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THE TABLET A IVeekly Newspaper and Review D u m V O B IS G R A T U L AM U R , A N IM O S ET IAM ADDIM U S U T IN IN CCEPTIS V E S TR IS CONSTAN TER M AN E A T IS . From the B r ie f o f His Holiness Fitts I X . to T h e T a b l e t , June 4, 1870. ------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ^ Vol. 51. No. 1979. L o n d o n , M a r c h 16, 1878. P r ice s d. B y P o st 5 & [R eg is tered a t t h e G en e r a l P o st O f f ic e a s a N ew spaper C h ronicle o f t h e W e e k :— Page The Change o f Government in Italy.— The Italian Government as the Protector of Religion.— The C on gas. — Greece. — Turks, Slavs, and Greeks — Austria.— Russia’s Position and Intentions. —Russian Journalism.—-The Negroponte Affair. — England and the Congress.— Last Sunday in Hyde Park.— Mr. Gladstone and his Constituents. — The New Libera Organisation.— The Deadlock in Victoria.— German Commercial Prosperity. — Capital Punishment. — The Proposed English Deputation to Rome . . 321 C 0 N T L e a d e r s : Page Problems for the Congress . . 325 Misrepresentations.. . . . . 326 Russia and the Congress « . . 327 National.Drunkenness . . . . 327 Ambrose Phillipps de Lisle . . 328 R ev iew s : Darwinism Tested by Language.. 330 The “ Month ” for March.. . . 331 Short N o t ic e s : Life of Pius IX . .. .. . . 332 Life o f St. W in frid .........................332 Kensington Catholic Public School Magazine . . .. 332 Lourdes .. . . . . . . 332 E N T S . C o r r e spondence : Page The Reform of Church Music . . 332 The College-Hall at Louvain University.. . . . . . . 333 Catholic Liberal Education . . 333 The Conversion o f England.— New Mission at Anerley . . 333 “ St. Malachi’s Prophecies" . . 334 The Proposed Deputation to Rome .................................... 334 Leo V I I I ...........................................334 The Ambrosian Codex . . . . 334 The Shrines of S. Francis of Sales and S. Jane Chantal at Annecy 335 Civil Interdicts in Germany .. 335 The Tower-hill Mission . . . . 335 P a r l ia m en t a r y Summary . . 335 R ome : — L e tte r from our own Correspondent . . D io c e sa n N ews Page Westminster....................... Southwark .. Beverley Clifton Hexham and Newcastle . . . . 341 Liverpool . . . . Northampton Salford ....................... I r e lan d :— Letter from our own Correspondent ....................... . ~ .343 M em oranda :— R e l i g i o u s ....................... G en er a l N ews C H R O N IC L E O F T H E W E E K . THE Ministerial crisis in Italy derives a special interest from the fact that it has government occurred at this particular moment. in it a l y . Under ordinary circumstances nobody out of that country would take much notice of the phenomenon that a Crispi had been succeeded by a Cairoli. But at a time when the commencement of a new Pontificate is claimed by the advanced anti-religious party as a fitting occasion for the withdrawal of the so-called Papal Guarantees, any change acquires a certain importance. The Administration which has just gone out of office owes its fall to a variety o f causes. The last push was given in the revelations respecting Signor Crispi’s domestic concerns; but if the Cabinet had Rot been already tottering, the discredit thrown upon a particular Minister would not have dragged down the rest. The position, however, of Signor Depretis and his colleagues, already considerably weakened by the unpopularity of their proposals respecting the railways, was still further compromised by their clumsy behaviour on the occasion of the Pope’s coronation. Whether any member of the Government actually authorised a communication to the Vatican that they would not maintain order in St. Peter’s signifies little, for it is an unquestionable fact that a circular from the Ministry of the Interior forbade the officials throughout the country to take any part in religious celebrations connected with the elevation of the new Pope, on the ground that the election had never been officially notified to the State. Showers of contemptuous criticism have been poured upon the heads of the Ministers even by their former supporters for this pettifogging policy. I f they had really wanted to prove that the Pope was as free as they pretended that he was, they should, without waiting for any impossible recognition on his part, have surrounded him with every mark of public respect, and taken every imaginable precaution against any insult to his dignity, or any disturbance of the solemnity of his public functions. If they had done this the Coronation would have taken place, as originally intended, in St. Peter’s, and the twenty or thirty thousand people who were waiting there, hoping against hope that they might, after all, get the blessing of the Holy Father, would not have been so bitterly disappointed. But by acting as they did the Government obtained no result beyond that of making the Romans discontented, and of proving to the world that the condition of the Pope is really to all intents and purposes, a kind of moral imprisonment. At the same time, as a sop to the “ anticlericals ” and anti-monarchists, and perhaps with a view of taking the question out of their hands, Signor Crispi laid before the Council of State a formal consultation whether N ew Series, V ol. XIX. No. 488. the law of guarantees was an integral part of the Constitution, or whether it was susceptible of modification. The Council of State replied that it was a part of the Constitution, inasmuch as it was the basis of the public religious law of the country, and was, therefore, not subject to alteration; a decision which, as far as it went, was a check to the extreme party, as hostile in reality to the Monarchy as to the Church. Then came the final collapse of the Depretis Ministry, on the vote for the Presidency of the Chamber, vacated by Signor Crispi’s transfer to the Cabinet, for which Signor Cairoli obtained 227 votes against 123 given to the candidate of the Right. And now we learn that Signor Cairoli had been himself charged with the formation of a Ministry. Whether he will succeed in getting together one which offers any promise of stability it is impossible yet to say ; the question of primary interest to Catholics is whether the change of Government will render the condition of the Church in Italy any worse than it was before. At first sight we should say that it would. In personal character Signor Cairoli is, we believe, far superior to Signor Crispi, but he was a devoted agent of Mazzini, and an ardent comrade of Garibaldi, and he is the last of a family of brothers who sacrificed their lives to the cause of the Revolution. It might be supposed then, that from him an hostility to the Papal Guarantees even greater than that of Signor Crispi might be expected. But there is just this to be remembered, that Signor Cairoli'out of office and Signor Cairoli in office may exhibit just that amount of difference that was perceptible between Signor Crispi, the leader of a Radical Opposition, and Signor Crispi, the Minister of the Interior. In spite of its weakness in the Chamber, the Court party, which calls itself Conservative, acts as a certain drag upon the policy of the Ministers. And we observe that King Humbert, while declaring his readiness to act on constitutional principles and take a Cabinet from the majority, exacted from it three conditions, one of which was that the Law of Papal Guarantees should not be touched, the others being that the foreign policy of Italy should remain unchanged, and that no alteration should be made in the fundamental laws of the kingdom. The fact is that the Monarchists fear nothing more than a further attack upon the Church’s liberties, which would be a masked assault against the throne, and would, at the same time, call into activity the dormant hostility of those masses of the population which are after all Catholic at heart. The statement which has been going the the I talian rounq 0f the papers to the effect that King as the Humbert had sent his congratulations to the protector Holy Father on his elevation through the meo f r e l i g i o n , dium o f the Archbishop of Turin, and had re­ ceived the thanks of his Holiness in return, is

