NEWS BY THE MAIL.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume I, Issue 40, 31 January 1874, Page 8

NEWS BY THE MAIL.

FfiOli Our exchanges to hand we compile the following :—: — IRELAND. During the month of November numerous Home Rule and amnesty meetings took place not only in Ireland, but in England ; all were distinguished for the large attendances at them, and the enthusiasm displayed. Speeches to constituents were delivered by Messrs Butt and Mitchell Henry, two out of the only four Irish M.P's, who Lave adoptid tlie practice of giving an account of their stewardship. John Mitchel's brilliant articles in reply to Froude, and his Jmtoiy of the rue and decline of the" Repeal" agitation under

O'Connell and of England's « "Famine policy » in Ireland, in I 84 6 .« m," Th l ™ diß , creßt arti <sl« Mr Gladstone's London organ (the Telegraph ), the other day— chuckling in anticipation over the -waatmg disputations and • Iri 9 h rovrt • about • the meaning of Home Rule, which were to break up the forthcoming Conference-has disclosed the game of the enemy. But they reckon without their host, lne Conference is summoned on a basis which precludes that chance of mischievous or malevolent attempt ; a course the wisdom of which some persons did not at first recognize, but which will now become more apparent."—' The Nation.' vvwwe Mr Butt has appeared before his constituents in Limerick, and given an account of his Parliamentary action during the last session. The honorable and learned gentleman ably enunciated and proved that the Imperial Parliament was altogether unable to legislate for Ireland. He declared that the Government had refused to liberate the political prisoner*, in open disregard of their avowed intention to do so when fhe country was tranquil, although when they were asked to flo co everywhere in Ireland the judges were congratulating -the 'juries on the almost total absence of crime. Referring to the abortive -University 'Scheme, he again professed hie demotion to the denominational system, after ; which he complained of the want of completeness in the Land Act in failing to pecure fhe tenant against wanton eviction. He aeaia criticised the recent article in the 'Times, and awoke loud applause by stating that his Grace the Archbishop of Tuam had signed the Home Rule Requisition. Mr Mitchell Henry .haa received a hearty welcome from the people of the archiepiscopal city, whom he addressed on Home Rule and other subjects connected with his representation of Galway The chair was taken by Mr Gannon, J. P., and many of the clergy of St. Jarlath s were present. On the motion of the Very Rev Ulick Bourke a most gratifying resolution of confidence and approbation of Mr Henry s conduct was passed unanimously. The " Gentry " and Home Rule— Now that the English "organs of public opinion have criticised the speech given by Mr Butt at (Limerick, at may be worth -while to consider in what light the oracles regard it. First, in the list, as its malignity deserves, is the 'Standard' which .finds cause for gratulation and encouragement an the fact that the "gentry"— the Cromwellian "gentry 1 " whose ancestors never took .their .crests and mottoes from the vocations they exercised when first they landed m Ireland, as the great dearth of drumsticks in their escutcheons show-" hold aloof from " signing the Home Rule requiilOn;i 1On ; o ; b T k> TT hh ° m the Irkh have known as shoneens, Uhe Standard calls the •• natural leaders of the people," but if our Tory contemporary believes that their abstention will prove fatal to Home Rule, we wish it joy of the delusion. The ' Telegraph ' attempts to answer Mr Butt's speech, but it does so illogically and shrinkingly that its space might have been better employed, or a better hand set about the job. Amon^ the other papers the c Globe ' tries to make Mr Butt a fool ; its success is, to say the least, very doubtful. The 'Hour' wisely— from an English Conservative standpoint— takes the 'Times' to task for its recent encouragement of the Nationalists, a half-promise of which, it says, Mr Butt was by no means unwilling to accept. Was the recent remarkable article on the amnesty agitation in the ' Tames,' following .close at the heels of the Bla-ckheath demonstration, an inspired 'feeler'— the preliminary note of an announcement of ministerial abandonment of a false position? Noting the mitigated truculence of the article in quest ; on, the ' Cork Examiner* says :— " It state* the accusations of ill-treatment of the Fenian prisoners have been disproved. This is untrue- No doubt, some of them were exaggerated. But despite the disadvantages under whiah the enquiries were"held, it was clearly established at all events that O'Donovan Rossa was treated with shocking am exceptional hardship. N-otwithstandins the acquittal referred to by the three judges, there can be no doubt that Mr Reddin was dealt with in a manner wantonly and unnecessarily severe. The ' Times' writes for the world. It is endeavoring to relieve England from the odium -of keeping up a sort of Siberia for Treland: But | no amount of leader writing cau get rid of the fact that an abortive insurrection, which arose out of a discontent admittedly well-founded has been followed by fierce and vindictive punishment, and that in the j heart of England at this moment there are groaning in convict prisons a number of men whose leading offence was a mistaken love of a wronged and oppressed country. Mr Pirn, one of the members for Dublin, has refused to sign the Home Rule requisition ; but he has written a letter, in which he says the movement is not to be ridiculed, and statesmen must deal with the complaint that lush aff-iirs are neglected in the Imperial Parliament. ' ! It has been suggested that the Irishmen throughout the world I should subscribe from £20,000 to £30,000, as a testimonial to Mr ! Isaac Butt. J The Home Rule movement is looking up, even from an English | journalistic point of view. Not many weeks ago it was treated as an, ! agitation countenanced by a small section of the uninfluential and j reckless portion of the people of Ireland ami us utterly unworthy of I seiious attention, and even members of parliament wished to make it appear that they never even heard of it and knew nothing of its I objects. Yet, lo and and behold ! the journalists to whom we refer have since then come to fully acknowledge the importance and significance of the movemout and to ask themselves and their readers what's to be done. Even the "Great Thunderer" itself is obliged to descend : from its high mightiness to notice the movement and positively patron1 ize it. Hear ,ye Home Rulers throughout the United Kingdom, and in Ireland most particularly, what the ' Times ' says and thinks of your movement : — " If the demand for Home Rule proves really to be the demand of the Irish people we shall be compelled seriously to consider in what way it may be yielded to them witu least mischief, and to devise the various checks and safeguards on. which it would be necessary to insist." This, says the ' London Universe,' is really wonderful ! It is positively on admission from the highest source of English public

