THE TABLET A Weekly Newspaper and Review.

D u m VOBIS GRATULAMUR, ANIM OS ETIAM ADDIMUS U T IN INCCEPTIS VESTRIS CONSTANTER MANE A T IS.

From the B r i e f o f H is Holiness to T h e T a b l e t , Ju n e 4, 1870.

Vol. 36. No. 1586. L ondon, S eptember 3, 187c

P r ic e 5

C hronicle of t h e W eek : The

War.— Battles Rumoured and Real.— Reputed French Successes. — Sieges.— Prussian Propaganda. —A Stratagem.— Health of the Emperor.— Emigres again. — Declaration of the Italian Cabinet.— A further Explanation.— Fanaticism and Jacquerie.— The Massacre at Tientsin.— Elementary Education. — The Education Crisis Fund. — Orphan Emigration.— Jeopardized .Cathedrals. — Mr. Suffield.— The Red River . . 285 /Leaders :

The W a r .............................. 289 The Middle School at Barnet . 289 General Trochu— II . . . 290 War Finance.............................. 291 Peter’s Pence . . . . 292

CONTENTS.

English Administrations and Catholic

Interests :— V. Reign of George II — Prince Charles Edward . . 292 T he A nglican M ovem ent :

Protestant Writers on the “ West­

minster Abbey Scandal,” Royal Supremacy, &c............................. 293 R eview s :

Epilogue a l’Art Chretien. (First

Notice) . . . . 295 Journal o f the Waterloo Campaign.

(First Notice) .... 296 The Contemporary Review . . 297 S hort N o t ic e s : The Ammergau

Passion-Play. — Les Filles de Louis XV.— Edwin Drood.— Macmillan’s Magazine.— Britannia.— My Last Love .... 297

Correspondence :

The Educational Crisis . . . 298 The Middle-Class and Poor School of B a r n e t ....................................298 Papal Zouaves .... 299 Prophecies of Marie Lataste . 299 The Missionary Priests Martyrs . 299 The Orphans of the Ploly Family. 299 L e t t e r from R ome ; Cavourian

Policy.— The Holy See and the Powers.— St. Louis of France.— The Papal Army.— English and Irish Volunteers. — Peace. — Florence. — Austria. — State of I ta ly .— The Frontiers. — Italian Affairs.— Italian Factions.— Italian Intrigues.— M. Ollivier.— Prussian Manifesto.— Fuoco.— Local . . 301 R ecord of th e C ouncil : Gene­

ral Congregations.— Oriental Prelates.— The Definition in Bavaria. —The Archbishop of Westminster. — The Archbishop of Lemberg.— The German Bishops.-—Adhesion. — The “ Saturday Review” . . 302 D io cesan N ews : Westminster...................................... 303

Southwark ..... 304 L i v e r p o o l ......................................304 Salford . . . . . . 304 Scotland—Northern District. . 304 I r e l a n d ....................................................305 F oreign N ews :

C h i n a ............................................... 305 T he W a r . . . . ' . 306 M emoranda :

Religious . . . . i 3x0 E ducational...................................... 310 Fine A r t s ......................................310 Gen er a l N ews . . . . 310

THE WAR.

CHRONICLE OF THE WEEK.

