A IVeekly Newspaper and Review

D u m v o b i s g r a t u l a m u r , a n im o s e t i a m a d d im u s u t i n in c c e p t is v e s t r i s c o n s t a n t e r m a n e a t i s .

From the Brief of His Holiness to T h e T a b l e t , June 4, 1870.

Vol. 45. No. 1834. L o n d o n , J u n e 5, 1875.

P r ic e 5d. B y P o s t sJ^d.

[ R e g i s t e r e d a t t h e G e n e r a l P o s t O f f i c e a s a N e w s p a p e r .

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C h r o n i c l e o f t h e W e e k :—

Lord Russell on England’s Foreign Policy.— Lord Derby’s Reply.— The Offer of Mediation — A History o f the Panic.— Abolition of the Berlin Press Bureau.— The Wiesinger Affair.— Russia and the Holy See.— The New Committee •of Thirty.— The Public Powers Bill in Committee.— The Electoral Question.— Privileges and Reports.— Strangers in the House.— Air. Whalley again.— The Norwich Writ. — Vivisection. — The Carlist War.— The “ Conversions” 'in Podlachia.— Baron Pigott’s Funeral.— Outrage at Antwerp.— M. Armand Ravelet .. . . 705

CONTENTS.

L e a d e r s :

The Parliamentary Situation in

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France . . . . . . .. 709 “ Irish Church Missions ” .. .. 709 Prisons and Schools in Italy . . 710 O ur P r o t e s t a n t C o n t e m p o r a r i e s :

Truth and Charity . . . . . . 711

R e v i e w s :

St. Thomas of Aquin and Ideology 713 Ward’s Treatise on Maritime Law 714 The Month .. .. . . . . 715

S h o r t N o t ic e s :

The Nobleman o f ’89, an Episode o f the French Revolution . . 716 Shadows and Realities . . .. 716 Literary, Artistic, & Scientific Gossip 716

C o r r e s p o n d e n c e :

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Jubilees . . .. . . .. 717 The Cardinal Archbishop and the

Festival o f the Total Abstinence League at the Crystal Paiace “ Salva Nos Perimus ” The Servants of the Sacred Heart at Homerton The Kensington Orphanage Homerton Proposed Catholic

Church Termination of the Strike.— Con­

7 17 717

7 17 718

718

tinued Distress in Ebbw Vale . . 718 P a r l i a m e n t a r y S u m m a r y . . 718 R o m e :— Letter from our own Cor­

respondent .. . . .. 721 The German Address to the

Pope ....................................722

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D i o c e s a n N e w s :— Westminster .. .. . . . . 723

Southwark . . . . . . . . 724 Beverley .. .. . . . . 724 Birmingham .. .. .. . . 724 Hexham and Newcastle . . . . 72^ I r e l a n d :

Letter from our Dublin Corre­

spondent . . .. . . . . 724 The Truth about the Protestant

Missions to Irish Catholics . . 725 F o r e ig n N e w s :—

Germany .. .. . . . . 726 Poland . . . . . . . . 727 M e m o r a n d a :—

Educational . , . . . . .. 72S G e n e r a l N ew s ............................... 729

C H R O N I C L E O F T H E W E E K .

FOREIGN POLICY. O

•LORD RUSSELL •on England’s

N Monday Lord Russell moved for correspondence relating to the peace of Europe, not so much, as he said, for the purpose o f obtaining it if Government thought proper to refuse