opinion that if the people of Ireland prove that their demand for Home Rule is genuinely the demand should be granted. Let the Irish people see to this, if they really want Home Rule, as we most certainly believe they do. Meanwhile, it is interesting to notice that at the last meeting of the Home Rule Association a formidable list of new members was submitted, including the names of over fifty well-known clergymen, and of laymen from every part of Ireland, mode up of magistrates, traders, farmers and persons of every rank and avocation. There was a very imposing Amnesty 'demonstration in'tlit metropolis, with the double object of celebrating the anniversary of the three Irishmen hanged at Manchester in 1867, and also of closing the Amnesty Meetings for this season. The Trede Guilds, with their bands and' bunting, turned out in large numbers, and walked in procession to Glascevin, where "70,000 persons are Baid to have attended. There were several representatives from England and Scotland. Mr Batt, Mr Ronaync, and others, addressed the meeting advocating Amnesty. The magistrates on the bench of the police-courts complimented the meeting on its highly orderly character, only a single case arising out of it having come before the bench. Trinity College. — Old Trinity has conferred the first Professorship in-Artft ever given to a Catholic, upon Mr Brady, a distinguished classical scholar, son of the late Dr Brady, who held a Medical Chair in Trinity College. Unlike the Catholic University, the "gagging clauses," of which we heard so much last spring, are in full operation in Queen Elizabeth's Foundation. Mr Roche, auditor of the College Historical Society, prepared an address, to have been delivered some days Bince, but the College Board having inhibited him, he resigned his office. What is the more remaikable is, that the address was nffctifut not/or Federalism. Emigration. — The returns just issued show that the net increase in. Irish emigration in the first ten months of this year is 13,677 persons over that in the same period of last year. The accounts of the sad state of distress in America have €pread great alarm here, and must check emigration next spring. English School Board Election*.— Great gratification is felt in Ireland at the general succe;s of the religious education candidates at nearly all the School Boards in England, and the defeat of the •Secularists. The Catholicvote was admirably organized. Mgr. Woodloek, rector of the Catholic University, has published a letter in which he says that the Pope has authorised it to confer degrees, and states that it intends, besides affiliating colleges, to train masters for the primary schools throughout Ireland. Eis Eminence the Cardinal Archbishop has addressed a pastoral letter to his clergy, calling their attention to the circular of the Rector of the Catholic University. As bearing on the University question, the pastoral is a >very valuable and mo6t opportue production. Everything looks most cheerful, in the aspect of the future of the University. The number of • entrances ie large in quantity and, what is better, superior in quality. The colleges and diocesan schools are rapidly intimating their demand for affiliation, under the declaration in the recent Episcopal Resolutions. The Jesuit Fathers are establishing thorough discipline in the collegiate houses in their charge. And the subscriptions to the special building fund, although the committee for that purpose is not recognised Teceive important additions. A Weed in Waterford. — Mr Bernal Oeborne has been speaking at en agricultural dinner at Waterford, and in the course of his speech, amongst other practical advice given to the farmers, he exhorted them to show a little less antipathy .to the task of " spudding up " the weeds in their fields. Commenting on this a Dublin paper remarks that the " worst weed in County Waterford at this time w Mr Osborne himself. There is no more noxious weed in any country than he, ■who, by some chance or other, gets temporary hold of a respectable •*on*tituency, and then disregatd» the wishes and misrepresents the. opinions of the people whose representative he claims to be. Irishmen are, indeed, but too apt to be "idle in respect to their weeds" . . . but the weeds that most try their patience and most shame their skill and energy, and do them most harm, belong to a clas3 of •which they intend to rid themselves at the next election, and amongst them the first to be cleared out of the field is Mr Bernal Osborne." The question of electing John Mitchell at Tipperary.— A Dublin paper says that if John Mitchell, who is neither conditionally nor unconditionally pardoned, were to be elected, all his opponents would have to do— Mr Butt ii the authority for the statement — .vould be to Berve a notice that Mr Mitchell was disqualified, and then poll half a dozen votes, after which ho might claim and receive the seat, and thi3 opponent might be a rabid Tory or a coercionist of the school of Messrs Heron and White, who have no chance of again representing the county. At the opening of the medical school of the Catholic University, in Dublin, Dr. Lyons stated that whether the momentous question of higher education were to be settled at Westminister or at home, not one iota of principle should be sacrificed. In future, the Catholic University would be a body with its apex in Dublin and its base in every place in Ireland, where there was a Catholic School. He also spoke highly of the Jesuit Fathers, and of the great benefits they have conferred on education. Col. J. R. Glyn, C. 8., has already assumed the duties of assistant adjutant-general for Auxiliary Forces in Ireland, vice Col. Maude, Y. C, C. 8., Vfho Jias vacated his appointment as deputy inspectorgeneral. Lord Cuirns, who is on a visit to Belfast, delivered a lengthened address at the jinnual meeting of the Belfast Nurses' Home, over which he presided. In consequence of the attempt of the Orangemen to march in procession in commemoration of the fifth of November, some serious rioting occurred at Portadown : — An extra force of 150 policemen had been drifted into the town in anticipation of disturbances, and these were drawn up in cordons separating the Roman Catholic and Protestant parts of the town. The Orangemen arrived in procession about midday, and attempted to pass through tho Roman Catholic district, but were stopped by the police, under command of Mr Sheehy, -R.M.

