NOTES AND COMMENTS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXII, Issue 9919, 7 September 1895, Page 4

NOTES AND COMMENTS.

Dean Fremantle, in referring to the Papal Encyclical on the subject oS Church Union, at the Grindelwald Church Congress, mentioned that he had reason to believe that the Archbishops of York and Canterbury had conferred with the Pope in Rome last Easter on the question. The Primate, however, has made it clear that ho can be no party to the scheme of union suggested by the Pope's encyclical. Speaking at the annual gathering of the Canterbury Diocesan Conference last July, his Grace said : " The Roman communion had once in its bosom the whole of Western Christendom, bub ib proved itself incapable of retaining those nations. And now the representative of the Roman communion had, in his desire for reunion, spoken to the English people as if they possessed no Church at all, apparently in total ignorance of the existence of any Church with any history or claims, and offered this reunion with a parade of methods of worship and of rewards of worship which were totally alien to the feelings of a nation that had become readers of the Bible, and who could never admit that such things had any attractiveness for them. They did not question the kindliness which invited their common prayers, nor the sincerity of an appeal which was transparently sincere; but those two qualities only made more evident the inadequacy of the plan of unity which it contained. Its acceptance would mean the bidding farewell on their part to all the Eastern churches and all the other reformed churches of the race, and the setting aside of the truth which had been gained by severe sacrifices, which was deeply cherished, and which tbey believed to be the necessary foundation of all unity, for they must maintain that solid and permanent unity could only be based upon an acknowledgment of the truth. It was the duty of the laity as well as the clergy to preserve in purity and loyalty the faith and practices which characterised their Reformation, which had this peculiar mark -that nation, and family, and individual all had a part in it. They should, too, avoid all that caused confusion and weakness, and, in these times, when re union of the Christian Church was so much talked over, nothing could exceed the responsibility of every one of them to take their steps with care, but with courage, to walk warily in times of peace and boldly in times of trouble."

According to a writer in the Fortnightly Review not only does the Pope sigh for the restoration of his temporal power, bub he believes the attainment of this ideal is not very far out of hia reach. The following is a fairly accurate statement of the conclusions which find favour at the Vatican :—" The Church believes that all the poorer and most of the middle and respectable classes sigh for the good old days—all save the political adventurer and the moneylender. The Church, therefore, bides its time until the bubble) burets ; probably after the great war so long foretold, when Europe will resolve into its natural elements; when Italy, leaning on that fatal reed England, will have ceased to be anything bub a geographical expression, with France extended all along the maritime Alps to Genoa, Venice once more Austrian, with Lombardy thrown in to ' compensate' her for the loss of Herzegovina and Bosnia, formed into a new State with Hungary and Servia, whilst Umberto will be handed back politely to reign in Turin— if he has recognised on which side his bread is buttered, a faculty which has always hitherto distinguished the House of Savoy. The rest of Italy may have formed some kind of Republic, its capital Florence, leaving Rome, and a possible 20 or 30 miles' radius of the Campagna, for the Pope. Here the Head ef the Church will reign as an independent sovereign over a.neutral State, will levy his own taxes (which would be u species of municipal rate), and will ones more strike his effigy on coins, which the experience of Pio Nono's attempt will keep up to the proper standard. With authority set at nought, and bankruptcy at her doors, resources sucked dry, credit blasted, with the Triple Alliance fading away (her only support), bullied by France, deserted by England, Italy, the Italy of Umberto, Crispi, Rudiiii, and Co., is tottering to destruction. And this must render the restoration of the temporal power a* European necessity, for the simple reason that, failing on Italian king, no other person except the Pope would be allowed by the other Powers to seat himself there." ■ '+/"

"*—WWW ggggg issSSSSSSSBSSSBS&BSi The French Minister of Marine, la a statement as to the present condition of the navy, to be annexed to hit Budget of 1896_. points out the modifications made in the navy since 1891, when M. Barbey, then Minister of Marine, made a similar statement. In 1891 the active naval forces of France necessitated an expenditure of 41,595,000 francs, or 17.9 p*r " cent, of the entire Budget. For 1896 the expenditure amounts to 52,231,156 francs, or 21.4 per cent, of the whole Budget. From 1891 to 1896, 57 veseela have disappeared from the list of the fleet Their places will be taken by 31 ships already finished and 27 now in course of construction. The 57 vessels which have disappeared cost 94,791,000 francs; the fiS which take their places will have cost 552,453,000 franc?. The average value of the new ships is 9,525,000 francs, while that of those which have disappeared was 1,663,000 francs. In ships now being built preference is given to a smaller calibre of armament, in order to obtain guns more easily worked and firing with greater rapidity. The use of sheila loaded with new explosives has been ex. tended from the heavy to the medium calibres.

Some particulars bare lately been published respecting the Siberian Railway. The total length to Vladivostock is 7083 verats (4696 miles) on the main lino alone. In a distance of such enormous magnitude the Traniiberian line must, of course, pass through almost every variety of soil and climate. Until it reaches the Obi the line generally passes through a productive soil with a climate favourable to the growth of cereals. But the Irkutsk-Mysovsk section on the other hand, traverses a country entirely barren except the town of Irkutsk and some settlements on the shores of Lake Baikal. It has been pointed out in a recent report that the Transiberian railway is likely to be of great value and importance to the future of the world's trade, and that China, Japan, and Australia are therein interested to the same extent as the European countries. If through trains be started from Moscow and Vladivostock going at the rate of 35 vents per hour, the distance would be cleared in 11 days; adding two-and-a-half days, the period necessary for making the journey between London and Moscow, and taking ink accounb also the 600 nautical miles separating Vladivostock from Nagasaki and the 1000 nautical miles between the great part of the extreme east of Russia and Vaesounga, the mail and travellers will reach China by this route in 17 days, and Japan in 18. Now, taking the shortest route across th« Atlantic, Canada, and the Pacific (12,800 nautical miles), the mail and passengers from England arrive in Japan in 28 days, and in China in 31 days. From these figures it appears that the Trar>?iberian Railway will shorten by nearly one-half the journey between Europe on the one hand and China and Japan on the other.

Another attempted Anarchist outrage against the Rothschilds has occurred in Paris. A man carrying what was afterwards found to he a bomb was observed to enter their bank. He was watched by a detective, who saw him attempting to light the fuse. The officer at once seized the would-be assassin, and after a struggle succeeded in securing him. The bomb fortunately did nob explode. The revival of ftihiHitia in Russia is causing the authorities some anxiety for the Czar, and extra, ordinary precautions have been taken for the protection of His Majesty. Further executions have taken place in connection with the Kucheng massacre. The inquiry is said to be proceeding smoothly. The Archbishop of Canterbury has issued a pastoral letter on the subject of Chnrcfi union, on the lines of his speech which is quoted above.