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THE TABLET

A IVeekly Newspaper and Review

D u m V O B IS G R A T U L AM U R , A N IM O S ET IAM ADDIM U S U T IN IN CCEPTIS V E S TR IS CONSTAN TER M AN E A T IS .

From the B r ie f o f His Holiness Fitts I X . to T h e T a b l e t , June 4, 1870.

------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ^ Vol. 51. No. 1979. L o n d o n , M a r c h 16, 1878. P r ice s d. B y P o st 5 &

[R eg is tered a t t h e G en e r a l P o st O f f ic e a s a N ew spaper

C h ronicle o f t h e W e e k :—

Page

The Change o f Government in Italy.— The Italian Government as the Protector of Religion.— The C on gas. — Greece. — Turks, Slavs, and Greeks — Austria.— Russia’s Position and Intentions. —Russian Journalism.—-The Negroponte Affair. — England and the Congress.— Last Sunday in Hyde Park.— Mr. Gladstone and his Constituents. — The New Libera Organisation.— The Deadlock in Victoria.— German Commercial Prosperity. — Capital Punishment. — The Proposed English Deputation to Rome . . 321

C 0 N T

L e a d e r s :

Page

Problems for the Congress . . 325 Misrepresentations.. . . . . 326 Russia and the Congress « . . 327 National.Drunkenness . . . . 327 Ambrose Phillipps de Lisle . . 328 R ev iew s :

Darwinism Tested by Language.. 330 The “ Month ” for March.. . . 331 Short N o t ic e s :

Life of Pius IX . .. .. . . 332 Life o f St. W in frid .........................332 Kensington Catholic Public

School Magazine . . .. 332 Lourdes .. . . . . . . 332

E N T S .