TVH E week closes with a thunder-storm,

but one which may not clear the air. Another bloody battle and yet another

Slave been fought, and over many a mile o f what were lately peaceful fields, rich with corn, and glowing in sunshine, lie many thousand ghastly corpses o f brave men, and the fragrance of early autumn air has given place to the faint and sickening smell of blood. The Priest, the Sister of Charity, the surgeon, and the grave-digger are busy, but the harvest is too great for the labourers. Thousands have died in the heat o f battle ; other wounded thousands, charged over by advancing artillery, trampled on by man and horse, have looked in vain for help front man, and during the long hours o f night have hoped in vain, and died : and other thousands have been carried off to die a yet slower death in overcrowded hospitals, in wayside farm-houses, or in the open fields when no such shelter was to be had, and yet other thousands who recover will have lost the possibility of selfmaintenance, and the bread-winner o f the family will become a drain on its resources and a burden to the helpless. But the tale is not half told ; for after the slaughter o f the battle-field come Famine and Pestilence. I f the victors cannot reap the harvest of their own fields, what of the vanquished ? Count Bismark is an astute counsellor, von Moltke a great strategist, and the German soldiers are brave and led by competent generals. But the K ing of Prussia must know, and he is by all accounts the man to feel, that Schleswig, Hanover, and Sadowa are heavy burdens for one man to bear in his old age, and that he may die more renowned than honoured. We say all this in the belief that the quarrel which has had these bloody fields for its first results was fully designed and wilfully brought about by Count Bismark ; that, when the K in g of Prussia bid Count Benedetti to go to the devil, Prussia was readier to fight than in 1866 ; and that the successes of the war are not due to the superior normal organization of the Prussian army, but that magazines o f food, ammunition, t^nsport, and other necessities for invasion were in readiness V) an extent which is only attempted when invasion has been determined on. Let us hope that if Count Bismark’s success continue, his appetite may be appeased if not fully satisfied, and that the modern rendering of “ Fatherland ” may not hereafter Termhe quite so much fraud and slaughter as in these latter years.

It has been a week o f suspense and perKUMoum plexity, ending with disastrous announcements and real. ° f to° little ambiguity. From Saturday to

Tuesday we were tantalized with conflicting war telegrams, each claiming victories that had really been gained by neither s id e ; those announcing French successes

N e w S e r i e s . N o . 95.

sometimes reaching us simultaneously with the intimation that they were not believed at Paris, although backed up by official declarations in the House of Representatives. Thus we had news on Saturday evening from Paris of a great victory gained between Verdun and Chalons over Steinmetz by MacMahon on the 25th ; and on Tuesday it was reported in the Paris journals that Bazaine had gained a victory, and was in communication with his colleague and had even effected a junction with him. On the Prussian side we had reiterated assurances that Marshal Bazaine was shut up in Metz by the defeat of the 18th ult, hemmed in by a Prussian force, and must shortly capitulate from want o f provisions. Up to the time of our going to press this week we have no account worthy o f a moment’s attention o f the whereabouts o f Marshal Bazaine. Whether shut up in Metz or not, his force, which, cannc be a small one, would seem by some means or other to be 'eutralized, at all events for all present utility in the field. he be, as the Prussians say, holding the fortress o f Metz, ne is doing good service, and seriously checking their marc 1 on Paris. The salvation o f the capital is, no doubt, the nu 1 object in view. It is worth all the sacrifices that have l een made. The movements o f MacMahon we have spoken c elsewhere, and have endeavoured to present a theory o f tae strategy not requiring the hypothesis o f judicial infatuation on the part o f the French generals. O f minor events there have been many, and those remarkable. We have had the announcements of cavalry skirmishes in which the French were victorious. On the other hand, on Saturday in a battle of cavalry, which took place between Vouziers and Beaumont, Saxon troopers almost annihilated (according to the Prussian accounts) the 12th regiment o f Chasseurs. The resident and unmobilised National Guard o f Verdun were eulogized by Count Palikao in the Corps Législatif on Saturday as having repulsed a body o f Uhlans under the Crown Prince. On the other hand, at St. Menehold on the same day 800 French National Guards were made prisoners with apparently little or no resistance. Lastly come those battles, to which allusion has been made above, between the armies of MacMahon and Steinmetz. They commenced on Monday, continued the day following, and were not known to be concluded when we went to press. Armigny, Sedan, Montmedy, Beaumont, and Nouart are the local names ; which of them will become famous as designating the battles cannot as yet be decided. On the side o f France there is ominous silence. What intelligence we have comes from Prussian sources. The K ing’s telegram to the Queen is dated Varennes, Aug. 30 (3.30 p.m.) It runs as , follows : “ We won a victorious battle yesterday. fMap Mahon was beaten by me with the 4th and 12th Saxon and the 1st Bavarian Army Corps, and was driven back from Beaumont beyond the Meuse, near Mouzon. Twelve cannon and

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