Current Topics

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XIX, Issue 28, 10 April 1891, Page 1

Current Topics

A OLOBIOTJB CABEKB.

General de Bonti. Carlyle,who has compared French glory to bnrnt straw, which, as we know, blaa±s brightly for a moment but leaves behind ashes, approaching as nearly as possible to nothing. Something more, nevertheless, is the glory of the country that Irs produced Bt. Louis and Joan of Arc, and which in every walk of life has given to the world men whose brilliant genius was enriched by all that a sublime spirit of Christianity could bestow upon it. Nay, as it was in the past, to it continues to the present day. If, for example, the French world of art two hundred years ago was elevated and almost sanctified by the genius of Bacine, to-day that of Gounod no less confers a halo on it. If the poetry of the one touched the more sacred feelings and awoke the enthusiasm of the soul, the music of the other is not wanting in its effect. Different though the works may be, the Identity of the spirit that inspired " Athalie " and " Faust "is clearly discernible. The martial spirit of the past also survives in France. In our own time Charette and De Sonis have brought before us evidence of what those crusaders were who truly entered into the sentiment of their great mission. And even a more trjing part was played by the noble co dier of our own degenerate days, who in every movement cf his calling showed himself first of all the faithful son of Holy Church. De Sonis was a devout Catholic in everything, a spiritual father to his soldiers, and the protector of their faith. He was, nevertheless, in every ttought a soldier— strict and rigorous in the enforcement of disciplino and ihe fulfilment of duty, and lion-like in bravery on the field of battle.— There is nothing more sublimely pathetic In toe history of war than his lying cruelly wounded all the length of a freezing night on the disastrous field of Loigny — while he held converse with heaven, and hardly felt his suffering in resignation to the will of God. There also a young soldier of his corps dragged himself to his side that he might have the consolation of his presence in bis dying momenta. — But to the shame of France, the hour was to come when her heroic Bon, mutilated in her service as he was, and notwithstanding all his glorious record, felt that his duty called on him to relinquish his command, and retire to end his days in poverty, rather than take pan in the task required of him— tbat is, the expulsion of the religious orders ? French glory, then, is not, as the sour-ruinded scofier, Carlyle, called it, merely like the blaze of burnt straw. It is real and continuous. It is not only where the body of Dd Sonis rests, under the banner of the Sacred Heart— under which also he f >ught at Loigny, unsuccessfully, indeed, so far as this world is concerned, but we doubt not, in respect of a better world, with infinite gain, that the proofs of its genuineness may be seen. In the eye of God, we may be convinced, they are^frequent and clear enough to merit for the race, in spite of all iU shortcomings and all its unworthy eons, a further period of the career that crowned their land with honour, and conferred countless blessings on the world.

The consequences that have ensued on the lynch>.ing in New Orleans of the Italians acquitted of

SELF-CON VICTEB

the murder of Detective Hennessy throw a vivid light on the existing condition of things. We have been told, iudeed, that tbe secret societies in Italy had threatened trie life of the King unless stern methods towards America were adopted. Before we heard this message, however, we had already formed conclusions, and, indeed, we think that this message is very doubtful. There was, in fact, no necessity to threaten the life of Kiog Humbert, or to take any special measures to bring pressure to bear on the Italian Government. The Government, from the first moment that United Italy becaive an accomplished fac", has beeo in subjection to the secret societies, whose membrs form its members, and whose creature it is and has always been. The action of the Italian Government, in fact, represents that of the secret societies, who are enraged at being baffled in their aitempt to extend their syatem throughout the United

" TOO CLETER BY HALF."