C o r r e spondence :

Page

The Reform of Church Music . . 332 The College-Hall at Louvain

University.. . . . . . . 333 Catholic Liberal Education . . 333 The Conversion o f England.—

New Mission at Anerley . . 333 “ St. Malachi’s Prophecies" . . 334 The Proposed Deputation to

Rome .................................... 334 Leo V I I I ...........................................334 The Ambrosian Codex . . . . 334 The Shrines of S. Francis of Sales and S. Jane Chantal at Annecy 335 Civil Interdicts in Germany .. 335 The Tower-hill Mission . . . . 335 P a r l ia m en t a r y Summary . . 335

R ome : — L e tte r from our own

Correspondent . . D io c e sa n N ews

Page

Westminster....................... Southwark .. Beverley Clifton Hexham and Newcastle . . . . 341 Liverpool . . . . Northampton Salford ....................... I r e lan d :—

Letter from our own Correspondent ....................... . ~ .343 M em oranda :—

R e l i g i o u s ....................... G en er a l N ews

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

THE Ministerial crisis in Italy derives a special interest from the fact that it has government occurred at this particular moment.

in it a l y . Under ordinary circumstances nobody out of that country would take much notice of the phenomenon that a Crispi had been succeeded by a Cairoli. But at a time when the commencement of a new Pontificate is claimed by the advanced anti-religious party as a fitting occasion for the withdrawal of the so-called Papal Guarantees, any change acquires a certain importance. The Administration which has just gone out of office owes its fall to a variety o f causes. The last push was given in the revelations respecting Signor Crispi’s domestic concerns; but if the Cabinet had Rot been already tottering, the discredit thrown upon a particular Minister would not have dragged down the rest. The position, however, of Signor Depretis and his colleagues, already considerably weakened by the unpopularity of their proposals respecting the railways, was still further compromised by their clumsy behaviour on the occasion of the Pope’s coronation. Whether any member of the Government actually authorised a communication to the Vatican that they would not maintain order in St. Peter’s signifies little, for it is an unquestionable fact that a circular from the Ministry of the Interior forbade the officials throughout the country to take any part in religious celebrations connected with the elevation of the new Pope, on the ground that the election had never been officially notified to the State. Showers of contemptuous criticism have been poured upon the heads of the Ministers even by their former supporters for this pettifogging policy. I f they had really wanted to prove that the Pope was as free as they pretended that he was, they should, without waiting for any impossible recognition on his part, have surrounded him with every mark of public respect, and taken every imaginable precaution against any insult to his dignity, or any disturbance of the solemnity of his public functions. If they had done this the Coronation would have taken place, as originally intended, in St. Peter’s, and the twenty or thirty thousand people who were waiting there, hoping against hope that they might, after all, get the blessing of the Holy Father, would not have been so bitterly disappointed. But by acting as they did the Government obtained no result beyond that of making the Romans discontented, and of proving to the world that the condition of the Pope is really to all intents and purposes, a kind of moral imprisonment. At the same time, as a sop to the “ anticlericals ” and anti-monarchists, and perhaps with a view of taking the question out of their hands, Signor Crispi laid before the Council of State a formal consultation whether

N ew Series, V ol. XIX. No. 488.

the law of guarantees was an integral part of the Constitution, or whether it was susceptible of modification. The Council of State replied that it was a part of the Constitution, inasmuch as it was the basis of the public religious law of the country, and was, therefore, not subject to alteration; a decision which, as far as it went, was a check to the extreme party, as hostile in reality to the Monarchy as to the Church. Then came the final collapse of the Depretis Ministry, on the vote for the Presidency of the Chamber, vacated by Signor Crispi’s transfer to the Cabinet, for which Signor Cairoli obtained 227 votes against 123 given to the candidate of the Right. And now we learn that Signor Cairoli had been himself charged with the formation of a Ministry. Whether he will succeed in getting together one which offers any promise of stability it is impossible yet to say ; the question of primary interest to Catholics is whether the change of Government will render the condition of the Church in Italy any worse than it was before. At first sight we should say that it would. In personal character Signor Cairoli is, we believe, far superior to Signor Crispi, but he was a devoted agent of Mazzini, and an ardent comrade of Garibaldi, and he is the last of a family of brothers who sacrificed their lives to the cause of the Revolution. It might be supposed then, that from him an hostility to the Papal Guarantees even greater than that of Signor Crispi might be expected. But there is just this to be remembered, that Signor Cairoli'out of office and Signor Cairoli in office may exhibit just that amount of difference that was perceptible between Signor Crispi, the leader of a Radical Opposition, and Signor Crispi, the Minister of the Interior. In spite of its weakness in the Chamber, the Court party, which calls itself Conservative, acts as a certain drag upon the policy of the Ministers. And we observe that King Humbert, while declaring his readiness to act on constitutional principles and take a Cabinet from the majority, exacted from it three conditions, one of which was that the Law of Papal Guarantees should not be touched, the others being that the foreign policy of Italy should remain unchanged, and that no alteration should be made in the fundamental laws of the kingdom. The fact is that the Monarchists fear nothing more than a further attack upon the Church’s liberties, which would be a masked assault against the throne, and would, at the same time, call into activity the dormant hostility of those masses of the population which are after all Catholic at heart.

The statement which has been going the the I talian rounq 0f the papers to the effect that King as the Humbert had sent his congratulations to the protector Holy Father on his elevation through the meo f r e l i g i o n , dium o f the Archbishop of Turin, and had re­

ceived the thanks of his Holiness in return, is

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