THE TABLET

A Weekly Newspaper and Review.

DUM VOBIS GRATULAMUR, ANIMOS ETIAM ADDIMUS UT IN INCCEPTIS V E STR IS CONSTANTER MANEATIS.

From the B r i e f o f H is Holiness Fitts I X . to The Tablet, Ju n e 4, i Sjo .

V o l . 63. No. 2298. L ondon, M a y io , 1884.

P r ic e sd ., by P ost, s ^ d .

[R eg iste r ed a t th e G en e r a l P ost Offic e as a N ew spaper.

C O N T E N T S

C hronicle of th e Week ?—

Page

The Proposed Conference—The Conference and the Powers—The Gordon Despatches—The Soudan —The Catholic Missionaries in the Soudan — The Deceased Wife’s Sister Bill—The German AntiSocialist Bill—The German E x plosives Bill—Death of the Dowager Empress of Austria — The Congo River and the International Associ_ation~The Radical Triumph in Paris—Decoration of a French Prelate—Disturbances at the University of Naples—The Tory Meeting—The First Tel-el-Kebir Despatch—The Health Exhibition ■ at South Kensington—The Royal Academy Banquet—The Alleged Dynamiters . . . . . . . . 717 L eaders :—

The Cry from the Desert .. . . 721

L eaders (continued):

Page

The Secret of Freemasonry . . 722 An Historic Corner.. .. . . 723 Map of the Site of the N ew Cathe­

dral of Westminster . . . . 724 N otes . . . . . . . . 724

R eview s

The Religious State Lord Bacon . The Nineteenth Century The Contemporary Review The Fortnightly Review The National Review An Old Man’s Love The Autobiography of

Iscariot Glimpses of the Globe Judas

726 727 728 728 729 729 730 730 73°

The “ Saturday Review ” and the

Pope’s Encyclical . . . . . . 730

The Encyclical^ on Freemasonry—

Page

Foreign O p in io n ............................. 731 Correspondence :—

Rome : —(From Our Own Corre­

spondent) . . . . . . . . 733 Paris :—(From Our Own Corre­

spondent) ......................................... 735 Dublin . . .......................... 736 United States (From our American

Correspondent).............................737 The University of Louvain—Its

History .. . . .. .. 739 L e t t e r s to th e E d itor :—

“ Gloria, Laus et Honor,” &c. . . 741 Cardinal Allen and the Arch­

bishopric oi Mechlin . . . . 741 The Demand of Voluntary Schools 750 St. Vincent’s Home for Boys . . 750 Petitions to Our Lady of Lourdes 750 Social and P o l it ic al 742

SUPPLEM ENT.

1

Page

Decisions of Roman Congregations 749 N ews from th e S chools

Resolutions of the Bishops on the

Schools Question .. . . 749 The National Society and the

Voluntary Schools . . . . 749 Preston and the Primary Schools 749 E n g la n d :—

Westminster . . . . 750 Southwark .. .. .. . . 751 Hexham and Newcastle -.751 Leeds.. . . . . . . . . 75r Salford . . .„ . . . . 755 Second Departure from St, Vincent's

H°me........................................... Borneo Mission .......................... 754 A u s t r a l i a .......................... .. . . 754

The Edito r cannot undertake to return Manuscript, in any case.

CHRONICLE OF THE WEEK.

THE PROPOSED CONFERENCE. T

H ERE is a great deal of pith in the report of a “ Distinguished Foreigner” who, in the columns of our contemporary, the P a l l M a l l Gazette, gives his opinion on the feeling of the people on the Egyptian question, after his experiences during a somewhat lengthened tour in Britain. These are his words : “ The nearer I approached London the greater the interest taken in Egypt. Everywhere, even in the far north, there is a great interest taken in the subject, but it is not so great as in London. But one thing struck me very much. I have been chiefly in great Liberal circles, and in all my journeys I have not yet come across one man who approved the policy of your Government in Egypt. Some said you ought never to have gone in, and others said you ought never to come out, but every one agreed that the present condition of things was entirely Indefensible.” From one end of the Continent to the other the air is thick with rumours of what the much talked of Conference is going to do, or not to do, and, according to the Morning Post, the points of discussion between France and England will include the following: i . A term to be fixed for withdrawal of the British troops ; 2. France as well as Italy to exercise their share of influence in the financial and judicial administration of Egypt. In return for these wonderfully amiable concessions, France promises not to invade Egypt at all—which is exceedingly good of her.

The arrangements for the proposed ConTHE ference go on rather slowly, but every day the and the news from the different political centres of powers. Europe indicates Continental feeling with more or less accuracy. Colonel Fraser and Blum Pasha have been suddenly summoned from Cairo to confer with Lord Granville as to the Egyptian army and the financial question generally, and the last news from the latter city is that a campaign in the Soudan on a most extensive scale is inevitable in the autumn. The prophecy of General Gordon that his abandonment would cause more complications to this country, seems likely, therefore, to be fulfilled to the letter. The Egyptian Government has demanded that it shall be officially represented at the Conference, even if it has only a consultative voice, but as yet the decision of the

New Series, Vor. X X X I , No SoS

British Cabinet has not been made known. Does not this last fact show what a hollow sham our pretence of ruling Egypt through the Egyptians really is ? The wish of the Government was to take credit for all that goes well, and when anything goes ill—as most matters have gone—to say, it is not our fault, blame the Ministers of the Khedive, but the people of this country have seen through this rather thin manoeuvre, and rightly hold their own Ministers responsible. From Berlin we learn that the German representative will take the opportunity at the Conference for starting a discussion respecting the necessary regulation of sanitary and quarantine affairs in Egypt. This perhaps would be a useful move, as the health regulations of Nile-land, even under British rule, are far from perfect. According to some of the Roman journals, the aim of Italy at the forthcoming international meeting will be to conciliate the interests of Britain and France ; at the same time, be it well understood, she will take good care of her own.—The D iritto expresses an earnest desire to be in perfect accord with the British Government, and says it “ sees no reason to doubt the loyal intentions of the British Cabinet, or that it is opposed to all idea of annexation in Egypt.” From France of course comes the most important news, inasmuch as an evidently inspired article in the Temps appeared on Tuesday last, and says that, as France began in Tunis by settling the Tunisian debt, so Mr. Gladstone after making Egypt solvent will enter more resolutely on the path of Egyptian reorganisation. The Temps considers that then Mr. Gladstone will no longer have the same repugnance to a virtual Protectorate, and the army, magistracy, and civil service will be more openly pl^ed in English hands. There will still, however, be the same protests of the temporary character of British intervention, and the same talk—with perfect sincerity on Mr. Gladstone’s part— of the happy moment when Egypt can be left to govern herself. Perhaps five or ten years will even be fixed as the period of the occupation, but, meanwhile, Egypt will really be a British dependency. The Temps also thinks that Mr. Gladstone’s proposals imply the guarantee of the Egyptian debt, without which the bondholders will never agree to the sacrifice asked of them, and that he must see the ungraciousness of expecting France to facilitate the state of things based on her unjust exclusion. Yet it acknowledges the difficulty which England would experience in retracing her steps. This article of the Temps is a very cogent one, and, if it really expresses the views of the Ferry Cabinet, will make the work of the Conference comparatively easy. The condominium is dead, but