■ it, as for the sake o f calling attention to the present ■ state of foreign affairs. H e con-trasted the policy and the position of England in 1814 with l: the indifference “ and the carelessness o f foreign policy ” which in recent times has been allowed to prevail. In 1870 the Emperor of the French had no scruple in declaring that he meant to tear up the treaties of 1815, and retake the Rhine frontier; and in May or June of that year Lord ■ Granville assured the House that all the documents received by the Foreign Office attested a desire for the continuance •of peace, and the peaceful disposition of France in particular. Yet in July “ one of the most violent, the most “ purposeless, and wanton wars” broke out between France •and Prussia. I f France had been successful in that war Lord Russell thinks that we should have been called •upon to uphold the treaties which we had taken a part in establishing. With this warning before him he cannot, he ■ says, be satisfied with mere assurances, and he considers that the peace of Europe is not safe “ unless we have treaties,

and our power in respect of treaties is fully maintained.” A l l this is true enough in the abstract, but as far as the particular treaties of 1815 are concerned so many holes have been already made in them that it would be absurd to pretend to maintain them as a whole. What England has to ■ do is to settle what she does intend to uphold, to let it be known pretty plainly what that is, and then to fight for it, if necessary, with all her energy and all the resources in her power. In the meantime most people will think that Lord Derby is quite capable without any counsel from Lord Russell, of carrying out a vigorous and prudent foreign policy, and the vivid remembrance of the effect of certain diplomatic lectures of the elder statesman rather suggests a feeling of satisfaction that in these critical times the conduct o f our foreign relations is in other hands. /

Lord Derby o f course refused to produce

R.EPI Y

¡lokd Derby’s confidential despatches, and said that to lay

1 •

before the House a part of the papers only

•

would inevitably mislead it. But he stated generally what had occurred. Neither France nor Germany, he believed, really wished for war, but each feared the warlike intentions o f the other. This was a point, before there was a determination on each side to go to war— when no interposition would be of any use— at which England thought she might interfere in the interests of peace, and did so. But she

N ew Series. V ol. XIII. No. 343.

bound herself to no course of action in the future, leaving herself perfectly free to act in any contingency. And he did not believe in any such fixed rule or formula as that which Lord Russell said ought to guide our foreign policy. Circumstances must be dealt with as they arise. But while “ a policy of non-intervention in Continental affairs was the “ policy most popular in this country, a policy of non“ intervention did not mean a policy of isolation and in“ difference, or that England could be indifferent to the “ maintenance o f European peace.”

THE OFFER

OF MEDIATION.

Some of the German papers indeed have spoken of the intervention of England in this crisis as unnecessary and futile in its result, but Mr. Disraeli’s answer to Lord Harrington's question that the reply we had received from Berlin was entirely satisfactory is confirmed by the fact that the thanks of Germany have been officially conveyed to this Government through Count Münster. It would appear that England’s offer o f intervention reached Berlin at the same time as that of Russia, and consisted in a tender of the good offices of this country in case there was any reason to apprehend a misunderstanding between Germany and France. An hour after the Emperor o f Russia’s arrival, according to a telegram in the P a l l M a l l Gazette, Prince Bismarck expressed his thanks to Lord Odo Russell, and instructions were subsequently sent to Count Miinster to make the acknowledgment in a more formal shape.

A HISTORY

OF THE PANIC.

A remarkable letter in Monday’s ‘lim es, dated Paris, and signed “ Verax,”— written apparently by one who has been behind the scenes— gives the following succinct account of the whole affair: “ A few weeks ago the German representa“ tives at Paris, London, St. Petersburg, Vienna, and Rome, “ officially complained o f France pushing her armaments with “ a view to an early resumption of war. So deep was the “ impression produced by these announcements at St. Peters“ burg that the Tsar telegraphed to the German Emperor en“ treating him to postpone operations until he had had an “ opportunity of speaking to him at Berlin on his way to “ Ems. Before the Tsar’s arrival Count Schouvaloff passed “ through Berlin on his way back to London. He dined “ with the Emperor, and repeatedly conferred with the Clian“ cellor. What he then learned did not prevent his sug“ gesting on his return to London the expediency of Great “ Britain co-operating with Russia on behalf o f peace. Soon “ after this the Emperor of Russia arrived at Berlin and was “ warmly received by his Imperial relative. Before leaving the “ Prussian capital the Emperor o f Russia received the lead“ ing members of the diplomatic body, and, devoting a few “ moments to each of them, told the representatives o f the “ Powers Jhat peace was ensured. Prince Gortschakoff,