not do for ua to say a Solomon, because Solomon was more or less associated with religion, and the Minister has nothing and will have nothing to do with that. Solon will do, then, for our illustration— he having been a very wise old heathen, indeed. Mr. Reeves, ot course, has not as yet got the age, but he has the other qualities, and that will suffice for the present. And, after all, is it not something to see that, in spite of the proverb, an old head can be found on young shoulders 1 But Mr. Beeves contradicts more than one prorcrb. No man, they say, is a hero to bis valet de chambre. If Mr. Beeves is not a hero to the Lyttelton Times he is nothing. And as a specimen of the appreciation placed by our contemporary on Mr. Reeves, let us take the following. Oar readers will perceive the tribute paid to the delicate wit of our precocious Solon. R starring to au address recently made by him our contemporary writes as follows :— " Without dealing in detail with the rmny points raised by the address, we must compliment Mr. Reeves on the clear and straight-out declarations made as to the maintenance of the present system unimpaired. Speaking on his own behalf, and on that of the Government, he has declared explicitly that the system is to remain a secular one. As he facetiously remarked, those who oppose the system on grounds connected with another world must be regarded as honourable anUgonUta, but be could only salute thtm and pass by."— Admirable, indeed, is the airy manner iv which our Minister dismisses the prejudices of people who are " clow " enough to think of another world. The smartest corner-boy of the period, in fact, could hardly make a more showy display of " cheek." It is not, moreover, always the sage who takes a short way of surmounting the religious difficulty of the moment. When » question arose, for example, uto removing a rt-

AT HOME AND ABROAD.

OUB contemporary the Ate Maria, a publication in which we find an abundance of good things, has recently given us a sketch of the life of the lata

States. We do not say that lynch law is a « jsirable expression of justice. Tne c&se in New Orleans, however, »s a pressing aod extreme one . A society that had been the scon; eof Italy bad arrived in the city. A police officer of proved a ility and everywhere respected for Ms high integrity, had disco* red its etistence and obtained an acquaintance with its movements— had, indeed, if we recollect aright, given some information regarding it—and to rid themselves of the embarrassment caused by his watchfulness, aa well, most probably, as to deter others from taking up his task, they shot him, daringly, in the open Ptreet, and under the light of day. We have not, as yet, had time to receive details, bat we have reason to assume that the gnilt of the men arrested for the crime and placed on their trial was palpable, and, nevertheless, they were acquitted. The jury was evidently euspec'.ed of foul play, whether, which, bowever, seems improbable, they were regarded as packed, or whether it was suspected tbat they were bribed, or whether, what seems to oa the more probable supposition, it was believed that they were afraid. And it must be admitted tbat there were grounds for fear. Their doings since the men were lynched, show us the temper of the Italians, and their determination and daring had been proved in the case of the murdered officer. What, then, were the people of New Orleans, or, indeed of the whole United States to do. Were they to connive at the establishment of the Maffia among them, md to permit tbat assaasinatioj and brigandage should become part of the institutions of the country ] Desperate cases call for desperate remedies, and, if ever there was a desperate case, that in question was so. As to the blustering tone assumed by the Italian Government, the Americana will certainly know how to deal with that. No possibility of anything in the shape of war between the countries, of couwi, exists. So clearly evident is this, indeed, that the action of the Italian Government, a? we have said, betrays their motives. They hare acted absurdly and rashly under the mnaence of the secret societies, whose members, notwithstanding all their secrecy and plotting are commonly foolish and miscalculating men, The importance of the matter is, in short, the proof it affjrds of the manner in which the ItaliaD Government is controlled. Americans will certaioly hold their own, and will not submit to the domination or even the existence of the Maffia within tbeir confine*. But it is well that tbe Italian Government has spoken out ani shown beyond all power of dispute what is its real character,

Well, the Lytteltoit. Tunes ought to know, we suppose—and according to ihe Lyttelton Times, the Minister of Education is a complete Solon. It would