Frequent attempts were made to break through the police, and it was found necessary to charge on the mob with fixed bayonets. Several persons were seriously stabbed, and a number of the police were also badly injured. The mob became to violent that the police retreated, the Riot Act was read, and the police were ordered to make ready to fire ; bat the stone-throwing then became worse, and the police further retreated ; and the Orangemen carried out their original intention. Several prisoners were made. Sub-Inspector Warren was knocked down with a brick-bat, and several of his ribs broken. It is said that while the riot continued, there were persons 'lying about the streets apparently dead. The fighting continued for several hours. Part df the 18th Regt. and 100 additional constables arrived in the evening, but the rioting had ceased. The shopkeepers, anticipating disturbance, closed their shops. The Orangemen left the' town shortly after sunset. The number of persons injured in the collision between the Orangemen and the police in Fortadown, on the 6th, when the former were celebrating the Gunpowder Plot, is larger than was supposed. The town Commissioners met and pa sed a resolution blaming the police, whose blocking up of the streets caused, as they allege, the riot. The Rev. Mr Andrews, Presbyterian Minister, utterly condemns the Orange proceedings and those who ablt them, concluding with the following emphatic words, implicating especially the Episcopalian Protestant?: — " This babblement of rioters I would indignantly disown. Can any reasonable maa believe that such people or their •ecret supporters have really at heart the Christian cause ? Rome is triumphing at this moment in spite of mobs. It is an instructive fact— the Church which mainly produces these anti-Romish mobs is the Church in which Rome is making the most astonuhing havoc. And yet we ore twitted as -not good Protestants by these ignorant antiRomish mobs, because we do not -see that Christianity requires us to take up their political battle-cry." The Queenstown Commissioners have adopted a memorial to M> Gladstone, praying for the release of the remaining political prisoners. The clergy of Knnis and Home Rule r— At a meeting of the Catholic ifilergy of the deanery of Ennis, at which forty were present, the following resolutions were unanimously adopted : — That it is our conviction, that Ireland as a nation has an undeniable right to self-government. That, believing the Act of Union an act of usurpation, fraudulently forced upon the people, from which dates the annihilation of trade and the decline of our country's prosperity, we regard with hearty approval every well-directed effort to restore our Irish Parliament. That we will use all our influence in opposing the return of any candidate to parliament who does not pledge himself to advocate perseveringlythe demand for Itome Rule, denominational education and a satisfactory land bill. That we will not support any candidate whosa pre\ious political character does not afford a sufli-ient guarantee of the sincerity o r his pledgee. Addressing the clergy of the diocese of Limerick at the annual conference, the Most Rev. Dr. Butler, Bishop of Limerick, dwelt at some length on the question of education. He said that recent legislation plainly showed them that the people of Ireland had but little to expect from either of the parties which constituted the English House of Commons, and that public events were rapidly tending to show that it was *o Irishmen legislating for Ireland that Irishmen should look for those remedial measures so much needed for tho country. His lordBbip urged on the clergy the necessity of sustaining by their individual exertions the resolutions .just adopted by the Catholic Hierarchy. A letter on the subject of the Catholic University from His Eminence Cardinal Cullen to the clergy, secular and regular, of the Diocese of Dublin, read in all the churches aud chapels of the city, makes a reference to France, and concludes as follows : — We are now more bound than ever to pray for France, because her destinies are in tho hands of a great warrior of Irish descent, filled with the same faith which animated his forefathers in the dark days of persecution. Sir Charles Gavan Duffy is about to return to Ireland from Australia, and will, it ia saiJ, be a candidate in the Home Rule interest ac the coming election. Should the rumour Drove true there is more than one constituency that would be proud of being represented by him. What say the electors of the King's aud Q ieen'9 counties ? It is stated that at the gener.il election Colonel the Honourable Charles Vereker will contest the City of Limsriok on the Home Rule platform. The honourable gentleman is said to have already begun his canvas, but this rumour wants confirmation. Colonel Vereker is the coiimander of the Limerick Artillery Militia, and is very popular. Tho Hierarchy. — On the departure of the mail the esteemed and venerated Bishop of Cloyne was dangerously ill. The Bishop of Ardagh and tho Bishep of Raphoe have left for Rome. New Irish Port of Call fur American Steamers. — Mr Inman and one of the managers of the company of which he is the head have been in Galway, ou a visit of inspection as to the accommodation w lich that port is likely to afford in the event of their making it a point for the steamers to touch at on transatlantic voyages. HXGLAXD. General McLellan, who is well known in connection with tl.e lata American war, was amongst the passengers who arrived at Liverpool in the Cunard steamer Russia, from New York. The Russia also brought Baron C. von Sachs, Count Costo, and Colonel Bonaparte. Major Luke O'Connor, of the 2srd Regt., whose gallant conduct at the Alma won for him the Victoria Cross, aud" subsequent promotion, has embarked for the gold coast with his battalion. He was offered promotion, with liberty to remain in England, but he refused to be separated from the regiment in which his laurels were earned. The Oongregationalists kave declined to join a " vigilance committee" against tho Ritualists, because they regard " doctrinal aaarchy" as an argument for the disestablishment and disendowmont of tha Church of England. Rather a crafty though we trust a barren policy. A considerable consignment of ammunition, artillery, firearms, and shells, which, it is ascertained, were manufactured by Birmingham firms to the order of C irhst agents in London, has been intercepted at Newport, Monmouthshire. 