THE TABLET

A Weekly 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 i s 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 o] His Holiness to The Tablet, June 4, 1870.

Vol. 40. No. 1701. L ondon, N o vem ber i 6 , 1872.

P rice sd. By P ost 5%

[R egistered a t the General P ost Office a s a N ew spaper.

‘C hronicle of th e W e e k : The

Page

French Assembly and Constitutional Changes.— President Thiers’s Message.—The Comte de Chambord.— The Position of Parties.— The Novena for the Assembly.— Marshal Bazaine’s Trial. — M. Rochefort’s Marriage.—The Prussian Political Crisis.— Avowed Object of the Local Government Bill. The Catholics and the Conservatives.— Ministers at Guildhall.— Lord Granville on Arbitration.— The Commercial Treaty with France.— Mr. Lowe and the House of Commons.—The Impeachment •of the Sagasta Ministry.—The Geneva Elections. — Mr. Alderman Watkin and T he T ablet, & c.,& c. 609

CONTENTS

L e a d e r s :

Page

The Priesthood in Irish Politics . 613 The Disestablishment of the Ca­

tholic Church .... 613 The “ Times” and the Catholic

Universities .... 615 Our P rotestant Contemporaries:

A Polemical Truce.— Approved by the “ Morning Post.”— Motives for i t .— The Established Church.— Conservative Socialism. — Latest News from Rome . . .6 17 T he A nglican M ovement . . 618 R eview s :

From Trinidad to Para . . 6x9 Middlemarch - 620 The Contemporary Review . . 620 Father Time’s Story Book . . 621

R eviews (continued) :

The Sermon delivered at the Con­

secration of the Bishops of Salford and Amycla by Bishop Ullathorne . - . . . 621 Short N otices : Kites and Pigeons.

The Merchant of Antwerp.—The Four Great Evils of the Day.—The Fourfold Sovereignty of God.— Geology and Revelation . . . 622 C orrespondence:

Protestant Congresses . . . 622 Friendly^Protestantism— Guides to

Catholic Worship . . . 623 The “ Times” on]-the San Juan

Award and Canada . . .62 A Warning .... 62^ Maesteg— Menevia and Newport. 623 Catholic Loyalty .... 623

Page

R o m e ....................................................625 R ecord of German P ersecution,

&c. ...... 625 President V. Gerlach’s Pamphlet.—

“ Emperor and Pope” . . 626 Peter’s Pence .... 627 D io cesan N ews :

Westminster.......................................627 S o u th w a r k ...................................... 627 B e v e r l e y .......................................627 Hexham and Newcastle . . 628 Northampton .... 628 Salford ..... 629 I reland:

.etter from our Dublin Corre­

spondent ........................................629 reign N ews : Russia— Sweden . 630 iMORANDA . . . , . 632 General N ews . . . . 633

CHRONICLE OF THE WEEK.

TUTIONAL CHANGES. T

THE FRENCH

ASSEMBLY AND CONSTI­

H E French A ssem b ly met again on M on­

day, and on Tuesday re-elected its Presi dent, M . Grdvy, by the immense majority o f 462 to 43. N o important business had as yet com e to the front, and the only incident o f the first day’s sitting was the amusement elicited by

M . Dahirel’s allusion to the R iv e t proposition, as exem p lify ing the evils consequent on precipitation. N ex t to the questions connected with the Presidency are those o f e lectoral reform and the reconstruction o f the Assem b ly . T h e B ieti Public announces that the Governm ent w ill have nothing to do -with any change affecting universal suffrage, lest it should produce indecision— -which means, we suppose, a lienation— am ong deputies o f a ll parties. A paper in the Univers by th e Com te G . de la Tour, advocates the follow ing reform s ; 4he restoration o f the vote b y circum scriptions, the reduction o f the number o f deputies to 300, one for each arrondissement numbering more than 50,000 souls— and the re-establishm ent o f the “ ballot scrutiny.” Everybody, however, seems in c lin ed to leave the in itiative in these ticklish matters to the Governm ent. Even the L e ft Centre, which was expected to in troduce the constitutional reform s, came to a resolution on T u e sd ay to wait for what the Governm ent m ight propose. M . Thiers, therefore, has at least the advantage o f being able to avoid raising any point which may seem to him dangerous. T h e Opinion Nationale declares that M . Thiers has recently accorded private interviews to the principal d ip lo matists at Versailles, with a v iew o f communicating to them th e ideas expressed in the M essage with reference to the constitu tional changes in contem plation, and announces “ on undoubted authority” that the proclam ation o f the definitive R epublic is considered b y the President a s absolutely necessary, and as the only means o f putting an end to the “ liraillem cns ” o f the different parties.