ligious symbol from some position occupied by it in the household of her Majesty the good Queen Bess, tb» difficulty waa solved by calling in the aid of Patch, her Majesty's foo', who removed it at onca, and also, at we may eupposp, with a very airy grace indeed. Our contemporary afterwards gives us amttur specimen of our sage'd wit and wisdom. "He recognises » ducnion," says he, •' as the sole differentiating force betwien mobs such as mi rule the fcouth American Repablic and our own nHoly anH ljTv-lnvin? population," — But wr ask our readers' indu'gei cc tor a little food'h rLCollectu n. Once, then, we weie acquainted with a f-imily wherein a foreign nurserymaid vainl> attempted to teacL h< r native tongue to the childrenWith one accord, however, the other servants were agreed that this nnbappy girl culd not herself understand a single word that was uttered by her. Does Mr. Reeves rtaily believe that people who are educated through the medium cf ihe fcpanish or Portugese language do not, therefore, know one word cf anything learned by them ? What is certain is that the men who make the South American revolutions are Spanish and Portugese partisans of secularism, fully as weL educated in fact, though always by means cf tbe Spanish or Portuguese tongue, as is even Mr. Reevej by means of the English tongue, and feeling quite as supreme a contempt for religion as he himself can. The South American revolutionists, id short, are in the van of the democratic enlightenment of tbe day, as Mr. Beeves must very well know. The colonist of Anglo-Saxon origin, perhaps may be somewhat less hot-headed and lively thau the colonist of more Southern races. Godless education, however, must relatively affect him quite as badly as it does the other — and in due time, though too late, perhaps, for remedy, the proofs will be forthcoming. We do not knoiv how far the Lyttelton Tunes now represents Mr. lieeves, but if it does so to any great extent, the manner in which t'iat ingenuous youth blows his own trumpet is 1 , indeed, somethiDg portentous.

The letter written by Cardinal Manning to the XXme. Siecle, although clear enough in ltsmeanmg and distinguisning perfectly between the revolu-

X TBUE SOCIALIST.

tionary system known as Socialism, and from which nothing but evil could be excepted, and a system cf amtndment for tbe salvation of society, and which might more justly take the name of Socialism, was falsely interpreted. Various motives, do doubt, were accountable for this. Some ptople, differing widely from Cardinal Manning, might have been glad to misrepresent his views for their own ends ; others might have found it to their profit to claim his Eminence as to all intents and purposes in agieemtnt with them. Tte Cardinal, however, has removed all possibility of doub' or of plausible misrepresentation. ImpuJen" in srepresu^uti m, ot course, will still remain, as, for example, we sve fiom a paragraph in the London correspondence of the (jt<vjo Davy Jimm, wb ci *.pc .k» of bis Eminence us seemn g'y chm'ung dov, v under tLe mllu-ncu ot tbe PopcV frown. But in an mtcrvew w.th a representative of the Figaro, to which, indeed, the ci ne=pondcnt of the Dat<>, Imus alludes, and in a Mt^r to the Comtr de Mud, h.mse.f also accused of Socialism, the Cardmil jk rfectly c xp'ains his position. The pimcipal portion of the interview in question is> the following :— '• All tn.it is social is good," iays his hmineic, "but there is letwien biciai organisat on and n.ciaiwii is gr^at a diff rence hs there is be ween reason and rationalism. If bociety is as btm ficent as ieasor, -tciahsm is as malevolent as rational. sm. Civil and political society is nothing elte th.iii human socie y, and fur that reason all legislation thould be essentially social an>i the p. server of society. Ou the contraiy tbe Socialism which begins by overthrowing txistiug sodety is subversive and dcsiiuctivi. I'ni.re are, theiefore, two things — social organisation and tLCiaiisni. T,e foimer comprists evtrv socia] phtnomtnon, and is dominated by t.vo tact^rs — une moral, the otacr economic. The moial factor consists in tbe sentimen 1 of reciprocal duties, of the unity of the umrui r.ice, and of the blessings of sccui ULiou. The ecoDomic factor conei= s in tht practical execution of these sentiments. That Sociihsm is a socialism of organisation and legislation. On thu contrny, Socia.ism has scarcely anything in common with orgacic social phenomena. It is purely political, ac.d is con postd cf two factors — the or,e immoral, tbe other disturb nir. The immoral facor consists in the progress of ths individualism of thiP proud century, wh.ch deatross families and separates naturaLy common interests. The second factor consists in the disturbances produced by that r,dividui l-m prjductive ot a want of agreement between laws and need?. Tha 1 Suci i ism is a socialism of disorganisation and revolution, It is that whici is generally designated by the name of Socialism, but it is thy which is the complete negation of Socialism, for by Socia'i-m we should mtan society, legislitiou, evolution, transformation, but not des. ruction. I am then anxious to declare lam not a S.cuust. Id ) no", indeed, believe that the means to make men happy is t> des'roy them. Sjci >1 o'gauisation is thoroughly English. Sjciah-m is, on the contrary, Continental. Ihere must then be no mtsuuder^ anii >g. And w jen people on the Cont nent talk of my Socialism tLey a li nii s '.aki.n, for being an Englishman 1 cannot b 1 a 6 ;eia!M " Tje important pissage in the It Ur to L iunt de Mvi h t; . — ' Tue coming aj,e will belong