'J. he b 'gooda were consigned to a merchant in Cardiff, who had, it is stated, arranged with a shipper at Newport to get them placed on board a steamer chartered for Spain. The ini-

terial is now in charge of the police authorities, who await instructions from the War Office. j\ - . < An appeal for Italy. — Under this heading' the "Bible Society for Italy " advertise in the 'Times' for funds to enable them to issue a family Bible for circuUtion in laly. They have, the cool impudence to assert, that "the Bible has been so long and so assidbnsly discredited by the priests of Rome as a bad book." This precious document bears the signatures, amongst others, of. Lord Shaftesbury, Admiral Fishbourne, and Mr Spurgeon. Catholic Progress. — In an article on " The Revival of Paganism," gives an account cf the revival of Bruhmanism in India, after having been for some centuries snperseded by Buddhism. The writer holds that Europe may witness an analogous phenomenon, and points to Jhe fact that " the whole state of Germany, Switzerland, Italy, and Spain, seems to point to a great Pagan revival." The Marquis of Salisbury, who appears to have dipped hia tongue in an extra dose of aquafortis, has been denouncing Irish priests and Irish peasants fur their insolence and turbulence, and he is especi-illy furious against Home Rule. To the suggestion that the Irish nation will return n majority of Home Ruler 3at the next election, hi 3 answer is that both parties in England will combine to crush them. This is a naivo expression of the Torj idea ot " constitutional Government " in Ireland. It was practically illustrated on the Educational question. The Catholics of Manchester have nobly performed their duty at the School Board EL-ction. They have returned three Catholics, two of whom, Canon Toole and Mr John O'Reilly, were at tiie head of the poll. In this great provincial centre of industry, Secularism ha 3 met ■with a signal defeat. Fifteen candidates have been returned, of whom ten are '* denominationalists," the five secularists being lowest on the list. Six candidates were rejected, two of them being described as unsectarian, two Wealeyans, one Republican, and a teetotaller. Home Rule at the Cambridge Union.— A deputation of Oxonians came over to the Cambridge University Union and advocated Home Rule for Ireland. Mr McNeill (Christ Church, Oxford), of Dublin, proposed a resolution, stating that Idomeßule was absolutely necessary for the welfare of Ireland. The English Parliament neglected domestic affairs of importance to legislate for Ireland, and the result was that Ireland wa« in a worse state now than in the time of Charles 11. Mr Campbell (Exeter College, Oxford), and Mr Henry Downing (College, Cambridge), supported the motion, the last-named gentleman saying that the country producing Wellington, Castlereagh, Canning, and Mayo, ought to produce statesmen to govern itself. Messrs Griffith and Sydney Lawrence (Corpus), Fisher (Sydney), Phillips (Trinity Hall), supported the motion. The dohate wa3 adjourned for a week, on the motion of Mr Munro Sydney. On the debate being resumed a week after, the following motion was, at its conclusion, earned ; — "That local legislation in local affairs is absolutely necessary for the welfare of Ireland." The house was densely crowded, and the debate was long and well conducted. It is hoped this example of fair and impartial treatment will be imitated in another house when the subject of Home Rule has to be considered. The London School Board election took place too late for the rfsult to be in the Catholic weeklies of the 29th November, the latest we have to hand. We rejoice to find that, so far as they have gone a3 yet, the elections have been everywhere snccessful. Birmingham, Wolverbampton, and Nottingham, have each brought in a Catholic ; Bradford, Leeds, and Gateshead, two ; and Manchester three. It is at Liverpool, however, that the most decisive result has crowned the Catholic effort made in accordance with the Pastoral of the Lord Bishop. Five Catholics stand first in the' list of 15 members elected. It is a triumph ; but one barely com mensurate with the proportions of the Catholic population. At the late banquet given by the Oxford Uuion, we are told that the Margaret Professor of Divinity, Dr Heurtley, seeing that his Grace the Archbishop cf Westminster was placed above two bishop* of the Establishment, rose from the table and left the room. Poor man! — was he frightened that the proximity of the archbishop to the lord chancellor would have a prejndi.-al effect upon Protestantism ? The fact is that the managers of the banquet allotted the place to the archbishop, and by doing s>o gave proof ihat bigotry had n® place in their arrang ments. 