A Weekly Newspaper and Review.

DU1I VOEIS GRATÜLAMUR, ANIMOS ETIAM ADDIMUS UT IN INCŒ PTIS VESTRIS CONSTANTE« MANEATIS.

F rom the B r ie t o f H is H o lin ess P iu s IX . to The Tablet, June 4 , 1 ¿¡JO.

Vol. 108. No. 3,462. London, September 15, 1906. P rice 5c!., ey P ost $%d.

R egistered at th e General Post O ffice as a N ewspaper,

C hronicle of the W eek : More Army Changes—The Justi­

Page fication of the Scheme—The Trade Unionists and Secular Education —Lunacy Still on the Increase— Mr. Wyndham and the Macdonnell Controversy — The German Emperor Advises Pessimists to Leave the Country— Sir Robert Hart and the Chinese Customs— P ro s p e r i ty : “ By#Leaps and Bounds ’’-The Condition of Russia —Attack Upon a British ViceConsul— Ireland and Emigration — The Government and Home Rule-Chambers of Commerce and Preferential Trade .. .. .. 397 T opics of the Day :

The New General of the Jesuits . . 401

CONTENTS.

T opics (Continued) :

The Tangle in France .. .. 401 Denifle and Luther.. .. . . 403 The Eve of Priesthood : Lacor-

Page daire—Renan .. .. .. 403 N o t e s ........................................................4°5 R eviews :

The Book of Psalms . . .. 406 The Historic Christ .. .. 407 Sunday Worship .. .. 408 The History of Richard Ray nal.. 408 The Gospel According to St. Luke 409 The Lover of Souls.. .. .. 409 Catholic Truth Society’s Publica­

tions ......................... .. 409 Literary Notes.......................................409 Books of the W e e k ............................410

M. Briand and the Church .. .. 411 Correspondence :

Rome:—(From Our Own Corre­

Paee spondent) . . . . . . . . 413 News from Ireland .. . . .. 414 News from France ~ .. --415 L etters to the E ditor :

A Questionable Ordination .. 416 The Seraphic Benediction .. 416 The Consecration of the Church at

Poplar .. .. .. . . 416 Second-hand Catholic Books .. 416 “ The End of an Egyptian Relic ” Et Caetera ......................... . . 417 Liturgy and Music .. .. .. 419 The Pope and France .. .. 421 The Ritual Controversy .. . . 422

“ In Our Convent Days ” .. .. 422 The Late Judge Bowen Rowlands.. 423 Newman in D u b l in ........................... 423 Obituary .. .. .. .. 424 Professor Skeat and Spelling Reform 426 Social and Political . . . . 426

Page

SUPPLEMENT. Educational Notes .. . . . . 429 The Education B i l l ........................... 430 Doings of Local Authorities.. . . 434 Our Colleges and Schools . . . . 434 The Fourth “ R ” ............................434 N ews from th e D ioceses :

Westminster.......................................435 Southwark . . . . . . . . 418 Newport .. .. .. .. 419 Galloway .. . . . . . . 419

Rejected MS. cannot be returned unless accompa7iied with address and postage.

NOTANDA. --------- *--------T h e new General o f the Jesuits (p. 401). A pen-portrait o f him (p. 413).

The Very Rev. Philip Lassetter, C .SS.R . An appreciation o f his life and work (p. 424).

Liturgy and Music— a paper contributed by the Master o f Ceremonies at Westminster Cathedral (p. 419).

Opinions o f French statesmen on the present situation o f the difficulty between Church and State (p. 415).

The views of a Fellow o f Magdalene College, Cambridge, on Secondary Education (p. 429).

CHRONICLE OF THE WEEK.

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M R . H A LD AN E has been in Berlin and affably received by the Emperor, ----------- so the new military system, which aims at securing efficiency by disbanding regiments, is likely to be soon in full swing. Meanwhile Mr. Haldane presents the nation with a General Staff. The following summary gives the main features o f the new scheme. This body will consist o f two divisions, one o f which will work at headquarters and the other in commands and districts. The functions of the latter are to assist the officers on whose staffs they are serving, in promoting military efficiency, especially in regard to the education o f officers and the training o f the troops, and to aid them in carrying out the policy prescribed by Army Headquarters. The General Staff will be drawn from the officers of the Army who may be considered most likely to prove capable o f forming a school o f progressive military thought. As a general rule, an officer will not be eligible unless he holds a Staff College certificate, and unless he has at least eight years’ service. A t home and in the Colonies appointments to the General Staff will be made by the

New Series. Vol. LXXVI. No. 2,861.

Secretary of State o f War. In India such appointments will be made by the Commander-in-Cbief in India under Indian Army Regulations. A ll appointments to the General Staff will be for four years, after which an officer, if below the rank o f substantive lieutenant-colonel, will return to regimental duty for a period of not less than one year. In exceptional cases the four years’ tenure may be extended in the interests o f the service. Approved service on the General Staff will he recognised by accelerated promotion. Such accelerated promotion will be bestowed in ordinary cases in the form of a brevet up to the rank of lieutenantcolonel, and above that rank by selection for the rank o f substantive colonel.

—THE JUSTIFICATION OF

THE SCHEME. Mr. Haldane has wisely not been content to let the public form their own opinion as to the merits o f the scheme.

He has obligingly pointed them out in an official memorandum. In the first place, the new arrangement has the advantage o f representing an effort to carry out the recommendations of the Esher Committee. High German authorities are cited to show that specialisation in staff matters is a necessity. The enormous scale o f modern military operations makes it necessary that the higher officers should have the permanent support o f specially selected and trained officers. The general functions o f the new Army Staff, as well as some o f the possible changes its establishment may give rise to, are foreshadowed in the following passage of the memorandum: “ The General Staff will be judged by the men it produces. I f they prove themselves to be pedantic theorists, if they get out of touch with the Army or exercise their authority by interfering in the details o f administrative business for which others are responsible, the failure o f the present attempt to form a General Staff is certain. If, on the other hand, they show themselves capable o f mastering the science o f war, o f fully understanding war organisation in all its branches, and o f imparting their own knowledge to the Army at large, the influence o f the General Staff in this country will become as far-reaching as it is in Germany or in Japan. This influence will be exercised in the interest o f no one part o f the Army alone. As its name implies, the General Staff will be just as much responsible for the training and war organisation o f the Auxiliary Forces as of the Regular Army. Further, provided the General Staff can avoid the suspicion o f wishing to interfere in purely administrative matters, there is no reason why its influence should not extend, ultimately,

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