neither to the capitalists nor to the commercial classes, bat to the People. The People are yie'd ng to the guidance of reason, even to the guidance of religion. If we ein gain their confidence we can counsel them ; if we show th^oi a blind opposition they will have power to destroy all that is g^od. Bat I hope much from tee action of the Church all Governments are despoiling and rtjecting. Her true horns is with the People ; they will hear her voice, My letter to the XXme Siecle caused so.Tie irritation in Enzland : and I am accused, as you are, of Socialism. Here, however, Socialism is little studied ; it is a kind of party cry. France is a long way ahead of us in sach studies. Nevertheless, our legislation for the protection of labour is already considerably advanced. "' Neither the advocates of revolutionary Socialism, then, r or the detractors of Cardinal Manning ( have made much capital out of his letter to the French newepaper t No one can be more completely out of a^reemaut wi'h these Socialists or more truly the Catholic prelate representing the doctrine of the Church. Yet the Cardinal has not in the elightest degree compromised tbe position assume! by him from the first, but still remaics the wise protector, and leader of the people.

The Minister of Education has just told us how the Spanish and Portuguese languages fail as educa-

A. SHAM.

tional mediums. The report cf a Royal Commission lecently published, and as quoted by the Quarterly Review for January, gives us tj underptand that the English tongue can hardly claim a (superiority in the regard referred to. We find, in fact, that secularism, as canied out iv the English Board schools, is something of a sham. Toe Commissioners report as follows :: — '• We have also felt bound to onsider, as bearing upon our recommendations, the important evidence to which we have before alluded, whicb, coming from various quarters, testifies to the disappointing fact that under our present system, though the re3ult of. inspection of schools by examination of scholars may appear satisfactory, many of tbe children lose with extraordinary rapidity, after leaving school, the knowledge which ha? been sj laboriously and expensively imparted to them. We are thud led to b .'lie ye that a system of '■ cr .m *' with a view to immediate results, wnicb. tends to check the great advance made of late jeara in all our education amongst all ranks, and theatens to destroy the love of knowledge for its own sake, is prevailing more and more, though under different conditions, in our public elementary sch.ols , and that unless a Urge change is now made, as the system must become in working m jre rigid, s> its evils will increase rather ihan diminish." Unless our democracy therefore, is educated under some d If rent system from that whose effects are thu9 described, it is to be feared t'.en -unen_nty to the d^mocra^s or South America, if it exists, raus' be ba^ d upju something besides secular education 1 hero is every rea-on, moreover, fjr v* to believe that Eag'ish Board Sjhoo'd lire in do w .y inf nor 'o pr'rnvy scajjis in this colony. The X viewet toes on to t_x mine mt j the moral nui s uf the education, in que tion, wh eh oa hid shu.vm^ are quite as rrmeh <i shim as the instiuctloa nantil. He proposes to his readers to ex-truine the c lldren s;> c lucited — " Ttiey will probab'y find," he saye, " that tue niotnu ins llLd into the.r uiinds for conducting themselves honestly, and purely is, that sucq a couree will most adv. nee thur tempo al lnttubts, wuilst of tt.e leligious sanction fur a moral life they will know nothing, ami of Chnstianry itself, if thdr exj enunce resembles ours, they will li id tb.it the children know little or nothing. A few oE them may bj ab eto rep 'at the Lord's Prayer, some may have :ieard uf the Cree i. au 1 know tha' there are tea Cjmmandmentg. Of course we speak of tho^e who have no' been to a Cuurcj Sunday scuoul, auvl tneie i?, uniappily, gool reason for knowing that a lar^e proportion of the children who are being educated in Board schools atten i no Sunlay school. '' But English BoaiJ schools s'lll make some little, pictence of religious teaching — in wh'ch they dill r iiom the unblushing goJlessness of our own system — not, however, ,is it would seem, with inuci effec 1 '. As to the appearance of an improvement in the morals of the people, the Kj\ lewer proves it, <is [allows, t> b > alno a complete sham. "It may be though 1 ," ho writ- s, •' that a sullieient answer to what haa been just advanced is furnish* d by the 6;at:s'ic3 of crime that are annually issued by tie H^me Oliio '. Ihe-e returns cltany show that the number of cnniaal til nces tried at the Ass.z s baa diminished, that the number ot persons on whom severe punishments have been li. flicted is matena.ly less than i: was ; but tney do not show the changes in the criminal law by which much of this advantage has bean gained. They dc, however, show tLat there has been a most serious addition to the number ot juvem>e offenders who are cotupul sorily detained for a ttrm ot years iv Ueformitonts and Industrie School?-, and are thus happily preservid horn tbe possibility of a continuous repetition of crimes, by wuie j the number of criminal offences was formerly swellel. In 1 Sol* there were BSb'3 eh Idren thus compuisjiily detained ; in 1579 the number h id growu to 15,079 ; in 188.) it amounted to 25,u33. These returns likewise show the enoimously increased amount of money exp. ndel in tt.e ptevtntion ami detection of enm \ which should cci taialy account for a considerable tuminuiion in the number of crimes comautted, and we also regret to say that they tell of the serious growth of those lesier