'Hie political world has again been taken by su-prisc. Dr. Lyon Piajf.iir lnis been appointed Postmaster-General, and his address to his constituents of the Universities of Edinburgh and St. Andrews' has been issuei!, in which he announces his acceptance of the office. Thus, another concession, or jjeilmps we should say another promise of future concessions, has been made to the Birmingham League, Dr P. ay fair bung a Secularist and a thorough advocate of mixed education for Ireland. Ho is, we suppose, "cinny " enough to learn anything, but we cannot refrain fiom expressing both our own and the country'b opinion — iiamely, that his total inexperience of administration, and his comparative newness to public life, must combine to render him a failure in his new position, a position just about to be vacated by a gentleman who has been, 0.3 even the Conservatives admit, the best Postmaster Goneial we have ever known — ju-lged impartially by his official acts. Sheffield has set an example which should be followed by every Ca'holic community all over the world. The Catholic Association of that town has sent addresses to the Archbishop of Cologne, the Auxiliary Bishop of Geneva and the Catholic clergy and laity of Germany, encouraging them and expressing deep regret at beholding the tufft.Vn-.g3 to which cruel and godless men have subjected themSurely the Catholics of the metropolis of England will have something to say on the subject. The reiurno I the s;h of November brings us metaphorical as well as liternl squib and crackers — witness Mi 1 Newdegate's speech at C'oleshiil and hi* subsequent letter to the 'Times.' He has accused the Archbishop of Westminster of declaring that Guy Fuwkeswasa martyr, and in support of his charge he adduces a sermon iv which the Archbishop declared that certain Je3iiiti were martyrs. Therefore we suppose, by p uity of roasoniug, if Foxe's heroes were martyrs U' d*r Queen Mary, Wyatt and his iellow-conspirators were martyrs

too.- They were conspiring in the Protestant interest, at le:i<t »3 much as" Guy Fawkes and his < friends ' were oon-piriiu .in the Catholic interest.; and if there can be no Catholic mm-tyrs without lotrinsf'in also Catholic cojspirators, we do not see how the Protestant worthies can 'escape the application of the same rule.' A letter from the Archbishop's solicitors, shows that his Grace, .having on 'a previous occasion resorted in vain to the method of courteous persoual remonstrance, now feels' obliged to have reconrsj?, when Mr Newdegate ia the offender, to other meansof obtaining redress. • In justice' to a' member of its own staff, the 'Times' is obliged ta confirm the general disbelief in Prince' Bismarck's veracity. But it doe 3bo in that sneaking manner which characterises all the " leading journal's ' references to the big bully' of Berlin. Everyone romembers. the account of the interview between the King and the Emperor, sent by Mr Russell to the ' Times ' after tlie battle of Sedan, and remem"--bers also the formal denial of the truth of that statement published by Bismarck's order in the official Berlin organ Now Mr Russell hod his information from the Crown Prince, who had derived his know ledge of what occurred partly ftorn the use of his own ears at the door during the interview, -and partly from his father's lips afterwards. Thelie, therefore, which Bismarck published was a contradiction directly to Mr Russell, and indirectly to the Crown Prince and fo the King of Prussia. This fact will give the measure at once of the man's mendacity and audacity. But our miserable "leading journal" is still bursting with admiration of Bisnvirck's " shrewd, unscrupulous, yet manly character!' 1 We always thought that truthfulue -s was no part of manliness ; but the 'Time's' seoms to think the" rev^-sa. The bigger the liar the better the man ! The Liverpool Orange Lodges have this year commemorated the "glorious, pious, and immortal memory," of Dutch William and " Cecil's Holiday " at one and the same time. The brotherhood have given balls, soirees, and tea-meetings with but very indifferent success, the attendance being remarkably poor. The oratory, however, was of the well-known tjpe, being perhaps a little more perfervid than ordinary, whioh is, to say the least, very remarkable, considering that the cup indulged in was that which cheers but not inebiiites. AMr Ball, ''D.G.M," gave expression to the feelings which burned in bis bosom by declaring that "we want an Emperor William in this country, or a Bismarck, or a Cromwell!" It is, perhips, fo tunate that duplicates of these three paragons cannot, be male to order, or the virulence and deadly animosity of the Orangemen would give Englishmen much trouble. England vr 11 assuredly s.iy als't omen ! to th'S benevolent wish of the " D.GM." and the Jesuiis wlum the bigots of Liverpool so violeutly denounce, will still continue to find in this free country a refu4e from the impious tyrants who delight to persecute the unoffending, and to embitter the lives of the helpless and unresisting ministers of the Church. "Plundering and Blundering.". — Mr Disraeli's letter to his " Dear Grey," that ill-advi3ed and indirect appeal to English Protestant prejudice and f-inaticism, will not further the " Conservative reaction "in Ireland where Toryism snd Orangeism ai'e convertible terms. The ' Nation,' which win 1 - in not less consistently than strongly against the re election of Mr Hen y James— the reviler of the Bishops and clergy of Galway — ii^tances this manifesto of the ex-Premier ard the Taunton election to s^iow how impossible it is for Irishmen to sympathise strongly with cither of the combaianrs in an English party fight, because " these are circumstances which would render a Conservative triumph at a Taunton, had it occurred, almost as unwelcome as that of Mr James." Our contemporary