Current Topics

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XV, Issue 41, 3 February 1888, Page 1

C u rrent Topics

AT HOME AND ABROAD.

The following passages from the •' Life of Frederick Lucas " are not without a bearing on much that , has recently been reported. They also show in a striking manner how history repeats itself :—": — " A month later an article appeared in the Tablet on intrigues at Borne. It related how the ante-chambers of the French Embassy were daily thronged with clerical intriguers, and thanked God that we were free from thia species of danger. Referring to this, it remarked : 'An English embassy would be the headquarters of English and Protestant intrigues rather than of clerical ones. If an English Catholic were the ambassador, a door would be opened for all kinds of antiIrish and anti-Catholic influence, and every Church measure of importance that was referred to Rome or made the subject of public discussion here would be made also the subject of diplomatic misre. presentation and underhand influence in the Holy City. The same would be the case, though perhaps in a less offensive degree, if the ambassador were a Protestant. What could be accomplished in this way is clearly demonstrated in the case of the French Jesuits and M, Rossi, in which the cause of religion received a grievous check by the intriguing activity of the French Emb ssy, which misled and deceived the Roman authorities.' At the same moment an Irish ecclesiastic was passing backwards and forwards between the British Government and the Holy See, trying to establish an English Embassy in Rome. Lucas observed that the Irish Bishops especially must be highly flattered by this unsolicited attempt of a person, without any conceivable vocation, to bring about a result which was vtll known to be extremely distasteful to them." " Bat Pius IX., " adds the writer, " was not the man to be cajoled." — We may believe, moreover, for our own part, that the future historian of the attempts that we are given to understand are now again being made at Rome to establish an English Embassy there to the prejudice of the Irish cause will also have to record that Leo XIII., like Pins IX., was not to be cajoled, but resisted, iv his turn, every effort made to bring him over to the side of injustice and oppression. History iv thus repeating itself will honour anoiher glorious Pope.

The news that a dead-lock has occurred in the THE FIBHEBIES American Fisheries Commission is not by any question. means likely to surprise those who have even a little knowledge of the question at issne, The treaty of 1818, by which the rights of the fishermen belonging to the States are regulated, makes an arduous and perilous calling still more difficult than it must always be from its very nature. The occupation of the fisherman carried on upon the banks of Newfoundland among rough seas and heavy weather is, under the most favourable circumstances, one to try the qualities of the men pursuing it to their utmost endurance and does not need any other difficulties to add to its hardships and dangers. It must be obvious, therefore, that the restrictions which forbid any American schooner to put into a Canadian port for any purpose beyond that of repairs and prevent its obtaining there supplies of any kind, bait for fishing purposes, or ice to pack the fish taken by it, are felt as very heavy grievances by the people on whom they press. They iavolve a serious impediment to the succees of the American vessels as the Canadian ports lie much nearer to the fishing grounds than thos<3 of the States to which the fishermen are, in consequence of these restrictions, obliged to return much more frequently than they need otherwise do. The vexatious nature of the provisions, indeed, is proved by the way in which they are very commonly defied, the American fishermen frequently risking the consequences, concealing the identity of their vessels as well »b they can, and facing the danger of the confiscation that must inevitably follow on discovery — whether the vessel that has made the forbidden purchase be taken in port or afterwards at sea. It was the seizure of several American vessels of late, and the indignation caused by it among the fishing communities concerned, that led to the appointment of the Commission. As to the importance of having the matter settled it is obvious and more especially where the interests of the United States are concerned, and it is,

HISTOBY EEPKA.TS ITSELF,

moreover, evident that the only settlement which can give sati&fac* tion there or result in provisions that will obtain observance, is one that will remove the hardships under which the fishermen labour, and give them the right of at least purchasing supplies of ice and bait in Canadian ports, for that Feems to be the chief point contested — the three mile limit, or, perhaps, even the right of transhipment, which is also forbidden, apparently not beiog regarded as of primary consequence. The matter is, besides, of wider consideration than that connected with ths prosperity of any particular sectio* of the population, important though that may be, or even with the general bearing of the industry concerned on the trade of the country. It involves also a question as to the training of a national navy to be availed of in time of war and on whose efficiency and perfect seamanship the great interests of the Republic must depend. It is evident, therefore, that the Government of the States has little to yield in the matter. Their duty, ia fact, see ma to lie more in the direction of upholding necessary claims than in that of making any concessions, and so great are the interests at hazard that it is hard to cay to what extremes a favourable settlement may not be insisted upon. That a dead-lock, therefore, should occur in the negotiation! that are being conducted is by no means surprising.