Offences which are ranged under the terms ' offences summarily dealt with, 1 come of which would formerly hava been sent to h jury to decide upon." On the whole, then, as we havr said, it wouldcertainly appear that even the English language, und-.r certain circumstances mu6t fail as a medium of efficient eduction. In fact, if Mr. Reeved is seriou-ly beat ou producing a class of democrats superior to tbofc of South America, he should turn his micd to providing for the colony an educational system, b»tter. insrr-art of rather worse, trmn that of the English Board schools.-By way of post-script, we would add that the testimony of the Quarterly Review to the moral and religion effects of the Board schools, mi^ht be studied with advantage by the members of the Anglican Synod of Dunedin.

the Bristol " proved. He has now mot wiih a wor^e fate, tb° episcopal staff having been laid on his shoulders, and consequently it may be expected that we shall ace less of him on stage or in drawinglootn. Better still it would be that he received the censure as an order of banishment, and we saw no more of him.

A WORD FOB THE ANGLICAN SYNOD.

vocation of the Anglican Chuich has been discussing a subject which ought to have long since attracted general attention, vfz., the want of religious education among the upper middle classes of this country. We believe that the proportion of those who have lost all belief ia God and a world to come is much larger among the educated than it is amorjg the working population. The secularising of the grammar schools is one great cause of this lamentable state of things. Little or no attempt is made in m>»ny of these schools to bring up the pupils to believe in the truths of revelation, while they are permitted and encounged to retd books of a distinctly frse-thinking tendency, which tbey find provided for them in the school library. There is no wonder that boys so turned shou d have little faitb in Christianity of any sort. We fear that the motion carried in Convocation that p treats should be v g d to do their duty by teaching their childnn the Bible and Church Catecnism will not do much to remedy this state of things ; an i L.rl Norton's idea of applying to Parliament to do sometning cannot produce aoy L.ooi result. The Church of Kngland should have iough' harder when the secularists attacked the public middle class sen >oU; but it i a something to find that she is at least conscious now of the gravity of the situation."

" At Warmimter Petty Sessions last week, (3 y.s Truth of February 12), Lord Cranley (L >rd Ouslow' ri

QUEER.

eldest son) and Mr. George Hartopp, <>f Seve oiks?. were convicted of ' pursuing game ' without a licence, and they werj each fined £10. The Excise officer, who caught the defen laats when they were out shooting with Mr. Walter Long, M.P., statod that ' the party were dressed in such fantastic gaib that hes ouM hardly know them again. 1 It is satisf .ctory to fin 1 that the Wirmiuster Magistrates (Mr. Holmes A 'Court am! Mr. li. A^hl-y Doll) iuflicted°a 1 exemp ary five, for, as thu Chairman truly observed, ' thj defendants were in a rank of life n whic'i, 1, steui uf bre^kiLg the Itw, the}ought to be setting an example of obedience, and teic'iig other people to obey." Lut as :o the '• fantastic garb " whjrj Lord Cian'e. was co cerned.could it be for 1 tirap'e th it his Ljrdthip was attiicd as the son of a" leading rangatiri" . ? If so no wonder tne Ekcisj officer did not know how to recognise him.