continues.:— ln Ireland, where the exigencies of Englic-h parties are little regarded, the result at Tairatpn wil? be rather regretted tlvm welcomed. In the successful candidate Irishmen see one of the bitterest enemies of their faith, one of the most unscrupulous defamors of their country that ever sat in the Houseof Commons. Tne Tories chose deliberately to stake their chances of success on an appeal to English prejudice and fanaticism. They selecte No-Popery as their watchword, and pave the key-note of their policy in tho phrase which described the disestablishment of the Anglican Church in Ireland and the leform of the IrUh Lmd laws as " plundering." Partial in their operation and circumscribed in their effects as these measures are known to be, yet Mr Disraeli can o: ly express his aversion to the principle of ju-tue on which t'icy proceed by stigmatising their policy as one of pluml.u*. To find a.iy English constituency endors'ng views such as these would be a v<ivy unsatisfactory phenomenon, and, so fur as the result tit Tnunf-on co i-iitutes a reply to Mr Disraeli's manifesto, it leaves us nofcl.i ig to regret. The intended formation of an Enghth Catholic University has been under the consideration of the UuT..:chy ever since the Provincial Synod, aivi a plan, ag-edng in iis main features with that adopted by the Irish Episcopate, has boen since th -n in course of preparation. " Moreover, the details of the arrurj^ment* are sketched out, but as these are still under consideration, it would be premature at present to publish the particulars of the s.-!iomio. We are very glad, however, to be able to confirm the announcement that tho Rt. Rev. Monsignor Cupel has consented to be Ke< tor of Uie University, llis well known tilent for organization au:l his vigorous initiative will be a guarantee that there will be no unnecessary dtliy in getting the young University into admirable working order. SCOTLAND. Mr Disraeli at Glasgow :— But there was one subject On which, whilo addivß'ing a Scotch audience, Mr Disraeli at Glasgow, was sure to touch, and this was the " great " religious " question that is now rising in Europe." From this, he said, "it would not easily be in the power of 1 nglsiud entiicly to withhold itself." He eo-itempl ite3 straggles—" perhaps war and anarchy, ultimately "— and believes that " our connection with Ireland will then ba brought painfully to our c msuiousness." And what is the remedy which under these circuros ances Mr Disraeli is prepared to suggest ? It is that England should "again take a staid upon the Reformation," aud "guard civilization alike from the withering blast of atlu-ism and from the simoom of sacerdotal usurpation." Sacerdotalism is, of course a " simoom " because it begins with S, but we confess ourselves utterly unable -to see any sigus of such "usurpation" in the struggle on tft

Continent to. which Mr Disraeli refer?. On the c intrary,' the battle which the Catholics are fighting in Germany and in Switzerland lias' for its avowed and sole object the* maintenance of the status quo ante, and if Mr 'Disraeli were to take any such part in the struggle as his •""stand on the Befor mat ion" would seem to prognosticate, he would be guilty of most distinct " usurpation," and of encroachment on the rights of conscience, and on that civil equality, of which he declared himself last week the champion.* He probably, however, did not mean much more than this — that he and his party were the real Proteitantp, and ought to be supported by Scotchmen. FRANCE. The Sultan has conferred the Grand Cordon of the Order of the • 'Osmanio upon the Due de Broglie, and the same decoration set in brilliants upon Marshal MacMahon. Several provincial deputations have taken on themselves to inform Marshal MacMahon that they cannot answer for the maintenance of ortier if the Monarchy is proclaimed. The Marshal politely informed them that he had no fear en this head, and would answer for it him* self, in the name of his colleagues and the army. All hopes are concentrated at present in Marshal MacMahon, and there is no exaggeration in saying that he holds the destiny of the nation in his hands, and that because, almost alone among all the men who held high position and influence, he remained faithful to his trust, Mid bore bis unsought honors with modesty and energy. " C'est «» dtt phis beaux earacteres des temps modernes " has been said, thought, and written almost every day within the last week, but. all this incense and just praise never reach or affect the illustrious soldier, who, like his glorious ancestors, is ready for every sacrifice to save his adopted country. 11 Naturam expellas furca, tamen usque recurret" says the poet, which, when rendered into the Queen's English, doth signify that although you subdue Communists by bullet and bayonet they will not the less continue to plot and conspire. A pretty little plot has just been unravelled in the provinces of the Soane and Loire. The radicals had determined to' secure the establishment of a republic after their own ideal by seizing the wives, children, and parents of the Conservative members of the Assembly,, and by holding them" ns hostages. What the fate of these hostages would have been if the detestable plot had succeeded, our reminiscences of L;i Roquetto sufficiently indicate : but the agents cf the Government were too early on the alert for the Beds. * Madame La Marquise de MacMahon was, - above all, to be seized and used as a means of bringing her gallant husband to terms. Documents have been secured which leave no doubt of the culpability of certain Deputies of the Left, and we ■sincerely trust that all concerned will be made to rue their evil