Abe we or are we not about to witness immediately A doubtful a great Europe m war? We honestly confess that situation, we have not the slightest idea. Everything, indeed, w^uld seem to point to an immediate outbreak, and that war is to come eventually there can be no doubt. But as to whether it is again to be indefinitely postponed, or to begin, perhaps, before what we now write is in print, we cannot tell. So much preparation has been made, and so many alarms have occurred of recent years, that all seems to be involved in mystery. Lord Salisbury told us the other day, that when war at length broke out, it « ould be suddenly, and, therefore, it is as well to be prepared for the worst. Were matters, however, in their normal condition, there could be no suddenness in the event. The massing of troops on the Austrian frontier by Russia, now continued for many weeks ; the despatch of a large force ¥y Turkey to the frontier of Roumelia, and the completion of the fortification of Andrianople ; the large increase of the German army — all would be signs too patent to bo mistaken. Bat events almost as threatening bave already more than once taken place, and still no outbreak has occurred. It will be fortunate if the present crisis passes like those that have preceded it. It is, meantime, somewhat disquietiaj among all these rumours of war to find that the condition of England seems far from satisfactory. The retirement of Lord Charles BeresforJ from the Admiralty, and the reasons he assigns for the act, coming as they do by way of practical comment on the long series of warnings as to the state of the navy that had teen give* to the country, seem very ominous. England's life, now more thau ever, lies in her navy. If that prove insufficient, not ODly to protect her coasts from invasion, and of which some doubts have recently on fair authorit? been published, but to protect her commerce on nearly every sea in the world ; her people could be starved out in a week, and the whole country reduced by famine to make any terms demanded of it. We have heard a great deal of late years of the disintegration of the Empire, and much use has been made for political ends of the cry. But what positive steps could b$ taken to bring about that catastrophe that could in the remotest degree compare with those negative ones to be found in the neglect of the great engine on which not only the integrity of the Empire but the whole life of the country depends ? Lord Salisbury and his colleagues are gathering laurels in Ireland — their strength is put forth and their wisdom is manifested in bludgeoning unarmed peasants and thrusting formidable patriots into prison with the hope of disabling and killing them by sickness. And all this, they claim, is being done for the preservation of the Empire, for it is as the saviours of th Empire's integrity they wonld wear their crowns. But their weakness is shown in imperilling the existence of the nation and their folly in neglecting the fleet on which the nation's existence depends. It is much to be feared that their weakness outweighs their strength and that their folly much surpasses their wisdom. The crowns they merit, in short, may after all be crowns of rue. Ireland is kept down by a force of military and police out of all proportion to her population, and impossible to supply in time of war, England is leavened with

Pocialistic notions and discontent ; observant people are proclaiming that fear of the military alone prevents a rising there. Wide discontent prevails both in Scotland and Wales. What, therefore, are we destined to behold if a war occurs in which England becomes involve!? And how is she to escape frombeiog involved in a general war ? Weshall see an incapable Ministry that mistake local violenca for general strength, that mistake the ascendency of a more or leas useless and effete class, for the univer al interests of the nation, falling back on such resources as in a sadden and pressing emergency they can bethink themselves of. We shall see them endeavouring to do in a hurry that which it would have more than taxed all their wisdom to do after due deliberation, and panic, dismay, and confusion will be the result. We shall not be surprised if war breaks out to find Home Rule flung in a f-ight to Ireland, and frantic but vain •fforta made by the Ministry, if indeed the indignant country allows them time, to retrieve all their errors. If there are men in England Who have need to pray for the continuance of peace it is Lord Salisbury ani his colleagues. In the event of war the state of things both at home and abroad must work their ruin. It is quite possible, therefor j, as things now are, that the next few months may witness startling occurrences, full of fate for many people. But, as we have said, it is impossible to form any settled judgment.