The "stage Irishman " (says the Melbourne Adiocati) makes his appearaace mu.h 1 ss frequently

BELF-KESPKCr.

than formerly, but the unnatural creatuie has still the effrontery to show himself. There are ye sjnio Irishmen so wanting in self-iespect as to tolerate him, and even u.u.'h at his buffoonery and antics. Worse btill, he has imitators whi re he should only find foes. There are pjople who sing bis songs, and copy his style and manners, without any sense of sbame or degradation, though they should b^ as aveise to doing so as they would be to dancing fLi others in the disguise (f a baboon. It is a good thing, however, that the Most R_v. Dr. Carr made some observa'ions o'j the subject at tthTown Hall on Tuesday evening. As a result, it may be hoped that wherever his Grace's words reach young Irishmen or Ir sh- Australians will ia future display a becoming Belf-res^ect by avoiding themselves, and discouraging in others, the degiading prac ice of caricaturing thi Irishman on the stage or in private company. How the abuse is to be remedied his Grace thus explaine i-.—Firsti -.—First of all, he would say to Irishmen—" Never sing a s)ng t-iat contains a sentiment unworthy of Ireland," Secondly. " Never deliver a recitation which, in the manner of delivery, the ace at, or in the character exhibited, is unwoithy of Ireland;" and thirdly, "As part of an Irish audience never encourage or tolerate any man who degrades the character of lush music, recitation or literature, by style of delivery, mannerism, or pronunciation foreign to the Irish people." DrCarr ad JeJ— " It must always be remembered that Irishmen belonged to an old land, a learned land and a spirited laud, which ought not to be degtadrd. ' The " stage Irishman " had already RC-ivtd some hard knocks in Australia, and with the most trenchant of these IT ,ther Pbelan, of Goulburn College, is to be credited. The uunatuial crtature mayibave reeled under them, bui he survived them, as •' Fun on

\N UGLY AFFAIR.

and au officer in the Guards, has revealed a state ol thii _•<) that, to people of less fashionable notions, must seem anything rath.r than eaifying. Gambling and playing for high slakes, it seems, ia the commun practice in the country houses of the Eaglish nobility and gentry. Nay, as thi3 scandal also informs us, royalty ltgelf is no/- scrupulous abju' ttkia^ part m su^b pastimes, for tha Prince ut Wales wis preheat a: ihu anit^ratic gathering in which the transaction refeirjl to took p'aco The writer of the "Letter from the Linkman " in Truth of February 12 puts the state of thu case briefly but tellingly before us :— "By the way," he writer " a lady staying recently atacouirry h mse where gambling ig de rigueur, was taken suddenly ill. Not ti b > thwarted, >hi h JBt telegraphed to afrhnd m tjwn the following crnrtrt-snstic milage : • Pieasj send down at once another bacca.vt womn.' ' — Tbeir ability to gamble, therefore, is the recomnuniati m hi^h-brel hosts seek in their guests — and the respect also with which they otherwise regard them is evident. As to the case agwnst Sir Willum Gordon Cumiiing, it is to come bafore the law courts in the shape of aa action taken by him for hbH, and, therefore, it would nr. 03 becoming to examine into its meiits, even wera there data on which t) gj. But so much may be said, that the p!o i.v.o w rich his bos es->, with cirUin numbers of. her family aud a brother orfijei- <f Si; William's owa, entered fur hid detection showed anything rather than good ta3te or feeling, aad may even be described as having ben extremely treacherous. Toe upshot of the matter was that o-i the understanding that secrecy was to be observed, t m unfortunate baronet signed a paper pledging himself never a^aiu to play, but which muse no m cessarily be regarded as an admission of his guilt. Secrecy, however, was not observeJ. Ihe indiscreet rongae of a woman violated it, and thence (he present portion has arisen. What the result will be it would be impossible to pred ct, even wero the attempt to do so legitimate. — This, LowlV.t, need not very much co' cern us, though right feeling willcortamlv promp'. the deaire th,u sir William Gordon Gumming may be abe to clear himself. Waat must coucern us all is the knowledge foiced upon us of what high life in England really includes, and fie basi use to wbi -h wcilih is put there. Mr. G. A. 81 a, foi instinct, who by the w.l3'. as well as Mr. Labouchere, seems to hive a very intimate acq.aiutmce with ihe game of baccarat, aid the methods of cheat, ay confuted with it— although, of course, wj imply no s:au'ial — informs us that people that hava nothing but their wealth to reoimmcnd them, are invited to country houses, because of their readiness to join in the high play that forms the attractioa for visitors of exa'tel sjeinl standing. Tae revelation is not a plea s ant one tor those who would fee a nigh moral tone, the true foundation aud b ilwark of a pjop! -'a greatness, obtain throughout the nation, aud if it in some dpg.ee affects the social question of the day, aud adds to fie gravity of the accusations brought against wealtn, it will be no more than *c may ra.iooally expect.