design. As it is the discovery of this little plot has given additional ill-odour to expiring Radicalism. In the French Assembly the proposition of Marshal MacMahon for the prolongation of his powers for the term of seven years was ratified by 378 votes against 310. This turn in French affairs is announced to have given serious umbrage to the German Government, who are also manufacturing as against France a new grievance, in a pastoral lately issued by the Bishop of Nancy, part of whose diocese is in. the ceded provinces. Fifty bishops have promised to be present at the laying of the first stone of the Church of the Sacred Heart at Montmartro. Pere Hyacinthe becomes Hyaciuthe Pere. — Mme. Loyson has presented the " happy father" with a son. Helas! le fils est I' enfant 4upere Hyacinthe, oui, d'Hyacinthe per dv ! ' Bonapartist Activity . — Three hundred thousand photographs of the Prince Imperial have just been distributed through the workshops of Paris. It does not appear that the authorities made the least objection to the distribution of thoso portraits. Under the p-esent state of things the Republic lets people do pretty well a3 they please. A new Idea. — We are going shorily to borrow from Belgium one of her best institutions. It is called the (Eavre dv Carton Catholique. The modus operandi is to buy up the works of Voltaire and Volney, the "philosophers" of the eighteenth century, Dupuis, Rousseau, aud the rest, aud work them up into excellent pasteboard, which, is sold, and benefits the Peter's Pence. ITALY. The relations between France and Italy are suspiciously cordial, if not precarious, owing to the present uncertainty of the future policy of Prance. Disquieted by a guilty conscience, the Italians cannot console themselves with the fact reiterated, that France will not blindly rush into " a war ol revenge." No need to say how much excitement the Pope's autograph correspondence with the limperor William caused here. Who can say what coming next ? The Roman Liberal prints are very indignant at the gloomy views of the ' Times' ' correspondent, regarding united Italy. Meuter made the Holy Father utter an Allocution objurgating the Religious Orders and telling them that their present afflictions were a judgment on them for their dereliction of monastic strictness and nonobservance of their religious rule. " The suppression of religious corporations was a visitation ot Providence upon those bodies for failing to observe their funlauient vl rule 3of discipline, and for having allowed corrupt manners to creep in among them." The whole story is "an , "an impudent fabrication." The Pope never uttered those words, or anything like them. . Rome presents, just now, to the Catholic visitor the appearance of a city which has uudergone a military occupation. The prevailing tone of thought, among the present railway servants must be decidedly anti-clerical, if the words Morte ai preti — Death to the priestsscrawled on the buffed windows of the ante-room for the custom-house servants may be taken as the evidence. The topic of all the newspapers is France. The anxiety to know the issue of the present efforts of Ihe monarchical party is intense. The tone of the Italian papers continues to be most irritating and provoking towards the nation to which I'alians are so much beholden. Individual Frenchmen have been insulted in public places, while the

Prussians and Germans of all kind* are flattered and made much of. The "ill -feeling now. display ei towards Franca seems to be purpoaly excited and fanned' by malicious persons who are desirous of a rupture with the Frenoh, and of a war if possible. ' - *' The Latest Sacrilege."— The* announcement that 'the sacrilegious Piedmontese hare seized the Church of San Pietro di Montorio has deeply pained the heart of Catholic Ireland, and the soldiers of the Piedmoatese Robber have occupied the monastery, and "ere long the graves of Erin's royal exiles will be dug up, and their ashes scattered to the four winds of heaven. It may be doubted if in the wide world's expanse there was a spot more sacred in the eyes of Irishmen than this, where — ■ ' • Two princes of the line of Conn Sleep in their cells of clay beside c O'Donnell Roe ! Three royal youths, alas I all gone - Who lived for Erinn's weal, but died For Erinn's woe ! *■ Ah ! could the men of Ireland read The names these noteless burial stones Display to view, Their wounded hearts afresh would bleed, Their fears gush forth again, their groans Besound anew' But not even the Gaelic bard, whose matchless elegy Mangan has given to us in English garb, imagined, iv the deepest depth of his distress, that upon the men of Ireland would fall the still more cruel sorrow that is theirs to-day. ' That • the men of Ireland' should endure all this, and no Irish s\vor,d be there to guard Pontiff, Church, or Tomb, is an anguish and a humiliation such as the Tyrccnnel minstrel never contemplated for his countrymen. Mgr. Liverani, who in 1860 left Rome, being then a canon of Sta Maria Maggiore, and wrote in Tuscany a pamphlet against the Pope and the Holy See, and has since consorted with ultra-liberals, has re* tracted, asked pardon df the Holy Father, aud is now in retreat with he Passionißt Fathers in Rome. Deo Ghratias. At Turin the monument erected to the memory of Count Cavour was unveiled. At the banquet given in the evening by the municipality to 500 guests, the British Minister, Sir Augustus Paget, " assured the Italians of the sympathy of England with the Italian cause, aad its high admiration of the great statesman who insured its success." Sir Augustus went on (says a telegram ro tho • Times ') " with a touching allusion to his predecessor, Sir