Oub Chrietchurch correspondent alludes to a censure A false pronounced against certain passages in our corres. ACCUSATION, pondent's last letter to us. The matter is very fully and ably dealt with, and it is hardly uecessary for us to refer to it. It would, in fact, be quite unnecessary that we should do so, were it not that we ourselves are included, at least by implication, in the censure pronounced. If our correspondent by Borne mischance or inadveitence had, indead, written anything of a Socialistic tendency, it would certainly have been our duty to hold it back from publication. We, however, share in the indignant surprise expressed by our correspondent that the proposal in question should have been so completely and injuriously misinterpreted. We have never been backward in our denunciations of Protestantism or Freethought when the occasion called for them. Whenever the professors of either belief, or disbelief, as the case may be, have attacked the Catholic Church, or made claims for their particular creeds or sects that we looked upon as uDjust or extravagant, we have not hesitated to express our dissent in the plainest terms possible. We have, indeed, more than once incurred blame for doing bo, and have been accused of undue violence or severity. But it never occurred to us, even in our moments of the wildeßt controversy, to imagine that Catholics and Protestants, and even Freethinkers, might not meet together in common to celebrate the memory even of a Catholic saint without compromising religion. To make such a proposition, we should consider an act of the grossest bigotry, and one tending to perpetuate and emphasise those divisions that have been the curse of every country in which they have prevailed, and which, above all, have proved the bane and scourge of the Irish people. By what right but that of a narrow and most miserable bigotry should we dare to thrust out from participation in Ireland's great festival all those who differ from us in religion ? Have not such men made good their cUim to thare in honouring the day by the deeds they have done for the country of St. Patrick's especial love? Protestants and Catholics and Freethinkeis have been united in their deeds and their sufferings for the cause of Ireland, as they are, indeed, at this very moment. Tbey have been united in claiming for the land of St. Pairickthe privilege of fully enjoying the blessings of religion and civilisation which tit. Patrick brought to the island, and why should they be separated in commemorating the coming of these blessings ? There is, it is true, a religious sense in which Irish Catholics celebrate St. Patrick's day, that is not, and cannot be shared in by their Prolestant and Freethinking fellow-countrymen. St. Patrick's Day is to the Catholic a dny alto of religious observance and no true Irish Catholic will neglect it as such. But there is a common, if a lower, ground as well on which he can meet his rotestant and Freethinking fellow-countrymen, among whom all candid men worthy of celebrating St. Patrick's Day under any of its aspects will respect his religious sentiments and do or say nothing to offend them. The Caiholic will reverence St. Patrick as the great Apostle of his faith ; the Piotestaot will lespect him as an early and successful preacher of Christianity; the Freethinker will regard him as a fore-runner of civilitation. There will be a common ground on which all may meet, and their doing so will not only honour the Saint and the day, but will vi ite the meu ihemselves acd promote a friendly feeling among them. Surely the Catholic is not to avoid every man who does not hold the Catholic faith as if he were a leper or to fly from his contact lest he should lake the taint of Socialism. In one. indeed, accustomed to deal with the aggretsive atheists of Continental Europe, and reasonably inclined to regard every assembly in which they are present as dangerous to faith and moials, such ideas may be natural, But our Irish society is not so constituted. We have always been accustomed to see men of all shades of opinion mingle together in friendliness, mutually respecting one another's

beliefs, and finding sufficient in common to occupy their thoughts and tongues— >without any attack, more or less insidious, on one another's principles. It is in such a spirit that we Bhould desire to see the common celebration of St. Patrick's Day, and we are convinced that nothing but good feeling and broader and more charitable views could result from it, It is on the cultivation of such a spirit — ■ one completely opposed to that of her bitter past — that the hope of Ireland's future is based ; and all those who truly love their country will try to promote it. — But f>s to the Socialistic tendencies of which we have been, at least by implication, accused, we utterly repudiate and deny them.