A significant re D olutioj is certainly that whic'i

ANGLICAN MONASTEHIEd.

has been passe i by the Anglican Convocation, sanctioning the establishment of monasteries both

for men and women, and whose members should, under certain circumstances, take upjn themselves permanent obligations. When we consider what the history of the Anglican Church has been as regards tho ieligious orders, the puggestiveness of the matter is indee 1 remark ible. The Arjglican Church, in fact, may be said to have been founded in a gieat ini_asure on the ruin of tho system she now desires to revive. We do not know that she obtained any very substanti tl p jrtion of thj we ihh, whos^ confiscation formed the object of the overthrow ot the monasteries. Tt.ere was an avaricious king and a rapacioui nobility to be satisfied wuh that ; but the sequestration of the monastic estates became the strength of the Anglican Churc 1 by giving tbos ) to whose use taey were approptiated a strong motive to suppoit her and to oppose any return to a state of tninga und-r which they might be n.q .mc>\ tosurrtndt r tbeir ill-gotten acres. Tuioughout the uxi-tence of tin- Anghcin Churob, moreover, all her doctriue and all her practice hav^ been oppostd to the mjnantic life. The tl'reo engagements of poverty, celibacy, aud obedience thac form the ludispensible basis of t 1 111 1 usefulness of th) monk or nun mve been held up by her as the outcome of grovclhng superstition. A complete departure, m fact, from h.-r appointed and wel!-beiten pith is marked by tho resolution in questiOD. It is trau that some ibolated attempts had already been made at something of the kind. Here and there an individual among the clergy, or some zsalous woman, lookel upjn commonly by tha members of the church as wildly eccentric and of doubtful orthodoxy, has set op, or attempted to set up, a religious house. This however,

Hebe is another word or two that might wi'h advantage come under the consideration ot the Anglican Synod. We quo'e from the Liverpool Catholic Times :— " The Lower House of the (Jon-

That scandal in high life regarding an accusation of "h^atng at ciria brought agiinst Sir William Gordon Camming, head of a Scotch family of rank

was a very different matter from an authoritative resolution of the Church, such at we suppose a resolution of Convocation may be assumed to be. So great in fact, is the change that the Church may almost be looked upon as Savin* entere 1 upon a new phase of her existence. As to the success of religious orders in the Ohnrch of England, that is quite another thing. We confess we do not belong to the ranks of those who are sanguine enough to expect it. That the religious orders have succeeded in tha Catholic Church, may, in fact, be taken as one of the proofs of the Church's di7iae origin. Where the supernatural principle, however, is wanting, that which depends on it for life and growth cannot of necessity be found. But this is another question. What we now see is a recognition, to all intents and purposes, of the infamy that surrounds the memoryof King Henry VIII made by the Church that he founded, and an acknowledgment that, in destroying the religious houses, be inflicted upon the country an untold evil. Never before did any institution, religious or secular, do such marked dishonour to the memory of the man to whom it owed its existence.