But i f the first day’s sitting was tame, the tameness was amply com pensated by the row message. on W ednesday. On that day the President de­

livered his message. T h e first part, which was a financial statem ent, and the second part, which concerned the Commercial T reaty with England, were received with approbation. “ T h e whole available capital o f the commer“ c ia l world had been offered to France,” and half the loan been realized in three months. Germany had already received 800,000,000 francs, and would receive 800,000,000 more in D ecem b er. A t the end o f the year the Government estim ates th a t the deficit will be about 132,000,000, but it is confident that at the end o f 1873 the financial equilibrium w ill be restored, and that there will be a considerable surplus in 1874. T h e principle o f the new Commercial T reaty was then explained, and a certain sensation was produced b y the admission that i f England had rejected the F rench tariffs, they would have had no chance o f acceptance elsewhere. But it was when M . Thiers came to the “ burning question,” the Constitutional one, that the real excitem ent began. “ T h e R epublic,” he said, “ exists, it is the legal Governm ent o f the country. “ T o wish for anything different would be to wish for a fresh “ revolution, and one more form idable than a ll.” “ D o not “ le t us lose our tim e in proclaim ing the R epublic, but let “ us em p loy it in making a Conservative one.” “ I t must “ be Conservative or i f cannot exist.” “ T h e R epublic of “ a party would only be the th ing o f a day. T h e mass m ight “ live for a short tim e on agitation, but, after inspiring fear “ in to others, it would becom e afraid o f itself, and would “ throw itse lf again in to the arms o f an adventurer.” “ T h is fatal journey from anarchy to despotism , and from “ despotism to anarchy must now be put a stop to, and it will “ be for you to consider what day and what form you will se“ le c t for g iv in g the R epublic that definitive Conservative “ strength w ithw h ich it cannot dispense, and which the country “ expects.” T h is part o f the M essage created such an uproar on the benches o f the R igh t that the noise collected a crowd outside. There were shouts o f “ R em em ber the “ Bordeaux com pact,” “ T h in k o f your prom ises,” and “ Y o u are proclaim ing a R epublic,” and the applause o f the Extrem e Left was drowned in groans when the President ceased to speak. When M . G revy was proposing that the M essage should be the order o f the day for the morrow, M . H enri de Cesay mounted the T ribune and declared that there must be an appeal to the people, and that i f the R e public was adopted, it must com e in, “ not by the back stairs, “ but by the front door.” M . G revy declared that he could not take notice o f so irregular a proposal, but after the D uke de B isaccia had protested against “ the indefensible speech “ o f the President,” M . de Kerdrel moved for a Commission to report on the M essage and draw up an address in reply. M . Grdvy tried to stop him by stigm atizing this proceeding as worthy only o f the Im perial regime, and the whole L e ft and L e ft Centre fought against it tooth and nail, but the R igh t and R ig h t Centre rose en masse, and carried the motion by a majority o f 50 or 60. A Committee, probably o f 30, w ill accordingly be e lected by the bureaux, and w ill discuss the Message and prepare a reply, which w ill itse lf then be discussed by the Assem b ly . A s a necessary consequence o f this course o f action the question o f the proposed reforms w ill be adjourned for some time. In the course o f the confused debate which preceded the final vote, M . Thiers declared that i f he had made a m istake he would recognize it, but that he believed he had rightly interpreted the sentiments o f the country and the Assem b ly , In this, as far as the A ssem b ly is concerned, he was clearly in error.

N ew Series. Vol, V III. No. 210.