THE TABLET

A Weekly Newspaper and Review.

DUM VOBIS GRATULAMUR, ANIMOS ETIAM ADDIMUS U T IN INCCEPTIS V E STR IS CONSTANTER M AN EATI3.

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

Vol. 58. No. 2175. London, D ecember 17, 1881.

P r ice sd , b y P o s t , 5%d [R eg iste r ed a t t h e G en er a l P ost O f f i c e a s a N ew spaper.]

•Ch ronicle of t h e W eek r—

Page

The Canonisations — Prince Bismarck a»d the Holy See.—Tuesday's Meeting at the Mansion House.— Further Objections to the Proceedings.— Mr. Stansfeld at Halifax.— Mr. Labouchere on ifche Bradlaugh Case.— Public Men on Public Affairs.— The Catastrophe at Vienna.— Serious Accidents at Home and Abroad.— Debate on Tunis in the French Senate.— The Second Day’s Debate.— A Check for M. Gambetta. — General Campenon and his Assailants. — The Rauston v. ‘ Rochefort Libel Case.— Another P lo t _in St. Petersburg. — The Russian Indemnity and Armenia. — Mr. Blaine and the Monroe Doctrine.— The Trial of Guiteau. — Royal Speakers on Musical Education.— The Proposed Memorial o f Dean Stanley .. . . . . 957

CONTENTS.

P e t er P e n c e ........................................ 961 L e a d e r s :

The Relations between Austria

Page and Italy . . . . ..... 961 Irish Education . . . . . . 962 The First Examination in the

New Irish University . . . . 963 The True Method in Controversy 964 The Bishop of Salford on Diplo­

matic Relations between England and the Holy See.. .. 965 N otes . . . . . . . . . . 968 The Love of Letters . . . . . . 969 R eview s :

The Homes and Haunts of the

Italian Poets . . .. . . 969 Professor Shairp’s Lectures of

Poetry . . ......................... 970 De Quincey ......................... 971 S hort N o t ic e :

Gother’s Instructions for Particular

States .. . . . . .. 971

C orrespondence :— Rome : — (From Our Own Corre­

spondent) . . . . . . .. 973 Paris :— (From Our Own Corre­

spondent) . . .. .. . . 997 L e t t e r s to t h e E ditor :—

Appeal for Christmas Gifts for the

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Poor from the Sisters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul' . . .. 976 Ladies in Distress in Ireland . . 976 “ Please Send me a Parcel” .. 976 The Aberdare Mission, South

Wales .................................... 977 A Merry Christmas and a Happy

New Year . . . . .. 977 The Avesta and the Six Days of

Creation . . .. . . . 977 What is Time? .. .. .. 978 The Charge of Alleged Proselytism at Croydon . . .. . . 979 The Society of the Holy Childhood 979 The Matriculation Examination of the Royal University of Ireland 979 C atholic N o t e s . . .. . .9 8 1

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SU PPLEM ENT. Decrees o f Canonisation . . . . 9S9 N ews from th e S chools.

The Teacher and his Assistants . . 989 Deputation from the National

Union of Elementary Teachers ^ on the New Education Proposals

—The London School Board Teachers— Industrial Schools— The Largest Examination_ever Held— Dr. Arnold Engaging a Master — Caravan Children— Distribution of Prizes at Wandsworth Training College, &c. . . 990 E n g l a n d :—

Westminster . . . . ». 991 Birmingham . . .. . . . . 992 Clifton .................................... 992 Nottingham .. . . .. . . 992 Shrewsbury . . . . . . . . 993 I r e l a n d :—

Dublin . . . . .. . . 993 New Zealand . . . . . . • . . 993 Borneo .. .. . . . . . . 994

CH R O N IC L E O F TH E W E E K .