James Hudson, the old friend of Cavour, who had always admired, loved, and supported him throughout his glorious career." The Catholic Press has taken Sir Augustus Paget sharply to task. A New Comet. — A new comet has been visible for several nights by aid of the powerful telescope at the Roman Observatory. It it described as most brilliant, with a tail of extraordinary splendour. PEUSSIA. The article, the first portion of which we publish this week, — " The persecution in Prussia explained,"— makes the reasons for the German persecution no longer difficult. A correspondent of the 'Universe' suggests that an. attempt will be made to get rid of fho Catholic members of the Landtag, should their opposition annoy the (Government, by imposing an oath of fidelity lo the ecclesiastical laws on all the members of the House. On the eve of tho Prussian elections, and in the presence of the strength shown by th? Catholic pavty, Funce Bismarck found it necessary to repudiate sentiments attributed to him by the correspondent of the ' New York \- T ar\ 1' in n report ol an alleged interview. The correspondent asserted that i' i-ic- Bismarok, in the course of the conversation, avowed that he intended to crash Rome in order to crush Christianity. The Clruicel'.or in^niously replies that the phraso imputed to him is enough ol its 1: ; ) o t'i. rie soiree and purport «f the invention. "In America," '-.c s.iys, " peu,>lo will, I trust, say to themselves that if a man wee impious enough to entertain such thoughts he would h-irdly be stupid enough to avow them." Bismarck, however, does not attempt to deuy that his chief strength is in the support of the anti-Christian faction, who detest all religion. If he is not "impious," he serves the cause of the impious. As to the elections for the Landtag. From the comparatively moderate articles of tho sober ' JBorseu Courier' of Berlin, we take a paragraph -which will sufficiently depict the situation as viewed by the more thoughtful portion of tha Liberal coalition. " Tho Ultramontane party can look back upon its sue'eoss with tho most complete satisfaction. It hu9 conqueied along the whole lne. It will return to the Parliamentary arena ninety strong, and from its zeal iv the sessions of the Landtag, it w ill be in a position to exercise a most powerful moral influence upon the undecided section among the deputies." In fact, if the Prussian Catholics are not absolutely ninety strong, they are certainly eighty-five, and by the co-operatiou of a handful of Christian Protestants, like the venerable PrcsiJeut Von Q-erlach, their party may not improbably command a total of ninety-five German votes. The Centre Party, as the allied party of the Catholic aud Christian Conservatives is stjled in Parliamentary phraseology, entered the last Landtag in the spring of 1870 in possession of no more that fifty-two votes. Thi3 success too is obtained in the face of. the facfc that although an almost universal suffrage is nominally the rule, the wealthier cla3S33 obtuin such a factitious preponderance that half-a-dozen Jew usurers may have more weight; than hundreds of Catholic farmers aud artizane. SWITZEELAND. The protest lodged by the " Ultrainontanes " against the mea3ure3 of the Berne Government, respecting the Catholic priests in the Jura, has been rejected by the Swiss Federal Council. From tho Catholic journal of Lugano we have the news, that in Swiss Catholic Jura a salutary reaction is beginning against the Radical persecuting Swiss Groverment. At some recent elections in the district of Delemont, the Conservative candidates obtained 1,500 votes, against 400 votes obtained by the Radical candidate*. SPAIN. The steamer " Vilu do Bajonne " has landed at Oudarroa 4|,0.09 Remington rifles, and 1,000,090 cartridges for the Carliats.

At Madrid intelligence has b«en received from Manilla that a Spanish man-of-war had captured two German merchantmen laden vfitb 2,000 rifles destined for the pirates of Polo— a circumstance which has caused some sensation in the- Spanish capital on account of the projects respecting the Philippine Islands which have been attributed to the German Government by the Spanish Press. KFSSIA. . A St. Petersburg letter, dated October sth, states :--The Protes. taut clergy of Kuseia have already made common cauee with the< schism and the Old Catholics; and an alliance, insincere, but prompted by Itatred towards Koine, seems-to show that these clergy will take a proimnent part in the next Protestant synod. A few days ago, Lipinski, the Calvinist Sv*perh>tendent-General of Vilna, arrived at St. Petersburg, and had tnony colloquies with the chiefs of the Russian clergy. A project is mentioned of a union of all the anti-Catholic sects, to , assail the Holy See ; and with this view there are appearances of a new Congress of Old Catholics." * Courland. — The Noblesse of Courland are pronouncing with decision for the Pope, and against Bismarck. It is a striking fact, that though there are vipers and scorpions in this world, there are also noble souls, who, by invisible yet real links of union, belong to the Church, and therefore belong to the Pope, let the Emperor William. I. Bay and do what he pleases. His recent pretensions to be a theologian form a singular appendage to his reputation as a conqueror and a reformer. MALTA.' A- welcome, piece of intelligence- comes from Borne concerning theBritish garrison stationed at Malta. Canon Taggiasco has presented a gold pen to the Pope, sent to his Holiness by the Catholic soldiers among tie garrison of Malta. In an address accompanying the gift the donors express the hope that the Pope may soon, be able' to announce with it the triumph of the Church.