f General Graham’s men, and the ceaseless roll o f the Martinis and the strange roar o f the machine guns mowed them down by hundreds. L ik e the Zulus at U lundi, the brave Arabs rushed up to the actual line o f the square, and there were several fights in which the bayonet had to be pitted against the gallant savages’spear and shield. When at last the front was cleared o f living foes, a loud British hurrah burst from our men, as, at the point o f the bayonet, they rushed to take possession o f the A rab s trenches and fort. T h e charge was a resistless one, and the fierce elan with which our infantry came forward, flushed as they were with victory had, even with the gallant Soudanese, an appreciable weight. One o f the first over the little parapet was Colonel Burnaby who, with a double barrelled gun d id considerable execution.— E ven now the Soudanese never ran. H and to hand fighting ensued, and even the badly wounded o f the Arabs rushed forward, spear in hand, with the hope o f stabbing one more infidel dog before he got a merciful coup de grace. In the fort were found the K rupp guns, and these were fought for to the last, but the Arabs were simply killed out o f the place by a perfect rain o f bullets from the machine guns. Still the Gordon Highlanders pushed on, driving the enemy slowly back till the shallow trenches were filled with their dead, for no living A rab retreated. Then came the tim e for the Cavalry, but even then it was no rout— no pursuit o f fugitives— each blow o f the sabre was returned and several o f our Hussars were killed by Arab spears. A t last, having reached the Wells, General Graham decided on bivouacking there for the night. T h e British loss on this desperately contested struggle at E l T eb , the scene o f the disaster to General Baker, was twenty-eight killed, two missing, and 142 wounded. T h e killed include four officers, one being M a jor Slade o f the io th Hussars. That o f the enemy will perhaps be never exactly known ; 900 bodies were found in the captured positions, and the last news from T okar states that we have buried more than 2,000 bodies o f the gallant enemy who so recklessly pitted spear and shield against the Martini rifles ©f a British square.
NO T even the splendid bravery o f the dauntless Arabs, led by Osman EI D igm a, could withstand the death dealing fire o f a steady British square, and
•on the 29th o f February, the force under Sir Gerald Graham, after three hours steady fighting, drove o f f with terrible slaughter the brave savages who, undeterred by the ceaseless rain o f Martini H enry and Gatling bullets, attacked again and again the English formation. A t five o ’c lo ck the bugles sounded the reveillé ; after breakfast the march was commenced, and shortly afterwards our cavalry scouts were sent out and soon discovered th e rebels. A few rounds were then fired from H .M .S Sphinx ai Trinkatat, but as their range was too short, she was signalled to discontinue the fire. Meantime the hollow square was advancing, the ends longer than the sides ; the Gordon Highlanders were in the front and the B la ck Watch in the rear. T h e staff, including Generals Graham and Baker, Colonel Burnaby and others, were with the camels in the centre o f the square, and at the four corners were placed the Gardners and G a t lin gs and the field guns supplied by the Navy. T h e actual strength o f the force was 3,000 infantry, 750 cavalry and 115 Naval Brigade, and the men marched gaily on ; the conscious knowledge o f superiority and certainty o f victory being stamped on every face. T h e first move was made by the enemy, who fired from the Krupps captured from General Baker, but their aim was wild in the extreme. When, however, they used their Remingtons they did more execution, and several o f our men were hit. M eantim e the British parallelogram moved steadily on closer and closer to the rebel position, not a shot being fired in reply, and just at this point a splinter shell struck General Baker and caused an ugly face wound. Another h a lf mile o f ground was then covered and our casualties had reached more than twenty men, the wounded being carried on stretchers along with the advancing square. A t last the word was given to lie down, and the Martinis commenced their share in the day’s work. E ach time a b lack face showed itself out o f cover, steady aim was taken, and as the shooting was unusually good, its deadly effect was soon apparent, and the rebel replies slackened and then almost ceased. Then the Brittsh attacked the rebel position, but our courageous foes fought with desperate valour
On the forenoon o f Saturday the vic-
t h e r e l i e f o f torious British A rm y pushed on to Tokar,
t o k a r .
and by three in the afternoon that p lace was reached. A s the English approached,
four hundred o f the rebels swarmed out o f the town, and Colonel Stewart, thinking they intended to attack the infantry, tried to check their rush with three squadrons o f cavalry, who dismounted and fired a hundred rounds.
F ew Series, Vol. XXXI, No 798