THE •CANONISATIONS. O

,N C E more has one of the most im-

ressive ceremonies which the Church prescribes been witnessed at Rom e by a privileged few. It has been calculated th a t, including the members o f the Sacred College, the Episcopate, the Papal Court, the D ip lom atic Body, the F rench pilgrims, and those who were fortunate enough to •secure the privilege o f admission, about 900 persons were present at the Canonisation in the loggia of the Benediction on the Thursday in last week. In other days, those who would have assisted at the function, either in St. Peter’s itself or by witnessing the procession outside, would have been counted by thousands. T h is fact enables us to measure what the Catholic world loses when the Sovereign Pontiff is not free. Some o f our contemporaries have, indeed, attem pted to draw the conclusion that the Pope is free, because these ceremonies .were performed without let or hindrance. But there is nothing in a canonisation which can be interpreted as an interference with the C iv il Power. I t has yet to be proved that theSovereign Pontiff would beunmolested were he to deem it his duty to condemn in an equally public manner some act o f the civil Government, or some in iquitous law which happened to be fundamentally opposed to the rights o f the Church. Full details o f the proceedings w ill be found in our Roman letter. H ere we need only observe that the pomp with which the Ambassadors and M inisters accredited to the H o ly See— especially those o f Austria and Spain— went to the Vatican on this occasion was very noticeable, and is, we hope, an augury, o f the approach o f the time when the Christian Governments o f Europe will rally round the Sovereign Pontiff as o f old. In raising Saint B enedict Joseph Labre to the altars o f the Church, the H o ly Father has again glorified the virtue o f H o ly Poverty, and has, as the République Française has observed, shown the utter incom patibility between Christianity and that “ modern civilisation ” which would inflict punishment on a saintly mendicant in the name o f A rticle 270 o f the penal code.

Prince B ism arck’s famous speech in

PRINand th eRCK answer t0 H err V ichow , in which he dis-

h o l y s e e . cussed at length the relations between

Prussia and the H o ly See, is still the subject o f much comment on the Continent. It may be well, therefore, to give an outline o f his argument. T h e question o f the relations o f the civil Power towards the Church d id not concern the German Empire, said the Chancellor, so much as the separate States which composed it. It was in the Prussian Landtag that he ought to be questioned. N evertheless he proceeded to enlighten his audience as to the policy about to be pursued.

The King of Prussia, he said, as well as the Sovereigns of the other confederated States, had a vital interest in, as well as a responsibility which they could not neglect, of not neglecting the interests of their Catholic subjects at Rome. And the Government had, therefore, the intention of introducing into the Prussian Budget on the next occasion a vote of credit to enable it to carry on direct negotiations on questions which concerned persons, on local questions which were awaiting decision, and other more important questions in which principles were involved. The suppression of the Embassy which formerly represented Prussia, and subsequently the Empire, at the Vatican had not been inspired by those principles which had dictated what was called in Prussia the Caltirkampf. Some of his audience would remember how he had once declared that theGovernment had been wounded by the tone adopted by Rome towards the Prussian Government and the Emperor himself. It was for this reason that the Embassy had been suppressed. But now, continued Prince Bismarck, the subject of our displeasure has disappeared. We are on the most courteous and friendly terms with the present Sovereign Pontiff, and there is no reason why we should not occupy ourselves with the Catholic interests of each confederate State. If, according to my view, this task concerns Prussia rather than the Empire, I am not influenced by a consideration of principles, so much as by the actual facts of the situation. Still, i f ‘ Saxony, Baden, Wiirtemberg, and other States agreed that they had the same interest in the matter as Prussia, there would be no reason why the Empire should not be represented at the Court of the Holy See, “ which we consider, not in the light of a foreign Power, but as Head of a Chureh.” W e hope by this means, he continued, not only in the Empire, where the Culturkam pf does not exist, but also in each separate State, to approach nearer to a state o f peace, to approach as near as the traditional independence which is the basis o f the State admits, that independence which for so many centuries has been the subject o f strife between the civil and ecclesiastical Powers. T h is is like the squaring o f a c i r c le ; it has never been effected, and never will be effected completely. But we may hope that a modus vivendi acceptable to the two Powers may be brought about by a direct representation o f the State at the Roman Curia.

A meeting convened by the L o rd Mayor

T u e s d a y ’ s was held at the Mansion House on Tuesday, m a n s io n h o u s e . to consider what steps should be taken to raise a National Fund for the defence o f property in Ireland. Both o f the English political parties were represented, and on the motion o f the Duke o f Sutherland, seconded by the Duke o f Buckingham , it was resolved that a Committee should be formed “ to raise the requisite

N e w S e r i e s , V o l . X X V I . X c . 683.